Tommy Mann

There was a tribe in Africa that converted to Christianity when missionaries came through. While learning more about their new faith, these believers began to make a habit of going out into a field to pray. Each person secured his own personal spot in the field, and as they spent time on their knees in prayer, the grass began to die.    Eventually some began to cool off in their devotion, and they started to neglect their daily prayer time. This led to the adoption of a new phrase in the tribe, don’t let grass grow in your prayer field. The problem with many Christians in the church is they are letting grass grow in their prayer field.    Jesus assumes His followers will pray. In Luke 11, when speaking with one of the disciples of John the Baptist, Jesus said, “When you pray…” Notice that He did not say,  If  you pray, but  When  you pray. Prayer should be a part of the Christian’s routine.    Jesus continued with a humorous parable about a man who had unexpected company, so he began t

What is grace? Christians love to sing about that amazing grace that saved a wretch like me, but what does that word mean? The Greek word means  favor or graciousness , and Strong’s defines it in a spiritual sense this way: “the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life.”   This word is a familiar friend in Scripture, but let’s consider Romans 11:6, which says, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”   Human nature is always to make salvation the result of works, something we earn by our efforts. But the second works become necessary, grace ceases to be grace. I love the line “grace would no longer be grace.”   In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare wrote, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” A rose is a rose, no matter what you call it. A rose is a rose because of its inherent qualities as a rose.    In the same way, grace is grace because of what it i

Human nature is to worry. We worry about the economy; we worry about our health; we worry about our family; we worry about work, school, the neighborhood, and the government. There are so many things that can keep us up at night if we allow them to.   Human nature is to worry, but Jesus told us not to worry. I cannot think of a single problem I have ever resolved by worrying about it. Can you? I am powerless, with so many things out of my control, but the Lord is capable of doing anything. Rather than worry, we should trust Him to handle our problems.    Jesus used ravens and lilies as examples of things that do not worry, and yet their needs are met. In Luke 12:24 He said, “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!”   Then in verse 27 He added, “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed l

  I absolutely hate snakes. In my opinion, the only good snake is a dead snake. But pastor and author Greg Laurie spoke of how he was obsessed with snakes when he was younger, even keeping multiple snakes as pets in his room. He came to know a man who collected venomous snakes, including the incredibly lethal tiger snake. This man was actually bitten by the tiger snake and lived to tell about it.    Although it was a close call, he credited his survival with the fact that he gave himself daily injections of tiger snake serum, and effectively developed an immunity to its venom. Rather than realizing how fortunate he was to still be alive, this man became invincible in his own mind. He became careless, even letting all of his deadly snakes roam freely in his house. One day he was bitten in the leg by one of his cobras, was subsequently hospitalized, and died.    It’s a tragic story, but an ending you could probably predict halfway through reading. It reminds me of the expression, “If you