Signs & Wonders Blog

April 28th is a memorable anniversary to me for a couple of personal reasons. One involves a woman I met forty years ago, with whom I had a very brief relationship. During the spring of 1984, I attended Moorhead State University in Moorhead, Minnesota. In an electronic music class, I used synthesizers and a multi-track recorder to produce a demo tape of original songs. One of my classmates was a guitarist named Greg who played in a band called Switch (no relation to a successful R&B group of the same name). I got hired to be the soundman for their gig at a high school prom in Leola, South Dakota. It would be my only job with them since the band already made plans to break up. On a Saturday afternoon, Greg rode with me in my ’73 Monte Carlo for the three-hour road trip to Leola  (the other members of Switch met us there). Greg brought a bunch of cassettes with him, but my car didn’t have a tape deck. So we mostly listened to the radio. Before the dance started, the band...

One of my favorite preachers went home to be with the Lord this past Monday. Jerry Savelle was born on Christmas Eve, 1946 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. His family later moved to Shreveport, Louisiana. At ten years old, he heard the call to preach while watching Oral Roberts on television but resisted that calling for years. After marrying Carolyn Creech, Jerry continued pursuing an automotive career until finally surrendering to Jesus in February 1969. The Lord directed him to shut his business down and spend time daily listening to teaching tapes by Kenneth Copeland . Jerry later worked for Brother Copeland for two years before starting his own ministry. As a young believer, I first heard Jerry Savelle in February 1992 as the guest speaker at Living Word Christian Center . I immediately liked his humor and the “adventures in faith” he shared. A few months later, I heard Jerry minister at another local church. Near the end of the service, someone sitting behind me gave me a $100 bill. I...

A practice done in many churches is the altar call. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines that as, “an appeal by an evangelist to worshippers to come forward to signify their decision to commit their lives to Christ.” Years ago, multitudes walked down “the sawdust trail” in tent meetings. Billy Graham encouraged sinners to get out of their seats during his crusades held in stadiums. One church I attended regularly changed their altar calls. They used to invite people to come forward for salvation before the close of every service. Now they usually have altar workers talk with individuals after the congregation has been formally dismissed. I didn’t agree with this change, but what the pastor does is between him and the Lord. I believe it’s important to have altar calls during services where sinners are likely present. In her personal testimony, Joyce Meyer talked about going to a church with relatives when she was nine years old. The pastor normally had altar calls but not that part...

Tomorrow afternoon, portions of the United States will get to view a total solar eclipse. When the last one occurred seven years ago, my hometown newspaper (the Fargo Forum) published an article about two Messianic believers claiming the eclipse represented “a seven-year judgment on America.” I agreed with their exhortation of our country’s need for repentance. However, they also stated that unless America repents, “another one [eclipse] is coming in seven years.” Eclipses happen regardless of what man does on earth. Nevertheless, God uses signs in the sky to get our attention such as the wise men being led by a star to Bethlehem in Matthew chapter 2. The rainbow in Genesis 9 was a sign that God will not flood the whole earth again. Acts 2 mentions signs of the end times prophesied by Joel… 19 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of ...