Signs & Wonders Blog

O ne of my favorite Bible teachers is Perry Stone. In addition to his “Manna-Fest” program, I watch shorter videos by Perry posted on YouTube. In one of the latter , he read this story from a book his grandfather had put together: A church was in need of a pastor. One of the elders was interested in knowing what kind of minister they desired. He therefore wrote a letter as if he had received it from an applicant. He read this letter before the Pulpit Committee: “Gentlemen, understanding that your pulpit is vacant, I would like to apply for the position. I have many qualifications that I think that you would appreciate. I've been blessed to preach with power and have had some successes as a writer. Some say I'm a good organizer. I've been a leader in most places where I've gone in the past. Some folks, however, have some things against me. I'm over 50 years of age. I've never preached in one place for more than three years at a time. In some places I have left...

Some Christians are quick to criticize things that don’t fit their mindsets. Church folk called rock and roll “the devil’s music” when it first came out in the 1950s. Nowadays, most believers accept Christian rock as an alternative. When I worked for Billy Graham’s film ministry , some pastors refused to show our movies for various religious reasons. In 2016, Hillsong NYC experienced flak because the youth pastor parodied “The Naked Cowboy” , a popular Times Square street performer during a women’s conference. That incident came to my remembrance after another conference three weeks ago generated even more controversy.  James River Church in Springfield, Missouri has an annual Stronger Men’s Conference. The opening night features entertainment ranging from weight lifters to monster trucks. This year’s conference had a sword-swallower originally from Moldova who appeared at the 2014 Olympics and on TV’s “America’s Got Talent” plus is a two-time Guinness World Record holder. Alex Ma...

Charles Spurgeon once said, “A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.” That statement has been quoted when Christian critics see something going on in church they deem “worldly.” Recently a women’s conference at Hillsong NYC featured people on stage dressed as various characters including “The Naked Cowboy”, a popular Times Square street performer who wears only boots, a cowboy hat and briefs strategically covered by his guitar. The cowboy at Hillsong was portrayed by its youth pastor Diego Simila. Over the years Hillsong Church has been a frequent target of heresy hunters. Therefore, I wasn’t quick to pass judgment on them but hoped to see an official statement explaining what happened. That eventually came from Hillsong founder Brian Houston. As I suspected, it was a lapse of judgment by the conference organizer. Houston pointed out, “He [Diego] was wearing proper shorts, not underwear, and he had a f...

Occasionally, I receive critical messages from people who don’t agree with things I show in my videos. A remark I often hear is, “Where’s that in the Bible?” Certainly I agree the Word of God is our standard in which everything we do and say must be judged. But has it occurred to you that some generally accepted Christian traditions aren't specifically mentioned in Scripture? For example, Sunday Schools cannot be found in the Bible yet most churches have them. The same thing could be said about altar calls for salvation. God uses people in different ways because we are all unique. Jesus Himself did unusual things like spitting and putting mud in people's eyes to bring healing. No doubt things like that done today in our congregations would offend many church folk. John 21 says that Jesus did many other things that were not written down. Those "other things" could have been more radical than what was recorded in the Scriptures. Of course, we must reject all id...