Recently Vaughn Street was asked to produce an interactive media curriculum for best selling author Joyce Meyer’s recent book, The Love Revolution, which was released at the JMM annual women’s conference in St. Louis. The project features contributions from world-renowned guests John Maxwell, Martin Smith (Delirious?), Darlene Zschech (Hillsongs), and others. This is the latest project in our ongoing partnership with Joyce Meyer Ministries and we were thrilled to work with the ministry again, especially on this message. As a follow up, Holt Vaughn asked Joyce and her son, CEO Danny Meyer, to discuss their heart behind this latest project.

Holt: You’ve worked hard for many years and the Lord has blessed the ministry with many accomplishments. It could be easy for someone in your position to maintain the status quo. Instead you’re talking about a revolution. What compelled you to write this book at this stage in your ministry?
Joyce: I believe that now is the time for the world’s next great revolution, the greatest revolution of all – a revolution of love. I’ve never been the type to simply maintain status quo so I’m certainly not going to start now – there are too many lost and hurting people in this world for any of us to do that. I want to dedicate the rest of my life to spreading the love of Christ. Because God has done so much for me and has given me this platform to speak into millions of lives, I feel it is my duty, and this is the perfect time for me write this book.

Holt: The term “revolution” is an ambitious one. Why did you choose that word for the title of the book?
Joyce: The term revolution means: a sudden, radical, and complete change from the way things are normally done. I love that definition because I really feel that in order for us to start walking in the kind of love that Christ commanded us to – the “love your neighbor as yourself” kind – it’s going to take a radical change in our current behavior. The church has become passive and selfish and it’s going to take a revolution to get us back to the place where we are not just talking the talk, but walking in a love that shows the world Christ’s love.

Holt: In The Love Revolution you wrote,” I have dedicated the rest of my life to relieving human suffering.” In what ways are you doing this personally and in the ministry?
Joyce: Personally I am always looking for God to show me where He would like me to give or make a difference in someone else’s life. I wake up every day and ask God how He would like me to be a blessing to someone that day. Walking in love and being a giver have honestly just become a lifestyle for Dave and I. However, it is a lifestyle that we have to work on daily and choose to do on purpose. Through Joyce Meyer Ministries and the many organizations we partner with, we are relieving human suffering literally all over the world. Providing global humanitarian and missions relief, JMM provided more than 18 million meals in 2008 supporting feeding centers in 27 countries and free medical care to over 115,000 people in multiple remote areas. JMM also operates 46 children’s homes globally and through our outreach arm,Hand of Hope, provides a host of other disaster, missions and humanitarian aid.

Holt: Recently you have placed a new emphasis on providing interactive curriculums as a supplement to your books. Why has this been important to you?
Joyce: I don’t just want to keep putting out another book and another CD series. I think in this fast paced society we live in today, people make the mistake of jumping from one topic to another in their studies and time with God and never truly digest a subject and let God finish that work in their heart. These curriculums really break things down and allow you to take the time to learn and hear from God and not just breeze through what He is trying to speak to your heart.

Holt: This project seems to be a special one to you. How is The Love Revolution more than just another book or sermon?
Danny: From its conception we knew we had something special in The Love Revolution. It is really just something God is doing all over the planet right now. Everyone on our team and anyone else we work with – including Vaughn Street – were instantly excited and onboard with it as soon as we started talking about it. We are just a small part of a huge movement that God is spreading to get the Church to focus on the greatest commandment – to love one another.

Holt: How does fighting injustice and confronting human need fit with your brand to Enjoy Everyday Life?
Danny: I think it’s impossible to truly enjoy life if you aren’t helping others. Having more stuff or status or success can bring a shallow, short-term happiness. But real happiness and enjoyment in life can only come from knowing Christ and to truly know Him, you can’t ignore His commands toward confronting the needs of others.

Holt: How do you see The Love Revolution curriculum kit enhancing the reader’s experience?
Danny: I think the multimedia presentation of the gospel is important. Different people learn and receive things in different ways and having the video, audio and print all tied together so well help the message sink in and really bring it to life.

Holt: In what ways can a relationship with companies like Vaughn Street and Eastco Multimedia be valuable to your organization?
Danny: Our relationship with Vaughn Street has been very valuable because it has allowed us to dive into producing curriculums without putting the bulk of the workload on our staff. These types of projects are so detailed and time consuming and our staff has so many other projects going already that we have to have these types of relationships to move into new directions of ministry. Teaming up with a company with expertise in an area we are wanting to move in saves a lot of time and energy and frees us up to focus elsewhere.

Holt: Joyce Meyer Ministries works closely with different music ministries such as Hillsong, Delirious?, Matt Redman and Israel Houghton. Why?
Danny: We had always had our own worship band and it was great, but we felt like it was just time to do something different for a while. These worship ministries have really touched the hearts of thousands of people all over the world and are so effective at leading people into a time of worship. We really just wanted to join forces with them to have a powerful impact on people attending our conferences and these were the people we felt had the heart for worship we were looking for.

Holt: And how important is music to something like The Love Revolution?
Danny: I think it’s important because music has a way of moving you emotionally and spiritually. It can inspire you to do great things and also act as a constant reminder of the mission of The Love Revolutionevery time you hear it. Certain musicians also have a voice in our culture and having musicians join together and use that voice to spread a message of love and promote awareness for a cause is a powerful thing.

Holt: Tell us about Fuzed Worship. What is it, where did the idea come from, and how did you make it happen?
Danny: Fuzed Worship is a new musical extension of Joyce Myer Ministries that I started with my friend Nathan Edmonds a little over a year ago. It literally started in my garage one afternoon. I had written some lyrics down that were inspired by all the things I had seen on our trips overseas and asked Nathan to come over and try to write a song with them. That night we wrote our first song called “Revolving Love” and we spent the next year writing over 30 songs together. We really weren’t sure at the time just what God was up to and really didn’t want to know. We just wanted to write songs to honor God and if He chose to do something with them…great…if not…that was ok too. But as the year went on, we started to get the vision for Fuzed Worship and once Joyce started hearing the songs she really felt like God wanted her to take it under the wings of JMM and help us launch it. We had a perfect amount of songs on The Love Revolution topic, so it was a great fit for us to launch our first E.P.Songs To Inspire A Revolution Of Love in the curriculum and at our 2009 Women’s Conference- so we tracked all the songs in-house with our friend Keith Harris and now we are planning a full length record to come out sometime in 2010. Nate and the band will be playing some JMM conferences and aside from that, we are just waiting to see what else God has for us.

Holt: You’re not a “musician”, yet Fuzed Worship – a music project – was something God really laid on your heart and it came out beautifully. What would you say to the many people around the world who have a passion for something that seems beyond their reach, talents or abilities?
Danny: I’ve always had a desire to play music and ironically the majority of my friends over the years have been musicians, but I never really pursued music. Since Nate and I have started writing I have been learning a lot and I’m starting to play guitar and bass. It’s really amazing when we sit back and look at how God just moved all the puzzle pieces together for Fuzed Worship. I’ve never felt called to preach like my mom, but always felt I had something to say and Nate has been a musician most of his life, but had actually given his desire for it to God and fasted playing music for a year before we got together the first time. So really, the best thing I could say to those people is: give your desires to God and let Him make it happen! We couldn’t have thought this up in a million years. God moved and God made it happen. He knows those desires are in our hearts – He put them there. We just have to submit to His timing and His plan and truly trust that He will make a way and do things we could never even imagine.

Click here for the Love Rev video and more