Dream of traveling in a sub-urban train and in a bus

Dream about a pastor and his two sons

A dear sister in Tamil Nadu saw a dream and sought my interpretation. In that dream, she saw a beloved pastor in Chennai who had a very big congregation. (I do not want to reveal the name of this dear pastor). She saw him in the company of his two sons. As she visited them, the pastor appeared to be resting and lying in bed. He was not laid down with any illness, but was just resting. The two sons were at his side. She told them "How united the three of you are! You are so much in synch with each other in all your operations". She thus had a word of praise about their unity in thought and spirit. She, however, received no comments from either any of the sons or the Pastor. Then she told the Pastor, "You are the root, and the boys are like trees, and we are all the leaves on the trees". Then the sons got up to leave, and she was excited about the unity of the three. But after the sons had left, the pastor told her "There are problems. Pray about it."

This dream shows the peculiar problems with a typical pastoral ministry which is not ministered by the apostles and prophets in the Body of Christ.

This dream shows that there are many problems with pastoral ministries which are not edified by the apostles and prophets. No doubt, thousands of people attend the worship services of these pastors. The growth of a local church should not be measured by the number of people who would attend the worship services on Sundays but by the people who would become disciples of Christ, and who would take upon themselves the work of evangelism or any other function in the Vineyard of God. During the New Testament days, there were many house churches and the disciples were actively involved in the work of evangelism. There were apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, elders and deacons. In the local churches, there were elders or deacons. They were not merely attending the worship services. They were all participating in the evangelical work. Every local church was a witnessing church. Every local church was on fire for God. Today, we find a local church, either Anglican or Pentecostal, as a place of singing hymns and hearing "good" sermons on Sundays. Of course, in some churches, there is time for giving testimonies also.

In Delhi, during my earlier days of Christian life, I was associated with a local church which had no permanent place for worship. At that time, we had to go in search of a hall for our worship. Nobody wanted to rent out his building for a church on Sundays. We had to shift our church to many buildings. We did not seek funds or raise funds for construction of a church building. On Sundays, we worshipped the Lord. Then we took our fellowship lunch in the church and we went out in the evening for gospel outreach. It was a witnessing church. It was a moving church. We went to different places in and around Delhi, preached the gospel and healed the sick in Jesus' Name. On the streets, we sang hymns and choruses and worshipped God. People used to wait for our arrival in their localities for receiving divine healing.

The dear sister only found the unity of the Pastor and his two sons in flesh. The ministry of God should not be hereditary at all. A minister of God or a Christian leader should entrust the responsibilities of the ministry to the elders in his ministry and not to his kith and kin. The unity has to be forged amongst the members of the Body of Christ and not merely amongst the members of the family of a servant of God in flesh.

The dear sister told the Pastor in the dream, "You are the root, and the boys are like trees, and we are all the leaves on the trees". In a God's ministry, the root should be the Word of God and not the minister concerned. In this dream, the children of a minister of God are compared to trees and the believers to the leaves on such trees. It is a false doctrine. The children of a minister of God should not take the place of elders in the ministry. A local church should be rooted in the Word of God and should be ministered by the elders or deacons. The whole church is a living tree in the God's vineyard. The leaves are part of this tree and should not be viewed as distinct from the tree. When we look at a tree, we perceive the whole tree as a single object.

In other words, Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches. We have to abide in Christ or the Word (John 15:5). Today, what is wrong with many pastoral ministries is that they project or manifest their own personalities through the gifts of the Holy Spirit but do not want to edify their sheep so as to make them disciples of Christ Jesus. In other words, they want to perpetuate the Levitical priesthood in the local churches which was done away with by Christ Jesus Himself by His death on the Cross when the veil of the Temple was rented in twain. The sons of a priest or Levi under the Old covenant stepped into the shoes of their fathers. However, under the New Covenant, the priesthood goes to all those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.

When I was viewing the entries in our Guestbook the other day, the Holy Spirit drew my attention to an entry made by a dear sister in Christ, namely, Juliet Joseph. She had recorded as follows in the Guestbook:

"Bro Job,

I dreamt of traveling in a subway train and I was telling my husband that the last stop is "anbalagan" after which we would get off and take a bus to our destination.

I had read of you before this dream and we are born-again Christians by His Grace.

I do not know the meaning of the dream, might you know? (I have a lot of prophetic dreams)"

While interpreting this dream, the Lord has given me the following prophetic message. I do not glory in the fact that my name was mentioned by this dear sister.

Many of my friends in North India and abroad do find it difficult to spell my name "Anbalagan" correctly because it is a typical "Tamil" name. This dear sister in a foreign nation was able to correctly write my name. This dream shows that the Lord is gathering His people in the one Body of Christ irrespective of their cultures, languages and nationalities.

Secondly, a prophetic ministry in the Body of Christ should help the people of God reach their final destination. It has to lead them to the truth of the Word, exposing false doctrines. My name "Anbalagan" was seen as the last stop on a sub-way train route. The prophetic ministry is only a sign likened to the name board in the sub-way train station. A child of God has to get down on seeing this sign. This means he/she has to get ready for the ministry as soon as he/she gets a word of prophetic confirmation. A prophet is merely a facilitator or a helper.

After reaching the last railway stop, the sister concerned had to catch a bus for reaching her final destination along with her husband. The prophetic ministry as such is only a means and the people of God have to reach their final destination "by taking a bus". The sub-way train is typical of a prophetic ministry. It is faster than a bus. Prophets in the Body of Christ have to be faster in doing their ministries in His vineyard.

The bus is typical of a ministry in the Body of Christ. The prophetic ministry edifies a disciple of Christ God so that he/she may take upon himself/herself a ministry to which God has called him/her. A child of God should know the call of God in his/her ministry. He/she should not end himself/herself in the railway stop as he/she has to proceed further to the desired destination. Every ministry should have its own vision and mission as would be assigned by the Holy Spirit.

- Job Anbalagan