People have short attention spans. You cannot preach long series any more. It is best to keep sermon series short – six weeks at the most. Many who preach and many who teach preaching have concluded that society in general and congregations in particular have short attention spans. Churches cannot endure long sermon series anymore, they say. This conclusion is stated as an irrefutable fact. And it goes unchallenged. But is it true? Every pastor must make a personal decision about how long to spend on a particular book, theme, or biography. And there are many factors that go into...

It was coooooold yesterday!!! We had a good day of worship at Shiloh. Thanks for your continued prayers and many expressions of kindness as Crystal recovers from her surgery. Please continue to cover her with your prayers. Throughout the day, I was praying for three pastors I know of around the country who were beginning officially started new churches yesterday. I was also praying for the Diamond family and the Abyssinia Church, who funeralized their long time pastor, Dr. Tom Diamond, Saturday morning. I really enjoyed my time with the New Members Class yesterday. We discussed the good news of...

CRYSTAL UPDATE: Crystal is having good days and some bad days. But, overall, her recovery is progression with no major complications. Thanks, again, for your prayers, concern, and support. Today is Reformation Sunday. By grace alone! Through faith alone! According to scripture alone! In Christ alone! To the glory of God alone! We have a good day of worship at Shiloh today. Grateful for the guests we had in worship today. I even met a guest who watches our services from Canada. Way cool. We sung “Come Thy Fount Of Every Blessing” as a congregation this morning. Glorious! Our women’s...

CRYSTAL UPDATE: Thanks for your ongoing prayers for Crystal. She still cannot move around much. But there have been no complications from her surgery. And her recovery is coming along as scheduled. Praise God. Good day of worship at Shiloh yesterday. Our youth and young adults led the music yesterday. Good job. Thankful for all of our guests yesterday. God bless the families who participated in our parent-child dedication yesterday. I began a new series on the Epistle of James yesterday. I preached from James 1:1-4 and called the message, “Taking Advantage of your Trials.” I have been looking forward...

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for my family this past week. Crystal surgery this weekend was a success. I brought her home late Saturday night. Please continue to pray for her that she will have a full and speedy recovery. Thanks, again, for all of your kindness and concern. Two of Crystal’s adopted mothers – Beverly and Lisa – came to town from Los Angeles to be with her. I am grateful for what their presence has meant to Crystal. Praise God for those who were baptized today. Our music department was on fire today....

Good day of worship and fellowship at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. Grateful for all the guests who joined us in worship. Our children's choir led in song during our 10 AM service. Our mass choir looks beautiful in their new robes. Carlton Burgess led the song of preparation at 10 AM. His medley of old hymns was moving. Praise God for those who were baptized. I preached a message from Hebrews 10:24-25 that I entitled "Assembly required." I argued that Christian assembly is required for all Christians. I am very passionate about this subject. I believe that growing Christians much...

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS (Ephesians 1:3) Ephesians 1:3-14 records what is called THE HYMN OF GRACE. It is so because scholars tell us that these verses record an actual hymn of praise that was sung in worship by the early church. Whether or not this is true, the content of this passage is still accurately labeled a hymn of grace. In the original Greek text, these twelve verses comprise only one sentence, even though no English versions translate it that way. In some remarkable way, this complex passage was one simple exclamation of praise in Paul’s mind. And this high praise...

Matthew 6:19-21 marks a transition in THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. In the first half of this chapter, Jesus explains how righteous people practice religion. Verses 1-4 address how righteous people give. Verse 5-15 address how righteous people pray. Verses 16-18 address how righteous people fast. In the later half of this chapter, Jesus moves from warning his disciples about the consequences of hypocrisy to calling his disciples to embrace the values of the kingdom of heaven. Verses 19-34 make it clear that true righteousness transcends religious activity. To be a citizen of the kingdom is to adopt a countercultural...

So there I was in a worship service at the National Baptist Convention in Kansas City last week. Between messages, during the offering, the woman sitting next to me said to me, “Now you know you should not be playing with your phone during worship.” I explained that I chose to use the Bible on my phone and that I was simply following along with the text during the sermon. She accepted my explanation but added that using the Bible on my phone is a temptation to check emails or do something else in church. All I could say was,...

The longer a congregation exists, the more concerned it tends to become with self-preservation - and the less concerned with its original purpose. Time, money, staff, and even the prayers become increasingly inward-focused. The result, not surprisingly, is that the church stops growing. The foremost principle says that leaders must keep, or turn, the focus of their church away from themselves and back to their primary goal -and Christ's primary goal - of making disciples. This happens through prayer, engaging the Bible, programming, budget, staffing, and evaluating all the church's ministries on their contribution to increasing the number of Christian...

There are very few experiences like Sunday morning at the Shiloh Church. As always, I am grateful for the guests who were in worship with us at Shiloh. Shiloh is filled with many very kind people. It is very encouraging. Bless God for those who expressed their faith in Christ through water baptism yesterday. Praise God for our children's choir who led us in musical praise during our 10 service. The choir sung the Edwin Hawkins version of “God Will Take Care Of You.” Yes!!!I finished my little series on the book of Ruth with a message on chapter 4...

I was on a flight this week that ran into an extended patch of rough air. The turbulence was like being on a roller coaster, as the plane bounced up and down. For the record, I hate roller coasters. I kept reading as the plane danced a jig, until I heard a scream. A young lady, sitting nearby with her mother, cried out in fear. It was her first airplane flight. And she was overwhelmed by the turbulence, clutching onto her mother for dear life. I understood. I smiled. I continued reading. May the Lord help me to be that...