The Purchased & Plundered Self
by Tyler Dirks
PROTECTING SELF As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down […]
Quotes From The Trilogy
by Tyler Dirks
The best trilogy of all time!? LoR? BTTF? Batman [Begins, TDK, TDKR]? Toy Story? The Godfather? Bourne? Austin Powers? The answer is… CS Lewis’ Space Trilogy. Perhaps some of you will disagree with this, but hear me out. The least you can do is read Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, & That Hideous Strength […]
Book Rec.
by Tyler Dirks
I was lead climbing with AK 2 weeks ago and he asked me, “Have you read the book How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key?” I said, “Luke Fawcett told me about HSC awhile back, and I devoured two of his memoirs! I especially enjoyed The World’s Largest Man (the memoir about his dad). […]
Samson Foreshadows Jesus!?
by Tyler Dirks
As you know …I believe that Rick Flair is Samson (son of Manoah) reincarnate. Just like Samson, Rick Flair is a libidinous hombre AND a blustering brawler! Samson & Rick are down-and-dirty ignominious fellows! …Like the Wu-Tang Clan! And as we all know, ‘Wu-Tang’ is an acronym for “Witty Unpredictable Talent And Natural Game” (aka […]
Eat This Book
by Tyler Dirks
I was recently chatting with Maria Frey about our buddy Eugene. We were specifically talking about Eugene’s good pastoral work in leading us to personally wrestle with God’s Word by forcing ourselves to paraphrase what God has told us (putting it into our own words) not in order to change what God said to accommodate […]
How Joy Works
by Tyler Dirks
Joy comes from looking at Jesus [Looking to Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. *Hebrews 12:2]Joy comes from desperately depending upon Jesus [For thus says the […]
Painstaking Pleasure of People
by Tyler Dirks
People are like bouldering problems (i.e. the pleasure to be found in persons and community is discovered via painstaking perseverance, patient problem-solving, and joyfully partnering with others [2 Corinthians 1:24]). Some bouldering problems I can interact with and enjoy easily, immediately, and progressively. Like “The Blatant Secret” at Love Valley (if you’re interested in knowing […]
Complaining To Jesus
by Tyler Dirks
Once upon a time a dude came to Jesus to have Him settle an inheritance dispute with his brother. Of course we’re all assuming that Jesus will weigh-in on this matter! Of course Jesus will stop whatever else He is doing, and make this His top priority! Because this is a very big deal! A […]
The True & Vehement Understanding of Holiness
by Tyler Dirks
Gather up a sundry batch of sinners (Nehemiah 8:1). Read them the Bible (Nehemiah 8:3). Everyone is super attentive (see Acts 17:11; Nehemiah 8:5). Everyone begs for the soul food of Scripture (see Matthew 4:4; Nehemiah 8:6). Utilize people like Eugene Peterson, Fred Buechner, C.S. Lewis, Robert Farrar Capon, Dr. Steve Brown, J.R.R. Tolkien, Flannery […]