What Makes Louie Giglio Such a Famous Pastor?

How Did Louie Giglio's Ministry Start?

Giglio received his Master of Theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. During this time, he and his wife, Shelley, started a weekly Bible study called Choice at Baylor University. After several years, attendance numbers grew to hundreds of students. Eventually, Giglio earned his Doctorate of Ministry from Grace Theological Seminary.

After moving to Atlanta in 1995, Giglio applied working with students to a new scale. The Passion Conference premiered two years later with 2,000 student attendees. Today, the Passion Conference happens every year, sometimes touring overseas.

Louie Giglio - Hope: When Life Hurts Most (Passion Talk Series) from louie-giglio on GodTube.

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What Are Some Unique Ideas that Louie Giglio Talks About?

Evident throughout his books, conferences, and even in the name of his church, Louie Giglio is passionate about ‘passion’—God’s passion for His people and His creation, as well as His people passionately pursuing Him. Giglio wants every Christian to wholeheartedly pursue a deeper intimacy with Christ, which sometimes means renewing a lost passion for Him.

Louie Giglio is also passionate about worship—and not just in song. He sees every word, action, and even breath as a potential opportunity for worship. He sees this potential in all aspects of a service—the sermon, the worship music, the announcements, and even the planning beforehand. He sees it all as a chance to glorify God individually and corporately.

Giglio has also sought spiritual awakening for decades, especially among young adults. He has focused on bringing people together from across denominations for musical worship, prayer, and preaching of the Word of God. He also has helped them realize their gifting from God and mobilize them for missions—whether overseas, domestically, vocationally, or otherwise.

Additionally, Giglio has written several books addressing anxiety, speaks from his experience. He argues the solution for stress and worry is rooted in Christ and a relationship with Him. He stresses that God is greater than stress and we can replace anxiety with trust. He wants to give his readers the tools for the peace of Christ and to overcome the lies of Satan that contribute to worry. He believes that Jesus can carry the burdens of his people, no matter how big or small.

Louie Giglio - How Great Is Our God (Passion Talk Series) from louie-giglio on GodTube.

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Who Are Some of Louie Giglio’s Collaborators?

In his writing pursuits, Louie Giglio has written with the likes of musician Mark Smeby and illustrator and graphic designer Nicola Anderson. He has collaborated with Passion speakers and leading Christian voices like Judah Smith, Beth Moore, and Francis Chan to write the book PASSION. Additionally, he has worked closely with Grammy Award-winning musician Matt Redman and musician Chris Tomlin with Passion Conferences and in planting his church, Passion City Church.

His work with Tomlin included touring with Tomlin’s song “Indescribable” and giving presentations on what the known galaxy shows about God’s galaxy.

Louie Giglio - Indescribable (Passion Talk Series) from louie-giglio on GodTube.

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Best Louie Giglio Books on Faith

Seeing God as a Perfect Father: and Seeing You as Loved, Pursued, and Secure: In this updated edition of his former bestseller, Not Forsaken, Giglio communicates that God’s perfect love and desire for His people can be life-altering. How people view God influences how they see themselves, and Giglio encourages the reader to see their identity through Him, not by their past or their imperfect family.

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Putting an X Through Anxiety: Breaking Free from the Grip of Fear and Stress: The worry, dread, and stress people carry throughout the day can be debilitating. Giglio shares that there is freedom from this heavy burden, and it’s found in Jesus. Giglio walks the reader through the roots of anxiety, how to address it, and the contentment and hope that can result.

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Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table: It’s Time to Win the Battle of Your Mind: Negative thoughts - like fear, temptation, or envy—can be from Satan and lead to an unhealthy state of mind. Giglio offers freedom by recognizing the manipulation tactics of The Enemy and that trusting Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to lead the mental battle offers hope, contentment, and power.

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How Great Is Our God: 100 Indescribable Devotions About God and Science (Indescribable Kids): Giglio helps kids start a path to realize more about God and His wondrous creation. He demonstrates to children the awesome connection between God and His creation through scientific facts, fantastic photography, and lively illustrations.

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The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life: More than just singing at church, worship encompasses so much more—every part of our life. Giglio shares that it’s what the human heart was made for and is an opportunity to commune deeply with God through each word, action, and even breath.

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I Am Not But I Know I Am: Welcome to the Story of God: Giglio encourages the reader to recognize their meaning in life in relationship to God’s greatness. Seeing God’s omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience allows His people, Giglio argues, to enter more fully into God’s love story for them.

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PASSION: Giglio brings together some of the leading voices influencing Christianity today - like Francis Chan, Beth Moore, and Judah Smith—to communicate the passion and fire of a relationship with Christ. Giglio also shares stories and experiences of the transforming work of the Holy Spirit from the Passion conferences he has led since 1995.

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10 Inspiring Louie Giglio Quotes

1. “Worship is simply about value. The simplest definition I can give is this: Worship is our response to what we value most.” — The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life

2. “We’ve seen that the global mission of God is definitely resonating stronger than ever in the hearts of college students. More college students want to go to India, they want to go to Afghanistan, they want to go to Iraq, they want to go to China, and they are going around the globe to proclaim God's message. But the challenge comes when you get back home—how many of them are willing to go across the hall in the dorm, or across the hall in their fraternity house? That's where it takes your whole life.” — “Louie Giglio: Shaping a New Generation through OneDay03”

3. “Because that longing for a father’s affection and approval is innate and universal - and a lot of us didn’t always get what we were desperate for from the man who was responsible for bringing us up in this world.” — Seeing God as Perfect Father: And Seeing You As Loved, Pursued, and Secured

4. “What Passion is known for is worship, but really what we do is gather people for prayer. What we’ve seen as the most powerful combination is intercession and worship combined as one thing. I think there is a tremendous sense of synergy when we realize that many of the songs we sing are prayers and then we see the role that our corporate intercession plays and we weave all those things together.” — “10 Questions With: Louie Giglio”

5. “What a way to walk through life: entering every environment with every intention to shine as little light as possible on me and as much light as possible on the Son of God.” — I Am Not But I Know I Am: Welcome to the Story of God

6. “Worship isn’t modern or ancient to God . . . hymns remind us that our faith and worship aren’t a week old. We’re part of a stream that is thousands of years old. Many have gone before us and found Him to be true. I don’t know how it can be better than that.” — “Something Old, Something New”

7. “. . . admitting we are not God—not in control, not running anything, not responsible for everyone’s well-being, not the solution for everything and everyone, not at the center of all things—doesn’t belittle us; it frees us.” — I Am Not But I Know I Am

8. “As Paul Hawken keenly observed, Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course.… We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead, the stars come out every night and we watch television.” — Indescribable: Encountering the Glory of God in the Beauty of the Universe

9. “When you’re in the midst of a storm, it’s hard to remember that God is always good and glorious, and that God’s plans will always prevail, even when yours don’t.” — The Comeback: It’s Not Too Late and You’re Never Too Far

10. “Heaven will be full of the songs of worshipers who had once been broken people in a broken world, picked up and used for God’s glory.” — The Comeback

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