Dr. Arnold was born at Buckeye, Kentucky, a few miles from Lancaster, County Seat of Garrard County. His Mother, Texie Agee Arnold, had an understanding with the Lord from girlhood when she dedicated herself to be the mother of a preacher.
In due time Texie married Edward
L. Arnold, a village blacksmith, and they moved into a small house
across the road from the Baptist church in Buckeye. Their their
first child, a boy, was born there. He died at birth, and the
doctor told Texie that if she had another child, she would most
likely cost her her life. With a heavy heart she told the Lord
that she wanted to be the mother of a preacher even if she
did lose her
life.
About a year later she gave birth to a baby boy, and he lived. So did she, and she named her baby, Louis Walker Arnold. Another baby boy, born years later, died at birth. It was indeed a miracle that Louis lived when both of his brothers died. As soon as Texie was able she crawled to Louis' cradle, she buried her face in his body, and dedicated him to the Lord. The picture as the left was made on the steps of the front porch of the house where the family lived from the time Louis was six years old.
Louis was converted in a revival meeting when he was eleven years old. He felt the call to preach at once and started preaching to his schoolmates as they walked to and from school. He publicly announced his call to preach when he was nineteen. The next Wednesday night, at the invitation of his pastor, he spoke at the mid-week prayer meeting in the Lancaster Baptist Church. The following week, again at the invitation of his pastor, he preached his first sermon in a revival meeting in the Mitchellsburg Baptist Church at Mitchellsburg, Kentucky. A lady was converted that night, and when the service ended, Louis walked out of the church with his Bible under his arm, looked up into the stars and said: "Lord, I'd rather be a preacher than to be president of the United States."
Since that night Louis Arnold has held meetings in everything from small country churches to city-wide meetings in large tents and auditoriums. He has pastored, organized and built churches, held meetings in foreign lands, preached on radio daily for more than 50 years. Thousands have been saved under his ministry. He preaches with wit, humor, pathos, and power. In addition to his own broadcast, "Preaching at Your House," he preached for 21 years on "The Voice of the Appalachians" broadcast, founded by the late Dr. B. R. Lakin.
Louis has been written up by the Associated Press and in numerous papers and magazines, and is listed in "Who's Who in America."
Dr. Arnold has been a pastor, a church organizer and builder, a radio preacher, a missionary, an author, an editor, and an evangelist. For a time he flew his own airplane, commuting between churches, flying to meetings, and preaching from the air over a powerful amplifier. Many were saved as a result of his preaching from the air. He has also held city-wide meetings in large tents and auditoriums. He has held fruitful meetings in the islands of the Caribbeans, in Mexico, and in Central Americas. He has also been widely used as a prophetic speaker in Bible Conferences. Since 1972 Dr. Arnold has been a full-time evangelist. Thousands have professed faith under his ministry. He preaches with wit, humor, pathos, and power. Dr. Arnold has crossed paths with many of the giants of the past and has shared the pulpit with many of them. He continues to travel and preach in revivals and conferences.
Dr. Arnold's paper, The Arnold Report, is mailed to all fifty states. He is a prolific writer. He has written books of sermons, Bible study, prophecy, and inspirational novels. In the past dozen years his inspirational novels have become widely aclaimed. His books have sold in all fifty states and in several foreign countries. Dr. Arnolds books are highly praised by his readers, and hundreds order each new book long before it is off the press. Dr. Arnold's readers number in the thousands, and many of them have become collectors of his books. Readers often write that they read his books over and over. Excerpts from his books, information about them, and ordering instructions are listed on the book page. Click Books on the home page to visit the book page.
During World
War II, Dr. Arnold held a revival in Cincinnati, Ohio that was
so fruitful a Baptist church was organized from the converts and
others who wanted to be a part of the new church. A young man
was called as pastor, and Dr. Arnold was asked to oversee the
work until it could become established. Later a second church
was organized from some members of that congregation. Dr. Arnold
was called to pastor the new church. He was already pastor of
a church near Lexington, Kentucky, 85 miles away, but he decided
to pastor both churches. So he bought an interest in a small airplane
and learned to fly so he could commute between the two churches.
Soon he was flying the plane to revivals and to Sunday afternoon services. Often he flew to country churches to preach. When he did, great crowds gathered to watch the Flying Evangelist come into sight, circle the church, and land his plane in a nearby field.
After landing he would climb from the plane, Bible in hand. He would shake hands with the pastor and others who had climbed the fence into the field. He would ask someone to help push the plane to a convient spot and tie it down. Then he and the pastor would lead the way to a church building that was already packed with people. Those who were unable to get inside the church would line up around doors and windows so they could look in and listen to the singing and preaching. Many unsaved people attended those meetings, and numbers of them were converted.
In 1948, Clark Karsner, a layman who operated a flying school on a small airport at Monterey, Kentucky got the idea of helping Dr. Arnold preach the gospel from the sky. He equipped one of his trainer planes with a powerful loud speaker that had to be especially built, and asked Dr. Arnold to record brief messages for him to broadcast from his plane. Soon he was flying over towns and beaming down the gospel in much of the Bluegrass area. Many souls were saved as a result of hearing the gospel from the sky. To this day Dr. Arnold continues to hear from people who were converted as a result of hearing him preach from the gospel plane. Recently, a retired pastor, Rev. Earl Sears, phoned our office to report something that had happened years ago while he was pastor of a Baptist church in Falmouth, Kentucky. He said, "One day when Dr. Arnold preached from the plane over Falmouth a lady was converted. She attended our church the next Sunday and made a profession of faith. Soon her entire family was converted. She brought two other families to church and they were all converted."
Dr. Arnold soon equipped his own plane with a loud speaker and started flying it to meetings far and wide. Announcements made over a city from a low-flying plane was a unique form of advertising. On one occasion the famed, Dr. B. R. Lakin, then pastor of Cadle Tabernacle in Indianapolis, Indiana, asked Dr. Arnold to fly his plane over Indianapolis and announce a special one-night service he was having in an outdoor theater. Dr. Arnold flew his plane to many revivals in the states and to the Bahama Islands to do mission work. He saw hundreds saved in meetings in the Bahamas and other islands.
Dr. Arnold is a revivalist in the truest since of the word. Under his ministry, dead churches come to life, cold churches catch fire, and dormant churches become active. His revivals usually last long after he has moved on.
Dr. Arnold is available for Sunday meetings, Bible conferences, prophecy conferences, and half week meetings. He can be reached in any of the ways listed below.
By e-mail louisarnoldlwa@earthlink.net
By toll free phone 1-800-854-8571
By Mail:
Dr. Louis Arnold
2440 Bethel Road
Nicholasville, KY 40356