In light of the national tumult last week, we had a special time of prayer in our worship services at the Shiloh Church yesterday. In fact, it was our joy to swap pastors with our brothers and sisters at the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville. Dr. Mac Brunson sent several pastors to pray and worship with us, as several of our pastors did the same with First Baptist. It was a simple, practical, yet important way for us to stand up for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and stand together in spiritual together during these critical times. NewsJAX4:...

With the filmed police shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge (LA) and Philando Castile in St. Paul (MN), along with the attack on police officers in Dallas, this has been a long, grief-filled, and troubling week. Issues of race, law, guns, class, and politics have dominated the discussions of these matters. However, the solutions to the problems we face in America are only found in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a time for the church to stand up and stand together. We must pray, trust, witness, love, work, and forgive, and sacrifice to faithful ambassadors of...

I finished preaching through the book of Ephesians at the Shiloh Church yesterday. Finally. I fell in love with Ephesians as a teenager, during my first pastorate. Having read Be Rich by Warren W. Wiersbe, I decided to teach through Ephesians during our midweek Bible study. It was my first time teaching through a book of the Bible. Both I and the congregation learned a lot. And I anticipated the day I would preach through Ephesians. Some years later, I preached for Dr. A. Louis Patterson Jr. at the Mt. Corinth Church in Houston. During our time together, I discovered...

Good day! Thanks for reading my blog. I hope you have a happy and safe Independence Day! Check out the article I published this week on preaching: Shooing Flies in the Pulpit Make sure you watch the Jasper Williams Jr. Interview. You can thank me later! Make sure you check out the new national broadcast of Cutting It Straight with H.B. Charles Jr. each Saturday night at 9 PM EST on NRB TV (Direct TV Chanel 378). You can also watch via: Smart TV, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV. And please pray for this new ministry outreach. R. Kent...

Jasper Williams Jr. is one of the most well-known, greatly beloved, and most imitated preachers in the country. The son of a preacher, Jasper Williams trusted Christ and began his public ministry as a six-year-old boy. While attending the Morehouse College in Atlanta, Williams was called to pastor the Salem Bible Church. He has now served the Salem congregation for more than fifty years. During the early years of Jasper Williams’ ministry at Salem, the Lord open doors for his preaching to be heard throughout the country and around the world. Most notably, Williams was a pioneer whose messages were recorded...

I had a strange experience recently. As I preached our 7:45 Sunday worship service, a fly buzzed up to the pulpit. He landed near my Bible. He jumped on the microphone. He sat on my sh oulder. That thing was everywhere! The little fly was a big distraction. I have preached in many churches where a lot of distracting things happen in the service because of open windows. But there are no windows in the church where I serve. So I thought, “Where did this thing come from?” More importantly, I hate bugs! Loathe them. Any of them. All of...

SPECIAL NOTE: I am sorry that we have not posted a sermon manuscript to our mailing list for the past few weeks. Thank you for your patience. We will resume the manuscript newsletter this week. Thank you for picking up a copy of my new book, On Pastoring. And thanks for your kind words and reviews. I am glad you are finding the book helpful. I would love to hear specific chapters of the book that you have found beneficial. And if you get the opportunity, please leave a review of the book on Amazon.com. Thanks again. I had the...

Some preachers take off strong. They get to cruising altitude and pilot the sermon without turbulence. Then they land smoothly at the same airport from which they took off. It was good flight. Homiletical policies and procedures were followed. And the congregation enjoyed the ride so much that it never noticed they did not actually go anywhere. These craft-first preachers are lauded as great communicators. But they fail to preach the word, to the detriment of the crowds that sit under their preaching. Other preachers focus on the God-intended meaning of the text. The process is saturated in prayer for...

Today is the official release of my newest book, entitled, “On Pastoring: A Short Guide to Living, Leading, and Ministering as a Pastor." It is a companion, of sorts, to my previous book, On Preaching. I have been a pastor all of my adult life, serving congregations in California and Florida. I began my first pastorate in 1990 at the age of seventeen, succeeding my father’s 40-plus year ministry at the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. I was senior in high school. Yet this historic, established congregation called me to lead them. I served that congregation for...

Congratulations to my niece, Aysia Smith, on graduating today from California State University in Sacramento! It was a joy to talk in biblical preaching at the inaugural John A. Reed Jr. Institute at the Fairview Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. I was privileged to attend the board meeting of The Gospel Coalition in Chicago. I am speechless with appreciation for the opportunity to be a fly on the wall as a guest. What a blessing! Check out the Stephen John Thurston Interview.  David Prince: Why Legalistic Preaching Doesn't Work Jordan Pickering: Preacher, Teacher, Sunday Entertainer Kent Hughes: Power of Public...

Stephen J. Thurston has been the Pastor of the New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago for thirty-seven years. He succeeded his father, who pastored the church for twenty-two years. Thurston’s grandfather, the founding pastor of the congregation, served the church for twenty-two years. A graduate of the historic Bishop College in Dallas, Pastor Thurston is known for his strong pulpit ministry. A well-respected leader, Dr. Thurston is the former President of the National Baptist Convention of America. In the following interview, Pastor Thurston discusses his Christian testimony, pulpit work, and pastoral ministry. Enjoy! Did you find this interview helpful? Join the conversation...

Happy Mother's Day to my Mother, Ellen Charles! And happy Mother's Day to my wife, Crystal Charles, and the mother of my three terrorists... I mean, children! It was a joy to preach at the Piedmont Bible Conference this week, hosted by Pastor Stoney Enfield and the Prospect Baptist Church in Albermarle, North Carolina. Check out the latest episode of The On Preaching Podcast: Seven Ways to Become a Better Preacher GUEST POST: Book Review of my new book "On Pastoring" (Available June 7, 2016)  Russell Moore: A White Church No More Aaron Earls: 5 Reasons Church Leaders Should Pay...