MARCUS AND JONI LAMB
DAYSTAR SHINE DOWN ON ME!
by JAMES E. COSSEY
A
TTRACTIVE, but not ostenta- In the privacy of his office, for almost where her parents were local lay leaders.
tious. That was my first impres- two hours, Marcus Lamb shared his bur- Joni and Marcus met in October 1980
sion as I exited Highway 121 den for Christian television and recounted when Pastor Thomas Grassano invited
and made my way onto the miracle after miracle that God has per- Marcus to conduct revival services at
property of the Daystar Television Net- formed in the development of what has Tremont Avenue.
work in suburban Dallas, Texas. As I now become the second-largest Christian Marcus recalls that it was on July 4,
toured the spacious building, which had television network in the world. Occasion- 1973, at the Georgia State Camp Meeting
once been the corporate headquarters of a ally, as he spoke, his chin would quiver, in Atlanta, while Ronald E. Brock was
national restaurant chain, I was impressed and he would wipe a tear from his eye as preaching, that he felt a profound, per-
by its functional simplicity and by the he gave God praise for taking the ministry sonal call to preach the Gospel. At the
graciousness of the young lady assigned from a small, understaffed, under- tender age of 15, he returned home from
to give me my tour. equipped TV station in Montgomery, camp meeting, dressed in a suit, as he
I had come to Daystar on that August Alabama, to the worldwide cable and knew preachers were supposed to do, and
morning in 2008 with two objectives: I satellite ministry force Daystar is today. on a hot July afternoon, picked up his
was to conduct an interview for this article Several words came to my mind regarding mother’s huge Scofield Reference Bible,
with Founder-President Marcus Lamb, and Marcus—words you would not normally walked into the woods, and preached his
I was to appear as a guest on the daily pro- consider in the same context—entrepre- first sermon to the family horse, Sugar-
gram Celebration with Marcus and his wife, neurial, daring, creative, visionary, humble. foot. No converts were recorded from that
Joni. Several guests were to appear that Marcus Lamb, an ordained bishop in sermon. However, halfway through the
day, and we were introduced to one the Church of God, grew up in a lay- message, younger brother Gary bounded
another in the hospitality room and man’s home in Macon, Georgia. His earli- from behind a nearby tree, laughing at
briefed regarding the program before being est spiritual development came through his elder sibling’s preaching to a horse!
escorted into the studio. Following the his parents and what was then the Nobody laughs today as Daystar ministers
broadcast, each guest spent a few moments Shurlington Church of God (now called to more than 200 nations and, via cable
with Marcus and Joni, and then I joined Real Life Church of God). His wife and and satellite, covers the footprint of the
Marcus in a conference room adjacent to ministry partner, Joni Trammell Lamb, entire world.
his office, where we shared a private lunch grew up in the Tremont Avenue Church Soon after his call to ministry, Marcus
and I conducted my interview. of God in Greenville, South Carolina, concluded that he must attend Lee Col-
lege (now Lee University) in Cleveland,
Tennessee. His only problem was that he
was about to start his senior year in high
school. Personal research led him to
believe that if he could test well enough
on the college entrance exams, he could
skip his high school senior year and go to
Lee. With permission from both Lee and
his high school in Georgia, he did just
that. After spending his first year at Lee,
he went home and graduated with his
high school class, then returned to Lee
where, because of entering college at age
16 and taking extra classes, he entered his
final senior semester at age 19 and then
graduated magna cum laude after only
Marcus and Joni Lamb
three years on campus. Marcus credits the
on the Celebration set
international and multicultural emphases
on the Lee campus for his passion for
24 EVANGEL • FEB 2009
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