Tommy Mann

In Ezekiel 33:7 the Lord appeared to the prophet and told him, “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.” In an analogous way, Ezekiel was to serve as a watchman for Israel. Watchmen were a common sight in cities that had walls for protection; they were stationed high atop the wall with a great vantage point to see any would-be intruders. Their job was simple: if they saw any invaders, sound the alarm by blasting the trumpet. Give an alert to everyone inside the city walls. As the Lord’s watchman on the wall, Ezekiel had to decide if he was going to sound the alarm or not. But we couldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to. Who wants to be the bearer of bad news? The message was that the people had sinned so much for so long that God was sending an invading army. The people would be receiving the wages of their sin, and yet Ezekiel would be the one to blame if he did not speak the messag...

  The Lord gave the prophet Ezekiel many interesting visions, including one contained in the tenth chapter of the book that bears his name. In this vision Ezekiel saw the Lord inside the temple, which was where God’s invisible presence resided in Israel. The timing of this was shortly before the Southern Kingdom was defeated and exiled.   After describing the four angels around the throne, the prophet described what he saw next: “Then the glory of the LORD went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them (v.18-19).” In a shocking scene, the Lord left the temple. The vision was meant as a warning that the Israelites would not be able to go into the temple for worship because they would not be in their homel...

There is an interesting figure mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. In 7:18 we learn, “The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven.” Who is this queen of heaven? She is only mentioned here and three times in chapter 44, where the Israelites insist they will continue to worship her instead of the Lord.   Most scholars believe this was Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of war and fertility. Archaeologists have discovered statues and other images of her in ancient Israel, a place where Ishtar never should have been, but King Manasseh imported idol worship during his reign. This was a silly primitive practice.  But today there is a modern queen of heaven that is just as silly to worship. Roman Catholics use this title for Mary, the human mother of Jesus. They pray to her, asking her to ask her Son to do things for them, not realizing they can talk directly to her Son and enter “boldly before the throne of grace (He...

The Jews didn’t think God loved them anymore. It certainly didn’t look like He did. The nation split into two, and both North and South had been defeated. Not only were they decimated by their enemies, the survivors were rounded up and marched out of their land. No, it certainly didn’t look like God still loved them.  That is why His message through the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 31 were welcomed words. In the third verse we read, “The LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” “From far away” reminds us they were in Babylon, far away from the Promised Land, and far away from the temple where they went to meet with the Lord. That He would appear to them at all, and especially from far away, was in itself wonderful news.  But notice what He said when He appeared. He loved them with an everlasting love. Their idolatry was not enough to break the love of the Lord. Their being conquered and di...

In Jeremiah 13 God asked an interesting question through His prophet: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots (v.23)?” This question is rhetorical because we know the answer to both halves of that question is no. The Ethiopian cannot change the color of his skin, nor can the leopard get rid of his trademark pattern.   But why did God ask such an obvious question? He was making a point, as the second half of the verse tells us: “Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.” The things about the Ethiopian and the leopard is not that they do not have the ability to change, but that they have no desire to change. Why would the Ethiopian want to change his dark skin? Why would the leopard want to remove his spots? They are proud of the way they look; that is part of their distinguishing characteristic.  The point was the stubborn people of Israel’s Southern Kingdom had even less desire to change their behavior. Their identifying mark was their idolat...

  Where we sit says a lot about us. Or I should say, who we sit with says a lot about us. Do you prefer the company of the wicked or the righteous?   In Psalm 26 David prayed for God to vindicate him because he was being falsely accused of something. To David, the problem wasn’t just that he was accused of something he didn’t do, but that he was accused of something he wouldn’t do because he hated it.  (Although we don’t know for sure, this psalm may be in reference to the assassination of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul who installed himself as king even though David had been anointed as successor. People likely accused David of ordering the hit, and he didn’t want people think he condoned the murder.) In v.4-5 of the psalm the king said, “I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.” If hate seems like a strong word, to David it wasn’t strong enough. What else could he say? He loa...

  The old prophets rarely used years to date their work, and instead chose to tie their writings to events in history. In the Old Testament Amos said he wrote, “in the days of Uzziah…two years before the earthquake.” (1:1) His fellow minor prophet Zechariah mentioned this same earthquake, saying that on that future day of the Lord (a time of judgment), “you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.” (14:5) Uzziah’s story is found in both 2 Kings 15 and 2 Chronicles 26, but neither account mentions an earthquake. But since two prophets later referenced it, it must have been a doozy. The fact that the narratives about Uzziah do not cite this earthquake has given scoffers some ammunition to say the Bible is not credible.  But not anymore. Archaeologists now believe a massive earthquake rocked the Middle East in 760 BC, during the reign of Uzziah. They estimate that the quake would register a staggering 8.2 on today’s Richter scale, which mea...

  One of the most quoted New Testament verses has to be Acts 1:8. This is a go-to text for missions conferences or sermons on sharing the gospel. If you are not familiar, it says: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Because of the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit, Christians have a supernatural boldness to tell others about Jesus—to be His witnesses, to use the biblical phrase. I would like to point out that the word “and” is found three times among the final thirteen words of the verse. Nowhere in the text do we see the word “or,” but too many of us act like that is what it says.  The disciples were not told to pick a place. Jesus did not say, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, or maybe Judea or Samaria, or possibly to the ends of the earth.” He repeatedly said and, not or.  Because we are not in the Middle East we might not understand...

  It is hard to read about the calamity that befell ancient Israel. The Assyrian and Babylonian captivity seem like severe punishment. How could a loving God allow His people to be defeated and captured, exiled and enslaved?   We need to remember that these things did not come without warning. In 2 Kings 17:13 we read, “Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, ‘Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.’”  That same chapter tells us Israel was stubborn, they turned to idolatry, and they despised the words of Yahweh their God. Yet God was patient. This was not a one strike and you’re out situation, or even three strikes and you’re out. The Lord sent prophet after prophet, warning the people that they were in violation of the covenant made with Moses and the rest of the nation. Have no other gods, have...

In 1572 an engraver named Philips Galle created a series of works that would become known as the Seven Wonders of the World. Among the scenes highlighted were the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Over time many different natural and manmade locations have been canonized as so-called Wonders of the World.  But long before Galle compiled a list of wonders in the world, the writer of Psalm 119 referred to the Wonders of the Word. In verse 18 of the psalm he prays, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” Few of us would think any law is wondrous. Has anyone ever trembled in anticipation of reading the latest bill being debated in Congress? Man’s law is rarely wonderful, but God’s law is only wonderful.  We also need to keep in mind that the author is using a figure of speech (called synecdoche) in which a part of something is used to speak of the whole. He isn’t just talking about the law, but all of God’...

Thanks to social media there is a word we are hearing more and more: influencers. People who amass a large following online get paid to promote products, as companies have learned that people will purchase what their favorite trending celebrity tells them to buy. In recent election cycles politicians have paid influencers to rave about them to their followers. These influencers get paid to make people do something they probably would not have done on their own.   But influencers have always been around, even if they weren’t paid for their influence. Human nature shows that some people are leaders and others are followers; leaders influence while followers follow the lead. We see a clear example of that in 2 Chronicles 23-24 with the unlikely king named Joash.  His father died as a result of a battle wound, so the queen mother assumed the throne and murdered all the male relatives that could challenge her for the crown. But she missed one. Her grandson Joash was hidden away by ...

In Psalm 21 David is praising God for delivering him from his enemies in battle. In the ninth verse he says, “You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.”   That is terrifying imagery, as the previous verse said God would “find out” all His enemies. I know some people do not believe in a literal hell, and while it is true that word does not appear in this psalm, the idea of unbelievers in the afterlife is always associated with fire, as they are depicted here in a blazing oven. When I hear this phrase, blazing oven, I can’t help but think of the three bold young men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s golden idol. But they were not harmed by the fire because there was a Fourth Man in the furnace with them, none other than Jesus, the Son of God. They were protected from the flames, even though they technically deserved it for br...

  Two famous men lived at the same time in the mid 19 th   Century. One was Charles Spurgeon, one of the most beloved men to ever stand in the pulpit. The other man was Karl Marx, the communist leader whose ideals resulted in the death of millions of people around the world.     Part of Marx’s strategy was to supplant Christianity because he viewed it as the greatest obstacle to his goals. Recognizing this, Spurgeon was an outspoken critic of both Marx and his socialist ideals. This was more than just political disagreements, but was Christianity vs. atheism. Marx was successful in turning many pastors towards socialism, but it was a Godless religion, one that minimized the cross and the sacrifice of Jesus.   Marx wrote  The Communist Manifesto,  but he didn’t write alone. He had a coauthor named Friedrich Engels. Engels was asked near the end of his life who was the one person he disliked most in the world, and he replied with one word: Spurgeon. The ...

I can still remember my coach’s old mantra, “How you practice is how you’ll play.” If you goof off in practice, you will goof off in the game; but if you take practice seriously and treat it as if it is the game, then when the whistle blows you will do what has become second nature. How you practice is how you will play.   John would agree with my coach, but he was more concerned with how Christians practice in the game of life. In 1 John 3:7 the Apostle wrote, “Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.” Let no one deceive you. This is common sense stuff, so don’t listen to the false teachers that will tell you otherwise. You must practice righteousness if you want to be righteous. You must make a habit of doing the right thing, every time, even when no one is looking. Day in and day out we must do the right thing because Jesus is righteous, and we should be as well. What you practice is how you’ll live. In v.8 John c...

At next week's Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, messengers will vote on a resolution stating that we favor banning pornography, and this is a measure that I will support.   As Christians we should oppose any form of pornography because of God’s Word. In Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” That is right before He said to pluck out one’s eye if it causes him to sin. John warned the church of the things in the world we should shun, which include the lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the eyes (I John 2:16). Job made a covenant with his eyes that he would not look at a woman in a lustful way (31:1). Plenty more examples can be cited from both Testaments.  But even if we could not make a plain case from the Bible, we should still oppose pornography for other reasons. Those who view porno...

  When teaching people how to read and apply the Bible, we often focus vertically and within. By vertically I mean our relationship with God in heaven. We ask questions of the passage like, “What does this teach me about God?” or “What promise from God can I claim in my life.” By focusing within I mean introspection. We ask questions of the passage like, “How can I demonstrate this positive trait in my life?” or “Am I guilty of making the same mistake this person made?” But in his book  Seven Arrows: Aiming Bible Readers in the Right Direction,  Matt Rogers mentions a horizontal element of application. By horizontal he means our relationship with other people, specifically, the church. He wrote: “The result of sin is that mankind is separated from one another, living in tension, division, and strife. The result of the Gospel is that all of those who are in Christ can be united to one another by virtue of the fact that they have all been made part of God’s family. This fac...

  In 1 Kings 3 we read about King Solomon and his famous demonstration of wisdom. When two women came to him, both claiming to be the rightful mother of an infant, Solomon asked for a sword to be brought to him so he could divide the child in two and give each woman half.   The rightful mom said she would rather give the baby to the other woman than to see her son hurt, and thus revealed herself to be the true mother. But in that same chapter, before the king is threatening to divide a baby, he shows us that he was divided within himself. Here is what the third verse says: “Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places.” How is it possible to love the Lord and offer sacrifices at the high places? That means he brought offerings to other gods, the ones worshipped by his many wives. Solomon followed the practice of political polygamy, marrying the daughters of other heads of state to form alliances. ...

One of the great gifts God has given humanity is the ability to hear. Hearing and deciphering sound really is quite remarkable when you study the workings of our inner ear. If given the choice between being deaf or being able to hear, no person would opt for not hearing.   Except for David. In Psalm 38 that was the choice he made. In fact, he went even further, choosing also to not be able to speak. In verse 13-14 said, “But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth. I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.” Why would he choose to be deaf and mute? It was in response to what his enemies were saying about him. The preceding verse says, “Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.” The king’s adversaries were speaking of his ruin, plotting ways in which to remove him from power. So David chose not to listen. He acted as if he were deaf. H...

Falling in love with someone often feels out of our control, something that just happens to us. I’ll never forget the first time I met Alicia. It was like a scene from a Hallmark movie when she tripped over my foot and turned around to apologize. We hit it off right away as if we were struck by Cupid’s arrow.   Similarly, I’ll never forget the birth of our children, especially our firstborn. Reagan (who somehow turns 16 this week!) came via an emergency C-section, so we were in the OR when the nurses handed us this tiny baby that made us parents. I was instantly smitten with a kind of parental love I didn’t know before. Those things just happen to us. These were not choices we made. Loving my kids was not a wait and see thing where I chose to love them if they were well behaved or made good grades. It was almost out of my control.  When the New Testament speaks of Christians showing love, it uses that famous word  agape  that describes a choice we make to put the nee...

1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”     The blood of Jesus is that special ingredient that can make all the difference in our lives.   Without the blood, we are doomed to a joyless existence in life, and separation from the Father in the afterlife. With the blood, we are put on a path that leads to meaningful life now and eternal life with the Father.  John did not say it is religious effort, good deeds, trying hard, or behavior modification that cleanses us from sin. No, it is only because of the blood we can be made righteous.  I was walking in the darkness, but now I’m in the light;                                          ...

  In 1 Samuel 4 we are introduced to a child with the unfortunate name of Ichabod, which essentially means the glory of the Lord had left Israel. As his mother was dying in childbirth she bestowed the ominous name on her son: “And she named the child Ichabod, saying, ‘The glory has departed from Israel!’ because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband (v.21).” Her husband, one of the priests, had died during a battle in which Israel was defeated and the ark of the covenant was stolen by the Philistines. When news reached the prophet Eli, her father-in-law, he fell over died after suffering a broken neck. The glory of the Lord was gone, and not just because the ark was stolen. The ark was stolen because the glory of the Lord was already gone. The prophet and priests were corrupted, and the people were not walking with the Lord, so the Lord left. That is a dark chapter in Israel’s history, but it isn’t the final one. Describing the birth of J...

I read about a commuter named Dean Niferatos who was riding the transit bus in Chicago. It was the middle of the afternoon and most of the passengers seemed out of it, tired from a day of work, shopping, or running errands. Some of the people had their eyes closed and were trying to get a few minutes of rest.   At one particular stop three people boarded the bus. They must have been frequent patrons of this bus because the driver recognized them immediately and made an announcement to the other riders: “Everybody watch your valuables. Some pickpockets just got on board.” The trio didn’t hesitate, but jumped right back off the bus. The driver’s warning got everyone’s attention, as they began to clutch their briefcases and shopping bags, pulling them closer to their person.  If we aren’t careful we can become like those travelers, lulled to sleep by the sounds of the city, feeling safe and secure. We nod off, leaving our valuables exposed to any would-be bandits who can execute ...

  In Washington State a 17-year-old would be thief decided to vandalize a Louis Vuitton store. This was going to be his first heist, so perhaps he was a little nervous. Security cameras caught the whole thing: the masked teenager frantically grabbing as many of the high-priced bags as he could, stuffing them into a larger bag, and then bolting for the exit. That’s when he made a critical mistake that led to his capture. He sprinted towards the glass doors that stood between him and a clean getaway, but he ran into the doors. Either he didn’t see the glass (hats off the to the custodian) or he thought it would open automatically. Either way, he ran into the glass so hard that he knocked himself unconscious, and was still out cold when the police came and cuffed him.  This young man fell into his own trap. He was so focused on making a speedy exit that he literally ran into the exit. And of course, if he weren’t breaking the law, he would not have had any problems.  In the ...

The Florida Gators put together a memorable March Madness tournament as they clinched the national championship. Although they were ranked as a #1 seed, they trailed in multiple games late in the second half, including being down 6 to UConn, 9 to Auburn, and 12 to Houston in the final game.   During the final media timeouts, which occurs when there are four minutes left, Florida seemed to find another gear in the form of senior guard Walter Clayton, Jr. Clayton stepped up throughout the tournament, making big shot after big shot. He was the epitome of clutch, the guy you want to have the ball in his hands when time is running out and you need a big play.  The team had confidence in Clayton because he had confidence in himself. He is only human, and will certainly miss shots in the future, but I can’t help but think about someone who is even more faithful.  Speaking of the Lord in Psalm 91, the anonymous author said, “He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings...

Did you know a former President once sued a newspaper reporter and won a judgment? Theodore Roosevelt brought a libel suit against Geroge Newett from the   Ishpeming Iron Ore   because of repeated articles about Teddy’s drunkenness. Roosevelt called a list of dignitaries to testify in his defense that he was, at worst, moderate in his habits. Among those who testified were former Secretary of State Robert Bacon, Admiral George Dewey, and son of another President, James Garfield.   Roosevelt won his suit and was awarded the full judgment he sought, the minimum under Michigan law, six cents.  Why would someone go through the trouble of a lawsuit, and asking bigwigs to come testify, for the paltry sum of six cents? The action clearly wasn’t about the money, but about clearing his name. This story is the epitome of what Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.” The ex-president could have asked th...

  1 John 1:9 contains one of the greatest promises in the Bible. The Apostle wrote, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This is one of the verses I quote the most in the pulpit. But it is important we understand what this verse entails. First, John is writing to the church, not to unbelievers. The unsaved are not cleansed of their sin just by confession of sin. They must confess Jesus as Lord of their life. Whether Paul was telling the Philippian jailer he had to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31),” or telling the church in Rome that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13),” it is clear that there is no salvation apart from Jesus.  John is telling the church—who is already saved and had their sin-burden removed at their salvation—that our individual sins can be forgiven by confession.  And it is also important to understand what confession means. ...

Micah was crying in Nashville again. One year ago the University of Florida’s 7’1 center Micah Handlogten suffered a devastating injury in the championship game of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. The sophomore endured a compound fracture to his lower leg, a gruesome sight on live TV. His teammates gathered around him as he cried in pain, knowing he may never return to the sport he loved.  Over the course of the season Handlogten recovered and rehabilitated his leg, with hopes to play again, not this year, but next. He was medically cleared to play in February, but the plan remained to sit out this season. After Florida lost two other big men to injuries, Micah decided to forgo his medical redshirt and suit up for the Gators. That meant he would be returning to the scene of his horrific injury: Nashville, and the SEC Tournament.  Not only did he play on the same court where he got hurt, Handlogten’s Gators returned to the championship game and hoisted the trophy in vict...

We all learned about the water cycle when we were in school: through the steps of precipitation, evaporation, and condensation, water cycles from the sky to the ground in a continuous loop (there are other steps in the process, but that is what most of us learned in elementary school). The Bible speaks to this cycle. In Ecclesiastes 1:7 the author observed: “All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full.” It is amazing to think about how much water from streams flow into the sea. Consider this: every single day the Mississippi River dumps 518 billion gallons of water into the Gulf of America, and that is just one of thousands of rivers doing the same thing. But the seas are not full. That water is going somewhere. In the 17 th  Century scientists figured out this puzzling water cycle. But the Bible actually cracked the code long before these scientists did. In Amos 9:6 the prophet asked and answered his own question:  “Who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them o...

  There are some lines or phrases in the Bible that do not make sense to us on the surface. When we come across some of these seemingly random phrases, the issue may be that something was lost in translation. A good example of this is Amos 8:1-2:   This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. And He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them.”   Why did God give the prophet a vision of a basket of summer fruit, and then not mention it again? Did I miss something?    If we were reading Hebrew, not only would it make sense, it would be kind of funny. There is a play on words here, specifically, word sounds. The Hebrew word for fruit is pronounced like  ka-yis,  and the word for end is pronounced  kes.  The basket of summer fruit is no longer random. It was an object lesson to drive home the poi...

  God gave Moses precise instructions on how to construct the tabernacle, and He equipped certain people with the skills to complete the task. Then He called for all the people to have some skin in the game, so the tabernacle would be furnished by each tribe bringing contributions. In Exodus 35:4-5 we read, “Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ‘This is the thing that the LORD has commanded. Take from among you a contribution to the LORD. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD’S contribution: gold, silver, and bronze.’” Each family was encouraged to do what they could so that the whole camp could benefit from a place of worship. We should still follow that model today. In a 2013 article in  Relevant  titled “What Would Happen if the Church Tithed,” the author found that only 2.5% of Christians per capita give to the church, and that if all professing believers would give their 10% there would be an additional $165 billion, or enough ...

  In the last letter Paul ever wrote he mentioned three people that we know almost nothing about. At the end of the book’s opening chapter we read of Phygelus, Hermogenes, and Onesiphorus. The former two were fierce opponents of the apostle, while the latter was a dear friend.   In 1:16-17 he wrote, “May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me.” Onesiphorus refreshed Paul. That verb is only used this one time in all of Scripture, and it means to relieve. The Amplified Bible translates the phrase this way: “he often braced me like fresh air.”  What an amazing word picture! Who doesn’t love to take in fresh air, especially after being cooped up inside for an extended period of time? Paul knew about being cooped up; he wrote these words from a prison cell, after all.  We don’t know what exactly Onesiphorus did for Paul, aside fr...