I am feeling much better today. I even put on a short sleeved shirt today, in order to enjoy some of the wonderful weather we are having here in Los Angeles this week. Yesterday, I mostly rested. This is usually the most effective remedy when my body gets sick. And it seems to have worked again. And it happened in good timing, I might add. I have quite a busy weekend ahead of me. Today, I have a couple of writing assignments to finish and some pastoral care updates to make. I also have to finish my preparation for my...

Here is the sermon skeleton from my midweek sermon last night on Psalm 119:Title: “Up from the Dust”Text: Psalm 119:25-32Theme: God’s word encourages the depressed soulPoint: The person who is devoted to the word of God may be down, but their not out.Outline:I. The prayer of a soul that is depressed (119:25-28)A. God’s word revives (v. 25)B. God’s word enlightens (v. 26-27)C. God’s word strengthens (v. 28)II. The prayer of a soul that is determined (119:29-32)A. The desires of the determined soul (119:29)B. The decisions of a determined soul (119:30-32)1. Choose God’s word (v. 30)2. Cling to God’s word (v....

I am sick. I didn't have much energy Thursday afternoon. And Friday morning, I was in bad shape by the time I made it to the office; cough, congestion, the works. I rested as much as I could Friday evening. But I had to get up quite early to finish preparations to teach the "How to Study the Bible" seminar we held at MSMBC Saturday. Not feeling well, I taught for four hours on the principles and practice of personal Bible study. Truly, the Lord's strength is made perfect in our weakness. I tried to rest as much as I...

If God allows, I will begin a series of sermons on the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17)tomorrow in the corporate worship service at MSMBC. Here are some of the the resources I am using in my studies. Some of these works are newer; others I have had for some time. My reference to these books should not be taken to mean that I agree with every statement in them. But I have found them to be helpful in my studies. Here they are, listed in no particular order:1. Disciplines of Grace - R. Kent Hughes (Crossway)2. Pathway to Freedom - Alistair...

I have just finished teaching our first Christian Life Development Seminars of the year. This is a quarterly series that I will be teaching to explain our doctrinal convictions and philosophy of ministry to our congregation over the three year period. It's our goal to cover the major areas of doctrine and special areas of ministry emphasis for our church members. Because I am most often teaching and preaching a series, there are a lot of important subjects that don't come up for quite some time in our church. Hopefully, this seminar series will be one way for us to...

This coming Lord's Day, I plan to begin a series of sermons on the Ten Commandments, recorded in Exodus 20:1-17. I intend to preach the commandments one at a time. I did this in the beginning of 1997, almost ten years ago. In fact, I wasn't even using a computer when I last preached this series. All of my study notes and sermon manuscripts are handwritten. But I took really good study notes the last time. This will be of great help in the upcoming weeks of study. However, I do not intend to merely re-preach the previous messages. In...

Here is the sermon skeleton from my sermon last night in Midweek Worship:Title: "Sustaining Grace in God's Word"Text: Psalm 119:17-24Point: There is sustaining grace in the word of God that can hold you up when people are trying to pull you down. I. God’s word sustains the servant (119:17-18)A. True servants desire to live the word of God (v. 17)B. True servants desire to learn the word of God (v. 18)1. There are wonderful things in the word of God.2. You cannot see the wonderful things in God’s word without your eyes being opened for you.3. Pray that God will...

Please excuse the mess at our church website. We have recently changed companies, for various reasons. So it will take us a minute to clean up the site, add graphics to it, and place all of our resources back on it. When we finish, the site should be quite helpful and enjoyable. For instance, you will be able to download sermon audios. And you will even be able podcast our sermons. Thanks for your patience.

I am a manuscript preacher, sort of. Usually manuscript preachers write out the sermons in full and then take them to the pulpit and preach from them, word-for-word. I am a manuscript preacher in that I write out my sermons in full (most of the time). But I rarely take my manuscript to the pulpit. I would quite say that I memorize my sermons anymore, either. I use a word association method to remember the major progression of my argument. Likewise, most of my sermons are verse-by-verse expositions of some passage. So the structure of the message usually revolves around...

The past several days have been quite busy. Thursday and Friday, I had several meetings, deadlines, and study assignments. On top of this, I had to preach a revival meeting on Thursday and Friday at the New Revelation Baptist Church in Pasadena. The Lord blessed the two meetings. But I was absolutely exhausted by Saturday morning. But there was still work to be done. I had work for Sunday to complete. But before I could get to that, I had to prepare myself to speak at the Women's Fellowship Meeting meeting at the church. It was the first time I...

Here is the note I wrote in last week's bulletin about our January Book of the Month:In New Testament times, humility was not considered a virtue. In the minds of the ancients, it was a sign of weakness which was the result of being forced into submission by someone who is greater than you. So humility was actually considered a vice, rather than the virtue. And not much has changed in the passing centuries. The world around us does not view humility to be beneficial, commendable, or virtuous. Instead, we look up to the aggressive types, who get what they...

Here is my sermon skeleton on the second stanza of Psalm 119 from Wednesday night's Midweek Service:Title: "How to Clean Up Your Life"Text: Psalm 119:9-16Theme: The Purifying Power of ScripturePoint: Holiness is the result of your devotion to the word of GodOutline:I. God’s word purifies the person who is sincere (119:10-11)A. Seek the Lord with all your heart (v. 10)B. Store up the word in your heart (v. 11)II. God’s word purifies the person who is submissive (119:12-14)A. Praise (v.12)B. Proclamation (v. 13)C. Passion (v. 14)III. God’s word purifies the person who is steadfast (119:15-16)A. I will mediate on your...