"You have to pursue your own dreams, but you are given your dreams by the God". Has the author contradicted himself?

Use this forum to discuss the May 2021 Book of the month, "Fear Not, Dream Big, & Execute: Tools To Spark Your Dream And Ignite Your Follow-Through" by Jeff Meyer.
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Sushan Ekanayake
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"You have to pursue your own dreams, but you are given your dreams by the God". Has the author contradicted himself?

Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

"God has created you to dream. He urges you to crave your own BIG dream. You were not created to merely carry out someone else’s. You were created to live a life of service, yes, but service can be weighty if we don’t unearth our own, unique, God-given vision." (Foreword)

The author wants his readers to break free from others' dreams and pursue their own dreams. And that have been the main purpose of writing this book, and as per the author that is the intent of God as well.

“The place where God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger coincide.”

But on the other hand, as per the author, our dreams are not our own dreams but which are given to us by God.

Has the author contradicted his own concept?

At the same time, can't we make our parents' or our closest ones dreams as ours and pursue them? Will it lead us to failure always?
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Post by El_limitless »

What the author was basically trying to say is that God has given us all the ability to dream. A discovery and resilient pursuit of that dream is what the author was referring to in the book.
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Post by Saint Bruno »

I don't think that the author has contradicted himself. To every one that God created is a special purpose. So the dreams you pursue is in line with your purpose. That's what I think the author means. Just as we are different, so are our dreams. Chasing our dreams is thus, fulfilling our purpose given by God, the giver of dreams.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

El_limitless wrote: 01 May 2021, 00:20 What the author was basically trying to say is that God has given us all the ability to dream. A discovery and resilient pursuit of that dream is what the author was referring to in the book.
Was that only the ability that the God has given us? Does that mean the God has no control over our planet or no intention to have a control over it? Is that the reason for this world is being lead towards chaos by various people's various dreams? In that case, is dreaming a bad thing? Has the God given a chaotic ability to the human?
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Saint Bruno wrote: 01 May 2021, 00:55 I don't think that the author has contradicted himself. To every one that God created is a special purpose. So the dreams you pursue is in line with your purpose. That's what I think the author means. Just as we are different, so are our dreams. Chasing our dreams is thus, fulfilling our purpose given by God, the giver of dreams.
If I get it correct, you too have said it. God is the giver of our dreams. If so, how can we pursue our own dreams? It will always be someone else's dream, atleast of God's. If this is true, what has happened to the free will that He gave us? If all of us are given a purpose by the God, there will be nothing called free will. Correct me if I am wrong
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Post by Marcel Cantu »

El_limitless wrote: 01 May 2021, 00:20 What the author was basically trying to say is that God has given us all the ability to dream. A discovery and resilient pursuit of that dream is what the author was referring to in the book.
I don’t think it a contradiction within a certain belief of thinking. I think God inspires dreams and directs dreams but it is still a personal pursuit that must that place to follow dreams.
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Post by Alice Heritage »

I don't think there's a contradiction in line with the author's belief that the dream is given to an individual by God. He's pretty clear that God, and not man, is the source of such a dream. It could coincide with parents' or close ones' dreams though - I would say that the author is neutral on that point in the book. But God/Jesus/scripture are his cardinal reference points, not people. I'm sure that he would say that the fact that the dream was given to you by God does not mean that it is not yours.

At the same time he recognizes the importance of operating in the context of the world today. This can be seen, for example, in his identification of the tension between the American Dream and "Kingdom" dreams in lesson 18. So he admits that individuals can't live outside society. In that sense, he implies that an individual dream could be in harmony with social expectations.

I'm non-religious but have cherished dreams that come from wherever - just things that are of paramount importance to me. No real reference point - just a feeling. Just things I've always seen myself doing - though I'm struggling to realize them and hope this book will help!
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Marcel Cantu wrote: 01 May 2021, 07:49
El_limitless wrote: 01 May 2021, 00:20 What the author was basically trying to say is that God has given us all the ability to dream. A discovery and resilient pursuit of that dream is what the author was referring to in the book.
I don’t think it a contradiction within a certain belief of thinking. I think God inspires dreams and directs dreams but it is still a personal pursuit that must that place to follow dreams.
God, or even your parents can inspire your dreams. But if your dreams are directed by someone else towards some direction then I feel it is like not owning something fully.

Sometimes we see how parents manipulate their children to go after the dreams that they could not pursue. I believe that as a sort of directing. If the God is doing a similar sort of thing, then how can it be your own dream?
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

ButterscotchCherrie wrote: 01 May 2021, 14:12 I don't think there's a contradiction in line with the author's belief that the dream is given to an individual by God. He's pretty clear that God, and not man, is the source of such a dream. It could coincide with parents' or close ones' dreams though - I would say that the author is neutral on that point in the book. But God/Jesus/scripture are his cardinal reference points, not people. I'm sure that he would say that the fact that the dream was given to you by God does not mean that it is not yours.

At the same time he recognizes the importance of operating in the context of the world today. This can be seen, for example, in his identification of the tension between the American Dream and "Kingdom" dreams in lesson 18. So he admits that individuals can't live outside society. In that sense, he implies that an individual dream could be in harmony with social expectations.

I'm non-religious but have cherished dreams that come from wherever - just things that are of paramount importance to me. No real reference point - just a feeling. Just things I've always seen myself doing - though I'm struggling to realize them and hope this book will help!
Most people have dreams that go along with the societal norms. Such dreams are supported by the society and even they fail they won't be insulted. But what we have to keep in mind is that the world has been changed by people who had unusual dreams, which the society had never even thought of. So for that, I think the dreams should come within, not from a God or anyone else. You should dream by yourself, and that can't be done properly if the God gives you the dreams.
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Post by Alice Heritage »

Sushan wrote: 01 May 2021, 21:02
Marcel Cantu wrote: 01 May 2021, 07:49
El_limitless wrote: 01 May 2021, 00:20 What the author was basically trying to say is that God has given us all the ability to dream. A discovery and resilient pursuit of that dream is what the author was referring to in the book.
I don’t think it a contradiction within a certain belief of thinking. I think God inspires dreams and directs dreams but it is still a personal pursuit that must that place to follow dreams.
God, or even your parents can inspire your dreams. But if your dreams are directed by someone else towards some direction then I feel it is like not owning something fully.

Sometimes we see how parents manipulate their children to go after the dreams that they could not pursue. I believe that as a sort of directing. If the God is doing a similar sort of thing, then how can it be your own dream?
If you follow that thought to its logical conclusion, then that's true. The author refers to the idea that we were made in God's image, so in that sense, God does own the dream. I'm sure the author doesn't see Him reduced to a parent living vicariously living through their children, though.
This post was brought to you by the word "specifically".
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

ButterscotchCherrie wrote: 02 May 2021, 00:55
Sushan wrote: 01 May 2021, 21:02
Marcel Cantu wrote: 01 May 2021, 07:49

I don’t think it a contradiction within a certain belief of thinking. I think God inspires dreams and directs dreams but it is still a personal pursuit that must that place to follow dreams.
God, or even your parents can inspire your dreams. But if your dreams are directed by someone else towards some direction then I feel it is like not owning something fully.

Sometimes we see how parents manipulate their children to go after the dreams that they could not pursue. I believe that as a sort of directing. If the God is doing a similar sort of thing, then how can it be your own dream?
If you follow that thought to its logical conclusion, then that's true. The author refers to the idea that we were made in God's image, so in that sense, God does own the dream. I'm sure the author doesn't see Him reduced to a parent living vicariously living through their children, though.
I too think so. It seems that this author is quite religious. So he will never deduct the God to a parent who tries to go to their own dreams through their children.

Still my point remains. As even you have said, it seems like that this God has given humans their dreams, and so He owns those dreams. If so, how can humans have their own dreams and pursue them. It will always be a 'burrowed dream'.
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Post by Alice Heritage »

I too think so. It seems that this author is quite religious. So he will never deduct the God to a parent who tries to go to their own dreams through their children.

Still my point remains. As even you have said, it seems like that this God has given humans their dreams, and so He owns those dreams. If so, how can humans have their own dreams and pursue them. It will always be a 'burrowed dream'.
Indeed. The author is a pastor who clearly rejects all flavours of religion other than his own. In that connection, I don't believe he sees any dream as separable from knowing God's will or following Jesus, because those things are a sine qua non for him anyway.
This post was brought to you by the word "specifically".
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Post by Michael Jerry_ »

Just like most things concerning God and the Bible, this is another contradiction in my opinion because we really can’t be here to fulfill our dreams which the author claims are our priority and then we’d still be told God is the giver of dreams which implies we have no dreams of our own and only have God’s dreams for us which we are to fulfill which in turn kind of indicates a lack of free will. I’m not sure how other readers will feel about this
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Post by britcott30 »

I don’t think that is a contradiction. I think what the author meant is God gives us rights to dream, since that also one of our free will from God. So we can pursue our dreams without deviating from God’s path.
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Post by Suzer6440 xyz »

I believe that God has given us the opportunity to dream and to dream as big as want. What we do with our dreams is up to us individually. I don't believe that the author has contradicted himself but sharing his own beliefs
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