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
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "This Is My Story: The Man Born Blind" (John 9 sermon)
- "The Message of the Cross" (I Cor. 1:18-24 sermon)
- Teacher's Preview of Matthew 15:1-11+, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson for March 8, 2026, "Real Devotion"
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "The Greatest Verse in the Bible?" (John 3:16 sermon)
- "Suffering Servant/Glorious King: The Cost and Benefits of His Atonement" (Isaiah 53:5 sermon)
- "The Disciplines of Disciples" (I Timothy 4:7-10 sermon)
- "How To Run 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: faith
Sincerely Wrong!
Won’t a person go to heaven no matter what they believe, just as long as they are sincere? The Apostle Paul wrote otherwise: “For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged faith, John 14:6, Romans 10:2, salvation, sincerity, works, zeal
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“Believing” Is Not Enough
“Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God.’” (Mark 3:11) It is striking to read here that the demons shouted that Jesus was the Son of God. Many … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged commitment, demons, faith, James 2:29, Mark 3:11, repentance, saving faith, trust
2 Comments
“If it’s God’s will”?
One must admit, Paul didn’t make much of a “positive confession” in Romans 1:10, when he told the church at Rome: “if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.” Those words … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged faith, God's will, humility, if it's God's will, James 4:14-16, Lord willing, positive confession, Romans 1:10, word faith, words
1 Comment
Are You Any Better?
Often it is easy to criticize others for a particular drawback, when the truth is we are not any better than they are. In Psalm 28, David asks God to judge the wicked, and in :5 he gives the reason: … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged faith, Psalm 28:5, spiritual blindness, spiritual perception
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Repentance & Faith
In Proverbs 9:6 we find the two indispensable elements of conversion and holiness. These basic ingredients have not changed since Old Testament times: “Forsake your folly and live; and proceed in the way of understanding.” Here we find these two … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Acts 20:21, faith, Hebrews 12:1, Luke 11:24-26, Proverbs 9:6, repentance, repentance and faith
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The “Cloud” of Prosperity
One of Job’s complaints, found in 30:15, was that “My prosperity has passed away like a cloud.” There are a number of great word pictures in the book of Job, and this is one of them. He says that prosperity … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged faith, hope, Job 30:15, prosperity, riches, trust, wealth
1 Comment
Salvation Through The Gospel (I Corinthians 15:1-6 sermon)
(Preached at First Baptist, Pauls Valley, OK 1-11-14) Some New Year’s commitments are better than others! A year ago, I resolved to do something which I had long neglected: I decided to read a verse a day in both the … Continue reading
When You Feel Forsaken
Where do you turn when you feel forsaken? David cried in Psalm 22:1, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” These were the very words that Jesus later used to express His own desolation on the cross. Perhaps … Continue reading
Be Still and Trust Him!
“Be very still right now; I am about to do something very tricky.” Since the lady speaking those words had an electric razor in her hands, and she was cutting my hair, you can bet that I was very obedient! … Continue reading
The Precious Stewardship
In Ezra 8:24-30 Ezra tells us that he took 12 of the priests who were with him in Babylon, and weighed out to each of them a portion of the gold & silver and the costly utensils which were going … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Ezra 8:24-30, faith, II Timothy 1:14, stewardship, the gospel, word of God
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