I was introduced to the young man after a worship service. He had recently moved to the city for work and was looking for a church home. I prayed for him. I also asked him to call my office to set up a time for us to talk. But I was not looking forward to the conversation. I dread “I’m looking for a church home” meetings. Meeting with members is a joy. I wish I could do it more often. I am not pastoral counseling expert. But I view pastoral counseling as the private ministry of the word, corresponding to what...

You can sign up in the margin to the right of this page to receive a free weekly sermon manuscript and other resources.  Shout-out to the Beulah Baptist Association for the opportunity to speak during their annual session this week. It was my joy to be be interviewed for The Jude 3 Project podcast: "Apologetics in Pastoral Ministry."  Check out my article on pastoral ministry: Don't Try To Put Out Every Brush Fire!  Take a listen to the latest episode of The On Preaching Podcast: 7 Reasons Why I Write Sermon Manuscripts. I solicit your prayers for the 2015 Expositors Summit...

My secretary stopped me in the hallway. She was obviously upset. I asked what was wrong. She began to weep. This was one of the most godly women I knew. And I couldn’t handle it when she cried. She often wept for others, rarely for herself. I pressed her to talk, only to discover she was weeping for me. The rumor about me she shared was really bad, heartbreaking, and absolutely not true. Another church employee supposedly witnessed to my wrongdoings. He knew me since I was a boy! I couldn’t understand why he would make up such a story. But...

Ray Pritchard said... I know a whole handful of miserable, grumpy Christians, and I think I know what is wrong with most of them. They have decided that they're going to keep the body of Christ at arms length and they're not really going to get involved. They are not going to join the church. They are not going to really get involved and they are going to sit on the fence and watch as things go by. They're going to stick their toe in and pull it out and stick their toe in and pull it out and that's...

You can sign up for our my weekly sermon manuscript and newsletter list in the right column of this site.  It was a joy to to speak at the Pine Bluff Family Bible Conference this week. Shout-out to my friends, Pastor Derrick Easter and Pastor Terry Brown, for the gracious invitation. Shout-out to the Transforming Churches Conference for the opportunity to speak this annaul conference in Southern California Check out the articles I wrote this week: On Preaching: Preaching the TONE of the Text On Pastoral Ministry: Seeing Beyond the Rubble of Ministry Take a listen to the latest episode...

We had three fulltime pastors on staff besides me. For this midsize church I served, this was a big deal. Ministry should have been a joy. It was, instead, a time of great discouragement. The pastoral team was a blessing. But I did not know how to lead the team. At a result, the obvious blessing felt like an unexplainable curse. I was preaching through the book of Nehemiah. We had reached chapter 4. As I meditated on the chapter, my discouragement was confronted head-on. I tried to ignore it. I preached the text and prepared to move on to...

Biblical preaching seeks to explain the meaning of a passage of scripture and exhort the hearer to respond to the truth. Faithful preaching is truth-driven. The goal of the preacher’s exegetical study should be to find to truth of the text. The passage may mention anxiety, prayer, thanksgiving, peace, and even refer to the Lord Jesus Christ in the same text. But that passage is not about all of those different things. Only one truth is the dominating theme of the text. The others truths support the main idea of the text. Having discovered the message of the text, the...

A big shout-out to my son - H.B. Charles III - who turned 16-years-old this week! Happy Birthday, Doc! I love you! It was a joy to preach for Pastor Terry Anderson at the Lilly Grove Baptist Church in Houston this week. What a church! During the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference, we showed a video about The Preachers Who Have Influenced Me.  Check out the latest episode of The On Preaching Podcast: Preaching without Notes Click here to see my interview with Ed Stetzer on #TheExchange.  You still have time to register for the 2015 Expositors Summit on the...

The date was October 8, 1999. I was preaching in Atlanta. I finished the sermon and took my seat. Moments later, Charles – a fellow-pastor of my Los Angeles congregation - whispered in my ear that my wife, Crystal, had been rushed to the hospital. Then he walked away. Crystal was pregnant with our first child, a boy. But she was almost two months away from her due date. The doctor had put her bed rest that week. She was fine just two hours earlier when I talked to her before I went to church. I just sat there frozen,...

No one comes from nowhere. We are all the product of those who have forged their faith in us. This is my testimony. My pulpit and pastoral ministry has been nurtured over the years by good and godly influences. Some I have known personally and intimately. Others I have only known vicariously. But I thank God for those all those who have shaped my biblical conviction, philosophy of ministry, and commitment to Bible exposition. The following video about my pulpit influences was prepared for our 2015 Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching conference. Of course, this list is not exhaustive. In...

YOU CAN SIGN UP FOR MY EMAIL LIST IN THE RIGHT COLUMN OF THIS PAGE TO RECEIVE A FREE WEEKLY SERMON MANUSCRIPT. It was a joy to speak about exposition preaching at the REACH Conference for the Georgia Baptist Convention this week! Thanks again for your prayerful support of the 2015 Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference! The Lord's richly blessed the meeting. Session recordings will be available soon. Mark your calendar for CIS 2016 - September 20-22, 2016. I hope to see you at the 2015 Expositors Summit at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Featured Speakers: R. Albert Mohler...

It was our joyful privilege to give tribute to the late Dr. E.K. Bailey during the 2015 Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference. Dr. Bailey was the founding pastor of the Concord Church in Dallas, Texas. He was a faithful expository preacher, who traveled the country proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. To invest in other Bible preachers and teachers, Dr. Bailey also established the E.K. Bailey International Conference on Expository Preaching. In the providence of God, E.K. Bailey was the man who was used to seal the deal for me that expository preaching is the most faithful way to...