49 Religious Lies Jesus Told Me to Stop Believing - #22 Godly Dreams Are Not for Today

Summary

The speaker argues that the belief that God no longer communicates through dreams is mistaken and discourages Christians from seeking or taking dreams seriously. He says this belief led him to ignore dreams during the first decade of his Christian life, until he began journaling and studying them.

In a dramatized journal exchange with Jesus, the speaker confronts his assumption that dreams are merely leftovers from food or otherwise spiritually irrelevant. The exchange points him to biblical passages describing God communicating through dreams and visions, including Numbers 12:6 and Acts 2:17. He presents these passages as a reason to reconsider church traditions that dismiss dreams.

The speaker attributes the Western church’s negative attitude toward dreams partly to Thomas Aquinas. He says Aquinas’s theological writings became highly influential, despite a late-life dream experience that reportedly led him to regard his written work as “straw.” This is the speaker’s historical explanation for how the attitude developed.

The speaker describes journaling dreams for decades and studying biblical accounts of dreams. He says people in those accounts respond to their dreams as messages from God. He also reports that his daughter Charity learned dream interpretation as a child and later wrote a book applying a method to a collection of dreams.

The video encourages viewers to recover Christian dream interpretation, including as a possible way to connect with non-Christians. The speaker notes that the Bible includes people outside the faith, such as Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, who receive dreams. He closes with an affirmation and a prayer asking God to teach people to hear and interpret messages through dreams.

Suggested Approach

• Reconsider assumptions: Don’t dismiss dreams as spiritually meaningless without examining what the Bible says about them.
• Study relevant passages: Look up biblical accounts of dreams and verses about God speaking through them.
• Journal dreams: Write down dreams after waking and reflect on them during devotional time.
• Ask God for understanding: Pray about what a dream may mean and what God might be communicating.
• Learn interpretation principles: Study examples and methods for interpreting dream symbolism. The speaker recommends books and training but does not explain a full interpretation method in this video.
• Respond thoughtfully: The speaker observes that people in biblical dream accounts acted on their dreams and encourages taking perceived guidance seriously.
• Share what you learn: He encourages viewers to help others learn dream interpretation and suggests that dreams may provide a natural opening for conversations about faith.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Presenter/narrator: Mark Virkler, speaking from personal experience and teaching.
• Jesus: Appears in a dramatized journal dialogue recounted by the presenter.
• Biblical texts: Numbers 12:6, Acts 2:17, and Psalm 16:7–8 are cited. Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar are mentioned as biblical examples.
• Thomas Aquinas: Discussed by the presenter as an influential theologian and as part of his explanation for the church’s attitude toward dreams.
• “Young” (likely Carl Jung): Referred to in the subtitles as having studied 50,000 dreams; the auto-generated text does not clearly identify the name.
• Charity: The presenter’s daughter, described as a dream journaler and author on Christian dream interpretation.