I recently got the chance to interview Doug Van Pelt, editor of HM (Hard Music) Magazine – formerly Heaven’s Metal Magazine. I won’t say too much in this intro as a lot of stuff is covered in this interview. Enjoy! Chris

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CSJ (Christian St John): When did you become a Christian and how?
DVP (Doug Van Pelt): I was 11 years old when I put my faith in Christ. It was probably at a service at Calvary Hill Baptist Church on Route 236 in Fairfax, VA. This was a LONG time ago. After about six months, where I’m confident I knew what I was doing, was growing in the Lord, reading the Word, having fellowship with Him, having the privilege of leading two of my best friends to Christ, learning about and doing worship, something gradually happened to me and I slowly but surely moved away from Jesus being Lord of my life and Doug Van Pelt being the lord of my life. Nine years later I was a prodigal son that was in college, living exactly how I wanted to, pretty much. I was heavily into music and really enjoying the motto of “Sex, drugs and rock n roll.” I was like an evangelist for weed. I would have been one of those idiots that would lean out of an open car window and bellow, “PARRTEEEE!”

I knew better. I knew that Christians were the happiest people on earth. I had seen something happen at a church retreat one time as a junior high student. It was like during a worship time at a retreat… No big deal. And the people in the room started hugging each other. There was praise, tears of joy, and people hugging each other. I can still picture that time now. But I shoved thoughts of God and that sort of thing out of the way. I distracted myself with another beer, or another song, whatever. I didn’t want to think about that kind of stuff.

Anyway, through the influence of a friend my age, who had gotten his life and heart right back with God during the school year, I met back up with him during a summer break, where he lived (Florida) and he shared with me some things about Jesus that I knew and respected, but also some things that I didn’t know that intrigued me. One such concept was the belief that Jesus went down to hell and took the keys of death and hell, setting prisoners free as He preached to them. Not sure about that, but it sure made me curious, etc. Anyway, I was confronted with a verse in the book of James: 4:4, which says something like, “You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity toward God? Therefore, if you are a friend of the world, you are an enemy of God.” I was convicted that I needed to choose. During the course of that night, where I became broken before God and cried tears of surrender and joy for the first time in a long time, I realized I needed to count the cost. There wouldn’t be any more sleeping around, drugs, and my lifestyle would change. I thought to myself, ‘I need to write a resolution.’ During the course of a conversation with my friend, he pointed out a cool, blue ballpoint pen on his floor. He told me, “That pen can write sideways, upside-down, you could probably write with that in zero gravity. Here, you can have it.” I thought about my resolution and knew that I had the pen with which to write it now. When I went home, I noticed that the Bible I had been reading at our dining room table wasn’t open as I had left it. Instead it was shut and there was a card sticking out of it. ‘Oh, that’s sweet,’ I thought. ‘My mom must’ve written me a note.’ I opened the card and it was blank, though. ‘Nice!’ I thought, ‘Now I have the pen and the paper for this resolution.’ This was a serious thing for me. Giving up weed and sex were not something I looked forward to. But I really felt like God was calling me to surrender to Him. Then I came upon the idea: ‘What about my two best friends in high school? I’ll write them a letter with this card and tell them about Jesus!’ Now I was conflicted. What to do? I asked God for help and then I did the old “hunt and peck” method, where I opened the Bible and planted my finger on a verse, looking for direction. Do you know what that verse said? It said, “Don’t worry about the speck in your brother’s eye. First take out the plank that is in your own eye. Then you will see clearly to take out the speck in your brother’s eye.” Wow! There was my answer! I wrote my resolution and I am so happy I gave my life to Jesus and “came home” like a prodigal son that night. I’ve never regretted that decision.

CSJ: HM Magazine has been around for some time now. What was the journey like to get the magazine to 2009?
DVP: Hmm. Lots of hard work. Lots of confidence in a very capable God to help me get here. Right now it is even tough to look into the future and see success for a print magazine. But this is what I feel called to, so this is what I struggle and work towards. There have been neat times where God showed me His help and where people came alongside me and said they would support HM. It was called “Heaven’s Metal Magazine” when it first start in 1985. In 1986 I got a letter from Pure Metal Records, which stated that they wanted to advertise in Heaven’s Metal and wanted me to design the ads, so I did and that really helped me jump to another level. A few years later Frontline Records (who also had Alarma Records and Intense Records) also came alongside me and helped with cover designs and threw their marketing support behind the magazine.

CSJ: What is God teaching you right now?
DVP: To stay faithful in the little things. To continue to spend time with Him and listen for His voice. To be obedient. To find creative ways to show attention and love to my family.

CSJ: Some say that the computer you use says a lot about a person – PC or Mac?
DVP: PC. My first computer out of college was a Texas Instruments CPU, using basic language. Then I got a Commodore 64, and then my parents invested in a Tandy 1000 PC with Word Perfect and PageMaker programs and a laser printer. This is what I needed and used to get to the next level. Once I started getting software and stuff, I never wanted to pay the extra money to convert over to the Mac. That’s why I’ve stayed. If Apple ever wanted to use me as a satellite company that used their equipment and could show people what we were doing with their gear, I’d gladly receive their sponsorship.

CSJ: What’s your biggest temptation and how do you overcome it?
DVP: Wow. I don’t know about biggest. Last month when a hot chick came on to me at a show, there was sexual temptation to flirt with her, but just realizing that I didn’t want to be unfaithful to my wife. I’ve often thought that if someone really threw themselves at me that I would pull out a photo of my wife and show the other woman. “This is why I won’t…” I remember being tempted a couple years ago to sell ads to an ad agency that wanted to buy print ads for Spark – an alcoholic energy drink. It would have been good money, but could have sent the wrong message to a large majority of our underage readers. I’m tempted to sell spots on the sampler CD that we (used to) include in our subscriber copies to just any old band with money willing to pay … instead of sticking to our guns and only inviting bands of high quality or notoriety to be on them, because they represent the magazine for us.

CSJ: What’s your favourite style of music – Why?
DVP: Ha! I don’t know. I love the energy of hardcore punk rock at a live show. I love how a singer passionately communicates. I love the breakdowns of good heavy riffs. That crosses over to heavy metal of all types, of course. In a live setting, I really like a brutal and tight death, black or thrash metal band. Listening to music in my car, I prefer a more melodic metal or hard rock – something I can (at least pretend to) sing along to. I love certain types of post-hardcore music, where the melody is just great and sticks in my mind. I really love some forms of progressive metal and rock that shows both high quality musicianship and creative songwriting. I like a beautiful voice – whether it comes from a woman or man, belting out music from the soul. I appreciate classic Motown and R&B because of that. I love blues-based hard rock, which covers classic rock, the blues, and metal.

CSJ: What keeps you going, believing, and living in faith?
DVP: Knowing that Jesus forgave me and my Father in heaven has forgiven me and that He has introduced me to His Holy Spirit. I’ve felt some emotions and had experiences that are simply undeniable to me. I can’t very well convince someone else of my personal experiences, but I’ve felt the presence of God and it doesn’t make sense to forget that. Though experiences, like memories, can wane. I realize that I deserve His wrath, and so having His grace and mercy makes me grateful.

CSJ: If you were one of the characters in the Bible, who would you be?
DVP: Oh, that one’s easy. I’d be the prostitute that washed the feet of Jesus with my tears and dried them with her hair. She had the most amazing and blessed experience of them all, in my opinion. There are, of course, plenty of incredible experiences had by different Bible characters, like David and his company of musicians and priests in the tabernacle, where God came down and showed His presence. Seeing Jesus heal people would have been supreme…

CSJ: Who was the strangest person you ever interviewed?
DVP: That’s a good one. Trey Azezgoth (spelling?) of Morbid Angel was odd, because we actually were at odds debating which had more authority – the Chaos that God brought light to; or God and His power to bring order and light into a world of darkness. Henry Rollins was rather strange, too, because he’s interviewed people before and should have empathy towards journalists ingrained inside of him, but was was rather callous and a bit rude.

CSJ: Name three bands that, in your opinion, could’ve and should’ve – Why?
DVP: The Crucified should’ve torn down walls and taken some of the territory that Pantera claimed. They were just so good and powerful. Extreme should’ve taken over the world and led lots of people to Christ with the III Sides album. And King’s X should’ve become multi-platinum because they invented a new type of music. It seemed to be a real breath of fresh air.

CSJ: What do you think of the current Christian music scene?
DVP: I think there are so many good bands out there right now, it’s just ridiculous. It’s very healthy in the sense of quality. No matter what direction or scene you look in, there’s a group of believers making great art there. The economic part of the scene is hurting, along with the world’s music scene. It’s kind of like this: Young people have about 4 to 5 years to make it (from the age of 18 to 23) and if you haven’t made it by then, you’ve probably been spit up and ground up and used.

CSJ: Are there any bands that stand out to you right now and why?
DVP: Sleeping Giant and For Today, though they come to me on the recommendation of many others. Mute Math, although, their hearts may have shifted away from our source of life (I don’t know, but an interview in AP with the singer about a year ago was kind of telling), but I guess we’ll see. Seabird is a really refreshing band. Maylene & the Sons of Disaster, but you never know what their next album might sound like…good or bad? Demon Hunter – I really like what they’re doing. Paramore. I love their sound. I’m so excited for their success.

CSJ: What three books have you read that made an impact on your life?
DVP: Crap! That’s a hard one. I haven’t read a whole lot of books lately, except for review and whatnot. I really loved Spiritual Burnout by Malcolm Smith, which talks so much about grace, breaking it down into easy-to-understand concepts. I really enjoyed Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller and Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus, but I don’t know if they had a huge impact on me. I just enjoyed them immensely. There’s a book called Into The Son by Shanks (Robert, I think?) that explores the topic of eternal security and I thought it was compelling. As a youngster, books like A Wrinkle In Time got me fascinated with the wonder of imagination. I think the only book I’d feel most comfortable with in answering your question would be the first one I mentioned – Spiritual Burnout. Fantastic reading.

CSJ: What recent movie (Christian or secular) has blown you away (if there is one)?
DVP: Hmmm. I really like The Body, even though it explored the concept of ‘What if the resurrection of Jesus was false.’ I thought it was wonderful to tell a story about that. I really loved The Passion of the Christ. Man! Neither of those are very recent. I was thoroughly entertained by The Dark Knight.

CSJ: What do you think of the modern church?
DVP: I think there is a lot to be excited about within the modern church. There seems to be an awakening in a lot of circles about various things – whether that be worship, serving the poor, embracing the arts, and unity in the body. Of course, if you want to focus on the negative, because there are people involved, there is all kinds of horrible, twisted, and impatient things that stunts the growth of the body and causes division and a bad witness to the world.

CSJ: Do you spend much time in prayer?
DVP: Hardly any time at all! My prayer life is a pathetic joke! I should really be able to say I stop and pause in prayer for at least 30 minutes a day, but I don’t even come close. I maintain a “line of communication” that is real and gives me a connection to His leading and sustains me, but in regards to how much I know I could be doing, I don’t pray at all.

CSJ: If you could do anything what would it be?
DVP: Right now it would be write a book, get it published, have it become really popular and have a film company make a blockbuster movie out of it.

CSJ: What do you think about the a-typical “American Jesus” TV Evangelists?
DVP: I think they’re easy to pick on and could be right with God and our judgment could be resisting God Himself or not being gracious to His people. Of course, Jesus lived 33 years near the Mediteranean and probably had a dark, olive complexion and His words were often puzzling to people, probably challenging those around Him a lot. In some ways, the part of His personality that endeared Him to His disciples were probably characteristics that we might call irreverent or “human,” and so people often don’t represent Him very accurately. I like the common criticism that “Jesus is not a white, middle-class Republican,” but that again is so easy to say. He’s probably not a black, low-class Democrat, either. He’s not a school mascot in a furry little uniform that we can command to do backflips and root for our team. He is God. He is compassionate lover of the underdog. He’s the commander of the army of the Lord of Hosts. He’s so common that Isaiah said He “wasn’t much to look at.” Yet He also is at the very center of the worship in Heaven. Those TV evangelists might spend sweet time in His presence before they go on, asking God to “kill me if I misrepresent you in any way. Please let me disappear and present just You in Your truth. Allow me to get out of the way and glorify You.” If that guy is saying that kind of thing behind closed doors, why should we be so quick to assume that he’s some jerk out to make a buck? We could be getting lied to from a lot of different sides…

CSJ: What is your all time favourite Christian artist/band and why?
DVP: Arkangel. They released the Warrior album back in 1981 and it’s still relevant and beautiful today. This is an impossible question to answer, so I’ll just go back to one of my favorites of all time. This one would definitely be on my “Desert Island Discs” list of ten albums I’d want to have…

CSJ: If you had one opportunity to speak the Gospel into someone’s life would you a) run away Jonah style or b) take the opportunity with both hands?
DVP: Man, wouldn’t that be so awesome to speak the Good News into someone’s life? I would love that! I hope if and when I have that opportunity, I see it for what it is, instead of some fear of popularity or something dumb.

CSJ: Thanks Doug for your time and and great interview. God’s blessings on you and your ministry as you push forward to impact lives for the Kingdom.
DVP: Thanks for the privilege and honor of doing this interview. I enjoyed it. You caught me at a good time when I was resting after a surgery. I hope you like it and it does something good. I thank God in advance if He does decide to use it in some way to bring Him glory. Amen.

Pictures courtesy of Doug Van Pelt – Visit the HM Magazine website

May, 2009

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Please note: Every person I interview is in the media spotlight in one form or another, and is a professed follower of Jesus Christ. Please bear in mind that everyone has their own individual belief system (even within the bounds of Christianity). As such, I respect the insights, thoughts, and faith-walk of each and every person I interview, and because of this I tend not to edit their answers. Remember, I may not necessarily agree with everything that is said in the interviews. Thanks for bearing these things in mind before you send any “flame mail” Chris

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