Tommy Mann

The second chapters of Hebrews begins with these words: “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” We do not want to be guilty of drifting away. What is the author referring to?   The things “we have heard” were laid out in the first chapter, namely that Jesus Christ is supreme over all things, the only one able to bring us salvation. Drifting away from that would be terrible. But I want to point out something that should be obvious: drifting takes time.    It has been pointed out that the Greek phrase employed by the author of Hebrews has nautical connotations, describing a boat that was carelessly tied to the dock; when the boat’s owner goes back to retrieve it, he will find that it has drifted away. However, that same phrase has also been used to describe the process of evaporation. Go outside and pour some water on the ground, and eventually you will not be able to find that water. It has made its way into the clou...

One of my favorite hymns was written all the way back in 1757 by a pastor named Robert Robinson. The song begins this way:   Come, thou fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing they grace. Streams of mercy, never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise.    It is a beautiful hymn, but I also love the story behind it, as its author was once confronted by the reality of his own words. Robinson wrote the song when he was only 22 years old. At that time he was considered be an up and coming member of the Baptist denomination, and was even commissioned to write their history (a book titled  History of Baptism and Baptists ). Unfortunately, like the song says, he was “prone to wander,” and prone to leave the God he loved. At a low point in his life he walked away from the church.   To try to fill the void in his life, Robinson began to travel extensively. On one of his journeys he shared a stagecoach with a lady who was humming his song Come Thou Fount of Every ...

Last week I wrote about God’s will for Jesus, that all who look upon Him will be saved, and that Jesus will keep us saved forever. But what about us? Can we know God’s will for our lives?   The answer is yes! We can know God’s will for our lives because it was never supposed to be a mystery. God’s will for us is laid out in Scripture just as clearly as His will for Jesus.    God’s will for your life is that you are saved and live your life the way you are supposed to. Consider 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, which says, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.”   God’s will is that you are sanctified. That word means to be holy, or set apart. At our salvation we are made holy, set apart from the unsaved world and set apart to God. We become adopted as children of God. Sanctification me...

We talk a lot about the will of God. As a pastor people say things to me like, “Pray for me as I try to discern God’s will.” We tell our students they need to find out God’s will for their lives. We have turned God’s will into some deep mystery, but the truth is, we can easily know God’s will.    Jesus knew the will of God for His own life and ministry on earth. In John 6:39-40 the Son of God said these words:   “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”   God’s will is that people are saved. He wants all who look on Jesus to receive the eternal life He came to make available. The language here reminds me of what Jesus told Nicodemus just three chapters earlier, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must t...