Whatever you do, work hardily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. - Colossians 2:23-24 (ESV) Have a happy, safe, and blessed Labor Day!  

Happy 236 Birthday to the USA! We are blessed to live in this young democratic experiment called the United States of America. Pray for our president and all those who are in authority over us. Remember those in the armed forces who sacrifice so much that we may live the liberties we enjoy and sometimes take for granted. Have a great day! God bless.

You have heard of C.M.E. Christians, haven't you? This has nothing to do with a particular denomination. C.M.E. Christians are in every church. They are people who only come to church on Christmas, Mother's Day, and Easter Sunday. Get it? Ironically, C.M.E. Christians are usually not true Christians. They are nominal Christians, at best. They have enough religion to come to church  on these special occasions on the Christian calendar. But you most likely will not see them again... until the day Christian holiday. During weeks like this, we pastors are prone to complain about the many C.M.E. Christians who...

Yesterday was Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. I am very excited! Saturday was our Make a Difference Day. Our members participated in various service projects to show the love of Christ to our community and city. It was a great day of service. Thanks to all of our volunteers. You make it happen! In my Sunday school class, I continued my lesson on the sovereignty of God. I still did not finish the lesson. And I haven’t even got the best part yet! It was great to have all of our guests in worship yesterday. The Appalachian State...

I am in Los Angeles.I flew in to attend the annual Prayer Bowl, hosted by Pastor Melvin Wade and the Mt. Moriah Baptist Church of Los Angeles. The Prayer Bowl is a daylong service of preaching – one sermon after another that Mt. Moriah has hosted at the beginning of the year for almost 30 years. I have attended it since I was a boy. And I preached in it every year until I moved to Jacksonville.I am not here to preach. I just want to attend and be preached to. But Pastor Wade warned me that I need to...

When the Holidays are not HappyBy H.B. Charles, Jr. The holiday season – Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years – is a special time for many people. It is a time of celebration. Family and friends come together that may not have seem one another for a while. Wonderful meals are enjoyed. Gifts are shared. Affirming traditions are practiced. No wonder so many people look forward to the year-end holidays all year long. But this is not the case for all. There are also many people who find the holidays to be a time of grief and sorrow. My father was...

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his should, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this." - Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV) From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

May you have safe and enjoyable holiday and weekend. God bless. hbc2

It is the end of a long, good day. I am winding down now, preparing for bed. At this point, it’s been more than twenty-four hours since I have slept. I pulled an all-nighter last night to finish my message for our Thanksgiving Day service this morning. My message was on the story of Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9. I was going to call it, “Surprised by Grace.” I did not get to preach my message this morning. Our Thanksgiving service is the one service of the year our congregation has open-floor testimonies. The past several years, I have been...

I had a rather long flight home yesterday from Detroit. It was scheduled to be almost five hours. But we were delayed in leaving Detroit, because of the weather. And it was a turbulent flight the whole way here. And once we neared LAX, we were diverted because of weather and air traffic. So the flight went way past five hours. It was exhausting. And my sinuses were bothering something terrible. When I landed, I took something for my sinuses, and it put me to sleep (as usual). By the time I woke up, it was 5 PM. And I...

It was good to be back in my own pulpit this past Sunday. In my Sunday School class, I finished the opening lesson of my new series on the one another" commands of the New Testament. The lessons was on "Loving One Another." This coming Sunday, I intend to continue to the series with a lesson on "Forgiving One Another." In our worship service, I preached the ninth part of my series on the Ten Commandments: "Tell the Truth" (Exodus 20:16). I plan to preach the final message of this series on the fourth Sunday, after we get past Holy...

Happy New Year! "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." - Numbers 6:24-26 (ESV)