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 Preview of Matthew 16:13-26, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson: "Following Jesus" for 3/15/26
- "This Is My Story: The Man Born Blind" (John 9 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
- Teacher's Preview of Matthew 15:1-11+, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson for March 8, 2026, "Real Devotion"
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "The Goodness of God in the Midst of Affliction" (Psalm 119:65-72 sermon)
- "The Greatest Verse in the Bible?" (John 3:16 sermon)
- "Inviting Jesus Into Your Home" (Luke 10:38-42 sermon)
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 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
Tag Archives: Bible study
“Every Day With Jesus” in 2018 (Ezra 7:10 sermon)
A few weeks ago they came out with an interesting list of the books that people lie about reading, in order appear well-read: among them are George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, (42%), Tolstoy’s War and Peace (31%), James Joyce’s Ulysses (25%) … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Sermons
Tagged application, Bible, Bible Reading, Bible study, commitment, commitments, daily devotions, discipleship, Ezra 7:10, family Bible reading, Hudson Taylor, MasterLife, New Year commitment, quiet time, read through the Bible, scripture, social media, study, teach
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Distractions From Devotions
Our church, Pleasant Ridge Baptist in Morganton, North Carolina, is sending three adult members out to different mission fields this weekend: one to Wales, one to Haiti, and one to Romania. I sent them this quote from China Inland Mission … Continue reading
“The King & The Disciples” (Matthew 5:1-2 sermon)
I have never in my lifetime seen the kind of vindictiveness expressed towards a president as we have seen evidenced towards President Trump: the hatred, lack of submission, people saying “He’s not my President”, etc. I was not a big … Continue reading
Posted in Matthew sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged 30 minute church service, Beatitudes, Bible, Bible Reading, Bible study, Chuck Quarles, Cliff Jenkins, commitment, consumer church, consumer mentality, convenience, crowds, daily bread, daily walk, Deuteronomy 8:3, devotional time, disciples, discipleship, entertainment, family, follow Me, following Jesus, God's will, God's word as food, Golden Calf, honey, Isaiah 53:6, Jesus, king, King Saul, Matthew 10:37, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 5:1-2, meat, milk, ministry, mission partnership, missions, Moses, Mount of the Beatitudes, Mt. Sinai, Pandering, persecution, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh mission churches, popularity, prayer, priorities, Psalm 119:103, quiet time, salvation, scripture, SEBTS, Sermon on the Mount, service, solid food, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, success, truth, walk with God
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Jesus Met Them
“And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.” (Matthew 28:9 NASB) They were not even expecting it. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were on their way … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged Bible study, devotions, Matthew 28:9, meeting Jesus, prayer, worship
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Does Your Bible Study Change Your Life?
Nehemiah 8:13-18 gives us a great example of how we should apply our Bible studies. Meeting together with Ezra to study the scripture, :14 says that the people of Israel “found written in the Law how the LORD had commanded … Continue reading
The Words of the Commandments
The scribe Ezra’s dedication to the word of God is chronicled repeatedly in Ezra Chapter 7. One such reference is found in verse 11, which describes him as “Ezra the priest, the scribe, learned in the words of the commandments … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged application, Bible, Bible study, Ezra 7:11, Matthew 22:32, scripture, teaching, words
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