Tommy Mann

People need to communicate. Whether verbally or nonverbally, humans are in constant communication with one another, so if we are bad at it, we can ruin relationships. Some people are poor communicators for a variety of reasons, but if that is you, fear not. Dr. Gary Collins, in his book   Christian Counseling,   wrote, “Communication is a learned interaction. That which is not good can be made better.”     I want to share a few quick communication killers, things we might do that turn people off and hurt our relationship. Dishonesty is a big one. Colossians 3:9 says, “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.” The unsaved person may lie, but those of us who are in Christ should not.    Interrupting someone who is talking is another communication killer. Interruption says, “What I want to say is more important than what you are saying. In fact, I’m more important than you.” Respect someone enough to listen intently when they are talking.  

  Angels are mentioned throughout Scripture, and they are described in a variety of ways. Some are mentioned by name (Michael and Gabriel), and some are referred to in groups (living creatures, sons of God). But there are two specific types of angels mentioned in the Bible, cherubim and seraphim.     Cherubim are found far more frequently. In fact, the word seraphim is only found once. Isaiah 6:1-3 contains this vision from the prophet:   In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”    “Seraphim” in Hebrew means “burning (or fiery) ones.” Many people have taken this to mean the angels themselves have a burning or glowing appearance, which may be tru

Jesus famously told His disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).” Jesus demonstrated that His disciples were truly His friends when He laid down His life for them by going to the cross.       Last week I wrote about friendship with Jesus, looking at the Lord’s words in John 15:14. But what is a friend? How do we define it? The dictionary explains a friend as being “a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard,” but I would rather focus on the original language.   The Greek word that is translated as friend is  philos.  You may well have heard a sermon about the different kinds of love in the New Testament, where the pastor calls us to  agape  love, that self-sacrificing love that is a decision, not a feeling. One of the other Greek words for love is  phileo,  which comes from the same word translated here as friend.    This describes that brotherly kind of love. In fact, its where the city Ph

Author Elbert Hubbard once said, “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” That is something we appreciate about our true friends, but there is no one that knows all about us more than Jesus. We would not expect Jesus to want to be our friend considering all He knows about us, right?     That’s part of what makes this verse so amazing. In John 15:14 Jesus said these words to His disciples: “You are my friends if you do what I command you.”   You are my friends. The God of the universe spoke those words to mortal men. The Omniscient One saw every sinful act and deed of these men, and still called them friend. By extension, this promise of friendship applies to all of us today who are disciples of Christ.    This is the opposite of what we would expect, but God loves the world so much that He sent His only Son into the world to bring salvation, and also to offer friendship.    Sadly, many people reject this offer of friendship with Jesus in favor of friendship wi

  A few months after Bob broke off his engagement to Sally, he received this letter from her out of the blue:   My dearest Bob. I have not been myself since you called off the wedding. I miss you terribly. I have been unable to sleep, I have no appetite, and no desire to do anything at all. I cannot control my emotions. Each day a million little reminders of you cause me to burst into tears and cry uncontrollably. If you would only take me back, I will be the happiest girl in the world. Please know that I love you so!    P.s. Congratulations on winning the 107 million dollar Powerball.     Sally might not have had the purest motive for wanting to reconcile with Bob, but that should be the goal of any believers who are in conflict. In Matthew 5:23-24 Jesus said, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift

Let’s be honest: the idea of a devil can seem childish, like believing in the tooth fairy. Is there actually a devil, or is that just an invention of religious people to explain away things they don’t like? In Rob Bell’s book   What is the Bible?  He makes the case that the Jews developed the concept of a devil while they were exiled in Babylon—quite late in their history—as a way of coping with a God that would allow bad things to happen.     They blamed the devil to let God off the hook.    Pointing out that the first mention of Satan is in 1 Chronicles 21, written after the exile, Bell states: “The idea of Satan didn't emerge until the exile, until the Hebrews had experienced extraordinary evil and oppression and had found themselves in a foreign land miles from home in the midst of great alienation and suffering…You can see how the idea of an opposing, evil, destructive, force/spirit/god/goddess emerged as people became more sophisticated in their thinking.”   But here are a fe