Latest / One Voice Many Conversations / Crushing Strongholds #040 With Special Guest Michael Klassen -The 4 secrets of success vision, persistence, resilience & wisdom.

Transcript

Crushing Strongholds #040 With Special Guest Michael Klassen -The 4 secrets of success vision, persistence, resilience & wisdom. · One Voice Many Conversations

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Hello everyone.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to another episode of Crushing Strongholds.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: This is a podcast where we turn pain into power, trauma into triumph, and a place where we get to be better versions of ourselves.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's also a place where we get to expose the lies of the enemy.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: And how do we do that?
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: We do that by talking about the truth and the word and the love of Jesus Christ.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: We also do that through testimonies.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Testimonies, I don't know if you know this, but they help dismantle strongholds that people are going through.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I love about this podcast because I get to bring on wonderful people that get to come and share their story and their testimony about how God got them got them through and over hurdles and obstacles in their life that held them back and um kept people in um hostage situations in their life where they needed to defeat those strongholds.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what this podcast is about.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: And today we're gonna be crushing some strongholds.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: I have an amazing guest today.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: His name is Mike Michael Clausen.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: He is also a podcaster, and I'm really excited to hear his testimony and get to know more about him.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: He started um blogging in 2019 and launched in 2025 his podcast called 5 a.m.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: Podcast.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: 5 a.m.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know about that.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I know that that's a really early podcast for some people, so my hat is off to you, Michael, for that.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to introduce you, have you come on and um just tell people who you are and a little bit about yourself.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: So welcome in, Michael.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, it's great to be here.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I know we're gonna have a great conversation today.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so my backstory is uh grew up on a farm in a Christian home, um had a diverse group of friends growing up.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: And as I went through life, of course, there's different challenges.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: I knew that I loved working, I loved watching television, much to my parents' chagrin.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I knew that was an opportunity for me to do something that I loved.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so while I was in college, uh I was going to a Bible college getting a bachelor of um religious education.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's what it was.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: So counseling, there was some communicating and things like that in there.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: And um it took 10 years from when I graduated to when I had my first full-time job uh with benefits and stock options and things like that.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so there was a lot of a lot of faith required and a lot of freelancing and gig work uh doing that.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so that that kind of ebbed and flowed.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's an extremely high stress uh industry to be in.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you have to account for every like you got 30 frames for every second of video, and you so you not only have to account for every second, you got to account for like those 30 frames in the second.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: You can't have dead air or a black screen or anything like that.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but I enjoyed it and I could handle the stress for the most part.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, a lot of people that worked in the industry uh consumed uh copious amounts of alcohol, smoked a lot.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, my two mentors, Pat and Steve, uh, you know, they had a full ashtray on their desk.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh, you know, uh way back then, of course, you couldn't eat in the control room.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: That probably for the control rooms that still exist, you can't eat in them, but they would certainly stand in the doorway while they were smoking.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: And uh that was just part and parcel of it.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And um uh as far as the alcoholism uh and smoking, that was never uh really a thing for me.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um and but of course it was you realize uh when you're when you're sitting in the the sports lounge after work that uh boy some of these people around here are here a lot, which means, oh, that's so close to the station.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people would go there after work before going home often.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so then you you realize what your priorities need to be, and you want to succeed at your job, which means you need to be sober-minded and uh sharp as attack.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, one of the older gentlemen I had the pleasure of of working with on just a oh like one or two projects, Larry Christie.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, he actually led one of the AA groups in our area, and he said, Michael, most of the people in my AA group uh were crew members or former co-workers, and so that was kind of the industry that you would work in.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: I also did um work with Ayatsi in theater, uh setting up for concerts, and that was a huge amount of fun.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but there again, the the pharmaceuticals and the uh the beverages uh were just something that so many people used, um, especially in that rock and roll industry.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: And seeing that kind of uh activity, debauchery, you know, all the stuff that's behind the stage.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: But I tell you what, being able to uh sit and in the back of the kind of in the wings of the stage, I'll say, while Alice Cooper is performing and watching the audience and their absolute endearing admiration and love for his music and his character, uh, it's just those are images I'll never forget, being able to watch how the crowd interacts with their superstars.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And but of course, when you work behind the curtain and behind the camera, uh you realize that there's one persona on stage and there's somebody completely different who comes off that stage.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, signing NDAs and other things like that.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Totally get it.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: But uh fascinating of uh that's one of the things that I really have taken away from working in television and a little bit in politics is the the storylines and the personas of people and the we hear the word narrative of the the made-up lines that that are presented to us uh in pretty much every aspect of life, uh, church, business, politics, entertainment, all of that stuff, you know, these public personas versus what's going on in the background.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm very thankful that my parents had given me a really solid uh Christian foundation on which to build my life.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: And another component of this is not always being able to work full-time or to make enough money.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, so you needed other streams of income.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that, fast forward to 2019, my wife and I struggling, we were in a new city, and just things were just not working for us.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: And um we thought there's this Bible verse that says, He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: And we needed some refreshing.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so we thought we already had this idea of 5 a.m.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: podcast.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we we were, let's say, financially challenged, maybe a little bit brokeny broke broke, and we knew we wanted to do it.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't that bad.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm embellishing, but uh we knew that we wanted to get to the point where we are now with having the audio visual version of 5am podcast.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so we thought we need some refreshing.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: So let's use 5ampodcast.com to write some blog articles and help people with where we've struggled, uh, where we have found we needed help and got help, or where we needed help and didn't get help.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: So let's refresh some people and we'll just expect and believe that people are going to come and refresh us.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that has certainly happened uh through the years.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I my position is uh what I I referred to myself as the senior broadcast producer at this TV station doing news and and other things like that, some podcasts.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then my position was terminated.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so I came home and uh of course we had talked on the phone, so she already knew knew what was coming when I got home that October Thursday or Wednesday.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and uh we were just of the same mind.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like, well, now's the time we have this open door of opportunity to actually do the audio visual version of 5am podcast.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then we got on to Podmatch, where you and I meet, uh met, and uh, you know, it's just been uh cruising um with this mission and goal and idea together.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, yeah, there's a lot of consistency with Podmatch.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they they they they set you up right away.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: I I was surprised with that.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm very thankful for that, by the way, too, because um sometimes it's kind of hard to find the the right guest or whatever, but they kind of connect the dots for you, and I like that.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it makes it our job a little easier.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: Now you said you also um are a co-host on another podcast.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Can you tell me a little bit about that?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Not co-host, but producer.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Our producer, okay.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I've I've had uh multiple years of experience working on political boards and being involved in the community in that way.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I've made the connections and um have had a mind for it, and it's also part of news and television, is politics.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: And uh when I was still employed, I was working on something called Gray Matter Podcast.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and our host there is Layton Gray.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so I will appear on his Thursday Night Lives uh usually and I help produce his podcast with one other fellow, and uh that's it, it's enjoyable to do it.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's a different um a different flow and different topic and guests than what 5 a.m.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: podcast does.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh where they kind of have to dig deep into some unpleasant conversations sometimes.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: And uh what I love about 5 a.m.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: podcast is that it's about encouraging, motivating, uh, giving some hope out and and being able to share how people have triumphed over their weaknesses or their uh, let's say some rough roads, difficult upbringing, things or health issues, even.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I I uh I love the mission of 5am podcast.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's great.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: I've watched a few of your episodes and and they've been wonderful even and and and like I said, I've seen you before with uh on Rory's podcast.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um the uh the pot the podcasters nations.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, great, great podcaster as well.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now I know you and your wife produced this one.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: I have to ask a crazy question, which I asked Rory this too when I re I I had him as a guest.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, have you and your wife ever done an episode together just for fun?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever just done it together?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh no, we haven't done it together.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: We've talked briefly about it.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um we'd have to change our setup a little bit.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, so no, the answer to that is no.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but uh there's always the possibility.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, good, good.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: At least there's a possibility of it because that that would be that's exciting.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: I I think it's really cool when you see like husband and wife.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, you you always wonder like when they're married, like if the if their partner ever gets on with them or does it does a um podcast with them.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I find it um kind of curious if if they do or if they ever would.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I know some people um like with Rory, he said, you know, it you know, that's his thing, not his wife's thing.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it makes sense.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I was just curious with your wife being um a producer of yours and helping you along, if she was ever willing to actually come on and and do one with you, because that'd be exciting to see.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: So um with the 5 a.m.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: podcast, um, have you thought about doing um any other podcast besides just this one?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: We have talked a little bit about uh 5 a.m.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: money as a title or 5 a.m.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: health as a title.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um but uh so right now we produce two episodes a week.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um when we first started out, we were doing three because we wanted to build up that that uh library and the archive a bit.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we were having enough guests from PodMatch to accommodate that.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: However, with Susan's work outside of 5 a.m.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: and mine outside of 5 a.m., um, we just did not have the capacity uh to have more of what we're doing.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: So for right now, it's just the general 5 a.m.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: podcast, and uh we just try and stick with that idea that we want to bring hope and light and encouragement and motivation to people.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, now I have to ask you this question.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, why at 5 a.m.?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Because I am not the one that gets up that early, and I know that you help people to function and try to want to thrive and get up earlier.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: I do get up early, but not at 5 a.m.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: every day.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: So can you can you shine some light on that?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it goes back to we're living on a farm as a boy.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Gotcha.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so we didn't have curfews, we had responsibilities.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: And they started early.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: So my parents were like, you know, you got to pick what time you're going to bed, but just know that you're getting up at the correct time on the clock.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to have a miserable day because you're tired and you stayed out too late, that's your problem.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you want to have a great day and be effective and you know, exceed and and um just bring a good mindset to what we're doing, then you know that you got to be responsible the night before uh you're getting up so that that you can execute properly.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: And uh very it was a strict upbringing.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so that's where 5 a.m.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: came.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it was a great name.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: I love being up early.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um and there's so much that can be accomplished in the day, and people can listen to 5 a.m.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: at whatever time they like.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we know I often get asked on on episodes when I'm a guest of how do I become a morning person?
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that takes work because it's not in everybody's bag of tricks to get up early.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Some people are night owls, and uh, you know, come nine o'clock, I'm I'm definitely fixing to go to bed.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um Susan's a bit more of a night owl than me, so that's always been a conversation that we've had over the years.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but uh I I I actually enjoy going to bed early.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: And uh even when I was a child and I couldn't sleep, but my parents would be like, You gotta go to bed, and I'd be like, God, I can't sleep.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: And they would say, Well, think about sleep.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to count sheep, but just think about how great that is to that you're gonna get a great rest and you're gonna have a good sleep.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh that was actually formative in my life of what thoughts was I gonna think.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like the scriptures tell us to take every thought captive.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we got to take it captive and look at it and see if it's a good one that we can let into the brain or or let out through our speech.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so that was kind of that training as I look back to realize that even there, my parents were like, if you're if you're going to be going into this activity, in this case, sleep, uh, you need to start thinking positively about it.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: You need to start thinking about how it's gonna benefit you.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: And my dad would tell us, if you're making a decision, ask yourself, does it give you peace or does it steal your peace?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was all kind of part and parcel of learning to see the value in mornings.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And when you get up early, you know it's quiet and hopefully the birds are singing and there's not a lot of movement going around.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's a peaceful time.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then once you're through kind of a morning routine that somebody might have, and you're you're into your work and you're looking, oh, look what I've accomplished already.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: And and now other uh emails start coming in or other communications come, and you know, it gets to like 10 o'clock, and some people are just starting, and and you're ready, and I I'll use the word fixing again, fixing to go have another cup of coffee.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and it's for me, it's just enjoyable to be up early and to accomplish things.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, the the birds are up.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: We've got uh there's uh at least two couples of blue jays in our neighborhood uh that love the peanuts that we put out and and we have a great garden.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: So when it's not winter, although it's pretty good, it's I don't know, in the 20s or 30s today, probably maybe a little warmer than that.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so it's a great February day.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: And just even being able to go out and do some grounding, walk around barefoot on the grass, and uh, you know, just to take it all in when it's when it's early and it's quiet.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: And even in the Psalms, David said, Early will I arise to to spend time with the Lord.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: So just so much value in it.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's great.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's how the name came to be.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: That was a really long answer, but oh no, it's okay.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's how the name is.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's great that you appreciate mornings.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I like the the sunrise and the sunset, and I like when I get up and I feel productive in the morning and I and it's just quiet in the house, and um before noon I have half my stuff done and I can just relax in the afternoon.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's already done, you know?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to procrastinate and keep it waiting.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: So out of um, so you went from broadcasting to theater and concerts.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um I've I went to many of those concerts, you know, um, before I decided to not listen to secular music anymore.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Went to many, many of those headbanging.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: Deaf leopard used to be my my my thing.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um probably would never go to another Deaf Leopard concert, although I've been to four, but um it's interesting, um, you know, on the backlog, you know, kind of like what things do, what people do to make all of that happen.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um I know a guy that did um he did the monster truck shows and he would go to you know, he was helped running those and he said, Wham, it's it's a lot of fun, but it's a lot of work.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I can only imagine, you know, concerts, you know, being as crazy as they are.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um so out of all of those transitions that you were making from the broadcasting to the theater to now podcasting, um, can you share with our listeners um a stronghold that you had to really get over or get past in order to get where you are today?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: And how did God help you through that?
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: So as I was preparing for our conversation, there was there's a couple of things that I looked at in in terms of that.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that I I really dealt with growing up as a child was being bullied and not having a lot of friends.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so that we'll just talk briefly about that one.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: I would consider that uh to be a stronghold, but how it how the Lord helped me through that was finding out who he was as a friend and as a father, uh, but also um giving me like because uh uh when I was growing up, I would often hear the Bible verse that would be told to me.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: I would read it of uh man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, all these children's or teens that I'm having trouble with as I'm growing up in life, so they're looking, they have an expectation of of this outward experience.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: And for whatever reason, uh they want to disparage it, they they want to just be unpleasant around it, they don't want me in their friendship circle, and so that loneliness, oh man, that was a that was a huge thing.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the other component would be uh a financial aspect as well of um maybe growing up with less finances and then trying to work through life with that as well.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: So these are kind of two paths that I felt were strongholds from an early age.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh now the bullying and the the lack of friend side and that whole uh self-worth, the view of the self-worth.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: If nobody else likes me, why should I like me?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Why does God even love me?
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so you you have these questions as a child and as a teenager that you really have to um come to terms with and to understand that there's a spiritual side and power that's far more than this physical realm.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: So, what it made me be able to do is to move in different circles of people, looking for my uh my tribe, so to speak, looking for people that I could connect with.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it's made me to be someone that that cares about people and uh learns to look beyond the facade of the front, which probably fits well with working in television and film and other and stage and things like that, of knowing that what's portrayed is never what's behind it.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, unless somebody can get to know the Lord and have him change their life.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: And of definitely there was suicidal thoughts and things like that, um, going in those early years because I just could not find that connection.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we lived in a small town, small church, small group of friends, and even there, you know, it was hard to find people to connect to.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: And thankfully, the Lord brought friends along the way.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I think of of Dennis and John in those early years.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and then in my teenage years, kind of working through that, uh, and it came to, and I'm sure this is true for everybody, but you have to find out who you are and what's your persona, and what do you present, and uh how can I get people to like me?
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: All of those questions that come along with being bullied and and being made fun of, and and having people that like have seem to have this this uh this hate towards you that you can almost taste it or feel it.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: And as you mature, especially as you mature in Christian faith, you realize that there's a spiritual side.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Behind that as well.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: There's been a couple times where that stand out to me from uh, you know, being in Hollywood uh around some production thing uh events and or being on on the where we're setting up for concerts and you see these really dark people looking at you and uh knowing that it's actually their demons that are looking at you and thinking, what's this light bearer uh doing in our territory?
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, there's been some very interesting experiences like that.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: I would say the other stronghold, and this is kind of a weird one, has been the financial side.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: And everybody I know has those ebbs and flows, and some people really focus on money and gaining wealth and getting all we can and storing it in a can, sitting on the can.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so that's been something that my wife and I have struggled through at various times.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we've had kind of that ebb and flow, but what that has done for us through the struggle of that um is knowing how to help people through that, to get out of it.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a big part of 5 a.m.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: podcast of helping or hoping that we give people the tools to get out of their financial ruts or problems.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: And there's been so many times where we've been able to pray for people that are really struggling, salespeople that aren't having any sales.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'll tell you a story about that if you like, if if if you're good with that.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: So there was uh a men's group that I would meet with when we lived out in the Pacific Northwest.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: Wonderful, wonderful area to live.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: If you're looking for a place to live, ladies and gentlemen, put that on your list.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so we would meet on Thursday mornings, and there was this carpet salesman who was a retired minister.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: We both had a different Christian upbringing than each other and a different like theological uh thought stream, we'll say.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, he did not like uh, let's say the name it and claim it, people how they kind of disparage that.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but for my wife and I, and how we I was brought up at home was not really one uh particular theological stream.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: We were in a lot of different churches, and I'm grateful for that.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was talking to this this gentleman.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, he was just sharing his heart that he had not had a lot of sales and he was really struggling, and he'd heard me talk about God's blessing on his children and some of the verses.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, I'm really having a problem with this, Michael.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I need I need you and God to either like put up or shut up.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um I might be embellishing it a little bit, but he was at his wit's end, and they really needed to pay some bills.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, you know, this poverty that you're going through right now is not God's plan for your life.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: This lack of sales, this kind of like this desert that you're going through, that's not the creative power of our creator.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you need to prune bushes and cut them back so they'll grow the way you want and produce the way that you want.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: And nature is made to be abundant, and you're made to be abundant.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so I prayed for him, and I was putting as much seed into his life and watering whatever I could in this brief time.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: It was like he had to go to the carpet shop, and he received the prayer, he thanked me for it, and then I didn't see him for about six weeks.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't see him at church, he was coming to the breakfast, and I was like, Well, I wonder what's up with that guy.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he shows up to the one of the breakfasts, and I'm sure it's like week seven or eight around there.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, probably week eight.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so I said, 'How are you doing?
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't seen you in like two months.' And he said, 'Well, you're not gonna well, maybe you will believe what happened.' That's actually what he said to me.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: He's he started to say you're not gonna believe, and he changed it.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: He said, 'Well, maybe you will believe it.' And he was like, 'You know Michael, I left the breakfast.' I was trying to believe, but I was skeptical, and it wasn't his Christian experience.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, he had been a pastor, and so he had a different theology.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: And he was like, Lord, I'm really we really need I my wife and I got to pay some bills, and it's not cheap to live.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: And he gets to the store and he said, Michael, I walk in and they put me on the phones.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, Michael, I said to the Lord, this is this is what I get.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: The phones are the worst spot to be.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: I can't be on the floor when the customers come in.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm on the phones, and he told me something along the lines of Lord, I asked Michael to pray for me and now I'm being put on the phones.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is like getting worse.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, Michael, no, I had not sat at that desk for 30 minutes, and I get this call from this elderly gentleman who wants all of his carpets replaced in his condo.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: He lived in a very uh well-off part of town.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Oh man, I'm going to see this old gentleman.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, um, probably I think he said he was 82, something like that.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: He gets to the guy's uh, this is where the 82 comes in.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: He he said, Michael, I got to the guy's apartment.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: He said I was skeptical, but I was trying to believe what you told me.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: He said, Michael, that guy should have had his carpet replaced in '82.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: And this was like uh 2010.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: So like 30 years ago or 2012, 30 years ago, he should have had his carpet replaced.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, Michael, that guy bought the best of everything.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: He was a retired teacher.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: He just he needed his carpets replaced, they should have been replaced 30 years ago.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: He said, Michael, he bought the best of everything.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: He said, I went back with that sale.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: He said, I've been the number one salesman for the last six months or the last six weeks.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh because of that sale.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: And uh he said that that people were shocked when I when I got back to the office and they saw this order, they couldn't believe like the best underpad, the best wool carpet.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um and he said, The that why did that guy phone me the day you prayed for me?
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: He said, That's never happened before.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then he kept getting other sales, other people started coming in.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, Since you prayed for me, I had been the top salesman, not just with that one sale, but with other sales that came in.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, But now uh the sales are cardiac start these last couple of weeks, the sales are kind of starting to dry up.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I'm wondering if you need to pray for me again.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, I gave you the tools.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: So uh, and this is something I wanted to share with you uh and your listeners.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: There's a Bible verse that says we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimony.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the two ways we are guaranteed that we can overcome the blood of the Lamb.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is still alive, so his heart is still beating.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: There's still the blood of the lamb going around and the word of our testimony.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so we might say, Well, what's our testimony?
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, for our carpet salesman friend, part of his testimony is Michael prayed for me and this happened.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's my testimony.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, if we look at Proverbs 30, verse 5, I like to read old books and older translations of the Bible.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: So in the Wycliffe Bible translation, and if you and your listeners can find the Wycliffe Bible in modern English, because it's written in the late 1300s, so the original is really hard for us to understand with our modern English.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: But Proverbs 30, verse 5 says that though every word of God is a shield set of fire to those who believe in him, so that's another part of our testimony is we can quote scripture because every word of God is a shield set aflame or set of fire for those who believe.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh if if you are struggling with finances or other things that there's sins that so easily beset us, we can find scripture verses that address what we're going through, uh, and we can say, This is my testimony, because it's in the word of God and it's a shield to me.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so, with whatever I'm going through, I know that the blood of the Lamb helps me overcome and the word of my testimony.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so, if you don't think you have a testimony, ladies and gentlemen, we can look to the scriptures because the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so those uh the words of scripture are living and active, and and uh it's like a sword, as it says in the scriptures, it's a sword so sharp it could actually separate bone and marrow.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so I I credit the difficulties that I had and my strict parents that I had growing up because that gave me a phenomenal foundation uh to uh not be like a pastor that stands in the pulpit on a Sunday, but to be with my uh whether they're fellow brothers and sisters or the unrighteous, of being able to bring a word that will encourage and lift people up, but also show them that there's something that we can believe in the scriptures.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: And if our life doesn't match up to the scripture verses, like my friend who was that carpet salesman, his life was not matching up to Proverbs 10, 22 or 3 John 2 or uh uh uh other verses.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think uh 1 Corinthians 8 or 2 Corinthians 8 talks about finances as well, many places in the Bible.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: And um if our life is not matching up, then let's listen to the words we speak and then find the word of God itself in the pages of the Bible.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: And um I would also recommend that you you and your listeners, myself included, go back to those older translations of the Bible because they're not impacted by the modern ideas that we have developed in Christianity.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: And um I I would can would you mind if I just read one of the verses that I mentioned to you?
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: No, not at all.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I realize this is kind of on on finances, so I I'm hoping that um this is really resonating maybe with some people that are listening that maybe they've been laid off.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: And um it's uh in 3 John 2 in the Wycliffe Bible, it uses this word that I had never heard before called willfully.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: And it's if you if your listeners want to look this up, it's W E A L F U L L Y.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: Willfully.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: And if you go to search it, uh the um the pixies in the background are thinking you're gonna look for willfully, but it has to be W E A L F-U-L-L-Y, um, and then old English meaning and uh it it means uh that you enter in uh with prosperity and happiness, and that's just part of it.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: This word means a lot uh if you really dig into it.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it is a word packed with bountiful, abundant, um plenteous meanings.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: And uh just think that this was actually written in the 1300s.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so it's not like we hear today that you have to give in order to receive, it's just that we have a creator who was abundant and created us in his image, and then told Adam and Eve, our ancestors, to be fruitful and to multiply.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: And they didn't have to do anything else but be fruitful and multiply and and obeyed the Lord.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that's I for me, I think that's still the same.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that's like the word of my testimony of what Susan and I have gone through in our married life, what we've both gone through, similar things in our upbringing, to be able to say the word of the Lord stands forever.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that's certainly what I've taken away from uh from my opportunity of being able to serve the Lord and make those conscious decisions as I was growing up that there's uh there's a very powerful word, no, and the other one is yes, and uh there's so much value in serving the Lord, and uh man, just I know people can get a little bent out of shape when you start talking about abundance uh versus poverty, and there's vows of poverty, and how about we take vows of abundance?
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think that would be great.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I was an I feel like that was an extremely long answer to your to your question, but uh I appreciate being able to share that.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: There's been other ones, there's one more example of that that I want to share with you.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: Another friend of mine, also Pacific Northwest area, self-employed, successful businessman.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: But as you do, you run into droughts or you walk through the desert a little bit.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: And invariably in the past, he would call and we would talk and we would say, Well, what are we speaking?
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: What words are we speaking?
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: What thoughts are we thinking?
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because our thoughts become words and they become things.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: And we have uh shameless plug, and no one has to spend, there's no expectation for anyone to buy anything.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: But when you're on 5am podcast, we have a store tab, and you will see mugs and other things with this phrase.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's think it, speak it, see it.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: So think it, see it in your mind's or speak it.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, think it, speak it, see it.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's just in a little square.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: I woke up one morning from a dream with this thought of think it, speak it, and see it.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so, what do we when when that's like uh we overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony?
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: We need to speak that out.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so getting back to my other friend, uh, and we would talk about this.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: What are we thinking?
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: What are we speaking?
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: What are we expecting?
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: What are we seeing?
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then we would pray for people to come and he would call, I wouldn't hear from him.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: We would pray, and I'd be like, I wonder how he's doing, and I wouldn't hear at all from him for a while.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: And he would get back to me and say, You're you're you're not gonna believe, well, you are gonna believe what's happening, but he said, There was one time he said, This customer that I quoted on a job like two months ago, no it hadn't been two hours, Michael, since we prayed.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_00: And she calls and she wants to go ahead with this job and add to it.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, so like there's nothing that we have to give uh uh to in order to get, we just have to uh think it, believe it, speak it out, and we'll see it happen.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: And if if we believe for those things, they will come to pass.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times we'll believe the other because we're used to seeing sometimes misery, sometimes obstacles, sometimes pain, and uh sometimes this um this uh aloneness where where we feel rejected from other people and we think, has God rejected me?
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus asked that same question why have you rejected me?
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: And uh thankfully, because of what Jesus went through, we don't have to have that rejection of of the Father.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: We can we get to enter in and into the joy of the Lord, and so that's certainly what I've learned, and I'm still learning it.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm still like uh, you know, you read uh one of the things I started doing was uh reading a chapter in Proverbs that corresponds with the day on the calendar.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we're recording this on February 6th, and so we can read uh chapter six in Proverbs, and that has been a huge, huge benefit to Susan and myself.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love the book of Proverbs because there's so much wisdom and knowledge in that.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's a great book.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: I encourage people when they start when they're you know not sure where to start in the Bible.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: I say start in the start in the gospels because you want to know who Jesus is, and then read the book of Proverbs and then Romans.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I also love that you touch space on, you know, you're talking about the um the word of our testimonies because that's what crushing strongholds is about.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: Is that that's why I say in the beginning that our testimonies really do dismantle those strongholds, they can set them aside, they can push them back to where they belong.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, just like when we tell the enemy you have to flee, he has to flee.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: Our strongholds are the same thing.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: And just by our words, how we speak it.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: And by sharing our testimonies with people, it it um instills in them the power that they have that Jesus already gave us, but sometimes we often forget it.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, we have that power to actually speak that over ourselves.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why I love sharing testimonies from people, because you know, sometimes we just get in places where we often forget it.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so I I love to have that as a reminder.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I also like um um with you know, with this podcast, I like to share the scripture, um, 2 Corinthians 10, 4, and it says, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but money through God to the pulling down of those strongholds.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_01: So in order to pull them down, you need to recognize them, see them, um, and then you need to speak to them.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: I think you know, audible is very important.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_01: We need to speak to those things and call them as they are.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_01: The word says that we are to call we are to call things as they are.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: And um I love that that um you mentioned that um scripture, and um I do believe that our testimonies, our words of our testimonies hold so much merit and so much value and helps us to overcome strongholds.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's amazing that you brought that to the table.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: I also wanted to ask you a question about um on your on your pod match profile, I read that you have four friends of success, and I wanted to know if you would share that with our listeners today.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_01: Because I wanted to know what you what you mean by those four friends of success.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um thank you for asking that.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I I was I the reason that I came up with that is um that that I when you read through the Bible, you see that certain characteristics and certain things um walk through life together.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it might be mercy and grace, might be sorrow and and trauma.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I haven't thought about those uh those four friends in a little while.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I just need to check my notes.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_00: If you have them, can you read out those those four friends?
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, the four friends of success are vision, persistence, resilience, and wisdom.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, again, book of proverbs is a great book to get some of that those answers, and that's where they came from.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_00: So good.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we we need the vision.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: We need to in the Bible all it talks, and if your listeners are new to the Bible, the Bible is all about setting goals and how we live and setting vision, and then oh okay, I've got the vision, I've written it down.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible even says to write your goals down and make them plain, and there's a lot of science behind that as well.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_00: I guess we we know the the Bible is a science book in and a spiritual book as well, and so you get the vision, then you need to persist, and the Bible talks about persisting, and even Jesus is persistent because he stands at the door of our hearts and he knocks, and the Bible talks about the persistent widow, and so we need to persist, but then as we persist, we realize we need resilience become because resistance comes.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_00: We live in this fallen world where you know Adam and Eve experienced the sweat of their brow and and the thorns that came up.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_00: So we have the vision where we want to be fruitful and multiply, we want our families to walk in abundance.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we don't want the stinking thinking.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_00: So we get this goal and we want to um we want to persist and follow that, which means we have to learn to say yes and no to certain things that are gonna help us with the vision.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where then resilience comes in, because resilience and resistance, they fight against each other.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_00: And for people that that go to the gym or they like that physical activity or cycling, uh, they know that the resistance builds their muscles.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so we know that as we have our vision and our goals, we know that that that we can welcome the resistance because it's gonna strengthen our mind, it's gonna strengthen our will and our emotions and our body.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's where the resilience comes in.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then wisdom, that one's on the end because the older we get, hopefully, our lips to God's ears, the wiser we get.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: And in uh the Bible says, in all your in all you're getting, get understanding.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_00: And we want to be uh wise as serpents and gentle as doves, but that comes from wisdom and from reading Proverbs and finding mentor.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: Or other people that have gone through what we've gone through and they've come out the other side.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and there's a lot of metaphors in the Bible too about going through the fire and and being refined, all of these things.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: So when you you have the vision, you have the persistence, okay, I'm gonna get this done, then then you need the resilience because the resistance comes and the road gets hard and you get knocked down and you think, can I get up again?
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's where the persistence and the wisdom comes, and even knowing how to get up, knowing how to accomplish our visions that we've set down.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why I call those the four friends of success.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, because they they really are four things that will work together to set us on a path to success.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I love that.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's great.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_01: Now, in in 2 Corinthians, um, to add to the the verse I already read, yeah, um, the casting down of imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing it into captivity, every thought to obedience of Christ.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_01: What I love about that is a lot of times we we talk about the imaginations and our thoughts.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we need to be mindful about what we're thinking.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_01: But I love that we're supposed to take our thoughts and apply it to the word to see what knowledge God wants us to use in order to conquer those thoughts.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_01: What do we if I have this thought, if it it's got to line up with the word of God, if it's not lining up because that's God's knowledge, then that's the that's the thought we have to cast down.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I I try to explain to people, you know, when you're dealing with, you know, you're battling, you know, we have that the spiritual battle is usually, you know, it's the the warfare in our mind and our our spirit and and um between our flesh and our spirit.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_01: And God wants us to conquer that and get through that and get over that stronghold or the threshold or whether it's a financial or traumatic or whatever experience that we're trying to overcome.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if we don't line it up to the knowledge of God, we're never gonna learn how, because knowledge is learning.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: If we got to learn how to apply God's word and abide in it in order to be able to get rid of those thoughts completely.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_01: Those thoughts are gonna keep coming.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_01: The enemy is good at what he does, they're literally gonna keep coming at you.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard to put that roadblock up, but once you start getting in the word of God and you start obtaining his knowledge, the roadblocks come up faster.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_01: They're like right there.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_01: They're right there.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_01: Nope, not today, not today, not today.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that because um that's why another reason why I like the book of Proverbs, because there's so much knowledge in that book, you know.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_01: And um, Samson was a very intelligent person, he's super, super smart.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think that when we think about that and we try to line those things up, that um those areas of captivity where we got held, those chains start breaking off from us and they start falling to the wayside.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I I love that you're you're bringing all of that up because it all coincides.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_01: Well, obviously, the Bible always all coincides with itself, if that makes any sense.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, that's wonderful.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_00: And the imagination, because there's there's there's the word vain that shows up in the Bible that shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, but it also talks about vain imaginations.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I had a friend who was like, You're imagining imagination, just in general is sinful and terrible, and you should avoid it.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Well, I don't think so.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I got to study what the word vain meant, vain imaginations and taking the name of God in vain.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: And we're talking about our speech and thinking and speaking and seeing.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that word vain actually means non-working.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_00: So that what we're being admonished there is don't have a non-working imagination, and don't not put uh the name of God to work in your life.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: So that taking the name of God in vain would be like not using it to its full capacity and not having it working in your life.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing with your imagination.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_00: The vain imagination that we're supposed to avoid is an imagination that's not working for you and not making you abundant and a blessing and prosperous and successful.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, one analogy I like to use with that, actually, because that's really good.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's really good, um, is we are the captain of our own ship.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're we're the one who's who's in control of what we do.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's interesting when I when I when I started working on this podcast and I was praying about, you know, you know, the visions that God was giving me and what to do and where to go with it and what direction, um, he was showing me, he's like, Who's the captain of your ship?
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_01: Is it our our thoughts?
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because we're supposed to take our thoughts captive.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_01: And if you don't take those thoughts captive, then they become the captain of your ship.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, man, God, you just gave me that.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he he literally gave me that vision.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I just imagine myself with my thoughts trying to run a ship that that are all over the place.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, oh my gosh, we're gonna be stuck at sea forever, you know?
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be out there lost and wandering, like they did in the wilderness for 40 years.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because they had horrible thoughts.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_01: They couldn't get a hold of their thoughts.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and they didn't, you know, use the the knowledge God gave them to even get themselves out of out of the desert for 40 years.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they should have been out, you know, within, I think they said it it would have taken like 17 days to get out of the wilderness.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_01: It took them 40 years.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, man, that was a lot of waste of time that they spent, you know, a lot of people died, you know, a lot of things happened.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_01: And um those are the outcomes to us not getting the knowledge of God, you know, when we don't use him the way that he wants us to use him as a tool, even like you said, those are part of the tools that he gives us.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_01: God is a tool for us, the Bible is a tool for us, prayer is a tool for us, fellowship and communion is a tool for us in order to have that knowledge that God wants us to use and apply in our life.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_01: And the more we adhere to it and take it in, the more he feeds us and he fills our lamp.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's amazing what God does.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: If somebody wants to uh plant a garden or build a house, well, there's a hammer and a saw to build a house, but if they just sit in the tool poach or on the shelf, that house is never getting built.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_00: You could try and build a mud hut.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_00: And same thing with a garden.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't use the tiller uh or or some way to plant your seed, the tools that we have for that, uh, could be as simple as a stick to poke it in the ground and plant your seed.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but if you won't pick up the tool, that seed is never going to get the opportunity to produce for you and to fulfill its destiny.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's really good stuff.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's it's it's good how um we we can acknowledge that.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I try to keep an acknowledgement of God all the time because I mean we're we're fleshy human beings, we're gonna make mistakes.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_01: We we walk in error every day of our life.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_01: The moment we wake up till we go to bed, we walk in error, you know.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_01: It and and the and the and the enemy knows our weakness, you know, he's gonna trip us as often as he can.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_01: He's gonna trip us up.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's important that um if we are focusing on, you know, applying what God is giving us, just like you said to the carpet, the the carpet gentleman, you know, and you prayed with him, and you prayed with him.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_01: And he went out and he what he was skeptical though, but he went out and did what you said.
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he did what you said.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_01: You you know, you you you take it and you do it.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_01: You take the word of God and you do the word of God.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_01: If you take it and you set it on the shelf, like you said, if you put the tool on the shelf, the house doesn't get built.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people put the word of God right on the shelf, they don't apply it to their life, they don't use it.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I find that we miss our God-given purpose every day that God gave us.
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_01: He he assigned us.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_01: When he created us, he we already had an assignment.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like in my own life, I got saved at a very young age, I was 10 years old, but I didn't get any discipleship with it.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I didn't get that that tool that I needed to go, you know, where I think I could have gone, you know, if I would have had it.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I look back on that and I think, man, I lost so much time, so much opportunity, but now I have the tool, and now I get to use it effectively and I get to tell other people about it because I want them to not walk through you know that darkness, that that, you know, just being in oblivious all the time, you know, movement.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_01: And we do that, you know, a lot of people are doing this on their phone, and they're you see people walk into poles because they're oblivious.
• 52:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and it's like wake up, wake up and get the knowledge of God, you know.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's so important that we understand that He gave it to us so that we could function, you know, to the purpose that He designed for us, He created us.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely So it's so important.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that Bible verse, you have not because you ask not.
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_00: You ask you wrong with ask with wrong motives.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_00: But if we ask knowing that we are intended to be fruitful and multiply, yeah, and if we ask knowing that we get to bless our family, bless ourselves, bless those around us.
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I heard somebody say, I know the Bible says that we have to give to whoever asks, but we don't actually have to give them what they want.
• 53:21
  SPEAKER_00: We can give them what they need.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_00: And and that that word of God to be able to use it as a tool and take it off the shelf and know that I can create my world by quoting what's in this book and believing it and thinking it.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's so powerful.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_01: I I I I just I I I don't I I emphasize that a lot when I'm, you know, talking with people about how we do not use the word of God to its full capacity because um, you know, we lack, you know, it could be lack of faith or we just don't believe, or you know, we're not, we're not, we're, you know, I tell my daughter this.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_01: You you have not because you ask not.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_01: I tell her that all the time.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's funny that you brought that exact scripture up.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_01: And yes.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_01: I said, you know what, the Bible says to ask for things.
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, if you want things in life, ask for them.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_01: I said, the answer may be no.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes God tells me no.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes God knows what's best for me, just like I think I know what's best for you, I might tell you no.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_01: And she would tell me, Well, I don't ask, because I don't want you to tell me no.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, sometimes we need to take the no with no's with the yeses, you know, because that's how we learn.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_01: But we walk away with nothing, nothing if we don't ask at all.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so we don't even gain anything if we don't ask.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's okay if you get a no or a yes.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_01: At least you're getting something.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_00: And a no is really good.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I I love like the English language, the the entomology, how words come to be.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so we think of the word no, we get no's, and we have a nose on our face, and our nose is so important to our survival.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_00: We can smell things with it, we can kind of you know, ferret, discover things, give the smell test, as we call it.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_00: But when we get a no from someone, that should actually excite us more than getting a yes, because the no enables us to dig around a little bit more.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, look at my dog is like right here on the floor beside me, and that little dog, uh, it's like 14, he's gonna be 15 in May.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_00: Man, he still loves using his nose and smelling and finding things, and the the crows and the blue jays around here hide stuff in the grass.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_00: And this little dog is going to find it and take it.
• 55:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so those no's, whether it's on your face or just no with a S on it, because you're getting multiple no's, they're not negative responses, they're actually benefits to us, uh, just like the obstacles in our path.
• 55:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_01: I've heard the expression um, your nose knows.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, you know, in in like the K no W knows.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like your nose knows.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like when you smell it, you know that there's a fire.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_01: You you're you know, when you smell it, dinner's on the table.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when you smell it, you know, um, you know, you have to take out the trash.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, your nose knows what you know, some things, you know, and you know, those are the sense senses that God gave us, those um sensory perceptions that He instilled in us so that we can use them vitally for so many different things.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_01: Again, the knowledge, if we have that knowledge and we have the understanding and we understand where you know where it's taking us.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I believe that um a lot of times as we're you know going through this, I love that you you you you work with people on the financial um side of things because a lot of people think, well, you you're not supposed to go to work to get rich.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you're you can go to work and get rich as long as you're doing the right thing with your money.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, God wants you to have as much money as you want.
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_01: He doesn't care about your money, he doesn't even care how much you have, he wants you to have all the money, you know?
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you know, like the story about you know the the three men and the mites, you know, how many did they give each one?
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_01: Because he gave them, you know, he knew which one would do what with them in the stories, you know.
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so like God will give you more if he thinks he can trust you with more, and he wants you to have more.
• 57:18
  SPEAKER_00: And those four friends of success will help you acquire more as well.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I I have about 10 minutes left because I have an appointment at the top.
• 57:27
  SPEAKER_00: No problem.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_00: But the um just in in reference to that, the men that had the different uh talents that were given to them, one lived and worked and walked in fear.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_00: He was too afraid to make a mistake and lose some money in order to gain it.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't want to take risks, he didn't want to use his faith.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_00: So there's there's so many things that we can delve into in the scriptures and know that that uh Matthew 633 says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_00: I bet if you become a rich person, you're a better rich person being righteous than being unrighteous.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 58:14
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for that.
• 58:15
  SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, on that note, I know you got to get going.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it is time to start wrapping up anyway.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna start doing that.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_01: So um I do appreciate you being on here.
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's been it's wonderful getting to know you.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_01: I've I've listened to some podcasts, but now I get to hear, you know, your story.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 58:31
  SPEAKER_01: And if there's any any advice, one one specific thing that you could tell our listeners today um for someone who might just feel stuck.
• 58:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like I just can't can't go any further.
• 58:42
  SPEAKER_01: How do I get past this?
• 58:44
  SPEAKER_01: What what one thing could you tell them to help them um want to get out of that situation?
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_00: Seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it is we it's very true that we don't know what we don't know, but we can find out what we don't know.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_00: And there's so many light bulb moments and aha moments.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_00: And uh if there's somebody listening and you're really struggling with your finances, feel free to email us at 5am podcast.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_00: Susan and I will uh we'll we'll pray with you over the email and we'll expect and we'll know from experience that when we do this, people get the work that they're looking for.
• 59:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it takes a little while because there's seed, there's time, and there's harvest.
• 59:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but uh head over to 5ampodcast.com if you're struggling with finances because we can pray for you and we know that that your situation will turn around.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_01: Gotcha.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I will also make sure that I add that in the foot in our show notes so everybody has that information as well.
• 59:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Michael, thank you so much for your time and getting on here and sharing your your testimony and and and what you do and your story.
• 59:54
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I might be sending you one of those emails myself.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to know more.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and for our listeners, I just want to thank everyone for being here.
• 1:00:02
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you've enjoyed this um amazing episode of Crushing Strongholds.
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_01: And if you need prayer for anything, you can reach me at CrushingStrongholds.com.
• 1:00:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's where I can be reached for any um need for prayer or any clarity calls on just how to get over and conquer strongholds that are holding you back from your God-given purpose.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_01: So you reach out.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_01: Reach out.
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_01: I will put Michael's information in there.
• 1:00:25
  SPEAKER_01: You can reach out to him for any finance, financial vision, persistence, resilience, and wisdom information.
• 1:00:31
  SPEAKER_01: And um, for everyone listening, I hope you all have a great day.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, and y'all take care.
• 1:00:36
  SPEAKER_01: And until next time.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.