I am in Cleveland, preaching the citywide revival sponsored by the local Baptist Minister's Conference. Pastor Claudie Williams is the president of this group. Rev. George Parks is the chairman of the revival. And Pastor Charles Matthews is the host, as the The services are being held at - get this - Mt. Sinai Baptist Church. Cool. I don't really know anyone hear. I was invited by Pastor Parks, whom I met while preaching in Northern California. I know Pastor Houston here. And Pastor Veal and I, who I met for the first time this week, have numerous mutual friends....

I spent this past weekend in Chicago with my friend, Romell Williams, who was celebrating his third pastoral anniversary at the Lilydale Progressive M.B.C. I had the privilege of preaching during Romell’s installation celebration. And I have been with him each year during his anniversary celebration, preaching in his two morning services. I met Romell when he was the youth pastor of a large church in suburban Chicago. A mutual friend hooked us up, commending Romell to me as one of the best young preachers in the country. And upon meeting him and hearing him, he backed that up. Romell...

Last night, I continued our study of the book of Ephesians. We are at Ephesians 3:1-13, which is a rather difficult text. My original tension was to divine the text into two parts. There are, indeed, two themes in the text: (1) the ministry of Paul and (2) the mystery of the gospel. But it seems to me that these two themes are interwoven throughout the entire passage. So I was really struggling with how to divide it. I finally decided not to. And my congregation patiently endured my exposition of all thirteen verses. It's a great, difficult, challenging text....

Yesterday, we celebrated 65 years of God's faithfulness in and through the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church. Our guest speaker was Paul Felix, who is a professor at The Master's Seminary and the president of the Los Angeles Bible Training School. Prof. Felix delivered a challenging and powerful message from 1 Thessalonians 4:14-15, calling on us to heed the six exhortations in those two verses, that we might be a "healing community." Stellar preaching! He also led a mass study during our Sunday School hour, calling on us to make a new/deeper commitment to personal Bible Study. I was personally...

This past Tuesday night, I continued our study of Ephesians in our midweek service. I preached the closing paragraph of Ephesians 2, verses 19-22. It is about the nature and the importance of the church. I was most concerned about presenting the text clearly. And I did not spend as much time in application as I would have liked. So I fear the message become somewhat of "data-dump." I trust the Lord will make up for my weaknesses in preaching. The subject of the church burdens me. I love the church. And my love for the church is an expression...

I resumed my study of Joshua yesterday in our morning services. My text was Joshua 4. I did not preach through the entire outline in either service. But I was able to get out the key points I wanted to make. Here is the sermon skeleton. TITLE: “Don’t Forget to Remember” TEXT: Joshua 4THEME: The importance of remembering God POINT: God commands you to remember who he is and what he has done for you. PROBING QUESTION: Why is it important to deliberately and constantly remember who God is and what God has done? PURPOSE: The purpose of this message...

Here is the book review I wrote in our church newsletter for our August book of the month. I have some books that have shaped my life in powerful and significant ways. I also have some authors who have shaped my life – with practically every book they write or have written. Ron Mehl is one of those authors. In fact, I consider Mehl a good friend who I have only met through his writings. I was introduced to Ron Mehl some years ago through his book, "God Works the Night Shift." Honestly, I bought the book just for its...

Last night, we resumed our Tuesday night worship services. And I picked up our exposition of the Epistle to the Ephesians. Here is the sermon skeleton from last night's message. TITLE: “God’s Plan for Peace” TEXT: Ephesians 2:14-18THEME: Reconciliation with God and one anther through the Person and work of Jesus Christ POINT: Jesus Christ is the only way you can peace with God, self, and others. PROBING QUESTION: Is true peace possible? If so, how can it be attained? PURPOSE: There are two points of application the listener should leave this sermon with: 1. For unbelievers: You cannot be...

We will resume our Tuesday night worship services tonight, after being "dark" on Tuesdays for the past two months. Throughout the summer I have been thinking about what I would teach when we resumed. And I decided several weeks ago that I will pick up our exposition of Ephesians that I had started earlier on Sundays. I plan to preach Ephesians 2:14-18 tonight, and finish chapter 2 with verses 19-22 next week. I look forward to getting back at it. Please pray for us. Sunday. Sunday. Sunday. What can I say? I had been working on Joshua 4 for weeks....

Yesterday, I ranted about the fact that pulpit plagiarism is unethical. Today, I want to take it back, sort of. Indeed, a man should do his own homework and come to the pulpit with the fruit of his own labor. However, as I said yesterday, no one is original. And, ultimately, no preacher should try to be. It should be our goal to simply be faithful and clear when we stand to preach or teach. The Lord really doesn’t ask us to be cute, clever, or creative in our ministry of the word. Now, that doesn’t mean that we should...

I am in Texarkana (part Texas; art Arkansas. Get it?). Tonight, will be my last of three nights preaching for Pastor Reginald Reid and the Polly Chapel Missionary Baptist Church. The first two nights of the meeting have been great. Pastor Reid, a new friend, has been a warm and gracious host. And the worship services have been very warm and encouraging, which make for a "in season" setting to preach in. The Lord is doing a great work here through Pastor Reid and the Polly Chapel family. Please pray for the final night of this meeting. And continue to...

I had an interesting experience last week that I keep thinking about. The first night of the meeting I was preaching, I stood to and called my text. And there was a weird response by the congregation. Something strange was happening, but I didn't know what. Lots of thoughts flooded my mind. But I really couldn't catch the vibe. The congregation, to whom I had preached the past four years, was quite tentative throughout the entire message. But I couldn't figure out why. A few minutes after a sat down from preaching, it all became clear. One of the pastors...