Signs & Wonders Blog

I was born in Fargo, North Dakota and raised across the river in Moorhead, Minnesota. Years later, I would appreciate the conservative values instilled in me and still shared by many F-M residents. Unfortunately, a growing number there are promoting ungodly ideas. I remember the ruckus caused by then-Fargo mayor Jon Lindgren proclaiming the area’s first “Gay Pride Week” in 1984. It’s since become an annual event. During return visits to my birthplace, it grieved me to see rainbow flags hanging on lampposts and pride parades marching downtown.  North Dakota’s largest city recently made news for another ungodly purpose. On August 9th, the Fargo School Board voted 7-2 to nix reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before each meeting (that decision didn’t apply to classes). The phrase “under God” supposedly didn’t align with the district’s values. The resulting backlash prompted the board to reinstate the Pledge of Allegiance a few days later by an 8-1 vote. Like the Lord’s Prayer and t...

It grieves me when Christians post “exposés” of ministries that have been a blessing to me. I avoid reading and watching diatribes from critics who disagree with particular doctrines. Sometimes they are from former associates and congregation members who didn’t like things they saw. Keep in mind that no church or preacher is perfect. Every denomination and stream of ministry probably had defectors because of leaders and staff members that went astray. Even Jesus had one that became an apostate (Judas Iscariot).  During  almost four decades, Hillsong Church grew to a reported 150,000 members in 30 countries. Unfortunately, they have gone through questionable practices and recent scandals. The pastor of their New York City branch got fired in 2020 following an adulterous affair. Earlier this week, founder Brain Houston resigned as Global Senior Pastor for breaching the “Pastor's Code of Conduct” involving separate incidents with two women. One resulted from “the consump...

Another highly publicized trial in Minnesota involving the death of a black man by police has ended. Kim Potter was a 26-year veteran for the Brooklyn Center Police Department. This past Thursday, she was found guilty of both first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11th shooting death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Potter’s sentencing is on February 18th. She could face up to 15 years in prison. Officer Potter made a tragic mistake by confusing her handgun with a taser during a traffic stop. However, I found it disturbing to hear Black Lives Matter activists cry “justice for Daunte.” The 20-year-old had an outstanding warrant  plus a criminal record . He got shot by Potter while resisting arrest and then committed another crime: fleeing the police in a motor vehicle. That alone is a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to three years and a fine of $5,000. I was also disturbed by Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu praising the jurors as “heroes” for their verdi...

I didn’t closely follow the Derek Chauvin trial but was a bit surprised with the outcome. The former Minneapolis police officer was convicted on all three counts for the death of George Floyd. I didn’t agree with Chauvin pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes. However, fentanyl could have killed Floyd (similar to what happened to Prince five years ago). He had three times the lethal dosage in his system. The jurors may have rendered the guilty verdict fearing reprisals from protesters.  Throughout history, innocent people have been imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. They were sometimes the victims of circumstantial evidence. One online dictionary defines that as “evidence not drawn from direct observation of a fact in issue.” An example could be someone running away from a murder scene with a weapon in hand. Unless witnesses saw him commit the murder, there’s a possibility the suspect wasn’t involved. Hours before the Derek Chauvin verdict was delivered, I h...

Four years ago while staying at a friend’s place in North Dakota, he loaned me DVDs of old movies and TV shows. One of them had episodes of the original “Dragnet” series from the 1950s. I recalled watching the reboot from the late 1960s while growing up and started seeing them again on YouTube. That gave me greater respect for those in law enforcement. Last Monday in Minneapolis, a white officer named Derek Chauvin pressed his knee upon the neck of a handcuffed African-American man for several minutes. George Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe and was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Four days later, manslaughter and third-degree murder charges were brought against Chauvin. Meanwhile, riots broke out in Minneapolis and other cities. It brought back memories of the violence that erupted following the acquittal of the Los Angeles policemen who beat up Rodney King in the early 1990s. The mayhem in Minneapolis hits closer to home since I lived in the Twin Cities area f...

Burger King once used the advertising slogan, “Sometimes, you gotta break the rules.” If you’re truly living for the Lord, He will occasionally lead you to do things that may seem risky and go against man-made laws. Sometimes I have evangelized in shopping malls even though security people will try to stop that because they consider it “ soliciting .” A recent exchange of emails with a Facebook friend about illegal immigration reminded me of a situation that happened fifteen years ago. In April 2003, I flew to Berlin to share the gospel in Germany. Originally I was scheduled to fly back to the U. S. a month later but opted not to despite my return ticket classified “non-refundable.” The Lord told me my leaving Germany then would be in His permissive will but not His perfect will. Eventually, He led me to visit other European nations. By September I was in Spain and perceived it was time to come home. One day I went to the Madrid airport hoping the airline would let me u...

As a kid in school, we began the day by standing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Back then, none of my classmates made an issue about it. It would have been considered abnormal for refusing to do so. Patriotism wasn’t forced upon us. We were simply taught to honor our country and its leaders. Currently, there’s a controversy over football players and the national anthem. This was initiated two years ago by Colin Kaepernick, former quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers. Prior to a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, Kaepernick took a knee not to honor God or fallen soldiers but as a protest against alleged mistreatment of blacks by police. He told reporters, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” I admired Kaepernick’s playing abilities but disagreed with him dissing a symbol that represents freedom for all Americans. Since becoming a free agent following the 2016 season, Kaepernick ha...

A new NFL regular season begins in a few days. Armchair quarterbacks are already discussing how their favorite teams and players should do things differently this year. These self-appointed experts seem to think they know more about football than the coaches.  Sadly, this sort of thing happens in the Body of Christ. “Armchair pastors” criticize ministers for doing or not doing certain things. This past week, the Internet has been (pardon the pun) flooded with unChristlike remarks regarding a well-known pastor in Houston, Texas. Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church receives enough flak from heresy hunters who disapprove of his ministry . Now Joel has been lambasted for his response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey. Lakewood Church was criticized for not having services last weekend. Their website stated that was done due to “…concern for the safety of our members.” Many streets in Houston were impassible by flood waters. In the Upper Midwest where I’ve lived most o...

Two days ago I read in the news about a state trooper who was fired for proselytizing during traffic stops. Brian Hamilton (pictured here) was a 14-year veteran of the Indiana Police Force. During an eighteen month period, he was sued by two different drivers who were asked questions about their religious beliefs after being pulled over. Despite given a warning after the first lawsuit was filed, Hamilton insisted he was following the Lord. This reminded me of an incident told by the evangelist who taught me to be a soul winner. Before Nick Kinn went into full-time ministry, he worked for the post office. One day while witnessing to a coworker, Nick was approached by his supervisor who asked, “Doesn’t the Bible say, ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal?’” He then pointed out Nick was stealing company time by witnessing instead of sorting mail. Nick apologized and from that point on witnessed to coworkers only during breaks.  As much as Jesus wants His people to share the gospel with oth...

Much has been in the news lately about Occupy Wall Street. According to Wikipedia, “Occupy Wall Street is an ongoing series of demonstrations in New York City based in Zuccotti Park in the Wall Street financial district. They are mainly protesting social and economic inequality, corporate greed, corruption and influence over government—particularly from the financial services sector—and lobbyists.” What began two months ago as a protest in New York City has spread to cities throughout the United States and other countries. How should Christians respond to this whole Occupy movement? It’s interesting that Jesus Himself said in Luke 19:13 (KJV), “Occupy till I come.”  But that doesn’t mean the Lord wants us just sitting around until He returns. The New King James Version of Luke 19:13 reads, “Do business till I come.”  Jesus went on to say in verse 23, “Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?”  This would co...

This past Tuesday, a young man from the Netherlands sent me an email requesting permission to post a video I made with John Crowder on his own YouTube page (for personal reasons I had removed the video from public view). When I examined this Dutchman’s account, I noticed it only contained videos critical of other ministers. This man believes his purpose in life is to warn people of “false prophets.”  During an ensuing exchange of emails, this man suggested I look up two passages of Scripture. One of which was 2 Timothy 4:1-5. I noticed verse 2 says, “Preach the word!” Verse 5 exhorts us to “do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” Constantly criticizing other preachers is not a ministry nor does it advance the kingdom of God. It only brings division amongst the body of Christ. Certainly I agree rebuke is necessary when a fellow believer is living in blatant sin or preaching false doctrine (in my July newsletter I wrote against those proclaiming "universal rec...