I served as pastor of Southern Baptist churches in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana for almost 30 years before taking a medical leave from the pastorate in February 2013 due to dysautonomia (POTS) and moving to Norman, Oklahoma. Blessed with renewed health, I was called as Senior Pastor of Pleasant Ridge Baptist in Morganton, NC in February 2015.
In this blog I share daily devotions from my own personal Bible readings, as well as sermons, book reviews, illustrations -- and occasional humorous "peeks" at life inside this pastor's home!
Tag Archives: C.S. Lewis
The Search For Delight (Psalm 37:4 sermon)
“Hedonism” is the belief that pleasure is the most important thing in the world, and that you should live your life, for pleasure. Most Christians would say that hedonism is wrong — but a few years ago pastor John Piper … Continue reading
Posted in Sermon Illustrations, Sermons
Tagged Alexander Von Humboldt, Amazon jungle, Bible Reading, Brave Companions David McCullough, C.S. Lewis, Christian hedonism, commitment, daily quiet time, delight, delight yourself, Delight yourself in the Lord, desires, devotion time, devotions, Divine Country, Ecclesiastes, effort, family, football, fulfillment, garden of Eden, heaven, hedonism, Hop on Pop, Job, John Piper, joy, Made To Crave, marriage, occupation, personal worship, pleasure, prayer, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 17:17, Psalm 37:4, Psalm 42, Psalm 4:7, quiet time, reading, river of delights, scripture memory, sin, Song This Blood, soul mate, vocation, worship
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“What Is Man?”
“Men go to gape at mountain peaks, at the boundless tides of the sea, the broad sweep of rivers, the encircling ocean and the motions of the stars: and yet they leave themselves unnoticed; they do not marvel at themselves.” … Continue reading
Posted in Doctrine/Theology, Sermons
Tagged accountability, anthropology, Bible, brevity of life, C.S. Lewis, Calvinism, choice, choices, commitment, creation, decision, depravity of man, doctrine of man, free will, freedom to choose, Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3, Hebrews 9:27, Herman Melville Moby Dick, humankind, II Corinthians 5:10, II Corinthians 6:2, image of God, Imago Dei, Isaiah 40:6-7, Job 14, Job 14:4, judgment, judgment seat of Christ, life, man, mankind, Moby Dick blacksmith anvil, original sin, Proverbs 20:9, Psalm 103:15, Psalm 90:5, salvation, seed of woman, sin, sin nature, temptation, theology of man, time
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“Your Worries & Your Father” (Matthew 6:25-34 sermon)
The other day I was reading something written by a pastor from generations gone by, and he said of this certain thing: “This is something which is highly dishonoring to God, a sin which we need to make conscience of, … Continue reading
Posted in Matthew sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged anxiety, C.S. Lewis, faith, family, father, Father in Heaven, God, Hudson Taylor, II Corinthians 10:3-5, love, Matthew 6:25-34 sermon, Philippians 4:6, provision, trust, worry
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The Witness of His Words
“The officers answered, ‘Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.’” (John 7:46) These officers (basically the Temple police) were no trained theologians, yet they could recognize what is plain to everyone. No one — ever — has … Continue reading
“He Will Save His People From Their Sins” (Matthew 1:21 sermon)
(Preached at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, December 11, 2016) In his famous play, “Romeo & Juliet”, William Shakespeare wrote: “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” And there is some truth in that. … Continue reading
Posted in Matthew sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged C.S. Lewis, Colossians 2:14, glorification, guilt, Hebrew, I John 2:2, II Thessalonians 1:9, It is finished, It Is Well, Jesus, justificatiion sanctification glorification, justification, Matthew 1:21, paid in full, Romeo and Juliet, salvation, salvation past present future, sanctification, sin, sins, slavery, test, tetelestai, wrath, Yehoshua, Yeshua
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“Eternal Life” (John 3:16 sermon)
Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of the Chinese Qin Dynasty — and he wanted to be the last. He wanted to live forever. In Imperial China at that time, they believed in certain “elixirs of life” which might … Continue reading
