This past week we hosted our first Fall Church institute at Shiloh. It was a great week of study, worship, and fellowship. I have received many good reports on the classes. And Pastor John Adolph ministered the word in a strong way each night. Praise God for blessing this step of faith! Today was a good day of worship. I enjoyed teaching my New Members Class today. I have been out for a few weeks. Glad to be back at it. It was a great joy to lead the congregation in corporate praise to God. We celebrated the Lord’s Table...

Today begins our first Fall Church Institute at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. The Church Institute will be three nights (Sept. 27-29) or Bible preaching and teaching, corporate worship, and spiritual renewal. At 6 PM, there will be classes on various aspects of Christian discipleship, which will include classes for children, youth, young adults, singles, men, women, and financial stewardship. Several local pastors and professors will lead classes on Church History, and Old and New Testaments surveys. At 7 PM, there will be a time of corporate worship. Our guest speaker will be the Dr. John Adolph of the Antioch...

It was a long but good day. I praise God for all that he is doing in and through the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church! Throughout the day, my thoughts have drifted back to the tragedy that took place 10 years ago today. Remembering. Grieving. Praying. I had just fallen to sleep after finishing a sermon for a special prayer meeting we were to have that night. I was knocked-out on the coach. The phone kept ringing. It was my mom, calling to tell me to turn on the TV. Do you remember where you were when you heard the news...

Good day, Shiloh family members. Hope you are having a good week so far. Here are several updates for this week that I want you to be aware of. Midday Bible Study. Today begins our new Midday Bible Study, which will be led by Pastor Brodes C Perry. It starts at noon and will last for one hour. The study will be through “The Journey of a Lifetime,” a yearlong survey through the entire Bible. Pray for this meeting. Come out and participate, if you are able. Midweek Worship Service. Tonight, I plan to continue our material on “How to...

What a great day of worship at Shiloh! I love the Lord Jesus Christ! I love the word of God! And I love the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church! I led a Q&A session during our Bible Study Fellowship hour today. I had a great time teaching my congregation in dialogue. We had a special time of worship and fellowship during our Lord’s Supper observance today. I am grateful for all of the guests who were in worship with us today, including friends from Detroit and the Williams family reunion. God be praised for all our volunteers who served today. The...

He was in the wilderness. He was exhausted. He was hungry and thirsty. He was alone. He was attacked by the Devil. He was armed with the word of God. He was victorious. With confidence in the sacred scriptures, Jesus prevailed against the tempter's deceitful schemes (see Matt. 4:1-11). The Lord defeated Satan with three verses from Deuteronomy. How much more can you and I resist temptation, live obediently, and endure hardship if we get the word of God into our hearts and minds through scripture memorization? There are very few spiritual disciples that are more beneficial than scripture memorization....

I am writing these words from London, where it is Monday morning. When I finish typing this post, I will help to the airport for my flight home. I had a great day of worship with the Loughborough Baptist Church in Loughborough. The city is about an hour’s train ride outside of London. Saturday evening, I stayed with Michael and Katie in their home. Michael is the secretary for the church. Michael and Katie were wonderful hosts. They have been married for 47 years, having met at a Christian youth camp. I enjoyed the conversation. Michael and Katie were shocked...

I am writing this post from London. The Proclaimer’s Place preaching conference in Oxford ended yesterday. Part of the conference this year a festival of African-American preaching, in which preachers from the conference have been assigned to preach in local Baptist churches in the area. It will be my privilege to preach in the morning at the Loughborough Baptist Church in Loughborough, where Michael Tebbatt is the pastor. It is about 150 miles away from where I am presently. So I will be taking the train there soon to preach in the morning. Please remember me in prayer as I...

I am in Oxford, England, participating in the Proclaimer’s Place, led by Dr. Joel C. Gregory. It is four days of study for preaching, with about twenty-five ministers from around the United States participating. Each day, we take a text of scripture and study it together, with a view toward preaching. Yesterday, we studied Exodus 13-17-22. Today we will study 1 Thessalonians 2:1-11. Malachi 3 and Luke 1 will follow in the days to come. I am being refreshed by the study and the fellowship. In baseball, hitters take batting practice and constantly work on their swing. The same is...

What a great day of worship today at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville!I had a good time teaching my new members class today. I have “ditched” teaching the past few weeks. It was great to get back into the saddle. It was our privilege to deliberately remember the Lord Jesus Christ through the celebration of the Lord’s Table today. I led the corporate singing in our services today. We sung “Glory to His Name” and “There is a Fountain.” Two of my favorite Communion hymns! As always, grateful for all of our guests who joined us in worship...

Several weeks ago, I completed a verse-by-verse exposition of the Epistle of James for my congregation at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. My faith was enriched by this personal study. And I trust my congregation was built up in their faith, as a result of hearing these messages. I have been thinking about this series over the past several days - not necessarily the spiritual experience of studying James, but the practicalities of preaching through it. Here are some of my reflections. Why James? I love the Epistle of James. I think it is James’ “in your face” style of...

Saturday morning, I taught a seminar at our church on “How to Study the Bible for Yourself.” It was well attended. And it was great to see the enthusiasm of the members about study the word of God. In typical H.B. fashion, we did not complete half of the twenty pages of notes I prepared. So we will plan a follow session for sometime soon. My family returned home from Los Angeles Saturday afternoon. Yes! The suicide watch is over. Thanks for your prayers. We had a great day of worship at Shiloh yesterday. Our Men’s Chorus led the music...