Signs & Wonders Blog

With the American midterm election coming up in a few days, I thought it would be good to share this powerful analogy a Facebook friend posted: A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like many others her age, she considered herself to be liberal. She was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs: in other words, the redistribution of wealth.     She was ashamed that her father was a rather staunch conservative, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.     One day she challenged her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth, and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in schoo

Yesterday afternoon I rode a bus from downtown Tampa after doing some street evangelism. I was getting hungry and thought of an area in the northern part of town with many restaurants. While getting off by the intersection of Fowler and Nebraska Avenue, I noticed a gathering that included a man preaching over a loudspeaker. One thing that caught my attention was a large banner quoting Isaiah 1:18 but misspelled “saith.” By the time I walked over there, I forgot about the misspelled banner because of seeing other signs. I also noticed the group consisted of well dressed African-American men (I don’t recall seeing any women). I asked who they were. One of the men handed me a flyer that resembled a church bulletin.  I started looking at the flyer minutes later after getting seated at Denny’s. I realized the flyer was their church's version of a gospel tract. However, there were parts of it I don’t agree with. Despite their sign encouraging people to “reason together”, I wasn’t in the

All my life I’ve been a cat lover but in recent years developed an increasing appreciation for dogs. One in particular that I grew fond of recently passed away. When I first stayed with my friend Lorvin in 2013, he had two beagles named Rocky and Scooby. I noticed Scooby’s bark sounded like a seal. So we started calling him Seal Dog. I never got tired of hearing his “seal squeal.” Scooby wagged his tail while barking and howling for me. I believe he enjoyed the extra attention. Rocky usually wouldn’t bark when I tried getting him to do so. Seal Dog always responded instead. Lorvin got the idea of turning Scooby into a superhero . He ordered a Superman outfit for dogs since the “S” could also stand for Seal Dog. An Underdog outfit was ordered for Rocky who I nicknamed Überdog. Just for fun, I created videos of these characters. One of them was for a song I composed. “ Seal Dog Theme ” got played on the Dr. Demento radio show. Later when Lorvin got married, his wife Tanya insisted on

Two nights ago at Rodney Howard-Browne ’s church, I attended a service where evangelist Jonathan Shuttlesworth was the guest speaker. At the end, he offered to pray for everyone. When Jonathan laid hands on me, I didn’t get slain in the spirit but noticed a tingling in my hands afterward. When I woke up the next morning, I felt a stirring in my spirit. Even as I write this, my hands are still tingling.  Christianity is not dependent on feelings such as Mormons urging potential converts to seek after a “burning in the bosom.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us,  “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”  Nevertheless, God has often manifested Himself to where I felt Him doing things in me. On the night on my conversion in 1991, my brother-in-law led me in a prayer to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I then felt a surge of electricity flow through my body. All the guilt I felt from the sins I committed suddenly left. One Monday night in 1995, following a street evangelism outreach, someo

During the past week, Hurricane Ian devastated parts of Cuba, Florida, and the Carolinas. However, there were reports of believers whose homes were miraculously spared. The mainstream media predicted the hurricane would hit the Tampa Bay area but diverted to the south. I believe that was the result of extra prayer meetings The River Church (and probably other fellowships) had where they spoke against this storm. On May 22, 2011, a tornado hit north Minneapolis where I’ve been staying with friends. I wasn't even aware a tornado touched down in the area until hours after coming home from a downtown bike ride. An air raid siren had been wailing but I didn't think much of it because it wasn't very loud. I figured it was due to bad weather out in the suburbs...not 20 blocks away!   Meanwhile, my host had slept in late and was awakened by the siren. In response, he simply rebuked the tornado. It lifted within five seconds! Five minutes later the sun came out and there was bea