Signs & Wonders Blog

As an evangelist, my primary objective is to save souls. Therefore, I minimize small talk during my witnessing encounters. Some individuals are inclined to engage in trivial discussions that have no relevance to their eternal destiny. Others who are already saved want to debate doctrine, which will take away time from those that need salvation. 2 Timothy 2:23 says, “But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.” Last Tuesday night, I participated in an outreach called Jesus Burgers, which aimed to primarily attract University of Minnesota students. Free hamburgers, chips, drinks, and freeze pops were available. The event was held on a corner in the Dinkytown area. I had lived there almost forty years ago during my time as a U of M student. So I spied out the land a bit while handing out invitation cards without asking people questions about eternity. The outreach leaders wanted us to spend a few minutes getting to know “pre-believers” (their term for sinn...

Some Christians are reluctant to share the gospel because they think it involves going door to door (as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons are well known for). Unless the Lord directs me to somebody’s house, I avoid this type of evangelism. Usually, I find more receptive people in public places. Nevertheless, I have gone out with a few  door-knocking  ministries. Twenty years ago, I attended a church in Northern Virginia that went to townhouse complexes on Saturday mornings and knocked on one door at a time. They were okay with me talking to people walking around or standing outside. I always had more salvations than everyone else who knocked on doors.   Another time in Tennessee, I went with a church doing door-to-door ministry at a newer apartment complex. Because it was a weekday afternoon, most residents were probably away at work. I was also in a group of five people (evangelism works better in pairs or three people max). A man in my group named Lee encouraged me to ...

While evangelizing, you will sometimes encounter individuals who claim nobody can know if they will spend eternity in heaven. Yet many Scriptures guarantee eternal life for those who know the Lord. Romans 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Verse 13 from the same chapter reads, “For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’” Whenever someone tells me no one can know their eternal destiny, and I have a friend with me, I turn to my friend and ask, “Do you know for sure you’re going to heaven when your life ends?” After my friend answers “yes,” I boldly declare that I’m spending eternity in heaven, and that God confirms His word in the mouth of two or three witnesses. Then I quote 1 John 5:12-13,  “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. T hese things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of...

(Family Worship Center Churches) Every October, I read and hear various rants from Christians against observing Halloween. Certainly, I don’t celebrate the holiday with its demonic connotations. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (KJV) commands us to “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”  For me, it’s another day to share the gospel. Yesterday I passed out tracts before, during, and after a Halloween parade along with a few other soul winners. I got to lead 27 people to receive salvation. One part of Halloween I’ve always liked is seeing the costumes people create. Of course, I disapprove of the scary-looking outfits many individuals wear. But if I were raising children, I wouldn’t mind them going to a “Hallelujah Party” or an alternative family-friendly gathering. Growing up, I remember having fun dressing up as somebody else.  A few years ago, I made myself look like Jesus to reach out to trick-or-treaters . Some costumes are labeled as  disguises , which the dictionary defi...

A recent surge of friend requests I received on Facebook included members representing the Church of Almighty God, an organization I hadn’t heard of before. Their graphics accompanying their posts reminded me of those used by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Therefore, I suspected this group is a cult. To find out more about this “church”, I watched a BBC documentary about them that looked rather disturbing. Then I logged onto their website . Immediately, a chat window opened up. I decided to respond to the other person online. Here’s how the conversation went (my comments are in bold)… Hello, and welcome to the Gospel of the Descent of Kingdom. Think back on the “Your kingdom come” prayer that we have often made in the past. Now, God's kingdom has already descended, and God has returned in the flesh to express the truth and carry out the work of judgment in order for us to be able to come face to face with God and listen to His voice with our own ears! Do you want to understand the de...

Next Saturday people around the world will celebrate Halloween. Christians have responded to this holiday in different ways. Some church-going parents allow their kids to go trick-or-treating not seeing anything wrong with that. Others ignore the day completely as to avoid “every form of evil. ” (1 Thessalonians 5:22) Then there are parents who send their kids to a “Hallelujah party” or some other alternative event. I’ve even heard of believers having “hell houses” (instead of haunted houses) to show people what eternity will be like if they die without knowing the Lord. Since becoming a Christian in 1991, there were a few Halloween nights when I went out street evangelizing. Another time I attempted to give out tracts instead of candy to kids who showed up at my door. I quickly realized this wasn’t an effective way to reach children for Jesus. I remember trick-or-treating as a kid and would have been disappointed if an adult offered me a tract without any candy. Six years a...

Many people like to wear masks on Halloween.   Often these same folks continue wearing masks as they go through life.   They put their “happy face” on claiming everything is going great while deep inside they are full of despair, disappointment, and depression.   If that is you, there is hope.   God loves you and has an awesome plan for your life. Some people avoid Christianity because of church-going people wearing religious masks.   You might have said to yourself, “I don’t want to hang around a bunch of hypocrites.”   It’s unfortunate not every professing Christian is a doer of God’s word.   Still, when you stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, He won’t examine other people’s lives…only your own. Many people hide behind a mask of good works even though Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”   Think of all the times you have lied, stolen, and disobeyed your parents.   Those acts are offe...

This week I returned to Fargo, North Dakota where I was born (but raised in the bordering city of Moorhead, Minnesota). For several days prior to arriving here, I had recurring thoughts of sharing the gospel at North Dakota State University, a college some of my family members attended. My late grandfather also taught entomology there. Two days ago as I was preparing to leave a Caribou Coffee shop in West Fargo, I noticed a young man working on his laptop and felt impressed to minister to him. Tito wasn’t sure of his eternal destiny but prayed to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Tito is originally from Manhattan and I noticed him wearing an MSUM (Minnesota State University Moorhead) shirt. But strangely enough, Tito is a student at NDSU. I took that as a confirmation that God wanted me to minister there that day. After riding my bike to NDSU and briefly resting in the Student Union, I went out evangelizing and set a goal for 10 salvations. Nine more names were a...