Tommy Mann

As a Christian is there ever a time that we can justify going to war? War obviously involves taking lives, and aren’t we supposed to be against that? What about the death penalty: isn’t killing a killer still murder? Some Christians are opposed to these concepts, and I want to be very clear here. I am not writing this to argue with you; I respect that stance, and I am not trying to start a war of words. This is just my personal belief after studying this topic.  At the same time, I am not a hawk when it comes to war. I do not believe in going to war for selfish reasons, like gaining territory, resources, or money. But I do believe the Bible teaches the concept of just wars, to wit, some wars are justifiable. But aren’t we called to be peacemakers? Yes, in His famous sermon on the mount Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9).” But this sermon was given to teach how to conduct ourselves in our individual ...

One of the arguments against Christians getting involved in the political process is that God is the one who appoints our leaders. This idea comes from Romans 13:1, which says that there is no ruler that was not established by God. While I certainly agree with that verse 100%, that doesn’t mean that God is in favor of each ruler. Let’s revisit a dark time in Israel’s history. Israel never had a king before because their king reigned from heaven. God had established the priesthood and His prophets, as well as the judges, to lead His people, and the last of these judges was Samuel. When Samuel was getting old and near the end of his life, the Israelites began to ask for a king. They wanted to be just like everyone else. Samuel asked them if they would jump off a cliff if everyone did (not quite, but it was a similar exchange), but they insisted on having a king. God told Samuel to tell them what a king would be like, and here is the description that Samuel relayed to th...