Almost 30 years ago when Nathan Dorrell was balancing seminary studies along with starting a creative ministry, he earned a nickname that made it easy for him to be recognized and remembered.
But more than recognition, Dorrell has always wanted audiences to remember Jesus.
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“Back in 1997 I needed a costume for a church that wanted me to juggle, close to where I was going to seminary while I was working on my master of divinity degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth,” he recalled. “I didn’t want a clown outfit, but I didn’t want to look like anyone else either. I wanted something simple that made me stick out in a good way.
“I decided on a tie and knew it would have to be a crazy one for the kids, because that’s what the guy at the church was looking for — so I sewed the tie onto the shirt.
“When I was being introduced the guy looked over at me and forgot my name, so he introduced me as the Crazy Tie Guy,” Dorrell remembered. “I didn’t think anything about it — I just shared my juggling and told the kids about Jesus. Then at the next church the same thing happened, and I realized that a connection had been made.”
Today, while combining the art of juggling, unicycling and stilt-walking, Dorrell performs — along with his wife, Kathy, and their children — at churches, camps and conferences around the country.
In addition to being an evangelist and professional juggler, Dorrell also is children’s minister at Edgemont Baptist Church, Shelby, Tennessee.
More than entertain
During his college years, Dorrell realized the unique opportunity juggling provided not only to entertain children, but also to engage them with the gospel.
“I was working with inner-city kids as a summer missionary in Knoxville, Tennessee when God started my juggling ministry,” Dorrell recalled. “I could not get the kids to stop and listen to me, and I was pulling my hair out trying to share the gospel with [them].
“God reminded me one night that He had taught me how to juggle in sixth grade. I didn’t know much, but I decided to try sharing Jesus while I juggled one day,” Dorrell said. “God worked in the lives of those kids that day.”
The lessons learned that summer greatly impacted Dorrell, laying the foundation for his ministry.
“I don’t care if I’m juggling, tying trick knots, using a lasso or balancing things on my head, I just ask God what it is He wants me to share and I join Him in the message … in a creative way,” Dorrell said. “That has been part of my life journey with the Lord.”
Open doors
With his impressive juggling skills, Dorrell has earned several world records, opening doors for people to connect with the ministry — including an appearance in a 2017 Super Bowl commercial for Advil that featured him juggling three balls underwater.
“I remember asking God what He wanted me to share at a Vacation Bible School one summer, when Lifeway [Christian Resources] had done the Submerged VBS for the theme,” Dorrell related. “I felt like God wanted me to share that He wanted people to go deep with Him and not have a surface relationship. I used it as an opportunity to connect audiences with the sower and the seed parable — that if you just stay on the surface, you don’t get deep with God and get rooted.”
Dorrell said he then decided to set the world record for underwater bowling ball juggling.
“It is amazing how sometimes God doesn’t use the messages in the way you expect. I didn’t get many calls from churches that were doing Submerged that summer. I wondered why God had me go through all that practice and work to share that message only a few times.
“Later, I got a call from someone who had seen the YouTube video of me setting that record, which actually had less than 100 views at the time. They wanted to buy it for a commercial, but they weren’t allowed to tell me for what or when it would air. I made sure it was a family-friendly thing and sold the video while retaining the rights.
“The next year my sister-in-law called us up and let me know she had just seen me on a Super Bowl commercial.
“You never know what God is going to do,” Dorrell declared.
He continues to see God move in extraordinary ways.
“God has used juggling in a strategic way to help us go and share the gospel,” he said. “Long ago, I won the International Three Ball Juggling Championship, and I know that was something God did. It was not because of anything I did or my own ability. I had asked God to teach me the tricks He would use to help me share His message.”
‘God had a plan’
Even more surprising to Dorrell was that he didn’t even know the rules to the competition or what to expect. He only planned on watching from the stands.
“I entered the competition at the last minute after another competitor saw me practicing,” Dorrell recalled. “It turns out the scores were based on difficulty of tricks and whether the judges had ever seen each trick before. I won because God had been training me, and the judges hadn’t seen any of my tricks before.
“God had a plan for me being there that day and providing this opportunity. It’s been amazing to see the doors that have opened up as a result.”
Wherever Dorrell and his family perform, their desire is to point audiences to Christ.
“During our shows, our desire is to share Jesus in a way that audiences will go away in awe of Jesus,” Dorrell explained. “We don’t try to knock their socks off with how good we are, but we do want to bless their socks off with how awesome God is and how wonderful it is to have Jesus as Savior.”
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