I am husband to Carrie, dad to Matthew, Lucas, and Natalie. I have a desire to see people grow in their relationship with Jesus. My personal mission is to move people forward in their faith life.
Growing up I was taught that the Devil was a scary creature with horns on his head, a pitch fork in his hand and a long spiky tail. I was taught that he looked like a monster that was out to scare us. I knew that if I saw him, I could just run away and hide because honestly who wears a red suit and always yells and screams at everyone? Continue reading
When Solomon describes his bride, he uses very specific imagery. How do all of these weird descriptions apply to Christ and the church? Well this is the focus of our time together this week. In this week’s Living Word Galena podcast we’ll take time to study the meaning behind teeth like a flock of sheep, hair flowing like a flock of goats, eyes like doves and cheeks like pomegranates. What could all of this mean? Listen as Pastor Derrick helps us dig a little deeper into these and many more treasures in this week’s message.
When the longing to be together is finally realized, Solomon and young woman in the song share the wonders of their love story. But nestled in this story is a much bigger love story between Jesus and his church. Listen this week as Pastor Derrick shares more depth of the story, greater connections between the text and the life of the church today and then some practical ways we can experience this kind of love in our relationship with God today.
Sitting on my desk is a paper with the heading Kaleidoscope. And it got me thinking, what is a kaleidoscope? If you think about it, a kaleidoscope is a small tube like structure into which broken bits and pieces of color are seemingly haphazardly placed. Each colorful shard is rough around the edges. They appear sharp to the touch yet when they are placed in the midst of the other bits of brokenness and light is cast on them something beautiful begins to happen. An image, a colorful image appears. Continue reading
This week we started a new series in our worship at Living Word Galena. It’s a study all about the book Song of Songs. While the words of this book are pretty raw, it has a powerful message for all of us. I’m using this week’s Music Monday as a response to that raw yet powerful message. Continue reading
This week we begin a series inside of a series. As the next several weeks unfold we’ll be looking deeper into the book of Song of Songs. We’ll be challenged by its content and seek to gain a more full understanding of how this love song between Solomon and a young woman can help us better understand God’s love for us and for his church. This week Pastor Derrick shares insights on chapter 1:1-7. Read through chapter one before listening to this episode.
We hope that you are drawn closer to your Savior through these messages and remember God loves you more than Solomon loved this young woman.
This week in worship we looked at a bible word that may be familiar to many, but misunderstood by some. We’ve probably heard it spoken. Maybe we’ve even read it a time or two. But do we really know what it means? The word is Sabbath. It’s a word that we often translate as day of rest or something along those lines. Continue reading
There are days in life when reality strikes you square between the eyes. Days when your past catches up to you. Days when your struggles become all too real. There are days when moments turn to eternity as you feel the pain of regret and shame. There are days when you look in the mirror and can’t believe the person you’ve become. Days when all hope seems lost. Continue reading
All too often we let the load of life exceed our limits or capacity to carry. This week we dig into one of the 10 Commandments and look for the underlying message. When we pull the words off the page, what comes with it?
This week Pastor Derrick leads us deeper into an understanding of the commandments. Why did God give them? What does it mean that Jesus fulfilled them? How are we to now live in light of them?
The laws less about rules and more about relationships.
Several weeks as worship ended, one of the ladies at church who’s a hugger did the usual hug on the way out the door. She was wearing one of those nicely knit sweaters and I had my lapel microphone clipped on my tie. As she backed away from the hug we realized that we were still connected. The clasp on my microphone grabbed her sweater and didn’t want to let go. The farther she pulled, the more the sweater began to unravel. Continue reading
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