Tommy Mann

What things are you occupied with? To be occupied means to be engaged in something, or giving our attention to that thing. You may be occupied with work, family, responsibilities, or hobbies. Those are all good things to be occupied by at the appropriate times. But in Acts 18:5 we read that the Apostle Paul was occupied by something quite noble. The verse says, "When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus." The Greek word that is translated as occupied means to be seized, as if something has grabbed a hold of you. Paul was seized by the word, completely controlled by it. "The word" refers to the Word of God, or the gospel. Paul was completely occupied by sharing the good news of Jesus with people who did not know the truth.  The Jews knew about Jesus, of course, but they did not believe Jesus was the Christ. Paul was able to build a systematic case for Jesus by using, you guessed it...

God is love. We know this concept and it warms our hearts. 1 John 4:8 famously says, "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." The sixteenth verse repeats this truth that God is love. We love this verse because it teaches us that the God of heaven loves imperfect people like us. This separates our God from other gods, like the god of Islam, who is impersonal. But what is sometimes lost in this verse is a deeper truth that points us to the Trinity.  If God is love, there must be someone for God to love. There has to be an object of His love; otherwise, how could God be love? He doesn't just love in the abstract, but existentially. God being love can't just be an idea; it must be put into practice. It stands to reason then, that if God is love, there is someone to love. I think we all would agree with that. Who does God love? Us! we shout with joy. But what about before there was an us? Who did God love before He made Adam? Or we could ask, Who ...

I am afraid that people outside the church don't realize that Christians are allowed to enjoy life. They probably think we are a group of people scared into submission by the rules of religion, living by a code of "thou shalt not's" that only exist to keep us from having any fun. Those outside the church probably think that way because of those inside the church. Too many Christians seem to operate from that idea that God is a cosmic killjoy who wants us all to be miserable. If we like it, He says don't do it. Life is not meant to be enjoyed, only endured. Since Christians seem to believe this myth, it is passed on to those who are unbelievers. And that isn't a very good advertisement of our faith, or the kind of God we serve. Did you know the Bible speaks of us enjoying life? In 1 Timothy 6:17 Paul wrote these words: "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who r...

When we hear someone described as being a fugitive it is never a good thing. "He is a fugitive of justice." That means someone is on the run; he has broken the law, and now the cops are trying to find him. We also use that word when someone breaks out of prison and there is a manhunt trying to track him down. To be a fugitive means you have made a series of bad choices, first in breaking the law, and then in attempting to evade the consequences.  But it doesn't have to be a bad word. Several times in the New Testament someone is commanded to become a fugitive. One such example is in 2 Timothy 2:22 where Paul writes, "So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."   Like a fugitive, the word is hiding in the text. We don't see it because it is only in the original Greek. The word translated as flee is the Greek word pheuge,  and it gives us our English word fugitive. Rather...

Have you ever worn clothes that were too tight? Sometimes people have a suit they only wear on rare occasions, and when they pull it out of the back of the closet last minute, they discover it doesn't fit like it used to, and they have no choice but to wear it anyway. Or maybe the clothes weren't tight when you put them on, but they became that way over the course of the day. After a big meal, the waistband feels like it shrunk, and you can't wait to get some relief when you change into something else. If you have had to spend time in clothes that are too tight, you understand that good feeling when you can finally put on something more comfortable. After a long day you can slip into your favorite lounge pants and baggy shirt and just let yourself relax. You take a deep breath and hold it in for a moment before finally letting it out. At last you can breathe much easier.  In her book Forgiving What You Can't Forget, Lysa Terkeurst compares that feeling to when we finall...

Have you ever thought about the words you speak being food? That might not be the first mental image you get when you think about your words, but the book of Proverbs makes that comparison.  First, Solomon makes the analogy in a negative way, writing in 26:22, "The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body." A whisperer is a gossip, someone who has to look over his shoulder before he lowers his voice and passes on what he is about to say. Many people have a craving for gossip that can never be satisfied. And the whispered words taste so good going down--they are truly delicious morsels. The Hebrews phrase literally reads "things greedily devoured;" the gossip is a glutton, feasting on words when he should be pushing away from the table.  I might greedily devour an entire cheesecake, and enjoy each bite in that moment. But after the fact my blood sugar spikes and I can't button my pants. In a similar way, the w...

Critics of Christianity often point to the existence of evil as proof that there cannot be a God. After all, if there is a God, as we say there is, and if that God is good, as He claims to be, then there should not be any evil in the world.  We all know there is evil in the world, so God is either too weak to prevent it, or too cruel to stop it. Such is the claim of the atheist.  But evil is not really a thing. It is comparable to coldness or darkness. Think about it: cold is not a thing. Something is cold when there is an absence of heat. The same is true of darkness, which is only the absence of light. Where no light is present, there is darkness. Evil is like that. It is simply the absence of good. And God made a good world. When He created the universe He called it "very good." In Genesis 1 we see the word good used seven times to describe God's creation. There was no evil because there was no absence of good.  That was all before sin. Two chapters after calling every...

Is the New Testament part of the inspired Bible? While there is far more that can be said then I have room to share here, I think there is an interesting piece of evidence slipped into 1 Timothy 5:8. After Paul said an elder is deserving of his pay from the church, he went on to say: "For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,' and, 'The laborer deserves his wages.'”  Paul is clearly quoting Scripture. The reference to muzzling an ox comes from Deuteronomy 25. That was part of the old law, and verses like 2 Timothy 3:16 tell us "all Scripture" was breathed out by God. The Jews had collected all the books we call the Old Testament, and they viewed them as inspired writings from God through human authors, and thus incapable of containing errors. But Paul didn't just include Deuteronomy when he wrote "For the Scripture says." The second phrase about the laborer deserving his wages was a quote from Jesus re...

King Solomon had a lot to say about ancient landmarks, and how they should not be moved. This might make us think about people who deface or even topple statues, something that we have seen a rise in of late. But that is not what Solomon had in mind. The landmarks referred to boundary markers that separated one person's property line from another. You might know where your land ends and your neighbor's begins because there is a fence separating your lots, but during the days of the Bible people piled up stones for that purpose. If you wanted to expand your territory, all you had to do was move the stones a little farther onto your neighbor's side. If you wanted more land to farm or more room for cattle to graze, you could deceive your neighbor by moving the stones. This was considered one of the most heinous of offenses, but it happened.   So in Proverbs 23:10-11 Solomon wrote, "Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless, for their Redeemer i...

Have you ever watched a controlled demolition? I have never seen one in person, but several times the local news has shown an old building come down. Dynamite is strategically placed throughout the building, and when it is detonated, the building will implode and come crumbling down. It is really amazing how quickly a dilapidated structure can be leveled, especially when you think about how long it took to erect it. People spent months planning and drawing, then carefully constructing until the building was finished; sometimes it takes years to move from a concept to completion.  Years to build, and gone in minutes.  There are two types of crews involved in this lifecycle of a building: the construction crew and the demolition crew. One specializes in building up and the other in blowing up.  It seems that people can be divided into those same two groups. Some people love to build others up, and some, it seems, enjoy tearing others down. Our words have the power to do bot...

In school we learned about the process of metamorphosis, where a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. On average, a caterpillar will spend about two weeks in a cocoon before it emerges looking like an entirely different creature. The before and after picture are quite stark.  The word metamorphosis is not just in our textbooks, but in the Bible as well. In Mark 9:2 we read, "And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them." The word translated as transfigured is the Greek word metamorpho.   (Matthew also uses the word metamorpho , and together, these are the only two times that word appears in the Bible) On the mountain Jesus underwent a metamorphosis, completely changing His appearance. It did not happen gradually over two weeks; He did not enter a cocoon in order to change. The Greek text indic...

It is that time of year again where there is plenty of work to be done outside. Just yesterday I was weed eating and got myself into a tangled web of thorny vines, which poked me through my clothes, and stuck into my skin. I am yet to meet a person who likes thorns; instead, I hear people jokingly blame Adam for the very existence of these nuisances.  There is someone in the Bible who notoriously disliked thorns, and that was Paul. In 2 Corinthians 12:7 he wrote, "So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited." What was this thorn in his flesh? There has been much speculation over the centuries, but the truth is we do not know. Using a thorn as a metaphor, Paul complained that something was bothering him. This thorn "was given to" him from God to keep him humble, and yet it was a messenger of Satan. It seems that Go...

We don't use the word naughty very often, but when we do, we are usually thinking of one of the two lists found in the North Pole. "He's making a list, he's checking it twice, he's gonna find out who's naughty and nice." We associate the word with disobedience, or the opposite of being nice. But naughty actually derives from the Old English naught, which means zero, or having no value. The King James uses that word in Proverbs 6:12: "A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth." The ESV says worthless rather than naughty.  A person who is naught-y is a worthless person, someone who contributes nothing because he is living in sin.   On the other end of the spectrum, just a few verses later, is the haughty person. Verse 16 says there are seven things the Lord hates, and the first one on the list is haughty eyes, which is an old way of referring to pride and arrogance, someone who never drops his gaze, but turns his nose up in the a...

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?...

We need to give careful consideration to the way we choose to go.  Things have definitely improved for me thanks to GPS, but before we had these technologies we needed to plan ahead. If we didn't know how to get somewhere, we needed to ask for directions or look at a map. We also needed to think about things like road construction, traffic patterns at different times of day, or whether or not we wanted to pay tolls. The GPS allows us to consider these options, but we still have to make choices about our route.  That is the idea behind what Solomon told his son. In Proverbs 4:26 he wrote, "Ponder the path of your feet, then your ways will be sure."  The Hebrew word translated as ponder is used four times in the Bible, and each time it is translated into a different English word. The best definition seems to be "to weigh," so the instruction in this proverb is to weigh all the options, then make the best decision.  We might plan on going a certain way, or leaving ...

In Proverbs 3 Solomon speaks of wisdom as a godly lady, and he tells his son the reason why he should pursue this lady named wisdom. One reason why is found in verse 17: "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." Pleasantness and peace sound nice. Pleasantness means enjoyable or agreeable. Everyone wants to have an enjoyable and peaceful life, but I think Solomon might be saying something a little more clever than just that.  Although she is not mentioned by name in the book of Proverbs, according to 1 Kings 14:31, Solomon's wife's name was Naamah. The Hebrew word for pleasantness is noam,  which is closely associated with Solomon's wife's name (her name is also translated as pleasantness). But there is more. In the Song of Songs, Solomon's young wife is not named, but she is called Shulamite, which is the feminine form of Solomon's name (kind of like being called "Mrs. Solomon"). Shulamite is connected with the Hebrew ...

One of the most powerful things we can do as Christians is share our story (we sometimes call this our testimony). For many of us, we have unsaved friends and family that we have tried inviting to church, but we cannot get them inside on a Sunday. When they will not come attend one of our weekly services, they will listen to our testimony.  Chuck Swindoll said it like this: "The skeptic may deny your doctrine or attack your church, but he cannot honestly ignore the fact that your life has been cleaned up or revolutionized...Believe me, the steps that led to your conversion are far more appealing and appropriate to the lost than a pulpit exposition of John 3 or Romans 5."  That is not to suggest that the Word of God is lacking in power, or that our personal story trumps the Bible. It points to the unmistakable fact that those not yet converted are far more likely to be intrigued by the transformation of a friend than they are to listen to a breakdown of an epistle. Remember, t...

 In Luke 7 Jesus performed a miracle that led to an amazing declaration. After interrupting a funeral in the town of Nain and raising someone back to life, we read these words in verse 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” I believe that miracle was intended to call to mind a much earlier miracle performed by the Old Testament hero Elijah. In 1 Kings 17 the prophet raised the dead son of the widow of Zarephath. Elijah took the boy in his arms and presented him to his mother. Notice what happens next:  "And the woman said to Elijah, 'Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth (v.24).'” The accounts in 1 Kings and Luke are similar. Both Jesus and Elijah raised the dead son of a widow; both gave the boy to his mother; both made contact with the deceased, and thus ceremonially defiled themselves.  The comparison becomes even more apparent...

I have always liked refreshments. Even the word itself sounds promising, like I am about to receive something that will refresh me and make me feel better. When we hear the word refreshments we are almost always talking about snacks: we go to a meeting, and someone says, "Be sure to help yourself to some refreshments." The meeting may be boring, but if they have donuts and coffee, things are starting to look up.  In Proverbs 3 Solomon uses the word refreshment when he promises his son blessings from the Lord. That is the only time we see this word in the entire Bible. This is what the king tells his son in v.7-8 "Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones." The Hebrew word translated as refreshment appears twice more in the Bible, but both times it is translated as drink, as that is the best definition of the word. Sometimes we just need a good drink. Solomon is offering his so...

As followers of Jesus, we want to win the world. There is no question about that. But how do we go about doing it? There seems to be a growing trend to either minimize God's Word or set it aside altogether. Some have chosen to lower the bar in hopes that the unsaved will have an easier time jumping over it. But I disagree with that strategy. If we do not win the world with the Word, we aren't winning them at all. In his insightful book Joy for the World, Greg Forster wrote, "If Christianity is going to have a distinct impact, it needs to rely on what truly makes it distinct--the work of the Spirit in our hearts, minds, and lives."  Christianity isn't just one way among many that can change people; it is the only true way. When we reduce our faith down to merely being a social influence or a place where people come as they are and feel loved, we are joining a crowded space where a hundred other clubs and religions operate. We must remember we are offering life chan...

One of Aesop's Fables is titled The Frog and the Fox, or the Toad and the Fox in some editions. The short story is about a frog that declares he has the ability to heal any ailments within the animal kingdom. Upon hearing this audacious claim, the fox replies, "If you can heal any ailment, why do you look like that?" The fox pointed out the sickly complexion of the amphibian, and the fact that his mobility was limited to merely hopping.  Aesop wrote his fables around 620-564 BC, so they were in circulation and popular in the days that Jesus walked the earth. It is believed that the fox's clever insult to the frog gave birth to the Jewish proverb, "Physician, heal yourself." Jesus quoted those words in Luke 4:24, saying to the congregants in the synagogue, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself.' What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well." The proverb is one of skepticism, as i...

Matthew, Mark, and Luke each contain the account of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by the devil. Satan told Jesus to turn stones into bread in order to feed Himself; he told Jesus to bow down to him; and he told Jesus to dive off of the temple and see if the angels would save Him. Jesus responded to each temptation by quoting Scripture, saying, "It is written...Again, it is written...for it is written..." (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10) The devil does not tempt us in those exact ways because we do not have the ability to turn stones to bread, and no guardian angels are waiting to catch us if we do a swan dive from a sky rise. He rarely tells people to bow down to him; there are very few devil worshippers.  And yet those are the basic temptations he uses because they follow the same framework. He tempts us to turn stones into bread when he tries to get us to doubt that God will provide for our needs. He tempts us to bow to him when he tries to get us to live life for ourselves rat...

The book of Proverbs equates living right with living long. 10:27 says, “The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.” 14:27 says, “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.”  19:23 says, “The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.” But we probably all know people who lived for God and yet didn’t live as long as we would have liked. Is the Bible wrong? This is one of those times we have to remember that proverbs are rules of thumb. Sometimes wicked people live long, and sometimes righteous people don’t. Don’t you ever think less of a believer who lived a short life, thinking it must have been God’s punishment. More often than not, though, fearing God leads to prolonging our days. Part of that is because, if you fear God, you will make better choices. Those who fear God are not as likely to get drunk and drive their car off a bridge, or de...

Baptism is an important ordinance in the church, but it is often misunderstood. Many people view it as a religious relic or superstition, treating it like a lucky rabbit's foot. I have seen quite a few videos on social media of celebrities getting baptized, including athletes at their team practices. While I hope these are sincere, part of me wonders how many players hope the baptism will help them score touchdowns, and how many celebrities hope the baptism will further their career.  Baptism is not something we do to hedge our bets, like Pascal's wager (if the Christian is wrong, no harm done, but if the atheist is wrong, heaven and hell hang in the balance; therefore, trust in God). Neither is baptism something we do in hopes that God will bless us. Baptism is a picture of what a person professes to believe. When the Ethiopian eunuch believed, he was baptized on the spot. Baptism publicly proclaims the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as the candidate goes under the w...

Christians should be joyful people. Unfortunately we often present ourselves to the world as angry or sourpusses, and the world understandably will not find our faith attractive.  We should be joyful because God has been good to us. We will certainly face hardships just like everyone else, but God has supplied us with eternal blessings. On our worst day we still have our sins forgiven, God's Holy Spirit within us, and a future home with the Lord.  So we should be joyful. And if we are joyful, we should make a noise. Psalm 100 begins with these words: "Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!" We typically associate this "noise" with singing.  Some people act as if the instruction is to make a solemn noise to the Lord. Church, they say, is a place of quiet reverence. No instruments, no clapping, no raising of the hands. But the Bible frequently tells us to praise God with shouts, with clapping, and with instruments (even percussion!). Around God's thro...