Signs & Wonders Blog

During my youth, I was a chronic complainer. I frequently griped about things such as annoying TV commercials and overplayed songs on the radio. When I later became a Christian and learned that our words have power (as mentioned in Proverbs 18:21), I became more mindful of what I said. One dictionary defines complain as “express dissatisfaction or annoyance about something.” Sometimes I’ll rant about things on social media, but when possible, I'll also offer a solution. Constant complaining grieves the Lord. The children of Israel spent forty years in the wilderness because of that. Some of them experienced an early death because of their moaning and groaning. Numbers 11:1 says,  “Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.” Occasionally, I’ve caught myself complaining about traffic, but I soon thank God when I have a car to driv...

Psalm 100:1 (KJV) says,  “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.”  Even if Christians cannot sing well (I admit to being one of them), God is pleased when we do it for Him. However, worship leaders should at least be competent musicians. Some churches are better off using recorded music from YouTube or Spotify. I’d be embarrassed to bring someone to a meeting where the musicians played their instruments poorly, and the singers could not carry a tune. Last weekend I attended a church service where a visiting evangelist led the praise and worship. His singing was okay, but I didn’t care for his guitar playing. It sounded like he hadn’t practiced enough even though he recorded CDs of his music. This evangelist had a woman singing with him. They were out of sync much of the time. One song performed was a favorite of mine: “We Will Dance.” This David Ruis classic has a waltz rhythm. The evangelist and the woman attempted to sing the verses in 4/4 time.  Many of the other songs...

T his past Wednesday, I attended a Volunteer Appreciation Night at Living Word Christian Center . Since I still occasionally evangelize with them, Pastor Nick Kinn encouraged me to attend this event. The gathering began with free pizza, a taco bar, and other refreshments served in the lobby. Then we moved into the sanctuary for a special meeting. One thing we did was play a trivia game via our smartphones. Among the questions shown on the video screen was “Which worship song does Tim Amstutz (the worship leader) like the least?” The correct answer was “He Is Exalted.” That reminded me of an article I recently read titled “10 Worship Songs I’d Be Fine with Never Singing Again (And Why).” I thought of compiling a list of my own but didn’t want to publicly criticize songs the Holy Spirit has used to minister to others. Then again, just because a song is “Christian” doesn’t mean we have to like it. I’m sure the Lord doesn’t like religious songs with lyrics embalmed with unbelief. Plea...

One thing that repelled me from Christianity during my youth was outdated-sounding music in churches, Christian nights at roller rinks, and on religious radio stations. After committing my life to the Lord in 1991, it took me awhile to appreciate praise and worship songs. Eventually, I started an Internet radio station and shared some of my favorites. Here are a few that I still like to this day: “A Shield About Me” - When first attending Living Word Christian Center , I wasn’t fond of their worship band’s repertoire. One exception was this song based on Psalm 3:3. I particularly liked a synthesized string sound the keyboard player added to the arrangement. Unfortunately, the Living Word band never recorded this song for one of their CDs. However, I found this version by The Maranatha! Singers. “Right Now” - In March 1995, Bazil Howard-Browne held a series of meetings at a church in Elk River, Minnesota. His worship leader David Vanderver often sang this song about feeling the Ho...

When you step out to fulfill the Great Commission, be prepared for some Christians who will challenge your motives. A former Facebook friend I never met personally once wrote accusations against me on my wall based on erroneous information. I emailed a message to him offering to discuss his concerns privately. Instead, he posted another public comment “warning” other people about me.  Sadly, another Facebook friend I had been ministering to chose to believe this man’s lies. Before I could email her an explanation, she blocked me after sending a message complaining about my “boast posting” (referring to my evangelism reports). This is how Satan can use believers to “sow discord among the brethren” , which the Lord hates! (Proverbs 6:19) The dictionary defines boast as “talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about one’s achievements.” It’s not wrong for a believer to testify what the Lord has done through him as long as He gets the glory. Psalm 34:2 says, “My soul sh...

A few years ago I spent the weekend at a Christian retreat center in central Minnesota. In the sanctuary, Terry MacAlmon’s “Precious Lamb of God” was repeatedly heard on a CD player in between meetings. This is one of my favorite songs by Terry. However, I chose to stay away from the sanctuary as much as possible. It’s happened before when I got tired of a song because the pastor, worship leader, or person in charge overplayed it. One minister I know habitually plays the same song over and over on his iPod at the end of his meetings. A favorite of his is Roy Fields’ “In the Presence of Angels.” I liked that song when first heard at the Lakeland Outpouring meetings in 2008. Now I cringe whenever hearing it. That’s unfortunate since it’s really an anointed song. Another tune that’s become annoying to me is the David Ingles composition “Lord We Magnify You.” There’s a church I’ve attended for many years that (in my opinion) still sings that hymn too much. At one recent worship ...

One time I was with a fellow missionary at a park in Tampa, Florida where groups of people prayed with us. It was a challenge keeping a correct count of salvations because some kids followed us around and prayed again. Still, I made sure I didn’t write down two salvations for each person praying twice. It grieves me when I see ministers inflate their numbers to where their praise reports aren’t truthful. During another outreach I took part in, nine of us led 46 people to the Lord. On our way back to the church, one woman mentioned praying with 21 people five days before. Later that night, one of the other laborers posted this on Facebook: “We gained 67 new brothers and sisters in Christ tonight ." One man who filmed various Christian events with audiences in the hundreds noticed the evangelist claimed “thousands attended.” There were other events where thousands showed up but was later reported as “tens of thousands.” This practice has been jokingly called “evangelisti...

Until I gave my life to the Lord in 1991, I didn’t have much appreciation for contemporary Christian music. During the 1980s I worked at roller rinks that had a Christian Skate Night. Most of the songs I heard then sounded lame and outdated compared to the secular stuff I loved so much.  Although there’s now a greater variety of quality Christian music to listen to, I’ve noticed an increasing number of songs with the repeated syllables "oh" and “whoa.” Two Sundays ago I watched a worship service online. During which many “whoas” were sung. They were even added to the Delirious classic “Majesty (Here I Am)”, which doesn’t have “whoas” in the original recording.  I don’t want to be critical of brethren who put their hearts into worshipping the Lord. Still, I’m turned off by the excessive usage of these filler  syllables.  Can you imagine praying with a bunch of “whoas”? (“Father God…Whoa Whoa”) The word whoa is also a command to make a horse stop or slo...

One of the things the Lord used to prepare me for ministry was Toastmasters, an organization people join to improve their public speaking skills. In every Toastmasters meeting, the person assigned as the grammarian introduces a “word of the day” to encourage speakers to expand their vocabulary. My particular Toastmasters club also used a clicker whenever the person speaking uttered filler words like “um”, “ah”, “er”, and “you know.” I’ve noticed many Christians habitually insert the word “just” whenever they are praying or praising the Lord. Listen closely the next time you’re at a church service or prayer meeting. You will likely hear people say, “I just pray that…” or “I just praise You for…” or “We just thank You…” Perhaps you picked up that habit because you heard other believers doing the same thing. The Bible does say, “The just shall live by faith” and the blood of Jesus justifies us. But I don't see how the overuse of the word “just” adds extra power to prayers an...

Whenever I need a spiritual kick-start, one thing I like to do is play the song “Undignified” on my laptop computer and dance around the room.   This Matt Redman song has been recorded by a variety of Christian artists.   My favorite version (and the first one I ever heard) is from the 1997 album “Catch the Fire 4” released by Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship.   Here’s a portion of the song’s lyrics… I will dance I will sing To be mad for my King Nothing Lord is hindering this passion in my soul And I'll become even more undignified than this Some may say it’s foolishness but I'll become even more undignified than this The song’s lyrics are based on passages from 2 Samuel 6… 14 Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. 20 Then David returned to bless his household.   And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, unc...

A phrase that some people use that I'm starting to find annoying is “you never know.” Occasionally I hear believers say something like, “You never know what God will do.” It must grieve the Holy Spirit to hear His people say clichés like that. The truth is we can know what God is doing if we are sensitive to His leading. Jesus said in John 16:13 that the Spirit of God “will guide you into all truth” and “will tell you things to come.” Another often-used phrase similar to this is “God moves in mysterious ways.” Some believers quote this like it came out of the Bible. This saying actually originated from an 18th-century hymn written by William Cowper. The promises of God are not mysterious but His methods of bringing them to pass can be. As Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” It’s true that so...