Derek Vreeland

Derek Vreeland is the Discipleship Pastor at Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. He and his wife Jenni have three boys, Wesley, Taylor, and Dylan. He earned a MDiv from Oral Roberts University and a DMin. from Asbury Theological Seminary. Derek is the author of numerous books including By the Way: Getting Serious About Following Jesus (2019), and his newest work, Centering Jesus: How the Lamb of God Transforms Our Communities, Ethics, and Spiritual Lives,released in August 2023.

Latest Articles

Featured image for “Rise Above: Why Politics Matter, But Not As Much As Your Soul”
Derek Vreeland

Rise Above: Why Politics Matter, But Not As Much As Your Soul

Featured image for “Advent: The Poet of Peace”
Derek Vreeland

Advent: The Poet of Peace

Featured image for “Interrogating ‘Tough Guy’ Masculinity”
Derek Vreeland

Interrogating ‘Tough Guy’ Masculinity

Featured image for “Five Ways Deconstruction Can Deepen Faith Without Devolving into Demolition”
Derek Vreeland

Five Ways Deconstruction Can Deepen Faith Without Devolving into Demolition

Featured image for “Learning from the Margins: The Difference Between Human and Kingdom Power”
Mandy Smith

Derek Vreeland

Learning from the Margins: The Difference Between Human and Kingdom Power

Featured image for “How Our Ignorance Slows Racial Justice and What We Can Do About It”
Derek Vreeland

How Our Ignorance Slows Racial Justice and What We Can Do About It

Featured image for “An Open Letter to my SBC Sisters and Brothers”
Derek Vreeland

An Open Letter to my SBC Sisters and Brothers

Featured image for “The Impact of Eugene Peterson: A Conversation with Winn Collier”
Derek Vreeland

The Impact of Eugene Peterson: A Conversation with Winn Collier

Featured image for “Why Do White Christians Remain Silent?”
Derek Vreeland

Why Do White Christians Remain Silent?

Featured image for “Online Missionaries in a Digital World”
Derek Vreeland

Online Missionaries in a Digital World

Featured image for “A Nation Waits: The Source of Our Hope”
Derek Vreeland

A Nation Waits: The Source of Our Hope

Featured image for “Pandemics Aren’t So Unprecedented: What We Can Learn from Early Christians”
Derek Vreeland

Pandemics Aren’t So Unprecedented: What We Can Learn from Early Christians

Featured image for “Derek Vreeland”
Derek Vreeland

Derek Vreeland

Featured image for “Ecclesiology in this Weird Time of Social Distancing”
Derek Vreeland

Ecclesiology in this Weird Time of Social Distancing

Featured image for “Three Ways to Pastor a Politically-Polarized People”
Derek Vreeland

Three Ways to Pastor a Politically-Polarized People

Featured image for “Four Ways to Practice the Peace of Christ at Christmas”
Derek Vreeland

Four Ways to Practice the Peace of Christ at Christmas

Featured image for “Four Surprising Habits for Christian Formation”
Derek Vreeland

Four Surprising Habits for Christian Formation

Featured image for “Addressing the Elephant in the Church: Seven Necessary Components of Integrated Discipleship”
Derek Vreeland

Addressing the Elephant in the Church: Seven Necessary Components of Integrated Discipleship

Featured image for “Why Biblical Inerrancy Doesn’t Work”
Derek Vreeland

Why Biblical Inerrancy Doesn’t Work

Featured image for “Jesus Died So God Wouldn’t Be Angry With Us Anymore…and Other Misunderstandings about the Cross”
Derek Vreeland

Jesus Died So God Wouldn’t Be Angry With Us Anymore…and Other Misunderstandings about the Cross

Featured image for “Church, Today We Need Dr. King’s Vision of Justice”
Derek Vreeland

Church, Today We Need Dr. King’s Vision of Justice

Featured image for “Four Ways to Walk in Love as Resurrection People”
Derek Vreeland

Four Ways to Walk in Love as Resurrection People

Featured image for “What’s Your Definition of Marriage?”
Derek Vreeland

What’s Your Definition of Marriage?

Featured image for “We’ve Gotten Salvation All Wrong: Let’s Reclaim the Heart of Christian Discipleship”
Derek Vreeland

We’ve Gotten Salvation All Wrong: Let’s Reclaim the Heart of Christian Discipleship

Featured image for “Did Jesus Really Usher in the Kingdom of God?”
Derek Vreeland

Did Jesus Really Usher in the Kingdom of God?

Featured image for “Guns in the Kingdom of God: An Eschatological Appeal to End Gun Proliferation”
Derek Vreeland

Guns in the Kingdom of God: An Eschatological Appeal to End Gun Proliferation

Featured image for “Emboldened for Mission and Ministry: An Interview with Tara Beth Leach”
Derek Vreeland

Emboldened for Mission and Ministry: An Interview with Tara Beth Leach

Featured image for “How the Cross Overcomes Love of Power with the Power of Love: An Interview with Derek Vreeland”
Derek Vreeland

How the Cross Overcomes Love of Power with the Power of Love: An Interview with Derek Vreeland

Featured image for “Self-Awareness and the Enneagram: A Response to Kevin DeYoung”
Derek Vreeland

Self-Awareness and the Enneagram: A Response to Kevin DeYoung

Featured image for “A Trinitarian Vision of Spiritual Transformation”
Derek Vreeland

A Trinitarian Vision of Spiritual Transformation

Featured image for “Armed Only with Vulnerability: Sean Palmer on the Mission of God”
Derek Vreeland

Armed Only with Vulnerability: Sean Palmer on the Mission of God

Featured image for “Do We, White Christians, Have the Strength to Stoop Down”
Derek Vreeland

Do We, White Christians, Have the Strength to Stoop Down

Featured image for “Is the Cross Even Necessary?”
Derek Vreeland

Is the Cross Even Necessary?

Featured image for “Is Penal Substitutionary Atonement Necessary?”
Derek Vreeland

Is Penal Substitutionary Atonement Necessary?

Featured image for “4 Essential Practices for Spiritual Formation”
Derek Vreeland

4 Essential Practices for Spiritual Formation

Featured image for “Five Pieces of Christ-Centered Wisdom For a Foolish Age”
Derek Vreeland

Five Pieces of Christ-Centered Wisdom For a Foolish Age

Featured image for “A Fight for Nonviolent People”
Derek Vreeland

A Fight for Nonviolent People

Featured image for “Four Things You Need to Know about American Civil Religion”
Derek Vreeland

Four Things You Need to Know about American Civil Religion

Featured image for “Don’t Let Hate Mock the Song”
Derek Vreeland

Don’t Let Hate Mock the Song

Featured image for “Awaiting the Lord, Not the President”
Derek Vreeland

Awaiting the Lord, Not the President

Featured image for “The Sky is Not Falling”
Derek Vreeland

The Sky is Not Falling

Featured image for “Wendell Berry to the Rescue: Reading Poetry in an Age of Angry Rhetoric”
Derek Vreeland

Wendell Berry to the Rescue: Reading Poetry in an Age of Angry Rhetoric

Featured image for “How to Keep the Voting Booth from Tearing us Apart”
Derek Vreeland

How to Keep the Voting Booth from Tearing us Apart

Featured image for “A Christian Memory of 9/11”
Derek Vreeland

A Christian Memory of 9/11

Featured image for “Pastors: The CEO Has to Go”
Derek Vreeland

Pastors: The CEO Has to Go

Featured image for “A Holy People: The Jesus Way of Changing the World”
Derek Vreeland

A Holy People: The Jesus Way of Changing the World

Featured image for “It’s OK to be Patriotic, But…”
Derek Vreeland

It’s OK to be Patriotic, But…

Featured image for “The Politics of Trump and the Politics of Jesus”
Derek Vreeland

The Politics of Trump and the Politics of Jesus

Featured image for “Who Do We Get to Hate?”
Derek Vreeland

Who Do We Get to Hate?

Featured image for “Book Review: The Dusty Ones by A.J. Swoboda”
Derek Vreeland

Book Review: The Dusty Ones by A.J. Swoboda

Featured image for “Looking Back at the Cross through the Resurrection”
Derek Vreeland

Looking Back at the Cross through the Resurrection

Featured image for “Stupid is Repairable: Growing as Thoughtful Followers of Jesus”
Derek Vreeland

Stupid is Repairable: Growing as Thoughtful Followers of Jesus

Featured image for “Muslims and Christians: Reframing the “Same God” Debate”
Derek Vreeland

Muslims and Christians: Reframing the “Same God” Debate

Featured image for “Leave it to the Wrath of God: An Eschatological Response to Terrorism”
Derek Vreeland

Leave it to the Wrath of God: An Eschatological Response to Terrorism

Featured image for “People To Be Loved – A Review of Preston Sprinkle’s Latest Book”
Derek Vreeland

People To Be Loved – A Review of Preston Sprinkle’s Latest Book

Featured image for “Becoming Philosophers of a Certain Kind”
Derek Vreeland

Becoming Philosophers of a Certain Kind

Featured image for “Marathons & Religion”
Derek Vreeland

Marathons & Religion

Featured image for “Virtual Community is No Community at All”
Derek Vreeland

Virtual Community is No Community at All

Featured image for “Sticks, Stones, and Social Media: Words That Accuse and Words That Reconcile”
Derek Vreeland

Sticks, Stones, and Social Media: Words That Accuse and Words That Reconcile

Featured image for “N.T. Wright & A Renewed Vision of the Apostle Paul”
Derek Vreeland

N.T. Wright & A Renewed Vision of the Apostle Paul