Signs & Wonders Blog

One of the largest fellowships in the United States is Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas pastored by Joel and Victoria Osteen. Last Sunday morning, I attended one of their services for the first time. Lakewood Church meets in an arena where the Houston Rockets once played. Before going inside, I had to walk through a metal detector, plus have my backpack searched. I’m guessing increased security measures were enacted in response to a shooting that happened there two years ago. Since I arrived a half hour early for the 8:30 a.m. service, I took time to browse around. That included a huge bookstore. As expected, there were many of Pastor Joel’s books, but also some from other authors. Just before the service started, I picked a seat in the tenth row on the main floor (I could’ve sat closer but preferred an aisle seat). I also talked to an usher to make sure it was okay for me to take pictures. The arena eventually filled to about 25-30% capacity. That’s still a large crowd for an ear...

At the time of this writing, most mainstream media outlets have declared Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 U. S. Presidential election . However, all the votes haven’t been accounted for yet. There have been reports of illegal voting on behalf of the dead and underaged. I’ve also heard of individuals voting more than once despite that being a federal crime. Nevertheless, there are Christians already labeling ministers “false prophets” who predicted a Trump victory.  Jesus did warn in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” However, the term “false prophet” is used too loosely amongst the body of Christ. Critics often apply that to ministers they don’t like. One example is Joel Osteen , a pastor who (to the best of my knowledge) has never called himself a prophet. So how can one identify a false prophet? It’s more than calling someone out for making a wrong prediction. Even a broken clock...

One pastor who receives a lot of flak is Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Many Christians I know dismiss him as a false teacher for not talking more about sin and repentance. On the other hand, I have friends edified by his motivational messages. Previously, I defended Joel  despite not agreeing with everything he says to the media. In recent years, I’ve heard of him doing things considered questionable. Last year, a New York Daily News article claimed Joel Osteen and his wife Victoria attended a Lady Gaga concert. During a pre-concert reception, the Osteens posed on the carpet for a photograph with SiriusXM, Pandora, and Lady Gaga logos in the background. I was disturbed when first seeing this. So I sent emails to Joel Osteen Ministries requesting more information but didn’t receive a response. I had hoped Joel would release a statement explaining his intentions and what really happened. He might have simply attended the reception since he has a channel on ...

One of my favorite preachers is Kenneth Copeland. Every morning I read “ From Faith to Faith ”, a powerful devotional written by him and his wife Gloria. In addition to seeing them on TV, I’ve heard the Copelands many times at my home church in Minnesota plus attended some of their Victory Campaigns. This past January, I visited Eagle Mountain International Church near Fort Worth, Texas pastored by Kenneth’s daughter Terri and her husband George Pearsons. Kenneth often speaks there. As a baby Christian, I wasn’t fond of Kenneth Copeland when first hearing him as well as a few other Charismatic preachers. Eventually, I learned to overlook a minister’s personality and focus more on the content of their messages. I’ve since grown to appreciate Brother Copeland’s boldness, skillful knowledge of Scripture and his sense of humor. Kenneth Copeland is often lambasted by religious folk who don’t like his teachings and him owning an airplane . It should be mentioned that Brother Copel...

Some Christians are quick to demonize Holy Spirit manifestations unfamiliar to them such as people shaking. A few of these watchdogs accuse certain ministers of allowing a Kundalini spirit at their meetings. Kundalini is a yoga term whose origin is the Sanskrit word for snake. One dictionary defines Kundalini as “latent female energy believed to lie coiled at the base of the spine” and “a system of meditation directed toward the release of kundalini energy.” In response to a YouTube video posted to “expose” one well-known evangelist/pastor, I pointed out these Kundalini hunters don’t know how to test the spirits. 1 John 4:2 says, “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.” The minister in question has altar calls for salvation that include leading newborn believers to say, “I confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.” One critic responded, “So did Jim Jones. What does that prove?” I replied by askin...

One of the most well-known and controversial ministers today is Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Pastor Joel oversees the largest congregation in the United States plus reaches millions through television, satellite radio, and has written several best-selling books. Some Christians criticize Osteen’s motivational messages because they think he needs to preach more about repentance. Others disapprove of Joel’s lack of theological training. Then again, some of the early apostles were considered “unlearned and ignorant men.” (Acts 4:13) Eight years ago in Washington, DC, I attended one of Joel Osteen’s outreach events called “A Night of Hope.” Joel ministered that night on detoxifying our thought life. The service concluded with an invitation for salvation that was much longer than what Joel does on TV. That gave me a greater respect for him. A Facebook friend once posted the above photo of Joel Osteen’s first book “Your Best Life Now” side-by-side w...

Many times before publishing a new article in my blog or newsletter, I’ll share it with a friend to get their feedback. I always want to be sure my writings are accurate and don’t mislead people. It annoys me when someone starts making suggestions before reading the whole thing. Often their concerns are addressed later in my article. Ministers constantly face scrutiny like this. Religious watchdogs habitually take sound bites of well-known preachers they don't like and attempt to expose them. Sometimes it's made to appear these preachers said things they really didn’t mean. A recent example of this involved Victoria Osteen, who co-pastors Lakewood Church in Houston along with her husband Joel. A few of my Facebook friends posted a short video clip of Victoria making comments about worship that upset many Christians (some versions of this include an added "rebuke" by Bill Cosby): . Eventually, Victoria issued a response saying, " I did not mean to imply t...

This past Tuesday, a young man from the Netherlands sent me an email requesting permission to post a video I made with John Crowder on his own YouTube page (for personal reasons I had removed the video from public view). When I examined this Dutchman’s account, I noticed it only contained videos critical of other ministers. This man believes his purpose in life is to warn people of “false prophets.”  During an ensuing exchange of emails, this man suggested I look up two passages of Scripture. One of which was 2 Timothy 4:1-5. I noticed verse 2 says, “Preach the word!” Verse 5 exhorts us to “do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” Constantly criticizing other preachers is not a ministry nor does it advance the kingdom of God. It only brings division amongst the body of Christ. Certainly I agree rebuke is necessary when a fellow believer is living in blatant sin or preaching false doctrine (in my July newsletter I wrote against those proclaiming "universal rec...