When Mike MacIntosh, Laurie Lewis and Rob Glickman began singing “Beatles music with living lyrics,” it was just for fun at Horizon Christian Fellowship.
It’s still fun, they say, but now they’re known as “The Livingstones” and doors are opening for them to reach thousands of people with the gospel through music. Officially, they are the house band for Youth Development International, a ministry that offers the 1-800-HIT-HOME crisis hotline.
The group performed before approximately 80,000 people over the course of 1996 and in late April they returned from a two week tour of Ivy League schools — including Yale, Harvard, Brown and a couple other colleges.
“It was really an eye-opening experience for us,” said Glickman. “Thirty years ago, Mike (MacIntosh) toured college campuses with Maranatha, but there’s a whole different atmosphere now. The students are all so focused on their degrees and getting a job. They don’t have time to listen or stop.”
Glickman said the highlight of the tour was at Harvard, where they played outside and it was so cold they cut the program short. However, that evening they had more than 100 students attend a concert and Mike prayed for the Christians to have a vision for their fellow students.
At Yale, MacIntosh spoke at the School of Divinity in a message titled, “Comets, Cults and Christ: A Response to Heaven’s Gate.” His message was “don’t follow a man, follow Jesus.”
In addition to touring at Harvard, Yale and Brown, The Livingstones performed at the University of Rhode Island, Connecticut College, Fitchburgh State and Wheaton College. They also sang at several Calvary Chapel churches in the East.
MacIntosh has been pastor of Horizon for the past 22 years. The congregation has about 8,500 adults and children. He is also founder and president of Horizon International Ministries, the evangelistic arm of Horizon.
Laurie Lewis, formerly of the Mama & Papas, The Buckinghams and Spinners, has shared the bill with such legendary rock stars as Bob Seger and Alice Cooper.
Rob Glickman toured and recorded with Glen Kaiser of Rez Band and Darrell Mansfield. He has also appeared with The Clash, UB40, Madness, and blues legend Johnny Winter. He is pastor of Horizon Park Chapel at Sixth and Fir.
This summer “The Livingstones” have scheduled trips to Montana and Colorado. “It’s really just a fun thing to do,” Glickman said. “God uses the foolishness of the world to confound the wise.”
