Signs & Wonders Blog

During my childhood, I enjoyed watching Christmas specials on TV. This past Wednesday, I found one on YouTube I don’t recall seeing before. “ Christmas Lost and Found ” featured the claymation characters Davey and his talking dog Goliath. In this 1965 production by the Lutheran Church of America, Davey repeatedly complains, “I don’t feel Christmas.”  Davey tries various things associated with the holiday such as putting up lights and eating Christmas cookies. His dad also gives him money to purchase a tree from a new kid named Kenny. After Davey bought presents for his family and friends, Goliath suggested his owner now felt the Christmas spirit. Davey replied, “All I got is no money left.”  Meanwhile, Davey’s sister Sally set up a nativity scene in their home. That inspired him to gather his friends and perform a Christmas pageant in the town theater. Davey portrayed one of the wise men singing “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” Sally played Mary. Goliath insisted on being a ...

Among the things that make the holiday season memorable are family traditions. One dictionary defines tradition as “the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation.” While growing up in Moorhead, Minnesota, my family had our share of Christmas rituals. One of them was my sister Tanya and I taking turns opening up the little flaps on our advent calendar. My immediate family always opened presents on Christmas Eve after Dad came home from work in the late afternoon (or in the morning if he had the day off). Tanya and I passed the time by played the board game Monopoly , which often took two hours to complete. Sometimes we also went to a candlelight service at the Lutheran church we attended across the river in Fargo, North Dakota. Later that night, I would get together with my mother’s side of the family at Grandma Tweiten’s house. Often we ate a light dinner but then always sang Christmas carols before opening presents. Eventually, my Aunt Gaye added a tradition...

Whenever visiting the Washington, DC area, I usually stay with a friend who’s a retired government worker. Shortly after meeting Jim at Calvary Campground nearly thirteen years ago, he invited me to live at his home in Northern Virginia for a season. During that time, I got to lead him in receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Since then, we’ve gone to various church services and revival meetings together. Jim is still a member of an Anglican Church that’s more traditional than I prefer. Nevertheless, I’ve gone to a few of their bible studies and other gatherings. This past Tuesday, we went to an all-you-can-eat pancake dinner. On our way there, I noticed a sign in front of a Methodist church doing the same thing. Soon I learned this is a tradition with some denominations the day before Ash Wednesday, which signifies the start of Lent. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines Lent as “the period preceding Easter that in the Christian Church is devoted to fasting, abst...

During the late 1970s, I went through two years of confirmation at the Lutheran Church I attended as a boy. Back then I didn’t have much interest in spiritual things. It didn’t help I was mistreated by some of my classmates. Nevertheless, I learned more about the Bible from reading assignments and listening to tapes. One of the latter was a comedy routine by Bill Cosby about Noah that had me laughing hysterically. Occasionally I served as an acolyte, which the dictionary defines as “a person assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession.” My duties were to light candles and put them out at designated times while wearing a long white robe. Another thing confirmands had to do was turn in critiques of the pastor’s sermons. That was an adjustment for me. I was used to letting my mind wander while sitting through unemotional messages containing few (if any) Scriptures. My confirmation class also went on retreats. We traveled to a campsite in rural North Dakota on ...