Today was a good day of worship. I was glad to be in the service one more time. I finally finished Lesson #11 in my New Members Class. I know my class members are class that we finally finished that lesson after more than four weeks. I really enjoy teaching the New Members Class. Our children’s choir sung during our 10 AM service. It was great. Natalie helped to lead one of the songs. She does not get her singing from her mother! I felt such a sense of the presence of God in our service this morning as our...

It is always a great joy and privilege to celebrate both baptism and the Lord’s Table in corporate worship. In New Members Class, I continued teaching on the church. The focus on my study was on the mission of the church recorded in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. I continued my study of the book of Philippians, preaching from Philippians 2:12-13. I entitled the message, “The Ins-And-Outs of Christian Living.” Next Week’s text: Philippians 2:14-18. Most likely, it will take me two messages to get through this passage. We’ll see. Praise God for those who were saved and added...

Today was long but rich and blessed day. The Lord was gracious to smile on our worship services today at Shiloh. Thank you for praying for me, as I have not been feeling well this week. I am still having up and down days. But I am grateful that the Lord has been giving me strength to preach at the appointed times. Please continue to pray for me and my health. And pray that the Lord will give me wisdom to follow doctor’s instructions and my boss’ commands - Crystal! Our youth and young adults choirs led the music in...

Long day. Good worship. Important message. Hard work. Totally exhausted. I am grateful to God for the privilege he has given me to shepherd the saints at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. The Lord richly blessed our Vacation Bible School. Forty-three young people took of step of faith to Christ. Praise God! As always, I am grateful to God for the guests who worshiped with us at Shiloh yesterday. In New Members Class, I continued my study of the church. I spent our time focusing on Matthew 18:15-20. It was a good time of study. I began my study of Philippians...

We had a good day of worship at Shiloh yesterday. I have a “hard saying” to preach. But as the saying goes, difficult texts make good preachers. If so, I became a better preacher for struggling with the text this week. And I pray that the church was made the better for hearing the word. One the practical benefits of verse-by-verse exposition is that it forces you to deal with passages and subjects that you would otherwise avoid. This discipline helps us to preach the whole council of God, not just our favorite subjects. Praise God for those who were...

It was good to be home and back in my own pulpit this morning. I missed being in worship with Shiloh last Lord's Day. And I am thankful that the Lord allowed me and my family to get home safely and be reunited with our church family. This was my first 4th of July weekend in Jacksonville. I did not know what to expect this morning. I was pleasantly surprised. We celebrated both Christian ordinances - baptism and the Lord's Supper in worship this morning. What a blessing! I resumed teaching my new members class today. We discussed one my...

I am in Los Angeles. My wife and kids have been here for several weeks, visiting family and friends. I planned to come last week for two days. However, I decided last Wednesday to stay over the weekend with my family. I am glad I did. When my friend and brother, George Hurtt, found out I would be in town over the weekend, he invited me… No, scratch that. He insisted that I preach for him Sunday morning. Sunday morning, it was my great privilege and signal honor to minister to the word to the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church....

I woke up Sunday morning, thinking about my father. And the first question I asked myself was, “Do you really feel like going to church today?” No, I did not ask, “Do you feel like preaching?” I didn’t feel like going to church. Thank God I did not give my feelings an opportunity to answer that questions. By the time my day was over, my “bandwagon” feelings had jumped on board. It usually happens that way. I praise God for the good man and faithful preacher that God blessed me with as a father – H.B. Charles Sr. Saturday, we...

We had a good day in worship and fellowship at the Shiloh Church today. We recognized our 2009 graduates in our 10 AM service today. And after the service, there was a luncheon for the graduates and their families. I was glad to attend. We had quite a few guests in worship with us today. A family rejoice. A class reunion. And worship studies class members. It was a joy to have them fellowship with us in worship. I missed my New Members Class today. I ditched my study of Philippians this week and preached from Romans 5:3-5. I entitled...

First Sundays! I love them. The celebration of the Lord’s Table and Baptism are always special times in the life of the church. We showed a brief clip from our Make a Difference Day several months ago. And I continue to praise God for the way the Lord blessed us to be a blessing to others. May the Lord continue to use SMBC to be a lighthouse in our community and throughout the nations in these dark times. (Thanks to our media team for your work on the video.) Members of the graduating class of Clara White Mission’s culinary school...

Today was another long but blessed Sunday. The worship services were rich at Shiloh today. Praise God for another wonderful Lord’s Day. Our Women’s Chorus sung in our two morning worship services. Thank God for all the women who served us by leading us in musical praise today. I taught our mass Bible Study Fellowship today. I did an exposition of 1 Peter 2:1-3 – “A Call To Spiritual Growth.” In our worship services, I continued my exposition of Philippians today with a message on Philippians 1:14-18, which I entitled, “Facing Friendly Fire.” Next Sunday’s text: Philippians 1:19-21. Praise God...

I was quite sentimental yesterday. I had spent the week preparing to preach on the ironic providence of God. All the while, I could not forget that it was Memorial Day weekend 2008 when I first met the leaders and members of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. Boy does time fly! I remember meeting with various leadership groups that Saturday. Later that evening, I talked to Crystal about how my day went. She asked, "Well, what do you think?" I replied, "I think I have two sermons to preach in the morning. And then I am coming home to get back...