Tommy Mann

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...