Signs & Wonders Blog

Many of my favorite preachers read from the old King James Version of the Bible. Personally, I have a hard time with its archaic English. That’s why I prefer using the New King James Version. It’s close enough to the KJV to where I can follow along and better understand what God is saying in HIs word. Still, there are King James Only advocates who criticize translations such as the New International Version for missing certain verses and phrases. For example, Colossians 1:14 in the NIV says, “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” It doesn’t include the phrase “through His blood” used both in the KJV and NKJV.  Does this mean the New International Version dishonors the blood of Jesus? No! Six verses later it talks about “making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” Ephesians 1:7 in the NIV says, “In him we have redemption through his blood…” Revelation 12:11 refers to “the blood of the Lamb.” Many other examples could be cited.  The a...

Christians are living epistles according to 2 Corinthians 3:3. Non-Christians carefully observe the actions of professing believers to see if they are “walking the walk” as well as “talking the talk.” One thing that leaves a bad witness is when God’s people don’t obey traffic laws. Imagine what an unbeliever thinks when he sees a Christian speeding with a “What Would Jesus Do” bumper sticker on the back of his car. I’ve met a few Christians who tried justifying their need to speed but still found themselves in trouble. One morning I rode with a pastor who was running behind schedule and drove well over the posted speed limit on our way to his church. Despite having a radar detector in his car, this pastor got pulled over. Since I was from out of state, the patrolman searched my luggage to make sure I wasn’t transporting drugs. Fortunately for the pastor, all he got was a warning ticket. In spite of this, we arrived at his church much later than had he obeyed the speed l...

A few days ago I finished reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. This was the first time I had done so in my 25 years of following the Lord Jesus Christ. Previously I read through the New Testament in its entirety but knew I needed to do the same with the Old Testament. There have been people I witnessed to who asked if I read the entire Bible. (Until I had done so, I replied, “I’ve read enough to know I’m going to heaven when my life ends. How about you?”) While conducting polls at his meetings, one well-known evangelist determined as many as 80% of believers never read the whole Bible. He pointed out the early Christians didn’t have a New Testament to read. The Bereans “…searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11) They studied Old Testament passages to verify that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah. There are many other truths we can learn from the saints of old. 1 Corinthians 10:11 says, “Now all these things happened to them a...

Whenever I lead someone to the Lord, I usually take an extra minute to encourage the newborn believer to pray, read the Bible, and attend a good church. When I specifically talk about the Bible, I will ask if he (or she) has one at home. If he doesn’t, then I ask, “If I give you one, will you read it?” Sometimes people will answer, “Probably not.” In cases like that, my next question for them is, “What would happen if you stopped eating food?” They usually say they will get weak or die. I then point out the same thing can happen to them spiritually. Reading God’s word feeds a person’s spirit. Don’t think someone’s salvation isn’t legitimate just because he doesn’t immediately get excited about reading the Bible. One reason may be this person thinks he has to read an older translation like the King James Version that can be hard to understand. Another reason might be some people think they are supposed to read the whole Bible like a regular book. Although that’s a good habit for...

Two days ago I visited a fellow street evangelist in Ashland, Virginia who I hadn’t seen in over a year.   This man previously blessed me with numerous gospel tracts including the “million dollar bills” I enjoy handing out.   Since I was running low on those money tracts, I hoped he had extra so I wouldn’t have to place a special order for them.  T o my surprise (and disappointment), my friend revealed he burned all his tracts except those that quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.   I’ve dealt with “King James Only” advocates before but don’t remember knowing someone who suddenly became one. During our meeting, my friend repeatedly claimed the New International Version was satanically inspired. That prompted me to look up a few evangelistic verses from the NIV… Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”  - John 3:3 “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born a...