He waited for me to pause from reviewing my sermon manuscript before the service began. As soon as he saw an opening, he asked, “Do you still get nervous before you preach?” I answered him emphatically with one word: “Absolutely!” He was genuinely shocked by my answer. You would assume those who have preached for a long time or who preach regularly eventually get to a place where they are no longer nervous about preaching. Yet even skilled, prepared, and experienced preachers get nervous at preaching time. If they do not, they should. Maybe the most accurate answer to my...

The late Dr. Gardner C. Taylor (1918-2015) was the beloved pastor of the Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn for 42 years. Along with Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders, Taylor organized the Progressive National Baptist Convention and was its first president. He was the author of many books. Gardner Taylor was even received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Above all, Gardner C. Taylor was a bold, powerful, and eloquent preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is remembered as "the dead of American preachers." One of my favorite Gardner Taylor Messages is entitled, "In His Own Clothes," based on...

Some 15 years ago, I was in a conversation with leaders of the church I served in Los Angeles about music. Someone asked who would I pick if I could hire anyone I wanted to lead music at the church. My answer was simple. Joe Pace, who directed and produced the Colorado Mass Choir. Several years ago, when I began to search for a new music director at the church I currently serve in Jacksonville, Joe Pace joined our ministry team. Pace’s skill, wisdom, maturity, leadership, and experience have been richly enhanced the music department of our congregation. Last year,...

Every year at the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference, we pause to pay tribute to a preacher whose ministry should be remembered. This year, we honored the late Dr. E.V. Hill Sr. E.V. Hill was the longtime pastor of the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Pastor Hill touched a generation with his gospel preaching, community leadership, charitable work, racial reconciliation, and media ministries. He was also the author of A Savior Worth Having and Victory In Jesus. Dr. Hill and my father were good friends. He officiated my dad's funeral. He led the meeting when I was called to serve the...

  The Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference is still underway on the campus of the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, FL. Yesterday Jason Allen, Romell Williams Jr. Albert Mohler Jr. and myself preached the word of God and we enjoyed wonderful breakout sessions throughout the day. I pray that you have been richly blessed and that you leave encouraged and inspired to “Cut It Straight”. We are excited about what God has in store for us for today. Shuttle service from the Omni Hotel and Hyatt Hotel to the church campus will be provided throughout the day. Lunch will be...

The Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference began Yesterday on the campus of the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, FL. We are grateful to have a line-up of great speakers and teachers who will teach, model, and promote expository preaching and teaching. Likewise, the staff and volunteers of Shiloh are ready and excited to serve the guests on our campus this week. Much prayer and planning takes place for this event to make it a special time for all who attend. Cutting it straight kicked off with a bang yesterday, along with myself, K. Edward Copeland, Robert Smith Jr. and Mac Brunson,...

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. – 2 Peter 1:2 Welcome to Jacksonville, Florida. Welcome to the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. Welcome to the 2016 Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference! Thank you for joining us for this year’s conference. We are glad you are here. And we are looking forward to a blessed week proclamation, instruction, fellowship, worship, and encouragement. We have strong biblical preachers and teachers who will equip you to declare God’s word more faithfully and clearly. In general sessions, breakout classes, and worship services, you...

We are now one week away from the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference 2016. It will take place September 20-22 at the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, Florida, where I am privileged to serve. You still have time to join us for Cutting It Straight. If possible, I hope you will attend. And bring members of your ministry team with you. Whether or not you will be able to attend Cutting It Straight this year, I still have a request to make. Please pray for this conference. We have planned and prepared. But, of course, nothing we do will be...

The Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference is just a few weeks away. This conference will meet September 20-22, 2016, at the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, Florida. The primary purpose of Cutting It Straight is to train, model, and promote biblical preaching and teaching. It is a conference for pastors, preachers, and teachers. But we believe that every thing that happens in the life of the church should be a extension of the ministry of the word. For this reason, we have added several tracks to help local church ministry teams to develop and practice a biblical philosophy of ministry. For...

The 2016 Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference if now a month away. And I am grateful for all of our guest speakers, hardworking staff, and faithful volunteers who will serve us during this year's conference. I am especially grateful for our ministry friends  who have supported and sponsored Cutting It Straight this year. We have great speakers. We will give away helpful resources. We are expecting a blessed meeting. It will be possible because of the Lord has given us wonderful partners. Praise the Lord! Pray for Cutting It Straight that will meet September 20-22, 2016 at the Shiloh...

  Our Father in heaven, We praise you that we can call you our Father in heaven, because of the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for every act of love, grace, mercy, kindness and favor you have bestowed upon us. And we thank you for watching over our children and families throughout the summer break. As a new school year begins, we pray your special blessings upon every school campus, administrator, teacher, worker, driver, and student. We pray for the school campuses where our children will attend classes. We ask you would put a...

I am excited about the 2016 Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference. It will take place on the campus of the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville (FL), September 20-22, 2016. Cutting It Straight is primarily a preaching conference. Our goal is to train, model, and promote text-driven teaching and preaching. Robert Smith Jr. teaches preaching at the Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, AL. But Smith is not one of the proverbial professors who teach it because he cannot do it. The author of Doctrine That Dances, Dr. Smith is one of the powerful and passionate preaching voices of our...