First off let me apologize for the disjointed nature of this post. The reality is that I keep getting distracted and have much more important things to do than to post a blog. But I was so moved by what I’m sharing that I had to post it. Enjoy.
Who would have thought that Billy Graham wannabe (I say that in the most positive and joking way!) Luis Palau and his son would be on the cover of Portlands urban magazine/newspaper Willamette Week in a positive light! You can read the story here and it’s a very good one.
Kudos must be given (credit, not the granola bar) to WW for being “edgy” enough to write this story and for highlighting something that has its roots in the gospel of Jesus. But even more credit must go to the Palau Association for giving WW something to write about. For too long churches and Christians have made headlines for all the wrong reasons, for too long we’ve called the world around us to come to our events, and it is exciting and refreshing to see the Palau Association going to the community and showing through their actions what a Jesus movement looks like. What Palau has done is transitioned from revival type events and instead focused on sending Christians and churches to the community in service. For more info about their work you can read here. It’s about time that we stopped defining sharing our faith as something that happens only verbally, may we all follow the Palau Association and start sharing our faith with our actions, our money, and our presence.
My only regret is that I missed the downtown Vancouver Season of Service. I’ll end with this quote from Portlands Commissioner Nick Fish concerning Palau’s partnership with the city in bringing renewal:
“If we’re succesful, perhaps someday we’ll be known as Jesus’ favorite city.”
I wanna live in Jesus' favorite city! Maybe I do!