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Finding True Success
by Yvonne Baxter and Rob McKinney
Remember those full-page ads in the Edmonton Journal promoting the seminar, "Peter Lowe's Success 1997"? Perhaps you thought, "It's amazing how love of money will draw a crowd." Well, things are not always as they appear. The seminar was about more than money, and many of those attending received more than money could buy.
On September 10, a crowd of more than 4,000 gathered to hear the "very successful" share the secrets of their success. People like sales guru Brian Tracy, motivational whiz Zig Ziglar, hockey legend Gordie Howe and talk-show host Dini Petty were among the nine well-known speakers. But the one with the most to say was Peter Lowe, a name unfamiliar to most of those who attended.
At first glance, he might appear to be an 'Anthony Robbins wannabe,' interested in making huge profits in the seminar business. But the truth is, he's not. He struggles just to break even, risking millions of dollars putting on these "Success" seminars. Why does he do it? It's his desire to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lowe's non-profit organization, based in Florida, is actually a ministry of Jesus Christ.
"If you took the evangelistic element out of these seminars, we would quit doing them," says Lowe, who's traveled more than 100 countries and speaks to more than a quarter of a million people each year.
Not all the speakers Lowe brings in for his seminars are Christians. In fact most are not. But all understand the purpose of his seminars: to enrich lives in ways that go beyond money. The majority of people come to learn how to "make it big" in a financial sense, but Lowe's guest speakers are careful to weave proper motives into their presentations, and to shift the emphasis away from a "get rich quick" mentality. And Lowe himself goes much further than that.
In the first part of his presentation, Lowe shares his study of successful people; from all walks of life they show a common trait. They were determined to succeed, rather than destined to be successful. Simply put, they refused to quit.
After concluding the main part of his speech, he invites everyone to stay for a "bonus seminar" before the next speaker begins. Most decide to stay and they are given a clear presentation of the gospel, plus Lowe's own testimony of how he became a Christian.
He talks about the difference between being controlled by life' circumstances and giving control of your life to God. He stresses that our good works will never enable us to hit the bull's eye of this life, or of eternal life.
Lowe doesn't know how many people receive salvation as a result of the evangelistic message. Nor does he know if the commitments are genuine. "Probably many are not," says Lowe, "but the responses certainly show the hunger there is for spiritual guidance." At the very least, many seeds are planted in people's hearts.
Lowe intentionally keeps ticket prices low compared with other similar types of live seminars. He even offers Christian ticket buyers a free ticket to invite a non-Christian friend, all with the goal of sharing the gospel. At the Edmonton conference, he ended up turning away buyers, forsaking money his organization could use in order to spread the gospel.
A typical seminar costs more than one million dollars each to put on. At one point, his organization lost $2.3 million in four months, but Lowe says he lives by God's Word and truly trusts Him to meet his needs.
"I live by faith and not by sight," he says, "and I do the same when it comes to finances. I don't know how God does it, but He does."
In 1997 his organization will hold seminars in 24 different North American cities. Future plans are to organize week-long meetings which will eventually incorporate mass media.
Lowe himself was born into a missionary home and raised with Christian principles but didn't become a Christian himself until he was twenty years old. While attending college he noticed that the Christian students on campus seemed to have something he didn't have. "That's when I really gave my life to Christ," says Lowe. "That's when it became my faith instead of my parents' faith. I felt very called to evangelism at the time, too."
After college, Lowe contemplated joining Campus Crusade for Christ full time, but felt he needed some business experience first. He thought that selling microcomputers would give him an opportunity to share his faith with clients, but found it difficult to shift the conversation from computers to the gospel.
Living in Vancouver, he spent the New Year's weekend of 1981 in Seattle by himself, fasting and praying, seeking God's direction for his life. A month later he left his job and started the work he's doing today.
Was "Success 1997" a success? No question, in God eyes it was. Through much prayer, planning, and local co-operation, thousands heard, possibly for the first time, of His unlimited love, and His desire to have a relationship with them through His Son Jesus Christ.
No one can put a value on that, and yet it's free to all of us. Many may have come to the seminar seeking riches, but left with more than they ever imagined.
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