In the last couple of months a video titled “THREE Prophetic WARNING DREAMS!!! ‘BRACE YOURSELVES'” has been circulating in Pentecostal-charismatic circles. In it, a Kentucky pastor named Dana Coverstone recounts a dream he received in December 2019 that appears to foretell the COVID-19 pandemic. He also details two more recent dreams that prophesy a wave of violent unrest and terror coming to the United States in September through November 2020. As of today, the video has gained more than 500,000 views.
I’m taking these dreams seriously for two reasons. First, they could be from God. I affirm the gift of prophecy, according to the Renewal theology understanding—that it is a valid spiritual gift for today but subject to and judged by the testimony of Scripture. Dreams from God do happen, and they are a type of prophecy. In fact, I have had what I would describe as dreams from God at several pivotal points in my life.
Second, this gentleman’s video illustrates a prophetic pitfall that has reached, well, pandemic proportions. He begins with a revelation from God—a sobering warning for the nation—then takes a sharp turn into application of these dreams that appears to fall squarely along the lines of his cultural biases. That is easy for anyone to do, but in this case, with a video that has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of Christians searching for answers in a tumultuous time, the consequences could be deadly.
So, please bear with me in this long post. I will summarize the 16-minute video, but you can watch it in its entirety if you’d like:
By the way, there are many other videos like this on YouTube. For those who aren’t familiar with the Pentecostal-charismatic context, just know that there is an entire cottage industry of similar dreams, visions, and prophecies, many of which involve President Donald Trump in one way or another.
The speaker in this particular video, who identifies himself as pastor of Living Word Ministries, in Burkesville, Kentucky, says he’s never posted a video like this before. Here is a brief summary:
Dream 1, which the pastor dates to December 2019: He sees a calendar flipping to March 2020. A finger taps on the month three times. Then it flips to June, and the finger taps again. He sees images of doctors with syringes, ambulances racing, and folks on ventilators who are very sick. There are also cities on fire, people marching, and folks with fists raised who are “just angry at the world.” The pastor sums up the scene as “absolute chaos.” Then he sees terrified people looking out windows with guns in hand. He hears the words “Brace yourself.”
In the pastor’s eyes, this prophetic dream has come to pass in its entirety. I wouldn’t disagree.
Dream 2, which he dates to late June 2020: A calendar appears again, with a white figure announcing “Part 2.” The calendar flips to September, and a finger taps on it three times. Then the calendar moves to November, and this time a fist hits the calendar. The pastor sees images of armed protesters fighting in the streets and banks with the roofs taken off and money flying out. There are Chinese and Russian soldiers on the ground in America. He sees “no sign of President Trump…I saw no sign of leadership in Washington, D.C.” There are politicians cutting back-room deals, however. He hears the words “Brace yourself” three times.
Dream 3, which he also dates to June: The pastor sees himself going to the bank to get change, and the president of the bank says there is no change. “Prepare for hyperinflation,” she says. Once again, he hears “Brace yourself” three times.
One final point: In my hearing of the video, these dreams clearly sound a warning, but there is no prescription for what to do.
So far so awful, right?
What are you feeling inside right now? Is there a knot forming in your stomach? Is your heart racing just a little? I know mine was. See, I respect prophecy. I don’t instantly toss it in the junk pile. A pastor in South Africa once told me this: “The revelation from God is always pure. But what comes out of us isn’t always pure.”
In other words, the pure revelation that God drops in our consciousness through a Scripture, an impression, a dream, or whatever means can get seriously sideways by the time it filters through our brain and exits our mouth.
So, in case you’re wondering, I’m inclined to believe that these dreams are from God. I respect that they come from a pastor, a man with a spiritual responsibility for people. He isn’t some prophet dude on an international platform whose status would be enhanced by telling us about his latest, lofty encounters with God. In fact, Pastor Coverstone potentially had a lot to lose by distributing a cellphone video of his dreams. His church appears to be affiliated with the Assemblies of God, and respected denominations don’t always smile on public pronouncements like this.
That said, what concerns me about Pastor Coverstone’s dreams is where he takes them—what he advises as the reasonable and appropriate Christian response: In short, guns, ammo, and gold. Stock up on “food, silver or gold…an ample supply of both guns and ammunition,” the pastor tells his hearers, especially those in rural areas like his own.
Now, some of y’all might still be doing the happy dance because President Trump is nowhere to be seen at the end of this gentleman’s dreams. But let’s look at this soberly for a moment.
Guns, ammo, and gold. Does this response line up with the Bible you’re reading? Is this supported by Scripture?
Are we really going to start killing each other?
Isn’t this what happened in Kenosha, in my home state of Wisconsin, with horrifying results?
With respect to Pastor Coverstone—a brother in Christ who took the risk of sounding like a kook by sharing these dreams—I suggest a different response. This one happens to come straight from the mouth of Jesus Christ, as recorded in Luke 12:32-34:
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Don’t know about you, but I don’t see guns, ammo, and gold anywhere in there.
I shudder to say it, but I do think a whirlwind is coming to this nation. Many of us in the white American churches have shut our eyes and ears to the cries of the oppressed in our own country. We cling to money, power, privilege, and politics while our neighbors suffer and die and the witness of Jesus Christ is disgraced in the eyes of the world.
I believe we still have time to get this right—to love our neighbor better. Isn’t that where we have failed?
When you get a warning prophecy, the first thing to do is pray against it. So let’s humble ourselves and seek God together. He lifted the judgment from Nineveh; maybe he will have mercy on us, too.
