My first Christmas in Jacksonville was very close to what would have taken place if I was still in Los Angeles. Most likely. I was up quite late on Christmas Eve, editing my sermon. I only got a couple of hours sleep. And I was back up, continuing my preparations for my Christmas morning message. H.B. woke up before everyone else. Typical. Once we woke up the women, we prayed, opened a couple of gifts, and then prepared for worship. Our Christmas morning service at Shiloh Church was great. I was surprised by the attendance. And I was really looking...

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his should, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this." - Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV) From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Yesterday was a good day in worship at the Shiloh Church. It was a long day. But special nonetheless. I praise God for his strengthening grace and unfailing love. Having finished a five-part series on Luke 15 last week, I spent another Sunday in Luke yesterday. I preached the Parable of the Unjust Steward, recorded in Luke 16:1-13. I entitled the message, "Financial Advice from a Dishonest Manager." I enjoy preaching and teaching on financial stewardship. As a pastor, I believe I have a responsibility to lay before my people the way of Christ as it relates to their finances,...

As a Christian, I believe that we live in parallel worlds. One world consists of hills and lakes and barns and politicians and shepherds watching their flocks by night. The other consists of angels and sinister forces and somewhere out there places called heaven and hell. One night in the cold, in the dark, among the wrinkled hills of Bethlehem, those two worlds came together at a dramatic point of intersection. God, who knows no before or after, entered time and space. God, who knows no boundaries took on the shocking confines of a baby's skin, the ominous restraints of...

Today is my wife Crystal's 34th birthday. In the gracious and sovereign providence of God, I have had the privilege of knowing Crystal more than half of her, at this point. And I have had a front-row seat to see her development as a woman, Christian, wife, mother, sister, and friend. Yet she is just as... No. She is even more beautiful now than she was on that first day we met at Los Angeles High School almost twenty years ago. H.B., Natalie, Hailey, and I love you very much. Happy birthday Sunshine!

If the Lord spares me, tomorrow will be a really long day for me. I trust it will be a good day. But it will be a long day, nonetheless. I plan to close out my series on Luke 15, "Lost People Matter to God," in both of the morning worship services at Shiloh. The past two weeks I have preached on the parable of the prodigal son - one week on the lovesick father, one week on the wayward son. This Lord's Day, I intend to focus on the elder brother. I have labeled the message, simply, "Lessons from...

Today is me and Crystal's tenth wedding anniversary!!! We met at Los Angeles High School in 1991. I was a senior. Crystal was in the tenth grade. We were both in Coach Williams' World History Class. Coach Williams, one of the football coaches, had a reputation for having the easiest class. He didn't let us down. Crystal and I would occasionally talk in class. She would ask me if I did my homework. I would answer no. That was it. Crystal was in the same grade as my little sister, Donetta. And I would regularly ask Donetta about her. Some...

We had a great day of worship and fellowship at Shiloh yesterday. Yesterday, I preached the fourth message in my series on Luke 15 - "Lost People Matter to God." The parable of the prodigal son is three-dimensional. A week ago I preached the story from the perspective of the Father. And yesterday I preached the text from the perspective of the rebellious son: "Lessons from the Prodigal Son." The father in the story is an affirmation of the love of God. But the son in the story is an admonition about the life of sin. God willing, this coming...

One morning, as I was walking in the Catskill Mountains in New York, I witnessed an unforgettable sight. I was resting, sitting on a rock by an algae-covered pool. Lazily, while mosquitoes engaged in a never-ending dance close to the surface, I watched the dragon flies dance close to the reeds. A frog sunned himself on a partially submerged rock out in the center of the pool. Suddenly, I was wide awake. Something was happening to the frog. Before my eyes, it collapsed... not falling over, but deflating like a balloon with a slow leak. It finally lay in a...

So learn about Jesus! Follow the sacred counsel of Ezekiel and eat the scroll. Learn about Jesus for His word is a lamp unto our feet (or for our present moments) and a light unto our paths (that is, for our future) amidst moral blackouts and human power failures. Learn about Jesus for what a tragic mindset in the church that many will go here and there to be bigger, better teachers, lawyers, doctors, but when it comes to Christian education, many choose to be mental moral midgets, spiritual shrimps and shorties, religious runts, whose inner growth is stunted from...

Last night we resumed our midweek worship service after the Thanksgiving holiday. And I continued our study of Psalm 119. Last night's text was the tenth stanza of the psalm (there are 22 in all). Last night was the best I have felt physically in the pulpit in two weeks or more. I think I have finally beat this cold. Praise God! I just hope now that I did not give it to the kids. Here is the sermon skeleton from last night's message: Title: "Praying with Confidence in God's Word" Text: Psalm 119:73-80Theme: Praying with confidence in God's word...

Many spiritual leaders find themselves trapped in a church dominated by the surrounding culture of success. Nothing fails like success and that is so true of spiritual leaders who have mimicked models of leadership other than that of Jesus. The leader gets trapped in the "church world's" version of success with its rewards and punishments. The great temptation is to climb the ecclesiastical ladder, but then you find yourself standing on the top of a very short wobbly ladder, and you are sure to fall because there is nothing dependable to hold onto. If the proper markings of success are...