I had the privilege of contributing four extended sermon outlines to the Nelsons Annual Preacher's Sourcebook 2016 edited by Ken Hemphill. Check it out! Ray Pritchard: Thanksgiving Sermons Erik Raymond: Using Variation and Surprise in Preaching Peter Mead: Meaningless Chatter Thabiti Anyabwile: Bits and Pieces for Young Ministers: Discipleship, Rest and Reading Derek Thomas: 5-Step Strategy to God-Centered Prayer Thom Rainer: Six Reasons Why Longer-Tenured Pastorates Are Better Cary Nieuwolf: How Pastoral Care Stunts the Growth of Most Churches Jonathan Leeman: 22 Mistakes Pastors Make in Practicing Church Discipline Gavin Ortlund: Why I'm Complementarian  Nathan Busenitz: 10 Questions About Adventism ...

It was a joy to speak for the Arkansas Baptist Convention Pastors' Conference this week in Hot Springs. A big shout-out to my friend, Pastor Charlie Dates, for the opportunity to speak at the Faith & Public Life series this week at the Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago. It was a great joy to celebrate kick-off my 7th pastoral anniversary at the Shiloh Church by having dinner with the elders of the church and their families. November 5 was the day I was called to pastor my first church back in 1990. I am "Thankful for 25 Years of Pastoral...

November 5, 1990. I ditched school that Monday morning. I had a funeral to preach. For the first half of the year, I preached the 11:00 AM service at my father’s church on first Sundays. But the first Sunday in August was the last time. I preached a sermon that Sunday, entitled, “Waited Time On God Is Never Wasted Time” (Job 14:14).  In a meeting after the service, it was decided that I should not be allowed to preach any more until after the church called a new pastor. I was also asked to meet with pulpit committee. The committee...

  Concerning Philippians 4:19, James Montgomery Boice comments... "We come now to what is perhaps the greatest promise in the entire Bible. And it is great because it includes all of the other promises in itself." The wonderful promise of Philippians 4:19 is this: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (ESV). The opening conjunction, "And," is key to understanding this promise. The Philippians were in need. Yet they neglected their own needs to supply what Paul needed to advance the gospel. Now Paul assures the saints that God has not forgotten...

My father was H.B. Charles Sr. He pastored the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles for 40 years, until his death in 1989. All I saw my father do was serve the church. Whether I became a preacher or not, my father’s example taught me to associate Christianity with serving others. The Lord called me to preach as a boy. I was 11-years-old when I preached my first sermon. By my teens, I was basically preaching every week. I was 16-years-old when my father died. A year and a half later, I was called to succeed my father...

Thanks for praying for me this week, as I spoke at The Expositors Summit at the Southern Seminary. I am always grateful for the kindness of Dr. Albert Mohler and thankful for his faithful proclamation and defense of the gospel.  It was also a joy to meet and hear Dr. Derek Thomas for the first time, after reading so much of his writings over the years. Southern Seminary: Preaching demands convictional courage, speakers say at Southern Seminary's Expositors Summit  Florida Baptist Witness: Southern Seminary's Expositors Summit: Preaching demands convictional courage Reformation Day R.C. Sproul: Is the Reformation Over?  Kevin DeYoung: The...

I was introduced to the young man after a worship service. He had recently moved to the city for work and was looking for a church home. I prayed for him. I also asked him to call my office to set up a time for us to talk. But I was not looking forward to the conversation. I dread “I’m looking for a church home” meetings. Meeting with members is a joy. I wish I could do it more often. I am not pastoral counseling expert. But I view pastoral counseling as the private ministry of the word, corresponding to what...

You can sign up in the margin to the right of this page to receive a free weekly sermon manuscript and other resources.  Shout-out to the Beulah Baptist Association for the opportunity to speak during their annual session this week. It was my joy to be be interviewed for The Jude 3 Project podcast: "Apologetics in Pastoral Ministry."  Check out my article on pastoral ministry: Don't Try To Put Out Every Brush Fire!  Take a listen to the latest episode of The On Preaching Podcast: 7 Reasons Why I Write Sermon Manuscripts. I solicit your prayers for the 2015 Expositors Summit...

My secretary stopped me in the hallway. She was obviously upset. I asked what was wrong. She began to weep. This was one of the most godly women I knew. And I couldn’t handle it when she cried. She often wept for others, rarely for herself. I pressed her to talk, only to discover she was weeping for me. The rumor about me she shared was really bad, heartbreaking, and absolutely not true. Another church employee supposedly witnessed to my wrongdoings. He knew me since I was a boy! I couldn’t understand why he would make up such a story. But...

Ray Pritchard said... I know a whole handful of miserable, grumpy Christians, and I think I know what is wrong with most of them. They have decided that they're going to keep the body of Christ at arms length and they're not really going to get involved. They are not going to join the church. They are not going to really get involved and they are going to sit on the fence and watch as things go by. They're going to stick their toe in and pull it out and stick their toe in and pull it out and that's...

You can sign up for our my weekly sermon manuscript and newsletter list in the right column of this site.  It was a joy to to speak at the Pine Bluff Family Bible Conference this week. Shout-out to my friends, Pastor Derrick Easter and Pastor Terry Brown, for the gracious invitation. Shout-out to the Transforming Churches Conference for the opportunity to speak this annaul conference in Southern California Check out the articles I wrote this week: On Preaching: Preaching the TONE of the Text On Pastoral Ministry: Seeing Beyond the Rubble of Ministry Take a listen to the latest episode...

We had three fulltime pastors on staff besides me. For this midsize church I served, this was a big deal. Ministry should have been a joy. It was, instead, a time of great discouragement. The pastoral team was a blessing. But I did not know how to lead the team. At a result, the obvious blessing felt like an unexplainable curse. I was preaching through the book of Nehemiah. We had reached chapter 4. As I meditated on the chapter, my discouragement was confronted head-on. I tried to ignore it. I preached the text and prepared to move on to...