I was preaching on Youth Sunday. I was fourteen, maybe fifteen. As I sat down, no one could have told me that I did not just preach a great sermon. My father stood up and did just that. He was supposed to be giving pastoral remarks. He started talking about me, instead. Literally, he was talking about himself. But he was still talking about me. “Pray for me, church,” he said. “I have a long way to go with my son.” “He’s not going to go far,” Dad continued, “until he recognizes that there are many other preachers that can beat him...

Tonight at 7 PM, the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church will be having our annual Midyear Tune-Up Service. At this midyear point, we pause as a congregation to praise God for what he has done in the first half of 2012 and pray to God for the remainder of 2012. The Lord has been faithful to us. Personally and corporately, we have much to thank God for. And we are expecting God’s greater blessings on our lives and labor for him in the months to come. Our guest speaker will be Dr. A.B. Sutton Jr., who is the founder and pastor...

I love to eat. But I am not into cooking. I do not cook. And I do not like waiting on those who cook. When it is time for dinner, I want to eat. I don't care how Crystal made it. I just hope it is good. When we go to a restaurant, I am not concerned about the chef's process and procedures. My only thought about what is going on in the kitchen Why are they taking so long to bring out the food? I don't want to talk about cooking when I am hungry. I want to eat....

Long weekend. Very long weekend. We have a good day of worship today at Shiloh. We had a lot of special guests in worship today. A high school reunion. A large youth ministry. Several politicians. And the chair of the Democratic National Committee. Praise God for the brother we baptized today. We had parent-child dedications today. One little fellow screamed when I laid hands on him during prayer. But after church, he let me pick him up and didn’t want to leave. See there, first impressions are not always lasting impressions The music was good today. I preached a message from Psalm...

Today is my big brother’s 50th birthday. I thank God for Kevin B. Willis Sr. and the blessing his life is to me. I preached my first sermon when I was 11-years-old. What I remember best about that service is my brother being there and extending the invitation afterward. I wanted to go to Bishop College, because Kevin went to Bishop. (Unfortunately, when I finished high school, there was no more Bishop College. But that’s another conversation.) I remember the first time Kevin heard me preach after our father passed. Afterwards, he told me two things: (1) You are a...

To illustrate is to shed light on a subject. Illustrations are like windows in a house. They let the light in. They can also let in voyeurs, seeking to eye the forbidden. Voyeurism is not just the vice of those who want to see what they should not see. It is also the vice of those who want to show what they should not show. There is no place for voyeurism in the pulpit. Sermon illustrations should be like letting sunlight into a window, not like putting a spotlight on a stage. Here are 10 guidelines for avoiding indecent exposure...

"You have to do whatever the Lord says you have to do in order to preach that Bible." When I heard a friend say this in a conversation with a group of preachers, I laughed. He was asked his philosophy of sermon preparation. Specifically, they wanted to know what steps he takes to get from text to sermon. How long does it take him to prepare? Things like that. His answer: "You have to do whatever the Lord says to do in order to preach that Bible." I laughed. (Some things we laugh at because they are funny. Some things...

A friend, who is a budding preacher and active associate minister, wrote me for advice about what to do when you lose your sense of discipline and devotion. Let me respond with a devotional thought from 2 Kings 6:1-7. The “sons of the prophets” – a group of young preachers – studied under the Prophet Elisha. So many lads joined this upstart seminary that they ran out of space. With Elisha’s permission, and encouraging presence, they began chopping down wood to build a new dorm. Focus on one young prophet who has borrowed an axe to help with the building...

I really enjoyed my Father's Day yesterday. And we had a great day of worship at Shiloh. 23 years ago, the Lord took my father from labor to refreshment. But I am still benefiting from the 16 years I was privilege to have Dr. H.B. Charles, Sr. in my life. I was not feeling well for a good stretch of last week Thanks for your prayers and expressions of concern. Praise God for the one who was baptized yesterday. I am grateful for all of the guests who joined us for worship yesterday. Our women's chorus sung yesterday. Good thing....

 

Tomorrow - Father's Day - will mark 23 years to the day since my father died. The past several years, Father's Day has been a downer for me. My wife and children have been kind, generous, and understanding. I appreciate it. But I have missed my dad around this time. I also think that being on the other side of the country, disconnected from my roots in Los Angeles, has exasperated my feelings of sadness. This year is different. I approach this coming Father's Day with gratitude, rather than grief. The Lord blessed me to have a great dad. I...

Eternal and almighty God, who by thy providence dost conduct and govern all creatures in this world, suffer us not to enterprise anything but what is agreeable to thy will and pleasure, that we, altogether discontented with ourselves, may wholly depend upon thy blessing; and that our only care may be that thou mayest be glorified in us and our posterity, through Jesus Christ, thy Son. Amen. - Prayers on the Psalms: From the Scottish Psalter of 1595, p. 131