Preston was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 1949, a 1975 graduate of the Northside School of Preaching in Harrison, Arkansas. Preston has been in public speaking since the age of 13 and was voted among the Jaycees' "Outstanding Young Men of America," 1980. Preston's preaching ministry spanned nearly four decades in two different cities; Shawnee, Oklahoma and Ardmore, Oklahoma. Preston worked for seven years helping to produce a television program for a Christian magazine which received national recognition in the magazine, "Christianity Today."

In June 2010, Preston received an honorary Doctorate degree from Vision International University of Ramona, California, in recognition of his "outstanding accomplishments in ministry and publishing." Vision International has 140,000 students worldwide. Dr. Stan DeKoven stated at the graduation ceremony, attended by an estimated 1,000 people, that Vision seldom awards honorary Doctorate degrees, and never more than one per year.

Preston served as minister for the Ardmore Church of Christ, (now The Family of God church) for 16 years from 1992 to 2008. He resigned to devote himself full-time to research, writing, seminars and debates through the organization he founded, PRI. PRI also sponsors an annual conference (Preterist Pilgrim Weekend – PPW) at the Ardmore Convention Center with attendees who have come from all 50 states, and numerous international locations over the past several years, which has grown in attendance nearly every year. What began as a simple seminar with only a few people, has now grown into a staple "must come" event for many since the inception of the PPW.