Signs & Wonders Blog

I’m an evangelist whose mission is to preach the gospel and teach others to do the same. For over 15 years, I’ve used Facebook as a tool for ministry. Despite our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, many Americans have had to be more careful about what they say and post online. Sadly, one politically incorrect statement could cause someone to have their voice silenced. On June 7th, my friend Luca posted this question on her Facebook page, “if you could go back in time and take Hitler out, would you?” I posted this comment in response:  “I would've liked the opportunity to take Hitler out for dinner when he was a young man and share the gospel with him. As a boy, Adolf had considered becoming a priest. Imagine what could have happened if he received a new heart and spirit. Hitler could’ve been another Reinhard Bonnke.” In case you are unfamiliar with Reinhard Bonnke, he was a German evangelist who held large meetings (mostly in Africa). His ministry changed the lives o...

Facebook is a marvelous tool to connect with people and minister to them. It’s also a source of occasional frustration and conflict. Aside from increased censorship by social media platforms , you risk offending others no matter how you speak the truth in love. One time a woman unfriended me after I advised her not to sow discord amongst my other friends (Proverbs 6:19) regarding another minister we had differing opinions. I’ve also had preachers promote their ministries and make fundraising appeals on my Facebook pages despite asking them to stop. That prompted me to change my account settings. Friends can only write comments in response to my articles and praise reports. Still, people will post stuff irrelevant to my writings. Usually, I remove these posts but have unfriended individuals who won’t respect my boundaries . In recent years, I’ve blocked (but not unfriended) many people on Messenger. With close to 5,000 friends from all over the world, I don’t have time to chat with ev...

Over twenty years ago I made the first of what would be many trips to the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida. My initial reaction wasn’t too favorable. Previously I hadn’t heard any sermons from Pastor John Kilpatrick or Evangelist Steve Hill and was taken aback by their in-your-face preaching styles. I would have preferred attending more renewal meetings in Toronto but the Lord kept sending me to Pensacola. Since then I have grown to appreciate the ministry that went forth from Brownsville Assembly of God . Their leadership’s passion for purity and holiness is greatly needed in our churches. Once I posted on Facebook a link to a Steve Hill article warning against heretical teachings invading the church. A fellow minister responded to that with mocking comments. He wrote, “I always cringe when people/prophets/fruitcakes say they have a word of rebuke from the LAWd. He is the God of ALL ENCOURAGEMENT.” Ironically, I spent time with this minister in Pensacola the year be...

The Lord once gave me a vision of a minister I know who was covered in black clothing like a ninja. I shared this with a friend who also knows this minister. We agreed the meaning of this vision was this man being covered in deception because of not being accountable to others.  However, being accountable doesn’t mean we must allow everyone to speak into our lives anytime they please. Yesterday I went out for breakfast with a group of men following a Bible study. One of them started offering suggestions I didn’t ask for. First, he urged me to find a helpmate and wanted to take me to his church because of the many single women there. He also kept asking how I support myself and talked about other ministries fundraising. Yet one of my rules as a minister is to avoid asking people for money . Years ago a former co-worker of mine had a habit of sending me messages laced with unsolicited advice . In one email, he quoted 2 Thessalonians 3:10 ( “ If anyone will not work, neit...

I can understand how non-English speaking people would have a hard time learning my language, particularly the spelling. It’s a bit tricky with the different pronunciation of vowels and letter combinations. Years ago for a high school writing assignment, one of my classmates composed a satirical commentary titled “I Hāt English.” It described how our language has so many rules like “I before E except after C.” Nevertheless, as a writer, I tend to quickly notice spelling and grammatical errors. Often I see people write “to” when “too” should be used, “weather” for “whether”, “there” instead of “their”, and “loose” in place of “lose” (or the other way around). I don’t mean to be critical but it surprises me to see a large number of online writing errors despite the many computer apps available to detect and fix typos. One of my Facebook friends recently posted something about “Tammy Baker.” I’ve often seen Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s last name misspelled. Baker is the more com...

For about a month now, I’ve experienced an unexpected surge of friend requests on Facebook. Until recently I might get one or two per day. Now they’re pouring in at an unprecedented rate. One morning I woke up and had sixty new friend requests waiting for me!  A fellow evangelist I often work with has also seen this happen but only accepts friend requests from people he already knows. As for myself, I will accept most of them as long as my potential friend appears to be a committed Christian. They must also have a legitimate profile photo . At the time of this writing, I now have over 3,600 Facebook friends from different parts of the world. Most of whom I’ve never met personally. Yet many of them want to chat immediately after I accept their friend request. That prompted me to draft a letter that I now display on my Facebook page . This letter clearly outlines things I will and won’t do online. I’ve had to email this letter to new friends who apparently didn’t notice it...

Church should be a safe place for believers. Unfortunately, no fellowship is perfect. Even pastors can sometimes get in the flesh and act in ways inconsistent with Scripture. A friend told me about one church he went to where the congregation took turns giving a short sermon since the pastor wasn’t there that particular Sunday. My friend didn’t have time to complete his message but the handouts he gave revealed a doctrine the leadership disagreed with. A couple of weeks later when my friend returned to this church, the pastor instructed him not to come back there again. Assuming my friend told this story accurately, I thought the pastor acted too hastily. He could have privately discussed the matter with my friend before possibly excommunicating him. In Matthew 18, Jesus taught us the right way to confront someone in error... 15 “ Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But i...

How would you respond if a new neighbor knocked on your door wanting to meet you but disguised himself with a mask or a hood? You would probably think that person is being weird or has something to hide. That same principle is true when connecting with people on the Internet. Occasionally I receive Facebook friend requests from individuals that don’t have photos of themselves in their profiles. Usually, I’ll accept such requests if I already know the person. Some folks are not computer savvy and may not have photos readily available to post online. But if I don’t know the person, then I’m not obligated to accept their friend request. One time I received a friend request from an evangelist I never heard of who had a lion’s face for his Facebook profile photo. I searched through his photo albums but couldn’t find a single picture of this man. Immediately, I thought of the Paul Wilbur song, “Show Me Your Face.” While that song is technically about seeking the Lord, I have come to ...