We had a great weekend at the Shiloh Church as we celebrated our 138^th church anniversary!

Praise God for his faithfulness in sustaining the witness and ministry of this great congregation in Jacksonville for more than a century! And our dreams are even greater than our memories!

Special thanks to our church staff for organizing the events of the weekend. I am glad to have you on our team and appreciate all you do!

Likewise, thanks to all of our volunteers for serving so diligently this weekend. You make it happen!

Saturday, we had a church picnic on the grounds. The weather was good. The food was better. The fellowship was best of all!

During our 10:15 service, we ordained 19 new deacons. It was a special moment in the life of our church.

I preached on “The Importance of Christian Fellowship” from Philippians 3:15-19.

Sermon Point: You need Christian fellowship to become what God wants you to be, fulfill what God wants you to do, and receive what God wants you to have.

I endeavored to give three reasons why true Christian fellowship matters:

1. You need the patterns of Christian fellowship.
2. You need the perspective of Christian fellowship.
3. You need the protection of Christian fellowship.

Philippians 3:19 is one of the most provocative verses in the entire epistle! I don’t know of a greater indictment than to call a person “an enemy of the cross of Christ.”

Praise God for those who were saved and added to the church!

After service, the pastors, deacons, and deaconesses and their families – along with those who have been members of our congregation more than 50 years – had lunch together.

I had no intentions of signing books. But after the 8 AM services, members were emphatic. So we planned an impromptu book signing after to 10:15. I am grateful for the warm response.

God willing, I will resume our study of Daniel with a message on Daniel in the lion’s den (Daniel 6).

The Miami Heat will meet the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. Heat in 5!

Serena Williams won again this weekend!

I am not paying attention to baseball yet. But my New York Yankees seem to be doing well, even with a depleted line-up.

There was boxing on TV this weekend. But I kept missing it. Argh!

How was your Sunday? How did your teams do this weekend? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

Happy Mother’s Day!

A Special Happy Mother’s Day to my wife, Crystal, and to my mother, Ellen.

We had a great day of worship at the Shiloh Church today.

Grateful for all of our guests today. I even got to meet BrothaRollins’ parents. Way cool.

Praise God for the five persons who were baptized today.

Our Genesis Choir (children) sang today.

I preached “God’s Graffiti” from Daniel 5, continuing my series through Daniel.

I outlined the chapter in four movements:

1.  The Foolish Celebration (Belshazzar)
2. The Party Crasher (God)
3. The Uninvited Guests (Daniel)
4. The Tragic Conclusion (Dairus)

I stole this sermon title from my pastor. And I used his lines in the sermon: “Out of the sleeve of the night, came a disembodied hand that started writing graffiti on the wall!” Classic Melvin Wade!

Praise God for those who were saved and added to the church in both of our morning services today!

After both services, I signed copies of my new book, It Happens After Prayer, for members. What a joy! Thanks for the support and encouragement.

I really missed being with my Bible Study Fellowship group the past several weeks.

So the Bulls’ game-1 victory was a fluke. I got the Heat in 5.

Who will the Heat meet from the Western Conference in the NBA finals?

Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova today to retain her #1 WTA ranking and win her 50th tournament.

Tiger Woods won The Players Championship at Sawgrass today. Is Tiger back?

Random Thought: I really wish Christians “personalities” would STOP doing reality TV shows! Please… stop!

How was your Sunday? How did your teams do this week? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

It was a long, good weekend at the Shiloh Church.

Our Saturday morning men’s Bible study was great. Kingdom Man is challenging us.

Our Kingdom-Focused Prayer Meeting was very moving.

Saturday afternoon, we a mass wedding for 14 live-in couples that made the step of faith to get married. Our church adopted them. We counseled them for more than six weeks. And we donated everything for the couples. It was a great experience.

Please continue to pray for these couples.

Shiloh, thanks for your prayers, generosity, and service. You make it happen!

Sunday morning, we celebrated the Lord’s Table in both worship services.

It was great to have our guests in worship.

Our youth worshiped with us to conclude their weekend purity conference. I am excited about what God is doing among the young people at Shiloh. Praise God!

I continued my study of Daniel with a message from chapter 4 that I called, “Only God Is Great!”

Praise God for those who were saved and added to the church yesterday!

Next Sunday’s Sermon: “God’s Graffiti” (Daniel 5)

Between services, I signed copies of It Happens After Prayer for our members. It was a joy. And I am grateful for the encouragement I received.

After our morning services, I flew to Los Angeles to promote my new book,.

I preached last night for Pastor L.A. Kessee at the Bethany Baptist Church of West Los Angeles and signed books afterward.

It was great to see family at the service and members of the Mt. Sinai Baptist Church.

LeBron James won his 4^th MVP award. How dare one writer not vote for him!

While we are at it, you can just give the Miami Heat the championship now.

I am disappointed that the Memphis Grizzlies took down the Los Angeles Clippers.

Will Chris Paul stay with the Clippers? Will Coach Del Negro remain the coach? Will Blake Griffin get a jump shot?

Floyd Mayweather showed no signs of ring rust Saturday night, coming back from a yearlong layoff to win a unanimous decision against Robert Guerrero.

How was your Sunday? How did your teams do this weekend? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

It has been a great weekend of fellowship, service, and worship.

Saturday was our Make A Difference Day at Shiloh. On MADD we blitz our community with works of service to show the love of Christ.

Our Clothes Closet gave away clothes. We fed the homeless. Our Men did yard work for seniors. Our Car Care Ministry did free repairs. Our youth washed more than a hundred cars for free. Our Soul Winning Action Team (SWAT) shared the gospel. And that’s was just on our campus! It doesn’t include the over works our members did across our city. God be praised!

Thanks to all of our volunteers who served during MADD. You make it happen!

Today I preached at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark as it celebrated 20 years of service of Pastor Joe A. Carter.

Joe Carter is my boyhood friend. He is three years older than I am. We both started preaching as boys. His ministry has had a great influence on me. I was honored to be invited to such a special occasion.

I preached two of the three morning services at New Hope.

New Hope Church is the church where Whitney Houston grew up and where her funeral was held. I have preached there for many years. But there choir seemed better than ever today.

I really missed worshiping with the Shiloh Church family today.

A big shout-out to Pastor Charlie Dates, who serves the Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago, for preaching our morning services at Shiloh today. I heard it was a great day.

The Miami Heat swept the Milwaukee Bucks today… without D. Wade. If you want to save some time, we can just give the Heat the championship now.

Down goes the Lakers! Do you think Dwight Howard will opt to stay with the Lakers?

The NFL draft was eventful. The Jacksonville Jaguars made several good picks. What in the world was the Dallas Cowboys doing?

How was your Sunday? How did your teams do this weekend? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

We had a good day of worship at the Shiloh Church today.

In my Bible Study Fellowship group, I taught from 1 Timothy 5:1-16. After general instructions on how to treat everyone (vv. 1-2), Paul focuses on the care of widows. I did not finish the lesson.

Praise God for the seven persons who were baptized today.

Our children’s choir sung today.

Grateful for all the guests we had in worship today.

The Bethune Cookman University Concert Chorale was our special guest today.

I preached Daniel 2: “How God Views the World”

Sermon Point: World history will inevitably end with the triumph of the kingdom of God.

This point unfolds in Daniel 2 in three movements:

1. The Insecurity of Nebuchadnezzar 
2. The wisdom of Daniel
3. The sovereignty of God

Toward the end of the message, I stated it another way: Every thing man builds without God will come tumbling down.

Daniel 2, consisting of 49 verses, is the longest passage I have ever preached. I have a hard time getting my arms around all the material.

Next Sunday’s message: “Don’t Stoop At Standing Time” (Daniel 3). I am stealing that title from my pastor’s message on this text.

Praise God for those who were saved and added to the church today.

The Miami Heat’s playoff run to a second championship will soon begin.

In other news… they can give Lebron James the MVP any time now.

As much as I detest the Los Angeles Lakers, I was saddened to see Kobe Bryant go down with an injury.

I did not see any of the Master’s Championship. But I read and heard that it was filled with intrigue. Who won?

Guillermo Rigondeaux out-boxed the champion, Nonito Donaire, to win a 12=round unanimous decision last night. It was a good, shocking fight.

How was your Sunday? How did your teams do this weekend? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

I love first Sunday’s at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church!

In my Bible Study Fellowship class, I taught from 1 Timothy 4:6-16: “A Good Servant of Jesus Christ.” I really enjoy this class.

We had a good number of guests in worship. It is way cool that our members are inviting guests to Shiloh.

There was music.

We celebrated the Lord’s Supper in both of our worship services.

Praise God for the new members we welcomed into our church family.

I began a series through the book of Daniel. I plan to work through the book chapter-by-chapter. It will not be easy work.

The message was from Daniel 1: “God Is In Control.”

I summarized the chapter under three main headings:

1. God is in control when you are defeated (1:1-7).
2. God is in control when you are tested (1:8-16).
3. God is in control when you are favored (1:17-21).

Praise God for those who were saved and added to the church today.

Next week’s sermon: “How God Sees the World” (Daniel 2).

Pray for Rick Warren and his family in the death of their son, Matthew.

The Los Angeles Clippers swept the season series against the Lakers and won their first division title in franchise history.

Will the Lakers make the playoffs?

The Miami Heat’s Dwayne Wade may sit out until the playoffs. I hope this is not a sign of things to come.

I am picking the Louisville Cardinals to win the NCAA Championship Monday night. Do you dare pick the Michigan Wolverines?

By the way, this weekend was the 20^th anniversary of the infamous Chris Webber time-out call. I was preaching in Detroit that night. I was the only one in the restaurant cheering against Michigan. Then it happened. And I laughed. I didn’t think I would make it out alive.

Baseball season has begun… but not really, until the NBA playoffs conclude.

How was your Sunday? How did your teams do this weekend? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

I had a good Sunday. But I missed worshiping with and preaching to the Shiloh Church.

Thanks to Pastors West Wilson and Donald Lewis for ministering the word to the congregation at Shiloh.

It was my privilege to speak during the celebration of the 50 years Dr. John A. Reed Jr. has served as Pastor of the Fairview Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.

Pastor Reed was one of my father’s closest friends. He was “Uncle John” to me, when I was a boy.

The morning my father died, I was flying home to Los Angeles. Dr. Reed was flying home from Los Angeles, after preaching a week of meetings at my dad’s church. He turned right around and was there for me and with me that week.

After my father’s passing, Uncle John became “Pop” to me. He has been a father figure for me throughout my adult life. He ordained me into the ministry. He helped install me into my first congregation. He gave the message at my wedding to Crystal. He counseled me when I was deciding to move to leave my father’s church for Jacksonville. He helped install me at Shiloh. For more than 15 years, he let me speak at his church’s annual revival.

I often say, “It happens after prayer.” It is the title of my upcoming book. That line is the truth I learned from Dr. Reed.

Dr. Reed, his family, and the Fairview Church have been a great source of support and encouragement through the years. And it was an honor to be with them for this special celebration.

Out the pulpits of my two pastorates, there is no congregation I have preached to more over the years than Fairview. It was a homecoming, of sorts. I enjoyed preaching to this word-loving congregation again.

I witnessed something I had never seen in worship before. At the end of the service, Pastor Reed asked for prayer for his ailing wife. Then he admitted to the congregation that her sickness weighed on him and that he desperately needed their prayers. As he was talking, several members left their seats and came to the altar and began to pray for their pastor. Within minutes, several hundred members literally surrounded their pastor in prayer. That’s what it means to cover your pastor!

After service, a brother thanked me for the live streaming of our worship services at Shiloh. He had surgery and could not attend church for 12 weeks. He got through it, he said, my watching our Sunday morning services. Way cool.

Likewise, a young man came up to me and said, “From a young preacher to an old preacher, thanks for the message.” Old preacher? Who, me?

I had dinner with my mother and younger sister, who both live in Oklahoma City. My mother’s birthday is the day before mine. And this year was the first time in a long time that we did not spend our birthday together. I missed her and was glad to see her, if only briefly.

My Miami Heat destroyed their supposed rivals, the Indiana Pacers, to extend their winning streak to 18 games.

Did you see DeAndre Jordan’s monster dunk?

Well, what do you say? The Lakers have clawed their way into the eighth playoff spot.

I predict the Duke Blue Devils will win the NCAA Basketball Championship this year. Who you got?

How was your Sunday? How did your teams do this weekend? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

It is a very cold day here in Jacksonville. The only good reason to be outside was to go to church!

We celebrated the Lord’s Supper today in both of our morning worship services.

I was glad to have all of our guests in worship today, especially the interns from the local 2nd Mile Ministries of Jacksonville.

The music was good today.

I resumed our Family Matters series with a message, entitled, “Live-In Love: What the Bible Says about Cohabitation” (Hebrews 13:4).

I gave three reasons why it is wrong for Christians couples to live together without being married. The reasons were taken from Hebrews 13:4:

1. We must honor the sanctity of marriage (Heb. 13:4a)
2. We must practice sexual purity (Heb. 13:4b)
3. We must face the consequences of sin (Heb. 13:4c)

Praise God for those who were added to the church.

I typically counsel cohabiting couples to repent and one of them move out. I extended a special “amnesty” program today. For any couple that wants to do right and get marriage, we are a church will help them prepare for marriage. 15 couples took me up on our offer today.

A big shout-out to our Outreach Pastor, R. Bryant, for leading my Bible Study Fellowship class today so I could me with the couples that are interested in participating in the mass wedding on May 4.

Holy Week is just a few weeks away. Can’t wait.

The Miami Heat defeated the New York Knicks this afternoon, 99-93, to win their 14^th straight game, tying a franchise record.

LeBron James is the MVP. Again. You can give him the trophy now.

Did Magic Johnson really offer LeBron James a million dollars to participate in the NBA dunk contest?

The Clippers loss to the Thunder today in Los Angeles. Is this a foreshadowing of what will happen in the playoffs?

The best buzzer-beater you will ever see!

Are you watching the History Channel’s The Bible documentary tonight?

How was your Sunday? How did your teams do this weekend? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

Today was Ministry Emphasis Day at the Shiloh Church.

There was a ministry fair after both services today. Ministry leaders answered questions. Members signed-up to serve. Way cool.

I am grateful to God for all the volunteers of our congregation. You make it happen!

We did not have Bible Study Fellowship groups today, to give members the opportunity to browse ministry displays today.

As always, I was glad to have our guests in worship today, including the New Stanton High School class of 1977.

Praise God for the two who were baptized today.

I preached on “The Good Samaritan” from Luke 10:25-37.

Two questions drive the discussion of this text: (1) What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 25) and (2) “And who is my neighbor?” (v. 29)

I did not use an obvious sermon outline today. There is so much drama in the text. I just trying to faithfully recreate the text in a create way.

I had a long weekend. Did not think I would be ready to preach the Good Samaritan this morning. The Lord really helped me to finish my preparations.

Praise God for those who were added to the church today.

Next Sunday, I plan to resume my Family Matters series with a message on cohabitation called, “Live-In Love.”

After church…

The Miami Heat won their tenth straight game last night. And LeBron James – on his way to another MVP – had a messed around and got a triple double.

I don’t see any team that can stop the Heat from winning it all again!

The Lakers topped the Mavericks this afternoon to win its third straight game. Do you think Kobe and company will make the playoffs?

I will not watch the Oscars. But I am curious to hear who wins the hotly contested award races this year.

How was your Sunday? What sports stories caught your attention this weekend? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

Happy President’s Day!

It was a long but good day of worship and ministry at Shiloh yesterday.

In my Bible Study Fellowship class, I continued my study of 1 Timothy with a lesson on the ministry of deacons (3:8-13). Didn’t finish.

Praise God for those who were baptized yesterday.

I continued our Family Matters series with a message from Matthew 19:3-10: “Jesus’ Answer to the Question of Divorce”

In Matthew 19, Jesus affirms the sanctity of marriage (vv. 3-6) and explains the grounds for divorce (3:7-10).

Matthew 19:9 is the crux of the text and is the subject of much debate. But I believe the phrase, “except for sexual immorality,” is a true exception, under which circumstances God permits divorce.

I believe there are two biblical grounds for divorce: (1) sexual infidelity (Matt. 19:9) and (2) desertion by an unbelieving spouse (1 Cor. 7:15).

I believe that if a person divorces outside of these grounds they have two options: to remain unmarried or be reconciled to his/her spouse (1 Co. 7:10-11).

Jesus calls the remarriage of one who is not divorced on biblical grounds “adultery” (Matt. 19:9). I believe the entering of the new marriage is adultery. I do not believe the marriage continues in an ongoing state of adultery. Those in this category should repent of their sin, receive God’s forgiveness, and remain in the current marriage.

I had two goes for this message. First, I wanted to give a clear and faithful explanation of this key passage about divorce and remarriage. Second, I wanted the message to have a pastoral tone and say something helpful to those who are struggles with this issue.

Praise God for those who were added to the church.

Next Sunday is our Ministry Emphasis Day. I will break the family series to preach on Christian service. I plan to preach on “The Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37).

Okay, so I didn’t see the NBA All-Star Game last night. Any of it. I was knocked out before the sun went down.

The news focused on two things from the all-star game: Chris Paul won the MVP. And Kobe Bryant blocked two of LeBron James’ shots.

The dunk contest Saturday was not good. Some of the dunks were cool. But it’s hard to get invested in players you have never heard of. The NBA needs to find a way to get the stars to participate.

It is amazing how LeBron is constantly compared to other people. Why can’t you just say the kid is good and leave it at that?

ESPN milked Michael Jordan’s 50^th birthday for everything they could get out of it.

I am interested to see what trades take place in the NBA before the deadline. I don’t think my two teams – the Heat and the Clippers – need to make any trades.

My Duke Blue Devils lost again this weekend. It’s a tough year in college basketball.

Adrien Broner won again Saturday night. He’s a good young boxer. But he needs to tone down all the antics.

Serena Williams become the number-one women’s tennis player in the world again today. At 31, she is the oldest woman to hold that position.

Congratulations to Danica Patrick for being the 1^st woman to win the pole position for the Daytona 500. I am not a racing fan. But I hope Danica wins next Sunday.

How was your Sunday? Did you enjoy the NBA All-Star Game? Join the conversation in the comments section.