Jesse Duplantis: "The Everyday Visionary"

CBN.com WORLD EVANGELISM

Jesse Duplantis is one of the world’s most humorous and dynamic ministers. He’s shared a mix of strong biblical preaching and life lessons with audiences for more than 30 years.

Once an up-and-coming rock musician, Jesse was idly listening to Billy Graham’s Christian Crusade when “the love of God reached right through the television screen” and changed the path of his life forever. Jesse accepted Jesus Christ in 1974. He entered the ministry and began preaching in small churches in his home state of Louisiana. In 1997, he and his wife, the Reverend Cathy Duplantis, founded Covenant Church, a local outreach of Jesse Duplantis Ministries.

For more than 25 years, Jesse has had one vision, one goal and one mission – world evangelism, and today, Jesse Duplantis Ministries (JDM) reaches millions of people through television, video and audio tapes, Christian literature and revival meetings. JDM has one goal: To share God’s message of salvation through Jesus Christ with the world.

“I really believe that God didn’t put us on this planet just so we can benefit ourselves,” he says. “We must be an inspiration to other people around the world, if we’re Christian. You don’t judge Christianity by the conduct of Christians because you’re going to fail. You judge Christianity by the conduct of Christ; Christ in you, the hope of glory. We have to change people. God counts his wealth by the souls He possesses. Bringing people into His kingdom is what it’s all about.”

Jesse also believes that the youth are important to this generation.

“The youth are searching for something. We have to give them something to remember, and quit trying to make their generation our generation,” he says. “It’s very easy to move the youth today, but the problem is, we’ve made sin as though it doesn’t exist. The problem is that we don’t hate sin. If you hate something, you don’t mess with it. You’re not going to be tempted because you hate it. Jesus didn’t sin because he hated sin. That’s the key, and that’s how you keep your life clean; by hating sin. Then, the wages of sin will never be a part of your life.”

THE EVERYDAY VISIONARY

“I want change in people’s lives. It’s an every day thing for me,” he says.

The focus of Jesse’s book, The Everyday Visionary, is to encourage readers to develop the mental maps that will carry them toward a better, more rewarding life and help them realize their God-given destiny. Using Biblical passages, stories and his personal experiences, Jesse explains how to move beyond idle thoughts and daydreams, start thinking with intent and determination and, most important, turn those ideas into action.

“I’ve been ministering for over 30 years, and I realized that if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not going to know when you get there,” he says. “I’m surprised at how many people don’t know where they’re going and when they get there. They live a life of frustration because they don’t know their destiny or destination. The reason why I wrote this book is to let people know, you have to know where you’re going and then know when you get there.”

Jesse says that people often deal with idle thoughts (daydreaming) instead of determined thoughts that have passion and intent in them.

“You can have a great dream, but if your memory is bigger than your dream, you’re in trouble,” he says. “Dreams are always going. I believe that God is not a lazy person. He expects us to work.”