“The dumpster where I park my car was filled to the brim. I couldn’t help noticing stacks of SHEET MUSIC. Having collected antique sheet music for years, I felt like I’d happened upon a gold mine!

And then I saw it … a 1962 newspaper clipping about a California youth leader by the name of JACK HAYFORD who had just won first place in a nationwide HYMN-WRITING CONTEST.

Jack Hayford was someone with whom I was very familiar! His worship chorus “MAJESTY,” written in 1977 after traveling to England for the silver jubilee of Queen Elizabeth, has been a favorite of millions of church goers!

When I was a young pastor, Jack Hayford was my model for how to use language with intentionality and bring God’s Word to life poetically. His gift with language not only earned him a reputation as an eloquent preacher, he also WROTE some 600 HYMNS. He was the one who inspired me to write lyrics.

Although I never met Jack Hayford in person, I was tasked by a publisher 20 years ago to edit sermons by Pastor Jack for publication in a book that came to be called ‘The Divine Visitor.’

The 88-year-old retired pastor had served The Church on the Way in Southern California for years, and was the beloved minister to many a Hollywood celebrity.

But here’s where the GODWINK comes in. After rescuing the newspaper clipping from the dumpster, I returned to my office to share my find with friends on Facebook.

Only then did I learn that my pastoral hero Jack Hayford … had just DIED the DAY BEFORE, on January 8th."

Greg Asimakoupoulos

••••

Imagine that … a Godwink so astonishing… that only God could have invented it!

Consider the odds ... that a yellowed newspaper clipping, some sixty years old, would be divinely aligned in a dumpster right next to Greg’s parking place, and that this entire discovery would be within hours of Jack Hayford’s passing.

Pretty astounding, isn’t it?

And, what if God WANTED the article about Jack Hayford to be found by another pastor... someone who not only appreciated Pastor Jack's gifts... but had written about them? That's the Divine Alignment of Godwinks at work!

You may wish to read one of Pastor Greg’s poems about the famed Jack Hayford at this link … and while there, take a look at Greg's newest book, “Intersections”.

Remember, when you least expect it, Godwinks at you!