The pastor who pals around with Justin Bieber and a bevy of A-list athletes while ministering to thousands of lesser-knowns at his megachurch says he’s ready to speak truth to all those tabloid headlines.
Like reports, for instance, about that time Pastor Carl Lentz of HillsongNYC moved the pop star into his suburban New York house for 18 months a couple years back. It wasn’t 18 months. It was about a month, at a time when Bieber sorely needed some downtime, Lentz told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
“Yeah, there was a period where he just needed to get out of dodge, his regular life, and lived with us,” Lentz said ahead of Tuesday’s release of his inspirational “Own the Moment,” the pastor’s first book. “He’s got an amazing mom and dad but in this regard we thought maybe it would be cool for a little bit just to check out of the grind that you’re in as one of the biggest stars in the world and just be normal.”
For the record: Lentz is the Bieb’s friend, not his pastor. Bieber had one of those already — Judah Smith, based in Seattle. Also: Bieber was playing Uno with Lentz’s kids when the tabs had him trashing a New York City nightclub, Lentz said.
Bieber has infamously mixed it up on occasion with the photographers who stalk him. He has left fans waiting at concerts for a couple of hours. He has been caught in a slew of other, less than sterling activities and brushes with the law, including egging his neighbor’s house and urinating in a bucket. So forgive him if he wanted to chill privately in Montclair, New Jersey, with Lentz, the pastor’s co church planter and wife, Laura Lentz, and their three children.
“We pulled it off for like two days and then the word got out and it was kind of annoying, but overall it was like a pretty special time,” Lentz recalled. “Yeah. Uno, card games, Bible studies and just sneaking into coffee shops in Jersey, just hanging out.”
Bieber’s publicist declined an AP request for an interview with the star.