Signs & Wonders Blog

A few years ago I spent the weekend at a Christian retreat center in central Minnesota. In the sanctuary, Terry MacAlmon’s “Precious Lamb of God” was repeatedly heard on a CD player in between meetings. This is one of my favorite songs by Terry. However, I chose to stay away from the sanctuary as much as possible. It’s happened before when I got tired of a song because the pastor, worship leader, or person in charge overplayed it. One minister I know habitually plays the same song over and over on his iPod at the end of his meetings. A favorite of his is Roy Fields’ “In the Presence of Angels.” I liked that song when first heard at the Lakeland Outpouring meetings in 2008. Now I cringe whenever hearing it. That’s unfortunate since it’s really an anointed song. Another tune that’s become annoying to me is the David Ingles composition “Lord We Magnify You.” There’s a church I’ve attended for many years that (in my opinion) still sings that hymn too much. At one recent worship ...

Remember playing “follow the leader” when you were a child? While working at a roller rink during my late teens, I occasionally played that game with the younger skaters. They followed me around the rink copying exactly what I was doing. On social media sites, entertainers usually have the greatest number of followers. Let’s look at the top five on Instagram: Taylor Swift: 49.6 million followers Kim Kardashian: 48.1 million followers  Beyonce: 47.2 million followers  Selena Gomez: 45.9 million followers  Ariana Grande: 44.6 million followers  Now look at the five most followed people on Twitter: K aty Perry: 101,038,793 follower Justin Bieber: 92,035,447 followers Barack Obama: 91,940,321 followers Taylor Swift: 85,432,857 followers Rihanna: 75,338,688 followers Everybody follows somebody. A person with a huge amount of followers doesn’t mean he or she is worth following. Adolf Hitler amassed millions of devotees before triggering World War I...

Some believers are reluctant to share the gospel with Jews because of past atrocities done to them in Christ’s name. Nevertheless, they still need to hear the Good News to be saved. A Jewish convert named Paul wrote in Romans 1:16 (NLT), “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes– the Jew first and also the Gentile.”  Once I lived with a family in Virginia that had a Christian mother and a Jewish father. The mother originally didn’t want me witnessing to her husband because other believers tried forcing the gospel upon him. Three days before I moved out, the Lord instructed me to witness to this man. After mentioning this to his wife (who gave her approval), I asked him questions about his eternal destiny. He wouldn’t pray with me but listened politely as I mentioned a few Old Testament prophecies pointing to Jesus as the Messiah. At the Mall of America near Minneapolis, some of their kiosk workers ...

Two nights ago I briefly listened to an online church service. I logged off after hearing a young preacher say, “You’re not going to come here [to his church] and feel condemned…or convicted.” I believe he meant well since he talked about mistakes the church made generations before him. Unfortunately, many ministers who emphasize grace disregard the Bible’s warnings on not obeying God’s commandments. Certainly God doesn’t want us feeling condemned. One dictionary defines condemn as “officially declare (something, especially a building) to be unfit for use.” That same dictionary defines condemnation as “the action of condemning someone to a punishment; sentencing.” Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…”  As long as we stay in communion with the Lord, we shouldn’t fear condemnation.  There is always hope for redemption. On the other hand, Jesus told a woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin n...