Lou Leventhal

Comedy Illusion, Message

Lou was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home and came to Christ at the age of 18. He has a dynamic walk with the Lord and a vibrant faith. He communicates God’s Word with clarity, power, practical application and humor to both non-believers and Christians alike. He has never forgotten what it feels like to experience “being an alien” in a church building.

Each "Illusions & Reality" program is prayerfully motivated to reach the “hard cases” for Jesus Christ. Hundreds of thousands of people who would have never come to church have heard a clear and life changing presentation of the Gospel through I&R.

Illusions & Reality is a world-class presentation that has won secular awards and acclaim on four continents, for audiences as large as 25,000. Your people will be excited that they invited their friends to this program!

Lou has more than 27 years of ministry experience. He pastored a local church for more than 11 years. His heart is to serve and support the local church. He now serves as Vice-President for Institutional Advancement at the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane, Alberta.

Illusions & Reality provides eye-catching promotional materials (posters, videos, etc.), as well as promotional suggestions, to help you reach the largest number of people possible. They often are booked for multiple nights in the same location because when people catch the vision of inviting their non-Christian friends, the program can sell out very quickly!

Lou’s conversion testimony has touched the hearts of people who have taken their faith for granted. When booked for an entire weekend, he will help you reach non-believers on Friday & Saturday with the Gospel and challenge and inspire your people on Sunday morning and/or evening to live in greater intimacy, dependency and fruitfulness for the Lord.

Lou can help your people become more sensitive and effective in reaching the unchurched. He can lead a Sunday or Saturday afternoon seminar on personal evangelism that will help equip your people to reach their friends and family throughout the year. Lou shares many illustrations from his own experiences of regularly sharing his faith with non-believers.

"Martha and I want people to know that we have vital relationships with the Lord.  We’re not just 'Christian performers.' I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family and accepted the Lord when I was 18 years old through the witness of a friend.  This happened 3 days before I began university.  I am the oldest of five children and left home a few days after I was baptized.  Since becoming a Christian I have been very actively involved in the ministry of my local church, as well as ministry on the college campus.

Our heart is in ministry: outreach to non-Christians, challenge to believers, and encouragement and inspiration to church workers and staff members. When I share, it’s from what the Lord is teaching us. The most important thing in our lives is our daily walk with the Lord. There are a lot of hurting people out there, and a 'show' isn’t going to change their lives. That’s why it’s important for us to be transparent and vulnerable, offstage and on. I’ve often been called the “most transparent person that anyone has ever met.” Walking with Jesus is more than just a few emotions and cliche’s wrapped up in a neat package. Our faith is based on a vibrant and personal walk with Jesus Christ that is expressed through our involvement with our family and with other people’s lives.  I have been blessed to partner with a broad spectrum of evangelical Christian churches and ministries throughout the past 28 years. 

I received my Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas.  Currently I am in the Doctor of Ministry program at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, outside of San Francisco, California.  I have pastored in evangelical churches in Canada for 11 years. Currently I am serving as vice-president for Institutional Advancement at the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane, Alberta. My heart is to invest in future ministry leaders as others have invested in me.  After 15 years of full-time itinerant ministry and tens of thousands of miles of being 'on the road', Martha and I travel on a more limited basis. We strongly believe in the prayer support and spiritual accountability that our local church provides. We have three children who all love and serve the Lord. We see investing in our children as our primary ministry.  Martha and I co-lead a very popular marriage enrichment course in our home church that we have written ourselves. In addition, Illusions & Reality is overseen by a godly group of men that comprise the Board of Directors.

I was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family, the oldest of five children. At the age of 18 I was experiencing personal crisis.  Although I was very popular in school, serving as student body president and the recipient of many awards, there was a deep emptiness inside.  I was on a search for deeper meaning and sense of purpose in my life.  During this time I grew in a friendship with a couple of Christian friends.  Because of the differences I observed in their lives, (sense of peace, joy and contentment), I began asking them many spiritual questions.  I deeply appreciated their patience and willingness to discuss instead of argue with me.  They invited me to their church and I began attending a local Southern Baptist church in Salisbury, Maryland on Sunday evenings. 

I tried to make outward changes, but began to experience frustration as I realized there was no real inward change.  Eventually I heard a clear gospel message one Sunday evening entitled, “Who Crucified Christ?”  When I was younger, I was beaten up because “the Jews did it!”  I began to think that the people at this church had been kind to me, just to lure me in and lynch me!  Just when I was ready for the pastor to explain, “the Jews did it!” one more time, he went on to say “the Jews didn’t do it!”  The he went on to share that the Romans didn’t do it either.  His message highlighted the fact that Jesus died on the cross because we are all sinners.  He clearly explained the love and grace of God and the fact that Jesus paid for our sins because we couldn’t ourselves.  We could never be good enough to reach up to God, so He came to earth to seek us.  It was as if a light came on inside my head, (I believe that this was the work of the Holy Spirit).  At the time of invitation, I asked Jesus to save me, cleanse me and to come into my life forever.  On August 28, 1977, I became a new creature and a willing slave of Jesus Christ.  Although I must confess with regret, there are times that I don’t make a very good slave.

Since my conversion, I felt that I was supposed to be serving God full-time.  I had not heard the term “call to ministry” until I was attending a Student Conference at Ridgecrest, North Carolina as a one year old Christian.  As the speaker explained that God had called all of us to ministry, but some to serve as a vocation, I knew that this applied to me.  I enthusiastically committed my life to serving God in whatever capacity He would want to use me.

My wife, Martha, and I have been married since 1984 and have 3 wonderful children.  Jesus is the center of our lives and we are all committed to serving in our local church in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada.

Performer: Lou Leventhal

Travels from:  Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Performance Fee: Call for quote

Travel Requirements: Airfare and Hotel for (1)