As reformers carrying a desire to see God move in a powerful way across our nation, we all sometimes need encouragement and fresh perspective.

It is my prayer for all of us to renew our minds and increase our faith that God can redeem, restore and renew America to be a shining city on a hill.

One area of our minds to focus on renewing comes from Matthew 28:19-20. Jesus commanded us make disciples of all nations and teach them to observe all His commands, but often, we slip into a mode of simply making converts instead. Making disciples moves beyond just getting people into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ; it is teaching them about God’s ways and wisdom.

Surveying the Land

The Arts and Entertainment mountain is doing a very good job of discipling our nation. (If you are new to the concept of mountains of influence, start here.) People in television, sports, music, and social media are teaching our nation the secular commandments to obey.

Very few people outside of the Church are listening to the Church mountain; therefore, if we are going to effectively disciple our nation, we must begin to think differently about the relevance of bringing the teachings of Jesus into every part of our society, such as business, education, government and the like.

I firmly believe that if we will open our hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit, He will show us how to return the true mandate of discipling nations by introducing His kingdom into every facet of our nation.

Personally, I am most fascinated with the way Oprah has discipled our nation. In my lifetime, she has been a major influencer. Even now, though her personal voice is more faint, she is still a powerful figure in Hollywood through her cable channel OWN, and we are still influenced daily by Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, men she lifted up as experts to teach others.

During the years she directly discipled America, she told us what to read (Oprah’s Book Club), what to buy (Oprah’s Favorite Things), and how to live our best life.

Think about this: In the past 30 years, one person from the entertainment industry single-handedly and creatively discipled millions and millions of people.

I point this out to provoke our thinking as we seek to reform nations: We must renew our minds about how to take territory and disciple a nation.

A New Wineskin

God wants to pour out new wine, but if He pours it into old wineskins—old ways of thinking and doing—they would burst.

In 2009, the Holy Spirit asked me a surprising question. He said, Tisha, I am about to remove Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart from the top of the Entertainment mountain. What are you going to do about it?

This really floored me because, at the time, they were each at the top of their game. I told the Lord I was willing to do whatever it took to see their shoes filled with kingdom influencers who would disciple the nation in a godly way.

Renewing Our Minds

I only see in part, just a piece of the puzzle of what God is doing to bring reformation to our nation. But here is what I know—we must begin to renew our minds about what reformation looks like, especially if we want the kind of influence the Arts and Entertainment industry has. Here are some paradigm shifts that will help us see more clearly, so we can effectively hold the “new wine” and be part of the new things God wants to do.

1. We must willingly pay our dues before promotion. We need to learn obedience, especially in the hard places. Before David was able to take the throne, he had to submit to serving King Saul, who hated him and tried to kill him. Believers who are making and releasing movies like War Room and God’s Not Dead have begun to pay their dues. After they endured the mocking of Hollywood, they are now on their way to gaining respect. Uncommon obedience leads to uncommon favor.

2. We need divine strategies that will give us supernatural access to get ahead of the curve. I love what TobyMac says about staying current with his music—he always has his ear to the ground for the next sound. We too, need to be listening ahead to what is coming and be ready to meet the needs of the people with the next piece of wisdom or revelation. We can no longer follow the god of this world and mimic what he is doing. We’ve got to get out in front and lead.

Leading ahead of the curve is like being a pioneer of new things. The “law-keepers” in the Church are never onboard with new things, so we’ll have to ignore the Pharisees that are beating their drums and calling things sacrilegious.

3. We must ignore a false sense of modesty. A city set on a hill is not modest. It is bright. It is eye catching. A city on a hill is so loud that it irritates the devil. False humility or modesty is not the way to disciple a nation.

4. We must understand how money works and stop being afraid of it. Being the one who controls the money sets others free to do the work of the Kingdom of God. Let us pursue the wealth of the Kingdom in order to be a blessing to our communities and our nation.

Paying the Price

I am no longer content leaving the discipling of our nation to secular entertainers and celebrities. I am no longer content to see the media and television networks tell the next generation what their moral standards should be. I will lay down my life to see a revolution come to the Arts and Entertainment mountain. Will you join me?