Tommy Mann

Let’s be honest: the idea of a devil can seem childish, like believing in the tooth fairy. Is there actually a devil, or is that just an invention of religious people to explain away things they don’t like? In Rob Bell’s book   What is the Bible?  He makes the case that the Jews developed the concept of a devil while they were exiled in Babylon—quite late in their history—as a way of coping with a God that would allow bad things to happen.     They blamed the devil to let God off the hook.    Pointing out that the first mention of Satan is in 1 Chronicles 21, written after the exile, Bell states: “The idea of Satan didn't emerge until the exile, until the Hebrews had experienced extraordinary evil and oppression and had found themselves in a foreign land miles from home in the midst of great alienation and suffering…You can see how the idea of an opposing, evil, destructive, force/spirit/god/goddess emerged as people became more sophisticated in their thinking.”   But here are a fe

  I love how the Bible ends the same way it begins. In the beginning a perfect God put perfect people in a perfect earth, where they could have perfect fellowship all the time. In the future there will be a restored earth. We commonly think of living up in heaven for eternity, but that heaven is temporary.     One day God will move heaven to earth, and all believers will have glorified bodies. There we will be perfect people in a perfect world, where we can enjoy perfect fellowship all the time.    In between all this perfection we see sin and the curse. Adam and Eve sinned, messing up the perfect situation. In Genesis 3:17 we read these words: “cursed is the ground because of you.” In Revelation 22:3 says, “And there shall be no more curse.”   Everything bad that has ever happened is because of the curse. Every tear you have ever cried, every disease you have ever endured, every tragedy you have ever faced—it all stems from the curse. The wages of sin truly is death.    So as Christia

  Many Christians, myself included, believe in the future Millennial Kingdom, a 1,000-year period where Jesus will reign on earth. His rule will not end after the thousand years; that is when the devil will be cast into the lake of fire and then eternity will begin.   Some Christians, called  amillenialists,  do not believe this kingdom will be literal. They believe we are living in that period right now, and Jesus reigns from heaven, not earth. The 1,000 years, they say, is figurative.   To this claim I would point out that Revelation 20 describes this kingdom and it uses the words “thousand years” six times in seven verses. That seems literal to me. Also, during the Millennial Kingdom it says Satan is bound, and I don’t think anyone would claim that Satan is bound now. Peter said he is roaming the earth like a lion seeking prey (1 Peter 5:8).   But I would also like to point out Hebrews 2:5, which says, “For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are s

It’s almost time for Christmas! As a kid that was the greatest feeling. The buildup and anticipation of Christmas culminated with a state of euphoria, the realization that soon I would know exactly what was wrapped up in those packages, and those toys would be mine to enjoy.    Knowing that Christmas was coming also meant that someone was coming. We would sing that song Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and on the evening of the 24 th  we knew that his sleigh was loaded, and along with his team of reindeer, Santa was coming. He would even be coming down the chimney, despite the fact that we didn’t have chimneys in Orlando.   There is excitement knowing Christmas is coming. Even as an adult I still get a sense of that childlike wonder as Christmas day creeps ever closer. But for most of us, Christmas is not as exciting as it used to be. Maybe you are more like Faith Hill, singing “Where are You Christmas?” Or maybe you are more like the Grinch, who “hated Christmas, the whole Christmas sea

Are we really supposed to believe that there is some evil spirit that goes around the world tempting people to sin? That might work in children’s church lessons, but are grownups still expected to believe in an actual devil?   Professor Jeffrey Burton Russell wrote extensively about the devil, including his book  The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity.  He posed the question, “What, really, is the Devil? This is comparable to the question: What, really, is art? Absolute answers to such questions are not attainable.” He went on to write, “evil has no ontological being and can therefore strictly speaking have no essence.”    Russell’s point is that the devil is a myth, simply “the personification of evil [1] .” Throughout time people have sought to explain the existence of evil in the world, and rather than blaming whatever god they worship, they assign blame to a malevolent devil.    But if we believe the Bible is God’s inspired (and thus inerrant) word,

Dr. King famously dreamed of a world in which people were judged by the content of their character rather than by the color of their skin. But never did he dream that we would become a colorblind society. The goal is not to pretend that there are no differences in skin color, but simply not to treat people differently because of those differences.    John the Apostle also had a dream, and he recorded it for us as the last book of the Bible. Revelation 7:9 says in part, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…”   In his book titled  Advocates,  Pastor Dhati Lewis wrote about that passage, noting, “Even at the heavenly worship service, God still recognizes different ethnicities.  John didn’t see a multitude ‘who  used to be  from every nation, tribe, people, and language…’”  (emphasis added)   We are not going to lose our identity in heaven, t

  The number 666 has come to be associated with anything evil or relating to the end of the world. This triple six is associated with the Antichrist because Revelation 13:8 says the beast has some sort of cryptic number: “This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.” This code has been hotly debated for centuries, and I do not aim to weigh in on what I think the Apostle John was trying to convey; the reality is that the prophecy will make sense only to those who are alive to watch it unfold.    Rather than attempting to crack the mysterious code, I want to focus on the number itself. People are always looking in every nook and cranny to find recurring sixes, and then branding that thing as the mark of the beast. For all that we do not understand, we all seem to agree that 666 is bad. So I thought it would be fun to look at the only verse in the Bible that is a 6:66, and that is found in

  I believe that being a part of a local church is very important. Obviously some have physical reasons for not being able to attend in person, but there are people who can go that choose not to. There are wonderful benefits to being part of a church body that some miss out on, saying that they do not have to go to church to go to heaven.    The Bible tells us not to neglect meeting together (Hebrews 10:25), so we should make it a priority. On the other extreme are those who think they are going to heaven simply because they go to church. Often I ask people about their relationship with the Lord, and they tell me they go to church. Those are two completely different questions. It is possible to go to heaven without going to church, and it is possible to go to church and not go to heaven. I would not recommend either of those options!    I want to address those that might think their church attendance will get them into heaven someday. Please allow me to point out two occasions in which

  Have you ever wondered what heaven will be like? The Bible gives us precious few details of the current heaven, but it tells us that there will be a restored earth that will serve as our eternal home one day. John wrote, “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God ( Revelation   21:2-3 ).’”   Randy Alcorn, in his book simply titled  Heaven,  said that we do not need to look to the sky and wonder what heaven will be like; we just need to look around and imagine what this planet would be like if there was no sin. So let’s do that:    Imagine a place that we can go, beyond all that you’ve ever seen, Nicer than any place you’ve been, better than your wildest dreams. It will be heaven on earth   Colors will be br