Signs & Wonders Blog

A few days ago, I saw this message posted on Facebook…. “My fiancée wants a wedding and I don't. I want a small ceremony. She wants to use the $16,000 that I have saved up for a home and for emergency funds. I already spent $3,000 on a ring she wanted and that was from my savings. We can’t seem to come to a compromise. I’m willing to spend $5,000 on the wedding and she says that’s not enough. What should I do?” My initial reply was, “Break off the engagement.” I thought this woman was greedy. It would be better to invest more money in the marriage itself. A wedding ceremony plus a reception will last a few hours at the most. Marriage is for a lifetime. Then I remembered something Billy Graham wrote in his autobiography “Just As I Am.” While attending Wheaton College, Billy got engaged to another student named Ruth Bell. Soon they got into a disagreement about their plans for the future. Ruth wanted to be a missionary in Tibet. Billy knew his calling was to preach the gospel t...

In the classic police drama “Dragnet,” Sergeant Joe Friday (portrayed by the late Jack Webb) implored informants, “All we want are the facts.” Parodies have paraphrased this to where many believe Friday frequently said, “Just the facts, ma’am.” The truth is he never uttered that exact phrase on radio or TV. However, it was used to promote the 1987 movie “Dragnet” and as the title of an authorized biography of Jack Webb. As stated before in this blog, I refuse to pass on chain letters . They often contain outdated or inaccurate information. A new one that’s appeared in my Facebook news feed is Tim Tebow warning us about the government preparing us for a cashless society. I don't believe Tim wrote this. It resembles a meme falsely attributed to another well-known Christian.  For years, a prayer request has circulated with Joyce Meyer’s name attached to it. It claims twenty churches got burned down in an Indian province called Olisabang. There are no provinces in India. They have...

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Many Americans recalled what they were doing  when four hijacked planes caused the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. Some commemorate that and other events with moments of silence. Is this beneficial? There’s an old saying, “Silence is golden.” Some people talk too much and would be better off practicing moments of silence. One should be cautious of opening their mouths, especially when they are angry. That way, they won’t utter anything hastily. Ecclesiastes 3:7 says there is ”a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.” Usually, I spend a few minutes per day “ soaking ” while soft music is playing in the background. At the very least, it quiets my mind. Often God speaks to me through a vision. However, moments of silence (just like thoughts ) don’t take the place of spoken prayers. James 4:2 (KJV) says, “…ye have not, because ye ask not.” After John Lennon died in 1980, his widow Yoko Ono requested ten minutes ...

Tomorrow is Labor Day, which one dictionary defines as “a public holiday or day of festivities held in honor of working people, in the US and Canada on the first Monday in September, in many other countries on May 1.” Despite the Bible’s commandments to have a good work ethic, some missionaries are more like “moochinaries”, begging in the name of the Lord. I’ve dealt with a few especially online. Three years ago, a Facebook friend who called himself “The Thankful Leper” sent me a message asking for money. Until then, I never had any interaction with this man since accepting his friend request. Initially, I replied with a link to my “ Discernment for Donations ” article. That was to explain why I don’t give money in response to unsolicited emails. He immediately responded by saying he won’t play “scripture ping pong” but quoted verses about why I should help him financially.  This man went on to say, “If you can't help me in that way I’d be happy to move in with you and you can t...