I made it to OKC a little after 7 last night, and arrived at Fairview in time to preach. It is good to be back at Fairview again and to have the opportunity to participate in the Oklahoma City Simultaneous Revival again. Dr. John A Reed Jr., whom I affectionately call, "Pop," "adopted" me after my dad past in 1989. They were dear friends. And the Lord has used Pop to fill an important void in my life over these years. And the Fairview Baptist Church family is a second home to me. I am really excited to be here...

After a pretty uneventful Holy Week (which is a good thing), this week has begun with a bang. I missed my flight this morning. Before I went to bed last night, I looked at the itinerary, and read that I was leaving this morning at 8:20. I later discovered that the flight actually left at 7 and was to arrive in Phoenix at 8:20. This is a perfect illustration or either how tired I was last night or how clueless I am in general (you decide). But it gets better. I discovered my flight had already left after I checked-in,...

I flew home from New Orleans early Monday morning. And I spent the day with Crystal and the kids. But over the course of the day, I got sick. But there was no time to rest and recover. Tuesday morning, I had to get on a plane to Ann Arbor to preach. I took medicine Monday night. It was labeled "non-drowsy." But my body doesn't know what that means. So I ended up oversleeping. I woke up at 4:47 AM. My flight was to leave LAX at 6 AM. Yet, I made my flight and my they didn't even lose...

Yesterday, I preached the fourth anniversary celebration of the Beacon Light Baptist Church of Houma, LA, which is about 45 minutes from New Orleans. Under the leadership of Pastor Herbert Andrew, this fast growing congregation is touching many lives in its community and beyond. The two morning services I preached (7:30 & 10 AM) were rich worship experiences. It would have been worth it to be here just to participate in the worship services. Their reverence, passion, and excellence in worship are quite uplifting. I thank God for the new friend I have in Pastor Andrew. And I pray God's...

I am at the airport in Salt Lake, waiting for my connecting flight to New Orleans. For the record, I hate airports. And I hate layovers. So I was not too happy about my several hour layover, when I got off the plane from San Francisco. But a bookstore in this airport has made my day. Well, not the bookstore itself. I didn't really go into it. But as I passed by, I noticed these quotes about books and reading in the window display. These quotes made my day. The happiness I felt reading these quotes is indescribable. I could...

Today is my last day in San Francisco. It has been a grueling week, physically – with services in both the afternoon and the evening. But it has been spiritually enriching. The afternoon services I have been preaching have been good meetings. I have heard so many stories of how the messages have helped people in specific ways. This is so encouraging. Often people just make general comments about your preaching. But when someone pinpoints the particular way God has used your preaching of the word to touch their life, it's so uplifting. The evening services have been great, as...

I am in San Francisco, preaching their citywide revival. I started yesterday and will preach through Friday. This is my third year preaching this meeting. I am the midday speaker. The evening speaker is Dr. Nathan Johnson of the historic Tabernacle Baptist Church in Detroit. Pastor Elliot "Poison" Ivey, who serves the New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church in the area, brought the opening message Sunday night and will close the meeting out Friday night. The past two years I was here, I caught a cold and was sick the whole week. So far, all is well. Praise God! I have...

Howdy. Over the next day or so, I will be doing some "catching up" posts. There have been a lot of things going on with me and mine that I want to make note of. I have just been a little busy. So I plan to catch you up with my little world as quickly as I can. Keep reading.

Sunday morning, I delivered the third part of our month-long series on "Giving to God." Sunday's message was, "How Should I Give to God?" The bottom line of the message was the priority of pleasing God in your giving (Genesis 4:3-5). I gave seven principles for giving in a way that pleases God: Give worshipfully (Prov. 3:9-10; Matt. 6:1-4). Give willingly (2 Co. 8:7; 9:7).Give intentionally (Prov. 27:23-24; 1 Co. 16:1-2).Give generously (Prov. 11:24-25; 2 Co. 9:6).Give sacrificially (2 Sam. 24:24; Mark 12:41-44).Give joyfully (Acts 20:35; 2 Co. 9:7, 15).Give expectantly (Eccl. 11:1-2; Luke 6:38; 2 Co. 9:10-11). This Sunday,...

We changed our Sunday schedule this past weekend in order to accommodate a special congregation meeting. We do not do "business meetings" on Sundays. But this was an exception. The pastoral leaders of our church have been praying about relocating the congregation to a new site, because of the various space challenges our congregation faces at our 1800 facility. I thank God for the blessing our church site is to us. And I thank God for how he has helped us to cope with some of the challenges. We have no parking. And our members park in a lot a...

Sunday night, I was privileged to preach for my friend Pastor Michael Ealey at the Christ Second Baptist Church in Long Beach. Pastor Ealey has been preaching me since I was a boy. And he has proven to be a faithful friend over the years. I remember when I was going through a storm in the early days of my pastorate. Many of my "friends" backed away. But one day I got a call from Pastor Ealey to let me know that he was there for me and was covering me in prayer. I will never forget that act of...

I have been preaching at the St. Paul Baptist Church in Sacramento the past three days (Wed-Fri). Pastor Ephraim Williams is leading the congregation in a celebration of 59 years of ministry, which will conclude this Sunday. This was my second time ministering at St. Paul. It's a bit intimidating to preach at St. Paul, for various reasons. But it has been quite refreshing to worship with St. Paul and to fellowship with Pastor Williams. Dr. Ephraim Williams is a legend. His integrity, wisdom, love, vision, and courage have been used by God over the past 36 years to nurture...