Signs & Wonders Blog

A boy once asked his mother for a bicycle. She replied, “Maybe if you pray, God will bring you one.” So he knelt and prayed, “God, if You give me a bike, I won’t sin for a year.” The boy then walked outside and saw his mother’s statue of the Virgin Mary . Suddenly, he felt guilty because he couldn't avoid sinning for that long. Instead, he grabbed the statue, hid it in his toy box, and declared, “God, if You ever want to see Your mother again, give me a bike!” Some God-fearing people own replicas of Mary, Jesus, or other characters in the Bible. It’s one thing to honor the Lord or departed saints. It’s another to bow down to statues that have no power. The Bible calls that idolatry. 1 Corinthians 6:9, Ephesians 5:5, and Galatians 5:20 say that no idolaters will inherit the kingdom of God. It amazes me how some people can worship idols or figurines t h at are just plain ugly. Not far from my former home church and a friend’s place in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, there’s a buildin...

“Welcome Home” Copyright 2011  Danny Hahlbohm Over the centuries, many have speculated what Jesus looks like. Artists have created stained glass depictions of the Lord as well as paintings like Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” Artwork like this can minister to people. On the night of my conversion, I saw this painting in the home of my sister and her husband. To this day, it holds a special place in my heart. It’s a reminder of how much the Lord loves us. Recently I turned down a friend request from a young man whose Facebook page promoted religious ideas that go beyond mainstream Christianity. Among them was criticism of Christians having artwork of Jesus. This man considers that idolatry. Let’s examine the Second Commandment…  “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”  - Exodus 20:4-5 (KJV) One could misinterpre...

Statue of Peter in Madrid (2003) In our politically correct society, protests have arisen against certain statues. Among them are of Civil War general Robert E. Lee. Some argue leaving such statues intact celebrates slavery. On the other hand, monuments are erected to remind us of regrettable events like the Holocaust. There’s an old saying, “Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.” Statues have a part of American history. Immigrants are excited to see the Statue of Liberty while passing by Ellis Island in New York City. The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC honors the president who helped end slavery in the United States. Mount Rushmore in South Dakota features the face of Lincoln plus three other past presidents. Romans 13:7 says we are to give honor to whom honor is due. However, Exodus 20:4 in the New Living Translation says, “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” Statues b...

In Matthew 15:14, Jesus labelled the Pharisees “blind leaders of the blind.” Nowadays there are individuals attempting to be God’s mouthpiece but make statements contrary to His word.  A few days ago during a Sky News interview, singer Elton John claimed Jesus would approve of same-sex marriage. In another interview four years earlier, he told Parade magazine, “I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.” In a recent letter published in two North Dakota newspapers, a homosexual blogger named Taylor Brorby wrote, “Many people will use religious Scriptures in this debate [regarding same-sex marriage], misconstruing their true meaning of love.” I googled Taylor Brorby’s name and discovered he’s written other articles quoting Bible verses. In one about the lake of fire, Brorby concluded the article by stating, “The Bible helps move us towards asking interesting and insightful questions...it helps us know our place in the family of thi...