Memo From the Mann

A Worthy Walk

6 “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty.
“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.
“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’ ~ Malachi 1:6 (NIV)
 
If I’m honest, there were a few moments growing up where I probably harvested some contempt for my earthly father. You can’t be a good father without guiding your child through their formative years ...and to do so requires some hard moments in the present, that’ll reap the results you want in the future.
 
Now as the child, you’re unable to embrace the future picture, and usually resent the lack of freedom you so desire ...but it’s done for your benefit ...and personally if I could have understood that, then the contempt would have not manifested itself, and I truly would have honored him for the caring love that he had shown to me.
 
So let’s get real in a current sense,  if you refer to God as Father or Lord, do you treat him that way?
 
When you sign the adoptive papers to allow God to be your dad,
you’re signing on for more than just playing catch and roasting s’mores,
when he says clean your room you get on it,
when he says you can’t date that girl, you obey,
you honor your Father. ~ K.L.
 
In our everyday actions, and in our everyday offerings, let’s strive to show him everyday honor, honor that he so graciously deserves. Let’s not just give him our leftover time, let’s give our heart to him, not our idols ...as Romans 12 says,  let’s offer our lives as  a living sacrifice to God.
 
Remember, as a follower of Jesus, we are the offering, our life is a gift to God.
So let’s walk worthy of his calling.
 
Pray on...
Song: Every Little Thing (Album: Worship)

Should I ...?

“Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” ~ Zechariah 7:3
 
How many time have you caught yourself doing something that you weren’t aware of. Maybe your hands were idling themselves with unknown movements; or your leg were bouncing with anticipation, or maybe your feet were tapping out an annoying rhythm.
 
We are prone to doing some really curious stuff when we’re asked to perform repetitive actions. You know, the ones that require little to know thought ...we’ve done them a million times before and we navigate through them without so much as a thought.
 
In Zechariah 7:3 the people ask, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
 
God asks, whom were you fasting for in the first place?
Was it really for me?
As it turned out, God had never asked them to fast.
In fact God’s yearly Israelite calendar was filled with feasting.
Except for Yom Kippur.
 
The key question to every religious practice is for whom is it for?
When you take a step back and look at your religious practices, ask yourself for whom are you doing them?
 
Religion usually means doing godly things for yourself,
relationship means doing selfless things for God.
Religion makes you look good to others,
relationship makes you love God no matter what other people think.
 
Father, help us to be focused on your wants and desires, and not on other people and world around us.
 
Pray on...
Song: I Rest in You (Album: Chapel Songs)

Is There Any Seed Left in the Barn?

Is there yet any seed left in the barn? ~ Haggai 2:19
 
As the days fly by on my calendar, I’m well aware of the passing of time. In fact these days, way too often, it seems as if life is rushing by ...and then with it comes these feelings of self deprecation.
 
Age has a way of creeping up on us when all of a sudden we’re doing second takes at the image in our mirror, but it’s the nature of our existence that we are one notch closer to the end when we wake each day.
 
Our world is so youth focused that it’s inevitable that we’re going to face some self doubting as we age, but lost in our aging doldrums is the realization that we’re not, depreciating in God’s eyes. His plans and purpose for us don’t slow down or end at the world’s stated retirement age.
 
In Haggai 2:19 we hear God ask, “Is there yet any seed left in the barn?” In this context he’s challenging some lazy folks who aren’t working hard to rebuild the temple, but the challenge is still there today in each of our lives. Is there any seed left in your barn?
 
As you age you may not be producing as much fruit as you used to do, but you’re still capable of being a vibrant contributor to this world ...and none of us want to fall short of God’s design for our lives.
 
So wherever you are in your journey, remember that God is in control, and that He has established that we are alive with value until He decides differently. Regardless of what the world says, be strong and work, and remember that God is with you.
 
Pray on...
Song: All That I Am (Album: Love Strands)

Kicking the call Down the Road

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’ ” ~ Haggai 1:2
 
My earthly father had a tough time with me when it came to getting my chores done, my jobs done around the house. I had a special way of putting them off. I don’t know why I say special, as they were anything but special in that I was always getting reprimanded for not getting them done in a timely matter.
 
My father was a patient man, but I really pushed his buttons when it came to this issue. Now I wasn’t a lazy kid, in fact I was on the go from sunrise to sundown. I played sports all day! Everyday! ...and I played hard!
 
The problem was that I put the thing of my father second. I put them second to my things, and in doing so, they often fell between the cracks of time; meaning they weren’t getting done on time.
 
In the prophet Haggai’s words, the Israelites were doing the same thing. They were working on their own homes and leaving the temple in ruins. They put their own worldly things first, and their Father’s second.
 
They weren’t saying that they wouldn’t build God’s house, just that it wouldn’t be today. As with myself, they weren’t lazy in general, just in doing the things of God.
 
What I found out as a kid, was that when I put my father’s work second I was always finding myself in trouble. and likewise, when you put God second, all the things you put first don’t go so well.
 
What the Israelites found out was that when they took God’s message to heart, God had one more message for them, “I am with you.” This affirmed God’s covenant with them, his personal presence, and his support.
 
Lord, help us to develop a keen sense of perspective when we are called to do you work. Help us to battle spiritual procrastination, and to speak, work and act in a way that pleases you ...in a way that’s reflects our gratefulness for your personal presence and support.
 
Pray on...
Song: My Alms (Album: Chapel Songs)

My Faith, Insulted

“you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.” ~ Habakkuk 1:13a
 
Do you ever look at the world and feel confused by its behavior? Not a day goes by where we’re not bombarded with an endless supply of examples. It seems that every time I really step back and look at it, the world insults my faith. It makes me, a believer, wonder how can this continue ...day in, and day out?
 
The prophet Habakkuk was wondering the same thing as he watched his world spin in an undesirable free fall. He prayed in what he thought was vain, but God was doing something, something radical.
 
Like us, Habakkuk was  grappling to align God’s nature with his actions, or lack of ...he knew that God wanted justice throughout the world, but wasn’t able to comprehend  a plan being executed ...but God was working, as he is today, and just because we don’t understand how he’s implementing it, doesn’t diminish its brilliance.
 
Like Babylon, our world seems to worship its power ...as it gets rich at the cost of others ... and yes, it insults our faith! ...but we can rest in the promise that God has a plan, and will, and is, enacting it in his time, and in his way.
 
I encourage you to read the little book of Habakkuk, he exhibits an example of how to respond ...a way of lament.
 
Pray on...
Song: Once Again Lord

Laughing By His Side

“I am against you,”  ~ Nahum 3:5a
 
It’s human nature for all of us to want to be liked, to be accepted, and to be supported by others. Whether in business, or our personal lives, we want to be smiled upon. Just take a glimpse of our social networks and the vein attempts being made to get positive feedback.
 
None of us want to hear the words, “I am against you,”  ~ (Nahum 3:5a) ...but that’s exactly what the Assyrian city of Nineveh heard from Nahum’s prophecy. And making the situation worse, is that this is God ...it’s the God who created all things that’s saying,  “I am against you.”
 
In fact twice in the book of Nahum God tells Nineveh, I am your enemy (also 2:13).
 
Nineveh’s judgment stands as a historical reminder that the Lord abhors sin and will deal with people and nations according to their deeds ... and yes, that includes us, in case you found yourself looking down your nose (at this Assyrian city’s brokenness.)
 
Revelation 17-19 tells us one day, God’s justice will fall worldwide on those who have rebelled against him. So keeping that in mind, should help us to strive to stay on the  straight and narrow.
 
Melanie Hurlbut says, “We should join with the Lord and laugh at the futility of human evil as it try’s to resist the goodness of almighty God.”
 
I’d like to believe that more often than not, I’m on the Lord’s side, standing right next to him, laughing ...and not on the other side of his justice.
 
Lord, let your people hear your message clearly, and be strengthened, comforted, and healed by it.
 
Pray on...
Song: Into Your Presence

Divine Nature

His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,
and clouds are the dust of his feet ~ Nahum 1:3b
 
The closest thing to God’s fury that I can think of is weather related. I’ve experienced some harrowing weather events in my lifetime, events that made me reflect on how I was in control of very little, if anything at all.
 
Those are great equalizer moments. In those moments we realize just how weak and small we are. In fact I don’t know of anyone who enjoys those kinds of situations. In general, we strive to be in control at all time, that’s our happy place. So when the world starts to spin out of control we’re uneasy and uncomfortable.
 
In Nahum 1:3 we read,
The Lord is slow to anger but great in power;
the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,
and clouds are the dust of his feet
 
The Lord is slow to anger but great in power (this was revealed to Moses; in Exodus 34). We’re told the Lord will not stand by and let wickedness destroy his planet.
His generosity and forgiveness are staggering, but for the non-repentant there will be judgement. Well, I don’t want any part of that! I do however, want to linger in his staggering generosity and forgiveness.
 
In our world of questionable behavior; in our world of lost and angry souls; in our world of darkness induced blindness; let us as Nahum did, shine a light; a light of comfort; and a light of hope, through the love of LORD.
 
Pray on...
Song: Divine Nature

Unfailing Love

hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea ~ Micah 7:19
 
My daughter once lost a teething ring in a swampy bit of water in St. Augustine Florida. What compounded the retrieval of the ring was that it settled onto the snout of a rather large alligator. Just relocating where the ring was a miraculous achievement on my part as I realized after the fact that it was gone, but the sight of this rainbow colored ring on an alligator’s snout was not one that would ever be forgotten. Now to be clear, we were guests at an alligator farm so this wasn’t a wild and dangerous setting, and the walkway that we were traveling on made it impossible for me, dad, to do anything stupid, as in trying to retrieve the ring, but the hurling of the teething ring into the swampy water was the end of it. It was gone and after a short period of time very rarely ever thought of.
 
Micah 7:19 says of God, he hurls all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
 
Corrie ten Boom (Dutch Resistance Hero) says,
“When God buries our sins in the deepest sea,
he then post’s a sign that says, no fishing allowed.”
 
There is no need for us to return to the scene of the crime, to continue to replay the act, or to cry over the broken moment.
 
God pardons, ...shows compassion, ...triumphs over his peoples’ sins, ...and seals those sins away. By his unfailing love, God continues to offer hope to those who trust in him.
 
Lord, help us to live for today’s opportunities, and to remember your pardons, your compassion, and your unfailing love.
 
Pray on...
Song: Relentless Love

The Good Shepherd

He will stand and shepherd his flock ~ Micah 5:4
 
There are countless stories where love lies bleeding. Where the love for another is the driving force for sacrifice that sometimes leads to death. Have you witnessed this kind of love in your life time?
 
Seven hundred years before the gospel, in Micah 5, we read about a deliverer that is foreseen. The character of the deliverer will be that of a shepherd. He’ll be wanting to feed and nourish his people. This is in direct contrast to others who’ll be oppressive dictators. This deliverer will bring peace. He’ll be the source of peace. The prince of Peace.
 
Skip’s Heitzig said, “One of the most beautiful descriptions of Jesus is when he said,
‘ I am the good shepherd.’”
 
But between the first coming and the second coming, is a cross where the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. His unmatched love will lead to him sacrificing his life ...for all mankind.
 
He will stand and shepherd his flock ~ Micah 5:4
 
O’ that we’d recognize and embrace the great sacrifice of the good shepherd.
Today ...and everyday.
 
Pray on...
Song: Through His Life

In the Flow

and peoples will flow to it ~ Micah 4:1
 
Have you ever been caught up in a moment when time didn’t exist? A moment when your mind was so occupied that the passing of time was oblivious to you. That’s to say at some point you stopped to realized a large portion of it had passed without your recognition. That’s being in the flow.
 
As a musician I get to experience (flow) it in those special improvisational instances, the ones that we can’t really explain, but that inspire us and make us want to return again and again.
 
Here in Micah 4 we read that the people will flow to it, it being Mt Zion; to the house of the Lord, to worship ...and here let me share that I’ve also experience the flow in worship. What a glorious experience to get lost so in worship that time doesn’t exist; that seconds, minutes, and hours can pass without notice.
 
Both Isaiah and Micah echo this piece of scripture. I’d like to believe that the Holy Spirit thought it was that important, that it needed to be mentioned twice. As they use it, it means spontaneous movement; you’re not compelled to do it, but you want to do it.
 
Skip Heitzig shares that, “There’s coming a day when the nations of the world will want to go to flow to Jerusalem. Because the Messiah will reign and rule from there for a thousand years, and the world will be at peace.”
 
What a prayer for our world, that all nations would flow to the house of the Lord ...to worship him.
 
Pray on...
Song: In the House of the Lord