Musings on 25 Years of Ordained Ministry--9

Interlude #2--Jaw Dropping Name Dropping

Joy's mission was to create a church where those turned off to the church would want to come to or would feel comfortable coming to. One of the ways we tried to draw people in was through concerts and events. We would book well-known artists and then encourage our members to bring their friends. Since I was the guy booking and overseeing the events, I usually booked people I wanted to meet and see.

Our very first concert, back in 1984, was Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul, and Mary. He came with his band, Bodyworks. What a concert. We had Noel back several times over the years and he always inspired us, entertained us, and moved us. There's something magical about folk music--how it sounds, what it says, and Noel knew how to use it. He would do some of this Peter, Paul, and Mary stuff and many of his own songs, which talked about his faith in Jesus--a faith he came to as an adult. Jan and I had many chances to visit with him after his concerts at Joy and when we'd see him with Peter, Paul, and Mary. He's one of those genuinely good guys!

Another biggie, at the time, was Debby Boone. Debby had had a hit with "You Light Up My Life," and had also recorded some best selling Gospel albums. Debby has an incredible voice and a riveting stage presence. She came in 3 times, I think.

One of Walt's all time favorites is Pat Boone, Debby's dad. Walt brought Pat in for the big grand opening of the new worship center at our first campus. We brought him in again to do a concert at a capital fund raising event. I had the opportunity to drive him back to the airport. A few years ago, when I was flying home from seeing BJ Thomas in Nashville, Pat Boone sat in the seat next to me!

Philip Bailey, of Earth, Wind, and Fire, is a deeply committed Christian. We had him in only one time but he was awesome. A very humble but articulate artist.

Dean Jones, actor in many of Disney's biggest hits in the 60's, had done a powerful one-man play called, St. John in Exile, a drama about the author of Revelation. Jan and I had a chance to see him perform it live. Because of the tremendous work it took to do the show, Dean filmed it and then came to churches like Joy and showed the film then shared his testimony. He was a hard living guy, good buddies with Steve McQueen. But God captured Dean's heart.

One year we brought him in for a Letterman-like talk show event. He was downright awesome. One of Dean's early films was Jailhouse Rock so we brought in an Elvis impersonator as one of our "guests." Dean had lots of great stories to tell. One of the memorable ones had to do with a song he had turned down. Backed up by the Good News Band he sang what turned out to be a Frank Sinatra hit, "That's Life!" And he sang it big!

We also brought in Gospel artists to introduce our congregation to some of the great musicians in that field--people like Chris Christian, David Meece, Larnelle Harris (who blew the socks off of us during one of our Evangelism Conferences), Andrus and Blackwood, First Call, to name a few. (Dating myself with those guys but this was back in the '80's and 90's.)

One of the more controversial people I brought in was John DeLorean. (Yes, that John DeLorean, or for you movie buffs, the designer of the DeLorean used in Back to the Future.) DeLorean had just released his autobiography about his career, his legal troubles, and his conversion. Some on the Joy board were a bit miffed that we were bringing that "crook" to Joy. I said that he hadn't been convicted of any crime, that in fact, the judge ruled no crime had been committed and that the government had tried to entrap him. But some of the board said he was guilty and had gotten off on a technicality and he shouldn't be coming to Joy. (I guess we forgot about one of our early heroes, a terrorist and murderer named Saul who had a transforming encounter with Jesus.) But we talked it through and got on the same page. And the event was outstanding. A full house. DeLorean was humble, articulate, fascinating, and interesting. After his 1 hour talk people lined up for 2 hours to shake his hand and get his autograph. The sincerity of his faith in Jesus was profound.

We also invited well known people to our worship services for interviews as a way to draw people into our church to hear about Jesus. So I had the privilege of interviewing sports people, politicians, and business people. People like Ron Wolfley and Garth Jax of the Arizona Cardinals, Mark West and Tom Chambers from the Phoenix Suns, singer Naomi Judd, congressman Trent Franks, basketball great Jerry Lucas, a few Miss Americas, Lisa Welchel (Blair from "Facts of Life),to name a few of the many. One thing I learned over the years, always keep control of the mic as sometimes the interviewee could get a bit long winded.

I also had the chance to meet a lot of great people and actually hang with them for awhile--people like Robert Schuller, Rick Warren, Ken Blanchard, Bill Hybels, Mayor Elaine Scruggs of Glendale, AZ, Jay Bakker (son of Jim and Tammy Faye), to name a few.

For a kid from St. Louis Park, MN, I've been fortunate to meet some really outstanding people, many of whom I look up to. And of course, because I've met them or know them, that makes me an important person! :)