Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. I am a proponent of having a preaching calendar. Pastors are busy. We need to spend the time we have to prepare in actual preparation, rather than looking for something to preach. A preaching plan helps the pastor develop a healthy and balanced diet of God's word for the congregation. And a preaching calendar can be a tool with which you shepherd the worship life of the church. What should you include in your preaching plan?    Bible Books Thematic Series Christian...

When I meet new people, initial conversations often raise the same questions. It begins with my name. Yes, my name is H.B. No, it does not stand for anything. I don’t know. My father did it to me, and I did it to my son. The next set of questions is about the church I serve. The detail that typically captures attention is that the church I serve is in Florida. The conversation turns to whatever the person thinks about Florida, good or bad. Then I am asked if I was raised in Florida. I answer that I have lived...

    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...

  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...

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. – Ephesians 6:18   January 13-20, 2019 is Prayer Emphasis Week at the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, where I serve as pastor. As a congregation, we start the year seeking God’s guidance, power, and blessings on our lives and ministry work together. We believe it happens after prayer! There are a lot of things you can do to help the situation, after you have prayed about it. But there really is nothing you can do to...

“So, how did you get from Los Angeles to Jacksonville?” I am regularly asked this question. I give the same answer each time: “The Lord dragged me to Jacksonville kicking and screaming.” This is no dig at Jacksonville or the church I serve. It is an honest statement about how my pastoral transition to Jacksonville took place in 2008. I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In a real sense, I was born and raised in a local church there. My father pastored the congregation for 40 years. More than a year after his death, I was selected to...

Each year, during the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference, we share a tribute video about a preacher who should be known and remembered. This year, our tribute video featured my father, the Rev. H.B. Charles Sr. My father was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana. After his education, he relocated to the West Coast. He served the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles for forty-years, until his death in 1989. My father led the Mt. Sinai Church during the critical years of the Civil Rights movement. He was active in community matters in Los Angeles, being a friend of...

  Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison – that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. – Colossians 4:2-4   This week (September 18-20, 2018), the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference will take place at the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville (FL), where I am privileged to serve as pastor-teacher. This is the fifth year of Cutting It Straight....

  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handing the word of truth. – 2 Timothy 2:15   Cutting It Straight | September 18-20, 2018 | Jacksonville, FL    More than five years ago, several friends and I sat up discussing our burden for biblical preaching. Preachers have many conversations like this, trying to fix all of the problems of the world. Well, our conversation did not fix the world. But that conversation did conceive the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference. There are many good...

We are only weeks away from the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference. You still have time to make plans to join us for three days - Tuesday thru Thursday (September 18-20, 2018) - of preaching, teaching, worship, fellowship and encouragement. The Cutting It Straight Conference exists to train, model, and promote biblical preaching and teaching and a biblical philosophy of ministry in the body-life of the local church. Join us!   [embed]https://vimeo.com/287174296[/embed]     Click here to register for Cutting It Straight 2018!     

  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   The Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference is now thirty days away (September 18-20, 2018). We are looking forward to three rich days of biblical preaching, practical training, passionate worship, helpful resources, and spiritual encouragement. We believe it happens after prayer! The Shiloh Church is praying over the next thirty days for God's blessing for the Cutting It Straight Conference. Please join us in biblical prayer for this...

  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   I love the word of God. I love preaching and preachers. And I love the local church. For this reason, I launched the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference almost five years ago.The goal of Cutting It Straight was and is simple and straightforward:   To train, model, and promote biblical preaching and teaching.   Faithful churches start with faithful pulpits. To that end, this conference seeks to...