Luis Palau - Palau: A Life on Fire

Contents

I appreciate Luis Palau for bringing so many people together in fellowship and in celebration of faith, family, and values.

President George W. Bush

I remember the first time I saw Luis.... What struck me was his genuine sense of concern for every person he came in touch with. Its something you cant fake. Hes real.

President Bill Clinton

God has used Luis in a tremendous way through many years. His friendship and support of me meant more than he will ever know.

The late Billy Graham

Its obvious God has used Luis in a great way to fulfill His purposed for the Kingdom. I thank him for modeling that which matters mosttransforming our world by changing lives through the abundant life found in Christ.

Rick Warren,New York Times bestselling author of The Purpose Driven Life

Words cannot express the deep appreciation I have for Luis and the fine work God has called him to do. His faithfulness in proclaiming Gods glorious gospel across racial, cultural, and geographical lines has been nothing short of praiseworthy.

Tony Evans

One of my greatest joys of my life ministry has been to be a part of Luis Palaus festivals. I love so much the man... and the passion of the man... Luis Palau.

Steven Curtis Chapman, Grammy-award winning recording artist

Every time I get the chance to do something with Luis... every time I get to sit with him... I come away inspired. Hes an amazing evangelist. An amazing man. And a friend of mine. We thank God for the gift of Luis Palau. I, with countless thousands of others, came to Christ through Luis and his ministry.

Matt Redman, Grammy-award winning recording artist

Luis Palau is a great evangelist and a close friend of my father. He has faithfully preached the Gospel around the world for over fifty years. Im so grateful for this mans life and for his wonderful family.

Franklin Graham

I deeply appreciate Luiss passionate dedication to spreading the Gospel. It would be impossible to measure his impact on Christendom throughout the past five decades as he has shared the Good News with folks around the world.

James Dobson

I have great respect for Luis Palau. God has used him mightily over the years! I am blessed to consider him my friend.

Bishop M. V. Kelsey

Also by Luis Palau

Changed by Faith (with Jay Fordice)

A Friendly Dialogue Between an Atheist and a Christian (with Zhao Qizheng)

God Is Relevant (with David Sanford)

Healthy Habits for Spiritual Growth

High Definition Life (with Steve Halliday)

The Only Hope for America

Telling the Story (with Timothy Robnett)

Out of the Desert... Into the Life God Fully Intended

Where Is God When Bad Things Happen?

ZONDERVAN

Palau

Copyright 2019 by Palau Family Trust

ISBN 978-0-310-35405-5 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-310-35560-1 (international trade paper edition)

ISBN 978-0-310-35407-9 (audio)

ISBN 978-0-310-35406-2 (ebook)

Epub Edition April 2019 9780310354062

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in association with the literary agency of D. C. Jacobson & Associates, LLC, an Author Management Company. www.dcjacobson.com.

Cover image: Luis Palau Association

Art direction: Curt Diepenhorst

Interior design: Denise Froehlich

Printed in the United States of America

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For Pat

W orking on a book like this is a bit like painting an old-fashioned portrait. An artist (the writer) joins their subject for a series of sittings. Over the course of those hours, sketches are made, angles are considered, until the right presentation is found, that magic combination of subject and style that make you say Yes! Thats them! It captures a life not in its entirety but in a way that suggests the whole.

Participating in the writing of this book was a unique honor. In Luis, I found a fascinating subject. Sharp, well-read, quick with a joke, deeply sincere. To get to know him in the intimate way that I did has been one of the great privileges of my life. Luis is a unique soul, a man of uncommon clarity of purpose. In a world of people unmoored from their sense of why, Luiss calling rises with incredible sharpness. He is here to preach Christ crucified, the hope of glory. That is all.

This book posed a unique challenge. Though hed be quick to downplay it, Luis Palau was a significant figure of twentieth-century history and life. His work impacted nations, shaped cultures, and transformed the spiritual and moral ecology of entire regions of the world. A comprehensive biography would take hundreds of pages more and risk obscuring the real man, the real Christian whose story it is.

We decided that the best gift we could offer you as a reader was the sense that you had sat down with him as I did. That hed opened his front door, made you some coffee, set a plate of Pats cookies in front of you (next to a bowl of the macadamia nuts he loves), and simply begun talking. You would not only hear the stories. Youd hear the lessons with themand all through the people God used in his life.

This format has demanded hard choices. Do we get to tell the full story of how Luiss call-in television show helped stall a Marxist revolution in Ecuador? Alas, no. How about the time he got stuck in a Beijing elevator with the president of the United States? Nope. The story of another elevator ride where he helped shelter the Beatle George Harrison from a miniature mob chasing him down a hotel corridor? Sorry. I could go on for hours. Many of the juiciest tidbits are left behind. Theres just too much. This isnt about the rhinestones of his life. Its about the diamonds.

Luiss heart is that this book would not leave you thinking, Wow, Palau was a rock star. He wants you to see a vision of Christ. He wants you to honor the unknown heroes of his life and work and to think about your own heroes. He wants the attention focused where it belongs: Jesus.

After one of our last interviews, Luis walked me out to my car. It was a spring morning. There were cherry blossoms on the trees. As we enjoyed the sun, I saw tears come into Luiss eyes. Suddenly, he pointed at the houses surrounding us in his Portland neighborhood. So many of them dont know how