Signs & Wonders Blog

A recent surge of friend requests I received on Facebook included members representing the Church of Almighty God, an organization I hadn’t heard of before. Their graphics accompanying their posts reminded me of those used by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Therefore, I suspected this group is a cult. To find out more about this “church”, I watched a BBC documentary about them that looked rather disturbing. Then I logged onto their website . Immediately, a chat window opened up. I decided to respond to the other person online. Here’s how the conversation went (my comments are in bold)… Hello, and welcome to the Gospel of the Descent of Kingdom. Think back on the “Your kingdom come” prayer that we have often made in the past. Now, God's kingdom has already descended, and God has returned in the flesh to express the truth and carry out the work of judgment in order for us to be able to come face to face with God and listen to His voice with our own ears! Do you want to understand the de...

Statue of Peter in Madrid (2003) In our politically correct society, protests have arisen against certain statues. Among them are of Civil War general Robert E. Lee. Some argue leaving such statues intact celebrates slavery. On the other hand, monuments are erected to remind us of regrettable events like the Holocaust. There’s an old saying, “Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.” Statues have a part of American history. Immigrants are excited to see the Statue of Liberty while passing by Ellis Island in New York City. The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC honors the president who helped end slavery in the United States. Mount Rushmore in South Dakota features the face of Lincoln plus three other past presidents. Romans 13:7 says we are to give honor to whom honor is due. However, Exodus 20:4 in the New Living Translation says, “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” Statues b...

A fellow evangelist I know used to be employed by the U. S. Postal Service. I heard him talk about a time when a massive winter storm prevented coworkers from showing up on the job. Some of them were atheists but still marked “an act of God” on a form as their reason for missing work so they could get paid. One dictionary defines act of God as “an instance of uncontrollable natural forces in operation (often used in insurance claims).”  Many people who won’t live for God still blame Him for disasters such as tornadoes and floods. Obviously, the Lord has some control over the weather. Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, “for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” However, I don’t believe killer storms are “acts of God.” Keep in mind we live in a fallen world largely ruled by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4) who comes to “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” Jesus came to give us life and “ ha ve it more abundantly” (John 10:1...

A new NFL regular season begins in a few days. Armchair quarterbacks are already discussing how their favorite teams and players should do things differently this year. These self-appointed experts seem to think they know more about football than the coaches.  Sadly, this sort of thing happens in the Body of Christ. “Armchair pastors” criticize ministers for doing or not doing certain things. This past week, the Internet has been (pardon the pun) flooded with unChristlike remarks regarding a well-known pastor in Houston, Texas. Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church receives enough flak from heresy hunters who disapprove of his ministry . Now Joel has been lambasted for his response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey. Lakewood Church was criticized for not having services last weekend. Their website stated that was done due to “…concern for the safety of our members.” Many streets in Houston were impassible by flood waters. In the Upper Midwest where I’ve lived most o...