“Then they CRUCIFIED Him…”

Posted on September 6, 2025 by PastorDave

THE STORY OF THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST | Lesson 18

These messages/Bible study lessons are over 20 years old. There are 34 of these lessons in the series. I prepared and delivered them over 2005-2006 during my former pastorate. And, yes, I confess that I capitalized on the popularity and cultural interest in the Mel Gibson film which had just come out–though yet to this day, I haven’t seen the movie. But I have studied the Scriptural texts in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts for over fifty years. This is not only the Story of the Passion of the Christ, but more, it is the Story of God’s covenant love and grace in Christ that has redeemed and saved us! I have since shared them with other groups and audiences who have expressed an interest in sharing them still with others. So, I am posting them here in this format as I first prepared them without making any effort to revise or edit them. Since I wrote them in this Word format for the purpose of printing and creating paper handouts, the text doesn’t copy and paste well into this blog space–hence posting only the pdf. I pray God will use them for His Glory, to make Christ known to others, and to deepen our love and worship for God and His marvelous saving grace!

Passion Of The Christ.#18.Then they crucified Him copyDownload
Posted in Bible Studies, Crucifixion, Passion of the Christ, Story of the Passion of the Christ, The Story of the Passion of the Christ | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

GOLGOTHA: There they CRUCIFIED Him

Posted on August 29, 2025 by PastorDave

THE STORY OF THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST | Lesson 17

These messages/Bible study lessons are over 20 years old. There are 34 of these lessons in the series. I prepared and delivered them over 2005-2006 during my former pastorate. And, yes, I confess that I capitalized on the popularity and cultural interest in the Mel Gibson film which had just come out–though yet to this day, I haven’t seen the movie. But I have studied the Scriptural texts in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts for over fifty years. This is not only the Story of the Passion of the Christ, but more, it is the Story of God’s covenant love and grace in Christ that has redeemed and saved us! I have since shared them with other groups and audiences who have expressed an interest in sharing them still with others. So, I am posting them here in this format as I first prepared them without making any effort to revise or edit them. Since I wrote them in this Word format for the purpose of printing and creating paper handouts, the text doesn’t copy and paste well into this blog space–hence posting only the pdf. I pray God will use them for His Glory, to make Christ known to others, and to deepen our love and worship for God and His marvelous saving grace!

Passion of the Christ.#17.Golgotha-there they crucified HimDownload
Posted in Bible Studies, Passion of the Christ, Story of the Passion of the Christ, The Story of the Passion of the Christ | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“My Dove, my perfect one, is the only one!” ~Song of Solomon 6.9

Posted on August 19, 2025 by PastorDave

“O my Dove … let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely!” ~Song of Solomon 2.14

Thank you so much for reading, appreciating, and commenting on my post contents, especially those expressing my love for my Dove, Debbie [Song of Solomon 2.14; et. al.], and my public celebrations of our mutual love for one another.

What I post and what you read is just a public expression of what we carry on every day…all day long! We live daily in the environment and ambience of love: through all our ups and downs, stresses, tensions, trials, disagreements, setbacks, heartbreaks — “Let all that you do be done in love” [1 Corinthians 16.14]. “In good times, in bad times, I’ll be on your side forever more / Oh, that’s what friends are for…” (Dionne Warwick & Proverbs 17.17). And, we are friends!

1st John 3.18 teaches us that ‘true’ love is expressed “not…in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” And so, we exercise our love daily generously in both words and deeds. We’ll exchange a dozen or more “I love you!”(s) [along with ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’] over the course of every day as we lovingly serve one another. Love itself is our ‘love language.’ We’ve found that it is really the most enjoyable way to live when compared to all the other options [Ephesians 4.31-32]. And, it is the way God has commanded us to live; and the same environment and ambience in which Christ, our Heavenly Bridegroom, conducts His love relationship with us [Isaiah 62.5; Zephaniah 3.16-17; et. al.].

Debbie and I have corresponded with one another this way from the inceptions of our relationship. In the beginning, we were just mutual friends with the same symbiotic interests; then, we became friendlier [with mutual respect, appreciation, and friendly affection for one another] in what we started calling our ‘buddies forever’ mode; until God began to ‘stir up and awaken love’ in our hearts for one another [Song of Solomon 2.7; 3.5; 8.4].

[ASIDE: And for me personally, it awoke in my heart as I preaching through 1 Corinthians 13 in the church I was pastoring—while also following Jonathan Edwards’s Charity and its Fruits. As I was expounding on love from that text, it awoke in me the realization: “Hey, this is what I think and feel toward Debbie!” But, the real ‘clincher’ for me was when I began to sense an intense jealousy that any other guy would get the privilege to love her as I wanted to… I wanted it to be me!]

But, back in those days, we corresponded and courted [as best we could over the 400 miles between us–she was in KY, and I in NC] by writing our sentiments to one another. We didn’t have email, text messages, or any of the other social media platforms. We had old-fashioned USPS letters and long-distance phone calls. And, back in those days, you paid dearly—by the minute—for your long-distance phone calls.

So, we wrote—a lot! Exchanging letters pretty much every day—back and forth. We still have boxes and boxes of the letters we wrote one another. A lot of it was just about our daily lives and activities: what we were doing, what we were thinking. That’s how we began sharing our hearts and lives with one another: our thoughts, values, life’s purposes and goals—and especially our common faith in Christ and desires to serve Him. We discovered, first, that we were ‘kindred spirits.’ And then, as our affections developed and our love began to awaken—we discovered and declared our love for one another—we wrote about our love.

And, I wrote a lot of poems and songs about her, for her, and to her. So, some of what I post is from those days.

Sometimes, I feel just a bit self-conscious posting my own content. I have said all I’ve said before just to say I’m really not trying to ‘show off’ or make myself look like I’m somebody other than who I am. Love is truly our daily language.

But, to further highlight why I post our love content from time to time, let me offer these motives:

  • I want Debbie to know (again) I love her [Song of Solomon 1.15; 2.8-14; 4.1, 7; 8.6-7; et. al.].
  • I want everyone else to know how worthy she is of my love [Song of Solomon 6.4-9; et. al.]
  • And, most of all, I want to model Christ’s love for me—and us—and live as a public expression of His love as a Gospel witness to anyone who looks beyond our public conduct to see the spiritual signs and messages [Romans 4.31—5.1-2; 5.25-33; 1 Peter 3.7]

So, where I’m going with all this: some have asked for ‘other chapters’ of our love story, and I’m always glad to share a few other writings or posts I have dedicated to her. And, there are others—love songs I’ve written and sung to her over the years—that I would like to add, but haven’t yet … like:

  • “You gave me a new song when you came to me…”
  • “We two” which I wrote to celebrate our marriage
  • and “If it’s love that you want, then you’ll never do without…”

Maybe I’ll get to those someday…

But if you are in the least interested, when you come here to my blog, look over in the right-hand column of ‘categories’ and look for ‘Debbie’ or ‘For Debbie’ or ‘Love songs.’ Click on those links, and they should open up the few I have written. [Most of them are repeated in the three categories or tags.]

Or, here are some direct links:

“SOMEONE LIKE NO ONE ELSE CAME ALONG AND MADE MY LIFE INTO SOMETHING THAT WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME!”

“COME SPRING” [A little fun-love-song…in anticipation of our marriage]

“THAT’S WHAT SHE LOOKS LIKE TO ME!”

“YOU’RE THE DAWN OF MY NEW DAY” [Song of Solomon 2.17 & 4.6]

“I LOVE YOU FOR LOVE’S SAKE” [Proposal/engagement celebration]

“WOW! THAT’S MY WIFE!”

“YOUR LOVE IS LIKE (NO, BETTER THAN) FINE WINE!”

“AND SHOW HER HONOR…” [1 Peter 3.7]

“NOT TOO LITTLE” (her self-published book: Story Retold by Deborah Parks / Illustrated by Grace Overbey Henderson)

For the love of God…and Debbie!

~Dave

Posted in Debbie, For Debbie | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the Via Dolorosa (The Way of Sorrow and Pain)

Posted on August 18, 2025 by PastorDave

THE STORY OF THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST | Lesson 16

These messages/Bible study lessons are over 20 years old. There are 34 of these lessons in the series. I prepared and delivered them over 2005-2006 during my former pastorate. And, yes, I confess that I capitalized on the popularity and cultural interest in the Mel Gibson film which had just come out–though yet to this day, I haven’t seen the movie. But I have studied the Scriptural texts in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts for over fifty years. This is not only the Story of the Passion of the Christ, but more, it is the Story of God’s covenant love and grace in Christ that has redeemed and saved us! I have since shared them with other groups and audiences who have expressed an interest in sharing them still with others. So, I am posting them here in this format as I first prepared them without making any effort to revise or edit them. Since I wrote them in this Word format for the purpose of printing and creating paper handouts, the text doesn’t copy and paste well into this blog space–hence posting only the pdf. I pray God will use them for His Glory, to make Christ known to others, and to deepen our love and worship for God and His marvelous saving grace!

Passion of the Christ.#16.On the Via DolorosaDownload
Posted in Bible Studies, Passion of the Christ, Story of the Passion of the Christ, The Story of the Passion of the Christ | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Way God Had Said It Had To Be

Posted on August 15, 2025 by PastorDave

THE STORY OF THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST | Lesson 15

These messages/Bible study lessons are over 20 years old. There are 34 of these lessons in the series. I prepared and delivered them over 2005-2006 during my former pastorate. And, yes, I confess that I capitalized on the popularity and cultural interest in the Mel Gibson film which had just come out–though yet to this day, I haven’t seen the movie. But I have studied the Scriptural texts in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts for over fifty years. This is not only the Story of the Passion of the Christ, but more, it is the Story of God’s covenant love and grace in Christ that has redeemed and saved us! I have since shared them with other groups and audiences who have expressed an interest in sharing them still with others. So, I am posting them here in this format as I first prepared them without making any effort to revise or edit them. Since I wrote them in this Word format for the purpose of printing and creating paper handouts, the text doesn’t copy and paste well into this blog space–hence posting only the pdf. I pray God will use them for His Glory, to make Christ known to others, and to deepen our love and worship for God and His marvelous saving grace!

Passion of the Christ.#15.The way God had said it had to beDownload
Posted in Bible Studies, Passion of the Christ, Story of the Passion of the Christ, The Story of the Passion of the Christ | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Majestic Mercy of God Magnified in Missions–as illustrated in the mission of Jonah

Posted on August 8, 2025 by PastorDave

“That the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy” ~Romans 15.9

I delivered this message from Jonah during the Baptist Faith Missions Summer Conference on 7.28.25. For those who have requested a copy of the notes I followed–here it is. I pray that God will inspire us to magnify His Majestic Mercy for His Glory as much as God glorifies Himself by willing to have mercy on us!

srm.Jonah 3_1-10.Majesty-Mercy of God-MissionsDownload
Posted in Bible Studies, Sermons | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

CRUCIFY HIM! CRUCIFY HIM! (part 2)

Posted on August 8, 2025 by PastorDave

THE STORY OF THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST | Lesson 14

These messages/Bible study lessons are over 20 years old. There are 34 of these lessons in the series. I prepared and delivered them over 2005-2006 during my former pastorate. And, yes, I confess that I capitalized on the popularity and cultural interest in the Mel Gibson film which had just come out–though yet to this day, I haven’t seen the movie. But I have studied the Scriptural texts in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts for over fifty years. This is not only the Story of the Passion of the Christ, but more, it is the Story of God’s covenant love and grace in Christ that has redeemed and saved us! I have since shared them with other groups and audiences who have expressed an interest in sharing them still with others. So, I am posting them here in this format as I first prepared them without making any effort to revise or edit them. Since I wrote them in this Word format for the purpose of printing and creating paper handouts, the text doesn’t copy and paste well into this blog space–hence posting only the pdf. I pray God will use them for His Glory, to make Christ known to others, and to deepen our love and worship for God and His marvelous saving grace!

Passion of the Christ.#14.CRUCIFY HIM-CRUCIFY HIM,part 2Download
Posted in Bible Studies, Passion of the Christ, Story of the Passion of the Christ, The Story of the Passion of the Christ | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

CRUCIFY HIM! CRUCIFY HIM!

Posted on July 7, 2025 by PastorDave

THE STORY OF THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST | Lesson 13

These messages/Bible study lessons are over 20 years old. There are 34 of these lessons in the series. I prepared and delivered them over 2005-2006 during my former pastorate. And, yes, I confess that I capitalized on the popularity and cultural interest in the Mel Gibson film which had just come out–though yet to this day, I haven’t seen the movie. But I have studied the Scriptural texts in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts for over fifty years. This is not only the Story of the Passion of the Christ, but more, it is the Story of God’s covenant love and grace in Christ that has redeemed and saved us! I have since shared them with other groups and audiences who have expressed an interest in sharing them still with others. So, I am posting them here in this format as I first prepared them without making any effort to revise or edit them. Since I wrote them in this Word format for the purpose of printing and creating paper handouts, the text doesn’t copy and paste well into this blog space–hence posting only the pdf. I pray God will use them for His Glory, to make Christ known to others, and to deepen our love and worship for God and His marvelous saving grace!

Passion Of The Christ.#13.CRUCIFY HIM-CRUCIFY HIMDownload
Posted in Bible Studies, Lesson Notes, Passion of the Christ, Story of the Passion of the Christ, The Story of the Passion of the Christ | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

OTD, 1973 [4 July 1973]

Posted on July 4, 2025 by PastorDave

I began my pastoral ministry 52 years ago today.

My first pastorate of Berea Baptist Church, Hiddenite NC, commenced with their call to me in their Midweek service / business meeting. 1n 1973, the Fourth of July fell on a Wednesday—and yes! they gathered for their prayer meeting and business meeting during which they voted to extend the call to me to come and pastor them.

I had preached for them numerous times before; both during the ministry of their former pastor, ‘Preacher’ Harry Sims. and also during the interim after he had resigned. ‘Preacher’ Sims had been a life-long family friend of ours. He was most instrumental in discipling my own Dad shortly after the Lord had saved him and called him to minister the Gospel—and a few short years later, to found and pastor his first church. They enjoyed many hours and days conversing about the Scriptures and studying God’s Word together.

We [Parks and Sims families] were living in Winston Salem NC at that time. But, Preacher Sims was originally from West Virginia. So, he also made the connections and recommendations between Dad and the Little Sewell Baptist Church in Rainelle WV, where Dad was called to pastor in 1956.

When we moved back to Winston Salem in 1966, Preacher Sims and our family resumed our close family and ministry associations. He was pastoring Rosemont Baptist Church at that time. Then, Preacher Sims pastored for a few years at Berea in Hiddenite, about 45-50 miles from Winston Salem—in Alexander County, just a few miles west of Statesville.

Coming back now to 1973: I still had my 5th [senior] year of Bible College [1973-74] to complete when Berea called me to pastor them. So, I continued to live at home, attend Bible College, and drive to Berea every Friday evening to minister there over the weekend and Lord’s Day. Then drive back home for school the next week.

After graduation in May, 1974, I moved what little stuff I had [mostly books] to live in their brand-new, beautiful, brick, ranch style parsonage the church had built while Preacher Sims was there. [Debbie called it my ‘monastery’* and would later domesticate it—and the monk—into a home!**]  I could ‘furnish’ it only sparsely; but I had it all to myself, and I was as happy as the whippoorwills that would sing in the nearby underbrush or the frogs croaking in the close-by bogs.

I spent many glorious hours in that nearly-empty parsonage: reading, praying, studying, walking and hiking in the nearby fields and woods, fishing in the neighboring farmers’ ponds, and visiting among the church members and neighbors a LOT—especially around supper time!

They still refresh and delight my heart’s memories as some of the most enjoyable years [1973-1980] of my 50+ years of pastoring God’s people.

   * in the ‘monastery’ with some of my books … and, yes, Debbie bought and gave me the shirt. I didn’t even know such a style existed 😉

** Debbie also lovingly hand-stitched this for me before we were married … it’s still hanging in my office/study … and I’m still closely examining it to see if there is some concealed cryptic message in it somewhere something to the effect: “but just you wait…” 😉

Posted in I've been thinking, OTD | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Supreme ‘Situation Room’

Posted on June 27, 2025 by PastorDave

The Supreme ‘Situation Room’ for

all the events—small and great—

that transpire on earth

is NOT in any nation’s capital or ‘centcom’ center …

BUT in the Heavenly ‘Throne Room’ of

the Most High God—the LORD of hosts—(1)

and in the ‘Prayer Rooms’ of the saints.(2)

(1) Psalm 2.4-6

He who sits in the heavens laugh; the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

(1) Psalm 115.3 & 135.6

115:3 Our God is in the heavens; He does all that he pleases.

135:6 Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

(1) Daniel 4.17, 25-26, 32, 34-35

4:17 This edict is by the resolution of the watchers, And the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind And gives it to whom He wishes And sets up over it the lowliest of men.

4:25-26 …until you know that the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whomever He wishes … your kingdom will endure for you after you know that it is Heaven that rules with power.

4:32 …until you know that the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whomever He wishes.

4:34-35 “But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes toward heaven, and my knowledge returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can strike against His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’

(2) Daniel 9.3, 20-23 & 10.12-14

9:3 So I gave my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

9:20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 and while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, touched me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22 Then he made me understand and spoke with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 At the beginning of your supplications the word was issued, so I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so understand the message and gain understanding in what has appeared.

10:12 Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you gave your heart to understand this and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing against me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. Now I had been left there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the last days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.”

(2) Revelation 5.8 & 8.3-5

5:8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

Posted in I've been thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment