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...

Monday night, I have the privilege of speaking in the chapel service of the Los Angeles Bible Training School. This training school is doing a great work, as it comes alongside local churches and assists in trains ministers and "lay people" to study, understand, and teach the word of God. One of the pastors of our church, George Hurtt, teaches a class on the Gospel of Matthew there. And two other of our pastors, Anthony Thompson and John Scroggins, attend classes there. The costs are minimum; but the rewards are great. The teachers are trained men who are committed to...

I am in Little Rock, preaching the "Vision Conference 2006" for Pastor Robert Townsend and the St. Peter Missionary Baptist Church. And you can call me "The Rainman." It has been raining much of the past week or so in Los Angeles. And I came here expecting it to be very cold. But when I arrived yesterday, it was in the seventies. My son called me and told me it was raining. I laughed and told him the sun was shining here. But I might have spoke to soon. When I woke up this morning and opened the shades, their...

I am still recovering from yesterday. I feel like one pastor who I heard say, "I spend four months in church every Sunday." Most Sundays are long days for me. But yesterday was unusually so. For starters, my Saturday did not go as I planned. That's my fault. But my anxious Saturday followed my into Sunday. And I really wasn't as mentally alert as I usually am. In fact, I locked myself into my office an hour before Sunday School and typed out notes for myself to take to the pulpit. I write out my messages word for word each...

As the Apostle Paul spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, there was a group of religious zealots (scholars call them "Judaizers") who followed him around "correcting" his teachings. These Judaizers contended that true salvation required both faith in Jesus Christ and adherence to the Mosaic Law of the Old Testament, particularly circumcision. Over and over again, Paul had to proclaim and defend the fact that God saves sinners by grace through faith in Christ, plus or minus nothing. I sometimes wonder if these men were sincere guys who just had some of the facts wrong. But one thing is for...

This past weekend, I published my 100th post on this blog. Happy anniversary hblogcharlesjr!!! I don't think this has any deep significance or anything like that. In fact, I only noticed it in passing as I was signing on to the "dashboard" of my blog. But if TV shows can throw a big party after 100 episodes, I can at least note the fact that I have been at this for 100 posts. My first post was on August 15, last year. I simply called it, "I'm a Blogger Now!" It was really just a test post to see if...