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 18:21-35, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, "Forgiveness," for 3/29/26
- "The Message of the Cross" (I Cor. 1:18-24 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 17:1-13, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Glory," for 3/22/26
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "The Lord Our Provider" (Philippians 4:15-23 sermon)
- "Seeking Him First" (Matthew 6:33 sermon)
- "Lessons From Gethsemane" (Matthew 26 sermon)
- Teacher's Preview of Matthew 16:13-26, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson: "Following Jesus" for 3/15/26
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
A More Glorious Creator
Job 41:1-10 contains an interesting but somewhat enigmatic description of “Leviathan” in God’s response to Job. Some have taken pains to understand the details regarding this “Leviathan”, but :10 sheds light on the real point of the passage:
God’s Unchanging Love
Psalm 25:6 says: “Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, for they have been from of old.” The Hebrew word for “compassion” here can mean “feelings of love, loving sensation, mercy, compassion.” “Lovingkindness” is the almost undefinable word “chesed”; … Continue reading
Are You Instructing God?
Job 40:7 is one of those places where we see that God has a sense of humor. When He finally addresses Job out of the whirlwind, He says to him, “I will ask you, and you instruct Me.” If this … Continue reading
Seeking God’s Path
Psalm 25:4 shows us several important things about seeking God’s will for our lives: “Make me know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.” — First, it teaches us that our prayers are not to be that God would … Continue reading
Older Is Not Always Wiser
You have to be careful when you are quoting Job’s friends! Just because their words are recorded in scripture does not mean that what they said is good, or correct. But in Job 32:9 the younger “friend” Elihu made a … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged chronological age, Hebrews 5:12, Job 32:9, spiritual age, spiritual growth, spiritual maturity
1 Comment
A Mixture of Error
Rarely does even a heretic get everything wrong. Usually the problem with a false teacher is that they have mixed SOME truth together with error. Elihu, the 4th and youngest of Job’s “friends”, is an example of this:
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged discernment, false teachers, heresy, Job 36, Job 37, prosperity gospel, theology
2 Comments
“Second-hand Cares?”
Job evidences one of the signs of his righteousness in 30:25, “Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?” I wonder how many of us could really say this … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged care, compassion, concern, Job 30:25, love, needy, poor
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The “Cloud” of Prosperity
One of Job’s complaints, found in 30:15, was that “My prosperity has passed away like a cloud.” There are a number of great word pictures in the book of Job, and this is one of them. He says that prosperity … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged faith, hope, Job 30:15, prosperity, riches, trust, wealth
1 Comment
“Goodness Shall Follow Me”?
The words of Psalm 23:6 are familiar to most of us: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life …” — but they may bring something different to us than many of us might anticipate:
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged good, goodness, prosperity gospel, Psalm 119:71, Psalm 23:6
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When It’s Good To Be “In A Rut”
We often speak of “being in a rut” as a bad thing — and it can be, for sure. But there are also some good “ruts” to be in. Psalm 23:3 speaks of some of them, when it says: “He … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged habits, Psalm 23:3, ruts, ruts of righteousness
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