What if your creativity wasn’t just a talent, but an avenue for divine encounter? In this third episode of our Kingdom Creativity series, Michele chats with Charity Williams of Hope Words to explore how kingdom creativity bypasses mental filters and hits the heart straight on. From healings sparked by paintings to spontaneous salvation through freestyle rap, we explore how creativity is far more than art — it’s a conduit for heaven to manifest on earth.
We also challenge the narrow way that we often define creativity. Whether you’re a DJ, a coder, an engineer, a gelato-scooper, or an entrepreneur, your creative expression matters. When you create from divine connection, you carry transformation into every space you touch.
This conversation is your permission slip to go ALL IN. Try things. Make messes! You don’t have to be awesome, you just have to be available. Tune in and discover how your creativity can become a vessel for kingdom breakthrough.
CONNECT WITH CHARITY!
Charity and Michele discovered on this call that they had both been impacted by Theresa Dedmon’s Create Academy in each of their creative journeys! Explore Theresa Dedmon’s Create Academy (discussed on today’s show) right here.
To visit the gelato and dessert cafe that Charity mentioned on today’s episode, check out House of Glory in Grants Pass, Oregon! Who can resist gelato and Jesus?! YUM!
Welcome to Today’s Kus Word — where life coaching meets spiritual formation! Join musician, life coach, and spiritual formation prof Michele Kus, as she serves up short, powerful teachings, immersive meditations, bold declarations, and holy f(reedom)-bombs that are based solidly in scripture, grace theology, and positive psychology. Whether you’re seeking calm, clarity, courage, growth, deeper self-awareness, or just a fresh Kingdom perspective, throw on your headphones every Monday through Friday and tune into your next breakthrough. #TodaysKusWord
*There is no actual cussing on Today's Kus Word. We keep it squeaky clean!
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Episode Transcript
It's Friyay, June 27th, and this is Today's Kus Word.
Welcome to Today's Kus Word.
I'm Michele Kus, your spiritualgrowth coach, coming back at
you on Friday with anotherconversation with my friend,
Charity Williams, the founder ofHope Words Ministry.
(00:20):
We're talking about kingdomcreativity.
It's been an awesome few weeks.
Let's dive back in.
Charity (00:26):
I think that art, specifically, you know
creativity, that artisticexpression, like you just said,
it reaches beyond where wordscan reach and it touches the
spirit of a person.
It goes into the very spirit ofa of a person and and lets them
encounter spirit to spirit.
(00:48):
You know God and and it's likeno words are said, you just know
, you just, you just encounterHim, you just feel it, you just
there's this knowing in thatencounter that just transforms.
You know that where words gothrough filters, they go through
, they go through lifeexperiences, they go through
(01:12):
belief systems and you know, allthat garbage, that kind of gets
us tangled in knots.
But like an artistic expression, it just goes past that.
It just, it cuts right past itand there's no, there's no
filter, because you're just,you're in awe and you're in
wonder of what you're watching,what you're seeing.
You can experience it and youknow I think that's that's part
(01:35):
of why I'm so passionate aboutcreativity is because it, it, it
cuts past all of our, our wallsand our boundaries and our, our
blocks and our belief systemsand you know, and all those
filters, it just slices rightpast it and gets to that spirit,
you know, and it's just, itmakes that impact.
It's like an arrow that justgets drawn and just, you know
(01:58):
it's so fast and it's so sharpthat it just it goes in so
easily, and I think that's youknow.
We were talking about creativityfrom a kingdom perspective
versus creativity that the worldcreates, and I think that
that's one of the differences isthat, you know, kingdom
creativity is spirit to spiritand it impacts spirit to spirit
(02:20):
and it, you know, like yourdaughter, draws people in in a
way that they don't understand.
Like I'm looking at thispainting and all you know, like
your daughter, draws people inin a way that they don't
understand.
Like I'm looking at thispainting and all of a sudden my
headache went away.
I don't understand why, why,why did my headache leave when I
looked at this painting?
You know why, when I watchedthis, this dancer, move and flow
, all of a sudden my hip painwent away and now I can move.
(02:42):
You know it's like, causethere's healing in the room.
You know it's just and it'sit's that creative expression.
Um, yeah, it has power, that'sawesome, that's amazing.
Michele (02:55):
Yeah, that what you said right there is going to
blow some people's minds thatyou could watch a dancer and
suddenly my hip pain is gone.
I can look at this painting andsuddenly my headache is gone.
And there's so many stories.
I've heard so many stories,particularly from Theresa Dedmon
.
Yes!
(03:15):
Are you connected with her?
Charity (03:17):
Yes, yes, I love her! Yes.
Michele (03:20):
She has so many stories like that, and she has this
Create Academy that I was a partof for a while.
Charity (03:30):
Yeah, oh.
So the Kingdom Creativity washer original, like her books,
from way back when she firststarted that my friend was
teaching and that's kind ofwhere I started to come alive
and be awakened to kingdomcreativity, so that was like my
beginning.
So I'm like, yes, go Theresa!That's amazing.
Michele (03:50):
Awesome.
And she actually came to myprevious church, Greater Chicago
Church.
She came in, I want to say,2014, and we did a conference
and she spoke there and she toldall these stories about how
people were healed and deliveredand set free just from creative
(04:11):
expressions.
And the one I'll never forgetis one this guy was rapping,
freestyle rapping, and someonegave their lives to the Lord
listening to this rapper.
He was, this guy was rappedinto the kingdom.
Charity (04:27):
That's amazing!
Michele (04:31):
So, yeah, she has.
I'll link Theresa Dedmon'sstuff in the show notes as well.
Charity (04:38):
Definitely!
Michele (04:40):
That's really really great resources for kingdom
creatives.
Or, if you just want to digdeeper into this subject of
kingdom creativity, it's endless.
Right, Charity?
Charity (04:50):
Endless.
Yeah, yeah, she's amazing.
I absolutely love her ministry.
It's, yeah, definitely dive in,dive all the way in.
It's worth it, definitely yeah.
Michele (05:03):
I think the biggest thing for me is when I heard her
speak and say all these thingsthat I, personally, was in the
season of my life when I wastaking DJ lessons and I was just
starting to figure out how toDJ and I'm like is this okay?
Is this like legit?
Is this okay in church?
And of course, my church waslike let's try all the things,
(05:25):
you know?
Charity (05:26):
That's good.
Michele (05:27):
You know just super.
There was a lot of freedomthere to just be who you are and
you know, if a mess was made,then we just clean up the mess.
Charity (05:36):
Yeah, right!
Michele (05:38):
I remember she just gave so much permission, like to
all the creatives in the room,like, if God has put something
on your heart, try it! Just tryit.
There's just something abouthaving that open permission.
It doesn't have to be perfect,you don't even have to be good.
When I started DJing in 2014, Iwasn't really that good.
(06:04):
You get better as you do it.
But it's like is this fun?
Is this a way that I canexpress how God has made me?
Charity (06:15):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome.
I love that.
And there is room.
There's always room forimprovement and growth, but,
like you said, we don't have tobe perfect to step out and just
do it.
Yeah.
Michele (06:33):
And don't even have to be an artist, like we've been
talking about painting and danceand music and rapping and all
of those things.
But I mean even kingdomcreativity could be innovation,
having new ideas, a businessidea, a book idea, yeah.
Charity (06:54):
Yeah, it's, I have.
Um, there's a couple that movedum from Florida to our church
and, um, they just felt like Goddrew them here and of all the
places, you know that God tookthem all the way from Miami,
Florida to here.
You know that God took them allthe way from Miami Florida to
(07:14):
here and they opened up abusiness and in their business
it's, it's all about Jesus,literally like everything's
about Jesus and they, they prayfor people, they host worship
nights, they and it's an icecream shop.
Like people come there for asweet treat and they, they, they
encounter heaven, you know, andso it's like that's creativity,
if I've ever seen it, you know,like we're going to get people
(07:36):
in here for this amazing gelatoand this amazing food and this
you know, and then we're goingto just douse them with the
Spirit and like they're going toleave knowing that there was
something different about thatplace.
Like that's creativity.
Creativity like in, in adifferent form, and an out of
the box, like, and I think youknow, I think we, we, we relate
(08:01):
creativity so often to the artsand it's so much more than that.
I mean, our phones, ourtechnology wouldn't exist, we
wouldn't be able to do this hadnot someone created it.
That's creativity.
You know the mind to understandthe code, to write the programs.
(08:23):
Like.
Like I have another friendwho's a brilliant business owner
and this guy is, I mean he's,he's right, he had the codes
that he writes.
Though the way that he putsprograms, I mean it's just mind
boggling.
And I'm like you're likeliterally one of the most
creative people I've ever metand I don't understand it and I
(08:44):
don't know how you do it and Idon't know how you track all of
this, because my brain justwants to explode.
But I'm like that's creativityif I've ever seen it, like you
know, and and I think I thinkit's time, I mean I think it's
time to like give creatives inthe arts you know the arts
creatives the room and thepermission to play and to be,
(09:12):
but also to give business people, the engineers, the you know
those people that are just sosmart and so talented permission
to come under that umbrella too.
Like you're creative, you knowGod, put that inside of you,
your blow, blow the world apartin your creativity and do the
things because we need it.
We need that innovation.
We need those business ideas,we need those inventions, like
(09:34):
create it with all that you areand don't be afraid to just run
after it, because God did put itin your heart and God is
speaking to you and it iskingdom creativity, even if it
looks like you know a businessidea or a program, software
building, you know, or whateverit would be.
I think we have to take thestereotypes off of what kingdom
(09:59):
creativity is and allow morepeople in and let them realize
that they are creative and thatthey do have value.
And it's okay if it looksdifferent, you know, and not be.
Well, you're not an artist, youknow.
So you're not really a creative.
No! Yeah you are! You as a DJ,it's like you know.
(10:21):
Your question of is this okay inthe church?
Like, is this, you know howmany creatives?
I think that goes back to whatI was talking about of like, if
there's no space, the creativesgo and they find somewhere else
that will let them feel likethey're at home, let them
express themselves, because weneed to, we must.
(10:44):
You know, God designed us withthat vision and that dream in
our heart, and so we must findthat place that we can create
and be and feel at home.
And you know, I, just, I justpray over the churches that they
are, you know, more open, thatthey become more open to that
creativity and that creativeexpression and to the
(11:07):
possibility that creativity hasvalue and it has kingdom value
and people encounter God throughit! They get healed through it!
They get free through it! It'sso important.
Michele (11:09):
It is so important, and I love what Charity shared
there about not limiting kingdomcreativity to just the arts,
but including things likebusiness ownership and
engineering and inventing newtechnology.
(11:33):
All of that comes under theumbrella of kingdom creativity,
because it all comes from thatcreative spirit that is in each
and every one of you.
You all carry that creativespirit because God made you
creative! Amen?
So you can no longer say I'mnot creative.
You are, my friend, and that iswhat I got for you today.
(11:58):
I hope you loved this thirdpart in our Kingdom Creativity
Teaching Series and, if you did,make sure you share it with a
friend and make sure you connectwith Charity and everything
she's doing.
I have dropped the links to herwebsite and all of her socials
down in the show notes, so makesure you check those out.
And next week I will bewrapping up my conversation with
(12:19):
Charity and wrapping up thisseries on Kingdom Creativity, so
make sure you're following thispodcast on your favorite
platform so you don't miss it.
Thanks so much for joining metoday and until next time, have
an awesome day.
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