Signs & Wonders Blog

It’s sad when a loved one dies. That includes our pets. I remember as an 11-year-old crying heavily after our family cat Yo-Yo got hit by a car. Last year, a chihuahua owned by a close friend died of old age. I perceived Gracie’s death was imminent. Therefore, I didn’t grieve that much but loved her enough to make this  memorial video . Then last Wednesday, a cat belonging to the pastor I’m staying with died. Calico was only five years old. She often had a “cattitude” (hissing at me when I tried giving her affection). Still, I will miss her as well.  Calico’s death stimulated a short discussion with my pastor about seeing pets again in eternity. We both recalled the  Jesse Duplantis  video “ Close Encounters of the God Kind .” Jesse saw animals in heaven that included dogs. His book of the same name also mentions large cats like lions. My former pastor Mac Hammond  filmed a  teaching  about pets in heaven. It’s his opinion we will be reunited with the...

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a federal holiday during which Americans remember those who died while serving in the armed forces. Regardless of where you’re from, I believe it’s important to honor your nation’s soldiers who sacrificed their lives to defend freedoms often taken for granted. The dictionary gives several definitions of the word sacrifice . One is “an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy.” Having served in the U. S. Army myself, it grieves me to see people dishonor military personnel. Many servicemen and women have been killed, wounded, or paralyzed so that even ungrateful civilians can live in a free society.  Sacrifice is also defined as “an act of slaughtering an animal or person or surrendering a possession as an offering to God or to a divine or supernatural figure.” Although Abraham was instructed to offer his son Isaac as an obedience test in Genesis 22, God forbids the sacrifice of humans ...

I’ve never had much interest in hunting. The only time I’ve done so happened when I was 19. One day I went for a country drive with a friend who brought along his BB gun. Just for fun he shot at birds sitting on road signs and telephone lines. My friend encouraged me to take a few shots and I killed just one bird. Since then, the closest I’ve gone hunting was playing Duck Hunt, a video game featuring a dog that laughs every time a player fails to hit any ducks. This past week a huge controversy erupted over a Minnesota man’s recent bowhunting trip in Zimbabwe. A dentist named Walter Palmer killed a lion that was part of an Oxford University research project. This lion named Cecil had been lured from the grounds of a wildlife preserve by Palmer’s safari guides.  In response to accusations of poaching, Dr. Palmer issued a statement saying he thought he had hunted legally and offered an apology. Nevertheless, the dentist received death threats plus had hundreds of protester...