(upbeat music)

- Last summer, James Ward was thrust

into the national spotlight overnight.

All because of a zero victim message

he shared at a press conference.

So where did he get thegenesis of that message?

From something he learnedin the third grade.

- [Narrator] During the summer of 2020,

pastor and author James E. Ward Jr.,

came to national prominenceafter the police shooting

of Jacob Blake Jr. in Kenosha, Wisconsin

when he was asked to leadthe family press conference

on live television.

He shared a message birthed in his heart

in the third grade, which addressed

the spiritual and morallaw crisis in America.

In his updated book, "Zero Victim,"

James shares biblicalprinciples on how to heal

and reconcile our country

by eliminating negative thinking

and developing a new attitude in Christ.

- Please welcome to the 700 Club.

A graduate of Regent University School

of Divinity, James E. Ward.

It's nice to have you with us today.

- Hi Terry, it's great to be with you

and thank you so much for having me.

Thanks for the great work you and Pat,

the team are doing there.

- Oh, thanks James.

Well, take us back if youwill, to the third grade,

what happened then that set you up

for a zero victim mentality?

- Sure, growing up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

at the tail end of segregation being bused

to the white side of town,

it was a pivotal moment for me,

a life-changing moment

where I discovered with the help

of my third grade teacher,

that I was as smart asany of the white kids

that were around me.

She put our names up on the board

and I discovered that I was doing well

and something clicked,it was the grace of God.

Something clicked in my mind

and I recognized that I was not inferior.

And since that time, I didn'tbelieve in white supremacy

because I don't believein black inferiority.

It was then that the seed was planted

that I was not a victim

and certainly with God's help

that the people around mecould not hold me back.

That even if I was in a hostile situation,

that that could not limit me

from the great things that God

had called me to do in life.

That that set the trajectory

for the remainder of mylife until this very day.

- It's such a freeing message.

You were asked to speak

at Jacob Blake's family press conference

after that Kenosha shooting in 2020,

how did that change your life?

- It changed our life in the sense

that it really just provideda different platform.

You know, it was acrisis, we certainly wish

that it never happened, but God has a way,

of turning things that weremeant for evil into good.

And it became just a greater platform

for a message that we'dalready been preaching.

Something that I'd beenteaching at my church

and of course, Julia Jackson, the mother

of Jacob Blake as a member of our church

has been part of that message.

And so it really helpedus to deliver this message

to the nation at a timethat it was really needed

in terms how to push the reset button

on race relations, thesocio-political tension,

we need to overcome this injustice

and the challenges that we're facing.

America needs a new attitude

and I believe that thisbook is the solution

to help us understand howto put on that new attitude,

to face off with the challenges

that we're dealing with in life right now.

- Well, one of the issuesis just labeling each other.

You consider yourself a Black American,

as opposed to an AfricanAmerican, talk about that.

- I say that becauseI've traveled to Africa

on numerous occasionsand there are more than

51 different countries in Africa.

Whether it's Nigeria orKenya or South Africa

and being an American is who I am.

Black American, it describes who I am.

African American is kind of a broad term

that I think is evencontributes to identity crisis.

And so being a BlackAmerican, this is my home,

this is my nation, this is my country.

And it just, it's another way

to free me to engageand to honor this nation

to place a value on this nation

and to continue to see God's purposes

for America fulfilled.

- James, how can a change in attitude

help to overcome injustice in our country?

- One of the things thatwe need to recognize Terry

is when we talk abouta change of attitude,

modeling the life of Jesus,

zero victim mindset was themindset of Jesus himself.

Think about it, the only innocent man

that ever lived, who walked on the face

of this planet, he sufferedthe greatest injustice

that the world has ever known.

And while in the processof being victimized

and the nails are stillbeing driven in his hand,

he's already praying,"Father, forgive them."

Every other injusticeis a lesser injustice.

And so when we returnto one nation under God,

when we continue to stick tothe fundamentals of faith,

the legacy of faith that we have,

then having a new attitude gives us

a different perspective about dealing

with the things thatwe're facing with society.

We need to put on a new set of lenses

so that we read freedominto our circumstances.

Instead of putting on victim lenses,

to read victim mentalityand victim thinking

into our circumstances.

America needs a change of heart

and a change of attitudeand that has to begin

with spiritual and moral laws,

not gonna come fromconstitutional or civil law.

- So share with us a few key steps

people can take to overcomea victim mentality.

- Sure, the first bigidea is to always act

and never react.

And then I give somepractical tips in the book,

I write about this.

Number one, you need to know yourself.

You need to know your tendencies.

You need to know whatwounds, what moral injuries,

what kind of victimizationshave happened in your life

that are liabilities to you.

Number two, you need toknow your environment.

You need to be able to identifypitfalls of victimizations,

whether those are in your family

in your relationships, in theworkplace, socio-politically.

Number three, you need a coach.

I wanna be America's zero victim coach,

America's zero victim pastor,

which is why I wrote this book.

Someone who understands zero victim

to encourage us, to help uscome out of victim thinking

whenever those thingsare problems in our life.

Number four, we need toalways precondition our mind

the same way that acatcher in a baseball game

he anticipates a pitch coming toward him.

It can be deadly if he's unprepared,

but when he's prepared, heanticipates that pitch coming

because he's pretty conditioned his mind.

That's how we deal withdefense and victimization.

And lastly, we just needto envision our victory,

always see a way out, seethe end out of the problem

and the challenges that we're facing

so that we don't continueto exist under them

to have our lives defined by those things.

And so there are so many practical tips.

I really hope yourviewers can read the book.

It's a great companionguide to the scriptures

and to our faith as God's people.

And to those who areeven not people of faith,

I think it's a practical guide

to help everyone overcomethe challenges in life

with a new attitude.

- I thought that as I read it, James,

it is a book for everyone.

The book is called, "Zero Victim."

It's available, wherever books are sold.

It's a great message inthe day that we live in.

Thanks James, for being with us today.

- My pleasure, Terry, thanksfor having me all the best.