Frequent visitors to this site (and the sites of several other Christian blogs) will undoubtedly know Derek. Derek is a committed Christian, an ex-marine, a retired lawyer, a music lover, avid cyclist and rough-and-tumble blog commenter and member of SCPC who loves to cross key strokes in theological jousting with any and all in the name of helping the church be more faithful to its mission and its Lord.
If you have ever met Derek, then you know that he is a big guy (like 6 feet 6 inches tall or something) whose not afraid to throw on a hearty hug to any one who comes his way. He has a deep (dare I say, "booming"?) voice and he will argue about just about anything of substance. (Did I say that he was a lawyer?)
So, you won't probably be surprised when I tell you that for a few years, Derek was the obvious choice to be King Herod in the Christmas Eve family pageant at our church. While by faith, Derek certainly would have preferred being Joseph or a Magi, he is committed to "telling it like it is" and as we all know the Christmas Story includes King Herod and his dastardly deeds. So, in the name of accuracy and (with some fear of "typecasting) Derek not only agreed to be Herod, but brought his whole, big soul to the part.
Again, if you think about it long enough, you are probably not surprised.
But this just might.
Guess who dressed up in an "extra-tall" Santa suit for the children of the USMC 1st Combat Engineers Battalion Christmas gathering? Yup. That big ol' softy, Derek. I know, it seems logical that the guy who keeps showing up on the blogs hankering for a good theological squabble might be willing to play Herod, but Santa?
No kidding. That's Derek putting a smile on this little guy's face (whose own Dad is probably in Iraq right now)...and that's something you may not have expected.
Of course, if you ask the family who had all their furniture moved into a new apartment the day their baby arrived by Derek and a group of his friends, or the Marines at Camp Pendleton who are all welcomed home from deployment with one of Derek's hugs, or the people who Derek has visited in the hospital, or ask anyone at church about the guy who organized all of his biking buddies to serve cookies one Sunday on the patio (wearing Bike jerseys and shorts no less) about him, they'd tell you that Santa is closer to the real Derek than Herod and that some things just don't come across too well in cyberspace.
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