Daily Devotional

 Right now I'm working on a sermon about love, and particularly about not hating brothers and sisters in Christ. It's a more difficult message for me to prepare than it should be, for I have been far from perfect in this area. But since I preach verse-by-verse through books, I force myself to deal with subjects as they arise in the text. So here I am! If you have a similar experience and background as I (25 years of work/ministry experience across four states, and many church positions), then you would know that not every transition was on the best of terms (or even my idea!). I'm just beginning to have cordial conversations with a former pastor over social media, but back when I served with him it got tense, and when I moved to another state and ministry position it was a major relief on all sides. I'm hoping the same thing will begin to occur with a more recent situation, but I'm certain it won't. It was even more bitter. I still wonder sometimes if that pasto...

  Sermon from February 23 Morning Worship service "Are You Prepared?" - Matthew 22:1-14 First Baptist Church, Carney, OK Pastor Dan Calkins Here's the link:  February 23, 2025 Sermon Link  

 Mt. 22:5-6 - "But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them." When we view the parable these verses are from (the Parable of the Wedding Feast), we should be thankful about the servants being sent out to the main roads, inviting the common man to the wedding. They gathered both good and bad people; position, wealth, nor background mattered. Without this kind of generosity and mercy, we would never have a chance to enter the kingdom of God. We can see some commonalities between the many generally and finally invited, but another group worth finding yourself in is the group of the servants. The servants simply do what the king commanded, without personal opinion or preference. They simply went out wherever they could find anyone to bring to the feast and clothing them with the proper attire. But before they did that they went to the city of the initial invitees. Th...

  Sermon from February 16 Morning Worship service "Know that You Know" - 1 John 2:3-6 First Baptist Church, Carney, OK Pastor Dan Calkins Here's the link:  February 16, 2025 Sermon Link  

  Sermon from February 9 Morning Worship service "How Is Forgiveness Possible?" - 1 John 2:1-2 First Baptist Church, Carney, OK Pastor Dan Calkins Here's the link:  February 9, 2025 Sermon Link  

  hat a privilege I had to attend a wonderful one day conference centered on expository preaching, the Priority of Preaching conference sponsored by Oklahoma Baptists. And at a location within an hour from my house! It seemed like over 500 men were there learning, getting a checkup, maybe critiquing the presenters, maybe all of the above? Anyway, I didn't quite know what to expect, but I was flabbergasted to see that many in attendance! And all ages of grown men, it brings hope! I'll be spending today going through my notes of the event and applying them to my weekly preparation. I hemmed and hawed about going, thinking it wouldn't be much of a help. I already preach expositionally, there are other areas in ministry where (I think) I could use more help, and it's, seemingly, the area hardly anyone in the congregation cares about.  Then generally, it's sort of strange a conference like this even happens. Preaching is often seen as a expectation of the old-timers and ...

In my years in ministry, I've seen my share of ugly in the area of staff members dismissed (fired, forced to resign, etc.) by senior pastors, elders, personnel committees, or (unfortunately) deacons. The commonality in all the cases I've witnessed: the dismissals were forced by the senior pastor. I'm not talking about termination for cause (because of a crime or sex related or another egregious act). I'm talking about relational or some disagreements or theological differences within the realm of orthodoxy. Sometimes these ministers are dismissed for good reason, but sometimes the reasons are petty (and usually the petty ones are silenced from the congregation and public). Sometimes these dismissals are amicable, and sometimes they are heavily contested. The commonality among the contested ones regardless of the reasons: the motives of the contestants are always considered evil and divisive, and the others (the ones generally complaining about the evil and divisive cont...

  Sermon from February 2 Morning Worship service "How Do You Know You're Forgiven?" - 1 John 1:7, 9, & 2:2 First Baptist Church, Carney, OK Pastor Dan Calkins Here's the link:  February 2, 2025 Sermon Link