Tommy Mann

Well, I tried. I tried to be a techy guy, but it just isn’t me. When I first became a pastor of students I got a leather organizer to carry pens, business cards, a notepad, and most importantly, a 2008 calendar. That planner soon became my personal assistant and good friend. I found it was vital to write down all my appointments, and to check my schedule often. Over the years I perfected my system, getting it down to a science.    But as 2022 was drawing to a close, I finally caved. I listened to the voices telling it me it was time to enter the 21 st  Century. It’s all digital, you know. Use the calendar app on your phone, sync it with the calendar on your laptop, share it with office staff…it’s all so easy!   But I am an old dog, and that was a new trick. I gave it my best shot, but the first week of not carrying a planner and I received a phone call about a meeting I missed. And yes, I set up my phone calendar to remind me of meetings, but one of us failed to get the reminder. Throu

It’s almost time for Christmas! As a kid that was the greatest feeling. The buildup and anticipation of Christmas culminated with a state of euphoria, the realization that soon I would know exactly what was wrapped up in those packages, and those toys would be mine to enjoy.    Knowing that Christmas was coming also meant that someone was coming. We would sing that song Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and on the evening of the 24 th  we knew that his sleigh was loaded, and along with his team of reindeer, Santa was coming. He would even be coming down the chimney, despite the fact that we didn’t have chimneys in Orlando.   There is excitement knowing Christmas is coming. Even as an adult I still get a sense of that childlike wonder as Christmas day creeps ever closer. But for most of us, Christmas is not as exciting as it used to be. Maybe you are more like Faith Hill, singing “Where are You Christmas?” Or maybe you are more like the Grinch, who “hated Christmas, the whole Christmas sea

  Have you ever heard people refer to either the milk or meat of the Word? They are talking about a level of spiritual depth, contrasting the stuff of beginners with that which is reserved for the mature. The idea comes from a scathing rebuke from Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:1-2:   “But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready.”   Brand new believers are like spiritual infants, babies that cannot chew solid food. They are learning the basics, like the reliability of the Bible, the importance of belonging to a church, and how to pray. They are not ready for solid food, things like understanding the Trinity or deciphering the book of Revelation.    The goal is to grow. If you have been a believer for a while, you should be progressing towards solid food. That might mean eating bananas before beef, but it is a process. We seek