My Transformational Week

after watching the James Kawalya testimony.

I joined the almost 1.7 million people around the world who listened to the testimony of James Kawalya. Despite the fact that this is a 3 hour YouTube video, it went viral—one million views in seven days. I can tell you why. His account of the first 24 years of his life features supernatural events, extreme abuse, a miraculous recovery from cancer after his burial had been paid for, his operations in the kingdom of darkness, and how he realized that Jesus is Lord is astounding.

While sharing his testimony he inserted gold nuggets of Biblical insight, spiritual principles, and hidden answers to questions that we all have had:

• Why does “this” keep happening to me and/or my family?

• Are there reasons why the Body of Christ in my area has minimal influence in the community?

• What are my blind spots?

• Do my prayers do anything?

As someone who has cast out demons (deliverance) for many people over twenty-five years and intercedes on a regular bases, the answers have strengthened my faith, led me to moments of repentance, and increased my awe of God. I am so grateful to God for rescuing this man from utter darkness and leading him to share his story.

The intention of this post is to share chapter three of Culture Changers: Understand the Roots of Brokenness and Help Heal Your Family and Community, and the chapter title, “How You Can Start Thinking Like A Culture Changer” suits the content you will hear in Kawalya’s testimony because we can only be the salt and the light of the earth to the extent we believe in the power and authority we have been given by Christ Jesus. As you watch, you will be awestruck by the power and authority of our God, which He bestows to those who follow Him. (Luke 9:1, 10:19)

As a man thinks in his heart so is he. (Ps 23:7) What you believe will determine your identity, actions and decisions. You must believe that because you have received the free gift of grace given through the blood of Jesus that has atoned for your sin, you are a power-filled, cleansed, dearly loved reflector of Christ Jesus. This is your new identity! You must also believe that you have been given the gifts and spiritual weapons to bring forth God’s Kingdom. If you see circumstances around you that need life-giving change, you can spearhead that change!

Before you read Chapter Three (below), I want to remind you to check out the bible study videos that I am producing for my husband, Doug, on our YouTube channel. Click here to watch the latest.

Chapter Three : How You Can Start Thinking Like A Culture Changer
I’ve learned to pay attention to my words—casual statements that I make. Why? Because how we say what we say can reveal fears or pain that we carry from the past. Is there often cynicism or sarcasm in our tone? When a person shares an opposing political viewpoint, are we condemning or quick to dismiss? Do we counter their opinion before considering its merit? The fears and wounds we carry will creep into our conversations if not resolved. Recognizing our pain, and then obtaining closure, helps us no longer react. Healing removes the pressure points of past trauma.

Despite our shortcomings and the things we still struggle with, human beings—each of us has a beautiful gift to give the world. The darker the night, the brighter the star. Aristotle said, “It is during our darkest moment that we must focus to see the light.” That darkest hour causes us to look around for any flicker of light.

Many of us sang “This Little Light of Mine” when we were kids. We belted out the words with enthusiasm and intent. Children somehow know the light of God—vitality, soundness of mind, peace, beauty, goodness, understanding—can repel the world’s darkness. Enamored with divine purpose, we were ready to go out and conquer the darkness threatening the land. Heroes and heroines of real-life fairytales.

But then something happened. Many of us walked headfirst into hurtful experiences that traumatized us. We ended up adopting attitudes and behaviors we saw in older family members, and these things worked to pull blinders over our eyes. Our enthusiasm for destroying darkness gradually morphed into apathy and skepticism—our whole-hearted passion became stunted.

Heaven on Earth

If you’re like me, you’re an optimist who has overcome hurdles and see that the mountain top of your life is closer than the valley you left behind. You recognize and sometimes experience injustice, but you try not to let it get under your skin because you genuinely believe things can change. You want the ideal for everyone, no matter what ethnicity, nationality, or generation—or in other words, you’re after heaven on earth.

When I realized I would never be perfect this side of heaven, it was a massive blow to my ego. The reality of my brokenness washed me with shame, and I began to struggle with self-condemnation and a general sense of being a failure. This realization also made me critical of others. By magnifying other people’s faults as well as my own, I didn’t feel so bad about myself.

But gradually, God began to teach me about grace and mercy, process, and maturity. As I began to heal, I learned to extend this newfound understanding to others, even those who had hurt me. I realized that each of us carries buried pain and gets triggered by each other’s issues and current events—and our bag of stress gets spilled out on people around us. If I was not going to be perfect in this lifetime, then neither will anyone else. We are all works in progress.

As Culture Changers, we are visionaries and trouble-shooters. No one’s potential should be wasted, so we want to get out there and dirty our hands with the hard work of turning systemic failures into life-giving processes. Death to life—that is a foundational thought for every Culture Changer. Yet we’re still learning what this looks like practically and how to carry it out in everyday situations.

The realization that all of us—man, woman, and child, were born into an imperfect world doesn’t excuse abuse, misuse, and injustice. But it does give us a broader view of the human condition, which partners with understanding what God is after. People can change when given the right tools.

From Broken to Whole

Brokenness is the tendency toward destructive rather than constructive movement. This tendency is often passed down from generation to generation and permeates every aspect of life. Every family is affected, and since people build systems, brokenness also infiltrates the manmade systems all around us.

Wholeness is perfect alignment between every aspect of our immaterial (spirit and soul) and physical (body) composition. When our triune composition is out of joint with God’s design, life doesn’t flow the way it should. We become hindered spiritually, emotionally, and biologically. Picture someone’s elbow out of joint. The nerves and blood are constricted and unable to move freely according to their normal, unhindered paths. But once the bone is put back into place, everything works the way it is supposed to.

When wholeness or alignment happens in our lives, shalom can flow unhindered. The Hebrew word shalom is a state of peace, completeness, harmony, and security. From this state, we reflect the goodness of our Creator to everyone and everything around us. The blinders begin to fall away; mindsets shift, and divine purpose breaks forth.

We were made for shalom—an individual ideal with corporate benefits. Humanity is like a building constructed of stones, one set securely on top of another. Loose stones clearly affect the whole structure. As hearts are healed and thinking transformed, we as a society become steady where we used to be shaky. Our health builds up the entire structure instead of being a liability.

As we become more and more whole, not only do we experience vitality as individuals, but our vitality blossoms outward to affect everyone around us. The building becomes more stable. Some belief systems teach the idea of enlightenment or self-realization. This is the idea of finding ultimate goodness and knowledge, or a state of perfection, in one’s self. The difference between enlightenment and the Hebrew idea of shalom is the object worshiped. Enlightenment believes that humanity within itself has the capacity for “godhood,” while the heart of shalom worships God as the Creator of everything, as stated in Colossians 1. The Bible teaches that our “best” doesn’t come in this earthly life, but to the degree we experience shalom in every part of our beings—body, soul, and spirit—the more effectual and life-giving our time on earth will be.

Looking Up, Looking In, Looking Out

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.

Harriet Tubman

As we become whole as individuals, our families and communities get to experience the benefits. This gradually leads to legacies of healthy emotional connection, wise stewardship, and economic innovation. Communities like mine in Charlottesville, Virginia, can become genuinely unified—as individuals are healed. That is the life-giving mission motivating every Culture Changer. We can remember when we were depressed or addicted, the times we felt unwanted and disrespected; we remember all those years of battling hopelessness. Despite our good intentions, many of us have mindsets, habits, and manners still in need of unraveling, so we can develop a more natural bent toward mercy—honoring people for who they are and not what they have done.

We’ve experienced a degree of victory over many challenges. Our lives have changed, and we feel an urge to wade back out on to the battleground and help our brothers and sisters who are still struggling. We have come to own our stories—incredible testimonies, all of them—and now can partner them with a holistic, full-picture understanding, which enables us to come alongside anyone and do the work of a Culture Changer. “What do you need? I can help you.”

So then, strengthen hands that are weak and knees that tremble. Cut through and make smooth, straight paths for your feet [that are safe and go in the right direction], so that the leg which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather healed. (Heb. 12:12–13 AMP)

Some people will not be ready for change—that is a universal reality. They may be afraid of losing what is familiar to them. Change can be uncomfortable. If someone is not ready to make the necessary adjustments that will benefit them, we must respect that. But it doesn’t change who we are and what we’re called to do. We are called to extend our hand. Think of Sean, the therapist in the movie Good Will Hunting. He didn’t force Will to change, but he waited until the younger man was ready to deal with his inner turmoil. (2) That is our model of loving someone in the midst of their brokenness. We love well and wait when we need to, giving people time.

Healing: A Chain Reaction

A Culture Changer is a reformer, a term that’s commonly used in reference to the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines the word reform as a person who works for political, social, or religious change. We might call a reformer a systemic troubleshooter, someone who sees problems and directs their efforts toward finding improvement. This is similar to the idea of activism, but activism also includes the desire and action to impede anything that opposes a person or group’s worldview or the efforts to advance the reform they feel is necessary. Activism can be positive or negative, depending on which side you’re on, but I consider reformation or this remaking to be a consistently positive approach to change. Again and again, I have seen people embrace personal reformation and start to leave healing and wholeness everywhere they go. When someone decides to change their direction, they move from brokenness toward triune health. Their life begins to step into the shalom of God, and people around them benefit.

Here are a few examples of what this can look like:

• A workaholic, driven by performance addiction because of his lack of affirmation as a child will now be emotionally and physically present for his children, able to impart a sense of importance and security to another generation. Personal reformation will dramatically affect his children’s future productivity in society.

• The surgeon who once struggled with self-centeredness and elitism becomes free not only to mentor doctors and fellow surgeons but also to encourage them to step out of their comfort zones—to go to economically disadvantaged areas around the world to perform surgeries and give aid to those in desperate need.

• Franchise owners who have realized their ability to help and restore others will build stores in poor communities and provide their local residents access to training, jobs, and mentoring. People of different economic backgrounds will have the opportunity to interact and learn from one another.

• Veteran teachers or administrators can start support groups for teachers who feel burned out. They will refresh their vision, listen to their concerns, and give them creative ideas. A teacher’s enthusiasm transfers to the students and the school staff, which in turn has a huge impact on the local community.

• The young man who is struggling to keep a job because of his addictions and lack of self-discipline will meet a Culture Changer who can relate to him and offer him what he needs: short-term goals that will give him a sense of accomplishment, as well as tough love and accountability as he defeats his “inner demons.”

• The cleaning company owner will desire to mentor others in small business entrepreneurship. His new paradigm of selflessness and inventiveness leads him to find school custodial workers who need extra money and can be paid as private contractors, thus increasing their economic status. He can mentor them on how to create their own small cleaning enterprise, which promotes dignity and self-confidence—two things that have the power to impact a person dramatically.

• Employers and employees, CEOs, pastors, the police officers—these people in key positions in a city will have the emotional and spiritual health that fosters goodwill, innovation, and notable character.

Do you see what you could do—the immense impact you could have—simply by getting healthy and then choosing to come to the aid of someone in need? Culture Changers benefit society at a foundational level, and the benefit never actually stops because it spreads from person to person, layer upon layer.

NOTES

2. Miramax Films presents a Lawrence Bender production; a film by Gus Van Sant; produced by Lawrence Bender; written by Matt Damon & Ben Affleck; directed by Gus Van Sant. Good Will Hunting. [Santa Monica, Calif.]: Lionsgate, 2011. P.22

I hope you enjoyed Chapter Three. As always, share and consider posting a comment.