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)
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 17:1-13, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Glory," for 3/22/26
- Psalm 3:3 “Thou, O Lord” Part II: “My Glory”
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- Psalm 3:3 “Thou O Lord” Part III: “The Lifter of My Head”
- "Lessons From Gethsemane" (Matthew 26 sermon)
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "How To Seek The Lord" (Isaiah 55:6-7 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
Who Will Go With Me?
In I Samuel 26:6 David asked a bold question of two of his most valiant warriors: “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” If this sounds daring, it was even more so because :5 says that … Continue reading
A Simple Testimony
Psalm 116:6 says: “The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.” In keeping with the word “simple”, which opens the verse, the story line here is simple: “I was brought low — and He saved … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged childlike faith, Psalm 116:6, salvation, simple, testimony, trust
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He Does Whatever He Pleases
Psalm 115:3 is one of my favorite verses; it says: “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” The context of this statement is the question of :2, “Why should the nations say, ‘Where now, is … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged "Sovereignty of God", God, goodness of God, Isaiah 55:8-9, kingdom, Psalm 100:5, Psalm 115:3, purpose, wisdom
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Many Dangers, Toils & Snares
As we see from this insightful segment of Richard Baxter’s The Saints’ Everlasting Rest, every single state we may find ourselves in here on earth places us in the danger of one temptation or another, due to our own wicked … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Discipleship, Ministry
Tagged confession, evaluation, examination, Lord's Supper, self-watch, sin, temptations
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Fool Me Twice …
I Samuel 24:22 says: “But David and his men went up to the stronghold.” At the end of this chapter, Saul had again “repented” of his sin of needlessly persecuting David. He went as far as to admit David’s good … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged forgive and forget, forgiveness, I Samuel 24:22
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Loyalty in Deed
In I Samuel 24, Saul was pursuing David, whom he accused of treason against him. But when David had an opportunity to kill Saul in a cave, he did not, and in :8-11 he called out to Saul, “‘Why do … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged deed, faithfulness, hymn I Love Thee, I Samuel 24:8-11, loyalty, Proverbs 20:6
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We Are An Offering
Psalm 110:3 says: “Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power …”. In Hebrew, that literally reads: “Your people WILL BE freewill offerings” — that is, they will offer themselves freely as a sacrifice and offering to … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged commitment, consecration, freewill offering, Psalm 110:3, Romans 12:1, sacrifice
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Hallelu-Yah!
Psalm 113 is a Psalm of praise for the people of God. It begins and ends with the expression: “Hallelu-Yah”! (literally “Praise Yahweh!” In most Bibles, when you see the word “LORD” in all capitals in the Old Testament, it … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Hallelu-Yah, Hallelujah, praise, Psalm 113, Yahweh
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Our Final Court of Appeal
In I Samuel 24:12 David cries out to Saul: “May YHWH judge between you and me …”. David had tried and tried to convince Saul that he was not “out to get him”, but to no avail. Despite many “reconciliations”, … Continue reading
Circumstances Aren’t Everything
I Samuel 24:3-4 reminds us that although God uses circumstances for His purposes (as we saw at the end of the last chapter), circumstances themselves are not the only factor in godly decisions. Chapter 24 says that when Saul was … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
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