At another time, Novak gave Bill Murray a Bible, after which the actor told Novak, “I just want you to know this is probably the most special gift and thoughtful gift I’ve gotten in years, and I’m trying to not cry looking at this.”
Novak also shared that fans who stand in lines waiting to meet their idols have let him know they appreciate what he does. In fact, some have even accepted Christ through conversations they had with the evangelist.
ChurchLeaders asked Novak about his interactions with Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away at the age of 76 on Tuesday (July 22). “I’ll say this upfront: He was so sweet. Again, I will tell you, I’ve met a lot of people who I will tell you are not sweet, who are not nice or good people,” Novak said. “Ozzy was a very sweet man. And his family, you could tell they were just a very close family.”
“I got him a New Believer’s Bible, an NLT large print, got his name put on the cover because now we put people’s names on every Bible,” Novak said. Recalling his interaction, he continued, “I got to shake his hand [and] said, ‘It’s an honor to meet you. Thank you so much for all the great memories through the years, from ‘The Osbournes’ to your music being the soundtrack for so many people’s lives.’”
Novak added, “And I told him, ‘The reason I came to meet you today is because I love and care about you and your soul. And he’s sitting there, the same chair that everybody has seen [from the] final performance. That’s the chair he was sitting in at this event.’” Novak said, “He [was] such a sweet man. And I [told him], ‘I got this gift and I’d like to show it to you.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, show it to me.’”
Not feeling rushed by Osbourne at all, Novak said that he quoted the interview where Osbourne said he was a Christian but had a hard time reading the Bible because it was difficult to understand. “I remember saying that,” Osbourne told Novak. That is when the evangelist showed Osbourne the Bible Novak got for him.
Osbourne said, “Well, I still won’t be able to understand it just because it has my name on it.” Novak told him, “No, no, no.’ And I showed him. He immediately turned to the gospel. So Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And he starts thumbing through it and he goes, ‘I can understand this.'”
“I mean, just genuine excitement in his face,” Novak recounted. “And then he turned it over and goes, ‘You actually got my name on it.’ And, ‘Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much.’”
