Signs & Wonders Blog

One sign we’re living in the last days is society’s increasing acceptance of homosexuality. At the time of this writing, 36 American states have legalized same-sex marriage. In response to Florida being the most recent, a Tampa Tribune writer claimed it “should represent no threat to anyone’s personal faith.” Baloney! In many other places, Christian business owners who stood up against the homosexual agenda have been severely persecuted. One Colorado baker named Jack Phillips was threatened with jail time for refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. Instead of going to a different bakery, the two men filed a lawsuit. A judge ruled Phillips was guilty of “discrimination” and ordered him to make wedding cakes for other same-sex couples who visit his store. He has since stopped making wedding cakes altogether. One homosexual wrote to me claiming Jesus never discriminated against anyone. Therefore, Christians shouldn’t do that as well. A closer study of Scripture would ...

Apple cofounder Steve Jobs once said, “ Be the person you want to be. Be the best you can be.” I wouldn’t agree with the first part of that statement. Many individuals try to become someone God never intended them to be. I do agree we should be people of excellence. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might...”  Before I committed my life to the Lord, I was turned off by things such as “Christian music” that sounded inferior to songs released in the secular market. Anything done in God’s name should be of high quality. One Old Testament prophet certainly demonstrated excellence. “Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.” (Daniel 6:3) On the other hand, one can go the other extreme by being a perfectionist, which is defined as “a person who refuses to accept any standard short of perfection.” As a ...

Recently while evangelizing on the streets of Tampa, Florida, I talked with a man who claimed God told him he would never die. He affirmed this belief even after I quoted Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” It amazes me how some individuals think they will be an exception and live forever on this earth. Although God wants us to have a long life (Psalm 91:16), we still live in a cursed world. People die unexpectedly every day from diseases, accidents, murders, and other tragedies. John 11 contains a passage that appears to be contradictory... 25 Jesus said to her [referring to Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” Scripture shows there are two different ki...

This year a few big-budget motion pictures with Biblical themes have been released such as “Son of God”, “Noah”, “ Exodus: Gods and Kings” , and the remake of “Left Behind.” Except for “Son of God”, I haven’t seen any of these movies. One reason is many Hollywood productions take creative liberties to where they misrepresent Scriptural truths. Then there’s a film coming out on Christmas Day about a committed Christian but omits the gospel message. “Unbroken” is a biopic about Louis Zamperini, an Olympic track star turned World War II hero who survived a plane crash in the Pacific Ocean, spent 47 days drifting on a raft, and then was imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese for over two years. Eventually Zamperini returned to Japan to extend forgiveness to his former captors. I’m already familiar with Zamperini’s life. When I worked at Billy Graham’s World Wide Pictures, one film we distributed was “ Zamperini: Still Carrying the Torch .” This 37-minute documentary highlights...

Some people have this idea that to be a Christian, you have to check your brain at the door.  Recently an atheistic businessman published a LinkedIn article titled “Religious People have lesser IQ than non-believers!” In an attempt to back up his claim, the author included numerous graphs such as the one pictured here. He also added the caption “ Charts speak for themselves.”  We will now let God’s word speak for itself... “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” - Psalm 14:1 and 53:1 “...although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools” - Romans 1:21-22 “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” - Romans 8:6-7 "But the natural man does not receive the...

Occasionally God uses secular songs to minister to me especially in my dreams. One example happened two months ago. I was in the Twin Cities area engaged to a woman who was starting a new job in Nashville. The original plan was for me to stay in Minnesota until my fiancée found a place to live for the two of us. Then I would move down to Tennessee and get married there. Two days before leaving Minnesota, my fiancée asked me to ride with her because she didn’t want to make the trip alone. A friend of hers who had contacts in the Nashville area was to come along but cancelled out. At first I was against riding with my fiancée because she insisted on making an all-night drive in order to attend a prophetic meeting in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She didn’t like my suggestion of waiting an extra day.  Just after 1 AM the next morning, I woke up from a dream in which I was listening to the 1980 S. O. S. Band hit “Take Your Time (Do It Right).” I knew that was the Lord speaking t...

Five years ago while I was walking through a business district in Bethesda, Maryland, a man from Greenpeace asked me to sign a petition to protest global warming. This man claimed the whole planet is getting warmer because of increasing  carbon dioxide emissions . I responded by saying the global warming issue is a hoax and made reference to Genesis 8:22,  “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”  The Greenpeace activist (who I found out knew the Lord) admitted he couldn’t contest that Scripture. Still, there are activists trying to pressure people into preaching a global warming gospel. Last year the state of Maryland passed what became known as the “Rain Tax.” One Maryland county went so far as to  offer churches an exemption  if they preach on global warming. Over 30 churches have applied for this exemption, which could save them an average of  $744 per year . S...