Signs & Wonders Blog

This year the Trinity Broadcasting Network celebrates its 40 th anniversary.   I used to watch TBN often especially during the early 1990s.   Their programming (as well as teachings from other ministries) helped me grow as a young Christian.   For awhile, my then-pastor had his TV program broadcast on TBN.   In 2003, I got to tour TBN’s headquarters in Santa Ana, California .   During which I met an evangelist named Edward who usually visited TBN once a month but hadn’t been there in three months.   That morning the Lord specifically told Edward, “Go to TBN!”   After buying one of my Evangelism 101  books, Edward said he would teach from it that night in a prison he ministers at.   That would explain why I went through a lot of spiritual warfare that day. Then in 2006, an incident occurred that didn’t set well with me.   While watching one of TBN’s Praise-A-Thons, I called to make a donation but asked them not to sen...

One major reason I shied away from Christianity during my youth was outdated-sounding Christian music heard on the radio and at roller rinks. Fortunately, there's now a greater variety of Christian music I enjoy. I’ve grown to appreciate modern worship music. That’s one of the things that inspired me to launch an Internet radio station. Unfortunately. there are modern worship songs with religious lyrics.   Some may quote Scripture but taken out of context.   One of which is “Blessed Be Your Name”, written by Matt & Beth Redman and recorded by a variety of Christian artists.   I would like this song better if these lyrics weren’t included… You give and take away You give and take away My heart will choose to say Lord, blessed be Your name How many times have we heard Job 1:21 quoted to explain away tragedies such as the death of a child?   “ The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away” is not a statement of truth but a comment Job made ...

Do you sometimes feel your prayers aren’t going beyond the ceiling?   Maybe you’re tempted to think God isn’t hearing them at all.   If that’s the case, then let me share a simple truth that can help transform your prayer life. I’ve heard Christians talk about “bombarding” or “storming” the gates of heaven when praying.   Yet the gates of heaven aren’t closed at all to those who know the Lord.   Ephesians 2:6 says God has “raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”   Spiritually speaking, you already have a position of authority in heaven. Unanswered prayers are not God’s fault.   Sometimes it’s due to our own disobedience such as not tithing (Malachi 3:8-10) or being in strife with our spouse (1 Peter 3:7).   Demonic opposition can also delay prayers from being answered.   The prophet Daniel fasted and prayed for 21 days until he received an answer that had been immediately sent to him by...

As a young Christian, I had a fear of missing God’s plan for my life.   That was largely overcome through listening to a Joyce Meyer tape series a friend recommended called “No Fear Lives Here.”   One key point that really blessed me was God telling Joyce, “If you miss Me, I’ll find you.”   Soon I realized our walk with the Lord is not on a tightrope where it’s all over if we make one wrong move.   As long as we remain open to correction, God will gently guide us back in the direction He wants us to go. Once I heard Kenneth Copeland talk about a time he asked the Lord how much farther in ministry he would be if he had gotten saved at a younger age.   The Lord told Kenneth he would be exactly where he was at that time.   Of course, that’s not an excuse to procrastinate and purposely waste time.   J ames 4:14 says, “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.   For what is your life?   It is even a vapor that appears for a little ...

Recently I came close to getting hitched.   For personal reasons, my then-fiancée and I talked about having a minister oversee a private exchange of wedding vows and later get the marriage license.   Fortunately we didn’t follow through on that idea.   Unresolved issues eventually surfaced that prompted me to cancel our marriage plans.   Two cannot walk together unless they are agreed (Amos 3:3). Years ago I knew a man who secretly exchanged vows with a woman and moved in with her but had a public wedding ceremony a few weeks later.   Although that marriage lasted, similar unions haven’t.   I knew a woman that  “married” a man who quickly withdrew his affection after their exchange of vows.   That relationship fell apart without them ever getting a marriage license. Until the 16 th Century, Christian churches accepted the validity of a marriage based on the couple’s declarations.   Nowadays, a person’s word isn’t va...

At the end of every year, the media reflects on the numerous celebrities who passed away during the previous twelve months.   One who died this year was singer Donna Summer.   The “Queen of Disco” succumbed to throat cancer on May 17 th  at the age of 63. Donna grew up in Boston and originally sang in churches but gradually drifted away from the things of God until she rediscovered her Christian faith in 1980.   That year she released an album called “The Wanderer”, which contained the track “I Believe in Jesus.”   Donna’s recordings from the late 1970s appealed to me not so much because of her voice but because of the innovative sounds created by her producer Giorgio Moroder.   His use of synthesizers in songs such as “I Feel Love” was ahead of its time.   It was one of the things that inspired me to later create my own electronic tunes. However, the anointing of God was certainly on Donna Summer’s voice.   A few yea...

Before committng my life to the Lord in 1991, I worked primarily as a nightclub disc jockey.   Bar owners were usually difficult people to work for.   The first five clubs that hired me let me go after a short period of time, mostly for not talking enough.   I felt that club DJs should simply shut up and play the music. The Bible has much to say about the power of the spoken word.   But that doesn’t mean increasing the amount of our words will make more of a difference.   Ecclesiastes 5:2 commands to “…let your words be few.”   When God spoke creation into existance, He didn’t utter a bunch of words but simply said, “Let there be…”   In Mark 4:39 when Jesus rebuked the wind, all He said to the sea was “Peace, be still!” Consider these other Scriptures… “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” - Proverbs 10:19 “He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is o...