Pro football quarterback Tim Tebow informed Pastor Robert Jeffress late Thursday that he was cancelling his scheduled appearance at First Baptist Church of Dallas set for April, according to today's Dallas Morning News. The announcement also came in the middle of an interview Dallas radio station l05.3 The Fan was having with the Rev. Jeffress Thursday.
The interviewer was about to wind up his interview with Jeffress when he suddenly announced he'd received word from Tim Tebow's twitter handle that the former Heisman Trophy winner was cancelling his appearance at the pastor's church.
Jeffress then confirmed that Tebow had indeed informed him he was cancelling.
The pastor said he exchanged several texts with the former Heisman Trophy winner and a telephone call in which Tebow informed him he was cancelling his appearance because he needed to steer clear of controversy at this time.
The radio interview may be located at the First Baptist Church of Dallas website.
Jeffress said Tebow appeared to struggle with the decision before finally giving in to advice from other people who were close to the man who led the University of Florida Gators to a national championship before signing with the Denver Broncos of the NFL. He led the Broncos to the playoffs before being being traded to the New York Jets for the 2012 season.
The decision was evidently up in the air until late Thursday evening. The situation became fluid when Tebow first called Jeffress Wednesday night to cancel his April speaking engagement because of personal and professional reasons. He told Jeffress he needed to lay low on controversy.
Jeffress said he later thought Tebow had changed his mind based on a text the former Gator sent him. The text said Tebow was "prayerfully" reconsidering and would contact him again Thursday.
The pastor said the next update he received was a series of Tweets from Tebow Thursday announcing cancellation of his Dallas engagement.
The content of Tebow's texts was as follows: "While I was looking forward to sharing a message of hope and Christ's unconditional love with the faithful members of the historic First Baptist Church of Dallas in April, due to new information that has been brought to my attention, I have decided to cancel my upcoming appearance. I will continue to use the platform God has blessed me with to bring Faith, Hope and Love to all those needing a brighter day. Thank you for all of your love and support. God Bless!"
Jefress said all his conversations with Tebow were friendly and the New York Jet said he would still like to speak at First Baptist of Dallas in the future.
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