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 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)
- "Seeking Him First" (Matthew 6:33 sermon)
- Joshua 3:5 Sermon: "Preparing For God To Work"
- "This Is My Story: The Philippian Jailer" (Acts 16:25-34 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Deuteronomy 6:1-9, 20-25, "Love" for Sunday 11/02/25
- "The Word That Sustains In Difficult Days" (Habakkuk 2:1-3 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: God
Lifeway “Explore the Bible” II Kings 17:7-20 teachers’ overview: “God Judges”
A brief overview for Sunday school teachers and Bible study leaders of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson for Sunday, August 14, 2022, “God Judges.” A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRO: You could ask your … Continue reading
Posted in Explore the Bible Sunday School lessons
Tagged Explore the Bible, Explore the Bible lesson August 14 2022, Explore the Bible lesson II Kings 17:7-20, God, God as Judge, God Judges, idolatry, lesson overview, Lifeway, Lifeway Explore the Bible, Lifeway Sunday school lesson help, President Andrew Jackson, Samaritans origin, Sunday school lesson help, teacher helps, worship
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“Who God Says He Is” (Exodus 34:6-8 sermon)
Years ago, in his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer wrote: “What you think about when you think about God is the most important thing about you.” What do you think about when you think about God? And … Continue reading
Posted in Doctrine/Theology, Sermons
Tagged "The love of God" song, A.W. Tozer what you think about when you think about God, Al Mohler, Bulgaria missions, chesed, compassion God, Dave Ramsey better than I deserve, doctrine of God, Exodus 34:6-8 sermon, forgiveness, God, grace of God, grace to others, gracious, heaven, Jebel Musa, Jesus final revelation, living by grace, love has a long fuse, lovingkindness, Marinne Williamson, new age, Prodigal Son, relationship with God, response to God, revelation, salvation by grace, surprises in heaven, theology, Yahweh, YHWH
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“The Room Where It Happens: The Presence of God” (Luke 1:19 sermon)
One of the most-visited tourist sites in London, England is the Churchill War Rooms. The rooms are in an underground bunker built just before World War II, right in the heart of the city, not far from Parliament or Buckingham … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons, Uncategorized, worship
Tagged "The Room Where It Happens", C.S. Lewis, C.S. Lewis correspondence, C.S. Lewis on nursing homes, Christ will be there, church, church new builidng, church presence of God, church worship, Churchill War Rooms, corporate worship, daily quiet time, daily worship, Ephesians 3:12, eternity, experience His presence, foretaste of His glory, Gabriel, garden of Eden, glory, God, God made us: invented us, God sovereignty, Hamilton musical, heaven, I Corinthians 14:25, I stand in the presence of God, Isaiah 59:2, Isaiah 6:1-3, Jesus, Luke 1:19, oval office, presence, presence of God, Psalm 139, Psalm 147, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 17:15, purpose, Revelation 21:3, Revelation 4:8, salvation, satisfaction, what will we do in heaven, worship, worship services, Zacharias and Elizabeth
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“The Maladies of Martha” (Luke 10:38-42 sermon)
A few weeks ago I read Joseph J. Ellis’ book on President Thomas Jefferson, entitled American Sphinx. In it, he discussed, among other things, the men who influenced Jefferson and made him the kind of president that he was. He … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Luke 10:38-42 Mary & Martha series, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged accusing God, busy-ness, Christian growth, consecration, COVID-19, daily Bible reading, daily devotions, daily prayer time, daily quiet time, devotions, discipleship, does God care?, egocentrism, Ephesians 2, example, Exodus 2:24-25, God, God mercy, God who sees, God's will, Hagar in the wilderness, It's not about you, Job 38-39, John 21 you follow Me, John Adams, Joseph J. Ellis American Sphinx, log out of your own eye, love, love of God, Luke 10:38-42 sermon, Maladies of Martha, Mark 4:38, Mark 5 Gerasene demoniac, marriage, Martha, mercy of God, morning prayer time, negative example, others' shortcomings, others' sins, our will, prayer, priorities, relationships, Rick Warren Purpose Driven Life it's not about you, salvation, sanctification, schedule, self-centeredness, selfish, selfishness, sin, spiritual growth, telling God what to do, Thomas Jefferson, Thy will be done, time, time with God, what's in it for me?
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Book Review: Reflections on the Existence of God
Instead of closing with the perfunctory “I was sent this book in exchange for reading it and promising to write a review,” I am going to open with it. Because that is exactly how I encountered this book. But I … Continue reading
“No Worthless Thing” (Psalm 101:3 sermon)
On this Father’s Day, we can remember one of the great “Father/Son” teams in American history, John Adams, and his son, John Quincy Adams, both of whom served as President of the United States. When he was only ten years … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged Abigail Adams, belial, Bible sword, billboards, books, Cary Grant Phillis Brooks, commercials, commitment to holiness, Daspe survey pornography, David and Bathsheba, Eve saw, family, Fathers Day, forgiveness, God, grace, grace of God, heaven, holiness, horses peripheral vision, I John 2:16, internet, internet pornography, internet search, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, lead us not into temptation, Love Later Brand Hatch Hajela, lust of the eyes, marriage, Matthew 4 temptation, model prayer, moral thread in books, No Worthless Thing, Philippians 4:8, pornography, pornography addiction, Psalm 101, Psalm 101:3, pursuit of holiness, reading, relationship with God, salvation, sanctification, Satan, scripture memory, sons of belial, surfing the internet, television, temptation, the lamp of the body is the eye, trap, tv watching, warning, word of God
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“On The Alert” (I Peter 5:8-11 sermon)
Following the death of General Qasem Soleimani last week in Iraq, U.S. citizens and military in the Middle East were put on the alert: Iran had promised to avenge Soleimani’s death; everyone needed to beware of revenge attacks that could … Continue reading
Posted in I Peter sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged accuser, adversary, battle, Christian warfare, demons, devil, doubt, enemy, Ephesians 2:1, Ephesians 6, Ephesians 6:17, faith, false prophets, false teachers, Genesis 3, God, God good, He who is not for me is against me, I John 4:1, I Peter 5, I Peter 5:8-11 sermon, II Corinthians 10:3-5, II Corinthians 2:11, Job 1, knowledge, lie, life is a battle, Martin Luther, Martin Luther Anfechtungen, Martin Luther devil, Matthew 4 Jesus temptation, on the alert, prince of the power of the air, Psalm 119:68, Psalm 91:11-12, Qasem Soleimani death, resist devil, Revelation 12:12, Romans 10:17, Satan, Satan accuser, speculations, spiritual armor, spiritual battle, spiritual umbrella, spiritual warfare, spiritual weapons, stand firm, sword of the Spirit, taking every thought captive, temptation, testimony, thoughts, truth, word of God, You are good and do good, Zechariah 3
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