“If you have been foolish in exalting yourself or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth …” (Proverbs 30:32)
It is surely interesting that in this verse, “if you have been foolish in exalting yourself” is paralleled with “if you have plotted evil.” Many of us would never think of “plotting evil” — but we have indeed been guilty of “exalting yourself.” These two are evidently equally heinous before God! Continue reading
“Two things I have asked of You; do not refuse me before I die. Keep deception and lies far from me; give me neither poverty or riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.'” (Proverbs 30:7-9)
One of the things that stands out in this prayer request is that the petitioner’s greatest priority is NOT his need for food or money. Continue reading
“There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes, yet is not washed from his filthiness.” (Proverbs 30:12)
This is a good reminder that just because a person “thinks” something is so, or “feels” that something is so, or “believes” something is so, does NOT make it so! Continue reading
(Preached at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, May 27, 2015)
Much of America cheered some months ago when a Texas mother fought off three masked home invaders who came into the house where she and her little son were. With a pistol she had in her bedroom, she shot one intruder in the stomach and ran the other two off. Americans applaud — rightly so — those who do whatever they need to do to protect their family.
But as important as that is, there is a greater responsibility you have towards your family than protecting them physically, and that is protecting them spiritually. The greatest enemy your family has cannot be shot with a gun, or physically barred from your home. The greatest enemy your family has is spiritual, and must opposed by spiritual weapons/means. II Corinthians 10:3-5 says “although we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, and the weapons of our warfare are not according the flesh, but are Divinely powerful …”. That is why we must learn to PRAY — and call down the power of God to protect and to work in the lives of those we love.
Tonight we continue our study on the Model Prayer, and we come to the last of the 6 major requests of the Model, Praying For Spiritual Protection. We have seen that the Model Prayer is not a “script” that we are to endlessly repeat, but is an outline of the categories of things the Lord wants us to talk about with Him when we pray. We’ve seen that we are to begin with praise, then pray for God’s Kingdom’s work next, then surrender our lives to His will — then lift up our requests, and requests for those we love, before we spend time in confession of sin and forgiveness of others. The final request, which we are studying tonight, is found in :13 and reads:
“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Continue reading
(Preached at PRBC 5-31-15)
In the summer of 1980 I went on a mission trip with my home church, the First Baptist Church of Harrah, to Switzerland and Germany. During the trip we also took a one-day visit to Paris, but in many ways I was disappointed by the city. It was dirty, both physically and spiritually, and after half a day of visiting, I sat down on the curb of one of the city’s streets, and I could feel that I was sinking into a depression. But I had recently begun to memorize scripture, and had memorized James 1. Without anything else to do, I just began reviewing that chapter as I sat there: “James, a bondservant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes who are dispersed, Greetings! Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” The more I quoted of that chapter, the more God’s Spirit began to lift me up, until I got to :12, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial, knowing that the testing of his faith produces endurance …”. By that time, I was no longer sinking in depression, but “soaring” in the heavenly places! God’s Spirit had used His word to lift me up. This was the first of many times in which I have found scripture memory to be one of the greatest blessings of my lifetime.
While God’s stated goal for each of His followers is to become like Jesus, too many of us are troublingly more like the Pharisees whom Jesus condemned instead. Mark 3:2 says: “And they were watching Him closely, to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, in order that they might accuse Him.” Continue reading
Many professed Christians tend to think of themselves as “pretty good church people” — but Romans 5:6 reminds us that genuine Christians were, at least once, very much otherwise: “For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.” Those words, “while we were still helpless … the ungodly” need to be a wake-up call for numbers of us. Continue reading
(In honor both of our 33rd wedding anniversary, and our icemaker 😉
Last week some workers discovered that there was a leak underneath our house, and they recommended that we call a plumber. Cheryl & I saw where the leak was coming from, and the “game” was on. We decided to try to fix it ourselves. It would end up taking a big chunk of our Saturday, and it would also serve to remind us of an important lesson on the nature of marriage: it takes two, working together!
One of the most frequently quoted verses in the Old Testament, is, sadly, often MIS-quoted. Proverbs 29:18 reads: “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained (or “perish.)”
Typically someone quotes this verse and follows up with an admonition on how “you need to get a vision” or “people need a vision”. Thus they call for you to “dream your dream” of what you want to accomplish, or encourage churches to find a leader who has “a vision” for where they should be going. But the important thing for us to consider is: is this what this text really means? Continue reading
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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