Keeping the Faith : The Newsboys will bring their pop-rock Christian sound to the stage with evangelist Luis Palau.

Pop music and Christianity haven’t always enjoyed a harmonious relation ship. From Elvis to Lit tle Richard to the Beatles and beyond, rock ‘n’ roll at times has even been declared the Devil’s music and cast into a convenient bonfire.

Which just leads musician Peter Furler to ask: “At what decibel does the devil come in?”

The Australian-born songwriter, drummer and producer has asked questions like this, but only half seriously. His band the Newsboys has devoted most of its career to playing music that mixes an alternative pop-rock sound with lyrics devoted to the Christian faith.

Along with the hip-hop act Limit X, the Newsboys will be the central musical entertainment Saturday for “Youth Night” of evangelist Luis Palau’s five-day crusade at Birmingham High School Stadium in Van Nuys. Palau, an Argentina-born American who is the possible heir apparent to Billy Graham, presents a sermon during each day’s event.

Earlier this week, Palau celebrated Pat Boone’s 60th birthday, and was joined by such performers as Smokey Robinson and Dean Jones. A choir was also on hand. But it’s on Saturday that a newer generation of musicians demonstrates the strides made recently in Christian pop.

Among the central reasons for its broadening success, says publicist Velvet Rousseau of Starsong Records, is a new willingness by artists to cross into other genres. “There will always be the inspirational type of music,” Rousseau said. “That’s just traditional. But you’ve now got metal, you’ve got pop, country, techno. It’s basically the same as mainstream music.”

The Newsboys sat in the Top 20 of Billboard’s contemporary Christian album chart for more than 70 weeks with their last album, “Not Ashamed,” and sold at least 200,000 copies. Not enough to earn a gold record, but a respectable number by most standards.

The crossover popularity of such gospel-pop singers as Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith has helped change old perceptions of Christian music and introduce it to new audiences.

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Even Bob Dylan dabbled with some personal gospel music in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, and soul master Al Green has committed himself to Christian themes for more than a decade. But it’s been a slow process for most lesser-known artists, in spite of the work of such Christian rock acts as Stryper, White Heart and Petra.

But singer John James of the Newsboys insisted, “We don’t lay awake on our beds at night wishing we could cross over. We just want to do good music.”

Before he entered the genre, James, 30, had always thought of Christian music as something performed by “ladies in long flowing dresses, with tambourines, floating around the stage. . . . We didn’t know Christian music could sound like this.”

The band began its career in Australian pubs and clubs, singing originals and cover tunes, looking mainly to earn beer money and for the chance to meet girls. In those days, Christian music was far from their minds.

“I was brought up as a pastor’s kid,” Furler, 27, said. “So for many years I hated church.”

Now most members of the five-person band are married, and questions of family and spirituality have begun emerging. Some of the Newsboys’ material is taken from the Bible, while other songs offer positive messages on life and faith. “It’s more about putting what’s going on in our life to the music,” Furler said.

Before the nighttime concert and sermon Saturday, a 10 a.m. “Rally in the Valley” is scheduled at Birmingham for schoolchildren, with a program to include a nearly 1,000-voice children’s choir. On Sunday, the crusade concludes with an event that includes a performance by singer Leon Patillo, formerly of Santana.

Fred Baye, a spokesman for the Luis Palau Evangelistic Assn., is unsure how many will come Saturday. “We just hope that anybody interested in a spiritual pursuit or quest may consider coming, as well as those who might just want to be entertained.”

WHERE AND WHEN

What: “Youth Night,” Luis Palau San Fernando Valley Crusade, with performances by the Newsboys and Limit X.

Location: Birmingham High School Stadium, at Victory Boulevard and Balboa Avenue, Van Nuys.

Hours: 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Price: Free.

Call: (818) 779-8400.