The Disney Experience

Usually rain would put a damper on one’s mood, personally I feel as though I have a love affair with it though. The way it simply washes away the dirt and filth of the air and ground leaving nothing but a crisp clean path in its wake, there’s simply nothing like it! The rhythmic sound of the drops hitting the pavement is one that I love listening to at anytime of day. Though it cools the air and makes everything wet, rainy days tend to be one of my favorites.

On just such a rainy day I had the opportunity to visit Disneyland, “The Happiest Place on Earth”; despite the weather making things a little chilly, I truly had fun. Being my first time I was simply astounded by the depth of detail put into the rides; I would go from place to place and feel like I had literally been picked up and transported into the past or future or to another location entirely. From the dress of the cast to the material you walked on, everything felt authentic. The characters that wander around the parks make it seem normal that Mickey Mouse and Cruella de Vil are there in the flesh. Where else but Disney does this occur?

I stood there and thought to myself that not everyone gets to visit this place. Not everyone has the opportunity to experience the magic that is Disneyland. I never knew what I was missing out on until I experienced it myself. I was ignorant of the incredible place of Disneyland and now that I know every other theme park has to live up to the high standard set by the imagination of Walt Disney.

How is this any different than what happens at the Dream Center? People do not know about the amazing love of Jesus Christ, many times it is not that they do not care; it is that they are unaware of the possibility of such an amazing love. They have not experienced the joy, love, and peace brought through a relationship with God; so they are satisfied with their current circumstance. Just as I never knew there could exist such an amazing place with such depth as Disneyland, they have not experienced the love of Christ.

That is what the Dream Center is all about: allowing people to experience the amazing love of Christ through our ministries. Whether they wind up experiencing that love for themselves we cannot control; all we are able, and have been called to do, is show them the door and hold it open so they might be able to walk through.

-Joel