Are you a dangerous believer?

When I meet people while traveling (which is nearly 45 weeks a year) they will ask me, "What do you do?" I almost always answer, "I create danger."

That is not an answer most people expect so then they ask, "What does that mean?" I say, "I motivate followers of Christ to be dangerous believers."

Being a dangerous believer is about vision, passion and Holy Spirit action.

Everywhere I turn right now I hear messages about having "20/20 vision in 2020 and beyond." The church must be looking forward as we live out the call of God on our lives. But it's just as important to remember that having good vision is not only how far in the future you can see, but also how clearly you can perceive the here-and-now. We in the body of Christ must be dangerous believers consumed with vision, passion, dreams, as well as plans for what God has for us to do today.

My wife's pastor, Bob Alsup, told a very unique story for many years. It is about an elderly man near the end of his life who was asked by his children, "What's the one thing you want to do before you die?" He replied, "You know, I have always wanted to see the Pacific Ocean."

They loaded him up and headed to California. Once they arrived, they got him out on one of the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. "Well, what do you think?" they asked expectantly. His answer was profound. He said, "It's not as big as I thought it would be." There he was, standing in front of the largest body of water in the world, and his vision was limited by the horizon line.

Especially at the start of a new decade, it can be tempting to idealize the future, but the danger is that romanticizing what lies ahead can cause us to underestimate the importance of where God has us right now. If we aren't careful, when we arrive at the place we have hoped for, we may find ourselves underwhelmed—"It's not as big as I thought it would be"—or even worse, unprepared.

I believe with all that is within me that this new decade we have entered into will be the greatest 10 years of church growth in history. This burst of revival and new souls saved will not come out of the old ways of trying to out-argue everyone around us; instead, I believe it will begin to explode from places and nations that no one ever thought possible. It is exciting to think about, especially for an evangelist like me. But there is a risk of faith to be taken now. I ask again, are you a dangerous believer?

I have never before seen such hunger from people to know the reality of Jesus.

Religion and philosophy raise innumerable questions, but there is only one answer that opens the bound eyes of the heart; it is the Son of the living God. The heart cry of the world is to know Jesus—the authentic, true Jesus, who was raised from the grave with life-changing authority and power.

Our theology needs to be biblical, and everything that we proclaim must be centered on Jesus. He is above all, He is the center of all, and He is all in all. The lost souls of the world don't want or need our personal opinions; they need knowledge of His character and presence. That's why every morning deep within me my spirit has been crying out, "Help me to show them who You are and that Jesus can transform whatever their deficits are into victories of the Holy Spirit."

Before you go deeper into this year and decade, I encourage you to take a moment to ask the Holy Spirit how you can become a more dangerous believer.

You're beautiful. I see Jesus in you.

Have a great week!

Mikel French has challenged spiritual awakening all across America, where many celebrations extended into multiple weeks, and has conducted celebrations in France, Sweden, Russia, Romania, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia, Germany, South Africa, Malawi, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Haiti, Japan, Singapore, India and Thailand. He conducted an outreach celebration in Manila, Philippines, reaching 200,000 teenagers with the book of hope. Through the generous support of partners, he has presented the message of Jesus Christ to millions of people in the nation of Russia through televised citywide soul-winning celebrations. Mikel considers it an honor to assist in conducting the annual pastor's conference, where thousands of pastors from Russia's 11 time zones come for training, teaching and equipping. Mikel and his wife, Marsha, reside in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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