FOREWORD BY GLENN GOHR                                             

Michael and I began our professional relationship 10-years ago when we worked together in the early years of the internet to develop and teach the first internet-based ministerial courses offered through Global University, a distance education learning school of the Assemblies of God. Without a doubt, Michael is well-versed in Scripture and applies it in practical everyday ways to everyday people. In this volume, he has done a great service to the Church by dealing with a subject which in the past has only been dealt with by scholars interpreting the Scriptures. But if dreams and visions were such an integral part of the biblical narrative, and if God has promised that in the last days men and women would dream dreams, then shouldn’t this important truth be emphasized and taught for the Church today?

Skeptics may ask, “Are dreams and visions really from the Lord? Or are they just a figment of the imagination? Does God speak to people today through dreams and visions? Or is it just a phenomenon of the past that He did when the Scriptures were being written?” From studying Scripture and knowing that God is the same “yesterday and today and forever,” I must conclude that God does speak to His Church today through visions and dreams.

One of the many incidents that Michael illuminates in this book is my favorite Bible story — the story of Joseph the dreamer as recorded in Genesis chapters 37-50. Joseph stands out because he had a close walk with God. God spoke to him through spiritual dreams (Gen. 37:6-11), and he was able to interpret the dreams of others (the cupbearer and the baker, as well as Pharaoh). Each dream that God gave to Joseph came true.

I believe that God also speaks to us today through dreams and visions even as he did to Joseph, Ezekiel, Daniel, Peter, John, and others in the Bible. This is prophesied in Joel 2:28-29: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit” (KJV).

The events of the last days are upon us as foretold by Jesus in Matthew 24 as well as in a multitude of other Scriptures. And the prophecies in Joel and in Acts 2:17 regarding mankind having dreams and visions are coming to pass also. God is still alive, and He still speaks to His Church today. And if He can speak to important Bible figures like Joseph, then we should be willing to follow their examples. We need to have a close walk with God and be open to His leadings, no matter which avenue God may choose to speak to us. I strongly urge you to read And God Chose Dreams. It has the potential to revolutionize your life and to bring you into a closer relationship with Christ. I highly recommend this book.

Glenn W. Gohr

Reference Archivist for the Assemblies of God

Springfield, Missouri