Member Spotlight: Derek

Heritage has impacted me by providing a brotherhood for me specifically.

A brothers in Christ that I can talk with and learn from.

More willing, they can learn from me on some things as well that we have been growing together and working together, doing ironing sharpening iron rather I should say, but also providing family for my family, my kids, my wife, my mother who lives with us.

We came in and similar to how I grew up it

It's been difficult to find a church family that acted like a family and provided a place that they were like -minded in that to where we are an extended family and we love on each other, we help each other, we share each other's burdens and it's been a blessing to be a part of that.

On a regular basis I will learn new theological words which is a good thing.

The elders, Brandon and Corey, and even the other brothers in Christ stretch me.

God's using them to stretch me and to further my understanding, my knowledge of the word and deeper meanings of things and really dig into the word, not just read a passage and oh it's just words on a page.

No, really dig into it and that has been a huge impact.

I grew up in Oklahoma, Southern Baptist tradition and you know it was very loving churches, you know, very seeking after God in the ways that they knew, in the ways that we knew growing up.

Unfortunately I've discovered, realized through studying the word and learning under others that the methods, the practices, the traditions that we were practicing weren't necessarily the best way to worship

God and when I discovered that there was a what

I would consider a better, more accurate way to scripture, we as a family chose to seek that out specifically and that was part of what we found in heritage.

The term, one of the terms I learned was particular Baptist. Before that I learned the term

Reformed Theology and growing up this idea of Calvinism and being

Reformed, whatever you want to call it, whatever variation it is, especially in Oklahoma has gained a black eye

I guess you'd say because so many people have a misconception of what these terms actually mean.

It really helped me when I learned the term Doctrines of Grace because when you look at it from Doctrines of Grace and you break down like what the five points of Calvinism are, not just what the words say but what they actually mean, when you get past that you don't say, oh this means this in our normal language.

Well yes when that phrase was coined though it was a few hundred years ago that phrase might actually mean something a little different.

That was me and my ignorance and that's where I think most

Southern Baptists are because they don't realize what the terms actually mean and if they did

I think they actually would agree for the most part with like heritage and with Reformed Doctrine.

I think if they did they would come here and see that and fellowship and worship with us.