Signs & Wonders Blog

A few weeks ago, reports surfaced of immoral behavior involving Canadian-born evangelist Todd Bentley. Three of his former associates who I’m friends with on Facebook issued public warnings about him. Todd has denied most of these accusations. Meanwhile, a tribunal has been set up to investigate the charges. At the time of this writing, I’ve not heard of any legal action taken against Todd.  Unless he is proven guilty, I’m choosing to believe the best about Todd Bentley (1 Corinthians 13:7). It was around 2002 when I started hearing about him. His name stood out to me because I had a junior high classmate also named Todd Bentley.  The first time I heard evangelist Todd Bentley minister was at The River at Tampa Bay church in 2004. He wasn’t the scheduled speaker but Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne invited him to come up to the pulpit for a few minutes. Because he’s from Canada, I was surprised to hear Todd preach like an American Pentecostal. Over the next few year...

One evangelistic slogan found on T-shirts and bumper stickers is, “Body piercing saved my life.” That phrase is sometimes accompanied by a picture of a punctured hand symbolizing the crucifixion of Jesus. This is a way of witnessing to the Goth community and others who are into body piercing.   Two years before giving my life to the Lord, I had my ear pierced and wore an earring. Although I’ve since chosen not to wear it anymore, I still get irritated when earring-wearing men are criticized by religious folk, especially female ministers. Who decided that only women should have earrings? In Old Testament days, both men and women wore them (see Exodus 35:22). Another trend that has infiltrated the church is tattoos. Until a generation ago, tattoos in Western countries were mostly seen on military men. Nowadays, both men and women from all backgrounds have them. When I first noticed tattoos becoming popular, I thought this could be paving the way for the mark of the beast. ...