The tour is sponsored by World Vision, the giant evangelical relief agency that hopes to use the concerts to recruit attendees to sponsor needy children.

Fans of Christian music and books may see a divine hand at work in bringing together all-star talent for the “Make a Difference” tour that’s scheduled to hit 20 U.S. cities by Oct. 30.

But there’s a more pragmatic reason the A-list stars are sharing the same stage: the economy.

“We’re all hunkering down right now,” says Toby McKeehan, or tobyMac, the former front man for rap/rock trio DC Talk who’s teaming up with megastars Third Day, Michael W. Smith and best-selling author Max Lucado for the tour.

“We’re all downsizing and trying to be wise about what we do moving forward. Artist promotion and recording budgets have been cut in half. This is the reality of where we live. We’re adapting to what’s happening around us.”

As a best-selling writer and president of the Gotee Records label, McKeehan knows the challenges facing the Christian recording and publishing industries today.

Under normal conditions, any of the four acts would be able to headline their own events. Lucado recently surpassed 100 million copies in print and McKeehan has sold 10 million albums during his career.

Third Day has played for the pope and for Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show,” and Smith has spent the past 30 years racking up more Grammy and Dove awards than most people can count.

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