Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.  In this episode, I want to talk to you about how long it should take to prepare a sermon. Some pastors spend their entire week in sermon preparation. This cannot be a good thing. If you spend all week in sermon preparation, you are neglecting other important pastoral duties. Others spend virtually no time in preparation, cramming on Saturday night to find something to say on Sunday morning. How long should it take to prepare a sermon?  Time to pray. Time to...

During the 2019 Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference, pastor and author, Brian Croft spoke to the pastors about staying put and remaining faithful in a difficult situation. It was arguably the most important message delivered at the conference. Contrary to popular believe, most pastors do not lead so-called "megachurches." The typical pastor leads a small congregation, which is often plateaued or in decline. Many are tempted to quit, looking for greener pastures, or serving with discouragement. Brian Croft, Pastor of the Auburndale Baptist Church and Founder of Practical Shepherding, challenged the pastors to stay put for the long haul...

When Grace Colors Outside the Lines

Each year, during the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference, we pay tribute to a preacher that should be known and remembered. This year, we paused to remember the life and ministry of Warren W. Wiersbe. Warren W. Wiersbe was a preacher's preacher. He was also a laymen's preacher, who made the word of God plain and clear for any person to understand. Above all, Warren Wiersbe was the Lord's preacher, a man of God who served the Lord in his generation and moved upstairs to his final reward on May 2, 2019. Wiersbe was a pastor, serving several churches...

  Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.  In this episode, I interview Brian Croft. Croft is Senior Pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church and Founder of Practical Shepherding. He is also the Senior Fellow of the Mathena Center for Church Revitalization at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and has written or contributed to over twenty books on pastoral ministry. He is married to Cara, and they have four children. I am most encouraged these days by men who have a high view of the church. I am especially encouraged by...

    Thanks for your prayers for Cutting It Straight!  Yesterday was the closing day of Cutting It Straight. Gary Williams Jr., a faithful, longtime pastor in Jacksonville started the day by challenging us to stand and fight when things are difficult, rather than giving up.During our final round of workshops, I taught a class on the basic tips for effective sermon delivery. I am not an expert on sermon delivery. But I take the subject seriously. There are three types of preachers: ones you can listen to, ones you cannot listen to, and ones you must listen to. You...

On Mission for Jesus

  Day 2 of Cutting It Straight is the longest, fullest day of the conference. It was a long but blessed day! The day started with a message by Daniel Henderson on gospel-driven prayer for gospel-driven work (Acts 4:23-31). Henderson leads the 6:4 Fellowship, a ministry that encourages pastors to base their leadership of the church on prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4). In his message, he reminded us why it happens after prayer! During our first breakouts of the day, I led a class on the principles of interpretation. To cut it straight, you must know the...

Cutting It Straight 2019 is off and running! We off of to and blessed start Tuesday (9/17). The conference kicked-off with a challenging and encouraging message from 1 Samuel 14 by  Breonus Mitchell, who leads the Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Nashville. General sessions on preaching, worship & arts, and women's ministry followed. Tony Merida model gospel-centered preaching from Romans 8:31-39. Brian Croft talked to pastors and worship leaders about what it means to gather God's people for worship. My wife, Crystal Charles, gave a talk to the ministers' wives and women's ministry leaders. Crystal loves to lead outreach efforts. She...

  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. – 2 Timothy 2:15   This week (September 17-19, 2019), the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference will take place at the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, Florida, while I serve as pastor. The purpose of Cutting It Straight is to train, model, and promote faithful and clear Bible exposition in the preaching and teaching of God’s word. It also seeks to help ministry leaders develop a biblical philosophy of ministry as they do...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, I want to talk to you about preaching narrative sermons. The vast majority of the Bible is narrative. The drama of redemption is told through the story of people whose lives were invaded by God. If we do not preach narrative texts, we rob our hearers of a key element of the whole counsel of God. How can you preach narrative sermons effectively?  Do your homework. Feel the tension of the text. Teach the story. Build the message around one...

What Defiles a Person?