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 15:1-11+, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson for March 8, 2026, "Real Devotion"
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "This Is My Story: The Woman At The Well" (John 4:1-42 sermon)
- Teacher's Preview of Matthew 14:22-33, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Courage," for March 1, 2026.
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "The Message of the Cross" (I Cor. 1:18-24 sermon)
- "The World, The Flesh, and the Devil" (James 3:15 sermon)
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "The Discipline of Fasting" (Ezra 8:21 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: Ezra 4
Don’t Be An Accuser
Ezra 4:6 says that in their attempt to shut down the rebuilding of the Temple, the enemies of Israel “wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem” and slandered them to King Ahasuerus. Zerubbabel and Jeshua were attempting … Continue reading
Learning From The Wicked
Sometimes the people of God can learn a lesson from the ungodly. In Ezra 4, the Bible tells us that the opponents of those who were trying to rebuild the Temple “hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all … Continue reading
They Say All The Right Things
Ezra 4 opens by telling how the enemies of Judah heard of the rebuilding of the Temple, and asked to “help.” Verse 2 says they requested: “Let us build with you for we, like you, seek your God …”. On … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged deception, discernment, duplicity, Ezra 4, falsehood, hypocrisy, two-faced
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