I have just begun reading Essential Church?: Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts by Thom S. Ranier and Sam S. Rainer III. Actually, I started it about two weeks ago. But I just finished the first chapter tonight. I got stuck in opening paragraphs of the first chapter. I am not big on statistics. And when writers, particularly Christian writers, start building arguments on statistical studies, I get turned off. But this sentence gripped me: "More than two-thirds of young churchgoing adults in America drop out of church between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two!" (p. 2) For some reason, I...

The Lord richly blessed our final worship services of 2008 at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville. This last Sunday in December marked the completion of three months since I began in full my work at SMBC. The Lord has blessed these opening months of my new work in a great way. I could not ask for me and definitely do not deserve any better. I pray that 2009 will be a fruitful year of ministry and that God will be pleased to use Shiloh as a place where many lives are changed to his glory! I preached today...

Yesterday I preached on the prayer of Agur in Proverbs 30:7-9. It is the only prayer recorded in the book of Proverbs. Here is the sermon skeleton: Title: "The Wise Prayer of a Weak Man" Text: Proverbs 30:7-9Theme: A pray for a Godward life Point: Wise people confront their spiritual weaknesses through prayer. Introduction: You can learn a lot about a person by listening to him or her pray. So I want to introduce you to a man named Agur by way of the prayer that he prays. Proverbs 30:1 is the only place in the Bible where the name...

My Master God, I am desired to preach today,     but go weak and needy to my task; Yet I long that people might be edified with divine truth,     that an honest testimony might be born for thee; Give me assistance in preaching and prayer,     with heart uplifted for grace and unction. Present to my view things pertinent to my subject,     with fullness of matter and clarity of thought,     proper expressions, fluency, fervency,     a feeling sense of the things I preach,     and grace to apply them to men's consciences. Keep me conscious all the...

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...