I am on my way to Los Angeles to speak for three night at the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church, where George Hurtt is the pastor. Yesterday, the Mt. Sinai congregation celebrated its 67th church anniversary. My brother, Kevin Willis, who pastors the New Life in Christ Church in Mississippi, was their guest speaker. The celebration continues tonight with three nights of worship and the ministry of the word. I am honored to have been excited by Pastor Hurtt to be the guest speaker for this meeting. Pastor Hurtt is one of my best friends. And Mt. Sinai is the...

My Saturday morning bled into my Sunday morning. Not a good thing. It was a rainy morning here in Jacksonville. But I glad that many saints of SMBC pressed their way to worship anyway. The musical praise in worship today was very uplifting. I am grateful for all who serve the Lord in our music department and worship team. As I taught my new members class this morning, my mind and heart were on the importance of speaking the truth in love among brothers and sisters in Christ in the body-life of the local church. Praise God for the one...

The modern obsession with "user-friendly" ministry has stoked the fear of preaching into a pervasive phobia. Seminaries these days train men to be storytellers, entertainers, and motivational speakers - and discourage them from dealing with profound of difficult theological concepts from the pulpit. Suddenly "too much Scripture" is deemed a greater homiletical faux pas than a whole sermon with no reference to Scripture whatsoever! Seriously, in some circles it is perfectly acceptable to give a motivational lecture of comedy routine practically devoid of any biblical content, but a verse-by-verse exposition of Scripture would automatically be deemed too weighty and (this...

Last Sunday, I continued my study of the book of Philippians. I covered the first portion of Paul's testimony, in which he discusses his conversion from Judaism to Christianity. What a text! Here is the skeleton from Sunday's sermon. TITLE: “Lay Your Religion Down” TEXT: Philippians 3:4-9 SERMON SERIES: PHILIPPIANS: PARTNERSHIP IN THE GOSPEL THEME: The dynamics of Christian conversion POINT: Lay your religion down! OUTLINE: I. Paul’s past confidence in his flesh (3:4-6) A. Paul boasting about his confidence in the flesh (v. 4) A. A confession (v. 4a) B. A challenge (v. 4b) B. Paul basis for confidence...

Dr. Ray Pritchard the President and featured speaker of Keep Believing Ministries is our guest speaker tonight at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church.Dr. Pritchard, the former pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park (Illinois), is a prolific author, a busy conference speaker, and a well-known blogger. I have benefited greatly from his his teaching, writings, and friendship.It is a great honor to have Dr. Pritchard here to share with our church family. At 6 PM, he will speak to our married couples on, "Love Is Blind, But Marriage is an Eye-Opener." He will also bring the message during our midweek...

Thank God for another Lord's Day at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. Saturday morning, I spoke at our monthly men's prayer breakfast for the first time. I taught on "What Every Man Needs to Know about Temptation" (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). I enjoyed the time with the brothers of SMBC. And I look forward to next month's breakfast. In my new members class, I taught on "Why the Church?" I was not able to finish the lesson. As I discussed the three marks of a true church, I got caught up in the discussion of the faithful proclamation of sound doctrine. The...

I continued my new study of the Sermon on the Mount. I am presently through the Beatitudes of Jesus in Matthew 5:3-12. What a challenge it is to wrestle with the demands of Jesus. My soul is being stretched and my mind is being renewed. I pray the congregation of SMBC is being blessed by the study so far. Here is the sermon skeleton from last night's message: Title: "Strength Through Meekness" Text: Matthew 5:5 Series: The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) Theme: The blessedness of meekness Point: God blesses the person who lives with confidence that God is...

Last week I started a study of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) in our midweek services at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. The first section of the message records the Beatitudes of Jesus (Matt. 5:3-12), in which Jesus announces those who exhibit certain kingdom attributes blessed. Last week, we studied the first beatitude on “the poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3). Last night, the blessing Jesus announces on those who “mourn” (Matt. 5:4). Here is the sermon skeleton from last night’s message. TITLE: “The Blessing of Brokenness”TEXT: Matthew 5:4 SERMON SERIES: The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)THEME: The blessedness...

Tonight, I began a new Wednesday night sermon series through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). I had planned on doing another series, on "Total-Life Stewardship." It was very eager to get that study going. But I just could not get a green light to start it. I trust that the Lord will allow me to get to it at another time. For the meantime, I will be in the Sermon on the Mount for a while. I plan to cover the entire passage. And I do not intend to rush through it. I need to spend this time...

I was really behind in my work this weekend. So I was not able to the NFL preseason game Saturday night, as planned. Of course, Crystal and the kids went without me! And they were treated to a Jacksonville Jaguar defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In New Members Class, I taught on “Overcoming the Enemy,” Basically, I did an exposition of Ephesians 6:10-20. As always, it was great to have our youth choir and young adult choir lead in the musical praise in our worship services. Yesterday was designated as “Educators Appreciation Day.” We were glad to host local...

This past Sunday, I preached from Philippians 2:16-18. I entitled the message, “How to be a Living Sermon.” I labeled the sermon based upon a poem that I had read by an anonymous author. But for some reason, I did not have the guts to quote the poem in either of my two sermon presentations Sunday. But, apparently, I do have the guts to publish it here. So here it is: I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day. I’d rather one would walk with me than merely tell the way. The eye’s a better pupil and more...

Praise God for another Lord’s Day of worship at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. May our times together in corporate worship increasing shape our thinking and behavior so that we may have a transforming influence on the city of Jacksonville and to the farthest reaches of the world. In my New Members Class, I taught on “Meeting the Enemy,” a lesson on what scripture teaches about Satan. This is always an interesting challenge, to say what scripture without speculating. Alongside of eschatology, this is one of the areas of scripture were men are prone to speculate. I tried to faithful...