It was a cold but beautiful day in Jacksonville and a warm day of worship at Shiloh. As always, I am grateful for the guests who joined us in worship today. Our choir really lifted us in worship today. I am grateful for their ministry. I preached a message today from Philippians 4:6-7 that I entitled “God’s Answer for Your Anxiety.” Here is God’s answer for your anxieties: Pray your worries away! Don’t worry. Pray. Turn your worries into prayers. Take everything off of your worry list and put it on your prayer list. Bring all of your worries –...

Let me begin with a note from Saturday. On December 12, my wife and I celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary. How time flies! I am unspeakably grateful for the precious gift the Lord has given me in Crystal. She has been a consistent channel of the love and grace of God in my life. And our relationship has been both a God-given means and motivation for sanctification. I married way out of my league. And being married to Crystal inspires me to keep striving to be a better man. I love her. I thank God for our marriage and all...

We emphasize world missions and local outreach on fifth Sundays at Shiloh. Praise God for those who set aside a gift to share toward our mission and outreach efforts. A big “shout out” (see, I can be hip, too) to Henry Meyers for sharing with us today about the work of Mission Harvest America. Our Sunday morning Bible Study Fellowship groups are studying through The Fundamentals of the Faith workbook (produced by Grace Community Church in Southern California and published by Moody). I am encouraged by the reports I am receiving of how our members are learning and growing. 3...

Praise God for another Lord’s Day in worship at the Shiloh Baptist Church. I taught my New Members Class for the first time in two weeks. It was good to be back in the saddle again. Thank Deacon Brinkley for filling in. The choir sung one of my favorite Thompson Community Singers songs this morning – “I Tried Him And I Know Him.” (Does anyone remember all the great "Tommies" songs that Kim McFarland led?). It was very encouraging. I continued my study of Philippians today with a message on 3:15-19 that I called, “The Importance of Christian Fellowship.” I...

This past week, we celebrated our first year together as pastor and people at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville.It is hard to believe that a whole year has past since I was installed as the pastor of SMBC. It really does seem like it was just yesterday. It has been a year in which God has proven himself faithful, as always.I am grateful, humbled, and overwhelmed by the goodness of God in sending me to such a loving people, who appreciate the word of God, and who are willing to follow leadership, and our eager to reach lost...

Today was a warm, beautiful day in Jacksonville. And the Lord blessed us with a wonderful day of worship at Shiloh.I am grateful for all the guests who were in worship with us today.In new members class, I taught on "What Shiloh Expects From You." I plan to list the seven points of the lesson in a post later this week.Our choir sang up a storm today. It was rich. And the pre-message solo really set the tone for the preaching of the word.Our elementary choir also led us in music today. As always, I praise God for the participation...

I love first Sundays. The celebration of the Lord's Supper is a special time in the life of our congregation. Today was no different.I am grateful for our deacons and deaconess who serve quietly and diligently to make the Lord's Supper (and baptism) a meaningful time of worship and fellowship.I was out of town last Sunday. So I think I was additionally excited about being in worship today with my own church family.In my new members class, I taught on "What You Can Expect from Shiloh," sharing some of our fundamental doctrinal convictions and spiritual priorities. The time seemed to...

I was in Chicago yesterday to preach the 5th pastoral anniversary services for Pastor Romell Williams and the Lilydale Progressive Missionary Baptist Church. Romell and I have been friends for some time. I preached for his installation services six years ago. And have preached every year since then, last year being the exception. The day of his anniversary last year was my first Sunday as pastor of Shiloh. He graciously understood. Not every did when my schedule abruptly changed. It was a honor to be invited to be a part of this celebration again. It was good to be with...

My Saturday morning bled into my Sunday morning. Not a good thing. It was a rainy morning here in Jacksonville. But I glad that many saints of SMBC pressed their way to worship anyway. The musical praise in worship today was very uplifting. I am grateful for all who serve the Lord in our music department and worship team. As I taught my new members class this morning, my mind and heart were on the importance of speaking the truth in love among brothers and sisters in Christ in the body-life of the local church. Praise God for the one...

Thank God for another Lord's Day at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. Saturday morning, I spoke at our monthly men's prayer breakfast for the first time. I taught on "What Every Man Needs to Know about Temptation" (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). I enjoyed the time with the brothers of SMBC. And I look forward to next month's breakfast. In my new members class, I taught on "Why the Church?" I was not able to finish the lesson. As I discussed the three marks of a true church, I got caught up in the discussion of the faithful proclamation of sound doctrine. The...

I was really behind in my work this weekend. So I was not able to the NFL preseason game Saturday night, as planned. Of course, Crystal and the kids went without me! And they were treated to a Jacksonville Jaguar defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In New Members Class, I taught on “Overcoming the Enemy,” Basically, I did an exposition of Ephesians 6:10-20. As always, it was great to have our youth choir and young adult choir lead in the musical praise in our worship services. Yesterday was designated as “Educators Appreciation Day.” We were glad to host local...

Praise God for another Lord’s Day of worship at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. May our times together in corporate worship increasing shape our thinking and behavior so that we may have a transforming influence on the city of Jacksonville and to the farthest reaches of the world. In my New Members Class, I taught on “Meeting the Enemy,” a lesson on what scripture teaches about Satan. This is always an interesting challenge, to say what scripture without speculating. Alongside of eschatology, this is one of the areas of scripture were men are prone to speculate. I tried to faithful...