Signs & Wonders Blog

Leonard Ravenhill said, “You can’t develop character by reading books. You develop it from conflict.” God doesn’t bring calamity into our lives. However, He sometimes allows challenging situations to manifest so we develop a greater trust in Him and become more Christ-like. 2 Timothy 3:12 promises, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” If you are living for the Lord, then you should expect people to occasionally call you names like “religious fanatic”, “Bible thumper”, and “Jesus freak.” (My brother-in-law thanks people who call him the latter). Unfortunately, some believers who are not grounded in the word of God will draw back when persecuted. Jesus said in Mark 4:17, “And they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.” How should a Christian respond to persecution? Our natural human tendency is to answer likewise when people...

Coronavirus lockdowns have forced many places to close or change how they do business. For two months now, I haven’t been able to get a haircut, hang out at coffee shops, or attend most church services in person. Nevertheless, there are Christians who are quick to preach about “obeying the laws of the land” (Romans 13:1-6, Titus 3:1-2). I agree with that to a point. For example, no one should  violate the speed limit  except for policemen catching criminals and first responders trying to save lives. Sometimes civil disobedience is necessary when a law contradicts the higher laws of God. These individuals in the Bible wouldn’t have fulfilled their divine destinies had they followed every man-made ordinance… The Hebrew midwives were ordered to throw newborn boys into the Nile River (Exodus 1:16). One mother hid her son for three months and then sent him floating down the river. Moses eventually led the Israelites out of captivity.  Esther went against protocol by ...

Christians are living epistles according to 2 Corinthians 3:3. Non-Christians carefully observe the actions of professing believers to see if they are “walking the walk” as well as “talking the talk.” One thing that leaves a bad witness is when God’s people don’t obey traffic laws. Imagine what an unbeliever thinks when he sees a Christian speeding with a “What Would Jesus Do” bumper sticker on the back of his car. I’ve met a few Christians who tried justifying their need to speed but still found themselves in trouble. One morning I rode with a pastor who was running behind schedule and drove well over the posted speed limit on our way to his church. Despite having a radar detector in his car, this pastor got pulled over. Since I was from out of state, the patrolman searched my luggage to make sure I wasn’t transporting drugs. Fortunately for the pastor, all he got was a warning ticket. In spite of this, we arrived at his church much later than had he obeyed the speed l...

Nonbelievers will often attempt to discredit God’s word.   While street evangelizing, I occasionally run into individuals who claim the Bible is full of contradictions.   When I ask them to name one, many times they cannot do so.   They simply believe what somebody else told them. Recently in the Fargo Forum (my hometown newspaper), a man supportive of same-sex marriage wrote a letter to the editor claiming, “God’s laws change all the time” without citing an example.   He went on to write , “Just go to any bookstore and see all the different Bibles, each one a different interpretation . ”   What does he mean by “different Bibles?”   Was he comparing the Holy Bible to non-Christian books such as the Koran?   That’s like comparing apples to oranges.   Muslims believe Jesus was only a prophet and not God’s Son.   John 3:16 says otherwise. This letter writer might have referred to different Bible translations you find at Christ...