Tahni Cullen’s son, Josiah, has eye-opening visions and heavenly encounters that have pushed his family out of their comfort zone into a mind-blowing encounter with Jesus.
First-time parents Joe and Tahni Cullen were thrust into the confusing world of autism when their toddler, Josiah, suddenly lost his ability to speak, play and socialize. In their attempts to see Josiah recover and regain speech, the Cullens underwent overwhelming struggles. But while other kids around him improved, Josiah only got worse. Five years later, Josiah, who had not been formally taught to read or write, suddenly began to type on his iPad about God, science, history, business, music, strangers and heaven. Josiah’s eye-opening visions, heavenly encounters and supernatural experiences forced his family out of their comfort zone into a mind-blowing encounter with Jesus.
Is there a supernatural
dimension?
A world beyond the one we know?
Is there life after death?
Do angels exist?
Can our dreams contain messages
from Heaven?
Can we tap into ancient secrets
of the supernatural?
Are healing miracles real?
Sid Roth has spent over 35 years
researching the strange world of
the supernatural.
Join Sid for this edition of
It’s Supernatural!
[Applause]
Sid: Hello.
Sid Roth here.
Welcome to my world where it’s
naturally supernatural.
Have you ever been in a hopeless
situation?
I’m sure you have.
But this was hopeless, hopeless.
My guest had a son, seven years
old,
the worst kind of autism, can’t
read,
can’t write, can’t spell.
And all of a sudden he starts
communicating with the most
profound thoughts coming from
Heaven.
In fact, it then gets better.
Then he begins prophesying and
changing people’s lives.
My guest says no one is in a
hopeless situation.
My guest says she knows how to
grab hold of a supernatural rope
of hope.
[Applause]
My guest, Tahni, a pastor, one
of many pastors at a mega
church, your life is going good.
You have a nice marriage.
You have a beautiful baby boy
and then a bombshell hits you.
What was it?
Tahni Cullen: Well yeah,
everything had been
going wonderful.
We had our little joy, Josiah,
and we named him that because it
meant “fire of the Lord”.
And we were excited to start our
family,
and we bought our house, we
wanted to have 2.3 kids with a
dog and picket fence, you know,
the American dream.
Sid: You had been watching TV.
Tahni Cullen: Exactly.
But Josiah was hitting all of
his medical milestones.
Everything was going really
well,
until about 22 months old, all
of a sudden,
very quickly things began to
shift.
And over about a three-week
period of time he stopped
looking at us.
He stopped responding to his
name.
Suddenly, play skills that he
had,
he started losing them, and the
40 words or so that he had began
to just go away, words like
“mama” and “dada”.
He was flipping lights on and
off incessantly.
And so we mobilized and we tried
to figure out what was going on.
After four months or so of
testing we finally found
ourselves sitting in a board
room with doctors around the
table, and they said it’s autism
spectrum disorder.
And I remember opening the
folder and the words leapt out
at me: “No known cause, no known
cure, lifelong”.
We were going into something
that was a hopeless situation as
far as that goes.
And that’s really what I
struggled with.
God, where is hope when there is
no hope?
Sid: And then it got worse.
At age five, he got a lifetime
sentence.
Explain that.
Tahni Cullen: We mobilized.
We had done everything we
possibly could in the natural,
you know.
We absolutely got him into the
best therapies.
We did all sorts of alternative
therapies with him.
I even sat with him in a
hyperbaric oxygen chamber for 14
dives, they’re called.
We did everything we really
could.
But then at five years old, we
did get that addendum that we
just hoped we would never get,
that he was non-verbal,
low functioning and severe.
And so, Sid, what that meant was
that he would be one of 40
percent of children with autism
that they say would never speak.
Sid: How did you as a mother
cope with this?
Tahni Cullen: Well that’s just
it.
You’re really told to learn how
to cope with it.
And I really struggled with that
coping thought.
In fact, I asked God, how am I
supposed to cope with this?
I wrote down ten questions for
God because I said,
if I’m going into this I need to
know biblically what I’m
supposed to do, how I’m supposed
to pray,
how I’m supposed to manage this
life.
Everything, just all your best
resources burn up very quickly.
Emotionally, spiritually,
mentally,
financially, you just burn out
very quickly.
And when God says I have good
plans for you,
I have good plans for your son,
plans for hope in the future,
I have to be really serious and
ask God,
is that for us?
Do you mean that for me?
I had to look at the affections
of my heart and was autism the
voice that I was hearing the
loudest,
or was what Jesus did for us
what I was hearing loudest?
Sid: And then at one of your
lowest moments,
you’re not one that would have
experiences with God where God
would show up.
That wasn’t you.
That wasn’t your paradigm.
But he showed up one day.
Tell me about it.
Tahni Cullen: I felt like for
the first time in my life I
really needed to feel him and
couldn’t.
And I felt like when I prayed I
was just praying into the
darkness or something.
Well things had been really
difficult with Josiah and I put
him down for a nap.
And I decided I’d better catch a
wink because you don’t get a lot
of sleep when you’re a parent of
a child with autism.
And I got to lay down, and all
of a sudden,
about 20 minutes later, I just
wake up,
and I smell this most amazing
smell,
and I can’t figure it out.
I’m smelling my hair.
I’m smelling the pillow.
I’m trying to sniff this out
like a bloodhound.
What is this smell?
And it smelled like vanilla and
cinnamon,
like crème brüleé almost.
I couldn’t figure where it could
have been coming from.
I go out.
I go out into the hall, not
there.
I come back into the bedroom,
and I’m like,
I’m just going to lay down for a
second,
and I just drink it in.
And I’m going what is this?
And I remembered my mom telling
me about when my father had
passed away.
He died at 55.
She was so low and that one day
she smelled a fragrance and she
told me it was the fragrance of
the presence of the Lord.
And I went, and I looked it up
on Google.
I’m like vanilla, cinnamon,
fragrance of the Lord.
And here other people had
experienced this.
But Sid, what that did to me, it
showed me that even though I
couldn’t feel him that Jesus
came and superseded that by
getting to my senses to say,
“I’m here.
I am here.”
And there was this peace that
overcame because of it.
Sid: And then you found
something called
rapid prompting method.
Did you ever teach him to spell?
Tahni Cullen: No.
Sid: He starts spelling.
How supernaturally, he knew
words.
And get this, how
supernaturally,
he knew amazing theological
concepts that
Ph.D.’s don’t know.
It gets even better that.
He grabs is iPad and starts
typing this.
I mean, I’ve heard of miracles,
but this is off the charts.
Did you ask him how he learned
how he spell?
Tahni Cullen: I had been
teaching him this method called
the rapid prompting method.
I had watched a documentary, but
I saw this documentary and I
decided I have to go get that
for my son and figure out this
particular method.
So I had been doing this method
for about a year.
But one particular night I’m
sitting at the kitchen table and
we’re doing a lesson from the
Children’s Bible.
And so I read him a short lesson
and I decided to read about when
Jesus healed the blind man.
So I read the lesson and then I
say,
“Josiah, Jesus heal the blind
man.
What did Jesus do?
Did he H-E-A-L, heal the blind
man or P-L-A-Y,
play with the blind man?”
You write that on a piece of
paper,
rip the paper in half, tap
“heal” or tap “play”.
He chooses heal, appropriately.
I said, “Okay, let’s spell
“heal”.”
And I put up the iPad and there
are letters in big
alphabetical buttons.
And so I said, “Okay, let’s
spell ‘heal.'” Josiah,
can you spell “heal”?
He touches “G” like he’s missing
it.
Then he touches “O”, and I’m
like “go”?
He goes on to spell his first
independent sentence: “God is a
good gift giver.”
Sid: Oh that is good!
That is good.
[Applause]
What went on inside of you at
that moment?
What happened?
Tahni Cullen: I thought I was on
Candid Camera or something,
or I had cracked or had been
punked,
or something like that.
But no, I was just like, what is
happening right now?
And I thought, I think he’s
being healed right now.
Like after all these years of
praying and all this stuff,
I think he’s being healed right
now.
I go back and I’m like, “Josiah,
yes,
that’s true.
How do you know this?”
And he types, “God is very
capable.”
And Sid, what happened from
there was all of a sudden…
Sid: How does a kid
like that spell?
I had to learn.
You had to learn.
You had to learn.
How did he learn?
Tahni Cullen: I asked him one
day,
how is this happening?
How do you know how to do this?
And he typed, “Jesus taught me
the order of sounds.”
And I’m like, Jesus gave you
Hooked on Phonics or something?
But for the first time we were
getting to know our child,
things like your favorite toy,
your favorite color,
what do you like to do.
But not only that, he started
coming out with the most
profound wisdom words.
Sid: Here’s what I don’t
understand.
He knew things from science,
from history,
theological concepts that I
venture most of you
don’t even understand.
Give me an example of some of
the things he taught you.
Tahni Cullen: Well the first
time I was realizing that
something was way beyond of what
I could even imagine was I
brought him home a rubber
lizard.
And so I asked him, “What do you
want to name the lizard?”
And he writes out a name that he
wants to name it,
“Opiehan” or something like
that,
and I was like, okay.
And then he starts writing about
lizards have ageless tails and
they don’t just have scales,
they have aspiration pores,
and all this stuff.
And I’m like, how do you know
this?
Sid: How could he?
Tahni Cullen: I know he’s not
being taught that because
they’re like, what’s the red
circle.
He wasn’t learning that from
anywhere.
Sid: You knew it was
supernatural.
Tahni Cullen: I did, yeah.
Sid: Okay.
Give me an example of an
advanced,
like most of you have difficulty
explaining the triune
nature of God.
Some people call it Trinity.
I like the triune nature of God.
What did he say about that?
Tahni Cullen: Well, so Sid,
Josiah started coming out with
these wisdom words at first,
things like,
“Faith is believing for kites to
fly when there’s
no wind in sight.”
“Faith is picture it done.”
Sid: Those are great
definitions.
Tahni Cullen: That’s a great
definition of faith:
picture it done.
But then I started seeing that
he was seeing glimpses of Heaven
and things like that, and it
just kept coming and coming.
One night he wakes me up in the
middle of the night and he says,
I say, say, but he types that
“God wants to show me
about the triune God”.
Sid: Because he’s not verbal
yet.
Tahni Cullen: Right.
He still is not to this day.
And so I’m like, okay, I wasn’t
really thinking about the
Trinity, but go for it.
And this is what he types: “In
the Trinity the Father the
manager, the Son is the lover of
operations,
Holy Spirit is the worker.
So it’s the three in one getting
things done.
He is Papa, he is healer, he is
helper.
The world was created by only
three functions that went like
this: Father thought it, Son
loved it,
Holy Spirit carried out the
plan.
That is how the Trinity works,
Mom.
So man must voice, Father what
do you think?
Jesus, what do you love?
Holy Spirit, what should we do
about it?
That’s our mission.”
Sid: You know, someone could
take that and preach a whole
sermon off of that.
Now and I understand he has a
guardian angel.
He sees angels.
Tell me about the angel that
came to reveal his purpose.
Tahni Cullen: Well the way he
explains is that not only can he
hear and see in the Spirit and
sometimes have visions,
but also at night it’s like he
gets taken up into Spirit and
his mind into Heaven, and
actually is educated
on some things.
So he’s in this school type
setting in Heaven and he’s at
this desk and this angel named
Nathan points to him.
And this angel, he says, is a
tall angel about 9-foot tall,
and he pointed to him and said,
“Boy of God’s fire,
is your name Josiah?
You have pages to fill and in
this day you will help light
God’s fire in his people again.”
[Applause]
Sid: I’ll tell you what even
intrigues me.
Her son prophesies, but really,
I mean really prophecies.
Tell me about the lady at the
mall.
Tahni Cullen: This is one of the
most amazing experiences
I’ve ever had.
I took Josiah to the IMAX
Theater at the zoo,
and after we got done with that,
I said,
“Okay, where do you want to go
now?”
And I bring out the iPad and get
him situated,
and he types that, “Take me to
the Mall of America and God will
have a surprise for you there.”
Sid: Okay.
Tahni Cullen: Like, okay, I
don’t know what that’s going to
be, but let’s go to the Mall of
America.
So we are walking around the
mall he points to my purse to
get the iPad out.
I go, “What’s up Josiah?”
And he starts typing that, “I’m
going to have to talk to a nice
girl,” who is staring glances
his way.
And I’m like, who are you
talking about?
I don’t see anyone around.
And I was like, “Who are you
talking about?”
And he goes on to type this
while we’re just sitting on the
bench: “Love is love.
Tell her that.
Take her breath away.
Tell her that love is born out
of choosing God,
not Wicca,” which is witchcraft.
Sid: Right.
Tahni Cullen: “Hope is love, not
more daddy issues.
Pick a spiritual daddy.
It is God.
Choose him because you need me,
he says.”
And I’m just like sweating
because I’m going,
I’m going to have to tell this
to somebody?
Are you serious?
And yet, I can’t figure out who
it even is.
I started looking around.
I looked down the hall and there
I see a girl with
a black cape on.
I’m like, oh that must be the
witch.
What happens is she and some of
her 20-something friends start
walking in front of our bench.
I know it’s now or never.
So I jump up, and I’m like,
“Excuse me,
and I’m like, “are you
spiritually inclined?”
And she says, “Yeah, I guess.”
And I explain to her about
Josiah,
and I say, “I think I have a
word for you.
Can I give it to you.”
And so I read this to her, and I
say,
“Did that mean anything to you?”
And she says, “No, not really.”
My heart just sunk.
We’re missing it.
The girl next to her, in a
really sunny yellow tank top
says, “That’s not her,” takes
her tank top and goes like this,
revealing a five-point star
tattoo.
“That’s not her, but that’s me.
I’m in Wicca and I have been
told I have daddy issues,
and I just got so hot as you
were saying that.”
I said to her, “Do you realize
that God,
the God in the Bible intercepted
time and space in the biggest
mall of America to somehow make
me and my autistic
son talk to you?
Are you a little freaked out by
this?”
And she said, “Well I haven’t
even gone to church since I was
in ninth grade.
I was Lutheran.”
Sid: Josiah is taken up to
Heaven every night and studies
there, and meets people in
Heaven,
and sees things in Heaven.
Anyone interested in knowing
what he sees?
Me, too.
We’ll be right back.
We’ll be right back to It’s
Supernatural!
We now return to It’s
Supernatural!
[Applause]
Sid: Okay, he goes to Heaven.
He sees relatives he’s never
met.
Tell me one.
Tahni Cullen: Yes.
So Auntie is the first person
that he had ever commented on.
Sid: He would nothing.
Tahni Cullen: He would know
nothing about her,
and he wrote, “Auntie dances
now, you know.”
The idea that Auntie was dancing
when she was such a reserved
person was just beautiful.
And there have been family
members that he has commented
on, and my father is one of
them.
And things about mansions, and
things about all sorts of places
and spaces in Heaven that are
just astounding.
Sid: Does Josiah believe he is
going to be healed?
Tahni Cullen: Yes and the Lord
has told him many
things about healing.
Sid: You made a decision early
on to not cope, but hope.
Tahni Cullen: Yes.
Sid: There are people watching
us right now.
Maybe they don’t have a child
that’s autistic,
but you’re just coping.
You’re just barely getting by.
I want you to extend a rope of
hope.
I love that phrase, a rope of
hope, to them.
Would you do that now.
Tahni Cullen: Romans 15:13 says,
“The God of hope will give you
peace and joy in believing so
that you may abound in hope by
the power of the Holy Spirit.”
There is no coping in Heaven’s
language.
It is only hope.
And even Abraham, it said, in
the worst situations,
against hope, he hoped.
And you may not have the
situation that I have.
You may have a completely
different situation,
but the God of hope is extending
this rope.
In fact, “hope” in Hebrew means
a cord, a rope.
Grab onto that rope.
And I just pray right now by the
power of the Holy Spirit,
as you grab onto that rope that
you will follow that rope and
you will find the most amazing
relationship with God the
Father, with God the Son and God
the Holy Spirit in intimacy.
And in that hope you will find
faith like you have never known
before and it will move
mountains.
Sid: What I hear you saying is
start expecting again.
Start believing again.
Don’t look back.
Press on.
We’re coming into a new time on
Planet Earth and God has called
you to know him.
If you will believe that and ask
Jesus to live inside of you I
tell you the best part of your
life is ahead of you.
[Applause]
Sid: Next week on It’s
Supernatural!
So few in this generation have
been in the presence of the full
Glory of God, so few, too few.
We need to the Glory of God.
I believe that on this show at
this moment you are going to
experience the Glory of God!
[Applause]
♪♪♪