Friar Tuck's Occasional Wisdom

God led His people out of Egypt and right up to the edge of the Promised Land. Here they reached a fork in the road of faith. It was the defining moment of a generation, and they failed the test. This people had walked through a parted sea on dry land. They had been led by a pillar of fire. They had witnessed water coming from a rock in the desert. But they refused to trust in the power of God to give them victory. Their failing eyes looked at the size of their enemies instead of the size of their God. Their faithless hearts were filled with doubt rather than determination. Their fear swallowed up their faith. They behaved as unbelievers, and they died like unbelievers. They would never enter the Promised Land. They perished as stragglers in the desert. Don’t join them in their faithless and fatal folly! – Friar Tuck’s Occasional Wisdom

Our God is a public God. He wants to be known in this world He created. He wants to be glorified in the lives of His people, not just hidden away in our hearts. That’s why so many of the heroes of faith built some kind of public altar as a testimony to their personal encounter with God. Jesus wants to shine through us. Those calls to keep our faith private do not come from His heart… they come from the dark side. The duty of man is to glorify the Lord. That can’t happen when we keep Him hidden away like some distasteful family secret. – Friar Tuck’s Occasional Wisdom 

It’s difficult to convince God that we cannot give generously because “times are tough”, when we’re still spending money on dining out, sporting events, movies, overpriced coffee, candy bars, huge soft drinks, hunting, fishing, beer, cigarettes, and lottery tickets. As long we’re still forking it over for recreation, junk food, and “fun stuff”, we have no credibility with Jesus when we try to get by on the cheap with his Bride the church. Our giving to God has little to do with the economic times we live in. Instead, it’s about our priorities and what we value most. The genuine disciple will move God up a notch or two on their priority list, because frankly, He belongs at the top. -- Friar Tuck’s Occasional Wisdom

God doesn’t care how you arrive, just so you make it home. The four gospel men (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) all came to Christ on different roads. It’s very likely Mark followed Jesus around as a boy. Matthew was a traitor to his people who needed a second chance in life. Luke was a successful physician looking for a better way. John was a small-town fisherman who loved to run his mouth. They were very different people who came to Christ at different times, in different ways, from different places. God doesn’t care where you come from or how you come, just so you arrive. -- Friar Tuck’s Occasional Wisdom

The prophet Joel envisioned a day when the Lord would pour out His Spirit upon the earth. God would no longer live in a temple made by human hands. He would live in His people – they would be the temple of His Holy Spirit. This prophecy has been fulfilled. Christians, we are God's temple. The Spirit's coming produces profound change. When the Holy Spirit lives in us, we see differently, hear differently, speak differently, love differently, think differently, and live differently. The "fullness of God" crowds out carnality and self-centered mentality. As we are "filled with Spirit", self-serving, self-promoting, and self-indulging behaviors are mercilessly drowned one by one. There is only room for one God in the new temple. -- Friar Tuck's Occasional Wisdom

As this new year begins, remember that the cross can defeat idolatry in our lives, if we will carry ours like Jesus told us to do. That’s because carrying this cross requires both hands and all our strength, which makes it impossible to carry it and our idols at the same time. Eventually we must choose between the two. Only the fool believes he can continue to carry both. -- Friar Tuck’s Occasional Wisdom

As the old saying goes, “Welcome to the real world, baby.” In this week after Christmas, put aside your traditional warm and fuzzy stereotypes of the Nativity. The real world that Jesus was born into was a dangerous place… a place of death, violence, abuse, indifference, and neglect. Herod felt threatened by this newborn King and to fix the problem, he killed all the boys in Bethlehem under the age of two. It was a day that lives in infamy. Welcome to the real world, baby! Things haven't changed very much because humanity hasn’t changed very much. In spite of our so called “evolutionary progress”, we still live in a world where people have no room for God. We live in a world of school massacres, constant war, terrorist bombings, and abortion on demand. People are still killing babies and children with abandon every day. Lord, have mercy! -- Friar Tuck’s Occasional Wisdom