2004 Dallas Impact Partner Message
Ezra 7:10
Introduction
- God's method: Using a clean man and woman to demonstrate grace in a corrupt society
- Introduction to Ezra: An ordinary man with extraordinary impact
Book of Ezra Overview
- Two sections of the book:
- Chapters 1-6: First return from captivity under Zerubbabel, rebuilding the temple
- Chapters 7-10: Second return under Ezra, rebuilding the people
- Time gap between chapters 6 and 7: 58 years of silence and historical context
Significance of Ezra
- Importance of grooming a man for a generation
- Ezra 7:10: Key verse explaining Ezra's preparation and mission
Personal Anecdote
- Watching baseball games through a knothole as a metaphor for Ezra 7:10
Ezra’s Preparedness
- Aristotle's quote on hitting the target: Importance of objectives
- Fear of succeeding in the wrong thing
- How Ezra prepared: Threefold focus
Ezra's Threefold Focus
- Seeking the Word of God
- Passion for truth and understanding God's will
- Reference to Sir Walter Moberly's "The Crisis in the University"
- Doing the Word of God
- Importance of practice alongside knowledge
- Impact of actions in a society weary of words
- Teaching the Word of God
- Significance of teaching what is learned and practiced
- Challenge as a teacher to inspire action in students
- Quote from Swindoll on famine of the Word of God
Mission of Ezra and Dallas Theological Seminary
- Training individuals to know, live, and communicate the Word of God
- Introducing David and Jonathan Murphy and their significance
*The above summary is AI-generated, so discrepancies may exist. Please refer to the audio or video file to verify accuracy.
About the Contributors
Howard G. Hendricks
Dr. Howard G. Hendricks, known simply as “Prof,” directly or indirectly touched millions of lives in the evangelical community and beyond. For more than sixty years Prof served on the faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS), where he taught more than ten thousand students. He served as the chairman of the Center for Christian Leadership for over twenty years. He also ministered in person in more than eighty countries. Through speaking engagements, radio, tapes, films, the sixteen books he authored and coauthored, countless journal and popular-market articles, his service on numerous boards, and his work as a chaplain to the Dallas Cowboys (1976–1984), his reach was and is worldwide.
His legacy, in partnership with Jeanne, his wife of more than sixty-five years, includes four children and six grandchildren. Holding large audiences enthralled at venues such as Billy Graham’s conference center or Promise Keepers’ stadium rallies, Prof would confide, “It’s wonderful to be here with you, but I have a group of delicious students waiting for me back at the seminary.”
Contributors
