I am a  pack rat. My church staff is trying to go paperless. I just bought a new file cabinet to make room for all the various files I keep. Some are decades old. Not long ago, I found a filed article entitled, “What’s Really Going On?” I won’t mention the name of the author. And you wouldn’t know her if I did. But this article helped save my ministry. It was the early 1990s. And I was getting beat up pretty bad in a church fight. Actually, it wasn’t a fight – it takes two to fight. It was...

The following is a guest post written by my friend Lance Mann  who serves as the Senior Pastor at St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Crockett, TX.  The first Sunday in December 2013 was like every other first Sunday. We arose this morning, attended Sunday School, participated in the baptism of a new member, and had a wonderful time in worship. But in actuality, this really wasn’t like any other Sunday. It was one year ago this Sunday, where I was introduced as the new Senior Pastor of the St. Luke Baptist Church, Crockett, TX. Our transition has had a few “bumps in...

Thanks for reading my weekly bulletin board, Saturday Shout-Outs. You can sign up for email updates of future posts under the picture to the left. Thanks for the kind and warm congratulations as Crystal and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this past Thursday. Check my interview with Dr. R.A. Williams Jr. Hope to see you at the Jacksonville Pastor's Conference 2014! R. Albert Mohler: Nelson Mandela and the Ironies of History Tim Cantrell: How One South African Pastor Prayed Yesterday Ryan Huguley: 5 Ways to Love Your Pastor's Kids Thom Rainer: When a Pastor Receives an Anonymous Letter Mike...

Dr. R.A. Williams, Jr. is the Pastor of the McCoy Memorial Baptist Church in Los Angeles, where he has served for more than 30 years. Pastor Williams is also the President of WHW Ministries, which hosts an annual conference of preaching in Los Angeles that meets in Los Angeles the first week of October ever year. I was a teenager when I first heard Dr. Williams preach. It was a powerful exposition of John 3:16. I followed his ministry afterwards, looking to him as a model of exposition preaching in the African-American church. Without knowing him very well, Dr. Williams...

Today is a blessed day in my life. It is the fifteenth anniversary of my marriage to my Crystal. Crystal and I met at Los Angeles High School. She was in the tenth grade. I was a senior... and a senior-pastor (but that’s another story). We met in Coach Williams’ World History Class. It was the easiest class in the school (Do the math: the football coach was the World History teacher!). Our first (romantic) words to one another were... Crystal: “Did you do the homework?” Me: “Nope. You?” Crystal:  “Me neither.” After that class, we did not see one...

Saturday Shout-Outs is my weekly bulletin board of news, articles, and events. Thanks for reading. You can sign up for email updates of future posts under the picture to the left. Congratulations to my friend Romell Williams and his wife, LaTashia, on their birth of their new son this week! Praise the Lord! Thanks to Pastor W.T. Edmondson for the opportunity to minister the word during the church conference at the Bethlehem Baptist Church in West Point/La Grange, GA. A big shout out to ChurchLeaders.com for posting "What Should You Expect From Your Preacher? by Pastor Charlie Dates. You can...

Happy Thanksgiving! I am planning to finish my series on the Lord's Letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation 2-3. Thanks for your prayers. I plan to wait for 2014 to start my next series. It will be an exposition of the Epistle of Ephesians. Should be fun! Preorder "On Preaching" by H.B. Charles Jr. (May, 2014) Save the Date: Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville (September 24-26, 2014) Practical Shepherding: What is an important reason a pastor should commit and stay in one church? Anthony Carter: Sunday Best  Erik Raymond: Delayed...

Saturday Shout-Outs is my weekly bulletin board of things I have found interesting and worth sharing. Enjoy! A big shout-out to Pastor Charlie Dates for the opportunity to speak this week at the Church Institute at the Progressive Baptist Church of Chicago. I have high expectations for Charlie Dates. And the Lord is doing great things at the Progressive Church. Remember them in your prayers. This week was my last revival of the year. Praise the Lord! Thanks to all the pastors who graciously allowed me to preach the word to your congregations this year. I have blogged since 2005....

A big shout out to the pastors of the Pennsylvania Eastern Keystone Baptist Association for the opportunity to preach their annual session this past Thursday and Friday in Philadelphia. SAVE THE DATE: The Cutting It Straight Exposition Preaching Conference will meet at the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, September 24-26, 2014.  Preaching Today: "A Psalm for Giving Thanks" (Psalm 100) by H.B. Charles Jr. Men of Integrity: Prayer: Don't Give Up! from It Happens After Prayer by H.B. Charles Jr. Check out the Karen Waddles Interview. Thabiti Anyabwile: What I Love About the People in Prosperity Gospel Churches Scott Slayton: If I...

Mrs. Karen Waddles is the wife of Dr. George Waddles, Pastor of the Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago. Karen is also the assistant to the publisher at Moody Publishers, a conference speaker, and contributing author of Our Voices: Issues Facing Black Women in America and the Women of Color in the Bible. She and her husband are the parents of four adult children and nine grandchildren. Her greatest joy is seeing women experience the fruit of God's blessings when they apply the biblical principles of womanhood to their lives. Enjoy the following interview with this wise and gracious Christian sister....

Happy Veterans Days! Thanks to all the veterans who have served our country to protect our freedom. This Sunday was my 5th pastoral anniversary at the Shiloh Church!  May the Lord grant that we will have many more years of fruitful Christian service together as pastor and people. These past five years have definitely not been easy. No pastorate is. But I do not have the words to describe the sense of joy and privilege it has been to serve Shiloh these years. I am a blessed man to serve such a great church! Thanks to the Shiloh pastors, staff,...

SAVE THE DATE: The Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference will take place in Jacksonville - September 24-26, 2014. Thanks for the warm regards this week as we celebrate 5 years of ministry at the Shiloh Church. A big shout-out to our family and friends who have joined us to celebrate this weekend. I am excited to speak at the 2014 JAX Pastors' Conference. Hope to see you there. Don Carson: 6 Reasons Not to Abandon Expository Preaching Aaron Menikoff: Evangelism without an Altar Call ProPreacher: 4 Benefits of Eye Contact in Preaching  Eric Mckiddie: 3 Big Opportunities that Busy...