Signs & Wonders Blog

I’m thankful that Donald Trump will return as president of the United States on January 20th. However, I don’t necessarily agree with one of his proposals. Trump has talked about eliminating Daylight Saving Time. Some experts claim that “springing forward and falling back” has negative health effects. Therefore, they advise we should “lock the clock.” I prefer to have more daylight hours in the evening to do street evangelism. When I recently wrote about this on my social media pages, one man connected with me on LinkedIn replied, “I am sorry but other than more daylight the ill effects literally kill people and have no other positive benefits. Only harms. I would possibly support moving 1/2 an hour and leaving it alone permanently after that. The economic costs also outweigh the benefits. It is quite costly beyond people having more ill health and death from heart attacks and strokes and accidents. There is no positives beyond longer days, only negatives.” I have difficulty believi...

During my childhood, I enjoyed watching Christmas specials on TV. This past Wednesday, I found one on YouTube I don’t recall seeing before. “ Christmas Lost and Found ” featured the claymation characters Davey and his talking dog Goliath. In this 1965 production by the Lutheran Church of America, Davey repeatedly complains, “I don’t feel Christmas.”  Davey tries various things associated with the holiday such as putting up lights and eating Christmas cookies. His dad also gives him money to purchase a tree from a new kid named Kenny. After Davey bought presents for his family and friends, Goliath suggested his owner now felt the Christmas spirit. Davey replied, “All I got is no money left.”  Meanwhile, Davey’s sister Sally set up a nativity scene in their home. That inspired him to gather his friends and perform a Christmas pageant in the town theater. Davey portrayed one of the wise men singing “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” Sally played Mary. Goliath insisted on being a ...

J. Lee Grady has a weekly column in Charisma magazine called “Fire In My Bones.” This past Wednesday, he wrote (in my opinion) one of his best articles: “Which 4 Friends Will Carry You to Jesus?” That was inspired by the paralyzed man in Mark chapter 2 who got healed while Jesus taught inside a house in Capernaum. Four men lowered the paralytic lying on a bed after tearing a hole in the roof. As a traveling missionary who has been a loner most of my life, I haven’t had a lot of close friends. Still, I have some, including ministers that helped me grow in the things of God. In this article, I want to honor four men who are not in full-time ministry but would tear the roof off to get me to Jesus: Tom “Rock” S. - When I began  working for Billy Graham’s film ministry in 1996, a coworker who sat on the other side of my cubicle wall reminded me of our meeting two years before at a party hosted by a mutual friend. Tom and I started praying together in between sales calls. We also d...

The New Oxford American Dictionary defines pardon as “the action of forgiving or being forgiven for an error or offense .” The White House has a history of issuing them especially before a president leaves office. One of the most memorable was the 1974 pardon Gerald Ford gave shortly after the resignation of his predecessor Richard Nixon. Ford’s stated reason was to help the country move forward from the Watergate scandal. His press secretary Jerald terHorst resigned in protest. Historians believe the Nixon pardon was a major reason Ford lost the 1976 election to Jimmy Carter. Last Sunday, another controversial pardon came from the White House. Joe Biden issued one for his son Hunter who was convicted of multiple felonies but hadn’t yet been sentenced. What makes this pardon troubling is the Biden administration stating numerous times no pardons would be issued for Hunter. The outgoing president didn’t keep his word. Even if Hunter Biden appears to be getting off scot-free, he will...

A convicted murderer was recently denied parole after spending thirty years behind bars. Susan Smith of Union, South Carolina, made national headlines in October 1994 when she claimed a black man carjacked her vehicle with her two young sons strapped in the back seat. For nine days, multitudes searched for the man, the boys, and the car. After investigators pointed out discrepancies with her story, Susan confessed to plunging her vehicle into a lake, drowning 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex. During a subsequent trial, prosecuting attorney Tommy Pope sought the death penalty. Instead, Susan was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. In a book written by the father of the two boys, David Smith revealed he and Susan had been unfaithful to each other. I also learned about Susan’s rough upbringing. Her father committed suicide when she was six. Her mother got remarried to a man who molested Susan. Susan herself attempted to kill herself a couple of times and almost drowned herse...