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!...

Phillip Brooks has famously defined preached as "truth through personality." This is a simple enough definition. Yet, at the same time, it is rather complex. Of course, the complexity of this definition has nothing to do with the place of truth in preaching. That matter is pretty clear. It's a black-and-white issue. There is nothing ambiguous about it. True preaching must proclaim the truth. And, as Jesus declared to the Father in John 17:17, "Your word is truth." The word of God is the truth. And faithful preaching must "tell the truth" as it is revealed by the word of...

"And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding." - Jeremiah 3:15 (ESV) Next week, we will hold our installation services at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church, in which we will affirm God's work in bringing us together as pastor and people. And we will, of course, pray God's blessings on the work ahead that the Lord has called us to. On next Wednesday, November 5, Dr. Maurice Watson, pastor of the Beulahland Baptist Church of Macon/Warner Robbins (GA) will be our guest speaker at 7:15. On Sunday, November 9, my adopted...

We had a good day of worship at Shiloh. Both services were a blessing to be a part of and, more importantly, I believe God was glorified. Shiloh is the first church I have worshiped in that has all-male ushers. This is totally new to me. But it is a great thing to see so many men actively serving in church. May their tribe increase. No apologies. I was greatly encouraged to have the youth choir participate in the 10 AM worship service. I don't know what to say but praise the Lord. I preached on one of my favorite...

Consider Charles Haddon Spurgeon's comments Paul's instructions to Timothy concerning his books: "When you come, bring the cloak that i left you Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments" (2 Timothy 4:13, ESV) He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has been preaching at least for thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He had been caught up in the third heaven, and had heard things which it was unlawful...

There are two primary reasons why you ought to pray. The first is obedience to duty. That is, we should pray because the word of God commands us to pray. Period. The second reason why you should pray is more pragmatic: Prayer works! God answers prayer. It pleases God to meet the needs of his children through the means of believing prayer. But while answered prayer is one of the great motivations to pray; unanswered prayer can discourage your prayer life. If your prayers are not being answered the way you desire, I recommend that you do two things. You...

I know. It has been a week since I have published a post. But contrary to popular belief, it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the Cowboys lost last week. It has just been one of those weeks when I stayed on the run to keep up with my schedule. Hopefully, I won't be so far behind this week. Sunday was a great day of worship at Shiloh Church. God richly blessed our Lord's Day services. My mom came in from Oklahoma City to spend the weekend with us. And she led the pre-sermon solo in both...

We had a good day of worship and fellowship at Shiloh Church. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the great way the Lord is blessing these opening weeks of our life together as pastor and people. I began a little mini-series on the two parables on prayer that Jesus tells in the Gospel of Luke. I preached a message from Luke 11:1-13, which I called "God Is Not A Sleepy Friend." I plan to complete the series this coming Sunday with a message on Luke 18:1-8, which I intend to call, "God Is Not a Crooked Judge." I sat in...

I was unpacking boxes in my study earlier this week. And I opened a box that was filled with pictures, awards, and trophies. I rummaged through it a little and found a frame that I had not seen in some time. I immediately pulled it out and placed it on the shelf behind my desk. It is my personal mission statement. I began thinking about having a personal mission statement some years ago, as I was reading Steve Farrar's book, Finishing Strong. It's a book for men about living with integrity and leaving a legacy. I don't remember Farrar recommending...