Tommy Mann

Is Jesus really God? I often hear people say that Jesus never actually claimed to be God, and that Christians are mistaken to say that He is. But that is not true; Jesus often equated Himself with God, saying things like, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9)," and "I and the Father are one (John 10:30)."  But even beyond those claims He made are the things He did. Yes, Jesus performed miracles, healed the sick, and cast out demons, but He also did something quite noteworthy: He forgave sin. In Mark 2 Jesus healed a paralytic and then told him his sins were forgiven. Those words enraged the Pharisees, who angrily said, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone? (v.7)” That may seem like a poor litmus test, because how can any of us know whether or not the paralytic's sins were truly forgiven? Just because Jesus declared them to be doesn't prove that they were. How can we verify that statement? We...

Most people are familiar with the first public miracle of Jesus, at a wedding reception, where He turned water into wine. This act averted a disaster, as running out of wine was a societal faux pas that the family would never live down. So Jesus intervened.  John 2:7-8 tells us: Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” When the master of the feast (something akin to our wedding planners) tasted the wine, he was amazed at how good it tasted. As any wine aficionado knows, the best wine is aged wine, but this wine was only water two seconds ago. Jesus didn't just make wine out of water, He made it as if it had been around for years.  This miracle was so much more than just some sleight of hand trick; Jesus genuinely made something incredible out of something ordinary. It also shows us that God's relationship to time is different than ours. When He c...

The great writer and humorist Mark Twain once quipped, "The two most important days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you find out why." Of course by finding out why he meant finding out what we were born to do--why God put us on this planet.  I agree with Twain, so long as we agree that the "why" is found in Christ. Specifically, we were born to be in a relationship with the God who made us. The problem is, because we are sinners by nature, we are disconnected from the God we are supposed to be in a relationship with. A holy God cannot associate with sinful people. That is where Jesus comes in. He satisfied the law's demands, paying the penalty our sin deserved. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross allowed the Father to punish sin while allowing the sinner to go free. God can be just and the justifier. God can deal severely with sin while allowing the sinner to go free. God can be full of fury and full of mercy. God can hate sin and love the si...

The writer of Psalm 137 was singing the blues. This is a sad song, a melancholy tune from a man who was missing the good old days. His country had been defeated, and the survivors were rounded up and taken from their homes. At the beginning of his song he says they sat down and wept by the river in Babylon, and there they hung their instruments in the trees. He may have been one of the temple musicians, the ones who played all the festive worship music. He didn’t see the need in hanging onto his lyre, because, as he put it, “How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land (v.4)?” It wasn’t just that they were in a different place, but that they were no longer in the Promised Land. The symbol of God’s blessing was that His people would dwell in safety in their land, but God said if they chose to worship other gods, He would ensure they were defeated and kicked out of the land. Now that has happened, so our author wasn’t in the mood for signing. Picking up on this, his captors mocked...

  In Galatians 5:19-21 Paul lists what he called “the works of the flesh,” and among these common sins is idolatry. Obviously in the civilized world we do not see many people bowing down to idols, but I believe recent events demonstrate that politics is a form of American idolatry.   Politics has become a religion. We have made it our idol. We worship at Red or Blue altars. We no longer have a Golden Calf, but we have a Golden Elephant and a Golden Donkey. They are gods to some people, the party platforms are their holy writ, and their followers have waged jihad on those who belong to the other side.   There was a time when two people could have a civilized debate, even when holding very different beliefs. Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes were great friends, yet they debated fiercely on TV. Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan used to spar by day, but hang out by night. O’Neill was famous for saying, “Politics ends at 5PM.”   We have to get back to a place where we see the othe...

In Ezekiel 33:7 the Lord appeared to the prophet and told him, “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.” In an analogous way, Ezekiel was to serve as a watchman for Israel. Watchmen were a common sight in cities that had walls for protection; they were stationed high atop the wall with a great vantage point to see any would-be intruders. Their job was simple: if they saw any invaders, sound the alarm by blasting the trumpet. Give an alert to everyone inside the city walls. As the Lord’s watchman on the wall, Ezekiel had to decide if he was going to sound the alarm or not. But we couldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to. Who wants to be the bearer of bad news? The message was that the people had sinned so much for so long that God was sending an invading army. The people would be receiving the wages of their sin, and yet Ezekiel would be the one to blame if he did not speak the messag...