Tommy Mann

Have you ever heard someone ask that? "What gives you the right?" They can be asking that about any number of things:  What gives you the right to tell me what to do? What gives you the right to take that? What gives you the right to go in there? When that question is asked, it is because someone has done something they probably did not have permission to do; they are overstepping, and got called on it. Someone has assumed a right for himself that he did not have. Now imagine someone claiming to be a child of God. That is an audacious claim, teetering on blasphemy. A mere mortal saying he is God's child. What gives you the right to say you are God's child!?  The Bible tells us where we get that right: it is our faith. John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." The word "believed" is better understood as trusted in. This is more than just intellectually agreeing to a fact;...

An old lazy couple was sitting in their rocking chairs and staring into the fireplace. The wife, believing it was raining but too lazy to get up and look out the window, told her husband to go see if rain really was falling. Too lazy to get up himself, the husband thought about it for a moment and then said, "Ah, just call in the dog and see if he's wet."  Some people will do anything to get out of doing something. In his proverbs, King Solomon had nothing good to say about lazy people, and nothing but good to say about those who work hard. The lazy he called slothful and sluggards, and the workers he called diligent and wise.  In Proverbs 14:23 Solomon said "In all toil there is profit." In 10:26 he compared said lazy people are as irritating as vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes.  But my favorite anecdote about the slothful person is found in 19:24--"The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it to his mouth."  In a simi...

With all the attention surrounding James Talarico after his recent primary win, I want to share my thoughts on why I believe he is dangerous. Because the media is hailing Talarico as a Bible scholar, and because he is a seminary student who often preaches in churches, many people view him as a trusted authority on God’s Word. While he certainly says some true things, I want to address some troubling statements he has made because I fear he is leading people astray. First, after stating that Christianity “points to” the truth, Talarico went on to say “other religions of love point to the same truth.” Which religions? He specifically mentioned Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and even Islam as “circling the same truth about the universe, about the cosmos. And that truth is inherently a mystery.” This is nothing new. This universalism may feel good because it is inclusive, but it is demonstrably false. These religions cannot all point to the “same truth” because they teach different things. T...

I have never been a night owl. I am not a lazy person, but I do enjoy my sleep. When evening comes, my body starts shutting down. New Year's Eve is the worst day on the calendar. There are times when I have to force myself to stay awake. Sometimes it is a work requirement, or maybe a road trip, and yes, New Year's Eve.  But in reality, I have to stay awake every day because that is what Jesus commanded us to do, just in a metaphorical sense. In Mark 13 Jesus spoke of His return to earth, and in verse 33 He said, "Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come." We do not know when Jesus will come back, so we must stay awake. I don't want to be found sleeping when He comes. The goal should be to live every day as if He is coming back in the next hour, because there is a lot of work to be done. When we lull ourselves to sleep thinking we have plenty of time, we are not carrying out the Great Commission. But if we truly live as if His return is ...

As Christians we should share our faith with other people, but sometimes people express their hesitation to do saying, "They won't believe me." There are many other points of view in the world--from atheism to a variety of religions--so we waver on sharing our faith.  It is normal to worry that people will not believe us, and even mock us. They will call us simple minded when we say we believe God is the Creator rather than Darwinian evolution. They will call us closed minded when we say Jesus is the exclusive way to the Father (as He said of Himself in John 14:6). They will call us hateful when we tell the truth, intolerant when we don't go along with sin, and hypocritical when we mess up. We cannot let our fear of rejection keep us from sharing the message. Did you know that the very first act of evangelism was rejected? The first people to share the good news (the gospel) were laughed at and told they were wrong. It's true. On Resurrection Morning, a group of l...

Have you heard of the flamingo parasite? It actually has a long Latin name, but it is commonly known as the flamingo parasite because of its close relationship with the pink bird. This particular parasite, which is a tapeworm, needs to find its way into the stomach of the flamingo in order to live. So how does it get there? The flamingo has no desire to eat this tapeworm, and even if it did, it would be next to impossible to even see them. No problem. The tapeworm has a plan. They make their way inside shrimp, and using a system of hooks, attaches itself into the brain of the new host. The parasite then takes control of the shrimp, first causing them huddle up in packs, and then changing their color from transparent to pink. This makes the shrimp easy to spot, and since flamingos enjoy eating shrimp, problem solved. As the bird’s digestive tract breaks down the shrimp, the tapeworm is free to continue its life cycle inside the flamingo. How does the tapeworm know how to do any of this?...