The son of Dr. Tony Evans delivered a message on Father’s Day, telling the congregation at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship (OCBF) that his father didn’t disclose the character of his unnamed sin any greater than he did with the entire church. Jonathan, who has assisted his father in ministry, is a former NFL fullback and a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary.
Tony Evans, who founded OCBF in 1976, stepped down from ministry earlier this month on account of an unspecified sin he committed a “variety of years ago” and that he was going to enter “a healing and restoration process established by the elders.”
Church Leaders reported that in Sunday’s Father’s Day message, Jonathan told the congregation, which has a weekly attendance of 10,000 people, that he was grateful for his father.
“My dad has been there for all of my challenges. He’s been there for loads of y’all’s challenges. Whether it’s counseling, preaching, radio, a few of y’all’s YouTube, whatever medium has been, he’s been there,” Jonathan Evans, who serves as OCBF’s Associate Pastor of the NextGen Ministry, said firstly of his sermon. “So it’s an honor for me to return the favor.”
He shares that he has been asked several times during the last week about how he has felt since his father stepped down. Jonathan said, “Let me inform you, I feel like we’ve already won.”
“I feel like we’re on offense, not defense,” he continued. “I feel like we have already got victory. I feel like [God’s] Word is true. I feel like he’s going to complete the work that he began.”
“I feel like if it’s not good yet, God’s not done yet. All things work together for good for many who love God and are called based on his purposes. I feel like simply because it’s a shock to you, it doesn’t mean it’s a shock to him.”
“I feel like we’re greater than conquerors in Christ Jesus. I don’t feel conquered. I feel like we’ve got already won,” Jonathan preached. “And so I actually have to go, not based on just the circumstances, but based on the fact of the Savior because [God’s] Word is true.”
The pastor’s son asserted that the church will “have a good time a victory” when his father returns to the pulpit.
“And so what are we going to do?” he asked. “We’re gonna play offense. We’re gonna go and do and be what God has called us to go and do and be. And when he returns, when my dad returns, when that point comes, we gonna have a good time a victory we already knew beforehand that we had.”
When it got here to his father’s sin, Jonathan said that Evans told his family the “very same thing he told you. No more. No less.”
Less than 24 hours after Evans made his announcement of stepping away, Jonathan said his father called him, saying, “I want you to evangelise Father’s Day for me.”
“Okay,” Jonathan replied.
In his statement, Evans said that throughout this season of restoration and healing, he shall be “a worshiper” with the remainder of the OCBF congregants and appears “forward to seeing all that God goes to proceed doing to make his name great as we proceed to construct kingdom disciples, who function as kingdom servants, with a view to make a kingdom impact as [God] advances his kingdom agenda at OCBF.”
Earlier this week, a Mexican Riviera cruise featuring Dr. Tony Evans as a headliner was canceled in light of his announcement. The cruise was scheduled to happen Nov. 9-16.
WATCH Full Father’s Day Message: Preaching for my Dad, Dr. Tony Evans, for Father’s Day | Jonathan Evans
Photo Credit: ©YouTube/Jonathan Evans
