Christian Influences Who Will Help Grow Your Faith

Don’t you just love Christian influencers? Someone who will speak truth, help you through a tough time, and show the light amongst your periods of darkness. Count your blessings if you have friends around you with these amazing qualities. If you don’t, please get in touch with me because I would love to be that friend for you! Influences can be found in all sorts of places and one of the biggest is the celebrity world. I know a lot of celebrities. Not personally, but with my knowledge of movies I tend to get curious about the people bringing these characters to life. How are they living their lives and how are they speaking out to their millions of followers? We love to look up to celebrities and feel like we’re friends with those who the world adores. We want to share in their glory.

But this is a huge danger because the more we look to those who are getting recognition, the more we become self-centered. Today I wanted to focus on a few amazing Christian influencers or ‘celebrities’. The difference with these people is that the purpose of their work is to bring glory to Jesus, not themselves. They live their lives and use their influence to bring others to Jesus, and ultimately, this needs to be our goal no matter what we do. So without further ado, here are my top 5 picks for Christian influencers that will help grow your faith.

Pastor Steven Furtick.

Steven Furticks ‘Emotional Exhaustion’ sermon (2020)

This man is one of our greatest modern preachers. He is the Founder and Senior Pastor of Elevation Church in North Carolina. He planted this church in 2006 and every year it continues to grow. And it’s no wonder! His teachings have gone on to inspire hundreds of thousands of people. He has been a leader and mentor to many including the Elevation worship team, who continue to put out incredibly moving and impactful worship music.

If I could choose a word to describe Steven, I would say authentic. Again, I don’t know him personally, but I always get a sense of authenticity as I watch him on Youtube. When he preaches, he is passionate, he relies on the Word of God and most importantly, he is in tune with God. If Steven feels the need to sit in the presence of God while he’s preaching because he knows God wants to speak, he will obey, and it shows hugely. This is how I know God has him in exactly the place he needs to be. 

I always seem to hear his sermons exactly when I need them, even if he preached it 3 years ago. There is always a word I get from God that I need to hear at that particular moment. The day I started writing this blog, I watched his recent sermon entitled, ‘How your thoughts lead you’. Like many of us, I get distracted just scrolling on social media, it’s the world we live in these days.

But not even a minute of this video goes by before Steven points out, “The devil is like a roaring lion, so is the Instagram algorithm, it is looking for someone to devour, that’s why they call it a feed.” That is something I really needed to hear that day! This example is just one of many reasons why I love his sermons and why I chose him to lead our list of Christian influencers.

Priscilla Shirer.

Priscilla Shirer in War Room (2015)

I’m not really sure where to start with this woman. She is a MASSIVE inspiration to me, and I’m sure to many others who have seen her do what she does. She is, without a doubt, a strong God-fearing woman who walks through life knowing she holds the power of the Holy Spirit. You can see it in action when she preaches in sermons such as this one on giving your gifts to God.

Priscilla holds many titles; wife, mother, author, preacher, evangelist and actress, just to name a few. I have seen her do many things, but I feel one of the greatest is how she uses her knowledge of spiritual warfare and how to use it correctly. If you know anything about spiritual warfare, you know that you need to be confident and have faith in the power of God. Whenever Priscilla preaches, I can tell she is speaking in the authority that Jesus has given her through the power of what He did on the cross. The power that defeated death is the same power within Priscilla. What’s cool is that we receive this same death crushing power when we invite Jesus into our lives. Priscilla reiterates this through every sermon she preaches, and it leaves you feeling pumped! You can see an abundance of Priscilla’s sermons on Youtube.

What else I love about Priscilla is that I learn so much from the characters she plays in movies. This comes from my need to see and understand things in a visual way. The movie ‘War Room’ is one of my all time favourites. If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to watch it because it will change your life! Priscilla plays a wife and a mother, who through the help of a one-of-a-kind mentor, Miss Clara, learns how to fight for her family in prayer. In an extremely inspiring scene, she kicks the devil out of her household and declares Jesus is the ruler of her household. This makes me emotional every time I watch it. Priscilla is doing so much with the strength God has given her and it’s extremely encouraging to me. I pray you are also encouraged through her work.

Jennie Allen.

Jennie Allens study ‘Get out of your head’ (2020)

Another amazing woman of God and for me, someone who can explain things in a beautifully understandable way. Jennie is very open with the struggles of anxiety and self doubt that she has battled over the years, and what she has learned is so relatable, not just to me, but I think to a lot of women around the world.

Jennie is a leader of Christian influencers. She is the Founder and Visionary of IF:Gathering which is a women’s ministry with a vision to disciple a generation. They host conferences and events, and have an abundance of resources to help women in churches around the world to grow in their faith and to tell others about Jesus. My Bible study group and I have loved her Bible studies, especially the one entitled, ‘Get out of your Head’, which she has also written into a book. This is all about gaining control over your mind, and letting God lead you through your mindshift. I highly recommend it!

Jeremy Camp.

Jeremy Camp in 'I Still Believe' music video

This man knows what it’s like to lose everything but also to have the faith to know God is completely in control. He is a Christian singer, songwriter from Indiana, he’s a husband to Adrienne and father to three children. His music has reached millions over the years, and I find his songs so relatable and inspiring, especially when you know his backstory. My favourite songs of his are ‘I still believe’, ‘Keep me in the moment’, and ‘Walk by faith’.

I have to stop myself from tearing up whenever I think of this amazingly faithful man’s story. What he went through will be a familiar situation to a lot of people, and he had a lot of heartbreak in the process, but what a testimony of God’s goodness through it all! In the words of his song, ‘I Still Believe’, Jeremy wrote “even when I don’t see, I still believe”. This is a life changing sentence when you realise he wrote this after one of the biggest heartaches he would ever experience. To see how God has used him is incredibly inspiring! I encourage you to watch the movie ‘I Still Believe’ which gives you a look at the heartbreak he experienced, and shows how he continued to see the goodness of God through everything; it is so beautiful!

Tori Kelly.

Tori Kelly performs at Billboards Women in Music Awards (2015) where she won the Breakthrough Honour

I love this girl so much. I would love to meet her one day! She has one of the best, if not the best singing voices I’ve ever heard. Her voice control when she sings is just on a different level, and when she hits those runs and riffs? Ooo, she’s climbing straight to heaven! Just look at any song she performs, especially live and you’ll see what I mean! But I need to stop fangirling now, otherwise I will not stop.

Tori Kelly got her start by posting videos of herself singing on Youtube and things gradually progressed from there. She tried out for American Idol but didn’t make it to the top 24. However, she continued to progress and began to release her own music. Today, she has released a number of amazing albums, including an incredible Gospel album with Kirk Franklin, and she has voice acted in the movie Sing and it’s sequel Sing 2.

God has given her an incredible gift, and she is truly using it for His glory. Tori is open about her relationship with God and it is clear to see in her humility that she is following Him through everything. Her goal isn’t to be rich and famous, her goal is to do what God is asking of her, to go where He guides her and to use the gift of her voice to impact others. If you’d like to learn more about her, you can watch her give her testimony here.

These are a few of my favourite Christian influencers!

Who are your favourite Christian influencers? Let us know in the comments below.