Lake Area Pastor’s Conference

Joe McKeever, a native of Alabama and son of a coal miner, has been preaching the gospel since 1961. With over 42 years in pastoral ministry—including leading First Baptist Churches in Columbus, Charlotte, and Kenner—he later served five years as Director of Missions in New Orleans before retiring in 2009.

Joe holds degrees from Birmingham-Southern College and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where he focused on evangelism. He’s also well-known for his longtime cartooning ministry, contributing to Baptist Press for nearly 25 years, and writing daily at joemckeever.com

Dr. David L. Allen serves as Distinguished Professor of Practical Theology and Dean of the Adrian Rogers Center for Biblical Preaching at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of PreachingCoach, a platform dedicated to equipping pastors and communicators.

He previously served at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (2004–2016) as Dean of the School of Theology and later as founding Dean of the School of Preaching. Dr. Allen has taught preaching at every level, from undergraduate to Ph.D., and is a passionate advocate for “text-driven preaching.”

With degrees from Criswell College (B.A.), Southwestern Seminary (M.Div.), and the University of Texas at Arlington (Ph.D. in Humanities, majoring in linguistics), Dr. Allen brings scholarly depth to the pulpit and classroom alike. His pastoral ministry includes 16 years at Audelia Road Baptist Church in Dallas and four years at MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church in Irving, Texas.

A prolific writer, Dr. Allen has authored commentaries on Hebrews, Job, and 1–3 John, as well as significant theological works like The Lukan Authorship of Hebrews and The Extent of the Atonement: A Historical and Critical Review. He also co-edited Text-Driven Preaching and contributes regularly to Equip the Called.

Dr. Allen came to faith at age nine and began preaching at sixteen. He remains committed to training the next generation of preachers to rightly divide the Word of truth. He and his wife Kate live in Memphis and enjoy their growing family, which includes four children and several grandchildren.

Marcus serves as the Lead Pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in The Woodlands, Texas. Marcus received his undergraduate degree from Moody Bible Institute and his Masters from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is pursuing his Doctorate of Ministry in 21^st Century Leadership from Anderson University. Marcus has a passion for expository preaching, reaching the lost, making disciples, and mobilization. Marcus and his wife Mandy, have three daughters, Sarai, Amaya, and Naomi.