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Luis Palau Heats up New England
Wednesday, June 06, 2001
"Luis Palau is coming. The signs are everywhere - blue and yellow, on lawns, billboards and buses," reported The Hartford Courant on May 14. And so he came, bringing the good news of Jesus to an area described as "very provincial" by one local pastor.
The Rev. Leroy Bailey of First Cathedral in Bloomfield, Conn., is chairman of the Hartford event that concludes Palau's statewide outreach this weekend. Bailey was among a small group of pastors who met last year in an effort to bring Palau to Connecticut. "He is a great presence. He knows where people's minds and hearts are," Bailey says.
New England has not experienced the kind of mass evangelistic events that are more common in the South and Midwest, reported The Hartford Courant. "New England has been very provincial," Bailey said. "Sometimes you need someone from the outside to say, 'Hey, let's get together.'"
Palau's "Mission Connecticut" Festival has visited six cities in the state over the past four weeks. According to Luis Palau Evangelistic Association (LPEA) spokesman Craig Chastain, some 90,000 people have attended so far. Chastain reports 6,627 first-time decisions for Christ and/or rededications, even before the concluding weekend in Hartford, June 8-9.
Mission Connecticut also showcases musical groups such as Kirk Franklin, Rebecca St. James, Audio Adrenaline and The Katinas, and includes a children's carnival.
According to Christianity Today, "nearly all contemporary evangelists, including Palau, Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, and Greg Laurie, make significant use of pop culture and music in their evangelistic events. That is why many of the events are now called festivals rather than crusades. Cultural awareness and contemporary Christian music augment the Christian message."
Lon Allison, director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, told Christianity Today that Palau has "tweaked" an existing model that moves away from "classic crusade" evangelism. Allison praised the festival model for its ability to attract large crowds, including families, with less effort from participating churches. Yet, he wonders whether the festival model's "activity-driven approach" draws the people who need to hear the gospel.
Palau's festivals now are carried live on cable television, and his two-minute weekly radio program can be heard on 500 stations in the United States and Latin America. According to Palau, he has reached more than 70 countries in person, and over 100 countries via radio and television.
Palau told Crosswalk.com he considers it a privilege to go out into the world and preach the good news. "And I emphasize this a lot," Palau explains. "Instead of calling it 'gospel,' which immediately conjures a list of things we must say or else - and yes we must say them - but we must also remember we are giving very good news."
While he does not emphasize hell in his preaching "to excess," says Palau, "I do bring it in as a warning - not as a major but as a minor emphasis."
Such views have displeased critics who say Palau preaches a "watered-down gospel." According to Biblical Discernment Ministries (BDM), "So not to offend with the gospel, Palau is, in effect, saying that he preaches a watered-down gospel that is no gospel at all."
As an example, BDM points to an incident several years ago, when Palau preached to an estimated 26,000 in four meetings in Kathmandu, Nepal. Since proselytization is illegal in Nepal, Palau encouraged Nepalis to 'fall in love with Jesus,' instead of urging them to renounce Hinduism. This of course is not the gospel of Christ. And what about the other gods the Hindus worship? They would gladly add Jesus to their thousands of other gods. They might even make Him their chief god, but not the only God."
Such criticism does not shake the 67-year-old evangelist. "Almost 80 percent of my preaching comes from the Bible," says Palau. "The other 20 percent is cultural, historic and psychological. I try to position and think, 'Where is my audience coming from?'"
According to Palau, his audiences share some universal elements. "My approach is that everybody in the world is looking for happiness, everybody is looking for love, everybody is looking for inward peace, everybody would like to know they are forgiven, and everybody would love to know they are going to heaven when they die."
In addition to eternal salvation, Palau also wants them to know the blessings of Christ on earth. "I feel it is such a pity to see educated people who are well-positioned, humanly successful, economically at ease, and yet, spiritually dead. It seems such a loss for people to live that way and so unnecessary, so I try to preach the gospel as best as I know how," Palau says.
His Mission Connecticut audience has been, in some spots, 60 to 70 percent Roman Catholic. "The good thing about that," according to Palau, "is that they bring a high respect for God, a high sense of sinfulness, and a sense of the holiness and the awesomeness of God." With that background, Palau says, "my job is to give the good news that a personal relationship is possible."
The Protestants are sometimes harder to reach, says Palau. "Some Protestants here simply do not believe in a personal God," he continues, "they do not believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only savior, and they do not believe that repentance and faith are necessary to eternal life. Around New England, there are these beautiful early American chapels that are empty."
Palau says Mission Connecticut is generating a "great" response, with close to 900 congregations joining forces, "all the way from renewed and very alive Episcopalians to the most recent nondenominational independent groups and everything in between."
By Janet Chismar, Religion Today
Do you have a question for Luis? Join us at 9 p.m. EDT this Thursday, for a one-hour chat with Dr. Palau. Visit http://chat.crosswalk.com/ for more information.
The Rev. Leroy Bailey of First Cathedral in Bloomfield, Conn., is chairman of the Hartford event that concludes Palau's statewide outreach this weekend. Bailey was among a small group of pastors who met last year in an effort to bring Palau to Connecticut. "He is a great presence. He knows where people's minds and hearts are," Bailey says.
New England has not experienced the kind of mass evangelistic events that are more common in the South and Midwest, reported The Hartford Courant. "New England has been very provincial," Bailey said. "Sometimes you need someone from the outside to say, 'Hey, let's get together.'"
Palau's "Mission Connecticut" Festival has visited six cities in the state over the past four weeks. According to Luis Palau Evangelistic Association (LPEA) spokesman Craig Chastain, some 90,000 people have attended so far. Chastain reports 6,627 first-time decisions for Christ and/or rededications, even before the concluding weekend in Hartford, June 8-9.
Mission Connecticut also showcases musical groups such as Kirk Franklin, Rebecca St. James, Audio Adrenaline and The Katinas, and includes a children's carnival.
According to Christianity Today, "nearly all contemporary evangelists, including Palau, Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, and Greg Laurie, make significant use of pop culture and music in their evangelistic events. That is why many of the events are now called festivals rather than crusades. Cultural awareness and contemporary Christian music augment the Christian message."
Lon Allison, director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, told Christianity Today that Palau has "tweaked" an existing model that moves away from "classic crusade" evangelism. Allison praised the festival model for its ability to attract large crowds, including families, with less effort from participating churches. Yet, he wonders whether the festival model's "activity-driven approach" draws the people who need to hear the gospel.
Palau's festivals now are carried live on cable television, and his two-minute weekly radio program can be heard on 500 stations in the United States and Latin America. According to Palau, he has reached more than 70 countries in person, and over 100 countries via radio and television.
Palau told Crosswalk.com he considers it a privilege to go out into the world and preach the good news. "And I emphasize this a lot," Palau explains. "Instead of calling it 'gospel,' which immediately conjures a list of things we must say or else - and yes we must say them - but we must also remember we are giving very good news."
While he does not emphasize hell in his preaching "to excess," says Palau, "I do bring it in as a warning - not as a major but as a minor emphasis."
Such views have displeased critics who say Palau preaches a "watered-down gospel." According to Biblical Discernment Ministries (BDM), "So not to offend with the gospel, Palau is, in effect, saying that he preaches a watered-down gospel that is no gospel at all."
As an example, BDM points to an incident several years ago, when Palau preached to an estimated 26,000 in four meetings in Kathmandu, Nepal. Since proselytization is illegal in Nepal, Palau encouraged Nepalis to 'fall in love with Jesus,' instead of urging them to renounce Hinduism. This of course is not the gospel of Christ. And what about the other gods the Hindus worship? They would gladly add Jesus to their thousands of other gods. They might even make Him their chief god, but not the only God."
Such criticism does not shake the 67-year-old evangelist. "Almost 80 percent of my preaching comes from the Bible," says Palau. "The other 20 percent is cultural, historic and psychological. I try to position and think, 'Where is my audience coming from?'"
According to Palau, his audiences share some universal elements. "My approach is that everybody in the world is looking for happiness, everybody is looking for love, everybody is looking for inward peace, everybody would like to know they are forgiven, and everybody would love to know they are going to heaven when they die."
In addition to eternal salvation, Palau also wants them to know the blessings of Christ on earth. "I feel it is such a pity to see educated people who are well-positioned, humanly successful, economically at ease, and yet, spiritually dead. It seems such a loss for people to live that way and so unnecessary, so I try to preach the gospel as best as I know how," Palau says.
His Mission Connecticut audience has been, in some spots, 60 to 70 percent Roman Catholic. "The good thing about that," according to Palau, "is that they bring a high respect for God, a high sense of sinfulness, and a sense of the holiness and the awesomeness of God." With that background, Palau says, "my job is to give the good news that a personal relationship is possible."
The Protestants are sometimes harder to reach, says Palau. "Some Protestants here simply do not believe in a personal God," he continues, "they do not believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only savior, and they do not believe that repentance and faith are necessary to eternal life. Around New England, there are these beautiful early American chapels that are empty."
Palau says Mission Connecticut is generating a "great" response, with close to 900 congregations joining forces, "all the way from renewed and very alive Episcopalians to the most recent nondenominational independent groups and everything in between."
By Janet Chismar, Religion Today
Do you have a question for Luis? Join us at 9 p.m. EDT this Thursday, for a one-hour chat with Dr. Palau. Visit http://chat.crosswalk.com/ for more information.
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