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 Judges 2:11-23, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson: "Consequences," for July 26, 2026.
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- Teacher's Preview of Joshua 24:14-24, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson: "Vital Decision," for July 19, 2026.
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "Seeking Him First" (Matthew 6:33 sermon)
- "The Lord Our Provider" (Philippians 4:15-23 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of I Peter 1:13-25, "Our Mandate," Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson for 3/09/25
- "The World, The Flesh, and the Devil" (James 3:15 sermon)
- "This Is My Story: The Philippian Jailer" (Acts 16:25-34 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: Sermons
“Comforting the Afflicted & Afflicting the Comfortable” James 1:9-11
In the early 1900’s, humorist Finley Peter Dunne said that “The newspaper does everything for us. It runs the police force and the banks, commands the militia, controls the legislature, baptizes the young, marries the foolish, comforts the afflicted and … Continue reading
Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Sermons
Tagged bung hole, comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable, Death, dust, eternity, Finley Peter Dunne, Hamlet, Isaiah 40:6-7, James 1:9-11 sermon, Luke 12:13-21, materialism, money, poor, poor Christians, poverty, Prince William inheritance, prosperity preaching, Revelation 2:9, rich, rich Christians, rich man and heaven, riches, self-image, Shakespeare, Sylvester Stallone, the democracy of death, The RIch Fool, The Rich Man and Lazarus, Your Best Life Now
8 Comments
“What Real Faith Looks Like: Total Commitment” (James 1:6-8)
Cheryl and Michael & I were waiting in the drive through at Wendy’s the other day, and it looked like the people in front of us were having a difficult time making up their mind as to what they wanted … Continue reading
Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Sermons
Tagged Charles Spurgeon, Choose whom you will serve, commitment, cool vs. Christ, double-minded, doubt, doubting, Ephesians 4:14, faith, God or mammon, Hipster Faith, I Kings 18:21, inconsistency, James 1:6-8 sermon, Joshua 24:15, lack of commitment, Landry Jones, Matthew 6:24, Mr. Facing Both Ways, seeking God, split personality, total commitment, two-headed snake, What Real Faith Looks Like, Whitney Hand
2 Comments
“What Tested Faith Looks Like” (James 1:2-4)
We have a lot of people here at First Baptist Church who are going through different “storms” in their lives right now. My own current battle with dysautonomia is well-known to most of you. But I know that I … Continue reading
Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Sermons
Tagged "I Walked A Mile With Pleasure", cocoon butterfly story, drunk driver, endurance, faith, genuine faith, hupomene, James 1:2-4, Joe McKeever, maturity, purpose of trials, Robert Browning Hamilton, Samuel Rutherford, sermon, Sirach, suffering, teleios, tested faith, testing, trials, tried faith
4 Comments
“What James’ Faith Looked Like” (James 1:1)
David Boudia just won the gold medal in the 10 meter diving competition in the London Olympics. In 2008 he also participated in the Olympics, and afterwards he went to college at Purdue. He immediately immersed himself in the … Continue reading
Introduction to the Book of James: “What Real Faith Looks Like”
A few weeks ago I had a phone conversation with a pastor in another town here in Southwest Louisiana, and he was talking about how there are well over 30 churches in their small community. He said, “You know … Continue reading
Psalm 3:3 “Thou O Lord” Part III: “The Lifter of My Head”
The recent shootings in Aurora, Colorado are reminiscent of a similar tragedy over a year ago in Tuscon, Arizona. Former Philadelphia Phillies baseball manager Dallas Green lost his granddaughter in that Tucson shooting rampage, and afterwards, in a media interview, Green was asked how he … Continue reading
Psalm 3:3 “Thou, O Lord” Part II: “My Glory”
One of my favorite stories from the Civil War happened in a battle when a New York regiment was coming under heavy fire from the Confederate line. The colonel of an adjoining regiment came over to tell the leader of … Continue reading
Posted in Home & Family Life, POTS (dysautonomia) articles, Sermons
Tagged "More Love To Thee", "Thou O Lord", Charles Spurgeon, Elizabeth Payson Prentiss, encore, Exodus 33:18, Genesis 15:1, glory, Isaiah 60:19, kabod, let it wave high, Matthew 4:8-9, my glory, POTS/dysautonomia, Psalm 27:4, Psalm 3:3 sermon, Psalm 7:5, the dearest idol I have known, The Glorious Habitation, trophy wife, William Cowper
5 Comments
“Thou O Lord”, Psalm 3:3 Part I: “My Shield”
I first knew something was wrong with me physically in February 2012, when I had to go home sick from prayer meeting. I ended up having to take a medical leave from my duties as pastor, and tried to make … Continue reading
Posted in POTS (dysautonomia) articles, Sermons
Tagged Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Genesis 25:22, God's protection, God's purpose, God's purposes in trials, Henry V, intercession, Job, John Ryland, Lamentations 3:7, Life Together, My Shield, plagues and deaths around me fly, POTS, Psalm 119:67, Psalm 3:3, Romans 8:28, sermon, Shakespeare, the bulletproof George Washington, trials, We're in God's hands brother, Why am I this way?
11 Comments
“Acceptable in His Sight” (Psalm 19:11-14)
I listened to my favorite preacher, Mark Dever, the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist in Washington, D.C., this morning, and he had a good word for me. In a message on James 1, Dever said that sometimes we can see some of God’s … Continue reading
“The World” (John 3:16 series)
“Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world; red and yellow, black and white; they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” Many of us have known that song since … Continue reading
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