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
N A A M A N
The story of Naaman offers one of the clearest pictures of how real change happens. At first glance, it is simple: a powerful man with a serious problem seeks healing and receives it. But beneath that surface is a deeper movement that reveals the true nature of transformation.
Naaman begins as a man of status and strength, yet he carries a condition he cannot solve. When the possibility of healing appears, he responds with urgency and expectation, assuming the solution will align with what he understands. Instead, he is met with something far simpler and far more challenging than he anticipated.
What he encounters is a process that feels beneath him. The simplicity of the instruction exposes the tension between control and trust, revealing how easily expectation can stand in the way of change.
His anger exposes more than frustration. It reveals a resistance to the way God chooses to work. Naaman is willing to be healed, but not in a way that requires humility. In this way, I understand him totally. The turning point comes when he listens, reconsiders, and chooses obedience over pride.
The river itself is unremarkable, and that is the point. The transformation does not come through spectacle, but through submission. What appears insignificant becomes the place where everything changes, not because of the water, but because of what happens within him.This moment reveals a pattern that extends beyond a single story.
Real change often arrives through processes we would not have chosen, requiring a surrender we would prefer to avoid, yet leading to something entirely new, reshaping both desire and direction in the process.
This series follows that pattern closely, tracing the movement from awareness to resistance, from obedience to transformation, and ultimately to a life that begins to reflect something new.
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
Copyrights 2026 | Ben Derrick