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 28:1-10, 16-20, "Our Task," Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson for 4/05/26
- "The Message of the Cross" (I Cor. 1:18-24 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 18:21-35, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, "Forgiveness," for 3/29/26
- "Suffering Servant/Glorious King: The Cost and Benefits of His Atonement" (Isaiah 53:5 sermon)
- "Lessons From Gethsemane" (Matthew 26 sermon)
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "Christ's Suffering/Our Salvation" (I Peter 3:18 sermon)
- "A Living Hope" (I Peter 1:3 sermon)
- "The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 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
A Source of Joy
Nehemiah 8:17 tells us that when Israel celebrated The Feast of Booths, “there was great rejoicing.” There was a good reason for that which many of us could learn from.
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Bible, God's word, joy, Nehemiah 8:17, obedience, rejoicing
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What You Should Covet
Psalm 19:10, culminating the chapter’s description of God’s word, says, “More to be desired are they than gold, yes than much fine gold.” The Hebrew word for “desired” is “hamad”, which means “desire, take pleasure in; covet” — in fact, … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Bible, covet, desire, God's word, Psalm 19:10, scripture
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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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Bible Doctrine in a Nutshell
Ezra 1:1 gives us a “doctrine in a nutshell” for what we believe about scripture: “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah …”. … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Bible, doctrine of the Bible, Ezra 1:1, II Peter 1:21, II Timothy 3:16, inspiration, scripture
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God’s Word: Desire or Discipline?
In light of I Peter 2:2’s command to “long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation”, one might ask if spending time in the Bible should be considered to be … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Bible, Bible Reading, desire, devotions, discipline, I Peter 2:2, quiet time, scripture, word of God
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Read The Word: Public Reading of Scripture
In II Kings 23, King Josiah led a revival in Judah when God’s word was rediscovered in the Temple. The book of the Law was read aloud to him by Shaphan the scribe (22:10) and it had a profound effect … Continue reading
God’s Perfect Word
Psalm 12 contrasts the flattering words (:2-3) and boastful word-faith (:4) of men with the perfect words of God. Verse 6 says “The words of the LORD are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Bible, inerrancy, infallibility, Psalm 12:6, scripture, word of God, words of men
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The Missing Ingredient
There is a vital missing ingredient in the lives of many American Christians today. Colossians 3:16 says: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another …”. Those words “one another” are … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged accountability, Bible, church, Colossians 3:16, fellowship, God's word, individualism, scripture, teaching
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The Prophetic Function of God’s Word
In I Kings 21, after King Ahab took the land which was the inheritance of his neighbor Naboth, :17 says: “Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite …” God did not overlook this evil deed of … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Bible, God's word, I Kings 21:17, II Timothy 3:16, prophetic function, scripture, sin
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Delight in His Word
Psalm 1:2 says of the man whom :1 declared blessed for avoiding the ways of the world: “But his delight is in the LAW of YHWH, and in His LAW he meditates day and night.” This is an example of … Continue reading
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