Saturday Shout-Outs is my weekly "bulletin board" of things I have read or noticed over the course of the week. Merry Christmas! Thanks for reading my blog this week. And thanks for your comments. You can sign-up for email updates of future posts under the picture to the left. Shout-out to Roger Sears and the music department of the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church for a wonderful Christmas Musical this past Wednesday night! Check out my interview with Dr. Rudolph Waldo McKissick Sr. - Part 1 and Part 2. I found a new Spurgeon app: Daily Faith. It's free until the...

Here is part 2 of my conversation with Dr. Rudolph Waldo McKissick, Sr. Dr. McKissick is the Senior Pastor of the Bethel Baptist Institutional Church in Jacksonville, where he has served for 46 years. He shares pastoral responsibilities with his dynamic son, Rudolph McKissick, Jr. Dr. McKissick is a gracious man, full of wisdom, who loves the Lord and his people. Check out Part 1 of the McKissick Interview. Enjoy this second half of our conversation. Did you find this interview helpful? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

Dr. Rudolph Waldo McKissick Sr. is a legend in the Jacksonville church community. Dr. McKissick has been a part of one church all of his life - the historic Bethel Baptist Institutional Church. It is the church where his family attended when he was a child. It is the church where he met the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the church where he began his ministry. It is the church where he has served as senior-pastor for 46 years. The Lord has used Dr. McKissick to lead the Bethel Church from strength to strength. He has been a respected spiritual...

Today is my wife, Crystal's, birthday. Actually, December is Crystal’s month. Last week was our wedding anniversary. Next week is Christmas. And today is her birthday. Whew! I am grateful to be married to such a wonderful, beautiful woman. She is the heart of our home. And the love of my life! I am who and where I am because of her love, friendship, and support.  Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. – Proverbs 31:30  Happy Birthday, Sunshine!

Notes from Sunday is my weekly recap of my Sunday in worship and how my favorite teams and athletes did over the weekend. Twenty-two years ago today – December 16, 1990 – I was installed as the third pastor of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in Los Angeles. It seems like yesterday. I am too young to have pastored for 22 years! I continued my study of 1 Timothy 2:11-12 in my Bible Study Fellowship group today. We discussed the question, “May Women Teach or Lead Men in Church?” I really enjoy teaching this group. Our BSF groups ended today for...

Saturday Shout-Outs is my weekly "bulletin board" of things I have read or noticed over the course of the week. Thanks for reading my blog this week. You can sign under the picture to the left to receive email updates of future posts. Thanks for the well wishes to Crystal and I, as we celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary this week. A big shout-out to the staff, leaders, and volunteers of the Shiloh Church for your service during the Clark Sisters concert this weekend. Thanks for reading, commenting on, and sharing my post: "On Being a Guest Preacher"  Shout-out to Michael Duduit and...

Today, December 12, 2012, I am blessed to have been married to my wife, Crystal, for 14 years! Last night, our daughter Natalie noted that this was an extra special anniversary, in that it is 12/12/12, which will not happen for another 1,000 years. Way cool. Crystal and I met in high school. She was in the 10th grade. I was a senior. We were in Coach Williams’ 4th period World History class. We were taking this class for the same reason. It was the easiest class at Los Angeles High School. Think about it. A class on world history....

I am a local church pastor, who is often invited to preach. I am invited to speak at schools, conferences, and other such events. But I am most often invited to speak for other local churches. I do not take these opportunities lightly. Neither should you. A pastor’s primary responsibility is to be a faithful steward of the pulpit with which he has been entrusted. He is charged before God to preach the word. He is also accountable for what others teach from his pulpit. Therefore, it is a serious matter when a pastor invites someone to preach, be it...

It was another good day of worship at the Shiloh Church. In my Bible Study Fellowship group, I continued my study of 1 Timothy 2:8-15. Today’s lesson addressed verses 11-12, the most controversial part of the text. I only got through the introduction, during which I sought to make five points: All Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16-17) Proper rules of interpretation must be employed to understand the Bible correctly. Women are not inherently inferior to men. Men and women share an equal standing in Christ (Gal. 3:28). God designed men and women to have different roles in the home...

Saturday Shout-Outs is my weekly "bulletin board" of things I have read and noticed over the course of the week. I thank God for the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church! Make sure you read the post I wrote this week On Sermon Introductions. Also check out the Keelan Atkinson Interview. I posted the manuscript of a sermon I recently preached, "When Duty Calls" (Luke 17:1-10). Congratulations to my friend, Lance A. Mann, on his new assignment as Pastor of the St. Luke Baptist Church in Crockett, Texas. A big shout-out to my friend, Ray Pritchard, who agreed to write the foreword...

The takeoff is arguably the most important part of the flight. Sprinters work to get a strong jump from the blocks to win the race. And the introduction is key to preaching a strong message. I typically introduce my sermons in a traditional manner. I read the text first. I give the title of the sermon. Then I formally introduce the message. Others give the introduction before they read the text and state their title. Whichever way you begin your message, a strong introduction is essential, necessary, and beneficial. Here are nine ways to get your sermon off to a...

Keelan Atkinson is the founding pastor of the Word Fellowship Reformed Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC. I have known Keelan for some years now. He is a diligent student and faithful preacher of the word of God. Originally from St. Louis, Keelan is a product of Covenant Theological Seminary. He planted Word Fellowship several years ago. It is a God-intoxicated, Bible-saturated, Gospel-loving church. In this interview, Keelan discusses his testimony, ministerial call, and pastoral experience. We also talked about Reformed Theology. Keelan is one of the first brothers I knew personally who fully embraced the Doctrines of Grace. We have...