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Happy 75th Anniversary, Mt. Sinai!

December 11, 2017
By H.B. Charles Jr.
This past weekend, I was scheduled to fly home to Los Angeles to join the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in celebrating 75 years of Christian witness and ministry. But flight delays and bad weather prevented me from even leaving Jacksonville. I was greatly disappointed. I was grateful for the invitation to speak at the anniversary banquet and looking forward to the opportunity to preach to the Mt. Sinai family I preached my first sermon at Mt. Sinai, as an 11-year-old boy. I preached every year after that, as an associate minister under my father. Then I preached to the...
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What Expository Preaching Is Not

December 7, 2017
By H.B. Charles Jr.
What is expository preaching? Expository preaching explains what the text means by what it says, seeking to exhort the hearers to trust and obey the God-intended message of the text. It is preaching in which the point of the message is rooted in, aligns with, and flows from the primary meaning of the sermon text. I believe expository preaching is the most faithful way to preach the word of God. Understanding and practicing expository preaching helps the preacher rightly handle the word of truth. But it is also important to understand what expository preaching is not, as well as what...
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Shiloh Kids Live Worship CD Release

October 27, 2017
By H.B. Charles Jr.
This summer, the Worship & Arts and Children ministries of the Shiloh Church partnered to record a children’s choir CD. That worship project is now available on iTunes, and all other digital platforms. Shiloh Kids Live and In Worship, Most High King, was produced by Gospel music veteran, Joe Pace. Pace is the Pastor of Worship & Arts at the Shiloh Church and leads our infant label, Shiloh Worship. Our desire is to produce biblically sound, Christ-exalting, and gospel-saturated music that will serve the local church. This recording targets local church children choirs and ministries, who are underserved. This project...
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Thank GOD for Cutting It Straight 2017

September 26, 2017
By H.B. Charles Jr.
Guest Article by Pearl Winslow In 2014, I had the privilege of attending the inaugural Cutting It Straight (CIS) Expository Preaching Conference, hosted by my friend H.B. Charles Jr.  It was absolutely phenomenal! It quickly became a mandatory date on my calendar, as it gave me an opportunity to hear from a diverse combination of  some of our multiethnic elder statesmen, young word-centered up-and-comers and some names I didn't previously know, but was so glad to have heard. Each year, CIS gradually grew. Not only did it grow numerically, it also grew in the richness of its content. Additional tracks...
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2017 Cutting It Straight Day 3 Recap

September 22, 2017
By H.B. Charles Jr.
The Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference held on the campus of the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, FL. had a great ending! We enjoyed wonderful breakout sessions throughout the day. My father in the ministry (who just recently retired from faithfully pastoring the Mt. Moriah Church in Los Angeles for 42 years) Melvin Wade preached the general session. We were encouraged by Pastor Moise Napon who joined us all the way from Burkina, West Africa! He shared how he came to be encouraged and strengthened in his teaching and preaching of the infallible word of God so that he can insure that he “Cuts...
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2017 Cutting It Straight Day 2 Recap

September 21, 2017
By H.B. Charles Jr.
The Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference is still underway on the campus of the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, FL. Yesterday Bryan Loritts, Derrick Thomas. David Helm and Maurice Waston 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 provided today after the first Breakout...
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2017 Cutting It Straight Day 1 Recap

September 20, 2017
By H.B. Charles Jr.
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, Romell Williams, Charlie Dates and Mark Dever were the joint and general session speakers. The only...
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Pray for the 2017 Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference

September 18, 2017
By H.B. Charles Jr.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handing the word of truth. - 2 Timothy 2:15 This week, it will be our joy and privilege to host the fourth annual Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference at the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, Florida. This conference exists to train, model, and promote biblical teaching and preaching. In using the term “expository preaching,” the concern is not about a sermon method. It is about how the word of God is handled in preaching and teaching. Beyond the pulpit,...
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Cutting It Straight 2017 | Christian Education Track

August 23, 2017
By H.B. Charles Jr.
A Guest Post by Dr. Eugene McCormick The goal of this Christian Education Track is to help the church to fulfill the Great Commission of making stronger disciples of Jesus Christ.  The track is designed to equip pastors, ministers of education, Sunday School directors and teachers, small group facilitators, or any leader tasked with the responsibility of discipleship development in the church. This year marks the first time that a specific track, dedicated to Christian Education, is being added to the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference menu.   Within this track, under the major theme of “Christian Education Matters,” four...
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Cutting It Straight 2017 | Worship Track

August 22, 2017
By H.B. Charles Jr.
A Guest Post by Joe Pace Colossians 3:16 teaches us that there is an undeniable relationship between the preaching/teaching ministry and music ministry in our worship.  “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Now to be clear, you can sing without the Word; you can play an instrument well without the Word; you can talk without the Word; BUT you simply cannot worship without the Word!  It is only with the truth of God’s word that...
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Celebrating the Retirement of My Pastor

August 21, 2017
By H.B. Charles Jr.
I preached three of morning services yesterday. Then I hightailed it to catch a flight to Los Angeles to meet my family. We traveled home for the weekend to celebrate the retirement of my pastor Melvin Von Wade Sr. has led the Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles for forty-two years. Pastor Wade is a part of the legendary Wade family. His father, Dr. J.C. Wade Sr., pastored the Salem Baptist Church in Omaha, Nebraska for nearly half a century. During this pastorate, Wade Sr. developed a reputation as one of the leading African-American preachers in the country....
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Cutting It Straight 2017 | Women’s Track

August 14, 2017
By H.B. Charles Jr.
A Guest Post By Crystal Charles “Hear, O women, the word of the LORD, and let your ear receive the word from His mouth”-Jeremiah 9:20 When Cutting It Straight (CIS) began, we offered one class for women on Biblical Womanhood. Last year, by the leading of the Holy Spirit we added the Women’s Track to the conference to minister to, equip, and encourage women. The Women’s track is designed for women who have the responsibility of teaching the Bible regularly and leading other women, including pastors’ wives, women’s ministry leaders, Sunday school teachers, and small group facilitators. Just as the...