(upbeat music)

- The game of life has a running clock.

There's no timeout andcertainly no button to rewind.

So what do you do if lifedoesn't go the way you planned?

Take a look.

- [Narrator] JonathanEvans is an author, pastor,

former NFL player, and chaplainfor the Dallas Cowboys.

Growing up as the son ofwell-known pastor Tony Evans,

Jonathan was riding on cruisecontrol until he realized

that he didn't know his purpose in life.

In his book, "Your Time Is Now,"

Jonathan shares his personalstory of finding his calling,

and he wants to help you do the same.

- Jonathan Evans joins us now via Skype.

Jonathan, great to have you with us today.

You had a dream for your life.

You wanted to run out ofthat tunnel in an NFL game,

have a wonderful career,and then a slew of injuries

brought a premature end to that dream.

How did you handle the feelingof what am I going to do now

when you hadn't planned for anything else?

- Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, I, like you said, I had that dream

and all I wanted to dois run out of the tunnel

and play in the NFL.

And then five years, Iwas on five or six teams

from everything from hurt,carted off the field, traded.

I mean, anything bad thatcould happen happened.

And then, you know, my wife said,

"I think it's time to move on."

And I finally got a callfrom the Kansas City Chiefs

to come back and play.

And I looked at my wife and I said, "See,

"God still wants me to play in the NFL."

And as I was working out togo to the Kansas City Chiefs,

I tore my Achilles, andthat was the final blow.

So I ended up limping into seminary,

the place I was runningfrom is what I limped into.

It's like Jacob, whenyou wrestle with God,

He'll change how you walk.

And so I limped into seminary,and while I was there,

I got a call to comeback and be the chaplain

for the Dallas Cowboys.

And it was as if God was saying,

"I take your greatest misery and turn it

"into your greatest ministry."

And that's just the way it worked out at.

- At one point in your life,

you wanted nothing to do with the pulpits.

So, you know, whathappened in that interim

that you were willingto limp into (laughs)

having a completely different career?

- Well, you know, yourdad being Tony Evans,

you know, you try ashard as you can as a son

to stay away from that,

because it's almost likeMichael Jordan's son

trying to try out for the Bulls itself.

I mean, it just kinda doesn't work,

because you're always gonna be compared

to one of the greatest of all time.

And, you know, so Ididn't want to do that,

but God would use thatfear and that doubt,

and He would take me into scenarios

where I was still kind of having to do it,

almost as if He was preparing me.

And once I went into seminary,

it's almost like I justgot thrown in there.

And I realized that it was a gift.

I realized it was a passion.

I realized the opportunity was given

and the experiences were had.

And once those four things come together,

you've run into purpose.

- Jonathan, I loved your book.

The title is "Your Time Is Now."

You talk a lot in the bookabout the story of Joshua

from the Bible.

What can we learn from him?

- Well, yeah, when heexperienced a great loss

in Deuteronomy 34, before youturn the page to Joshua 1,

Moses died, I mean, and it says,

"Now, after the death of Moses,

"the servant of the Lord,the Lord spoke to Joshua."

And so one thing thatJoshua had to do is realize

that, even through hispain and his mourning,

God would call him toa monumental calling,

and he would have to stay,he would have to move forward

because if he stayed with Moses,

he would be stuck on thewrong side of his calling.

And there's some things in our lives

that we don't want to put down,

because they've been sogood for us for so long.

And as long as hold onto them,

we'll still be stuck on thewrong side of the calling,

because God said that Moses cannot go.

And so people have to thinkabout what about themselves

or what about their friendsor what about the things

that they have in their lifeare they unwilling to put down?

But they may be, that may be the thing

that's holding them on thewrong side of the Jordan

of their calling.

And for me it was fear,for me it was doubt,

for me it was comfortabilityin just being an athlete

and not trying to move.

I didn't want to put it down.

And God was saying,"Until you put this down,

"you will not run out of thetunnel, which is your dream."

And I've been running outof the tunnel for 10 years.

So God always wanted it, butHe always wanted it His way,

not my way, so I had to put it down.

- Well, there's a levelof surrender in that,

that every Christian has to go through.

How can a person knowif they're on the path

that God wants them to be on?

- Yeah, absolutely.

I think that's a great question,

is knowing that you're on God'spath and not just your path.

You know, a lot ofpeople think God's voice

is that voice they hear in their head

that tells them what theyalready want to do anyway.

And the reality is no, that's your voice,

that's why it sounds like you.

And so, you know that it'sGod's voice because God,

"As high as the heavensare above the earth

"are his ways from your ways

"and his thoughts from your thoughts."

God's voice is thatvoice that's taking you

into the uncomfortable place consistently,

or the illogical place,that you're always trying

to justify out of, but you just can't.

You're trying to justify it.

You're trying to say, well,that doesn't make sense.

You're trying to say, well,what's the point of that?

But you can't get rid of it.

It's just a constantthing that stays on you.

And that's when you knowGod is trying to push you.

It's just like Genesis 12,

"The word of the Lordcame to Abraham and said,

"'Go forth from your countryand from your relatives

"'and from your father's house.'"

In other words, the wordof the Lord came to Abraham

to push him out of everythingthat he was comfortable with.

And a lot of times people don't want

to put down their comfortin pursuit of their calling.

And God's voice will alwayspull you out of your comfort,

because He's not focused on the comfort.

He's focused on the calling

and the advancement of His kingdom.

And so really it's just about putting down

that comfortability and moving forward

to what God wants you to do.

- You know, sometimes thatpulling of God is also,

in our lives, a letting goof things that we care about,

people that we care about.

You lost your mom recently.

You've lost a number ofother family members.

When your mom knew shewasn't going to live,

she sat down and talked with you guys,

and she had a very directand meaningful conversation.

What did she tell you?

- Yeah, she said, Imean, we cried the moment

that we found out, thatmy dad said it's terminal

and there's nothing any doctor can do.

It was just a waiting game.

And I just remember my mom saying,

"Are you guys finishedyet?" as we were crying.

And I said, "I guess so."

And so she said, "Sit down."

And she said, "You know,this is spiritual warfare."

We've lost, you know, like, I don't know,

five to seven membersof our family in a span

of a year and a half, andnow this is happening.

And she said it's spiritual warfare.

One thing the Evans family willnot do is tuck tail and run

when the enemy is tryingto use this for his work

and to take us out as afamily and the ministry

that we're called to.

And so she just said, "Ifyou're called to preach,

"you're gonna preach.

"If you're called tosing, you're gonna sing.

"If you're called to discipleand then write a Bible study,

"that's what you're gonna do,

"because it's about theadvancement of his kingdom."

(phone ringing)And my response was-

My response was how in the world

can you be talking aboutministry at a time like this?

And that's when she saidto me, she said, "Jonathan,

"because that's the reason why you exist.

"And you never let thatgo. You never forget.

"You never let thesethreats make you forget

"what you've been called todo, you use them as a catalyst

"for what you've been called to do."

And so she pushed us forward and she said,

"This is what we're gonna do.

"I know you're gonna take care of me,

"but at the end of the day,

"you got to take careof your responsibility

"that God has given you.

"And that's exactly what you're gonna do,

"and I won't accept anything less."

- That's what the book is allabout, "Your Time Is Now."

How do we do that? How do we push through?

How do we grab hold of God's purpose?

How do we make a differenceand follow the calling

that's intended for our lives?

The book is called "Your Time Is Now."

It's available in stores nationwide.

Jonathan, wonderful to talkto you today. Thank you.

- Thank you so much.