Today is the thirteenth anniversary of the domestic terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in which 186 people were killed and more the 800 people were injured. I was in the city that week, preaching for Pastor John Reed Jr. and the Fairview Baptist Church during the annual Oklahoma City simultaneous revival. I was still recovering from Easter weekend. I was suffering from jet lag. I was trying to get into a rhythm of the multiple services during the OKC simultaneous revival. I was catching up with family and friends who live in Oklahoma...

It is kind of late. And I am very tired. But I am still trying to wind down from preaching tonight. I brought the closing message tonight at a three-night revival meeting held at the Greater Starlight Baptist Church here in Los Angeles, where Prentiss Lewis serves at pastor. Local pastors, Xaviar Thomas and Welton Pleasant, spoke the first two nights of the meeting. I have preached for Pastor Lewis at Greater Starlight many times over the years. In fact, I think Greater Starlight is the only place, outside of Mt. Sinai, where I have repeated a message. I have...

I have spent the past several days speaking at the St. Paul Baptist Church in Sacramento, which is led by Dr. Ephraim Williams. I spoke four times over the course of three days. This marked the third time I have ministered at St. Paul. The last two years, I have participated in the celebration of their church anniversary (St. Paul is 60 years old this year). This year, however, I spoke for three nights that focused on the young adults of St. Paul. I was encouraged by the opportunities and support the congregation gave to the young people of the...

“I’m taking back everything the Devil stole from me!” Have you ever heard this statement? Have you ever made this statement? Have you ever thought about what this statement means? Spiritual catchphrases. Theological sound bites. Pulpit ear tickling. Harmful error set to beautiful music. Nonsense. These things are the order of the day. Consequently, many of our lives and churches are preoccupied with superficial things, rather than the God-centered, Christ-exalting, Spirit-empowered, life-transforming, and culture-engaging mission and message of the gospel. For instance, there is a popular "Gospel" song that declares God to be faithful and holy. But the response to...

We finally got some pictures of Hailey with her eyes open. It's as if she knows we have been trying to take pictures of her. And she kept closing her eyes every time we tried to capture her. Wow! A diva that doesn't like the paparazzi. Go figure. But we finally got her. So for "We the members of MSMBC..." (still funny), meet your newest member: Hailey Breanne Charles

I was scheduled to be be San Francisco today to begin preaching the afternoon meetings for their citywide revival. Family duties prevented me from attending this meeting. This would have been my fourth year preaching this meeting. I have been the afternoon speaker each year. And I have been partnered with some fine preachers. I preached with Pastor Stephen Thurston from Chicago the first year. I preached with Pastor Marvin Wiley, who pastors in a Chicago suburb, the second year. And I preached with Pastor Nathan Johnson of Detroit last year. Pastor Johnson is the evening speaker again this year....

My family is home!!! I brought Crystal and Hailey home from the hospital this afternoon. Oh, what a feeling! Crystal has had a long, difficult week. Every day, she would have good periods and bad periods. But she has recovered from the surgery well enough for her doctor to send her home. She will still need to get a lots of rest of the next week or two. Keep her in your prayers. Hailey is doing fine. No problems, except for a lovesick dad who keeps fussing over her. She is beautiful. And I praise God for adding her to...

There is a new addition to the Charles family!!! Crystal gave birth yesterday (3/24) to our new daughter at 3:14 pm. She is a little early, but both Crystal and the baby are doing fine. She was born at 7 pounds and 3 ounces, 20 and 1/2 inches. She looks like... Well, we're not sure who see looks like yet. The process went smoothly, with no complications. Praise God! As Crystal was still in surgery, I laid the baby on her chest. And she began to lick Crystal's face.She was not out of the womb two hours before she found...

'- Easter Sunday at MSMBC. It is always a special time. Today was no exception. What a great day! - Today was the first time in some weeks that I preached multiple services. It is what I have done for years now. And I found myself getting into a groove quite easily, like the whole riding a bike thing. - This is the third week I have preached with sinus problems and cold symptoms. I have not really felt up to preaching the past several weeks. And it was discouraging to be feeling this way on Easter weekend. But the...

Here is my sermon skeleton from yesterday. TITLE: "Power to Reach Your Full Potential" TEXT: Hebrews 13:20 THEME: A benediction and doxology for divine help POINT: God helps those who trust in Jesus. OUTLINE: I. God has done great things for us through Jesus Christ (13:20).There are three fundamental reasons why you can trust God to do for you what you cannot do for yourself: A. God is the God of peace. B. God raised up our Lord Jesus from the dead. C. God established an eternal covenant with us by the blood of Jesus. 1. Blood: We are completely...

I was looking for a good quote to post today in celebration of Easter. And I found the manuscript to a message I preached about five years ago, entitled, "Why the Resurrestion Matters." It was a part of a four-message series on the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus that I called, "Why Jesus Matters." What follows are the opening paragraphs of the resurrection message: Let me begin this sermon by telling you the most important and intimate things I can tell you about myself: I am, unabashedly, a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. I wake up every...

I am writing this post from the Indianapolis airport. I have been in town to preach three nights at the Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, where Dr. Theron Williams is the pastor. It has been a tough week of preaching. First of all, I think I became homesick the moment the plane left LAX Monday morning. I have been struggling with cold symptoms all week. And the weather here has been horrible. I (wisely) did not leave my room all week expect to preach. Although the weather has been cold, I found Mt. Carmel to be a warm congregation. I met...