Given Summer of 2001
Dream: I was in the chapel at Riverside Cemetery in Appleton. There were windows on the south side and I could see a number of people quickly walking by. A young woman approached the window and announced to those of us inside, “Jesus is here. He’s come back. It’s really Him; He’s doing miracles.” She was very excited and quite convincing.
We all followed. We were walking in a wooded area. Groups of people were scattered about. One group passed and at its center was a man in a white robe with a beard. He looked at me for a brief moment. I had a strong sense that this man was not the real Jesus. He was standing in a picnic area with many people near him listening to him speak. He was talking or maybe even reciting the sermon on the mount. The moment that I heard him speak I knew with certainty that he was not Jesus.
He stopped speaking abruptly and reached out his hands to me. I became very afraid. When I tried to call out the name of Jesus (the real one) my face froze. So I prayed that God would help me and I woke up.
I understood immediately upon waking up that a good Biblical understanding and relying on my pastor’s judgment was not enough to discern the things of God. But that I needed to know His voice. I also knew that the message of this dream was not only for me personally but was for the Body of Christ specifically for the time to come when the devil would be attacking the church.
