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OPRAH: Did you know
what you were gonna preach on? How did you figure that out? PASTOR JOEL: I just started
coming up with some notes. And I ended up telling a bunch of funny stories about my family and,
you know, tied it back into faith. But I was - you know, I was so nervous and talked so fast.
OPRAH: By this time, though, your dad had gone to the hospital. Was he not in the hospital?
PASTOR JOEL: He had to go to the hospital that Friday due to some complications from dialysis.
He'd been on dialysis three months. He still seemed very healthy. So we hooked him up by the
telephone. Back in 1999, didn't have the internet like today. And we hooked him up and he heard
me speak my first sermon. I got up there and I had to hold onto the podium. I was so nervous. My
first thought was, why is everybody staring at me? OPRAH: (Laughter.) PASTOR JOEL: I'd
never seen it from that point of view. OPRAH: That is funny. PASTOR JOEL: So anyway I
spoke - OPRAH: Because you're the one speaking. PASTOR JOEL: I know. I know. So I
spoke and I was so relieved. We went up to the hospital. We saw my dad. The nurses stopped me
in the hall and they said, Joel, we have never seen your dad so proud. He just beamed with joy.
And of course that made me feel well. OPRAH: Yeah. PASTOR JOEL: Well, little did I realize
that next Friday, my dad had a heart attack and he died. He went to be with the Lord. And I
thought, what are the coincidences of me speaking the last Sunday of his life? Because he was
healthy, for the most part. OPRAH: Yes. PASTOR JOEL: And so here's the thing. About two or
three days later, after I got past the shock of my dad dying, I felt that same feeling that said, I'm
supposed to step up and pastor the church. And, again, every thought said, are you crazy? You've
spoken one time. You think you're gonna get up there and pastor it? But I knew I was supposed to
do it. And I took that step of faith. PASTOR JOEL: But I got up there to minister and I thought,
I've got to be like my dad. I mean, all these 6,000 people, they've come every week, you know, a
lot of 'em for years and years, and if I don't teach like my dad and preach like my dad and use the
same - you know, I just felt like I - it's not - OPRAH: So at first when you were doing it, you
were trying to imitate your dad. PASTOR JOEL: Right. OPRAH: You were trying to invoke him.
PASTOR JOEL: I was. The first few - few months, I felt pressured to be him. Not in a bad
sense, because I love my dad. But I just thought, you know what? I felt like I needed to be
because that's what everybody expected of me. OPRAH: Yes. PASTOR JOEL: Because they'd
been there all these years. But then one day about three or four months in I realized, I'm not good
at being my dad. I'm not good at preaching his messages. He came from a Southern Baptist
background. He's more fiery. And I thought I'm laid back. I'm good at encouraging people.
Talking about life. PASTOR JOEL: And it was about that three, four, five months in I read a
scripture that said, "David fulfilled his purpose for his generation." OPRAH: Whoa, that's good.
PASTOR JOEL: I felt like I heard something here. I said, Joel, your dad fulfilled his purpose. Go
be you.