Tommy Mann

  The dictionary defines the word refuge as a “shelter or place of protection from danger, trouble, etc.”       The author of Hebrews said, “we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us (6:18).” What does he mean when he says we have fled for refuge?    He is talking about running to Jesus, as the next verses make clear: “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever…”   The word refuge speaks of a shelter, but it has a much richer meaning than that. This actually looks back to the cities of refuge described in Numbers 35. When the Israelites settled the Promised Land, they were told to create six such cities as shelters for people. These were cities where people could go if they accidentally took a life. Under their law, a relative of a slain person would avenge the blood of

As long as there have been people there have been disagreements. Think about it: the first guy ever born killed his own brother.   So as Christians we should seek to get along, but the deck is stacked against us. Our own selfishness and pride get in the way, pushing us to want our needs met above anyone else’s. There is an unfortunate book titled  War in the Pews  that chronicles some fights among church members. The book details the story of a feud that developed because of a covered dish; one sister made her congealed salad with Cool Whip, which so offended another sister who preferred a different whipping cream.    One church split over whether to position the piano on the left or right side of the pulpit, another split over whether to serve the Lord’s Supper from the front of the sanctuary to the back or from back to front.   These things ought not to be! But they are nothing new. That is why when Jesus prayed with His disciples on the night He was arrested, He specifically prayed

  The author of Hebrews might have made a mistake. In chapter 11 we read this praise of Sarah: “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.”   By faith? Since when was Sarah a hero of the faith? Her very name in this great faith chapter is surprising enough, but to credit her miraculous delivery of Isaac to her faith seems downright wrong. Don’t you remember when Sarah laughed at God?    Genesis 18:10-12 records the event. “The LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”    In the next verses the Lord asked Sarah why she laughed, and she denied laughing, but the Lord reiterated the promi

God famously called Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3. There the Lord told Moses that he had a special assignment—to go to Egypt’s Pharoah and demand the release of the Hebrew slaves.     After describing the Hebrews’ plight to Moses, God declared, “and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…(v.8).”    God had come down to deliver them. That was great news! God was going to show up and fix everything.    But then just two verses later God seems to have changed His mind, saying, “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt (v.10).”   So which is it? Was God coming down to deliver His people, or was God sending Moses to deliver His people?    The two are not mutually exclusive. It was not either/or, but both. God was coming down to equip Moses for the job. Over the next chapter the Lord addressed each of

Enoch is one of the most intriguing figures in history because he is one of only two people to never die. To add to that, there isn’t much of an explanation as to how he left earth. Briefly mentioned in the Bible’s first genealogy, we simply read, “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him (Genesis 5:24).”     We get a few more details in the Hall of Faith, where in Hebrews 11:5 we see, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.”   To be translated means to be “carried across,” as if God carried Enoch from this world to Paradise. All we know of Enoch is that he walked with God and he pleased God by faith. What does it mean to please God? I looked up the Greek word used in Hebrews 11:5 in three different Bible dictionaries, and there was no entry.    So I consulted six different commentaries on the book of Hebrews, and none expounded on the ph

About a half dozen times the Psalms speak of someone being shaken. Typically the psalmist is saying that, because of God’s protection, he will not be shaken. For example, in Psalm 16:8 David wrote, “I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.”   Why do the psalm writers seem so concerned about being shaken? What does that mean? Were they prone to earthquakes or something?     The word translated as shaken means to slip. Walking through life is hard, as there are many things that can cause us to trip and fall. When the authors say they will not be shaken, they mean God will protect them and keep them upright.    On our honeymoon Alicia and I went horseback riding in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. We were going around some sharp curves as we were winding our way up the mountain, and the horses seemed to be about an inch from the edge. It was a little nerve wracking, to say the least. The tour guide rather nonchalantly said, “Relax. The