Tommy Mann

 I found an app called We Croak. It is not a game, a platform, or any kind of useful tool. We Croak is an app that reminds you that you are going to die.  For those interested, this app will send you five notifications throughout the day reminding you that everyone dies ("We croak," it says). With each alert comes a quote from a poet or philosopher with some allegedly profound thought to accompany this invited reminder of mortality.  I downloaded the app out of morbid curiosity, but I uninstalled it when I realized it costs $19.99 a year. People are actually paying twenty bucks for their phone to interrupt them five times a day telling them they will die. I tried to find the positive element in this, so I will offer two. One, if you are not ready to die, this can be a good reminder to make any changes you need to make before it is too late. But don't wait for the next notification. They just become white noise after so long. If you do not know that heaven would be your ho...

I remember watching a Florida Gators football game on TV when I was a child, and the running back broke through the line and was headed for the end zone. He blew right through the defense, and there was no one in between him and six points. As he was sprinting forward one of the defenders was closing the gap. My dad began to yell at the television (because that's what we do when we watch sports), "Don't look back! Don't look back! Don't look back!" Sure enough, the ball carrier looked over his shoulder to see where the defensive player was, and he stumbled ever so slightly, allowing himself to be tackled just shy of scoring a touchdown.  There is no reason for a player to look back. He had already passed everyone, so he only needed to worry about what was in front of him. Paul used a similar analogy in his instructions to the church at Philippi. In Philippians 3:13-14 he spoke about someone running a race: "...But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behi...

There is a greeting in the Bible that gives me goosebumps every time I read it. It is found in Acts 9 during the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (also known as the Apostle Paul). Saul had been blinded by the light when the Lord appeared to him, and he was led to a certain house in Damascus. While that was unfolding, God spoke to a man named Ananias and told him to go to that house and pray over Saul. In v.17 we read the greeting: "So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.'” Brother Saul? This gives me goosebumps when I remember who Saul was. Essentially a terrorist, Saul gave his approval for the martyrdom of Stephen. This same Saul obtained letters from the high priest to round up and imprison anyone who followed Jesus. Acts 8:1 says he was "ravaging" the church, and 9...

Ulysses S Grant was not really the 18th President of the United States.  No, I'm not talking about a rigged election, or denying the results of the 1868 election. I'm talking about his name. His parents named him Hiram Ulysses Grant, and that was his name throughout his childhood and teenage years. But when Hiram (who actually preferred his middle name) received his appointment to West Point, a clerical error had him enlisted under the name Ulysses S Grant. There is no record of Grant objecting to the mistake, and he embraced his new name. He went by the initials U.S. for a time, but since those letters also stood for Uncle Sam, his military friends dubbed him "Sam." So Grant went by a variety of names over the course of his life, but history remembers him for a name that was not truly his--Ulysses S Grant. The war hero-turned-President and eventual author brought fame to a name that did not belong to him.  That is what Christians are called to do. We are tasked with ...

To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a Super Bowl-winning football team that played their home games in a dome on artificial turf. There have been champions that played in domes, and some that played on turf, but never both. All the other champions have played under the elements on real grass.  Maybe that is a coincidence, or maybe it points to a true concept, that the teams that spend the season sheltering themselves from discomfort are hindering their growth as a team. Who wouldn't prefer to play under a dome? Too hot? Too cold? Snowing? Raining? No problem; we'll just close the dome. The kick returner never loses the ball in the sun. The quarterback never has a wet ball slip out of his hand. It seems great (and the fans have to appreciate it as well).  But the teams that play through it all may not enjoy it, but they are conditioning themselves to play through adversity. When you make it to the big game, and it starts to rain, and there is no dome to close, one...

This time of year I can't take a step in our driveway without crushing about a hundred acorns. We are surrounded by oak trees, so the acorns are innumerable. I like the sound of the crunching under my feet, and I also like that the sight of dead acorns reminds me of the words of Jesus. When speaking to His disciples in John 12, Jesus didn't mention acorns, but rather grains of wheat. In the 24th verse Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."  This was spoken in response to a group of people who requested an audience with Jesus. Surprisingly, Jesus turned down this request, telling Philip and Andrew "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified (v.23)."  We would expect Jesus to drop what He was doing and speak to the people who wanted to see Him, but for the first time in His ministry, He announced that the hour had come. Jesus was making Hi...