The following is a guest post written by my friend Lance Mann  who serves as the Senior Pastor at St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Crockett, TX.  The first Sunday in December 2013 was like every other first Sunday. We arose this morning, attended Sunday School, participated in the baptism of a new member, and had a wonderful time in worship. But in actuality, this really wasn’t like any other Sunday. It was one year ago this Sunday, where I was introduced as the new Senior Pastor of the St. Luke Baptist Church, Crockett, TX. Our transition has had a few “bumps in...

Thanks for reading my weekly bulletin board, Saturday Shout-Outs. You can sign up for email updates of future posts under the picture to the left. Thanks for the kind and warm congratulations as Crystal and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this past Thursday. Check my interview with Dr. R.A. Williams Jr. Hope to see you at the Jacksonville Pastor's Conference 2014! R. Albert Mohler: Nelson Mandela and the Ironies of History Tim Cantrell: How One South African Pastor Prayed Yesterday Ryan Huguley: 5 Ways to Love Your Pastor's Kids Thom Rainer: When a Pastor Receives an Anonymous Letter Mike...

Today is a blessed day in my life. It is the fifteenth anniversary of my marriage to my Crystal. Crystal and I met at Los Angeles High School. She was in the tenth grade. I was a senior... and a senior-pastor (but that’s another story). We met in Coach Williams’ World History Class. It was the easiest class in the school (Do the math: the football coach was the World History teacher!). Our first (romantic) words to one another were... Crystal: “Did you do the homework?” Me: “Nope. You?” Crystal:  “Me neither.” After that class, we did not see one...

Saturday Shout-Outs is my weekly bulletin board of news, articles, and events. Thanks for reading. You can sign up for email updates of future posts under the picture to the left. Congratulations to my friend Romell Williams and his wife, LaTashia, on their birth of their new son this week! Praise the Lord! Thanks to Pastor W.T. Edmondson for the opportunity to minister the word during the church conference at the Bethlehem Baptist Church in West Point/La Grange, GA. A big shout out to ChurchLeaders.com for posting "What Should You Expect From Your Preacher? by Pastor Charlie Dates. You can...

Happy Thanksgiving! I am planning to finish my series on the Lord's Letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation 2-3. Thanks for your prayers. I plan to wait for 2014 to start my next series. It will be an exposition of the Epistle of Ephesians. Should be fun! Preorder "On Preaching" by H.B. Charles Jr. (May, 2014) Save the Date: Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville (September 24-26, 2014) Practical Shepherding: What is an important reason a pastor should commit and stay in one church? Anthony Carter: Sunday Best  Erik Raymond: Delayed...

Saturday Shout-Outs is my weekly bulletin board of things I have found interesting and worth sharing. Enjoy! A big shout-out to Pastor Charlie Dates for the opportunity to speak this week at the Church Institute at the Progressive Baptist Church of Chicago. I have high expectations for Charlie Dates. And the Lord is doing great things at the Progressive Church. Remember them in your prayers. This week was my last revival of the year. Praise the Lord! Thanks to all the pastors who graciously allowed me to preach the word to your congregations this year. I have blogged since 2005....

A big shout out to the pastors of the Pennsylvania Eastern Keystone Baptist Association for the opportunity to preach their annual session this past Thursday and Friday in Philadelphia. SAVE THE DATE: The Cutting It Straight Exposition Preaching Conference will meet at the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, September 24-26, 2014.  Preaching Today: "A Psalm for Giving Thanks" (Psalm 100) by H.B. Charles Jr. Men of Integrity: Prayer: Don't Give Up! from It Happens After Prayer by H.B. Charles Jr. Check out the Karen Waddles Interview. Thabiti Anyabwile: What I Love About the People in Prosperity Gospel Churches Scott Slayton: If I...

Happy Veterans Days! Thanks to all the veterans who have served our country to protect our freedom. This Sunday was my 5th pastoral anniversary at the Shiloh Church!  May the Lord grant that we will have many more years of fruitful Christian service together as pastor and people. These past five years have definitely not been easy. No pastorate is. But I do not have the words to describe the sense of joy and privilege it has been to serve Shiloh these years. I am a blessed man to serve such a great church! Thanks to the Shiloh pastors, staff,...

SAVE THE DATE: The Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference will take place in Jacksonville - September 24-26, 2014. Thanks for the warm regards this week as we celebrate 5 years of ministry at the Shiloh Church. A big shout-out to our family and friends who have joined us to celebrate this weekend. I am excited to speak at the 2014 JAX Pastors' Conference. Hope to see you there. Don Carson: 6 Reasons Not to Abandon Expository Preaching Aaron Menikoff: Evangelism without an Altar Call ProPreacher: 4 Benefits of Eye Contact in Preaching  Eric Mckiddie: 3 Big Opportunities that Busy...

We pause this week at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church to thank God for five years the Lord has blessed us to serve him together as pastor and people. It seems such a cliché to say that time flies. But it really doesn't seem like it has been five years already. These years have been filled with good days and bad days. But through it all, our sovereign, good, and faithful God has richly favored our partnership in the gospel. I believe the Lord joins pastors and people together. And I am grateful that he has given me the privilege...

November 5, 1990. This is a date indelibly sketched in my heart and mind. It was a Monday evening. The congregation at Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles gathered to select a new pastor. My father, H.B. Charles, Sr., served the church for four decades. Eighteen months later, the church was ready to call a new pastor. I had no plans of attending this meeting. I thought it would be too difficult to sit through a meeting where a new man would be called to the church my father served for so long. But I changed my mind...

It was good to be in worship with the wonderful congregation of the Shiloh Church today! I led the congregation in corporate singing, which is always a joy. Glad to have all of our guests in worship today. We celebrated the Lord’s Table in both of our worship services. Our team prepared a video of the to mark the 5th anniversary of my call to Shiloh. Very moving. I continued my series on Revelation 2-3. I preached from Revelation 2:18-29 – “Be Careful What You Tolerate.” This text is the longest of the letters to the seven churches. But it...