My Ebenezer

Well-known television host of In Search of the Lord's Way reveals his struggles and triumphs. His father did not understand his faith: ''If you are going to preach that doctrine, do not come back here to live.'' He preached anyway. Mack learned early on that taking a stand ran parallel with persecution.

The depression years, the war years, and the booming economic years—Mack Lyon worked through them all with an underlying conviction that the Lord was helping him. He often quipped that 1 Timothy 1:12 should be on his tombstone: ''I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry...''

Maybe he could not out preach other evangelists—but he could outwork them! He planted churches in Arizona, Australia, New Jersey, and largely in Oklahoma. Within two years of his coming, most congregations doubled in size. Some tripled. My Ebenezer holds instruction for preachers; delights for historian, and inspiration for Christians. A wealth of photos tell what words cannot.

Understand the man behind the television screen who preached to more than 300 million viewers during the course of his 30-plus years of television work. He could have been a business man, a funeral director, or a school administrator. But he was called to become a preacher.