Tommy Mann

There is a greeting in the Bible that gives me goosebumps every time I read it. It is found in Acts 9 during the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (also known as the Apostle Paul). Saul had been blinded by the light when the Lord appeared to him, and he was led to a certain house in Damascus. While that was unfolding, God spoke to a man named Ananias and told him to go to that house and pray over Saul. In v.17 we read the greeting: "So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.'” Brother Saul? This gives me goosebumps when I remember who Saul was. Essentially a terrorist, Saul gave his approval for the martyrdom of Stephen. This same Saul obtained letters from the high priest to round up and imprison anyone who followed Jesus. Acts 8:1 says he was "ravaging" the church, and 9...

God created us to need rest. Our bodies are not designed to always be on the go, but our fast-paced society never seems to slow down. More and more people are becoming overworked, stressed out, and eventually burned out. The standard that God Himself modeled in the Garden of Eden is that we should get all of our work done in six days, and make sure that we have at least one day in seven for rest. This allows our bodies and minds to recuperate, and it helps us stay sharp, thus enabling us to focus on Christ. Sometimes we need to put everything on hold and just rest. There are at least two instances in the Bible where a good nap made a big difference in someone’s life. The first instance was with Elijah in 1 Kings 19. After an exhausting day on Mount Carmel defeating the prophets of Baal, Elijah got a death threat from Jezebel. Elijah became so depressed over this threat that he began to wish for his own death. But after he lay down under a tree and took a g...

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...