Tommy Mann

For several weeks in our youth services we have gone through a series I called Who is God? This was designed to not only teach our students more of who God is, but to help equip them to tell their friends who God is. In a world where there are so many gods for people to choose from, what makes our God so special? First of all, God is sovereign . Sovereign means “supreme in rank or authority” so God is absolutely in control of this universe at any given second. We don’t always know why God does the things that He does, but we must trust that God is working. At the end of the word sovereign is the word reign, and that is exactly what God does. Consider Isaiah 45:5-7: I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the...

A recent trend that I have observed in some churches has been over the issue of going to church. There is a movement that has stopped going to church. Now, right away I realize that we do not GO to church because we ARE the church (church means “called out ones,” not a building with a steeple), but that is not what I am referring to. This new movement set its sights on the New Testament church, which did not own a building yet met together daily, and had all things common by selling what they owned and pooling their recourses. Some have wondered if we as American Christians are missing the mark by not doing church this way. But there are several things that we must consider here before we put a for sale up sign in the foyer. First, it is important to remember that there are some things that the Bible contains, and there are other things that the Bible commands. For example, the Bible contains the story of David’s adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah, but it...

For those of you who were unable to attend our True Love Waits Rally, here is a recap of what you missed. By the way, this is normally a Valentine’s message, but our county-wide rally was postponed due to last February’s snow. I have seen too many people waste time trying to beg teens to stay sexually pure until marriage by using statistics about pregnancy or scary images of STDs. These methods don’t work, and they shouldn’t have to. For teens who believe in Jesus Christ and live their lives for Him, they don’t have to worry about pregnancy or disease. Here is an easy 4-step method that every person must realize. First, there had to be a Creator. The Bible tells us there is one in Genesis 1 and John 1, but even if a person does not believe in the Bible, common sense also tells us there is a Creator. Every building has a builder and every painting has a painter, so creation must have a Creator. Look around at the complexity of this universe, then try to accept the liberal teachings ...