Teaching 'Dreams in the Bible: A Guidance from God' to a group of Christians in Tai-Chung, Taiwan (China).

摘要

As a Pentecostal believer, this researcher believes that if Christians deny the working of miracles, divine healing, speaking in tongues, dreams, and visions, the Christian Church will lose those "old treasures" that can help its members have a closer relationship with the Lord. The purpose and goal of this project was to remind Christians that they have this "old treasure," an inheritance which the Father might use to speak to them.; The theological basis of this project was found in Acts 2:17, which referred to Joel 2:28, "I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions." Dreams and visions are evidences of God pouring out His Spirit on His people. They are promises for the Last Days that the Lord would use to reveal His will and to make His voice known to individuals. Acts 2:17 was a reaffirmation of the promise of Joel 2:28.; Twelve participants attended the teaching Of this project---five males and seven females. Eleven participants were from Zion Church; one participant was from Dou-Lo Local Church. They attended all six Friday-evening sessions. Since all participants spoke Mandarin, the classes were conducted in the Mandarin language.; The project focused on whether a carefully planned and supervised six-week teaching could raise the awareness of students to hear God through dreams. Three aspects of learning and comprehension were analyzed: (1) Bible knowledge and practice of dreams, (2) understanding and using dreamwork techniques, and (3) participants' opinions concerning their understanding of this material after the classes. The researcher sought to ascertain what changes occurred. Participants responded to a questionnaire given before and after the classes; the answers were compared.; Analysis of the data revealed that the teaching was beneficial in increasing the students' awareness of hearing God in their dreams. The posttest questionnaire data indicated positive progress. The conclusion was reached that participants became more aware of God's voice in their dreams. Hence, this teaching enhanced their understanding.; The teaching might have revealed additional valuable results if (1) more participants had been involved, and (2) each class period had been longer so participants would have had more opportunity to share their dreams with each other and practice the dreamwork techniques in class. Nevertheless, the project was beneficial in that those who participated revealed that the material was important for Christians so they could learn about God speaking in dreams.