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.
-
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: Uncategorized
It’s “Snow” Walk in the Park!
Sunday evening, our family had been “snowed in” for the better part of four days, other than morning worship at Trinity Baptist, and a brief trip to the grocery store. With a bad case of “cabin fever”, I decided we … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
“The Little Condo on the Prairie” (12-04-13)
It’s about the holidays this week — Thanksgiving, Christmas, as well as some of our typical family fare! SNOWBOUND Michael was “bummed” about having to miss church services due to an early (late November) snow here in Oklahoma. He bemoaned: … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
3 Comments
The Benefits of Delight
In Psalm 119:98, the Psalmist was overjoyed with the word of God, exclaiming: “Oh how I love Your Law; it is my meditation all the day.” We saw here how this “meditation” is not merely a “discipline”, but a heartfelt … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged Bible, God's word, meditation, meditation on scripture, Psalm 119:98-100, scripture
2 Comments
The Top Shelf: Books I’ve Read More Than Once
When it came time to sell our home in Louisiana and move to a condo less than half its size in Oklahoma, we had to do some dramatic downsizing! One of the most difficult items to tackle was our book … Continue reading
“Anwoth Is Not Heaven; Preaching Is Not Christ”
Originally posted on shawnethomas:
Sometimes in the process of looking for one treasure, you inadvertently find another. That happened today, as I was searching through one of my very favorite books, The Letters of Samuel Rutherford. (Rutherford was the pastor…
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
If Saved Will Persevere
Many Christians (especially Baptists) are fond of claiming “once saved always saved”, and there is truth in that statement. Those who are genuinely saved will indeed never lose it. But many misinterpret that teaching to mean that anyone who makes … Continue reading
Bearers of Bad News
I Samuel 3:9-10 tells how Eli taught Samuel to say to God, “Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening.” But we also need to remember the message He subsequently gave Samuel — it was not pleasant! God immediately said in … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged bad news, I Samuel 3:9-10, II TImothy 4:3-4, preachers, responsibility
Leave a comment
Speak Lord
I Samuel 3:9 contains one of the great prayers in scripture: “Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening.” Eli taught Samuel to say it to God the next time He called him in the tabernacle. It is a simple but … Continue reading
Just As The Lord Commanded
Exodus 39 may seem at first glance to be one of those “boring” chapters which give a lot of seemingly insignificant information. Earlier in the book, God had commanded Moses and the children of Israel to make garments for the … Continue reading
I Shall Not Want
Most everyone is familiar with the opening words of Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Truly understanding and applying what this verse teaches is one of the keys to the Christian life. The Hebrew is … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged I shall not want, lack, need, provision, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 16:5, Psalm 23:1, satisfaction, satisfaction in God, want
Leave a comment
shawnethomas 