(upbeat music)

- Tony Evans was the firstAfrican-American to graduate

with a doctorate fromDallas Theological Seminary.

In his 40 plus years of ministry,

he's built a thriving church

and served as the chaplainof the Dallas Cowboys.

As a pastor and a proud great-grandfather,

Tony's legacy is secure.

So what's his message forother men? Take a look.

- [Reporter] Dr. Tony Evanshas served as the senior pastor

of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas

for over 40 years.

He has a unique abilityto connect biblical truths

with social responsibility.

Today, he says too many menare in a cycle of defeat,

rebellion, or addiction,

which has resulted in adysfunctional society.

But there is hope.

In his latest book, "Kingdom Men Rising,"

Dr. Evans challenges mento walk in God's purpose

for their life so they can disciple others

and leave a godly legacy.

- Joining us now viaSkype is Dr. Tony Evans.

Dr. Evans, thanks for beingback on "The 700 Club."

- Well, always a joy to be with you

and appreciate the great work that you do.

- Aw, thanks.

Well, your book is called"Kingdom Men Rising."

Before we say anything else,will you describe the traits

of what you consider a kingdom man?

- Well, a kingdom man isa male who has learned

to consistently live all of life

under the rule and authority of God.

Once the man comes up withhis independent definition

of himself and how he is tofunction in the four spheres

of God's kingdom, personallife, family life, church life,

and cultural engagement.

Once those get disconnected from God,

then all of those fearsbecome jeopardized.

- Well, you say thatkingdom men are needed

to reverse the culturaldecay that we see today.

In what ways are weseeing the consequences

of men failing to stand up?

- Well, you know, when Godlooks at the devolution

of the human race, Hesays, "In Adam all die."

He never says in Adam and Eve.

When He went lookingfor Adam in the garden,

He didn't say, "Adam andEve, where are y'all?"

He said, "Adam, where are you?"

The reason why God createdAdam before He created Eve

was that He was going tohold the man responsible.

So men have to understand

that the way God has crafted creation

is that he holds them first responsible.

Ezekiel 22:30 says, "I looked for a man,

"so I wouldn't have to cursethe land, but I could none."

Now, there were plenty of males,

He just couldn't find a man.

So it's possible to be amale and not yet a man.

Three times a year,according to Exodus 34:23-24,

He called all the males, and He said,

"If y'all will pay attentionto me, I'll save your nation.

"But if you don't pay attention to me,

"your nation will be in trouble."

So God determines much ofwhat He does in society.

We praise God for all the great women

who are filling in all the great gaps,

but God holds men ultimately responsible,

which is why He says,

"I am the God of Abraham,Isaac, and Jacob."

He doesn't say I'm the God ofSarah, Rebekah, and Rachel.

Not because they weren'tcritical, but because the men

were responsible forcovenantal continuity.

- You say that for men tofulfill their true potential,

they need to get unstuck.

How did they get stuck andhow do they get unstuck?

- Well, first of all, they have to decide

that the culture willno longer define them.

Because what's getting us stuck is

that we become too secularized,

and, as a result of that,we bring foreign worldviews

into a kingdom environmentand they are kicked out,

booted out, and rejected by God.

We have idolatry as men, whetherit's the idolatry of race,

class, culture, or evenyour self definition,

and that leads to beingseparated from God's empowerment

and God's definition of a man.

So first of all, we have todefine ourselves correctly.

Secondly of all, we mustown the responsibility.

We must say it falls on me.

Even if I'm not to blame,I still am responsible.

So when a man adopts thatworldview, that I am responsible,

now we can appeal to him.

But as long as he can push that off...

In the Bible, for example,men are responsible

for raising the children, not women.

Ephesians 6, "Fathers,raise your children."

But because we have handed that off to men

and even abandoned women andeven abandoned our children

either physically or withregard to the responsibility

of being the dominantinfluences in their lives,

we're raising a generation of children

who do not have a biblical consciousness

at the level they should becauseof the absenteeism of men.

- So how important is it for men

in their role as kingdommen to transfer their faith?

You're talking about to their children.

Is there a broader scope for that?

- Absolutely, God tellsAbraham in Genesis 18,

He says, "Look, I wantyou to raise your children

"in righteousness and justice."

And we have both problemstoday in our world.

No moral standard and noequitable treatment among people.

He says raise your children.

But then it says in a few verses earlier

that Abraham circumcised allthe men in his employment.

So he leveraged his influence,not only with his children,

but with every male inhis sphere of influence.

So what we need todayis a generation of men

who will leverage theirinfluence through mentoring.

When God says I'll be afather to the fatherless,

He doesn't mean a floatingspirit in never-never land.

He means He'll become,He worked through His men

to provide surrogate fathersto those who don't have it.

And so whether it'sadopting, like adopting

the at-risk males in aschool or in a community

where you become a mentor, an influencer,

so that we replicate kingdom heritage

through the young men coming up.

You know, a lot of kids, forexample, they get in gangs.

What they're doing isbeing mentored negatively.

Well, God expects us to mentor positively

the next generation.

So you can't just be about yourself.

- Dr. Evans, we havejust a few seconds left,

but can you just address the need

for unity within the body of Christ?

How do we do that whenthere's so much cultural

and racial division?

- Well, first of all, we must understand

the biblical definition of unity,

which is oneness ofpurpose, not uniformity,

sameness of persons,

and understanding that Godcreated the differences

on purpose, but thosedifferences are to be aligned

toward a single goal.

And the single goal is tolove God and serve people.

Everything else must be subject to that.

The moment my color, myculture competes with that,

and worse yet trumpsthat, then the unified God

can't be mixed with us nomatter how much prayer meeting

you go to, how many churches,church meeting you attend.

God will not integratewhen we are divided.

So when we decide lovingHim and serving others

is our goal as men,then we'll get attention

from heaven to transform things on earth.

- Thank you so much.

It's been a pleasure visiting with you.

I want to mention your book iscalled "Kingdom Men Rising."

We have just touched the surface of this.

You want to get it.

Your books are availablewherever books are sold.

Be sure, "Kingdom Men Rising."

Thank you, Dr. Evans.Great to have you with us.