Signs & Wonders Blog

Five years ago today, a tragedy happened in Minneapolis that impacted the world. A black man named George Floyd died while being in police custody. He was arrested for passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. A video from a bystander’s cellphone that went viral showed officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for several minutes while he complained, “I can’t breathe.” Like most people, I first assumed Chauvin caused Floyd’s death. Later, I realized this was an example of circumstantial evidence .  The 2023 documentary “ The Fall of Minneapolis ” revealed details largely withheld from the general public. George Floyd had multiple drugs in his system. Police body camera videos showed him resisting arrest and refusing to be placed in the back of a squad car while handcuffed. That’s why Floyd needed to be restrained. He uttered “I can’t breathe” even before Chauvin’s knee was on his neck. I believe drugs plus preexisting health conditions killed Floyd. The four arres...

In 1985, I moved to Minneapolis to pursue a secular music career. I was excited to finally live in  Prince ’s hometown. For the next fifteen years, I resided in various parts of the Twin Cities area. During that time, I became a Christian and eventually answered the call to full-time ministry. For over two decades now, I’ve traveled around the United States as a missionary. In recent years, I’ve gone back to Minnesota for extended visits (usually when the weather is warmer). However, a recent film has decreased my interest in ever settling there again. Many of us remember what happened in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. A black man named George Floyd was arrested for passing a counterfeit $20 bill. He subsequently died while in police custody. It set off riots there and in other cities. I happened to fly out of Minneapolis two days before Floyd’s death to meet a friend in Denver and then went on a road trip to Virginia. I returned to Minnesota on June 13th with another missionary. We...

Dear Governor Walz, I’m a traveling missionary who’s lived in Minnesota for most of my life. Like yourself, I’m 56 years old with a Lutheran background and have served in the Army National Guard . Three months ago, I returned to Minnesota shortly before the coronavirus lockdown began. Since then, I’ve tolerated not being able to sit in coffee shops where I often work on my laptop and minister to people. More unfortunate, churches have been told not to have public gatherings. This violates the First Amendment guaranteeing our right to peaceably assemble. While I don’t want to see anyone die from the coronavirus, preventing healthy people from living normal lives is not the answer. Past pandemics have been contained by quarantining the sick. This year’s lockdowns have caused many to suffer financially such as my friend Lynda who hasn’t been able to work at her hair salon for over two months. How would you like it if your paycheck was withheld for that long?  This past ...

This past Tuesday in front of the State Capitol in St. Paul, Governor Mark Dayton signed a bill making same-sex marriage legal in Minnesota effective August 1, 2013.   This so-called “history-making” event was attended by thousands of people.   I happened to be in St. Paul that evening but was evangelizing by a lake five miles from the Capitol. A few hours before the bill was signed, an old childhood friend who I reconnected with through Facebook posted the music video for “Love is the Law.”   This song by the Suburbs was a regional hit thirty years ago.   I used to like this song but was saddened to learn the Minneapolis-based group had donated use of it for the cause of “marriage equality.” The Bible has a few things to say about the law of love… “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” - Romans 13:8 “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” -...

While he was governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura made this statement; “Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business.” In the New Oxford American Dictionary, one of the definitions of crutch is “a thing used for support or reassurance.” An example cited by the dictionary is “they use the Internet as a crutch for their loneliness.” Everybody has a crutch. For some it is cigarettes. How many of you know people who cannot go a short period of time without smoking? During winter, I’ve seen workers willing to brave freezing temperatures outside just so they can smoke on their breaks. For other people, their crutch is alcohol. Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx once told Hit Parader magazine, “The thing that inspires me the most is my bottle of Jack Daniels. It's my best friend in the world. Ol' Jack will never let you down. He's always there ...

Shortly after being sworn in as the new governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley spoke at a local Baptist church. The following comments he made there caused a stir in the media… “There may be some people here today who do not have living within them the Holy Spirit. But if you have been adopted in God's family like I have, and like you have if you're a Christian and if you're saved, and the Holy Spirit lives within you just like the Holy Spirit lives within me, then you know what that makes? It makes you and me brothers. And it makes you and me brother and sister.” Bentley then stated, “Now I will have to say that, if we don't have the same daddy, we're not brothers and sisters. So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother.” Not surprisingly, the secular press had a field day with the governor’s remarks. One reporter wrote, “...