Greetings, fans of New Release Tuesday! It's been a while since you've heard from me, but I've certainly been keeping busy over the last month. First it was a week of "Music in the Rockies" in Estes Park, Colorado, and an opportunity to spend time with some of the biggest names in the Christian Music business.

And then it was a trip down to Mason, Texas, to walk my daughter Erin down the aisle. Where's Mason, you ask? About one hundred miles straight north from San Antonio. It was over one hundred degrees every day, but the church was air conditioned. Whew! My new son-in-law, Aaron Rosberg, is a praise & worship leader at a non-denominational church in the Denver area, so when we get together, the usual topic of conversation is CCM.

One quick thought regarding the Estes Experience. If you have a chance to see Chris Tomlin and David Crowder in concert, go! They were absolutely awesome, and I have to admit that our seats (first row center) made it even more of a wonderful experience. During the week up in Estes I got to attend a workshop with Nichole Nordeman, and she was also just great in her performance as well. With her that night was a guy named Steven Curtis Chapman, so it was one of those "nights to remember."

One man that came up to Estes that certainly had a story to tell is a man named John Morgan, who I spent time with early that week. Even though he had wanted to be a Christian singer and musician when he was in his early 20's, it didn't work out that way, as you will see. But God used him in a very different way as he became known as an impersonator of George W. Bush. I am excited to be able to share his story with you in this column. He is a man that truly has a heart for God, and I hope that you will be inspired as you read the journey that his life has taken over the last 25 years.

John Morgan had wanted to be in the Christian music business since the early 80's, and after a couple of CD's as an independent artist, he made the giant leap of faith to Nashville, hoping to land a record contract during GMA week. Nothing happened, and after doing a few regional concerts in churches, he started asking himself where his life was headed. And as he put it, he realized at that point that there was "a whole lot of 'me' in the picture and not enough "God" in the picture."

In his mid 20's and newly married at this point, he took the advice of his close and trusted friends and gave his hopes a rest. He decided instead to spend time with his local church and build their community of faith, and see if God would re-open that ministry at some point in the future.

Morgan then began a twenty-year "desert experience," working for his parents in their small business and helping build the foundation at Metro Life Church in Orlando, Florida. Unlike many who come to Orlando from somewhere else, John and his wife were born and raised there. During that time, Morgan learned contentment and that true success in life was having a relationship with God. He quit worrying about where God was leading him and said "Hey, Lord, I'm here. If you ever need me to do something other than what I'm doing, I'm available."

As it turned out, God did need him for something else. Morgan's life changed when he was a staffer helping set up an appearance of George W. Bush when he was running for President. One of Bush's full-time staffers saw him, and said "Did anyone tell you that you look just like George Bush?" It was the first time that he had heard that comment, and he wasn't even sure what Bush looked like at the time the comment was made.

Three years later, Morgan's life changed the night that he was attending his mom's 80th birthday celebration. At that party was a dear friend of the Morgans, and she pointed out, numerous times, that there was an industry of people who impersonate other people, and they made good money. That friend suggested that Morgan would be a natural because he loved the stage, he loved people, and because he was a very funny man. And he looked just like George W. Bush.

At first, he dismissed it. Three months later Morgan and his wife were watching television, and someone was impersonating Bush. That sent his wife to the computer to do a web search on George Bush impersonators, and found out that there were two men listed. All excited, she ran to her husband, and said "Honey, I just found a new career for you!" He finally looked at the computer web sites and realized "Maybe there is something here!"

At this point, John Morgan prayed for two weeks, and after that time he clearly heard the Holy Spirit tell him that he was going to the impersonation of Bush as a career, and that he would be doing it for the coming five years. At that point, Bush had one more year in office in his term, and that told Morgan that Bush was going to be re-elected. And as we know, he was.

Exactly how he was going to become a George W. Bush impersonator wasn't clear in his mind, but the book The Faith of George W. Bush, written by Steven Mansfield, played a part in that. When Morgan was finished reading the book, he did a web search on Mansfield, the author. He discovered that he was soon to be going out on a Christian Music Boat Cruise as a worship leader, and Morgan decided he wanted to be on that cruise. So he prayed "Lord, you're going to have to find a way to get me out on this boat."

God did. A couple of days later, he got a call from New Haven Records to do a Bush performance for them. And there, he met a man named Vince Wilcox, who was also going on the boat cruise. Wilcox made a couple of phone calls, and Morgan and his wife were invited on the cruise to perform his impersonation.

And the rest, as they say, is history. John Morgan has been on "The View" twice, as well as appearances on Good Morning America, the Today Show and Fox News. As well as many other television appearances. Did he ever actually meet George W. Bush? Yes, he did, which made for a great photo opportunity.

Morgan makes no bones about the fact that he is a conservative Republican. But he calls himself a "swinging Bush," as he works with folks from both parties. He won't violate his principles in the name of entertainment, he points out, and he is happy to work with folks from different persuasions.

During his performances when at all possible, he breaks out of comedy routine and into his ministry, talking about our mission as Christians and "imaging forth Jesus Christ to a world that doesn't know him." Some have come up to him and stated that they wished they could look like someone famous, and his reply is "You do." And then he continues, "How much better is it that the King of Kings has chosen to live inside you and to make himself known through your life?" And he quotes Ephesians 5:1 that states "Be imitators of God." He brought the point home by pointing out that George W. Bush becomes a word picture, and they, when they see Bush, they think back to John Morgan, and then they think back to the image of Christ inside them.

God certainly moves in strange and mysterious ways, and he certainly has in Morgan's life. At age 50, he knows that his job will be pretty well extinct in two more years, but that's ok. He's working on a book called My Life as a Bush, and it's the story about how "God has moved me from a simple, disgusting past to a place where I can carry His (Jesus') message through me."

He's currently in Japan, and his impersonations have taken him to Canada, Mexico and Europe. And what else excites him? "The birth of my first grandchild, and I can't wait."

John Morgan? A really neat man and one that I truly enjoyed spending time with. Truly a man of God, truly a man on a mission. Now if I could just look like someone famous...

If you're curious about just how much he really does look like George W. Bush, then check out his web site at www.georgebushimpersonator.com. And the woman that looks just like Laura Bush? That is John Morgan's wife, who occasionally tags along with him to impersonate his "other half."