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.
-
Top Posts & Pages
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 21:23-32, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Authority," for 4/26/26.
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 20:1-16, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Grace," for 4/19, 2026
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Deuteronomy 6:1-9, 20-25, "Love" for Sunday 11/02/25
- "Seeking Him First" (Matthew 6:33 sermon)
- "This Is My Story: The Philippian Jailer" (Acts 16:25-34 sermon)
- Joshua 3:5 Sermon: "Preparing For God To Work"
- "The World, The Flesh, and the Devil" (James 3:15 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
Faith Under Trial
Ezra 2 gives us a list of the exiles who returned to Israel from the Babylonian captivity. While all the names and numbers may seem trivial, they are not. And verse 41 gives us a special insight when it says … Continue reading
He Didn’t Get Away With It
II Kings 21 doesn’t seem to end right. With all the evil described of King Manasseh & Judah in verses 2-16 (that they were worse than the pagan nations which had preceded them) and the punishment promised by the prophets … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged evil prosper, faith, Hebrews 9:27, II Kings 21, judgment, prosperity of wicked, Psalm 73, theodicy
Leave a comment
Do They See You Trust God?
Jehoash, the king of Judah, had been used by God to bring reform & revival to the land. But it did not appear that he finished well. II Kings 13:17 says that the King of Aram set his face to … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged compromise, faith, fear, II Kings 1:3, trust, trusting God, witness
Leave a comment
A Model of Balance
In I Kings 18:41-46 we see how the prophet Elijah models for us a balanced attitude regarding God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility:
Does God Not See?
Psalm 10:11 describes the wicked: “He says to himself, ‘God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it.’” One of the qualities of the unrighteous, this passage tells us, is that they do not believe that … Continue reading
And WATCH!
In Psalm 5:3 David says, “In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice. In the morning, I will order my prayer to You, and eagerly watch.” Those last words are important. David did not just say that he … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Discipleship
Tagged faith, Hebrews 11:6, Hebrews 1:11, prayer, Psalm 5:3
Leave a comment
Only Trust Him
In Psalm 4 we find the command: “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in the LORD.” In what was another difficult situation of David’s in Psalm 4 (:2 says his honor had become a reproach to men, and in … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged faith, Hebrews 11:6, only trust Him, Psalm 4:5, trust
Leave a comment
Look to the Reward
Hebrews 11:26 says that Moses considered “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.” In this chapter which extols faith, we find here a glimpse of how it practically works … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged faith, Hebrews 11:26, perseverance, reward, temptation
Leave a comment
By Faith He Lived
Hebrews 11:9 says of Abraham: “by faith he LIVED as an alien in the land of promise.” It is one thing to step out initially in faith (as it says in :8 that Abraham did); it is another to LIVE … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Abraham, faith, faithful, Hebrews 11:9, living by faith
Leave a comment
The Obedience of Faith
Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a land which he was to receive for an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going.” A key word here is … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged faith, Hebrews 11:8, James 2:14, obedience, salvation, works
2 Comments
shawnethomas 