Sermons on the Side

What happens when you turn on a lamp and the entire house loses power? Well, if you're Richard, you might start wondering if you're the one responsible!  In this week's episode of Sermons on the Side , Richard shares a hilarious story from earlier this week when a perfectly timed power outage got him thinking about the relationship between darkness and light. What starts as a funny...

What if the voice of God sounds like someone crying out for help?  Long before Hacksaw Ridge brought the story of Desmond Doss to the big screen, Richard had become fascinated by the unlikely World War II hero. Years ago, while visiting family in Lynchburg, Virginia, he regularly drove along the Desmond T. Doss Memorial Expressway. Curiosity led him to learn Doss’s remarkable story - years before...

When you experience a win in life, where do you run first?  This week on Sermons on the Side , Richard kicks things off with a birthday surprise for Brad, featuring special messages from friends and family and a sweet recording of his wife and kids singing Happy Birthday!  Then, Brad shares a moment he'll never forget: watching his daughter Bekah score her very first soccer goal. In the pouri...

“Big Truss! Woo woo!”  In 2019, Baltimore Ravens running back Mark Ingram went viral when he enthusiastically introduced Lamar Jackson to the media as the “MVP frontrunner” and declared one unforgettable phrase: Big Truss. It was funny. It was over the top. But underneath all the energy was something powerful: Ingram had complete confidence in his quarterback.  In this episode of Sermons on the Si...

What does surviving as a prisoner of war have to teach us about faith, hope, and confronting the hard realities of our own lives?  In Episode 84 of Sermons on the Side , Richard takes us on a brief history lesson through the incredible story of Admiral James Stockdale, who spent more than seven years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. His experience eventually inspired what became known...

College football is back - and these days, you can’t talk about college sports for long without talking about NIL.  Name. Image. Likeness.  For student-athletes, those three words have completely changed the game, allowing players to leverage who they are and the value attached to their identity.  But a recent conversation with Richard’s friend Steve got us thinking: What if Christians have an NIL...

What happens when we get comfortable with the hazards in our lives?  In this episode of Sermons on the Side , Richard shares another lesson from a job site. During a safety meeting, a safety director described how an employee had suffered a minor injury because he had simply become too comfortable with a hazard that had been around for a while. The warning was simple: just because a hazard has bee...

What do the Golden Gate Bridge, a very specific shade of orange, and your walk with the Lord have in common?  In Episode 81, Richard gives Brad a quick history lesson on one of America’s most iconic landmarks - including some fascinating facts about its famous “International Orange” color and the never-ending work required to maintain the Golden Gate Bridge.  But somewhere along the way, a fun con...

10,000 downloads. 80 episodes. And a whole lot of sermons on the side.  This week, we’re taking a moment to celebrate a milestone we honestly couldn’t have imagined when we first sat down behind a couple of microphones and decided to give this thing a shot.  Zechariah 4:10 reminds us, “Do not despise these small beginnings.” Looking back, we’re incredibly grateful for ours - and for every person w...

Have you ever looked around and felt like everyone else was winning while you were the only one hurting?  In this week's episode of Sermons on the Side , Brad shares a tender moment with his daughter, Bekah, after what was supposed to be a fun-filled birthday party ended almost as soon as it began. One unexpected accident left her sitting on the sidelines, watching everyone else enjoy the cel...

Weeds have a way of showing up when you least expect them. Left alone, they spread quickly, steal nutrients from healthy plants, and before long, they begin to take over. This week, Richard shares the story of spending several long, hot South Georgia summer days tackling an overgrown bed of azaleas that had become completely entangled with vines and weeds. It was exhausting work, but it revealed a...

Have you ever bought a new car, only to suddenly notice that same make, model, and color everywhere you look?  This week on Sermons on the Side , Brad and Richard unpack the fascinating psychological phenomenon known as the Frequency Illusion . Richard shares the story of purchasing his Kia Sorento in what he thought was a one-of-a-kind metallic bronze color - only to spend the next week convinced...

Sometimes the most profound theology comes from the lips of a child.  While celebrating the Fourth of July in Panama City Beach, Richard was carrying his grandson, Bennett, into the surf when Bennett looked up and said something that stopped him in his tracks: "Papi... you're like God." Surprised, Richard asked him why.  His answer was as simple as it was profound: "Because you...

Episode 75 is a special one - not only because it marks another milestone in the Sermons on the Side journey, but because it features an incredibly encouraging conversation with Mike Gunter.  Mike, his wife Amber, and their three children call the Columbus, Georgia area home. He is the owner of Energy Savers in Columbus, GA, and has faithfully attended and served as a Sunday School teacher at Nort...

A quiet afternoon on a park bench overlooking the Hudson River became an unforgettable lesson about the power of our choices.  In this episode, Richard takes us back to his days in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he watched one of the largest barges he'd ever seen make its way down the Hudson River. Within minutes, it had disappeared around the bend and out of sight. But the story wasn't o...

The gospel is a story of transformation.  Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly reminds His people of who they once were compared to who they have now become because of His grace. Once dead... but now alive. Once slaves... but now free. Once far away... but now brought near. Once in darkness... but now in the Light in the Lord.  In this episode of Sermons on the Side , Richard and Brad explore one...

Sometimes God leads us down roads we've never traveled before. Other times, He takes us back down roads we know by heart.  In this episode, Richard reflects on a recent trip to Lynchburg, Virginia - a journey that unexpectedly began with a detour through Birmingham, Alabama. While the route from Columbus to Lynchburg has become familiar over the last thirteen years, the road from Birmingham t...

In Part Two of our conversation with Tray and Shelley Lovvorn, the spotlight turns to Shelley's remarkable story of faith, perseverance, and learning to steward life's deepest wounds.  As a wife, mother of six, health coach, and follower of Christ, Shelley shares candidly about grief, loss, relationships, family, and the challenges that inevitably shape every life. Rather than allowing p...

This week on Sermons on the Side , we begin a powerful two-part conversation with Tray and Shelley Lovvorn. For Richard, this interview is especially meaningful. Tray has been a mentor, friend, and influential voice in his recovery journey for nearly two decades. As the founder of a recovery ministry in Birmingham that helped shape Richard's early steps toward healing - and the same ministry...

What started as a simple conversation about “echoes” with the 'Divine Miss B' years ago would later become something far more personal and powerful. In Episode 69, Echo of My Days , Richard reflects on a day that once felt impossible - sitting in the same church, on the same row, surrounded by family, honoring his sister at Liberty Church. This same church that served as a beacon of hope...

This week on Sermons on the Side , we sit down with Jacob P. Kelly - a career military serviceman stationed at Ft Benning, a man of deep faith, and the author of The Spurs of Service . In this powerful and honest conversation, Jake shares his journey through military service, fatherhood, faith, and the inspiration behind his collection of poetry and writings that explore the raw emotions many men...

What happens when life goes dark, direction feels lost, and the path forward seems impossible to navigate?  In this episode of Sermons on the Side, Richard shares how a recent viewing of Apollo 13 sparked a powerful spiritual realization that neither of us could shake. As the crew of Apollo 13 fought to survive after catastrophic damage in space, there was one unforgettable moment during their jou...

What happens when the story doesn’t get easier - but God is still just as present?  In Part 2 of this powerful conversation, Elliott and Emily Yancey share the rest of their adoption journey with Jojo - walking through the tension, the unknowns, and the moments that tested everything they thought they could handle. But through it all, one truth remained: their calling wasn’t to control the outcome...

What does it look like to follow God… when you don’t know how the story ends?  In this powerful first part of a two-part conversation, we sit down with one of Richard’s dearest friends, Elliott, and his wife, Emily, as they share their journey into the world of fostering and adoption - a path filled with uncertainty, surrender, and deep trust in God.  This isn’t just a conversation about outcomes....

What if the way you describe your life… isn’t actually yours to define?  This week on Sermons on the Side , Richard shares a simple but profound moment with a friend named Jamal. When asked how his day was going, Jamal responded, “It’s not for me to call.”   That phrase sparks a deeper conversation about who truly has the authority to name our circumstances - and ultimately, our identity.  We jour...