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 Deuteronomy 33:1-5, 26-29, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "God's Power," for 11/30/25.
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Deuteronomy 30:11-20, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Fully Committed," for 11/23/25.
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 3:13-4:11, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Affirmation," for 12/07/25
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- “Immanuel: God With Us” (Matthew 1:23 sermon)
- "Give Thanks to the Lord" (Psalm 118 sermon) Thanksgiving 2024
- Teacher's Overview of Acts 18:1-11, 18-21, Lifeway's "Explore the Bible" lesson "Together" for Oct. 20, 2024
- "The Example of Joseph" (Matthew 1:18-25 sermon)
- "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: money
Teacher’s Overview of Numbers 22:22-35, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson for 10/12/25, “God’s Plans”
Includes a sample introduction to get the lesson started, text highlights and outline, illustrations you can share, discussion questions for your group, and spiritual life applications. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRODUCTION: ??? Can … Continue reading
Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews
Tagged Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie biogrraphy, Agatha Christie Come Tell Me How You Live, archeology, Balaam, Balak, Bible, Bible study, compromise, Euphrates River, Explore the Bible, false prophet, God, Grayson Miller OU, greed, Israel, Jesus, judgment, Lifeway, Marcus Crassus, money, Moses, Peor, Ponzi scheme, prophet, Sunday School, Sunday School teacher, the error of Balaam, The River, unusual messenger
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“What Real Faith Looks Like: No Partiality” (James 2:1-4 sermon)
At one point during the U.S. Civil War, Northern General Ulysses S.Grant gave President Abraham Lincoln and the Secretary of War a list of 8 major generals and 33 brigadier generals whose service he said “the Government ‘could dispense with … Continue reading
Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Sermons
Tagged Are you somebody?, beauty, Bible, Billy Graham, black, Book of James, business, business ethics, Christian life, Christianity, church, faith, favoritism, God, gospel, Hadrians Wall, In Christ Alone, James, James 2, James 2:1-4, Jesus, judgment, Katharine Graham's Washington, Lindy Boggs, money, partial, partiality, poor, prejudice, Proverbs 20:10, race, racial prejudice, reverse discrimination, rich, rich young ruler, Robert Caro, Robert E. Lee, Roman society, Rome, salvation, salvation by faith, sermon, sin, sin of partiality, Steve Jobs, The Country Church, the ground is level at the foot of the cross, The Power Broker, Ulysses S. Grant, Walter Isaacson, Washington Irving, white, worship
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“Comforting the Afflicted & Afflicting the Comfortable” (James 1:9-11 sermon)
In the early 1900’s, humorist Finley Peter Dunne said that “The newspaper does everything for us. It runs the police force and the banks, commands the militia, controls the legislature, baptizes the young, marries the foolish, comforts the afflicted and … Continue reading
Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like
Tagged Alexander, Bible, Book of James, church poor, comforting the afflicted, death sudden, faith, Finley Peter Dunne, Hamlet, humility, identity, Imperious Caesar, Isaiah 40:6-7, James 2:5, James sermons, Jesus, love of money, Luke 12:13-21, materialism, Matthew 19:23, money, poor, poor in spirit, poverty, Prince William inheritance, real faith, Revelation 2:9, rich, riches, salvation, saving faith, self-image, Smyrna, Sylvester Stallone, temporal values, wealth, Yorick
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Teacher’s Overview: Genesis 30:25-34, 41-43, Lifeway “Explore the Bible” lesson: “Blessed” for April 7, 2024
A brief overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Genesis 30, “Blessed,” for Sunday, April 7, 2024. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRO: In her … Continue reading
Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews
Tagged Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie autobiography, balance, blessed to be a blessing, blessing, blessings, Explore the Bible, flocks, Genesis, Genesis 30, healing, health wealth and prosperity, Jacob, Laban, lesson overview, Life Group Lesson, Lifeway, Lord, money, prosperity preaching, Psalm 128, Psalm 136, riches, scriptural balance, Sunday school lesson, teacher help, wealth, Yahweh
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“Will Your Work Perish, or Last?” (John 6:27 sermon)
Every so often the U.S. economy will have a recession, or a depression — or even what they call a “Crash,” like what happened in 1929. One of the worst in our history was in 1873, when banks and businesses … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Sermons
Tagged 168 hours a week, 5 loves and 2 fish, baptism, Billy Graham, bread, call to ministry, Christian vocation, crash, depression, don't waste your life, Dwight Eisenhower, economic crisis, economy, endure, eternal, eternal investment, eternal life, eternal security, feeding the 5000, fellowship hall, fish, giving, I Corinthians 3:12-15, invest time, Jesus foundation, Jim Eliot, John 6:27, John Piper, ministry, missions, money, perish, priorities, recession, salvation, saved, saved yet so as through fire, service, sinners prayer, soul, stewardship, temporary, that man is no fool, This Is My Story, time, tithe, vocation, work, works
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“In The Place of God” (Genesis 30:2 sermon)
Our first year here in Angleton I was driving to Webster, and not long after I turned off of 35, to my right, I saw some Buddhist statues! Not really what I expected to see here in south Texas — … Continue reading
Posted in Home & Family Life, Sermons
Tagged Alexander Graham Bell only child, Am I in the place of God?, C.S. Lewis God invented us, children, Destiny of the Republic Candice Millard, family, first commandment, Genesis 30:2 sermon, gospel, government, guard yourselves from idols, home, I John 5:21, idolatry, James A. Garfield marriage, John Calvin human heart idol factory, marriage, money, no other gods, other gods, parenting, Ruth Graham marriage advice, salvation, Second Commandment, sports, The Clockwork Universe Edward Dolnick, wealth
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“Those Who Are Rich” (I Timothy 6:17 sermon)
When our son David was little, we were teaching him and his brother Paul some of the “good old kids songs,” like, “The B-I-B-L-E, yes that’s the book for me!” And so one day we had them sing for the … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged "eternal 401k", America standard of living, Christian giving, Christianity and wealth, enjoy riches, eternal 401k in heaven, eternal investment, eternal life, Ezekiel 7:19, generosity, George H.W. Bush "have half", giving, gold, I Chronicles 29:14, I Corinthians 1:26, I Timothy 6:17 sermon, invest riches, Joe Biden rich 400000, Luke 16 Unrighteous Steward, Luke 8:3, Lyndon Johnson Robert Caro, Mark Twain Innocents Abroad Pompeii, money, ready to share, riches, riches in heaven, salvation, song B-I=B-L-E, stewardship, take hold of eternal llife, tithe, tithing, Washington Post Gautam Nair Americans rich, wealth, who are the rich
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“Which World Are You Living For?” (Philippians 3:18-21 sermon)
Bill Borden was the heir to the Borden milk fortune. When he graduated from Yale, he was offered multiple well-paying positions on boards of directors of major corporations, and he had, materially speaking, everything that a man could want. But … Continue reading
Posted in Philippians sermons, Sermons
Tagged aging, apollumi, appetite, best days ahead of us, best days behind us, Bill Borden, Bill Borden waste, body, business, businessman, Christian and citizenship, citizenship in heaven, consequences of sin, desires, destruction, end is destruction, eternity, feels good, gay lesbian agenda, gay pride parades, glory, glory in their shame, gospel, heaven, heaven our home, hell, homosexual practice sin, homosexuality, homosexuality watershed issue, I Peter 1:4 inheritance, Jesus King, John Newton, Judges every man did what was right in his own eyes, judgment, living for heaven, living for this world, Lordship, Mark Twain The Innocents Abroad, money, Paul Roman citizenship, Philippians 3:18-21 sermon, pride, Robert Caro Lyndon Johnson, salvation, set their minds on earthly thling, St. Charles Borromeo tomb, temporal values, their god is their belly, Which World Are You Living For?
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