Welcome Jathan!
Announcing the birth of our dude-man #2! Jathan Lee Black was born today, January 26, 2012 at 4:14pm. He measured 8 lbs. 6.9 oz. and 21.25 inches in length. Laura is doing pretty good and on her way to recovery. Thank you all so much for your prayers! In His Grace, Derek, Laura, Elias, & Jathan
Let the Nations Be Glad!
I'm super amped (really, really excited) to launch a new study this Sunday in the Koinonia group! My attention is drawn to a book by John Piper, entitled, Let the Nations Be Glad. Piper's subtitle is "The Supremacy of God in Missions," but don't let the title and subtitle automatically shuffle this book into strictly a missions category. The Biblical truths in this book reveal God's desire and pla...
Corinthians… Jesus Identity
Well, in the Koinonia young adult group we just wrapped up our 6 month study in 1 Corinthians. Wow, what a great book! If you haven't lately checked out Paul's letters to the church at Corinth, maybe you should. We found this first canonical letter to the Corinthians to be extremely relevant for us the church today! In a world racked with moral depravity, God redeemed a people to Himself. Think ab...
Headed to ANC
So I'm pretty amped to speak at church this weekend with our friends at Dimond in Anchorage. Alaska big city here we come :-) Topics for the weekend include... the imago Dei (image of God) in relation to culture and a missiological focus, Acts 1:8 Confidence of the church, our ministry vision to the villages, and Acts 18 regarding God's sovereignty in redeeming a people to himself (the backsto...
Brief 2012 Thoughts
As I think about this new year (which reaches us in AK rather late on the world's timetable), my heart is drawn to Paul's earnest prayer for the Ephesians in chapter 1. This Christmas I thought much on Isaiah 9:1-7 and the reality of our God's active plan of redemption. As we graciously enter 2012, may we bring the reality of God's Word and His work back to our minds. Our world so desensitizes us,...
New Prayer Letter (Christmas 2011)
  Thank you once again so much for all of your prayers! Below are the links to our latest prayer update.   Christmas 2011 Update  
This Christmas God is Not Dead
I recently read through a devotional in my YouVersion iPhone app (a little plug for a sweet app) on the Christmas carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” On Christmas day 1864, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem entitled “Christmas Bells,” that was later turned into our current carol by John Baptiste Calkin. The story behind the lyrics riveted my attention. As the backstory un...
God Shaped Sexuality
Recently my attention has been directed toward God’s design of mankind as sexual beings. As we progressed through a study in the Koinonia group at church on 1 Corinthians, we approached chapters 6 and 7. It is here that the apostle Paul deals with confusion and compromise regarding sexual issues within the Corinthian church body. This topic led us to a brief study of the Song of Songs (or Song o...
New Prayer Letter (Fall 2011)
  Thank you once again so much for all of your prayers! Below are the links to our latest prayer update.   Fall 2011 Update  
Culture: Receive, Reject, Redeem
The other day I was sitting at an Alaska local coffee shop, Kaladi Brothers. As I sit it any coffee shop, it is quite interesting to observe this cultural epicenter of our society. Culture in general fascinates me and it is likely one of the interests that God gave me for mission work. As believers we are called to live in this world for the spread of Jesus’ fame. We are called to be in t...

Quick Update

Posted By: thegapstander on January 25, 2010 in Ministry Updates, Updates (all) - Comments: No Comments »

Thanks to all of our supporters for your continual partnership! I wanted to give a quick update of our ministry so you all know how to pray specifically for 2010. Since our 3 month Alaska deputation trip, December and January has kept us

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Isaiah 40 is Awesome!

Posted By: thegapstander on January 18, 2010 in Theological Reflections, Updates (all) - Comments: No Comments »

We are still booking meetings and are going to be very busy traveling soon. In the meantime since I am home, I am able to still participate in a Tuesday evening Youth Prison Bible Study. Last week I volunteered to do this week’s lesson. Our lesson last week was on the signs of Christ’s imminent return. Little did we know that one of the signs mentioned in Matthew 24 and elsewhere (earthquakes) would become front and center in our world this week. So, rather than proceed

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Pray for Haiti

Posted By: thegapstander on January 17, 2010 in Missions, Updates (all) - Comments: No Comments »

Words cannot fully express the tragedy that occurred in recent days in Haiti! As most of us probably have, I have sat in shock as the video and photos stream across the tv and computer screens. There are so many questions that come to mind during such a traumatic event. While there will always be those who are quick to assert causation to Divine wrath, may we be deeply moved to pray for Haiti. Let us pray for the church in Haiti, for the believers to find their rock in Christ. Let us pray for those who

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God's Work This New Year

Posted By: thegapstander on January 2, 2010 in Theological Reflections, Updates (all) - Comments: No Comments »

As I prepare for tomorrow’s message on Ezra and Nehemiah, I am again amazed at our great God’s grace! As we begin this new year, may we be reminded of what life and ministry really is all about…God’s grace and our relationship to it. In the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, God gave Israel yet another chance to experience His grace. Their sin drove them into judgment in the form of captivity. Now Israel’s descendants find themselves in a strange place wondering how God’s promises regarding their blessing would ever come to pass in their present downtrodden situation. It is at this seemingly hopeless

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All Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from the ESV