Signs & Wonders Blog

At the time of this writing, the U. S. Government has been shut down for a month due to ongoing disagreements between Republican and Democratic leaders. Among those affected are individuals collecting welfare. Nearly 42 million Americans (that’s 1 out of 8) are no longer receiving food stamps or what’s officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. This past Friday, two judges ordered the Trump Administration to keep SNAP benefits in place. Judges cannot legislate from the bench, especially when funds aren’t available unless approved by Congress. The president has stated, “I do NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT. Therefore, I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.”  Regardless, the welfare system in this nation needs to be revamped. Many individuals receive more money staying unemployed than working. It seems ...

During my youth, many nations were engulfed in the Cold War. It was a period of intense competition between the United States and its allies against the spread of communism. By the early 1990s, the Soviet Union, the dominant communist power, had collapsed due to financial difficulties. That marked a turning point for the former Eastern Bloc nations, as they experienced freedom for the first time in years. However, communist governments still exist in China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, and North Korea.  Last Sunday, I embarked on a prayer walk and evangelized in the vicinity of George Floyd Square . The first person I approached had given me a flyer promoting the Communist Party USA. I offered him a gospel tract in exchange. Matt and I went on to have a cordial conversation that lasted approximately five minutes. Instead of attempting to refute his political beliefs, I focused on explaining the importance of eternal life. Matt revealed that his son is Catholic and has been attempting to c...

July 4th is a memorable day for me not only because I’m an American. It was also my grandmother’s birthday. Leah Post was born on this day in 1908 (she passed away 92 years later). My family often got together with her on Independence Day before seeing fireworks that evening. My grandparents were devoted members of a Methodist church (though Grandpa Post wasn’t sure of going to heaven until I prayed with him in 1996). One gift they gave me as a boy was a storybook based on these words by Jesus in Matthew 7… 24   “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  25  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26   “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  27   and the rain descended, the floods cam...

As a boy, I watched a lot of television. Some programs had an educational value such as the “Schoolhouse Rock” cartoons that used to air on Saturday mornings. Those clips taught subjects such as multiplication, grammar, and American history. One of the latter was about the Constitution and sang the intro of this important document… “We the People…in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Although I didn’t do well in my seventh-grade history class, I got a decent grade on one test when we had to write out the Preamble. Music can be a helpful tool for memorizing things. I’m thankful to be an American but have been appalled by recent actions taken by some political leaders. Under the guise of “saving lives” from the coronavirus, a few autho...

Just over a month ago, a friend forwarded to me a sixteen-minute video that went viral. Dana Coverstone is the pastor of an Assembly of God church in Kentucky. In his video, Dana testified of God giving him dreams about America’s future. He warned of foreign soldiers on the ground, hyperinflation, and cities burning during September, October, and November of this year. At first, I seriously considered what Dana shared. The previous week, a prophet I know saw a war coming to the United States. Dana doesn’t claim to be a prophet but talked of having previous dreams of disease and protests that came to pass. He advised, “Let's see what happens through November and see if I’m right about this.” So I shared Dana’s video on my Facebook page (later removing it) and added the comment: “Perhaps this can be averted through prayer and fasting.” Jonah prophesied the downfall of Nineveh but that was delayed because of its inhabitants repenting. Many pundits have predicted the demise ...

Christians in the United States are becoming increasingly discouraged from sharing the gospel in public places. Because of fears over the coronavirus, politicians have also placed limitations upon church meetings. California Governor Gavin Newsom recently issued a ridiculous ban from singing and chanting in places of worship. Yet Ronald Reagan (who was also a California governor) stated, “Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. When our Founding Fathers passed the First Amendment, they sought to protect churches from government interference.” This country was founded mostly by Bible-believing men who intended to keep the government out of the church, not God out of the government, In a statement made to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia in 1778, James Madison (the chief architect of the Constitution) said, “We’ve staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We have sta...

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 ...

An arena in Guadalajara To whom it may concern: I pray this letter somehow reaches the thousands mostly from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador who are traveling through Mexico towards the American border. First, I don’t blame anyone for wanting to come to the United States. As a natural-born American citizen, I’m thankful for the prosperity we have here. I also recognize my nation was largely founded by immigrants seeking a better life for themselves and their families. All my ancestors came over from Europe many years ago. There’s a missionary house in Florida I often stay where I’ve met many immigrants originally from Spanish-speaking countries. As far as I know, all of them came to the United States legally . Videos I’ve seen of some caravan members forcing their way into Mexico indicate they have little respect for authority. I don’t want people like that entering my country. We have enough crime here as it is. You should be warned here in America our cit...

Every minister who takes the gospel to the public occasionally comes into conflict with authority figures. Even in the United States where the Constitution guarantees “freedom of religion”, various laws and ordinances have been passed in an effort to hinder God’s word from going forth. Two weeks ago in Crystal, Minnesota, I was with a group of soul winners sharing the gospel at a carnival. Although it was in a public park, a carnival supervisor came up to us saying we weren’t allowed to evangelize there because we didn’t have a permit. We continued moving and witnessing in the park until a policeman told us “no preaching”. We then moved outside the park perimeters and talked to individuals walking towards or leaving the carnival. Then this past week at the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, I passed out tracts along Main Street and struck up conversations with other ministers doing the Lord’s work. One Baptist group was promoting a motorcycle giveaway. When I ...

IRS building in Washington, DC Every year by April 15th (unless that day lands on a weekend like this year), Americans are required by law to have tax returns filed for their previous year’s income. Occasionally I have met Christians who question the validity of paying taxes. One of them even promoted a website claiming that paying income taxes is unconstitutional. Taxation has existed since Old Testament days. In Genesis 41:34, Joseph advised Pharaoh to impose a 20% tax on all food in preparation for a coming famine. God used the Egyptian government to save the lives of many people. In Luke 3:13 when tax collectors came to John the Baptist to be baptized they were told, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.” Notice John didn’t tell people not to pay taxes. In Matthew 22 the Pharisees asked Jesus if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus replied in verse 21, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s....

One of the most contested political issues today is immigration. It’s estimated there are now at least 11 million illegal aliens in the United States. Many Americans want to see them deported. What makes the situation more complex is anchor babies born to aliens are recognized as American citizens. Recently two minister friends who are immigrants themselves posted comments on Facebook suggesting we shouldn’t have any border controls. One of them claimed, “...restricting immigration is part of Marxist Socialism and is totally contrary to Biblical Christianity.” Yet when the Scriptures were written, cities had massive walls to keep certain people out . Even the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 will have a wall around it. While Native Americans have contributed to our society, the United States was predominately founded and built by immigrants and their descendants. The Statue of Liberty has a plaque on its base with this inscription: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddle...