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 Joshua 1:1-11, 16-18, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson: "Strong & Courageous" for 6/07/26
- Teacher's Overview of Numbers 14:11-24, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, "Rebellion & Judgment" for 9/28/25
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 27:27-31, 45-54, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Our Savior," for 5/31/26
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "The Lord Our Provider" (Philippians 4:15-23 sermon)
- "Inviting Jesus Into Your Home" (Luke 10:38-42 sermon)
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "The Disciple's Character: Meekness" (Matthew 5:5 sermon)
- "The World, The Flesh, and the Devil" (James 3:15 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: salvation
“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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“When Yahweh Is Your God” (Genesis 28:10-22 sermon)
A few years ago a pastor I know from Oklahoma was in New York City riding in a cab. He saw a little statue on the driver’s dashboard, and he asked the man, who was from India, about it. The … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Sermons
Tagged Anthony Flew atheist, Anthony Flew testimony, Christian commitment, church buildings, commitment, commitment to Christ, commitment to worship, corporate worship, daily Bible reading, discipleship, E.W. Starling Woodrow Wilson, Genesis 28 sermon, giving, Hebrews 10:25, I AM, idolatry, idols, John Dean Warren G. Harding, LORD is Yahweh, personal worship, Prince Charles II of England, salvation, tithe, tithe and the Law, tithe as a mark of Lordship, tithe Genesis 28, tithing, worship, Yahweh
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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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The Lord’s Supper: The Sacrifice Remembered (Matthew 26:26-29 sermon)
One of the newer monuments in Washington D.C. is one commemorating our soldiers who fought and won the Second World War. Among other elements, the memorial contains panels with bronze engravings of scenes from the war: soldiers loading artillery pieces, … Continue reading
Posted in Matthew sermons, Sermons
Tagged Acts 3:19, Christian children rebel, communion, food choice, forgiveness, God compassion, God judge, hoi polloi, I John 2:2, I Timothy 2:6, Isaiah 53:12, James Dobson, judge paid for crime, Lord's Supper symbol, many, Matthew 26:26-29 sermon, personal response, polloi, Romans 10:13, salvation, World War II monument
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“The Lord Our Provider” (Philippians 4:15-23 sermon)
I’ll never forget the time, just after Cheryl & I had graduated from seminary; I only had a part-time job, and we didn’t have any prospects of finding a full-time church yet; we had just had our first child, and … Continue reading
Posted in Philippians sermons, Sermons
Tagged Angleton Christian School, building fund, Christian School provision, church building provision, condition of Philippians 4:19, First Baptist Church Angleton Texas, Genesis 22, George Muller orphanage proviision, givers, giving, God our provider, God's providence, good stewards, Hudson Taylor, Hudson Taylor testimony, in Christ Jesus, investing in eternity, investing in the Kingdom, Jehovah Jireh, kingdom giving, Kingdom investing, Lottie Moon offering, missions, missions giving, needs vs. wants, pastor Shawn Thomas, Philippians 4 sermon, Philippians 4:19 sermon, provision, relationship with God, retirement savings, salvation, Shawn Thomas, stewardship, supply, tithe, tithe ten percent, tithing
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“Enemies of the Cross” (Philippians 3:18 sermon)
A few weeks ago, this July, a large cross that stood at the top of Mt. Tzouhalem (zoo-HAY-lem), a popular lookout spot on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada, was cut down overnight, and removed from the area. No one … Continue reading
Posted in Philippians sermons, Sermons
Tagged American religion, baptism and salvation, Buddhism, Christian Smith and Melinda Denton, cross at Tzouhalem, cross of Christ, deeds deny him, Enemies of the Cross, evangelism, examine yourself, faith alone, Galatians, Hudson Taylor, I Corinthians 1 baptism, II Corinthians 13:5, Islam, It is finished, judaizers, Just and the Justifier, justification, justification by faith alone, lifestyle witness, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, Muslims, Muslims and Jesus, My Father Bertrand Russell by Katharine Tait, not living for the cross, paid in full, Philippians 3:18, Philippians 3:18 sermon, Romans 3:26, salvation, salvation by the cross, test yourself, tetelestai, the cross, The Missing Ingredient, Titus 1:16, witness
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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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“A Christian Example” (Philippians 3:17 sermon)
“The morning of August 14, 1821, 200 West Point cadets … who were touring New England, marched out from Boston to parade past the house of John Adams, who had been President of the United States 20 years before. Flags … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Philippians sermons, Sermons
Tagged being an example, discipleship, example, following examples, following Jesus' example, George Washington example to his men, John Adams and George Washington example, John Donne no man is an Island, learning from each other, mentor, parents example, Philippians 3:17 sermon, salvation, salvation by faith, spiritual gifts, Sunday school teachers example, what if everyone in church did what I did, what kind of example are you?, What Would Jesus Do?, what you do affects others
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“4 Things That Won’t Save You (and 1 That Will!)” (Philippians 3:4-11 sermon)
In ancient times, they believed that when you were sick, they needed to get the “bad blood” out of you, so they would employ certain treatments they thought would accomplish that. One (which is so gross to many of us … Continue reading
Posted in Philippians sermons, Sermons
Tagged 4 things that won't save you, Allah weigh good deeds and bad, baptism, Baptist rituals, bleeding as medicine, blood of Jesus, circumcision, deeds, do your best, heritage, intentions, Islam 5 pillars, Islam scales, J. Edwin Orr testimony, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ alone saves, Jewish heritage, John 14:6, justification, leeches as treatment, Lord's Supper, lost ark, Luke 18 Pharisee and tax collector, Nabeel Qureshi testimony, Only Jesus saves, Oscar Wilde, Oscar Wilde deathbed conversion?, Philippians 3:4-11 sermon, Philippians sermon, repentance and faith, rituals, Romans 10:2, Romans 3:20, salvation, salvation intercessory prayers, Seeking Allah Finding Jesus, self-justification, sincerely wrong, sincerity, witness, works, works salvation, works won't save, zeal, zeal not in accordance with knowledge
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“Reckoned As Righteous” (Genesis 15:6 sermon)
In the winter of 1738 Charles Wesley was serving as a missionary in America, but he wrote in his journal, he was seeking to convert the Indians, but who would convert HIM? He was earnestly seeking to be right with … Continue reading →