Signs & Wonders Blog

This Wednesday would have been my father’s 80th birthday (he passed away almost six years ago). However, another man who was born six days before my dad recently celebrated eight decades on earth. It’s someone who’s also been a blessing in my life. In July 2007, I took a bus from Fargo, North Dakota, to attend part of Calvary Campground ’s Summer Campmeeting in Ashland, Virginia. On the day I prepared to leave for Toronto, a man asked to join me for breakfast in the dining hall. When I discovered Jim was from Northern Virginia and would return home that night, I asked for a ride to Washington, DC, to reduce the bus fare. Jim later took me out for dinner and offered to let me stay at his house. At the time, I had all my belongings with me. It was nice to lighten my travel load by leaving some stuff with Jim. After spending almost a month north of the border, I took a bus back to DC. During the next few months, I resided at Jim’s house in Fairfax. His wife passed away a few months be...

Today is a special anniversary for me. On this day 32 years ago, I made Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. A personal crisis made me realize I needed to get my life right with God. So I had a lengthy talk with my sister and her husband since they are committed Christians. After my brother-in-law asked me to pray with him, it felt like a surge of power flowed through me as I invited Jesus back into my heart. I first asked Him into my life ten years before. At a Young Life meeting in June 1981, a minister explained that one must do that for God to hear our prayers. During the next few weeks, I attended a Bible study but soon drifted away from spiritual things. Gradually, I fell into a hedonistic lifestyle. That is one reason I don’t believe in “ once saved, always saved .” Just as someone can walk away from a marriage, they can also renounce their relationship with the Lord. While evangelizing, I've met people who “used to be saved.” I still observe my natural birthday on January 13...

Today I turn 55 years old. It’s almost hard to believe some places now consider me a senior citizen. At least this entitles me to certain discounts. For the past nine years, a few McDonald’s restaurants charged me for a “senior coffee” despite most people telling me I look younger than my actual age. Thank God He has preserved my youth! (Psalm 103:5) I still have very few gray hairs even though my dad’s hair turned gray at an earlier age. That also happened with my brother-in-law Greg.  One day we all went out for a family dinner and I had fun filming the occasion with my laptop’s webcam. When Greg saw himself on camera, he made reference to his gray hair. I reminded him that’s a sign of wisdom. Job 12:12 says, “Wisdom is with aged men, and with length of days, understanding.” Greg jokingly declared, “I got the ‘dom’ part down…now I’m looking for the ‘wis.’” God expects us to respect the elderly. Leviticus 19:32 says, “You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the p...

One of the things that repelled me from Christianity during my youth was seeing religious folk look unhappy and speak against those wanting to have fun. It’s unfortunate some God-fearing people don’t know how to enjoy life. That’s why I appreciate fellow ministers like Jesse Duplantis , Rodney Howard-Browne, and John Scotland. Their meetings are often filled with joy and laughter.  My birthday is coming up in two weeks. That got me reflecting on how as kids most of us got excited when we turned another year older. Perhaps relatives and friends celebrated with you while you ate cake and ice cream plus opened up presents. Sadly, some children are deprived of these things. Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate birthdays at all (as well as Christmas and other holidays). The Watchtower calls that a pagan practice. However, the Bible does not say anything against observing birthdays.  The truth is the Lord likes to party. The Bible mentions various feasts and celebrations t...

This Friday I turn 53 years old. To this day I still enjoy receiving gifts on my birthday including restaurants offering free drinks and food (but don’t care for the silly songs some employees sing). As kids, most of us got excited when we turned another year older. Perhaps you got to eat cake and ice cream plus open presents. Sadly some children are deprived of these things. A couple of weeks ago while some friends and I were hanging out at McDonald’s, two Jehovah’s Witnesses sat in the booth next to us. One of them was a little boy whose birthday happened to be that very day. When one of my friends found out about that, she offered to buy the boy an ice cream cone. The older JW said they don’t observe birthdays citing Ecclesiastes 7:1, “A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.” The Watchtower often uses Old Testament verses taken out of context to support their unorthodox beliefs. It’s not a sin to acknowledge days spe...

Three days ago a friend of mine along with two companions started on a road trip from Minnesota to Texas. Halfway through the trip, one of those companions learned her father was in a motorcycle accident. The three of them made a U-turn back to Minnesota. Shortly afterwards, the motorcyclist died after being taken off life support. Fortunately he professed to know the Lord. This reminded me of an incident last year involving another female friend. Ironically she also lived in Minnesota but traveled down to Texas with her new husband. One day the two were in a motorcycle accident. My friend was critically injured but has since recovered. Her husband died at the scene. An estimated 54 million people die every year. That’s almost 150,000 every day. Many of these deaths are sudden and without warning. Scripture describes just how fragile life really is… “For we are only of yesterday and know nothing, Because our days on earth are [like] a shadow [just a breath or a vapor].”...