This past week I had the undeserved privilege of helping lead and share the messages at Fox River Lutheran Church’s VBS.
What a beautiful blessing it was.
But something else happened that week that I feel like I need to share… because it wasn’t about me at all.
Thursday, the week before VBS started, I completely lost the hearing in my left ear. Water, a Q-tip, and impacted wax shut it off entirely. I tried everything… hydrogen peroxide, warm oil, over-the-counter kits, even the weird ear candle. Nothing worked.
I called and inquired with medical professionals and quickly realized I couldn’t afford urgent care, so I simply prayed. I knew it was a small thing in the grand scheme of the world, yet I’ve seen God show up in the “small” places before. Still, I didn’t feel deserving of a miracle. In fact, I started wondering if the silence in my ear was the Lord’s gentle (and not-so-gentle) way of getting my attention… if maybe I hadn’t been listening to Him the way I should.
Saturday and Sunday… silence.
Monday… still deaf in that ear.
Tuesday… still nothing.
Wednesday… still nothing.
Thursday morning… as I prepared that day’s VBS lesson titled…
“I can hear from God and walk with Him too.”
…I sat reading my Bible and preparing my heart for the message that morning, in a single quiet moment… my left ear opened. I could hear again.
No coincidence.
Just Jesus.
He had my attention. And I was definitely listening.
I don’t share this to draw any attention to myself. I share it because He alone deserves the glory… for the privilege of teaching the kids, for the miracle in my ear, and for every gentle way He keeps calling us closer.
What an interesting season He’s walking me through. I’m curious (and expectant) to see what He has next.
To God be the glory.
People will slap labels on truth to silence it.
Don’t play their game.
Speak the truth in love.
Hold fast to the only label that ultimately matters: faithful to God’s Word.
The flock cameras were sold to us as tools to catch criminals.
Turns out the main thing they’re catching is cops abusing their power.
Funny how that works.
The Bible warns that God’s people are destroyed by a lack of knowledge. You cannot follow Jesus and mess with witchcraft. Too many Christians open the door to it through “innocent” gifts from family and friends. Stop accepting it. Learn to say no and stand bold in your faith.
Candace Owens didn't convince me that the “conspiracy” of who killed Charlie Kirk was true… Erika Kirk, TPUSA, and the entire Trump administration did. 💯💯💯
Jesus didn’t tell His followers to blindly trust the scribes, Pharisees, or Roman aligned elites. He called them out as whitewashed tombs, serpents, and a brood of vipers (Matthew 23). The prophets repeatedly warned Israel against entangling alliances and trusting in princes or foreign powers over the Lord (Psalm 118:9, Isaiah 31). Paul said we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6). Yet when Christians today apply basic discernment to money, media, politics, or yes… even influence from Israel or any other nation… they get labeled “conspiratorial” and in need of recovery? That’s not biblical wisdom. That’s conformity to the world’s demand for approved narratives. @mikewingerii
Brother Mike, with all due respect… you’re a solid Bible teacher on many things, but on this you’re projecting like a spotlight on a Pharisee. Telling people that questioning powerful lobbies, media narratives, or foreign influence makes them “cult victims” who need years of deprogramming isn’t pastoral care. It’s spiritual gaslighting dressed up as concern. You should stick to theology and exegesis instead of playing amateur cult deprogrammer for conservatives who dare notice patterns that make the establishment uncomfortable. @mikewingerii
Brother Mike, with all due respect… you’re a solid Bible teacher on many things, but on this you’re projecting like a spotlight on a Pharisee. Telling people that questioning powerful lobbies, media narratives, or foreign influence makes them “cult victims” who need years of deprogramming isn’t pastoral care. It’s spiritual gaslighting dressed up as concern. You should stick to theology and exegesis instead of playing amateur cult deprogrammer for conservatives who dare notice patterns that make the establishment uncomfortable. @mikewingerii