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I had the opportunity to observe Mr. Luis Palau, a prominent man in evangelical circles billed as an evangelist. I went to one of his 'Mission Connecticut Festivals' at the O'Neill Center on the Western Connecticut University campus in Danbury, Connecticut. I sat through the entire meeting - better described as a 'show' - on the evening of Thursday, May 31st. No Ministry Allowed Accept That Of Mr. Palau And Those He Approves Before I went to the 'festival', the Lord put on my heart to hand out gospel tracts in front of the O'Neill center. I thought it would be a great opportunity to share the true gospel with people that might be seeking the Lord. Knowing a little about Mr. Palau and the gospel he preaches, the Lord placed on my heart to put together a gospel tract containing those Words of Jesus Christ, that men like Mr. Palau typically leave out of their preaching and literature. The tract was entitled, "The Words of Jesus Christ". It contained no criticism of Mr. Palau, but rather contained those Words of Jesus that speak of giving our life away for Him, and of the cost of following Jesus Christ. I positioned myself just outside of the main gate of the O'Neill Center, and started handing out the gospel tracts to people walking into the O'Neill Center. I handed out several dozen, but then was approached by a young man with a walkie-talkie. He asked me what I was doing, and I told him I was handing out gospel tracts. He said, 'you can't do that unless you are affiliated with Mr. Palau's group'. I told him I was just handing out gospel tracts, and that I thought I was on State property, and thus was allowed. He got on his radio, to a higher up, and the higher up told him I could not hand out the gospel tracts. I stood there for a moment, and the Lord led me away from in front of the O'Neill Center, towards the parking lot where the people were coming from. I got into the parking lot and was handing them to people walking towards the O'Neill Center, and saying to the people, 'enjoy the evening - trust in Jesus'. After about 5 minutes, a police car pulled up to me, and at the same time, the young man on the walkie talkie, as well as a man who I believe was a Luis Palau 'show manager', also approached me. The police officer said I could not hand out the gospel tracts any longer. I asked him why. He essentially said because Mr. Palau's managers don't want you too, because he (Mr. Palau) has rented this property for the weekend. I again stated I thought this was public - state - property, and thus I would be allowed to hand out gospel tracts. Then Mr. Palau's 'manager' said to me - ' why didn't you hand these out yesterday or the day before?' Apparently he was seeking to impugn my motivation for handing out gospel tracts. I guess it didn't occur to this man that I might have been ministering in this general vicinity for over 6 years, and that Mr. Palau was only breezing through. I essentially answered that the Lord led me to do so tonight to people who might be responding to God's grace. Mr. Palau's manager had a very prideful/fearful attitude, and was not at all interested in reading the tract to determine if it was doctrinally sound. All he was interested in doing was forcing me - with threat of arrest - to stop handing out gospel tracts. The young man with Mr. Palau's manager then asked me, 'what church do you belong to?' I told him, "the church of Jesus Christ". This made him angry and he shouted at me, 'why are you being evasive, just answer the question'. Then the manager, in his pride and in his flesh, said to the young man, 'don't even bother with this guy - you'll be here for hours with him'. They then proceeded to prompt the officer to assure them that he would force me not to hand out the gospel tracts. I was forced to tell the police officer that I would not hand the tracts to people that night. I then walked away to go observe Mr. Palau's festival. Before moving on to comments about what happened at the Mr. Palau show, a few questions need to be asked about the fact that Mr. Palau's 'body guards' would not allow me to hand out gospel tracts. First, why didn't they read the tract to see if it contained Jesus' Words? It would have taken less than five minutes. Second, what where they so afraid of that they needed to call the police to force me to stop? Why did they not understand or accept that I belonged to the church of Jesus Christ and was just another disciple? Who are they protecting by forcing a man - who was handing out gospel tracts in a peaceable and orderly way in a parking lot - to cease from handing out gospel tracts? It seems to me the answers are obvious. Perhaps Mr. Palau is their god, and they will blindly do anything to ensure that their god is not threatened by truth? Perhaps they were protecting their master, who feeds them and gives them employment, from any truth that might contradict what their master is telling people? Perhaps these are wrong observations, but I encourage the reader to think if there is a BIBLICAL reason for preventing someone from handing out gospel tracts. Oh, you could come up with several unbiblical, worldly, fleshly reasons. But as you ponder them, ask yourself this question - does God want people handing out gospel tracts, and if so, then who is the one who opposes the work of God? Why would Mr. Palau surround himself with men like this? Why is he threatened if other people seek to minister at his events? Is Mr. Palau available to disciple those that might be saved at his events, or does he just whisk in and whisk out? When Jesus and His disciples ministered in an area, did they sent out advance bureaucrats to officially register anyone who also wanted to minister when Jesus came by - or else deny them the work of ministering? What should have happened, is that they should have approached me, read the tract (to determine if it was doctrinally sound), and said joyfully, 'good to see another brother spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. We're glad to have your help, for the laborers are few - may He bless your work - go for it'. Sad and tragic to see Mr. Palau himself, or approving of others, being disobedient to two basic biblical principles that he should be very aware of due to his activities of large meetings in other people's back yard: "Now John answered and said , 'Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.' But Jesus said to him, 'Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us in on our side.'" (Luke 9:49-50) The principle is clear - don't selfishly and fearfully prevent others from ministering where you minister just because you don't know them or because they don't belong to your 'clic'. In regard to the disciple's ministry, "And now I (a prominent religious leader) say to you, keep away from these men (Jesus' disciples) and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it - lest you even be found to fight against God." (Acts 5:38-39) Wise counsel, even from an unbeliever. Fear or selfishness is never the abiding attitude of the true disciple of Jesus Christ. Those who walk in His light are not afraid - even of falsehood - but rather trust in the Lord and let Him handle it. Observations of the Luis Palau 'Show' Mr. Palau calls his meetings 'festivals', which is essentially the Spanish equivalent of 'party'. As one walked into the O'Neill Center, one was immediately aware of the fog (dry ice) that Hollywood and other entertainers use to create 'an atmosphere'. There was a huge bank of color spotlights swirling and pulsing through the fog on the stage, as well as huge speakers hanging from the ceiling. One can only imagine how much it cost to rent the center and set it up in such a fashion. The "Christian" musicians came, one after another, doing things and saying things that it would be very difficult to imagine Jesus or His first disciples doing or saying [link to What About "Christian" Music?]. There was a nice older women in front of me who was trying to care for her elderly husband, and she couldn't but help place her fingers over her ears to protect them from the deafening sound coming out of the huge speakers. The 'praise band' had a guitar player who seemed to be trying his best to imitate secular rock and roll people, as he jumped around the stage, placing special emphasis on the guitar over his crotch. As the leader of the 'praise band' asked the people to pray, and prayed, this guitar player did not stop to pray, but bowed his head while tuning his guitar. A group called, "Anointed" then performed. Two women dressed in tight white tee shirts which were not hidden very well by their blazers, were on either side of the male lead. It wasn't long before these women were literally screaming, gyrating their bodies, and thrusting their hands at the audience, preaching something to the audience amidst their music. One of the women told the audience something to the effect of, 'God loves you no matter what type of sins you are committing'. There certainly is a grain of truth in this, but it is a dangerous statement without clarification - is this something you want to be telling sinners coming to hear an alleged 'evangelist'? How can the unregenerate be convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit, if they are assured that God loves them IN their sin? In looking at the venue for this meeting, I could only imagine how much it cost. Since so much money is needed for this type of meeting, it was not long before a local 'pastor' was up on the stage begging the people for money. One should really wonder the following - is begging the people for money taught in the New Testament? Is there an example of a servant-leader asking for money at a meeting? IF GOD WANT'S SOMETHING TO COME TO PASS, DO HIS SERVANTS NEED TO BEG FOR MONEY - OR SELL THINGS THAT ALLEGEDLY POINT PEOPLE TO HIM - ON ORDER FOR HIM TO BRING IT TO PASS? Can you imagine Jesus having a book and video table set up next to Him while he was preaching the sermon on the mount, or anywhere else for that matter? How about His disciples and apostles doing this? Selling the gospel??? No, the truth is that where God guides, God provides, without having to beg for money. Begging for money, or placing guilt on unbelievers as the motivation to give, is an abomination before God, and He will not honor it, nor work through it. In short, the atmosphere created by Mr. Palau before he came to speak could simply be described as the world and the flesh. There was very little difference between this show, and a secular music show - except some of the lyrics, if you could hear them [link to Contemporary "Christian" Music?]. All the things of the flesh were on display - fog, lights, loud music, women dressed in less than modest ways, yelling, gyrating and shouting. It was a 'party' atmosphere, and certainly not conducive to preparing the heart to hear the gospel. The New Testament is very clear that the preaching of sin and the wrath of God always proceeded the giving of the good news of the love of God (please see Rom. 1:18-2:10). This is perhaps the greatest error of these modern day evangelists. They preach half the gospel, and leave out the part that offends and brings conviction. Half the gospel is no gospel at all, but is rather a clever deception of the evil one in these last days of apostasy. Mr. Palau summarized his message with three main points, and I quote: "Number one, Jesus wants you to be happy. Number two, God has a plan for you. Number three, God wants you to go to heaven." As I search the Scripture, I do not find the principle stated, "Jesus wants me to be happy." Jesus did not come and die for my sins to 'make me happy', but to forgive me my sins and to set me free to love as He desires. Jesus does want me to have real joy in my relationship with Him, but that joy is based on His holy love, not on happ[y]anstance [link to Joy Versus Jokes?]. The other two points do have Scriptural merit, but the overall message that Mr. Palau is preaching is, "Come to Jesus and He will make you happy". This is a false gospel - a clever counterfeit that is half the truth - that leaves out repentance from sin and living a holy life separated from the world, the flesh and the things of this world (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15). There is no sacrifice in Mr. Palau's 'gospel'. No rejection of self and of sin and of the world. None of Jesus' words such as, "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you". (John 15:19) Instead of living a sacrificial, selfless life, Mr. Palau preaches, 'just come to Jesus, your genie in the bottle who will give you what you want to be happy'. This is a different Jesus - a different gospel. Mr. Palau taught, 'the cross should make you happy'. Again, a dangerous half truth if not preceded by repentance of sin. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross brings indescribable joy to every true believer, but that joy only comes AFTER a person has been broken by their sin, and have cast themselves on the stone (Jesus) to be broken (Matt. 21:44). In contrast to Mr. Palau's gospel, the apostle Paul taught that the cross is an offense to the unregenerate (Gal. 5:11). Mr. Palau apparently thinks he is doing the people he speaks to a favor by white washing over the offense of the cross. He apparently thinks that to be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to add Jesus onto your life, so that you may be happy. What a tragedy in light of the Light of the world Who says, "If any man should come after Me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow Me." Mr. Palau did mention sin, and I believe he mentioned repentance in one of his stories, but he did not exhort the audience to repent of their sins. In about a 45 minute message, sin was mentioned for about 5 minutes or less. Mr. Palau used cancer as his only analogy to speak of sin in the five minutes he spoke of sin. This is a really poor, and un-Biblical analogy, for it leaves the listeners with the understanding that their sin is like cancer in that it couldn't be helped, and they are just victims of this spiritual disease called sin. The rest was, 'add Jesus onto your life so that you may be happy'. What a contrast to Jesus' Words, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE." (Luke 14:26) Unfortunately, Mr. Palau also makes reference to the roman catholic church as if it were a legitimate, true church. He says things like, 'Whatever Christian denomination you are from - whether Protestant or Catholic or evangelical or Pentecostal…'. During these last days of the deceitful ecumenical movement, this is to be expected from large and influential mass-media organizations like Mr. Palau's. One cannot remain powerful and influential in the world if one preaches ALL of Jesus' Truth. If any man cannot discern that the roman catholic church is a false, counterfeit organization with a false gospel of works, then I fear that man may not be able to discern the true gospel either [link to Are Roman Catholics Believers?]. Sadly, Mr. Palau, during his introductory remarks, couldn't help but boast about how many people he has preached to, and how many nations he has preached in. He made these remarks without any, 'by God's grace', and thus he appears to be puffed up in pride, which if he is, is an abomination to the Lord. Mr. Palau has nothing good and does nothing good that has not come from the Lord (1 Cor. 4:7-10). Summary and Conclusion: Mr. Palau is not preaching a Biblical gospel. He is preaching half of the gospel, which distorts the whole true gospel. Mr. Palau is omitting God's wrath against sinners; His holiness and the command that His people live holy lives; the terrible cost of sin; and the need for true repentance which leads to a changed life where one comes out of, and separates from, the world. In the true gospel's place, he is preaching a deceitful counterfeit which will leave the unregenerate in their sins, as they are told to 'add Jesus' onto their lives in order to experience emotional happiness. What rubbish - read true preaching of the gospel in the book of Acts for starters (Acts 2:23, 36, 38, 40 "And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, 'be saved from THIS PERVERSE GENERATION'."; 3:13-15, 19, 26; 4:10; 5:30; 7:51-53). Examine these references - be a Berean (Acts 17:11). How I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to the drastic difference between the one true, glorious gospel found in the New Testament, versus Mr. Palau's gospel.
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