First Person with Wayne Shepherd

First Person: Michael Joiner

In the new movie, The Grace Card, Michael Joiner plays the role of police officer Mac McDonald, who is experiencing deep emotional pain and suffering that only the grace of God can heal. Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company: FEBC National Processing Center Far East Broadcasting Company P.O. Box 6020 Albert Lea, MN 56007 Please mention FIRST PERSON when you give. Thank you!

Duration:: 23m
Broadcast on:: 17 Feb 2011
Audio Format:: other

In the new movie, The Grace Card, Michael Joiner plays the role of police officer Mac McDonald, who is experiencing deep emotional pain and suffering that only the grace of God can heal.

Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:
FEBC National Processing Center
Far East Broadcasting Company
P.O. Box 6020
Albert Lea, MN 56007

Please mention FIRST PERSON when you give. Thank you!

As I've often told people with all due respect to all the good programs out there that try to heal the racial divide If Christ isn't part of it, you just still have a problem. Christ needs to be the center of the answer to racial division or any other problem out there. Welcome to First Person. I'm Wayne Shepard. Excited to have Michael Joiner with us today. Michael is one of the lead actors in the movie The Grace Card to be released this coming week in theaters across America. First person is here each week as we take the time to hear people's stories, their spiritual biographies, so to speak, and they're calling to do what they do for the Lord. You'll find much more information, including links to this new movie online at firstpersoninterview.com. Well, the first time I saw The Grace Card at a private screening, I walked away thinking over and over about its theme of grace and forgiveness and reconciliation. I found it to be a powerful film with a great storyline and acting and all came together because a church in Memphis, Tennessee, decided to make their first movie. I actually went to a second screening just because I wanted to experience it all over again. It was that good. Well, Michael Joiner is an important part of this film. He is actually a stand-up comedian, one who likes clean comedy, but his dramatic role in The Grace Card, I think, is outstanding. So, I talked recently with Michael on the phone and asked him to describe his role of police officer, Mack McDonald. Well, Mack is a, well, the way the movie starts out, it's not really giving anything away. So, I'll tell you, it starts in Flashback. It's 17 years earlier. Mack has just gotten married. He's in the front yard with his wife. She's got a little baby, and he's got a seven-year-old boy, and it looks like one big happy family with possibly a bright future. However, going on at the same time, is this little scene is a car chase between some cops and some gangbangers. And, as this goes on, what happens is Mack's son, his seven-year-old son, is riding on a trike. It's hit and killed by a couple of gangbangers. And so, when the scene has him waking up, he was just having a nightmare. And this has been going on for 17 years, as he's been, you find out that he's become a racist since then. Racist tendencies is very bitter towards blacks, minorities, and he's a man of God. And he's a cop. He's a cop. He's now a Memphis policeman. And his son, who was the little baby, is now 17 years old, and they're not getting along. There's the marriage. There's just an atmosphere of just stress and tenseness. And it's not a good thing. You just get the feeling right off the bat that this is not a good family atmosphere. Michael, I've seen two pre-screenings of the movie now. I wanted to see it the second time because the first time, I kind of wanted to test myself because the first time I saw it, I couldn't stop thinking about the movie and its message. So, I wanted to see it again to kind of test that in it. It proved to be true. This is a very powerful film. Yeah, it really is, man. And, you know, when we were filming the movie, we felt that as well. There's several scenes. There's several as you know, I won't give away some of the more. For instance, let me just say the chapel scene. You know what I'm talking about? I mean, we did that scene. It goes on for several minutes, and it's very intense and very dramatic, and it's a catalyst in the movie. But after we did that scene, there was just quiet on the set because we knew God's presence has just shown up and done something special. And when David, the director, walked in and said, "Okay, guys, that was awesome." People were in tears even there. And he said, "Let's take 30 seconds to collect ourselves, and let's do it again." And he did that about eight times, and each time it was like the presence of the Lord just showed up, and I said to Mike after I said, "I know God's going to show up that same way in the theater, and this is going to be incredible." So, yeah, we knew, and as you know, then the ending, some folks are calling it one of the most powerful endings they've ever seen in a movie. That's another one where, man, if you don't want to applaud, or at least in your heart, if you don't feel like there has been a breakthrough, something ain't right, it's much more than just entertainment. Yeah, you might want to provide Kleenex with the tickets to this movie, I tell you. Now, you've been a comedian and actor for a while, a long time. What did you think when they came to you and said, "We want you to do this, quote, Christian movie?" Well, that's funny because I actually was very skeptical. I'll tell you the truth. I got the call from Mr. Everns after he saw my acting reel online, and they were looking for the lead character in this movie that I knew nothing about. He said two things, low budget and Christian, which was kind of redundant, really, but which made me say, you know, I just told him right off the bat. I said, you know, I'm not too very skeptical about Christian films. I've not seen too many, if any, that were of good quality, and I think a lot of them preached to the choir, so I said, you know, send me the script, I'll take a look at it. And he did, and of course, you know, it's funny how when God, when God has what he has for you, even when you're looking for it, it's like, how do you miss it? I remember searching for a wife, and I would go here and there and try to help God out, you know, and go to this church and that church. And then when my wife finally did come along, I didn't see a comment, and the same with this script. I was very skeptical. I didn't think this was what God was going to use for my career breakthrough and many other breakthroughs, but when I read the script, I was just, I was like, man, I love this role. I love this script. It's well written by Howard Klossner, by the way, who wrote Space Cowboys. And just from there, things started to happen. I gave David my price, and he said, okay, so we're on our way. Well, this is one of those, quote, "church-produced" movies. Tell me the story of how this movie came about at church in Memphis, Tennessee. Well, from what I understand, David Evans, who created the story didn't write it, but he created it and directed it. I guess he was in a movie theater, he watched Fireproof, and he felt that that was maybe what God was calling him to do after many years of directing the productions and the church, the theatrical productions. So he had already started writing the Grace Card, which had a different name at that time. He had started getting the ideas for it. And he thought it was going to be maybe a theatrical production, and after he saw Fireproof, he said, no, I think God's calling me to do movies. And so that's when he got ahold of Howard Klossner to rewrite it. And from there, it's just amazing how I guess I haven't heard all the story from David's perspective, but God just started opening doors and things started happening. And it started happening very fast, actually. But this is one of those movies that was largely made by volunteers. Am I right in saying that? No, absolutely. There are some areas you don't want to compromise in on professionalism, and he took care of that, the director of photography, of course, the lighting people, but there was the rest of the folks. I mean, and I got to tell you, when I was on that movie set, I didn't know who was professional and who was -- they were so -- everybody was professional. I didn't know who was hired, and I didn't know who was volunteering. They were just so good at what they did, so devoted, and then eventually I got to know each other. And I knew there was a lot of folks there from the church, but I think 70% at least cast and crew were volunteer. They didn't have auditions for the more important roles, but every time I see the young man who plays my son, I am just so -- he was just incredible. Perfectly cast. He never acted, and just a real natural. I think this was divinely cast to tell you the truth. Yeah. Well, I'm not going to give away any more than you have given away here about the plot, but I really do hope our listeners will go watch the Grace Card. But there is a certain -- I don't know what word to use other than "grittiness" to this movie that you don't often see in movies that are made of this nature. There's a realism about it, isn't there? No, absolutely. And I think -- I've been a big advocate for that as Christian filmmakers -- let's not say Christian filmmakers -- but as Christian filmmakers, you know, you have to -- you can't compromise. It is a tough line for us. You don't want to compromise in your walk with Christ and so on, but you also don't want to compromise the integrity of the quality, so where do you find that balance? But I think we're really starting to find that, you know, courageous is coming out. I've seen bits and pieces of that, and it looks just incredible. They had a better budget, a couple million at least, for that, and it shows. They've used it their money really well. And it just costs money. I think we have to tear down that mindset that it's a sin to entertain. And here's the thing. People go to movies for one reason to be entertained. So we need to entertain them, but in that entertainment, we can throw in -- you know, Jesus calls us to be fishers of men, right? So the hook is the gospel -- I mean, the hook is the entertainment, but there's the gospel in the end of that hook. Well, you play a pretty tough guy in this movie, a guy who's very bitter, who is a racist, who comes right up to the edge of using the N-word and lots of other things in the movie. I mean, that's all part of making it very realistic. Yeah, you can't -- you have to show that stuff, and I think we did a great job of taking it as far. You know, we've had a lot of audiences that were African-American, and if there was something in there at all that they thought, "Hey, you shouldn't have taken it that far." They would have told us what they asked. You know, when we talked to African-American folks who viewed the movie, they were just so blessed. They're touched, and they think that's just right. They want you to see what they've been through. Actor Michael Joiner of The Grace Card will talk with Michael Moore about how God prepared him for this role coming up. ♪♪ Next week on First Person, we'll meet a man who's dedicated his life to the development of the church in China. There is so much we can learn from the Chinese church about persecution, about balance in our view of discipleship, and what evangelism is, what the church is about patience and all these things. We can learn a lot from the Chinese church. And we'll learn some of those lessons from Dr. Thane Yuri next time on First Person. ♪♪ Let's pick up the conversation again with Michael Joiner, an actor in the new movie The Grace Card. Michael is not only a great traumatic actor, but he's also a stand-up comedian, and I ask him to talk about that part of his life. Well, that's another kind of definitely a God story. I came back from Los Angeles after I'd been there the first time in 1986 to 1988. I gave my life to the Lord, came back home to get into theater as an actor, and I was going to Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Valparaiso, Indiana. And my youth pastor knew me as a cut-up. I'd been the class clown all my life. Never thought about stand-up comedy. I'm in my 30s at that time. And he said, "Hey, why don't you do some stand-up comedy for the talent show?" And I told him, "He kept bugging me." I said, "No, I'm not into that." Finally, I gave in, I did it, and I just fell in love with it. So from there, I started contacting other Christian comedians and started doing mostly just Christian comedy, and then I realized, "Well, you know, my comedy's not really Christian and so much that you only get it. If you're Christian, my comedy's clean. Anybody could get it." So then I became a, you know, I did comedy clubs, and I do a lot of corporate events where they want you to be clean. So I started making a living at that for 18 years. I do concerts, of course, Christian events, and I don't know if you know this, but my now 13-year-old son, Dustin, has been doing stand-up since he was seven. I didn't know that. He's been on, "Well, I'm often known as Dustin's dad anymore." If you look him up, there's some crazy stuff on YouTube. He's been on America's most talented kids, Steve Harvey's big time, all the major clubs in New York City, and Hollywood. So he's my opening act right now, but he's a hard act to follow. Boy, that's amazing. Have you had other dramatic roles? As an actor, yeah. You know, people always find it hard to believe I'm a comedian after they see me do a dramatic role, but if you really look at it, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, some of the most notable dramatic actors were comedians. Steve Martin is really excellent in drama. And as you know, as you probably have heard, comedy actually comes from tragedy. Often times comedians have their life history is often full of sad stories. Let's put it that way. But yeah, I prefer drama, and I play a lot of cops. I've done a lot of commercials where I'm either cop role or whether comedy or drama. I've done a lot of when I was in Hollywood. I guess the Bruce Willis, you know, I don't know if you know I was Bruce Willis' photo double for moonlighting. Well, you're just giving me all kinds of surprises here. Yeah, which takes no talent. I used to say it takes no talent to be Bruce Willis, but no, it does. He's a good actor. But yeah, that was an interesting job. And that's right when I gave my life to Lord, and he was the one who actually told me. He said, "You need to get some theater experience." That's what he did, so I came back home, became a comedian, and also started doing theater. And then when I got married, I eventually moved my family back out to LA about eight years ago. And studied with Kevin Spacey's coach, private coach with him, got an agent. Things were going pretty good till the economy kind of went sour. And we had to move back to Kansas City because of that. And here's what that did in my heart, first of all. It caused me to put my family fully in their proper priority because I no longer had a career to compete with. And I felt good about that. I put my marriage in better perspective, my family, and I said, "Lord, that's all I have." And I don't know what to do about it as an actor, but I know as a husband and a father, I have to line up my life with the Word of God fully until you tell me otherwise. I don't know why you're calling us back here. Well, tell me more about coming to faith in Christ. And once that happened, I mean, did you feel his calling to stay in that acting community? You know, that's funny because when I gave my life, when I really committed my life to Lord, and the reason I phrased it that way is because I got saved in high school. And I was all by myself. I was getting convicted by the Holy Spirit. I didn't know what it was then. I just knew I was afraid of death, and I had to do something about it. But there were these billboards at that time, right back in 1977, that said, "I found it," and they were talking about, "I found the answer to life, eternal life." And I read that tract, and I knew that Jesus was what I needed to do if I wanted to go to Heaven. So I asked Jesus into my heart, and all I knew was I wanted to read the Bible and pray, but I also still had this sin nature, which kind of confused me, but I didn't know enough to get any help and have someone disciple me. So I kind of, mostly out of ignorance, kind of started to go back in my own ways eventually. And then in 1988, if you want to hear something really strange, that little booklet, "88 Reasons, Jesus is Coming Back in '88," yeah, I'm pretty sure it didn't happen. Well, that booklet, God used it to get me to just drop, because that was like August, that I read that book, and I said, "Well, according to this, he's coming October." You better get your act together. So I stopped everything, and you know the Bible says anyway, "You will find me when you search for me with all your heart." And when I did that, one thing God showed me that made me so forever grateful was, "Mike, I saved you the first time you asked, but you quit feeling like it, so you started acting like you wasn't." I mean, God didn't say it in so many words, I didn't hear that, but that was clearly what God was saying to me. So I started acting like a Christian. I started telling people about Jesus, started reading the word, and when I did that, the witness of the Holy Spirit came within me, and it was just a wonderful time. So I considered 1988 when I really gave my life to the Lord, and that's when I felt the calling from God to come back home, but I asked somebody, I said, "What should I do?" I said, "I was pursuing acting, and now I'm giving my life to you." Or, "What should I do now?" And someone said, "Well, unless you're in a mafia or something, you should keep doing what God's called you to do." You didn't find it to be an incompatible thing at all, huh? No, not at all, and I was happy because you know how we are when we first say we're like, "Okay, we know we got to go to Botswana or some crazy place and witness to people." Lord, please don't send me to Africa. Yeah, send me to Africa. I was ready though, but it's like, and when you find out that God, the God that doesn't take away, he adds to you, he gives you the desire of your heart, it even makes you more committed, and it did. It made me love God even more. I'm like, "Man, God, you just have everything I've been looking for outside of you. I could have found if I would have just went towards you." But he's a God that also knows how to rebuild the ruins, and he's been giving me back everything that the enemy stole. Very blessed. Talk to me a bit more specifically about what he's given back to you, Mike. I have a beautiful wife and children, and I was born in Gary, Indiana, in the mean streets of Gary, Indiana. I lived with my mom, and see how many other relatives in a two-bedroom rundown apartment. I didn't have much hope. My mom was actually born out of wedlock. My mom was married, so everything was against me. Then I got all kinds of trouble in school and high school, and when you don't have a dad, you don't learn the lessons that parents, when you don't have good parents, you don't learn those lessons of discipline and getting a job and so on. So I was one messed up guy all the way into my 30s, till I gave God my life. I'll tell you how God gives you stuff back. He don't just instantaneously do it. He wants us to learn to be fighters. He wants us to learn discipline. He wants us to learn self-control. So the way God gives you stuff back is, just like when you rebuild a house or brick by brick, it hurts. I'm not going to say any of it felt good, but let's put it this way. Everything bad, so to speak, that happens to you in the will of God is for your good, whereas before when bad things were happening, we're for my destruction. So there's a good kind of hurt and a bad kind of hurt, and I'm all for the good kind of hurt where God's just saying, "Hey, I'm rebuilding your clay, and I'm going to pound you here and there, but trust me." Good things are going to happen. And I see that. I think what God's done in my life and what he does in a lot of Christian's life is just when you think you can't take something anymore, he shows you a glimpse of what he's doing. And he'd say, "Wow, it's worth it, Lord." So I got a wonderful family. He has given me the desires of my heart and a career, and I'm seeing relatives who I've loved and prayed for for so long, coming to Christ. A lot of them were at the movie the other last night that we saw the pre-screen and who knows what he has for us in eternity. The Bible says we can't even imagine it, so I think with God, it's really a win-win. So God's in the process of redeeming all those lost years, huh? Yeah, absolutely. Well, our time has nearly gone here, but I just want to ask you one more time. I'll give you the free time on the radio here to urge everybody to go see the Grace Card. Why should everybody see the Grace Card? Everybody needs to know that they can be forgiven because there's people that maybe like myself are so messed up, they wonder if God could ever use them, and that's the character I play as Mac McDonald. And/or there's people who have a hard time forgiving someone. You know, I've talked to Mike. He plays the African-American partner. We really got to know each other. We're almost best friends now, we're good friends. Mike Higginbottom, right? Michael Higginbottom, and a couple of times I said, "Mike, you know, I think that was Dr. King's message forgiveness, but I think a lot of some of the black leaders today have gotten off track, whereas if someone like Mac McDonald, like you say in the movie, almost used the N-word, they would demand my job and they think that's the thing to do. But I said, "Mike, if you had demanded my job in this movie, I wouldn't have had to change a heart. I would have gotten more bitter." And I said, "I think that's going to be a big relief from African-Americans who find themselves -- or anyone who finds themselves being treated the way I treated him in the movie." And they're going to say, "You know what? I just have to forgive him. That's my only part. I don't have to try to, you know, seek revenge or justice. I just have to forgive him." And it's a hard thing to do, but it's a relief. I think for some folks. So -- and we both see that. So I think it's going to do a lot for racial reconciliation, because as I've often told people, with all due respect to all the good programs out there that try to heal the racial divide, if Christ isn't part of it, you still have a problem. And I think this movie shows that Christ needs to be the center of the answer to racial division or any other problem out there. I really enjoyed getting to know Michael Joyner, who plays Mack McDonald in the new movie, The Grace Card, opening February 25th in theaters. If you would like to know more about The Grace Card, it's cast and the story behind the making of the movie, just visit our website, firstpersoninterview.com. We've placed links there which you can follow, and I hope you'll support this movie because of its strong, biblical theme of forgiveness and grace. And pray for this powerful message of racial reconciliation as it reaches audiences. First Person is here each week at this time, and we've placed an archive of all past programs on our website, firstpersoninterview.com. In addition to the archive, you'll find a calendar of upcoming broadcasts and a button to connect with our podcast via iTunes. It all starts at firstpersoninterview.com. Next time, you'll meet a man who has dedicated his life to training seminary students in Hong Kong, and will learn some things about life in China with Dr. Thanyuri on First Person. And now with thanks to my friend and producer, Joe Carlson, I'm Wayne Shepard. We'll see you next week here on First Person. [MUSIC PLAYING] (upbeat music)