Making the Face of Jesus the Sole Focus

What has made globally renowned preacher and leader Michael Koulianos’ ministry as successful as it is? Was it because he came from a family of religious astuteness? Maybe due to his multiple miraculous encounters with God or the giants in the faith he has connected with? In actuality, one could argue this all began with moments that no one else saw, where a man became obsessed with the face of Jesus. The favor that God has breathed on Michael’s life is a revelation of what our God desires to do for His children when they choose to live in their identity of sonship and seek Jesus’ face alone. The story of Michael, a seminary student at Regent University School of Divinity, is a reminder that our true call is all about obsession with Jesus, and the Lord moves in miraculous ways from that foundation.

ENCOUNTERS, SIGNS & WONDERS

Growing up in a Greek family in Florida, Michael’s spiritual roots were in the Greek Orthodox Church. His family was not just practitioners of the faith but also leaders, as his relatives held titles such as Archbishop of North and South America, Archbishop of England, and priests. In other words, Michael’s upbringing was surrounded by lots of Eastern Orthodox theology. However, though the gospel was proclaimed consistently in the liturgy he was hearing, he never really heard a clear gospel proclamation that he was able to comprehend until the age of 12 fully.

To backtrack slightly in his timeline to when he was seven years old, Michael witnessed a marking, miraculous healing. His father had a bone disease for most of Michael’s life thus far. His father had undergone knee surgery right around the same time a relative of their family had passed away. So, as customary in Greek households, family and friends gathered in each other’s homes after funerals and wakes. A charismatic Orthodox priest had been in the house with Michael’s family and received a word of knowledge about Michael’s father (this was one day after his father’s knee surgery).

The priest asked his father, “Have you ever seen Jesus?” From the lens of seven-year-old Michael sitting on the living room floor, he described watching the priest grab his father’s knee, to which his father winced in pain from the tenderness post-surgery and the staples holding the wound together.  At that moment, Michael began to feel the atmosphere change, as if someone began filling the house with a hot, thick cloud.

The priest prayed, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

And he walked.

A couple of days later, at his father’s doctor appointment, he was able to leg press more weight than he ever could in the past five years, with all his knee muscles fully growing back in an instant. This was Michael’s first encounter with the Lord.

Michael then went on to become an incredible competitive golfer and became one of the top junior golfers in the country. But, at age 12, Michael was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr disease, leaving him bedridden for almost a full year. At this time, one of his cousins, who was a priest, was baptized in the Holy Spirit while reading a book by Benny Hinn called Good Morning Holy Spirit. After this, the cousin found out Benny Hinn would be at an event and invited Michael because of Hinn’s healing gift. After such a long period of discouragement for Michael and his family, and due to his culture of trusting the words of priests, he agreed to go with him.

While at the event, Benny Hinn called Michael out from the crowd of 3,000 people in the sanctuary (not including the 1,000 additional people outside). As Hinn called Michael up to the platform, Michael could feel not just a wave, but an ocean of God’s power and presence hit him. The Lord’s power had gone through Michael’s body, and he never had a symptom again after that encounter. Thirty-five years later, he still has had no symptoms of Epstein-Barr. Typically, the effects of Epstein-Barr can last someone’s entire lifetime.

As the Lord was healing Michael, Benny Hinn gave Michael a word that the Lord was going to use his life for this generation.

After this moment, Michael fell in love with the presence of God and began reading the Bible. His middle school years were marked by hours and hours, sometimes almost 8 hours a day, in the presence of the Lord learning about God.

THEN THERE WAS THIS GIRL…

His high school and college years were focused mainly on his golf career. He played for the University of Florida on a full golf scholarship. While this seems to anyone like a great opportunity, Michael knew deep down the Lord was calling him to a Christian school and had bigger plans for him. While playing professionally for some time, he found himself running from God but could not shake the call of God on his life.

In 2003, Michael’s brother, who was at Oral Roberts University at the time, was talking with Michael about how he met Benny Hinn’s daughter and thought Michael should meet her. Upon talking to this girl, Jessica, he found himself reintroduced to the work of the ministry.

Michael left his professional golf career to work in full-time ministry with Jessica, his now wife.

THE HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Michael went on to live in the ministry for 21 years to date. In the early 2000s, Michael was pastoring in Southern California. Michael recalls how dry of a season it was, and they struggled to bring life to the church. After prayer and feeling the release of the Lord in 2008, they moved back to Florida with no concrete plans of what would lie ahead of them; they just were obedient to where the Spirit was moving. In those years back in Florida, Michael was a traveling speaker and was just seeking the Lord even deeper.

“I was seeking God with a real addiction. I think people would call it extreme, to be honest. I am not sure they would call it healthy, but it was for me,” Michael shares as he describes his days of shutting away alone with the Lord to pray. From this place came new encounters with the Lord.

When trying to explain what those encounters were like, he resolves, “The only way I could describe it is the face of Jesus became my obsession.”

In the midst of a ministry where he watched miracles and wonderful moves of God, while those instances are powerful, Michael describes that he found the “end all,” which is Jesus’ face.

Thus, the logo and name of Jesus Image were born—sole focus on Jesus’ face.

“Before there was an actual organization, there was just an obsession.”

Jesus Image started in people’s living rooms and small events and meetings at which Michael would get invited to teach. In recalling one women’s event, he remembers receiving honorariums of rhubarb pie and peach cobbler.

Jesus School was the first thing on the Koulianos’ hearts. The school would raise up worship leaders and ministers to train leaders with one main ambition of loving God and raising His people up to shake the world. As the school began in 2018, they felt the Lord lead them to do a Sunday night gathering for those at the school to encounter God together. The first night they hosted this gathering, 400 people came.

They only had 72 students.

Michael was truly shocked and decided the following week to host another gathering. He thought to himself, “There’s no way everyone would come back… Maybe that was just a fluke.” But as the weeks went on, the Lord showed up every time. When He comes, He draws the nations. People began flying in from all over the world. Some even came straight from the airport to the gathering with their luggage still in hand.

“Thousands just started coming because they want Jesus.”

To add even more weight to this growth, Michael admitted Jesus Image never really promotes guest speakers or specific worship leaders. God truly just leads His hungry people to Jesus Image.

BEGINNING A JOURNEY AT REGENT

Michael shares that as life has gone on, he more and more sees the importance of not separating the experience of God from the Word of God. Michael’s Greek Orthodox roots showed him how reading the Scriptures is a spiritual experience.

“I found a place at Regent that was very much like that. Very Jesus-centered. I found [faculty] to be [people] of God’s presence, who loved the Lord Himself, not just divisive theological turrets.”

In the Western Christian church, many leaders have found themselves focusing so much on divisive theological mantras that come from a mean-hearted and anointed place. Michael explains that any theology that does not sound like Jesus, look like Jesus, or lead us to be more like Jesus is not true theology.

A friend of his had called Michael, sharing that he should look into going to seminary. As someone with a multi-decade-long successful ministry career, Michael was at first resistant. The friend prophetically shared, “Jesus Image will be a vital voice in this generation, and we need young leaders that can steward the Word of God and preach the true Christ.” With that, he was sold and began looking into Regent’s Master of Divinity program.

When Michael met Dr. Bekker, Dean of Regent’s School of Divinity, and various other Regent professors, he was shocked. The humility they exuded, along with their desire to ask Michael questions, took Michael aback. He could feel the fusion of a high level of biblical hunger and the desire to know the presence of God deeply.

After enrolling, Michael visited Regent’s campus. When he stepped on campus, he knew something was different. He could feel the prayers of Dr. Pat M. G. Robertson and many others residing within Regent.

“I sensed the Lord’s presence; I sensed a deep openness and hunger.”

His studies in his program have only increased his desire to worship. Even the songs Jesus Image writes are so gospel-centered, and he credits Regent for helping him land there. Michael has been so blessed by his program at Regent thus far that his sons have enrolled in Regent as well.