Coors, Budweiser, and God
A good friend of mine passed away last month. I cried and smiled simultaneously. Cried because I miss him and because he died young. But I smiled because I know where he is today. The story is one of true awe. It will move fast so just be in awe and know this is better than fiction.
A few years ago my wife came home from Starbucks and said that God spoke to her and said, “I am moving you and your family to Colorado.” We lived near San Antonio at the time. So we prayed and felt a peace and just put it in God’s hands. Fourteen months later I got a call out of the blue asking if I could move to Colorado and speak to men at country clubs about Jesus. My book had come out about a month before.
We smiled with Jesus and said yes. Long story short we needed help with housing to make this work. The ministry we were partnering with had a board meeting and discussed this issue. At the meeting the Executive Director asked if anyone had any ideas on housing for the Cook’s. Joe Coors raised his hand and said, “God told me this morning while sitting in my hot tub on my patio to buy the house next door and let someone in ministry live in it. Would that work for the Cook’s?” We had never met him and he didn’t know about the ministry initiative at the time.
When we heard about this we smiled with Jesus. We graciously accepted the house in Golden Colorado on Rolling Hills CC next to Joe Coors… this was not a trailer park. We smartly decided to have Rolling Hills CC as our first outreach. Joe, being the President of Rolling Hills CC, invited all his friends to take part. We had about 70 guys meeting weekly for 15 weeks. I led them chapter-by-chapter through my book and taught the true meaning of the story. One guy that soon showed up out of curiosity was a man everyone thought would be the last guy to ever come to a men’s Bible study. He had the reputation of being on the wild side. He was the former director of marketing for Budweiser in St. Louis and was known for his brilliant adds. To this day they are still considered the most popular adds in the history of Budweiser. He subsequently moved to Golden and opened his own marketing firm in the shadows of the Coors brewery.
On the day I led the group outside to bury their lies, we strategically chose a spot just up in the pine trees near the 10th tee. The 10th tee is where we make the turn in golf. As everyone tossed their lies into the hole we dug, I asked if anyone wanted to make the turn in life and invite Jesus to become the Captain of their ship. Joe Coors was standing next to me as Mr. Budweiser stepped forward. Joe Coors and I put our hands on his shoulder and prayed with him as he crossed the line with Jesus. It was surreal. It always is with God.
The angels in heaven celebrated with gladness and laughter on this one… Coors and Budweiser sealed the deal. Last month Mr. Budweiser, Greg, joined with the angels in celebration and laughter as he crossed over into eternity… and I cried and smiled at the same time. I am in awe…