Faith, Identity,
& the Slow Work of Change
Faith, Identity, & the
Slow Work of Change
(601) 401-8781
Writing
Most of my writing is published on Substack, where I explore faith, identity, desire, and the slow process of real change.
Many pieces grow out of the stories of Scripture, examining the lives of biblical characters and the patterns of transformation hidden within them. I also host the Off Axis podcast, where conversations move beyond quick answers and into the deeper questions that shape a life. If you’d like to follow along, that is the best place to begin.
Leadership
I currently serve as Executive Director of The Soldier Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting National Guard Special Forces soldiers and their families.
The work places me close to a community defined by responsibility, sacrifice, and service to something larger than themselves. Leading in that environment continues to shape how I think about faith, leadership, and the kind of character required to carry serious responsibility over the long arc of a life.
Teaching
Over the coming year, I will release courses focused on spiritual formation, identity, and the disciplined life of following Jesus.
These courses are designed for people who want to think carefully about their faith and grow into greater clarity, responsibility, and maturity. When they launch, this website will serve as the primary place where those resources can be explored and accessed. More details will be shared here as development continues.
Teaching
Over the coming year I will be releasing a series of teaching resources and online courses focused on spiritual formation, identity, and the disciplined life of following Jesus.
These courses are designed for people who want to think carefully about their faith and grow into greater clarity, responsibility, and maturity. When they launch, this website will serve as the primary place where those resources can be explored and accessed.
Writing
Most of my writing is published on Substack, where I explore faith, identity, desire, and the slow process of real change.
Many pieces grow out of the stories of Scripture, examining the lives of biblical characters and the patterns of transformation hidden within them. I also host the Off Axis podcast, where conversations move beyond quick answers and into the deeper questions that shape a life. If you’d like to follow along, that is the best place to begin.
Leadership
I serve as Executive Director of The Soldier Fund, a nonprofit supporting National Guard Special Forces soldiers & their families.
The work places me close to a community defined by responsibility, sacrifice, and service to something larger than themselves. Leading in that environment continues to shape how I think about faith, leadership, and the kind of character required to carry serious responsibility over the long arc of a life.
Teaching
Over the coming year, I will release courses focused on spiritual formation, identity, and the disciplined life of following Jesus.
These courses are designed for people who want to think carefully about their faith and grow into greater clarity, responsibility, and maturity. When they launch, this website will serve as the primary place where those resources can be explored and accessed. More details will be shared here as development continues.
From substack
Current Reflections
These essays are published on Substack, where I write regularly about faith, identity, and the slow work of becoming. Much of this work grows out of Scripture, experience, and the ongoing process of formation that shapes a life over time. What you see here is a small selection from a larger body of writing that continues to develop with each new piece.
Current Reflections
Current Series
N A A M A N
Naaman arrived with expectation, but the path to healing required surrender, not control. What seemed beneath him became the place where obedience opened the way forward.
C O U R S E S
Grow at your
own pace.
What this course is designed to do:
Help you understand your desire and why it often feels out of control
Equip you to lead your desires instead of being quietly led by them
Ground you in a biblical framework for temptation, struggle, and responsibility
Course Access: $147
Current series
A N A N I A S
The story of Ananias offers a picture of how God works through ordinary people. At first glance, it is simple: a disciple receives an unsettling instruction and chooses to obey. But beneath that moment is a deeper movement, revealing what happens when faith must make room for courage.
Ananias begins as a faithful disciple, and he is asked to approach a man he has every reason to fear. Saul has come to Damascus with authority to arrest believers. When God calls Ananias by name, he responds willingly, but the assignment confronts everything he knows about the very real danger ahead.
What he encounters is a directive to walk toward someone he would rather avoid. His honest objection exposes the tension between what he knows and what God is asking him to fully trust.
His fear reveals more than hesitation. It reflects the real cost of following Jesus when obedience leads toward danger. Ananias does not pretend the threat is imaginary, and God does not shame him for naming it. Instead, he hears the Lord’s purpose for Saul and takes the next faithful, courageous step.
The street called Straight is a real place, and that matters. Ananias must leave the safety of familiar surroundings and go to the house where Saul waits. There is no grand spectacle in his own small part of the story. He simply enters, lays hands on Saul, and calls him brother.
Following Jesus often takes us places we would not have chosen, toward people we might otherwise avoid. But it is often in these moments, when we choose obedience over fear, that we begin to see what God is doing in us and through us.
This series follows that movement closely, tracing the journey from fear to trust, from honest objection to courageous obedience, and finally to the surprising new possibilities of reconciliation.
Grow at your own pace.
Are you comfortable living from your heart?
Most people aren’t. We’ve learned to manage behavior, suppress desire, and live at a distance from what is actually happening within us. But real formation does not begin with control. It begins with learning how to pay attention to the movements of the heart and understanding what they are pointing toward.
The DESIRE video-based course is designed to help you do exactly that. It will guide you in recognizing what is shaping your desires, how those desires are being misdirected, and how they can be brought back into alignment with the life you’ve been given to live.
Course Access: $147
Copyright 2026 | Ben Derrick