My friend, Tony Rhone, began his first pastorate this past Easter Sunday at the Galilee Baptist Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Prior to agreeing to serve the Galilee Church, Tony served as the assistant to the pastor at the Fairview Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, where John A. Reed, Jr. is the pastor. Tony is also Reed's son-in-law, who has been married to his oldest daughter for over 20 years. Tony is a good friend, a godly brother, a servant leader, and a faithful preacher. Please pray for him, his family, and the Galilee Church. And check out Tony's new blog,...

Well, the Lord was kind to me last night. I had to preach twice - at both 7 and 10 PM. And the Lord gave me strength and wisdom for both messages. I have recently lost a storage unit. And I had deleted the message I intended to preach at 7 PM after placing the manuscript on it. But after having the storage unit for only a week, I lost it. So I didn't have my sermon. Thankfully, my secretary found a hard copy of the message in my study. She emailed it to me. And I rode to church...

Today is the last of the five days of preaching for me here in Oklahoma City. And it is scheduled to be the longest day of them all. This morning, at 8 AM, the annual prayer breakfast takes places. Dr. L.K. Curry of Chicago is to bring the message. It's a can't-miss situation. I have to hear Dr. Curry. Then, at the noon service, Pastor C. Dennis Edwards of Cincinnati is to bring the message. And that, too, is a can't-miss situation. Now, the two evening services are can-miss meetings, except for the fact that I am scheduled to preach...

When I sat down from preaching last night, a strange feeling came over me. It was that sense of relief I feel after the third sermon I preach in most revivals. It's the feeling that my work is done and it's time to go home. Then it dawned on me that I have three more sermons to preach before I can go home. And relief then turned into fatigue. I am so physically tired, last night I think I could feel every footstep I took. But spiritually, I am being revived, encouraged, and strengthened.This has been a great week, so...

Last night, I began my series of messages at the Fairview Baptist Church. The attendance was strong, the worship was warm, and the message was well received. The Lord gave me strength to preach, even though I battled with my sinuses all afternoon. I bumped into my brother in the hotel lobby on the to church. And I saw my mother, aunt, and cousin at church. It was a good evening. Afterward, I came back to the room and talked to Crystal for a while, then went to sleep. I needed to the rest. I am feeling much better this...

What is "Easter Monday"? I heard newscasters use that term last night and this morning. I had never heard it before? What does it mean? Anyway, it's "Easter Monday." And I am at LAX (again), waiting to get on a flight to go somewhere to preach (again). Yesterday was a good day. I was feeling sick all day Saturday, with a cough and congestion adding to my sinus problems. And I really didn't feel like preaching/teaching. I had finishing touches to put on the message that I wanted to preach Easter. But I was unable to get anything done. So...

I had a rather long flight home yesterday from Detroit. It was scheduled to be almost five hours. But we were delayed in leaving Detroit, because of the weather. And it was a turbulent flight the whole way here. And once we neared LAX, we were diverted because of weather and air traffic. So the flight went way past five hours. It was exhausting. And my sinuses were bothering something terrible. When I landed, I took something for my sinuses, and it put me to sleep (as usual). By the time I woke up, it was 5 PM. And I...

I am homesick!!!

I am in Detroit, Michigan. I "lost a day" yesterday. It was a little after 8 AM when I got on the plane at LAX. And it was close to 5 PM when I got off the plane in Detroit. It was a long, bumpy flight. But, thank God, it landed. That's all that matters. But flights like that drain my energy and leave me kind of sore. I got something to eat. Checked into my room. Shaved and showered. And it was time to go to church.Last night, I began three nights at the Burnette Baptist Church. I first...

It was good to be back in my own pulpit this past Sunday. In my Sunday School class, I finished the opening lesson of my new series on the one another" commands of the New Testament. The lessons was on "Loving One Another." This coming Sunday, I intend to continue to the series with a lesson on "Forgiving One Another." In our worship service, I preached the ninth part of my series on the Ten Commandments: "Tell the Truth" (Exodus 20:16). I plan to preach the final message of this series on the fourth Sunday, after we get past Holy...

I am between flights, on my way home from Little Rock. Last night I finished three nights of preaching at the St. Peter Baptist Church, pastored by Robert Townsend. It was a good meeting. St. Peter is a good preaching place. They were attentive, patient, and receptive. This is a reflection of their pastor, R. Townsend. He himself is a strong Bible preacher, so I don't think his congregation expected him to bring in a preacher to feed them "popcorn." This was my second time preaching at St. Peter. Last year, before my arrival, Pastor Townsend sent me an information...

I listened today to an 9 Marks Ministries interview with Mark Dever and Phillip Graham Ryken of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in downtown Philadelphia. Dr. Ryken quoted Sinclair Ferguson about the faithfulness of God. In essence, the statement went like this: "Our confidence in the faithfulness of God is not just expressed in our thankful praise for what he is done in the past. It's also expressed in the works we endeavor to do for the Lord that require us to trust him in the future." I know that was not how the quote went, exactly. But that's the gist...