My mother, Assemblies of God Evangelist Verna M. Linzey, enjoyed taking time out of her busy schedule to fellowship with fellow Navy Officers’ Wives as part of her “Ministry of Presence” on the base. My father, first-ever Assemblies of God Active Duty Navy Chaplain Stanford E. Linzey, Jr., was stationed on the USS Holland, which was homeported at Charleston. Mother was on the Navy Wives Bowling League and had won a trophy for being an outstanding bowler.

I was looking forward to my donut on that mild, sunny day in October 1963. Then a short while after crossing the Wappoo Creek Bridge, we came to the railroad tracks before an intersection, and the light turned red. The cars ahead of us did not cross the intersection and we had to come to an abrupt stop on the railroad tracks.

It seemed like an eternity that we waited for the green signal so that we could get off the tracks, but finally the light turned green. Then, just as the car in front of us accelerated, the railroad lights started blinking and the bells began ringing. Mother pressed on the gas pedal, but the front tires were stuck on the railroad tracks. The car would not accelerate. The train was quite a distance away, but it was coming quickly. Mother kept pressing the accelerator pedal while praying, but the car would not budge. We were stranded on the tracks.

I was in the far back of the station wagon, which was off the tracks, and Mother knew there was no time to get me out of the back of the car. She figured that I would survive if the train hit the car. So, praying all the while, she threw open the door and jumped out of the car so that she, too, could survive.

Suddenly, a man appeared and told her to get back in the car and floor the gas pedal, and “don’t let off.” She risked her life for me, rushed back inside the car, and floored the gas pedal, with her heart pounding and the palms of her hands and forehead perspiring. Then the tires screeched and the car abruptly “jumped” off the railroad tracks to safety just before the train crossed the street. After the train cleared the street, the stranger was nowhere to be found. We had never seen him before, nor did we ever see him again. But I’ll never forget the day when my life was saved by an angel.

Image: Jad Limcaco

Not only did the angel come to us in our time of need, but also my mother’s unhesitating obedience to what the angel told her to do saved both of our lives.

Looking back, I think about what would have happened had I been killed. How deeply would this have impacted the lives of people to whom I would not have ministered as a military chaplain and as a civilian minister? And what about the lives of those who would never have been spiritually impacted by the Modern English Version Bible, which I edited?

God had plans for my life. He gave me a mother who risked her life for me and He sent an angel to intervene that day so that His purpose for me would be fulfilled.

 Interview with Rev. Dr. Tania Harris about her new book, God Dreams: How to Hear God’s Voice in Dreams and Vision

PneumaReview.com: You have recently published a new book about dreams and visions. Please name some New Testament believers who experienced dreams and visions.

Tania Harris: All the key characters – Joseph, Stephen, Paul, Peter, Agabus, John. Dreams and visions are the most common mode of divine communication under both the Old and New Covenants.

PneumaReview.com: A modern-day Christian might say “Those were the experiences of the biblical characters. But why should we think that we might have these same types of experiences in our time?” How would you answer that question?

Tania Harris: Because the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost gave every believer full and direct access to the voice of the Holy Spirit through visions and dreams (Acts 2:17, 2:39).

PneumaReview.com: Would you say that some Christians are more prone to experience dreams and visions than others?

PneumaReview.com: Do these experiences seem to come regularly in a person’s life or only at important or critical points in their life?

Tania Harris: It’s not really possible to accurately answer that question since everyone’s walk with the Holy Spirit is unique. It’s similar to the question, how often does the Holy Spirit speak? Perhaps the best answer is, as often as God needs to and as readily as we listen. The measure of someone’s walk is not the number of experiences or the level of their ecstatic nature, but how we respond to them. As Jesus said, “my people hear my voice and they follow.” (from John 10:27)

PneumaReview.com: Dreams and visions are very subjective experiences. What can we as individual believers do to help us determine which ones are from God and which are not?

Tania Harris: Every encounter with the Holy Spirit is subjective and must be tested (1 John 4:1). We need to have the confidence to know that we can hear from God as well as the humility to know we can get it wrong. As the Apostle Paul said, we don’t hear and see clearly (1 Cor. 13:12).

PneumaReview.com: In view of the fact that dreams and visions are personal experiences, can input from other Christians be helpful in determining the correct interpretation

Tania Harris: This is the second element of discernment we see in the early church. When God spoke to Peter in a dream-vision about the Gentile inclusion, others were involved in the discernment process – including Cornelius, and later – because it was a church-wide issue – the church leadership at the Jerusalem council (Acts 15:28)

PneumaReview.com: Why do you think that some visions are symbolic in nature rather than plainly stated? Peter’s vision in Acts 10 is one example.

Tania Harris: In fact, nearly all dream-visions are symbolic. They speak the language of pictures and imagery, which neuroscientists tell us is the most powerful and effective form of communication. Perhaps this is why dream-visions are God’s favoured mode in Scripture! It is the most basic of languages and transcends all communication barriers. You may have heard the phrase: “a picture tells a thousand words!” Once you understand the language of pictures, dream-visions are not difficult to understand.

PneumaReview.com: In your research have you found that more people have dreams or visions?

Tania Harris: I haven’t done quantitative research so can’t give a definitive answer on this. (Note also, in the biblical terminology, the terms for dreams and visions are interchangeable). I suspect more people admit to having visions because it is more socially acceptable to say, “I saw a picture as I prayed” rather than “I saw a picture/scene as I slept.” Having said that, anecdotally, I have noted it is not uncommon for at least 50% of congregations to say they’ve have had a God-dream – they’ve just never shared it with others for fear of being labelled strange!

PneumaReview.com: What advice would you give to pastors to help them guide the people under their care to be open to dreams and visions but not fall into error or fanaticism regarding them?

Tania Harris: As with any hearing God experience, we need to train our congregations to discern the voice of God. Telling people they can hear God’s voice without training them to discern it is like giving a toddler a loaded gun. In my experience, this is a common problem and why we have a strong emphasis in the God Conversations ministry in this area. See our resource that leads the whole church community on the hearing God journey, 50 Days of God Conversations.

PneumaReview.com: Please tell our readers a little bit about your latest book God Dreams: How to Hear God’s Voice in Dreams and Vision as well as where they can purchase it.

Tania Harris: Here is the blurb:

God Dreams: How to hear God’s voice in dreams and visions

God’s most common way of speaking in biblical history is through dreams and visions. But today many of us are more likely to dismiss our visionary experiences as the product of a spicy meal rather than a potential message from God. But could we be missing out on the voice we so long to hear?

Drawing on her ministry experience, theological research and the Revelation experiences of the early church, Tania Harris explores the nature of dream-visions, where they come from, and how to interpret their symbolic and sometimes confusing language. You will learn how to hear God’s voice more clearly and that a picture truly can tell a thousand words.

“A brilliant book!” (Pete Greig)

Available here.

Available from Amazon (USA): https://amzn.to/40PYyGI

PneumaReview.com speaks with Dave Johnson about the publication of his book, Answering God’s Call: Reflections of a Veteran Missionary in Asia.

Pneuma Review: Please tell our readers how you came to understand that the Lord was calling you into missions.

Dave Johnson: I was in the Navy when God called me to the ministry. When I got out of the Navy, I went to Bible College to prepare for that calling, although I did not know at the beginning the kind of ministry to which God was calling me. In my senior year, God spoke to me about becoming a missionary, but he first directed me to further education.

Pneuma Review: What advice would you give to a person who thinks that they may be called to missions?

Dave Johnson, Answering God’s Call: Reflections of a Veteran Missionary in Asia (APTS Press, 2021).

Dave Johnson: They should be sure of their calling, grow in their spiritual disciplines and in their walk with God, gain some ministry experience at home first and then pursue their calling without fear.

Pneuma Review: Once it has been determined that an individual is called what should they do in order to prepare for the field?

Dave Johnson: This depends on the person and the ministry to which they feel called. They should certainly gain some ministry experience here and formal training is usually a good idea. They should also talk with their pastor and contact the leadership of the mission they wish to join to see what their requirements and advice would be.

Pneuma Review: What are some of the challenges that a missionary can expect to encounter on the mission field?

Dave Johnson: Probably the greatest challenge is to die to ourselves. We must die to our desires, our dreams, as well as the prejudices and the narcissism of our age that have so greatly impacted the Church. Missions is not about me or my own fulfillment. It’s about loving God and responding to his dreams for our lives. After 29 years in missions, this remains my greatest challenge.

Pneuma Review: Give us an example of how you dealt with one of these challenges.

Dave Johnson: I’ll tackle language and cultural adjustment here. My approach was to immerse myself in the language and culture from the very beginning. I was single at the time and took the opportunity to live with a Filipino family. They were very Filipino about their approach to life and this presented me with the opportunity to experience life through their eyes from the very beginning. While the adults normally preferred to speak to me in English, much to my dismay, the children were happy to converse in Tagalog. Since my fluency level was much lower than theirs, I had to become like a child again in learning the language and culture. It was a humbling but ultimately a very rewarding experience. On any given day, living in another culture could be very rewarding or very frustrating. It was often both on the same day!

Pneuma Review: Have you ever doubted your missionary call? If you have, how did you get past that doubt?

Dave Johnson: In the years following seminary I followed the Lord’s leading and engaged in evangelistic work, which included short term missionary trips. Since the door to full time missions wasn’t opening as I had hoped, I went through a period of doubt that I called “The valley of the death of the vision.” After a few years, however, the Lord resurrected my vision and sent me forward into missions.

Pneuma Review: How important is self-care for the missionary?

Dave Johnson: It is critical. Missionaries should always take the long view of their missions calling. Leading a balanced life and making time for intimacy with Christ and with time with our spouse and children, as well as time for ourselves, is important to remaining on the field long-term. We need margin in our lives because we are human. God never intended that we work all the time.

Pneuma Review: Missionary work is not “one size fits all.” You have served in a number of different ministries. Please tell our readers about them.

Dave Johnson: I arrived in the Philippines in 1994. After taking a year for language learning and cultural adjustment, I reengaged my calling as an evangelist and began traveling to many parts of the Philippines, along with an assistant, to conduct Good News Rallies for existing churches and new church plants. At first, I based in Manila. After Debbie and I married and she had completed language studies, we ultimately moved to the Legazpi City area, about 350 south of Manila, and continued evangelistic ministry, although we restricted ourselves to southern Luzon and engaged in working in a Bible school to honor Debbie’s calling and gifting in teaching. We remained in the area for 13 years.

In 2012, I was invited to become the managing editor of the Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies, the official publication of the Asia Pacific Theological Seminary (APTS), the Assemblies of God school for higher theological education in the Asia Pacific, which is located in Baguio City, Philippines. At first, these positions were part-time, but in 2013, the Lord lead us to terminate our ministry in Legaspi and move to APTS and become part of the full time faculty.

In addition to all of these roles over the years, I tried to support Debbie in the various roles that she undertook.

Pneuma Review: You are currently involved in publishing with Asia Pacific Theological Seminary Press. Tell us a little about the purpose, or focus, of the books that you publish.

Dave Johnson: The purpose of both the Press and the Journal is to deal with theological, missiological and ecclesiastical issues that pastors, theologians and churches deal with in Asia. Due to the different cultures and the strong presence of other global and local religions, the issues faced in Asia are substantially different than those in the West. This means that books and journals from western authors often do not address the real and felt needs of Asians. We seek to fill that lacuna.

Pneuma Review: Where can people purchase your book Answering God’s Call and the books published by Asia Pacific Theological Seminary Press?

Dave Johnson: All of our books and Journal editions are available at www.aptspress.org. We also license most of books to Wipf & Stock and can be accessed at www.wipfandstock.org. They can also be read for free at Open Access Digital Theological Library, www.oadtl.org. The books can also be purchased directly through www.amazon.com and www.kobo.com.

PR

Notes

[1] Editor’s note: Led By the Spirit is being published serially in Pneuma Review. Read the first chapter. Read Malcom Brubaker’s review of Led By the Spirit.