Frank Harber Senior Pastor, Champions Gate Church

“The most relevant thing we could tell anyone today in our society is the message of the cross,” said Frank Harber, senior pastor, Champions Gate Church in Westlake, Texas. “The cross answers every question people have today—why we die and how we can live forever.”

“When I comprehended that [Jesus] died for me, I could not deny the unbelievable beauty of the cross,” Frank Harber continued. Through his death on the cross, “Jesus set us free,” Frank Harber offered. “You can try to pay for your sins, but you’ll never finish. Those who reject Christ pay for their sins throughout eternity.”

Frank Harber has certainly embraced Christ in his life. The former skeptic-turned-pastor was converted to Christianity in his early 20s. Frank Harber was working on his undergraduate degree at the University of Texas, Tyler. An admitted “atheist of ignorance,” the young man expressed his deep skepticism to a Southern Baptist minister. The minister challenged him to disprove Christianity. The challenge led Frank Harber to study Christianity and other world religions. The end result was his conversion to Christianity and a life in the church.

After earning his doctoral degree from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, Frank Harber joined the ministry as an associate pastor at First Baptist Church Liberty City in Kilgore, Texas, where he served from 1989 to 1992. In 1992 he became president of the Institute for Christian Defense. In 2001, he joined First Baptist in Colleyville, Texas, as senior pastor. Under Frank Harber’s leadership, the church’s attendance grew from 400 to nearly 1,800. Frank Harber left First Baptist to start Champions Gate in 2006, which currently has 400 members.

Frank Harber has preached at more than 800 churches during his career. Frank Harber is a popular speaker at Worldview Weekends, evangelism conferences and convention sermons. He was invited by Billy Graham to participate in Amsterdam 2000, and he has led Bible studies for the Professional Golf Association Tour.

One of Frank Harber’s proudest achievements is, together with former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Kenneth Hemphill, the co-development of the Got Life? evangelism tool, which uses apologetics and acrostics to communicate the salvation message.

“The system is designed so you can do the whole gospel presentation in less than eight minutes,” Frank Harber said. “We haven't found any other gospel presentation method in the world that uses apologetics to defend and prove the gospel,” Frank Harber added. “We don't just want to tell people how to become a Christian, but also why they should become a Christian.”

Frank Harber said he has witnessed many people who needed to see some evidence before taking that step of faith. Drawing on his own conversion story as a young man, he has asked people, “‘If I could give you just a little bit of evidence, would that help you make a decision?’ That's where the historical evidence comes into it all.”

Where will he go from here? Frank Harber has told people that he tries to take life one day at a time and that only God's call will change his direction.

“I don't think I've ever fit the preacher mold,” Frank Harber said in an interview. “But the secret of life is being in God's will. God's blessed the church and that helps confirm my call. Also, there's a sense of peace that I'm doing what He wants me to do.”