Jack and Joe

In January, two men I admired in California died within 24 hours of each other. Jack Hayford, the pastor of Church on the Way, a Foursquare megachurch in Van Nuys, and Joe Garcia, my friend in Novato. Jack was a well-known pastor, author and conference speaker. Joe loved the Lord and was known by a much smaller circle of people. Both of these men lived life to the fullest and finished strong in faith.

In the 1980s and ‘90s, friends and I would attend Jack Hayford’s pastors’ conference each year. Thousands of leaders attended from all over the country. Jack was a preacher’s preacher. He would teach us worship songs he wrote and give inspiring messages. As he preached, he spoke in sentences as long as extended paragraphs.

Jack was like a Pentecostal Billy Graham. He had great integrity and was respected across denominational lines. Hollywood celebrities attended his church and his songs were sung in congregations around the world. He was often on TV, and his books sold thousands of copies. I had Jack’s book, Prayer Is Invading the Impossible, sitting on my bookshelf. I didn’t read much of it, but the title alone inspired me to pray boldly.

While Jack’s ministry inspired and encouraged me, my friend Joe made an even greater impact.

Joe began coming to our church in Novato in 1976, when we were just getting started. He needed to rediscover his faith and rebuild his family. In time, Jesus resurrected Joe’s faith and gave him his wonderful wife, Claudia.
 
When I discovered Joe played chess, I challenged him to a game. He beat me soundly. The next time we played, he taught me strategies which are foundational in competitive chess. Once I could compete with him, he bought me a wooden chess set which I have used for forty years.

After we moved to Phoenix, I would drop by to see Joe when I returned to Novato. He liked to cook special meals, tell stories, and pray together. Joe read everything C. S. Lewis wrote and memorized many passages. He liked to begin a discussion with, “As brother Clive would say…”

Joe gave me a beautiful shotgun that I have used on desert hunting trips since 1986. He was generous with his friends, restaurant servers and people in need. But if someone burned him, he was not so sweet.

Occasionally customers would come into Winter’s Glass, which Joe owned, and say, “Mr. Winter promised me a special deal on a new window.” There was no “Mr. Winter.”  Winter was the name the original owner made up. Joe gave gifts to those he loved and good deals to everyone, unless someone was trying to deceive him. Those folks had to pay a premium.

I was sad when I heard that Jack Hayford had died. His character was outstanding, his gifts extraordinary, and his multifaceted ministry inspired thousands. I had breakfast with Jack once and both of us wrote for Ministries Today magazine. However, I doubt he would have remembered my name.

I wept when I heard Joe died. I had lost a friend who enriched my life with his love and encouragement.

Most of us are more like Joe than Jack. We are not going to be famous, but our lives can be powerful, because the greatest gift of all is love. We don’t have to pattern ourselves after someone on a big platform for our lives to have significance. We just have to focus on loving the people God brings into our lives.

There is a race set out for each of us. If we stay on course we will finish strong and enter glory. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2