January/February 2003
Does God Really Know You?
by Luis Palau
| God knows your deepest pain. He knows your biggest questions. And he's not afraid of any of it. |
How individual is God? Can he meet you where you are, speaking to you in a way you can understand?
Absolutely.
God loves you that much. Enough to die not just for the world, but to die for you. Enough to speak not just from heaven, but to your heart. How do I know? I've seen it happen time and again.
Our festivals around the world give me a front row seat to this phenomena. God brings many types of people to the festivals -- and meets them all quite differently.
Garreth is a 31-year-old Englishman who drove three hours to attend one of our festivals. "I enjoyed Mercy Me, Tait and tobyMac," he e-mailed to me, "but the testimony of the guy in the wheelchair really reached my heart."
The guy in the wheelchair is Bob Mortimer. We ask him to speak at almost every festival because he has allowed God to work so marvelously in his life. He's a man who used to be into parties and alcohol -- until a drunken stupor, car wreck and downed electric wire resulted in the loss of three limbs. All he has left is one arm. One arm -- and the power of God in his life.
God spoke to Garreth through Bob's story.
"My brother was murdered nearly three years ago," Garreth wrote, "and since then my inner life has been in turmoil and my relationship with God has been broken. I decided that if God can fix the life of that guy in the wheelchair, I should let him fix mine. So during your talk, I recommitted my heart to Christ and washed away the past three years of anger and grief. On Monday morning I have to go back to my work life with all the problems I face, but I am not worried anymore. I really want to use the experience I had last night as a starting point for a new life in Christ."
God reached 16-year-old Anna in a very different way. She showed up at the skate park we build at every festival. Anna had been in search of the truth for a while, convinced that truth must exist. She got on the Internet and checked out different religions. "There are so many choices," she said. "It's such a big thing... there's got to be something out there."
She watched the professional skateboarders do their stunts and then listened to Paul Anderson, our skate pastor. He tells it like it is -- and teenagers appreciate that.
"No matter what people have told you Jesus and Christianity is like, this is what he's really like," Anna heard Paul say. "He went down, and he loved people. He cared about people, and he hung out with the people that were messed up."
"Why would we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to come in and do kick flips and then take this whole skate park apart?" Paul asked. "The Bible says every person here has sinned. God made us so we can know and love him. But all these people just turn their back on the Lord, and they give him the bird. They say, 'Forget you, God.' And they go out and they pursue money and sex, and they kill each other, and they hurt each other.
"And then, because God is God and he had never sinned, he decided that instead of us dying, 'I'm going to pay the price so those dudes don't have to die.'"
"God gave us a second chance," Paul said. "He gave it by coming to earth and showing us, through Jesus Christ. He spoke in a way people could understand."
Anna understood. She decided her search was over; she had found the truth.
Where are you hurting? How do you need to hear God speak? Won't you be honest with him? God knows your deepest pain. He knows your biggest questions. And he's not afraid of any of it.
Here is what Paul Anderson prayed with people at the skate park. You can pray it, too:
Dear Jesus, I know that I have done bad things. I know I'm a sinner. I'm sorry; please forgive me. Jesus, I believe in you. I believe you died on the cross to take away my sin, rose from the dead and are alive right now. And right now, Jesus, I want you to come into my life; I want you to be my leader. I want to do what you say. I want to follow you, Jesus, and live forever with you in heaven. Thank you for loving me. In your name, Lord Jesus, Amen.
-- Luis Palau
Special invitation from Luis Palau:
I'd love for you to join me at our festival this March in Fort Lauderdale, Florida!
In fact, bring your family, youth group or church missions team!
March 22-23 will be a weekend of great music with top Christian musicians, awesome professional skateboarders and the Veggie-Tales Children's Area -- all right on the Fort Lauderdale beach. If you're looking for answers about Jesus, please come! If you know friends looking for answers, bring them.
Here's another option: plan a satellite Beach Party with live coverage from Florida. Churches in more than 30 states have already expressed interest in doing this, so there may be a Beach Party near you. If there isn't, talk to your pastor and plan one!
For information about a trip to Florida and satellite Beach Parties see www.beachfestusa.org, or call 1-800-USA-LUIS.