Signs & Wonders Blog

Forty years ago, a church was founded that would impact my life. A pilot named Mac Hammond and his wife Lynne had led a Bible study in the Minneapolis area. In November 1980, it officially became a church called Living Word Faith Fellowship that initially met in a hotel conference room. It later moved into a building in Brooklyn Park, merged with another church, and was renamed Living Word Christian Center . This congregation that started with just twelve people has grown into a body of more than 10,000 members. I was introduced to Living Word in February 1991 through my then-girlfriend. She attended services there and invited me to go with her one Sunday morning. It reminded me of a service I might see on TV (later finding out the church just begun broadcasting on a local station). Pastor Mac encouraged first-time visitors to come back again “to take a more accurate measure of us as a church.” The next two times I went to Living Word, I still resisted the altar call for salvation. ...

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...