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Jack Graham is senior pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, one of the nation’s largest congregations with more than 57,000 members and three locations in North Texas. He is the author of numerous books, and his passionate, biblical teaching is seen and heard worldwide on PowerPoint Ministries. The Bible in a Year with Jack Graham podcast, in partnership with pray.com, launched in October 2022 and has now reached more than 30 million downloads. He and his wife, Deb, have three married children and eight grandchildren.
What is something you’ve been able to celebrate at Prestonwood recently?
I truly believe there’s a sense of revival happening at Prestonwood. Our North Campus in Prosper, under the leadership of Connor Bales, has been growing exponentially, so we recently expanded and renovated to keep up with the growing needs. We’ve celebrated our Prestonwood en Español ministry, led by Gilberto Corredera, which is thriving and reaching the Hispanic community throughout North Texas. We’ve celebrated our Prestonwood Pregnancy Center, as we have witnessed nearly 7,000 women who were abortion-minded choose life for their babies since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. We continue to work and pray that abortion will be unthinkable. We celebrated nearly 500 professions of faith among children and students through our summer activities. And we’re expecting more than 1,100 baptisms this church year. To God be the glory!
What’s one lesson you’ve learned to this point of your ministry that you know you’ll never forget?
One of the lessons I learned very early in my ministry was to balance life between the church and home. I always made time for my family. I made sure Deb and I spent time together, and I spent time with our kids, attending whatever events or sports they were participating in while growing up. This is a lesson I try to instill in our ministers and the young pastors and leaders we train through our Prestonwood Network.
What’s one thing you want to see God do specifically at or through Prestonwood in 2024?
In this tumultuous world we live in with its increasingly hostile and secular culture, we want our church family to stand firm as believers of Christ. We want them to be equipped and confident in the solid foundation on which they stand. We are more and more intentional about this through our teaching and discipleship and evangelism training, from our youngest to our oldest members. Our church family has always had a heart for reaching people—locally, nationally, and internationally—with the transforming message of the gospel. Evangelism is more critical than ever for our church and every church.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing the church in 2023?
Too many churches are throwing in the towel when it comes to the culture wars and social issues—especially on the sanctity of life. Too many pastors are compromising their calling in the pulpit, watering down their messages from the infallible Word of God for fear of offending. Number one, people are offended too easily these days; and number two, the Bible is offensive because it speaks truth. Now, more than ever, we must not relent. We must be bold and courageous and stand strong for the Lord. We are to fight the good fight of faith, because if we lose the church, we lose everything.
