Where We Started

Deb and I were married in 1970 and pastored our first church in the first year of our marriage. We were students at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas and The East Side Baptist Chapel was a weekend pastorate. I would preach on Sunday mornings and evenings and Deb would sing and play the piano. The days included Sunday lunches in member’s homes and afternoon study (and naps) on the pews. I preached the best I could at age 19-20, and cut my teeth ministering. Our little congregation grew from 13 to more than 30!

East Side Baptist Chapel, Cross Plains, TX

So indulge my little walk down memory lane and please know I am still fired up about preaching, serving, and leading all these years later, and so is Deb. As I have always quoted—I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the House of the Lord!” —Psalm 122:1

Salvation Message this Weekend

This Sunday I’ll be preaching about salvation. Don’t get me wrong, every message I preach is about salvation, but this weekend the focus is completely on salvation ... our greatest need in the world.

And since salvation is the most vital and eternal issue before any of us, we need to make sure everyone possible understands it. And we need to say it so clearly, so simply, so succinctly, that no one can miss it. That’s what I will be doing on Sunday at Prestonwood in Plano. Jarrett Stephens will preach the same message at Saturday Nights at Prestonwood, and Marc Rylander will do the same at Prestonwood North on Sunday.

There’s a lot of preaching going on around the world and in American pulpits each weekend, but very little salvation is being preached. We do a lot of theological talk, a lot of sermonizing, a lot of feel good messages, but how many will actually hear the simple plan of salvation?

If you live in the Dallas area, I invite you to come either Saturday at 6:00 p.m., Sunday at 9:15 and 11:00 a.m. in Plano, or Sunday at 9:30 p.m. at Prestonwood North. And why don’t you bring someone who needs to hear this message? Is there a friend or family member you’ve been wanting to invite? This would be a good day to do it.

If those people don’t live in the area, let them know they can live stream the message at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. Just go to powerpoint.org.

Tell someone ...

Revival

Last night I was blessed to preach at the powerful Shepherd of the Hills Revival 2009. Shepherd of the Hills is a fine church led by a friend of mine Dudley C. Rutherford in Simi Valley outside Los Angeles.

I love revivals. Ever since I was a kid I’ve loved them. As a preacher now, it’s an incredible thing to witness God pouring out His Spirit... I closed out the week-long revival before a few thousand people and we saw dozens of decisions for Christ!

While in the area, I was pleased to be a guest on the Frank Pastore show at KKLA where PowerPoint airs daily at 10:00 a.m. I’m always glad to be visiting with my friends in L.A. and speaking live to our faithful PowerPoint listeners.

Not only was it a power-packed night of ministry, but a nearby In-N-Out Burger rounded out a perfect day!

GOD'S QUARTERBACKS

All eyes will be on the Cotton Bowl tomorrow for the UT–OU game. Now, I like to say I’m right down the middle on this one, neutral ... just like Dallas is the midpoint between the two schools. Still, I’m pretty torn because of the two godly young men behind center for both teams—Colt McCoy for the Longhorns and Sam Bradford for the Sooners. Football is important to them, but not as important as their relationship with Jesus Christ. Before you turn on your television tomorrow morning, listen to their stories on iamsecond.com.

There’s no quarterback who has more obviously and plainly stated his beliefs though than Tim Tebow. If you know who Tim Tebow is, then you know he’s a believer. Not only has he led his Florida Gators to the top, winning the championship, he’s also been crowned the best quarterback in the land, landing the Heisman Trophy, but most importantly, he’s led millions to consider the saving grace of our Lord and Savior. This son of missionaries made John 3:16 the #1 search term on Google when he wore it on his eye black during the BCS Championship game in January.

Months before, when the Gators lost to Ole Miss, he delivered an incredible promise, words that have been forever immortalized in Gator Land with a plaque outside the football facility. Titled “The Promise,” Tim apologizes to the fans saying they were hoping for an undefeated season. “I promise you one thing, a lot of good will come out of this. You will never see any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season, you will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season. You will never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season. God Bless.”

Of course, the Gators went on to beat OU in the championship, when he told the world about John 3:16. And he’s playing hard and playing tough again this year ... wearing a different verse on his eye black every week. Florida plays Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. Tune in just to see what Tebow’s message is.

Dan-Dee-Dogs and State Fair of Texas

My family and I love the State Fair of Texas. We always go as family, and we do the same thing every year...we love to see Big Tex and say “Howdy, partner,”

we look at the new cars, ride a few rides, go to the petting zoo with Ian, and we eat some Fletcher corny dogs.

I love Fletcher dogs, probably not as much as the guy who ate 11 in 10 minutes...but I do like them...with lots of mustard. But every time I go to the fair and get a corny dog, I think about how much better my dad’s Dan-Dee-Dogs were.

My dad had a drive-in business called the Dan-Dee-Dog in Conway, Ark., the town I grew up in. It was a fun little business in small town America. Well, I hung out there a lot as a little kid, and I ate a lot of those Dan-Dee-Dogs. I always say my cholesterol was over 300 before the age of 8 because I ate so many of them!

Truly our state fair...fried butter and all...is the best state fair in the land. There’s nothing quite like Texas and Fletcher corny dogs...

But my dad’s Dan-Dee-Dogs were the best.

Light out of the Darkness

I’ve always said that a preacher should be able to preach anywhere and everywhere, under any circumstances. Prestonwood’s young preachers have gotten a taste of that, whether preaching in villages in the Amazon or Romania or in a community center in the inner city or in the clubhouse of an apartment complex in the suburbs.

And yesterday, Marc Rylander, our Prestonwood North Campus Pastor, preached in the dark. (see the very dark photo above) He didn’t let a power outage keep him from bringing a message during the service. Marc says the lights began flickering about five minutes into his message on the power of prayer....and then the lights went out completely.

So he picked up his iPhone and used his Flashlight App to see his notes, and kept right on preaching.

He brought light out of the darkness...the Gospel was preached and 21 people came forward! How awesome is that?!

TO GOD BE THE GLORY ...

GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE AND ... IS DOING!


The 140-Acre Prestonwood and Prestonwood Christian Academy Campus in Plano