I'm a retired Southern Baptist pastor of almost 40 years. My wife Cheryl & I moved to Norman, OK in March of 2025. I share a weekly overview for Sunday School teachers of the weekly Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, as well as texts of my sermons and other articles.
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Top Posts & Pages
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 17:1-13, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Glory," for 3/22/26
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 18:21-35, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, "Forgiveness," for 3/29/26
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "The Message of the Cross" (I Cor. 1:18-24 sermon)
- Teacher's Preview of Matthew 16:13-26, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson: "Following Jesus" for 3/15/26
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "The Lord Our Provider" (Philippians 4:15-23 sermon)
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "The World, The Flesh, and the Devil" (James 3:15 sermon)
- "Lessons From Gethsemane" (Matthew 26 sermon)
Categories
- "The Disciple's Character" series (Beatitudes Mt. 5:3-12)
- "The Disciplines of Disciples" series
- "This Is My Story" sermon series
- Beatitudes Series 2020 FBCA
- Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like
- COVID-19 crisis assorted messages
- Current Events
- Devotions/Bible Studies
- Discipleship
- Discovering FBCA Membership class lessons
- Doctrine/Theology
- Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews
- Explore the Bible Sunday School lessons
- Habakkuk "Find Us Faithful" series messages
- History
- Home & Family Life
- I Peter sermons
- India Mission Trip 2011
- Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King
- John 3:16 sermon series
- Luke 10:38-42 Mary & Martha series
- Luke 2 Christmas series
- Matthew sermons
- Ministry
- missions
- Music
- Philippians sermons
- POTS (dysautonomia) articles
- Psalms studies and messages
- Revelation sermon series
- Reviews
- Sermon Illustrations
- Sermons
- The Model Prayer Series
- The Model Prayer series (FBCA 2020)
- This Week In Paradise (pastors family blog)
- Travel
- Uncategorized
- worship
Category Archives: Devotions/Bible Studies
Is Yours A “Refreshing” Church?
“And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.” (II Corinthians 8:13) We should not miss this little sentence, describing what happened to the spirit of Titus … Continue reading
Four Ways To Praise (Psalm 9)
“I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.” (Psalm 9:1-2) Psalm 9 … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Discipleship, Uncategorized
Tagged happiness, praise, prayer, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 9:1-2, singing, song, Thanksgiving, witness, worship
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How A Christian Responds to God’s Deliverance
“Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.” (Psalm 6:8) It should be instructive to us that David’s response to God answering his desperate prayer was holiness, and not libertinism. … Continue reading
The Ministry of Reconciliation
“Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (II Corinthians 5:18) The phrase Paul uses here, “the ministry of reconciliation”, is a good description of evangelism. What … Continue reading
In The Year That Antonin Scalia Died
I glanced at the news channel just before we were to leave for our church’s Valentine banquet, and it was obvious that the tone had changed, and for good reason: Antonin Scalia was dead. The news hit me like a … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events, Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged Antonin Scalia, Denny Burk, Isaiah 6:1, Supreme Court
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Real Love Speaks Truth
:8 “For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it –” (II Corinthians 7:8) One thing many people fail to apprehend about Christianity today is that it is not all … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged II Corinthians 7:8, love, repentance, sorrow, truth
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The Tent
“For if we know that the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (II Corinthians 5:1) People refer to their bodies in … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged body, Death, eternity, heaven, II Corinthians 5:1, perspective, physical body, Richard Baxter wife skull, tent
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Looking At What Is Unseen
“We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (II Corinthians 4:18) The Apostle Paul … Continue reading
3 Reasons For Comfort In Affliction
“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” (II Corinthians 4:17) The Apostle Paul gives the Corinthians — and us — three reasons in this verse why we can find comfort … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged affliction, comfort, glory, II Corinthians 4:17, purpose in suffering, Romans 8:18, suffering, trials
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Christians & The Super Bowl
Tens of millions of people are excited today, because it is “Super Bowl Sunday”. They will gather to watch the biggest football game of the year. Multiplied millions of dollars have been spent — while out I saw a pickup … Continue reading
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