Signs & Wonders Blog

This past Wednesday I got together with an old friend. Adam Colt and I had lunch at an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant and then picked up parts at a computer store. While driving me home, Adam mentioned a Facebook group for a defunct music store we both worked at. That prompted me to join the group and peruse through old photos of the store. That brought back memories. In July 1988, I landed a full-time job at Knut-Koupeé  (pronounced “Newt Coo-pay”)  Music. I was hired to sell keyboards and other pieces of sound equipment. Weeks before I had moved into an apartment just three blocks away. It was nice being able to walk to work instead of dealing with parking issues in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. Another benefit to my employment at Knut was buying discounted equipment for my home recording studio. When I started working at Knut-Koupeé, I also deejayed several nights a week plus produced radio commercials. Working over 60 hours a week (particularly the ten-hour shifts ...

As a boy, I loved playing Monopoly. My parents originally taught me how to play this property trading board game. They soon resisted my requests to play it again because our games took too long. To pass the time on Christmas Eve, my sister and I often played Monopoly before Dad came home from work and we opened presents. One Christmas, Dad brought home a borrowed Nintendo Entertainment System that included a Monopoly cartridge. I played that several times on our TV. The classic version of Monopoly released in 1935 has properties named after locations in or near Atlantic City, New Jersey. In recent years, numerous specialty editions have come out with renamed properties connected with movies, colleges, or other themes. Updates of the game include new game pieces and credit cards for purchases instead of cash. This past Thursday, Hasbro announced Monopoly will get a “long overdue” socially conscious makeover. All sixteen of Monopoly’s Community Chest cards will be changed. Gone will b...

Thirty years ago, I was involved in a multi-level marketing company called Nu Skin . Although it didn’t prosper me financially as I hoped, it was a valuable learning experience. Many recruiting tips I learned in MLM were later applied in evangelism outreaches. One of which was not taking it personally when someone rejects what is offered to them. One Nu Skin distributor taught this analogy. Let’s suppose you excitedly call your neighbor saying, “Jim, I found gold buried in my backyard! Get a shovel and bucket and get all you want!” “Well, I’m a little busy right now.” “Didn’t you hear me, Jim? There’s gold in my backyard! Get a shovel and bucket and get all you want!” “Well, I really don’t have a shovel and bucket.” “Darn it, Jim! Just go BUY a shovel and bucket!” “Do you know how much shovels and buckets cost?” The distributor concluded the analogy by advising, “Folks, will you please learn to do this?” He then waved his arm like moving something out of the way and declar...

One of my favorite books growing up was “The Little Engine That Could” by Watty Piper. This story is about a group of toys on a train carrying them and some food. The train was about to go over a mountain when their engine suddenly died. The toys sought another engine to help them, but three big ones rejected their pleas. Then they encountered a smaller engine uncertain it could do the job. Nevertheless, the engine pulled the toys over the mountain while repeatedly saying, “I think I can…I think I can.” Many believers belittle themselves when facing unfavorable circumstances. When instructed to confront Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go free, Moses complained,  “O my Lord, I am not eloquent…I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”  (Exodus 4:10) Later when it was time to enter the Promised Land, most of the Israelites called themselves “grasshoppers” in comparison to the giants they had to fight off. (Numbers 13:33). Because of negative thinking, none of those Israeli...