Tommy Mann

  There was once a bullfrog that was feeling lonely. After an extended period of rejection, the frog decided to visit a fortune teller to see if he would ever find true love. The psychic studied the frog’s palm and then told him she had some good news: “You are about to meet a young lady that will take a very special interest in you. She is going to study you and get to know you in a real and personal way.”   “That’s great!” exclaimed the excited frog. “When will I meet this girl?”   “Next semester, in her biology class.”   Sometimes things can go from bad to worse in a hurry. The Old Testament book of Ruth opens on a bad note and gets even worse right away. The opening verse tells us the events took place at the time that the judges ruled and there was a severe famine in the land. That was bad. The time of the judges was characterized by the oft repeated phrase, “everyone did that which was right in his own eyes,” and the famine only added insult to injury.    But then it gets worse.

  Do you remember waterbeds? I don’t hear much about them anymore, but when I was a kid I remember wanting one. It seemed like something fun when I was young, but there is no way I would enjoy that now. I’ve never read any reviews on waterbeds, but I know someone who had one and did not like it. That person was Israel’s King David.   In Psalm 6 he wrote of the turmoil he was enduring, using verbiage that included the words  languishing  and being  greatly troubled.  The English word languishing translates a Hebrew phrase that literally means, “I am one who droops.” We do not use the word droop too often, but it makes me think of the old cartoon character Droopy Dog.    The white basset hound was known for his trademark lethargy; everything was slow motion and monotone. That seems like an appropriate word to describe David while he was languishing. He was Droopy David.    Then in the sixth verse he said, “I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my cou

  There is an old story about the great preacher D.L. Moody. One of his pastoral students once tried to impress his mentor, so he told him how he and a group of his friends had stayed awake all night in a prayer meeting. The student approached Moody and said, “Do you know where we have been? We have been talking to God all night. Don’t you see how our faces shine?”   The preacher was not impressed with this display of piety, and responded by quoting from Exodus 34:29, “Moses did not know that his face was shining.”    Moody was referring to the time Moses ascended Mt Sinai to receive the law from God. The verse that follows the one quoted above says, “Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.” But as Moody reminded his arrogant disciple, Moses was unaware of his own glowing face. Everyone else saw what Moses could not see.    When we do something spiritual, like spending the night in supplication, it def

When we think about worshiping God, we probably think happy thoughts. We might envision ourselves in a sanctuary, hands lifted high as we sing powerful choruses. We might even think back to miraculous moments where God came through for us, and we couldn’t help but burst forth in praise.   These are good and important moments of worship, but we need to remember that worship can take place in the good and the bad, the highs and the lows. The moments described above could be classified as adoration and thanksgiving, worshiping God with a grateful heart because of how good He has been to us. And He has been very good to us.    But the Bible gives us snapshots of people who worshiped God in their lowest moments as well. For example, when King David’s infant son died, II Samuel 12:20 tells us, “Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house.” Similarly, when Job lost