In 1976, Dr. Tony Evans was finishing his master’s degree at Dallas Seminary. He and his wife, Lois, had two little girls. And they had a bible study that was about to turn into a church plant. Mentored by his professor Dr. Gene Getz, Tony, who had been planning to become an evangelist, began to develop a vision for the local church.

Episode 4: The Church Planter

Dr. Tony Evans is an internationally acclaimed preacher and author who consistently lands on lists like “The 12 Most Effective Preachers.” But first, he was a high-energy young man from Baltimore with a work ethic to match. Dr. Evans and other guests agreed to sit with us for a series of interviews about the entirety of his life and ministry.

Christianity

Religion & Spirituality

The Evans family experienced a series of losses beginning in 2018. Starting with the death of Tony Evans’ niece and culminating in the loss of his dad, Arthur Evans, and his wife, Lois Evans. And then 2020 came, and the loss of the church gathering weighed on Dr. Evans as well. This was a time of deep grief for Dr. Evans. His family gathered around him and together they collectively stepped in to continue the ministry work.

Episode 8: The Servant

A flywheel serves two functions. It gets an engine up to speed and then stores and provides energy as needed to keep the machine running smoothly, preventing spikes and lulls in power. Dr. Tony Evans’ early publishing titles, along with his growing radio presence, got The Urban Alternative up to running speed and have continued to store and supply energy to his ministry as needed. But as we've already seen, if The Urban Alternative is the engine, then Promise Keepers was the nitrous tank strapped to it. And when that red button got pushed, Dr. Evans took off like a rocket.

Episode 7: The Bullet

In high school, Tony Evans played three different sports – football, swimming, and baseball. God’s plan for Tony’s life didn’t include playing sports at the next level, but it didn’t take long for God to reveal how Tony could serve the sports world. Tony served as chaplain for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1980s and again in 2009, and he was also the chaplain for the Dallas Mavericks that entire time. But in the years you might consider Tony’s halftime with the Cowboys, another type of chaplaincy occurred.

Episode 6: The Chaplain

In 1982, Tony became Dr. Tony Evans, the first African American to earn a doctoral degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. The Urban Alternative had been started the year before, and he was deep in his church plant, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. And on the family front, Anthony and Jonathan had arrived, bringing the Evans’ family total to six, with four kids under the age of 10.

Episode 4: The Church Planter

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