Signs & Wonders Blog

Photo courtesy of  2wayradiodirect.com Last Sunday afternoon while riding with a pastor to his church, we got to talking about ministers hiring security personnel for protection. My friend told me of a Messianic pastor he knows who has bodyguards because of death threats. Little did we know a mass shooting had just taken place at a church in Texas. A lone gunman killed twenty-six people plus wounded  twenty others at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. Two men then chased after the killer who was eventually killed himself. Ever since 9/11, many places in America have implemented increased security including churches. Occasionally, I’ve been asked to have my backpack examined, which I use to carry my laptop for taking notes during services. This used to annoy me. Then last year at a church leadership conference, I attended a workshop taught by the man in charge of security there. The information he shared gave me a greater appreciation for what they do. One ...

In the state where I’ve lived most of my life, you sometimes hear the phrase “Minnesota nice.” Wikipedia defines it as “…the stereotypical behavior of people born and raised in Minnesota to be courteous, reserved, and mild-mannered.” That certainly wasn’t the case last weekend in the capital city of St. Paul. A protest on Interstate 94 turned violent resulting in 102 people being arrested and 21 police officers injured. What triggered the protest was a police shooting the previous Wednesday in a St. Paul suburb. A black man named Philando Castile got pulled over for a busted taillight. Accordingly to fiancée Diamond Reynolds (who rode in the passenger seat), Philando was reaching for his wallet when a Latino officer fired four shots at him. Diamond then used her cell phone to live-stream the aftermath on Facebook. A ten minute video of Philando bleeding to death and Diamond’s subsequent arrest quickly went viral. Claims of police targeting African-Americans resulted in the f...

Pulse nightclub in Orlando Last Sunday morning in Orlando, Florida, a Muslim man walked into a gay bar and went on a shooting spree. 49 people plus the gunman were killed. Another 53 were wounded. Not counting massacres done to Native Americans during the Westward Expansion, this was the worst mass shooting on U. S. soil. From an eternal perspective, the greatest tragedy regarding any large loss of lives are those who died without knowing the Lord. While it’s possible there were Christians among those killed in Orlando, it’s likely most of them weren’t. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, “Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” Fortunately verse 11 offers hope to those who repent, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the...