I received my December edition of Christianity Today magazine this week. As as I read through the letter "Readers Write" section, as I usually do, a named jumped out at me - John Piper. Yep. That John Piper.The October 2008 edition of CT featured an article on several prominent churches in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN). John Piper, who pastors the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis and whose congregation was featured in the article, wrote the the following letter to CT in response to the article:     I apologize for a sentence quoted from me in the recent...

Yesterday, I continued my series, "Lost People Matter to God." I preached on the third parable of Luke 15 - the Parable of the Prodigal Son . I labeled the message, "The God of the Wayward Child." Here is the sermon skeleton from Sunday's message: Title: "The God of the Wayward Child" Text: Luke 15:11-24 Series: Lost People Matter to God (Luke 15) Outline: I. The father loved his son so much that he allowed the boy to take advantage of him. A. God does not want you to live for him because of rules. B. God does not want...

In spite of the rain, this has been a wonderful Lord's Day. To God be the glory!I am still dealing with a cough and some chest congestion. But the Lord gave me physical strength and spiritual energy to carry out my assignment today. Thanks for covering me in believing prayer. And praise God for his faithfulness. The women's chorus led the musical praise in our worship services today. And it was great. I really do appreciate the diligent work that Roger Sears - our minister of music - and the entire music team puts into the their preparation for and...

Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles is still updating its website. But they have already made a great improvement. The sermons of George E. Hurtt, the new pastor of MSMBC, are now online and downloadable for free. Since the last Sunday in September, George has been preaching from the book Psalms. I encourage you to take advantage of MSMBC's generosity and take a listen to George's sermons. You will be greatly blessed. click here for to access George's messages. Continue to pray for George and the entire leadership and membership of Mt. Sinai.

I am fighting off a cold. And I blame Jacksonville! I thought I was moving to sunny Florida. And it is. Sunny. And cold! This past week, the temperature rose and dropped from day to day. It was in the 30's at points. And by the end of the week, I was fighting off cold symptoms. Who knew that I would need a big overcoat in Florida? But several members of Shiloh have informed me that Jacksonville is not Florida. It's south Georgia! Now you tell me. Yesterday, I continued my series on Luke 15 - "Lost People Matter to...

The McChurch has replaced the traditional church and its relational values. Fast-food Christians pull up to ecclesiastical drive-through windows, order the McGroups, consume the experience and then drive off, discarding relationships like burger wrappers on the highway of life. Savvy church growth pastors quickly learned that significant growth can occur if a church learns how to market it burgers to capture the appetite of this roving crowd. In some instances merely producing an interesting alternative to the status quo can lead to significant church disaffections. - William Chadwick, Stealing Sheep, p. 20 Transfer growth, be definition, creates no numerical growth...

This past Sunday, I began a series of messages on the parables of Jesus recorded in Luke 15. My pastoral concern is that our congregation would have the heart of God toward lost people. And lost people matter to God. So they should matter to us. Here is the sermon skeleton from Sunday's message.   Title: "The God of the Missing Sheep" Text: Luke 15:1-7Series: "Lost People Matter to God" (Luke 15) Outline: Jesus teaches us that lost people matter to God by describing how a good shepherd responds to a missing sheep. I. The Shepherd's Purposeful Neglect (15:4)    A....

Inadvertently, I took a "bye-week" from blogging last week. But I am back and better... Well, let's just leave it at I'm back. I did not do much writing or journaling at all last week. By Saturday, I started going through withdrawal. I can't describe the joy I get from reading and writing. My installation Sunday was the first Sunday this year that I have not preached. Through relocating MSMBC, having a baby, and transitioning to Jacksonville, I have been in the pulpit to preach every week. I really think that my mind needed the mental break from sermon preparation....

Grace to You, the radio and television teaching ministry of John F. MacArthur Jr., Pastor-Teacher of the Grace Community Church in Sun Valley (CA) has recently taken a great step of faith and generosity by posting all of the sermons of John MacArthur for free download. Yes. You read the previous sentence correctly. John MacArthur sermons. Available online for download. Free! I can't believe it. Praise God that the teachings of one of the great expository preachers/teachers of our generation will be available in this way to be a blessing to some many people. Click HERE to get to the...

We had a warm and uplifting worship service last night. Pastor Maurice Watson preached a timely and powerful message. I trust that anyone who was listening with an open heart and mind was challenged by the message to trust God in a greater way. And I believe the Lord was glorified. But something was went missing.It was not until after the service was over that it dawned on me that I had commit a big oversight. Nothing whatsoever was mentioned in the service about the historic presidential election that had taken place this past Tuesday. And this oversight has offended...

Thank you Shiloh for your prayers, support, and encouragement, during these days in which I am learning you and you are learning me. I am glad and proud to be your pastor. What a church! Yesterday was the first Sunday of November. Practically speaking, this year is over. Better start preparing for 2009. Crystal and I were thrown off Sunday morning. Our clocks and phones changed the time automatically. But we thought we had the extra hour when we woke up. I am glad we straightened that out before we ended up missing the 8 AM service. Praise God for...

How do you view the Lord’s Supper? Do you see it as some ritualistic, man-made, and unnecessary tradition? If so, let me encourage you to look again. Look beyond the symbols and see the meaning, beauty, and significance of Communion.Look up in worship. The Lord’s Supper is one of the two ordinances of the Christian church, the other being baptism. These ordinances are sacred rituals that the Lord Jesus has commanded us to practice as a matter of faith and worship. The Lord commands us to practice Communion to make an important point about our salvation: God did it all!...