Redeem California: With God All Things Are Possible

By Kathy J. Looper, LMFT and Christopher F. Dalton

There is a power working to crush families, silence churches, and shut down businesses. That power uses people to turn California into a sanctuary state for abortion, promote radical LGBTQ+ curricula, and destroy families through suicides, addiction, violence, and homelessness.
Yet, there is hope.
God is greater than any power that exists. He is all powerful. He has promised to go before us and make a way where there seems to be no way. God is moving—a move greater than the Azusa Street Revival and Jesus People Movement, which brought nearly a billion people to faith in Christ worldwide.
Just like the stories from the Bible, our task is giant, the cause is righteous, and the call on our lives is profound. God’s people must bravely face the giants of sexual immorality, forced mandates, transhumanism, and child sacrifice.
Redeem California is a strategic plan of action to call believers into actively participating in their faith, believing in God to show up and do the impossible, and identifying God-fearing people who can and will run for office in our cities, counties, state, and Congress. If Christians aren’t elected to office, California’s policies, mandates, laws, and ideologies will never change. The power and favor of God will make change happen.
Now is the time. This is the hour. Will you answer the call?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Post Hill Press
• Release date: Mar 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798888450093

Book preview

A POST HILL PRESS BOOK

ISBN: 979-8-88845-008-6

ISBN (eBook): 979-8-88845-009-3

Redeem California:

With God All Things Are Possible

© 2023 by Kathy J. Looper, LMFT with Christopher F. Dalton

All Rights Reserved

Cover design by Conroy Accord

Scripture quotations taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture taken from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

Post Hill Press

New York • Nashville

posthillpress.com

Published in the United States of America

To my dad and mom, who have been married fifty-seven years, who raised me to know the Lord, and who struggled to believe I would ever find my way back to God after years of running from him. I am forever grateful to have been given a foundation that would carry me through the toughest of times. God has used all my mistakes for good, and I am thankful my parents are still alive to witness it. Thank you for never giving up on me.

To my son, Timothy JD Hudson, I cannot rewind time and take back the years that I was selfish and lost. Only God knows the truth about all that. I hope, though, you never lose your perspective of seeing me like Hannah. I did trust the Lord to take care of you, and He did. You are a wonderful, talented, and loving man. I am so proud of who you are. I love you. You are my sunshine. I hope to help make California a better place for you, Mia, and Harper. The best is yet to come.

To my friend, Larry Rogers. You went to meet Jesus a week before I could tell you about this book. I know you would have been so proud of me because you were always my biggest cheerleader when it came to my writing. I will always be grateful for the encouragement you provided when I poured my heart out through blogs during a time of great heartbreak. Thank you for being my friend. I will see you in Heaven.

—Kathy J. Looper

Contents

Foreword by Dr. Ché Ahn

Preface

Introduction: Nothing Is Impossible with God

Chapter One: Wake Up!

Chapter Two: Is There Not a Cause?

Chapter Three: The Goliath We Face

Chapter Four: God Is Fighting for Us

Chapter Five: Nehemiah Mandate, Part One

Chapter Six: Nehemiah Mandate, Part Two

Chapter Seven: Rise of the Giant Slayers

Chapter Eight: Occupy till I Come

Appendix: Thirty Days of Prayer

Notes

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Foreword

BY DR. CHÉ AHN

California is in desperate need of revival.

As I write these words, the Golden State is reeling from the effects of yet another disappointing election cycle. The most recent bevy of ungodly laws, sadly, is nothing new in the continual stream of egregious legislation being passed in California. Of particular significance—and horror—is Proposition 1, an evil bill that will codify into our state constitution late-term abortion until the last day of the ninth month. This bill has serious ramifications for our nation that open up a Pandora’s box of evil. As California goes, so goes the nation is a truism that has been tested over time in America.

In the wake of this apparent darkness, we must not forget our past, including the incredible moves of God that have marked California for His glory.

Indeed, California has given us major revivals like Azusa Street in Los Angeles (1906), the great evangelists Billy Graham (1949) and Bill Bright (1950), the Charismatic Renewal with Dennis Bennett in Van Nuys (1958), the Jesus People movement that began in Costa Mesa (1967), John Wimber and the Third Wave (1983), and the list goes on. Truly, where sin increased, grace increased much more (see Romans 5:20)!

Considering where we have come from—and the mounting challenges before us—I believe we are at a defining moment for California. In this urgent hour for our state and our nation, we cannot back down and remain silent. If there was ever a time for the Church to take action, that time is now.

California, the time has come for you to be the light shining on a hill once more. It is time for you to be salt in society and ambassadors of God’s Kingdom culture. It is time for you to return to God with all your heart.

In this book, I believe Kathy Looper has caught the vision of what God wants to do in this great state—and the momentum has already started. If you will embark on this journey of faith, I am convinced that we are going to see historic revival and reformation sweep across California, and ultimately all of America.

The best is yet to come!

—Dr. Ché Ahn

Senior Pastor, Harvest Rock Church, Pasadena, CA

President, Harvest International Ministry

International Chancellor, Wagner University

President, Revive California

Revivecal.org

Preface

For with God nothing will be impossible.

(Luke 1:37, NKJV)

Since I was a little girl, I have heard the voice of the Lord talking to me and with me. I walked with Him, trusted Him, and I believed He could do anything. He answered my prayers when I prayed, and it never crossed my mind that He would not.

I was innocent, simple, and naïve, unaware of what would await me in my teenage years. I did not properly understand that I had an adversary who wanted nothing more than to destroy my pure and innocent faith in God. I was not prepared or equipped for the ways in which my foundation would be shaken.

By the time I turned fifteen, I had my own job, made my own money, bought my own clothes (although my parents bought me clothes too), and had fallen in love for the first time. This was the beginning of my fall. This love proved to be one of my greatest heartbreaks because when the rejection came, it also shattered my faith. I know it may seem silly reading this now, but it was a major turning point in my life because God did not show up the way I believed and expected that He would. I had no construct for that. I had no place for my hurt and disappointment to go.

Millions of people have lost their faith in God because He did not show up when they needed Him the most, or in a way they expected He would. In my case, love has been my Achilles’ heel, the ever-evasive desire that has, thus far, ended in sorrow.

For about twelve years, I rebelled against everything I knew, and I lived recklessly because I did not know how to understand the spiritual battle that we are in. Thankfully, the Lord always knew where I was, and He never left me. I never stopped loving Him; I just did not know how to live in this world and serve Him at the same time. Thankfully, He knew this, and He knew exactly what it would take for me to begin again with Him.

I was twenty-six when this prodigal returned home. Since that time, I have made mistakes, had failed relationships, started and lost a couple of businesses, and all the while, the Lord was teaching me who He is, how He works in my life, who I am in Him, how to trust Him through the losses, and how to live in a state of surrender. I have also learned a great deal about how our adversary works against the people and things of God in this world and why he hates humanity so much.

For much of my adult life, I have been self-employed. My son’s dad and his family had multiple clothing stores and a jewelry business when I came along. I was twenty. He easily swept me off my feet, and we married soon after. I learned a great deal working for the family business. I suppose this ignited an entrepreneurial spirit in me.

Over the years, I have noticed when the Lord is speaking to me to do something, some new venture, He has done so by dropping thoughts into my spirit as a seed and then giving me an opportunity to respond. I can accept or reject the idea. It has always happened the same way. Shortly after the seed was received in my mind and if I came into agreement with the idea, meaning I said yes to the Lord, He would then download the blueprint for me to create and produce what He showed me.

The first time this happened was in 2003. At that time, I was partners in a sports nutrition franchise in Fresno, California. Many new nutrition stores were opening, and I wanted to stand out from the rest and help get our brand, Max Muscle Sports Nutrition, better known.

One day, while I was in the shower, a thought came to me to produce a bodybuilding show. I knew nothing about producing a bodybuilding show, but right away, the download began to come. I exited the shower, found my notebook, and began writing everything the Lord had given to me. You might be thinking that a bodybuilding show, to promote a business based on vanity, is a worldly thing, and you would be right. However, God was using that to teach me how He would work in this area of my life.

I didn’t question it. I just stepped out in faith, executed the vision I saw, and made it happen. A few months later, I created and produced the first Max Muscle Fresno NPC Bodybuilding Show! It was a tremendous success. I continued to produce this show for four years, and I opened two additional Max Muscle Sports Nutrition locations as a result.

I have since left the world of fitness to pursue a life of ministry. When I closed my last Max Muscle location, I had no intention of ever being self-employed again, at least not on that level. It was a weighty burden, and the eventual failure was embarrassing and painful. Several years passed while I went to Chapman University in Orange, California, graduating cum laude with a master’s degree in psychology, marriage, and family therapy in 2014.

Then it happened. One day, while sitting on the patio at my house, the Lord again invited me to go back into business. I argued at first because I was afraid. I was afraid of the work it would require, and I was already emotionally empty and grieving another divorce. I didn’t feel I had the strength to make it happen as I had when I opened my Max Muscle franchise stores. Nevertheless, I answered God and told Him I would go back into business but only if He would do it with me. I needed to be certain I was not in it alone because I knew if it were just me, it would never work.

I remember when I was preparing to open my private practice as a Christian-based, licensed marriage and family therapist in 2015, and I heard the Lord speak to me and say, You use to help people build their physical bodies. Now I will use you to help build their spiritual bodies. I cried when I heard Him speak those words to me. It is humbling to know that God would use me in any capacity. Thank goodness that God looks beyond our mistakes and the outward appearance and sees only the heart of a person. He knew me so much better than I knew myself. He continues to teach me who I am in Him and what I can accomplish with Him on my side. I have learned to listen and obey.

In addition to my private practice, I have started two nonprofit companies to meet ministry needs in my city. Both originated out of a thought the Lord dropped into my spirit that met a need He revealed. After starting my last nonprofit, Last Arrow Ministries, Inc., a ministry equipping people to grow in their walk with God, their identity, and their purpose, I was done starting things. After all, I have a full-time therapy practice, and Last Arrow Ministries was sure to take up what little time I had left. Last Arrow Ministries was the last arrow in my quiver, or so I thought. I had no idea what God was about to lay on my heart.

Redeem California is a call to action. It is an invitation to believe God for the impossible again and return to our most pure faith, to believe that God is who He says He is, and He can do what seems impossible to us.

Our mission is to return California to a God-honoring state by uniting and organizing the body of Christ in the state. This was not my idea. This was another opportunity God gave me and I was once again presented with a choice to accept or reject it. In the first two weeks after receiving the blueprint, I went to the Lord several times for confirmation because the enormity of what I felt He was calling me felt so overwhelming.

The only way something this big could be possible is if it were God’s idea, His will, and His timing. I don’t have the statewide influence or platform to pull this off. I knew I would need supernatural favor, supernatural provision, and a whole lot of courage. Like all the other times God has spoken a word into my spirit to build something new, this one also came out of a need I saw in California.

I thought about many of the troubling things happening in California that you will read about in the pages to follow. I remembered the way the Lord always came through for His people in the Bible and a righteous indignation rose within me, as if I were David, indignant at the Philistine giant Goliath who would dare to defy the God of Israel.

A holy fight began to stir within me to stand on the Word of God, to believe what He said, and take Him at His word.

The stories in this book may be familiar to some of you. The challenges we face in California are well known. If you have gotten this far in the book, I hope you will continue to read with an open mind, an open heart, and remember once again who God is. He is either everything, or He is nothing. He is either the God who sits on the Throne in Heaven, or He is not.

The Bible is crystal clear on the Almighty, magnificent, and awe-inspiring power of God. The only question is, what do you believe?

Introduction

Nothing Is Impossible with God

Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? (Jeremiah 32:27, AMP)

When was the last time you believed God for something big? My guess is that it has been a long, long time. When was the last time God healed a sick person for whom you were praying? When was the last time something miraculous took place in your life?

Have you or people you know given up on attending church? Have you or people you know changed the way they live following the pandemic? Does the collective body of Christ still believe God to answer prayer, heal the sick, or do the impossible?

My guess is most believe He can do all those things, but we just don’t believe He will do it for us, as individuals. We believe He heals the sick; we just don’t believe He will heal us. We believe God can do miracles; we just don’t think He will perform a miracle for us. We go to church sometimes, maybe, but church is just as good online, even better in some cases.

Have we lost our faith in the God of the Bible? The God who parted the Red Sea. The God who caused fire to fall from heaven on many occasions. The God who supernaturally caused the walls of Jericho to fall with the shout of the children of Israel. The God who defeated the enemies of His chosen people. The God who robed Himself in flesh, came down from heaven to earth and became Jesus. The Jesus who healed the sick. The Jesus who cast out demons. The Jesus who opened blind eyes. The Jesus who confronted the religious order of the scribes and Pharisees, defying their traditions and speaking truth. The Jesus who shed His blood for our salvation. The Jesus who was beaten so that we could be healed. The Jesus who was given all power on heaven and earth.

We have lost our faith, not totally, but a large percentage of Christians have lost their faith that He will move and act on their behalf. This is because many people do not have a concrete understanding of who they are in Christ. They do not understand the power behind the name of Jesus. They do not understand the authority we have in Him.

He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords. All power in heaven and earth belongs to Him! We are His children. We bear His name. We have been given His power and authority when we entered the covenant relationship with Him.

Jesus said, Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father (John 14:12, NKJV). The problem is, we either do not understand Jesus’s promise to us or we don’t believe it. The question is, do you want to understand? Do you want