Dirk, Thank You

This is a picture of Dirk Wood at our church missions conference in 2005. If you were to map out all the different personality types on a straight line, Dirk and I would not even be close! I have a tendency (admittedly a bad one) to be annoyed with personalities quite a bit unlike mine, but I don't feel that way toward Dirk. I just plain admire this guy. Dirk is 100% sold out to Jesus and he is EXCITED about being a Christian. He is excited about being a Christian, excited about telling others about Christ and excited about telling Christians how we need to be more excited about being a Christian! Dirk is a radical for God.

But being a radical does not come without a price. I only catch a little bit here and there, but I know that Dirk is not popular in many circles because of his 'unorthodox methodology'. I encourage you to check out some of Dirk's newsletters here...I just don't have the space to write about all of the creative ways he preaches the Gospel. He is an expert at getting people to stop and want to hear what he has to say. I think if Jesus were walking the streets of this world today, he would have FUN traveling with Dirk. I can just picture Jesus watching Dirk with a big grin on his face, and I think Jesus would even jump in and do some 'psycho-drama' with Dirk (check out the links above to find out what this is all about).

Dirk is always entertaining to listen to which is helpful since his messages to the church are always very challenging...he always makes me ask myself, "Am I really excited about being a Christian and am I doing enough for the Lord?" Dirk loves the Word of God. He loves to read it, preach it and preach about how much YOU need it. As usual, Dirk talked about the importance of the Word of God when he preached at our church this morning. Here's a couple things he pointed out that really made me think:

• In the story of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus (Luke 16), he contrasted how difficult it was for the rich man to cry out to God while on this earth because he had everything and how easy it was for Lazarus who had nothing. The rich man ended up in hell while Lazarus ended up in heaven. A point Dirk made from this...having problems is a good thing because it makes us turn to God. Wow, I never would have said 'having problems is a good thing', but he was certainly right. The number one time I turn to God? When I have problems.
• The rich man in hell wanted Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth to warn his brothers so they would not end up in hell. He said if someone from the dead would come back and tell them, they would believe because of the miraculous sign. Abraham answered, "If they won't listen to Moses and the prophets {i.e. the Word of God}, they won't listen even if someone rises from the dead." Again, wow! Dirk pointed out that subjective experience is an OK thing, but subjective experiences will never change a person's life like the power of God's Word.
• In the story of the men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-), Jesus appeared to the men and they did not recognize him. He asked them what they were discussing which happened to be everything that had just happened to Jesus (his death on the cross). When they were done telling Jesus what they knew, it says that Jesus opened up the Scriptures and showed them why all of that had happened. As Dirk pointed out, Jesus could have done any number of miracles to 'help them' recognize who He was, but instead He taught them from the Word of God. A subjective experience would have made a point, but the Word of God changes lives!

I will have Dirk's message online tomorrow (Monday) at The Vine Fellowship web page. You really must click on the "Weekly Message" link and hear Dirk's suggestion as to what Jesus could have done to reveal himself to these men, to hear his Gospel rap and how he is endeavoring to 'redeem rap music', and to find out what it means to be 'on fire for God' and how you can see this happen in your own life. It will be a worthy investment of your time.

I must be aware of the busy people who read my blog and do not have time to read any thing approaching 'novel length' (Jason, you know I love to harass you), so I must wrap this up. But Dirk, thanks for coming today, thank you for being true to who God created you to be and thank you for challenging me every time I am around you.

- Rob