00: The Roots of Transformation

The Audio

Show Notes

Why transformation? And why a podcast? Get to know the host, Justin Mayfield, as he dives into the nitty gritty of what inspired this podcast and what you can expect in every episode.

Justin first plays clips from upcoming episodes that give a sample of the type of guests and stories you will hear. Then he shares the manifesto, so to speak, of what this podcast is all about. His main points are:

Highlights
  • Transformation is different than hypotheses about what could make the world better. After years of community development work and community organizing, the only profound transformation that Justin has witnessed is from the Gospel of Jesus. Justin spelled out the difference between our cultures obsession with ideas vs. the proof-in-the-pudding Gospel.
  • The world is full of stories that glorify the works of the flesh or the works of the Devil. This podcast is meant to be a medium for communicating the works of God that happen around us every day. Justin is convinced that God is working miracles around us in our churches and cities every day. He shares the stories of upcoming episodes where different guests, who don't know each other, all had miraculous encounters with God in the same strip mall. This was to demonstrate just how common God's miraculous works are.
  • It’s biblical! Shared lots of scripture talking about why testimony is important.
  • The Psalms are full of phrases like, "...that I may tell of all your works."
  • The Bible itself is largely made up of testimonies, from Genesis to the book of Acts.
  • In the book of John, Jesus says that both the Holy Spirit and His disciples shall be His witnesses and the Spirit and His disciples have worked together to testify about Him ever since.
  • Also in the Book of John, Jesus spoke to some Jewish people who weren't  intellectually convinced that He was the Messiah, Jesus said, "...even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
  • Revelation 12:10-11 says, "And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death."
  • Faith begets faith as testimony begets testimony. There can be an upward spiral of someone stepping out in trust of God, God acting in reward for that trust, the person testifying about that act, someone else hearing their testimony and that second person's faith increasing, they step out in faith and the cycle continues.