“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.” T.E. Lawrence of Arabia
“He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.” (Proverbs 28:19)
Ritchie McDonnelle rejoices with Mike Patterson after his baptism last Sunday.
There are really two types of people in the world today: those who chase after fantasies and ultimately end up not accomplishing anything (Proverbs 28:19), and as T.E. Lawrence said, there is another type of dreamer who is dangerous, because they act out their dreams with eyes wide open and make them reality! It is these men and women who have “abundant food” and see their goals become a reality. Jesus was a radically dangerous dreamer in His day. He came into a world void of dreams when the Pharisees dominated the religious order of that day by tying heavy burdens on people that they themselves could not live up to. Jesus’ dream was a message of freedom that all people, both Jews and Gentiles, might be saved. One man … with one dream … gave that dream to 12 others, then those 12 gave the dream to 72 others, then those 72 gave the dream to 3000, until eventually the world would be evangelized in their time. (Colossians 1:23 — all had a chance to hear the gospel)
The campus sisters celebrate with Elizabeth Emerson, who was baptized shortly after her boyfriend Ritchie was baptized.
I still remember getting the campus ministry (LIFE Ministries) together at the beginning of the year for our Friday night at our devotional and talking about dreams. Interestingly, Psalm 123 says that the exiles coming back from Babylon to Zion were like men who dreamed. Laughter, songs of joy, and a fruitful harvest were the fruits of people who have a dream. Sadly, many have great dreams for God and even in the secular world, but end up dissatisfied with life because they aren’t willing to pay the price of sacrifice to see it become real. The dream for them is simply a fantasy. Notice in Psalm 123 what also accompanied the laughter, songs and joy: tears, hard work and sacrifice. In fact, our tears are the water to that makes the seed of souls grow in God’s kingdom. For Jesus, the sacrifice and tears came on the cross as he sacrificed his own life to see his dream become a reality. (more…)
