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 13:24-30, 36-43, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Judgment Coming," for 2/22/26.
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 12:1-14, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Rejecting Legalism," for 2/15/26.
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 11:1-6, 16-24, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Confronting Doubts, for 2/08/26
- "True Religion" (Philippians 3:2-3)
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- Basebaal Strikes Out
- "How To Seek The Lord" (Isaiah 55:6-7 sermon)
- "This Is My Story: The Philippian Jailer" (Acts 16:25-34 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: POTS
POTS update August 2012: Sunday Challenges & “Hibernation Saturdays”!
Like many of our church members, I spend my Saturdays preparing for our Sunday services. I have done that previously, but the nature of my preparation has changed since I was diagnosed with dysautonomia or POTS this summer. With a … Continue reading
Posted in POTS (dysautonomia) articles
Tagged dizziness, Dr. Gerry Hebert, dyautonomia, First Baptist Church Moss Bluff, headaches, heart rate, heat intolerance, heat sensitivity, metoprolol succinate, nausea, pastor Shawn Thomas, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, POTS, preaching, trazodone, Wendy's potatoes & gravy
2 Comments
This Week in “Paradise” August 20
Many naive church members consider the pastor’s home to be a “paradise” on earth. We prove otherwise every week! 🙂 Pop Goes The Weasel! When Libby and Josh came home for the weekend, they were entertained byhow Eponine, our baby … Continue reading
This Week in “Paradise” August 13
Did I Do That? Cheryl hates the little lawnmower we have here in “Paradise”; she has lodged complaints against it on several occasions. Thus I must admit that I was more than a little suspicious when she “accidentally” left it … Continue reading
Posted in Home & Family Life, This Week In Paradise (pastors family blog)
Tagged back-to-school, Calvinism debate, cats and women, dinner, felines, football, Freudian song, garden, grading, home school, humor, kitten, lawnmower, nap time, Paradise, pastor's family life, POTS, Proverbs 31 woman, supersized, toothpaste, weight gain
2 Comments
This Week in “Paradise” Aug. 6
Comfort Food One day last week, Cheryl decided to take Michael to the Popeye’s, to comfort him as she told him that our church’s youth minister was going to be moving to Ohio. Michael is tender-hearted, and she felt that he needed … Continue reading
Psalm 3:3 “Thou O Lord” Part III: “The Lifter of My Head”
     The recent shootings in Aurora, Colorado are reminiscent of a similar tragedy over a year ago in Tuscon, Arizona. Former Philadelphia Phillies baseball manager Dallas Green lost his granddaughter in that Tucson shooting rampage, and afterwards, in a media interview, Green was asked how he … Continue reading
POTS Update August 2012 Recovery and Heat Intolerance
    In the midst of regulating medications and working my way back to the office after my diagnosis of dysautonomia/POTS, I realized that it was probably time for an “official” update. Some of my friends have gotten “bits and pieces” of … Continue reading
This Week in “Paradise” July 30
Pow … Bam … Zap! I omitted a story from last week’s “Paradise” that Cheryl thought was too good to pass over. It comes from my last doctor’s appointment. I have had some random, but pretty sharp pains in my … Continue reading
Left Alone With God
Genesis 32:24 says, “Then Jacob was left alone.” Verse 23 says that he had just sent his wives and children and flocks and everything else that he had, across the Jabbok River into the Promised Land, where he was awaiting … Continue reading
“This Week in Paradise” July 23
This week in the “Paradise” otherwise known as the pastor’s home seemed to revolve around foreign language, and of course our new baby kitten, Eponine! You’ve Got the Wrong Person I have told people before that Cheryl & I have … Continue reading
“Thou O Lord”, Psalm 3:3 Part I: “My Shield”
I first knew something was wrong with me physically in February 2012, when I had to go home sick from prayer meeting. I ended up having to take a medical leave from my duties as pastor, and tried to make … Continue reading
Posted in POTS (dysautonomia) articles, Sermons
Tagged Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Genesis 25:22, God's protection, God's purpose, God's purposes in trials, Henry V, intercession, Job, John Ryland, Lamentations 3:7, Life Together, My Shield, plagues and deaths around me fly, POTS, Psalm 119:67, Psalm 3:3, Romans 8:28, sermon, Shakespeare, the bulletproof George Washington, trials, We're in God's hands brother, Why am I this way?
11 Comments
shawnethomas 