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 2:1-12, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Worship the King," for 12/21/25
- “Immanuel: God With Us” (Matthew 1:23 sermon)
- "The Example of Joseph" (Matthew 1:18-25 sermon)
- "He Will Save His People From Their Sins" (Matthew 1:21 Sermon)
- "The Greatest Verse in the Bible?" (John 3:16 sermon)
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "A 'Real Life' Christmas" (Luke 2:1-11 sermon)
- "Your Response to Christmas" (Matthew 2:1-12 Sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 4:12-25, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson "Invitation," for 12/14/25
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 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: leadership
Is Yours A “Refreshing” Church?
“And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.” (II Corinthians 8:13) We should not miss this little sentence, describing what happened to the spirit of Titus … Continue reading
A King’s Example
“When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes.” (Jonah 3:6) What an extraordinary picture this verse renders of the response … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events, Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged ashes, humility, intercession, Jonah, Jonah 3:6, king, leadership, mercy, mourning, Nineveh, pray for America, prayer, President Obama, repentance, sackcloth
1 Comment
Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel for Leadership
Isaiah 3:6 must be one of the most pathetic verses in scripture. It describes the desperation of a people seeking for anyone to lead them: “You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler.” It is surely a sign of … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged church leadership, deacon selection, Isaiah 2:6, leadership, Sunday School teachers
2 Comments
A Word to Church Leaders
Ezra 5 tells us that the prophets Haggai & Zechariah prophesied and told the leaders of the Jews, Zerubabbel and Jeshua, to rebuild the house of God, despite those who opposed them. Verse 2 says that Zerubabbel and Jeshua did … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged discipleship, Ezra 5:2, Haggai, leadership, Zechariah
2 Comments
The Leadership We Deserve (3-24-13)
In II Samuel 24:1 it says “The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and it incited David against them to say, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.’” This decision by King David led to punishment by God upon the people. … Continue reading
The Fear of Man
After much prevarication regarding his sin of not fully obeying the Lord regarding His command to destroy the Amalekites, in I Samuel 15:24 Saul did finally own up to his sin: “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged fear, I Peter 3:14-15, I Samuel 15:24, intimidation, leadership, peer pressure, Saul
5 Comments
The Leadership We Deserve (2)
In I Samuel 12:14 Samuel told Israel: “If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over … Continue reading
Scripture’s Indispensable Qualities of a Leader
In Exodus 19:21 Jethro told Moses: “You shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged discipleship, Exodus 19:21, leadership, qualifications
Leave a comment
Leadership and Accountability
Exodus 39:43 says: “And Moses examined all the work and behold, they had done it; just as the Lord had commanded, this they had done. So Moses blessed them.” There are several applications here regarding leadership and accountability, both in … Continue reading
shawnethomas 