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
- "The Message of the Cross" (I Cor. 1:18-24 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 28:1-10, 16-20, "Our Task," Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson for 4/05/26
- "Lessons From Gethsemane" (Matthew 26 sermon)
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "Suffering Servant/Glorious King: The Cost and Benefits of His Atonement" (Isaiah 53:5 sermon)
- "Christ's Suffering/Our Salvation" (I Peter 3:18 sermon)
- "The Greatest Verse in the Bible?" (John 3:16 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 18:21-35, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, "Forgiveness," for 3/29/26
- "A Living Hope" (I Peter 1:3 sermon)
- "The Lord Our Provider" (Philippians 4:15-23 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
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- Sermons
- The Model Prayer Series
- The Model Prayer series (FBCA 2020)
- This Week In Paradise (pastors family blog)
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- Uncategorized
- worship
Tag Archives: prayer
Seeking God’s Path
Psalm 25:4 shows us several important things about seeking God’s will for our lives: “Make me know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.” — First, it teaches us that our prayers are not to be that God would … Continue reading
“Prayer & The Church We Want To Be” (Acts 1 & 2 sermon)
(Preached at First Baptist, Pauls Valley, OK 2-01-15 a.m.) The pastor at our home church, Trinity Baptist in Norman, Bro. Ronnie Rogers, has just published a new book; one which I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged 10 Questions For Leaders To Ask Each Week, Acts 1 sermon, Acts 2 sermon, Bible, Chuck Lawless, church, contemporary, devoted, ecclesiology, fellowship, one mind, prayer, proskarterountes, Ronnie Rogers, scripture, The Equipping Church, The Equipping Church by Ronnie Rogers, traditional, unity, word of God
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Are You Wearing A Path To God?
While I was running on the grass beside the road the other day, I noticed that a path had been worn down where many of us have walked and run. It would bring to life one of the most important … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Hebrew darash, prayer, Psalm 22:26, quiet time, seeking, seeking God
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Praying For Your Family
The first chapter of Job describes the central character of this book as a man who was not only “blameless” and “upright” before God (:1) but as one who loved his family, and ministered to them spiritually. Verse 5 says: … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Home & Family Life
Tagged family, I Samuel 12:23, intercession, Job 1:5, prayer
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“The Discipline of Evangelism” (Colossians 4:2-6 sermon)
(Preached at First Baptist, Pauls Valley OK, 10-12-14) Many of us have looked on with shock and horror at the ISIS takeover of good portions of two countries in the Middle East, with the beheadings and other atrocities they have … Continue reading
Nehemiah’s Model Prayer
Not only was Nehemiah an example of one who prayed spontaneous prayers (2:4) but he knew how to pray an effective longer prayer as well. In fact, in Nehemiah 1:5-11, we see that Nehemiah’s prayer has some similarities in its … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Matthew 6:9-13, model prayer, Nehemiah 1:5-11, prayer
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Praying for God’s Will, Not Ours
There is a lot written and taught these days about how we can get “what we want” from God — but that is not the focus of many of the best prayers we find in the Bible. Nehemiah’s intercessory prayer … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Matthew 6:9-13, model prayer, Nehemiah 1:10, prayer
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Nehemiah’s Example of Spontaneous Prayer
There are times and places to pray a big, long prayer. Right after the king asks you an important question is NOT it! In Nehemiah Chapter 2, Nehemiah was distressed about Jerusalem when the king asked him why he was … Continue reading
“The Discipline of Spontaneous Prayer” (Nehemiah 2:4 sermon)
(Preached at First Baptist Pauls Valley, OK, 9-14-14 a.m.) Some of us were eating out a few years ago, and one of our friends was asking the blessing for our food, and he prayed a fairly long prayer. When he … Continue reading
“The Discipline of Ordered Prayer” (Matthew 6:9-13 Sermon)
(Preached at First Baptist, Pauls Valley, 9-07-14) When our son Paul was a preschooler, we went to my mom’s house for a get-together, and we all had a good time. We ate cake, and swam and played outside, and at … Continue reading
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