The Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference began Yesterday on the campus of the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, FL. We are grateful to have a line-up of great speakers and teachers who will teach, model, and promote expository preaching and teaching. Likewise, the staff and volunteers of Shiloh are ready and excited to serve the guests on our campus this week. Much prayer and planning takes place for this event to make it a special time for all who attend. Cutting it straight kicked off with a bang yesterday, Romell Williams, Charlie Dates and Mark Dever were the joint and general session speakers. The only...

A Guest Post by Dr. Eugene McCormick The goal of this Christian Education Track is to help the church to fulfill the Great Commission of making stronger disciples of Jesus Christ.  The track is designed to equip pastors, ministers of education, Sunday School directors and teachers, small group facilitators, or any leader tasked with the responsibility of discipleship development in the church. This year marks the first time that a specific track, dedicated to Christian Education, is being added to the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference menu.   Within this track, under the major theme of “Christian Education Matters,” four...

A Guest Post by Joe Pace Colossians 3:16 teaches us that there is an undeniable relationship between the preaching/teaching ministry and music ministry in our worship.  “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Now to be clear, you can sing without the Word; you can play an instrument well without the Word; you can talk without the Word; BUT you simply cannot worship without the Word!  It is only with the truth of God’s word that...

  I drove to my pastor’s office to tell him I was going to resign my church. He asked what did I plan to do next. I did not have a plan. I told him I may become a talk-show host. It didn’t matter. I just wanted out! I desired to get married, finish my education, and move on with my life and ministry. I had wasted enough of my youth in congregational conflict. My pastor told me he knew what the problem was. I just wanted to get up to preach one Sunday in peace. He warned me, however,...

The pastor lives under a divine charge to preach the word. He does not have the right to proclaim his own message. He is a herald assigned to declare the message of the King. Every pastor has multiple responsibilities. But the pastor’s primary, central, and definitive function is to preach the word of God. A faithful pastor will not compromise the centrality of the pulpit. It is my desire and determination to be a faithful pastor. Therefore, I strive to guard the dignity of the pulpit that has been entrusted to me. How I live, study, and preach are shaped...

As a boy preacher, I had many opportunities to preach, but my father did not allow me to receive an honorarium for my preaching. But it didn’t matter to me. If I had the money, I would have paid pastors to let me preach! These early opportunities taught me not to put a price-tag on my ministry. I remember one of the first times I received an honorarium; it was a couple hundred dollars, but you would have thought it was a million bucks! Not long after, I went to the mall with several friend and I spent all the money...

So What is your vision for this church?  I was not asked this question at my first church. I was the son of the former pastor. I had grown up in the church. I was only seventeen-years-old. They assumed I did not have a vision plan for the church. Or that I did not have vision worth sharing. So they never asked. When I met with the pulpit committee of my present church, however, pastoral vision was a big issue. The committee had no real interest in me becoming their pastor. Yet they still wanted to know, “So what is...

I attended the Together for the Gospel Conference in Louisville for the first time last week. It is a biennial conference for pastors led by Mark Dever, Albert Mohler, Ligon Duncan, and C.J. Mahaney. I have heard about T4G from its inception. I have seen the videos from past meetings. I have purchased the books produced from the messages. I have heard good reports from friends who have attended. But schedule conflicts have prevented me from attending, until this year. I unspeakably grateful that I was able to attend this year. My week began Monday by participating in the Council...

I have pastored two churches. I have also been a candidate for two pastoral vacancies during my ministry. I was not a part of the search process of the first church I served. My name was submitted for nomination from the floor during the call meeting. The congregation unexpectedly selected me as its next pastor. I was initially asked to fill the pulpit one Sunday at the church I currently serve. I was later asked to allow my name to be submitted as a pastoral candidate for the church. The church called me to be its pastor several months later....

November 5, 1990. I ditched school that Monday morning. I had a funeral to preach. For the first half of the year, I preached the 11:00 AM service at my father’s church on first Sundays. But the first Sunday in August was the last time. I preached a sermon that Sunday, entitled, “Waited Time On God Is Never Wasted Time” (Job 14:14).  In a meeting after the service, it was decided that I should not be allowed to preach any more until after the church called a new pastor. I was also asked to meet with pulpit committee. The committee...

My father was H.B. Charles Sr. He pastored the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles for 40 years, until his death in 1989. All I saw my father do was serve the church. Whether I became a preacher or not, my father’s example taught me to associate Christianity with serving others. The Lord called me to preach as a boy. I was 11-years-old when I preached my first sermon. By my teens, I was basically preaching every week. I was 16-years-old when my father died. A year and a half later, I was called to succeed my father...

I was introduced to the young man after a worship service. He had recently moved to the city for work and was looking for a church home. I prayed for him. I also asked him to call my office to set up a time for us to talk. But I was not looking forward to the conversation. I dread “I’m looking for a church home” meetings. Meeting with members is a joy. I wish I could do it more often. I am not pastoral counseling expert. But I view pastoral counseling as the private ministry of the word, corresponding to what...