Tommy Mann

  Victory is almost ours! I cannot begin to express to you my excitement concerning the progress we are making. Much of the training we have done has been about learning routine things. If I am honest, for a while I found this training monotonous, but now I am beginning to see how it was all part of the bigger plan.    We have been learning to trust our Commander and to march in His footsteps each day. This routine was meant to build our confidence to the point that we no longer have to think; we just react and do what we have been trained to do.    We have also been learning how to use the equipment at our disposal. We have learned the proper techniques to defend ourselves against the enemy. Yes, he is a ruthless tyrant, and his soldiers are well trained, but our equipment is superior, and when we properly avail ourselves of it, it can protect us from even the strongest of attacks.    But now, beyond the equipment for our defense, I am becoming skille...

  I have some good news! I’m afraid that my previous letters may have come across with a touch of despair. I don’t mean to complain. Sometimes I just have to put my feelings on paper, but I realize they might not be the best letters for my family to read.   But not this week. I have been eager to put my pen to paper and express to you the good news we have received. Peace is within reach. I cannot speak for what the enemy will do, but I am at complete peace, as are the other soldiers in our unit. We know that we are doing what we are supposed to do, and we are at peace with our Commander.     The battle is still raging on, but it is different. Somehow we all know everything will turn out alright. The enemy is still trying his same old tricks, but they have not been as effective as of late. His fiery arrows are extinguished as soon as we raise our shields.    Individually our shields provide defense, but when we all band together in formation our shield...

    The fog of war makes things hard to see. Sometimes I find myself doubting what is really in front of me. Are my eyes playing tricks on me? At times I see the enemy when no one is there, and at other times I think I am alone and the enemy comes out of nowhere.    That is one of the enemy’s tactics. He tries to mess with our minds, using propaganda to gaslight us. He wants us to doubt why we are actually in this war. He wants us to doubt our Commander. He is constantly asking, “Did your Commander  really  say…?”    It sounds so stupid when I write it, but in those moments I almost feel like I am going to fall for it. I must admit there are times when I start to think that maybe my Commander is holding out on us. He promised to never leave us or forsake us on this battlefield, but sometimes when the bullets are flying, I’m not sure that I see him.    No. I can’t think this way. I know that is what the enemy wants. I won’t fall into his ...

    We have learned a lot about warfare from letters that soldiers wrote to their loved ones back home. The Bible teaches that we are all involved in a war, a spiritual battle that takes place all around us. Ephesians 6:12 says,   “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”   If we could read a letter from the trenches from a soldier in God’s army, it might say something like this:    Another exhausting day. Because of the storm last night we found ourselves nearly ankle deep in mud as we marched in formation. We know the enemy is all around us, and the familiar sounds of gunfire and rocket blasts can be heard unceasingly. Occasionally someone in our company falls victim to these guerilla style attacks.    It only happens when someone wanders off from the group. Together we are str...

Sibling rivalries go back a long way; all the way back, in fact, to the first siblings. Cain and Abel are the first people that the Bible mentions being born (although they may well have had older siblings). In a fit of rage, Cain murdered his brother because of the different reactions the Lord had concerning their offerings.    Genesis 4:4-5 tell us, “And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.” The preceding verse says Cain brought an offering of the produce from his garden, while Abel brought one from his flock. The former was rejected while the latter was received. Rather than being upset with himself, Cain turned his anger towards his brother and committed the world’s first act of murder.    But what is missing from this passage is God’s instruction. When did God ever tell them what kind of offering to bring? Genesis never tells us. It isn’t until Exodus that God gave Moses the law and its requirements for b...