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 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)
- "Your Response to Christmas" (Matthew 2:1-12 Sermon)
- "A 'Real Life' Christmas" (Luke 2:1-11 sermon)
- "Blessed Is She Who Believed" (Luke 1:45 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 4:12-25, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson "Invitation," for 12/14/25
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 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: scripture memory
“No Worthless Thing” (Psalm 101:3 sermon)
On this Father’s Day, we can remember one of the great “Father/Son” teams in American history, John Adams, and his son, John Quincy Adams, both of whom served as President of the United States. When he was only ten years … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged Abigail Adams, belial, Bible sword, billboards, books, Cary Grant Phillis Brooks, commercials, commitment to holiness, Daspe survey pornography, David and Bathsheba, Eve saw, family, Fathers Day, forgiveness, God, grace, grace of God, heaven, holiness, horses peripheral vision, I John 2:16, internet, internet pornography, internet search, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, lead us not into temptation, Love Later Brand Hatch Hajela, lust of the eyes, marriage, Matthew 4 temptation, model prayer, moral thread in books, No Worthless Thing, Philippians 4:8, pornography, pornography addiction, Psalm 101, Psalm 101:3, pursuit of holiness, reading, relationship with God, salvation, sanctification, Satan, scripture memory, sons of belial, surfing the internet, television, temptation, the lamp of the body is the eye, trap, tv watching, warning, word of God
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Do You Appreciate God’s Word?
Psalm 119 is an acrositc. It is composed of 22 sections of 8 verses each, the verses of each section beginning with one letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So :1-8 all began with the Hebrew letter Aleph; verses 9-16 in … Continue reading
The Search For Delight (Psalm 37:4 sermon)
“Hedonism” is the belief that pleasure is the most important thing in the world, and that you should live your life, for pleasure. Most Christians would say that hedonism is wrong — but a few years ago pastor John Piper … Continue reading
Posted in Sermon Illustrations, Sermons
Tagged Alexander Von Humboldt, Amazon jungle, Bible Reading, Brave Companions David McCullough, C.S. Lewis, Christian hedonism, commitment, daily quiet time, delight, delight yourself, Delight yourself in the Lord, desires, devotion time, devotions, Divine Country, Ecclesiastes, effort, family, football, fulfillment, garden of Eden, heaven, hedonism, Hop on Pop, Job, John Piper, joy, Made To Crave, marriage, occupation, personal worship, pleasure, prayer, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 17:17, Psalm 37:4, Psalm 42, Psalm 4:7, quiet time, reading, river of delights, scripture memory, sin, Song This Blood, soul mate, vocation, worship
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“Your Spiritual Fitbit” — The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12 sermon)
Well, our family is officially a part of the “Fitbit” craze. Many of you know what I am talking about. Cheryl got me this Fitbit watch for Christmas, and it keeps track of how many steps you take every day … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Matthew sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged Alvin Reid, BBC movie, Beatitudes, character, character of Christ, discipleship, evaluation, Fitbit, goal, hunger for righteousness, I Corinthians 5:2, I John 3:2, Matthew 5:3-12, meekness, merciful, mercy, mourning, peacemaker, persecuted, persecution, poverty in spirit, prayer, Psalm 37, Psalm 37:11, Psalm 63, pure in heart, Romans 8:29, scripture memory, Sharing Jesus Without Freaking Out, sin
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“The Scriptures: Life & Light” (Matthew 4:12-17 sermon)
My wife Cheryl & I will have been married for 35 years on May 28th. (She has already informed me that we are not going to be here that Sunday — so I am informing you! 🙂 As you can … Continue reading
Posted in Matthew sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged Bible, Bible literacy, Bible Reading, conversion, daily Bible reading, Dikkon Eberhart, discipleship, eternal life, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Matthew 4:12-17 sermon, Netflix, obedience, salvation, scripture, scripture application, scripture memory, The Time Mom Met Hitler book, word of God
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“Winning vs. Temptation: Jesus’ Example in Spiritual Warfare” (Matthew 4:1-11 sermon)
This last Saturday (March 18, 2017) an intruder kicked open the door of a house in Redding, California — but he picked the wrong home to invade. A California Highway Patrol Officer lived at that house, and he shot the … Continue reading
Posted in Matthew sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged baby dedication, baseball, battle of the mind, Bible, Ephesians 6:10, Ephesians 6:17, family, God's word, goodness of God, home invasion, I Timothy 4:8, II Corinthians 10:5, Jesus example, Matthew 4:1-11, Matthew 4:1-11 sermon, protection, Proverbs 24:10, Psalm 119:68, scripture, scripture memory, self-defense, spiritual warfare, sports, sword of the Spirit, taking every thought captive, temptation, trials
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“The Discipline of Scripture Memory” (Matt. 4:1-11 sermon)
(Preached at PRBC 5-31-15) In the summer of 1980 I went on a mission trip with my home church, the First Baptist Church of Harrah, to Switzerland and Germany. During the trip we also took a one-day visit to Paris, … Continue reading
“The Discipline of Scripture Memory” (Matthew 4:11 sermon)
(Preached at First Baptist, Pauls Valley, OK 9-21-14) When I was in college I went on a mission trip to Switzerland and Germany. During the trip we also made a one-day visit to Paris, but in many ways I was … Continue reading
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