When the rhythm of the drum changes, the dance must change.The drums of traditional tribal (animistic) cultures pound out the rhythm of fatalism. From God come good and evil, life and death, health and disease. Man cannot change God. We are simply victims of what God decides.God is far away, unapproachable, and inaccessible Spiritual wisdom comes only from the spirits of ancestors or other spiritual powers. Daily life is full of occult practices - sorcery and communication with the dead.All natural beings, living and non-living, are inhabited by spiritual powers. Nature is violent and chaotic, influenced only by magic. Disasters, disease, and death come from the curse of an enemy, living or non-living. In this spiritual and cultural environment, health and development are difficult. Animistic worldview assumptions permeate Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist cultures. They cling tenaciously to the hearts of millions who try to follow Christ but whose beliefs and values remain animistic. The drumbeat must change if the dance is to change. How can we help change the drumbeat? Jesus announced and inaugurated the Kingdom of God, the rule of God over every aspect of life, including the spiritual, social, cultural, and physical realms. He came to transform people and their culture. He commissioned us to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, to make disciples in all nations, and teach people everything he commanded us. This is our cultural mandate. This thirty-lesson course is primarily about worldview assumptions: how to find out the assumptions of people and discover links between their assumptions and the biblical and scientific ones about life and health. The practical focus is on health-related issues, but the main emphasis is on drumbeats: transforming the animistic rhythm into a biblical and scientific rhythm so that the dance of life will become healthy now and for eternity.
