Easter Sunday 2014, before I gave the benediction at the end of the worship service at the Shiloh Church, I took a few minutes to point out that I was preaching for a new pulpit desk. Many in the congregation did not notice anything different. But to say I was excited  is an understatement. More than that, I was moved by the gravity of the implications. Simply trying to make note of the new desk before we dismissed, I started rambling on about the ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers. Our Media Team captured the moment and thought...

I am pleased to announce the publication of my new book, The Difference Jesus Makes: Trusting Him in Every Situation (Moody Publishers). I am excited about this book for several reasons. First of all, this book simply retells and explains Bible stories. I believe we need more good books on Christian doctrine. But the Bible most often teaches truth through stories, not systems. Our generation suffers from biblical illiteracy. And I believe a reintroduction to the stories of the Bible is a big step toward revival. Furthermore, the stories in The Difference Jesus Makes are about the Lord Jesus Christ....

Happy Labor Day! Thanks for reading my blog! Saturday Shout-Outs is my weekly bulletin board. You can sign up for my free weekly sermon manuscript list in the column. Thanks to Pastor Herb Anderson - a son of the Shiloh Church - and the Emmanuel Baptist Church the invitation to join in your 122nd Church Anniversary! It was a joy for our congregations to worship and fellowship together! Shout-Out to my friend, Pastor Adron Robinson, for the opportunity to minister the word to the Hillcrest Baptist Church this week! Congratulations to David Platt on his election to lead the International Missionary...

Thanks. R. Albert Mohler: Lead with Emphaty, Love Your Neighbors, Let the Truth Come Out - A Response to Ferguson Thom Rainer: When It's Not Time To Quit D.A. Carson: What Are Gospel Issues?  Mike Riccardi: Which Gospel Tracts Do You Use?   R.C. Sproul: There Will Be No Sea In the New Heaven and New Earth Tim Challies: My Favorite Blogs By (and for) Women 

The following is a guest post by Cameron Triggs, Pastor of Youth and Young Adults at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, FL. He blogs at camtriggs.com.   It happened again. No support. No budget. No promotion. No encouragement. No help. No volunteers. Few students. Exhausted Youth Pastor. Many churches struggle in this area. Most congregations still focus on their natural tendency to be adult-centered at the expense of excluding children & teens. In some sense, they are treated as a Junior Varsity team that few support. As youth workers, our job is to change that. We have to encourage the whole church...

Thanks for reading my blog this week! Enjoy my Saturday Shout-Outs. You can sign-up for my free weekly sermon manuscript list in the column to the right. Shout-out to Pastor Josh Buice for the opportunity to speak at Pray's Mill Baptist Church in Douglasville, GA, this week. A big shout-out to Tim Challies for sharing my posts: "So How Did It Go Sunday?" & "Balancing Authority and Wisdom as a Guest Preacher"  You still have time to make plans to attend the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference. It will be held September 24-26, 2014, in Jacksonville, Florida. This three-day event...

In my book, On Preaching, I recommended several best practices for guest preachers. I can summarize that chapter in one sentence: As a guest preacher, don’t make a mess for the pastor to clean up when you leave. I recently got a question about that chapter: I advocate clear, bold, and faithful preaching of the word of God. Yet I recommend guest preachers be careful should not say or address anything controversial in the sermon. Is this a contradiction? This is a good and fair question. But the answer is obvious for guest preachers who are local pastors: Do unto others...

So how did it go this Sunday? This question is asked many times each week. Some pastor talks to another pastor. And whatever the agenda of the discussion, it is likely one will ask the other about the previous Lord’s Day service. Did you have a good day? What did you preach? How did it go? The answer typically includes comments about Sunday’s attendance, offering, and steps of faith taken. Then we describe how we think the sermon went. We may feel we were not quite ready. We may feel the sermon could have been shorter. We may feel the...

Thanks for visiting my blog site. Saturday Shout-Outs is my weekly bulletin board. Enjoy! A big shout-out to Dr. Terry L. Johnson and the Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah for the opportunity to preach their annual Communion Season. What a church! Pastors, do yourself a favor and get of copy of The Parables of Jesus by Terry Johnson. Thanks to the men of the Shiloh Church who joined us this weekend as week kicked off our study of 33 The Series Part 4. Check out this week's episode of The On Preaching Podcast: #008: Staying Fresh in the Pulpit  I...

Thanks for reading my blog. Here are my Saturday Shout Outs. NOTE: You can subscribe to my weekly sermon email list in the column to the right to regularly receive a free sermon manuscript and other resources. A big shout-out to Preacher Mike for the opportunity to preach Monday Night Live at the First Baptist Church of Indian Trail in North Carolina. Shout out to President Arthur Lane and the pastors of Corpus Christi for the opportunity to preach the citywide revival this week. I first preached this meeting about fifteen years ago, with my brother Kevin. And it was...

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