← Digital Social Hour
Digital Social Hour
How Hollywood Nearly Destroyed His Life... | Mark Koch | DSH #2061
00:47:09
He reached the top of Hollywood, made millions, and still felt completely empty. In this Digital Social Hour episode, Sean Kelly sits down with film producer Mark Koch to discuss producing Lost in Space and Black Dog, sudden success, addiction, family, faith, spiritual warfare, personal transformation, and the moment his Hollywood lifestyle nearly destroyed everything he cared about. Mark shares how he went from borrowing his sister’s credit card to producing major studio films. But behind the money, parties, cars, and box office success, he was living two lives and moving closer to burnout. The conversation follows the moment Mark realized that achieving his biggest dream had not brought him peace. He explains how returning to church changed his marriage, priorities, and direction, along with the spiritual battles he says followed. Mark also breaks down the daily system behind The First Hour, his 30-day faith-based routine built around prayer, scripture, family, accountability...
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- [00:00]
A
It's 2026, right? 2026. What is this world only 2026 years old? No, it's 2026 A.D. there's a Greek word for that which means after death. After death of who? After death of Christ. What person on this earth had more influence than the entire world, stopped the date basically and changed the calendar. And that's a fact. There's only two places you're going. I'm not getting into fire and brimstone. And the Bible says I am the way, the truth and the light. No one comes to the Father except through me. I'd rather believe it and find out it's not true than not believe it and find out it is true.
- [00:44]
B
All right, guys, here in LA at biohackers World, we got Mark on the show. He spent a lot of time out here. Thanks for coming back.
- [00:50]
A
Oh, yeah, I'm back.
- [00:51]
B
Came back for, for the pod.
- [00:52]
A
It, it's, it's unique. I'm passing a lot of my old stomping ground places, you know.
- [00:56]
B
Yeah.
- [00:58]
A
So, yeah, I'm honored to be here.
- [01:00]
B
Yeah. How many years did you spend out here back when you were mine?
- [01:02]
A
Oh, gosh, I was here from 1992 to 1998.
- [01:07]
B
Okay, so six years.
- [01:08]
A
Yeah, six years. Quick little six hard years, buddy. You went hard, I went hard.
- [01:12]
B
You went hard, produced a couple number one movies.
- [01:14]
A
I'm gonna lay it out for you. And so, you know, I'm just lucky to be here. Put it that way.
- [01:18]
B
Yeah. Yeah. Let's dive in from 92. Did you have immediate success when you got out here?
- [01:22]
A
I didn't, I didn't. My background. I don't have any background in film at all. Matter of fact, I'm from Detroit, Michigan, and I have a degree in automotive marketing that took a two year associate's degree, but always had a dream to be a Hollywood producer. So I actually snuck through the gate of Paramount. Okay, this is back in my, what I call my pre Christian days. I was pretty good finesser, man. I had car experience, you know, and got through the gates of Paramount and ended up getting a first look deal. And it's interesting because Hollywood has these trends. You know, if they're making westerns, every studio is saying, find me a Western. So. And I happened to be here just when they're doing remakes of TV series. And as fate would have it, I mean, they were doing Batman, Lassie, you name it, anything they could scoop up. And I ended up looking. We actually have phone books back there. Most your listeners won't Even know what they look like. I got it one and looked up Irwin Allen and he passed away. He's the creator, Blossom Space. And he passed away like three months before I came here. But his widow was in the phone book, convinced her to have breakfast with me. Ended up buying the rights, optioning the rights to Lost in Space, the TV series and the rest is history. So soon as I got out here, I ended up having a bidding war between New Line Cinema and Fox. And at that time there was a young buck at New Line, the president and said, here's $90 million, go make your movie. And I look back at it and that was a game changer in my life because I actually borrowed my sister's American Express card to get out here. Okay. That's a whole other PODC podcast how I actually got through the gates of Paramount. And it was interesting because I had all. I didn't know anything about movies, nothing. And I had all these film school grads working for me as interns. And I'd be asking them, like, what's turnaround mean? Or option like boss, are you serious? You don't. I said no. So I look back at my life now and it was just fate. I call it a God thing. Honestly, you know, we all have a divine destiny. That was my destiny. And Lost in Space came out, knocked Titanic out of first, set a box office record for the highest April opening ever. And Sean, I was. I had an eagle the size of Manhattan. I mean, I thought I was all that. So from really having nothing, borrowing my sister's American Express card to having several million in the bank. Okay.
- [03:47]
B
And that was a lot back then.
- [03:48]
A
Oh yeah. And, and also thinking I'm all that. And the key was, is that I lost my father at age 26. He passed away at 51. And you know how they say a man never becomes his own man till he loses his father? And we have a father crisis in here. We're going to talk more about that, okay? And my dad was very loving, great relationship, but very strict. And man, I got involved in the Hollywood elite. I get millions of dollars buying the cars, okay? And it's interesting because I had nobody to hold me accountable. So I was running in the A league party boys in all the Hollywood favors, okay. And some the A plus guys. And I'll tell you, I was on the highway in my life to self destruction. And that was, that's how I got in Hollywood. I mean, end up buying the rights. Flash forward a second film came out and it was a truck movie. That I optioned, called Black Dog, and that's with Patrick Swayze and Meatloaf and Randy Travis. Well, lost in Space, I shot in London. It took me 18 months. And what's interesting, your listeners will love this. So this is in 1998, it came out, and we spent 45 million on special effects.
- [05:06]
B
Wow.
- [05:07]
A
And the one special effects is Matt LeBlanc, you know, from Friends, Joey. And it's his helmet coming down like this. Like, look at that. Well, my kids and my boys, probably your age, we watched it a couple years ago, and it's almost embarrassing to watch. Like, dad, we got to watch the rest of this. I mean, this thing's cheesy. I mean, I. I could. I could watch the helmets coming, you know, he goes, dad, I can do that on my iPhone, on an app, you know, and it's true. The technology has come so far, but Black dog, it took 18 months.
- [05:38]
B
We.
- [05:39]
A
We shot it in London. We built like 600, 000 square feet of set.
- [05:44]
B
Geez.
- [05:44]
A
And I would. But I was partying, partying, partying. We got through it. Black Dog was a truck movie. It only took me a month to make that came out. So I had two in the top 10 at the same time. And, buddy, I thought I was all that. You know, I was running hard, so that's. That's how I got into the business.
- [06:03]
B
Wow. So you got in quick and peaked quick.
- [06:05]
A
Oh, yeah, yeah.
- [06:06]
B
Within a couple years, it sounds like.
- [06:08]
A
Yeah, it was. It was quick. 92. It was 1992. I signed my deal with Paramount, and then in about a year later, I optioned the rights to Lawson Space, and we did a lot of other development projects. So it happened quick. We started making that came out in 1998. Okay. But it takes a long time once you get that green light, to cast it, to build it. We had 18 months of pre production, so.
- [06:32]
B
Wow. Just before you film.
- [06:34]
A
Yeah, it was four years of just running hard, doing hard, and found myself at the end of that, backing up. Interestingly enough, I signed my deal with Paramount, met the love of my life, got engaged, got married, and I was literally living two lives. I had the Mark Cook Hollywood life. And I flew back every single weekend to see my one son, Blake. We were discussing him earlier, the NASCAR driver. He's from a first marriage, so I flew, like 1.8 million miles. Three years. Every weekend I went home.
- [07:10]
B
Why?
- [07:10]
A
To be a dad.
- [07:11]
B
Was that on the east coast or.
- [07:13]
A
Yeah, it was. I was living in West Palm Beach, Florida.
- [07:15]
B
Oh. It's literally.
- [07:16]
A
And There was no direct flight, bro. So it was like, stop in Orlando every weekend. I think I missed maybe one weekend.
- [07:22]
B
Damn. So you were a very committed father.
- [07:24]
A
But not only that, but I was hitting it hard so I'd go home. I mean, I was there, but was I really there? It was recovery. I was partying like crazy, drinking like crazy. And that's when we'll get into it, you know, I had this massive transformation because my wife got keen on the something's wrong with him, you know, saying I'm going to be somewhere and then coming home three days later. When I found myself, as a lot of people do in my pre Christian days, without a relationship, a daily relationship with God, I became a professional liar. And I lived two lives. And you think it's all great because I had all my worldly possessions. And my dream came true. My dream from Detroit was, man, I want a number one movie. Well, it came true and I found myself. My wife had enough. She basically threw me out. We're in West Palm. I moved out. Lost. Flash forward. Lost in space came out April 1998. That's when it knocked Titanic out. And here's my transformation. We'll jump right into it. Never forget it. I was up for several days, you know, doing things I shouldn't be doing. And of course, everything's my wife's fault. I spoil her. You know, when you're doing things and you're living in a lifestyle of sin, you like to blame everybody else. But anyway, so I'm living on my own. I remember driving down Okeechobee Boulevard in Palm Beach. And back then, you guys probably remember this, we didn't have the big digital things. We had those big long poles on the marquees outside like amc. And they had to reach it up with suction cups. And I remember pulling over on the side of the road. Lost in Space was up there and Black Dog was up there. Both of them. It's probably like seven in the morning and we get a drink.
- [09:19]
B
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- [09:57]
A
It was. It was an emotional, transformational time in my life. I was tired, I was exhausted. I was just on the highway to self destruction. Remember pulling over and watching him pull that L down from Lost in Space. And it kind of hit me. I went back to where I was staying and I'm sitting on the beach and like, wow, my dream came true. All my dream. All my dreams came true. I had all the worldly possessions. I had everything that the world may think, man, this guy's successful, he's on the top of his game. And yet I was miserable, okay? I'm losing my wife, who now we have two little kids at the time, babies, and I'm just alone. I remember sitting on the beach and I. I had a God experience. You know, I wasn't on drugs. I wasn't. I was tired, okay? And I was depressed and I was filled with anxiety because all my worldly dreams came true. But there was an emptiness in there. I remember sitting on the beach and over and over my mind, look at you. You're lost in space. You're losing everything. Okay? Your life's a mess, your wife doesn't want you out, you're losing everything. It was like this big emptiness of everything came true, yet I was miserable. And next up were. That was the first time I really had a God experience. I did. I just felt the presence of God telling me, look at you, you're lost in space. Get it together. And without having a dad again, I didn't have anybody to hold me accountable. So I was young, wild and free, buddy.
- [11:37]
B
So you were atheist prior to that experience?
- [11:39]
A
No, I was actually born and raised Catholic. I graduated from a Catholic high school. I always tell people, look, I got the broken knuckles to prove it from the nuns.
- [11:48]
B
They actually broke your knuckles?
- [11:49]
A
No, I'm joking.
- [11:50]
B
So they spanked you though, right?
- [11:52]
A
Oh, yeah, man. They get you good. You know, but it's interesting because I always believed in God. I believed in Christ, but it was a more of a traditional thing. We went to church on Christmas and Easter. Yeah, that's it.
- [12:09]
B
So I was always a lot of Christians.
- [12:11]
A
Exactly. I was a believer, but I didn't have a relationship like I do now. I mean, literally, my life, I'm filled with joy. It's been a crazy battle. We're going to talk about some of the spiritual battles out here. Yeah, for sure. It was, as I look back I'm like, thank you, Lord. And I just said all the time, like, thank you, Jesus, for saving me, for pulling me out. Because it was an instant transformation for me, almost like in the Bible. For you believers out there that know the Bible, it was a Saul of Paul transformation. Because what happened after the beach experience? Somebody showed up at the place I was staying at, and it was a friend of my wife's husband. Never met him. He shows up and, man, I'm a mess. You know, I'm tired, right? He's like, I. I'm tired of waking up at three in the morning and. And. And you. So I'm over here to tell you, do you believe in God? That's the last thing I wanted to hear, is have somebody come tell me, do you believe in God? Okay? And I said, of course I do. I'm Catholic, you know. No, do you believe in God? He said, well, here's a Bible. He threw a Bible at me. I'm like, get out of here. You know? And I tell people, if it wasn't for all those crazy Christians, I probably would have got saved. We call it the Christian world a lot, you know, a lot sooner. And he invited me to church. I went to church the next morning. And this is important because here's where everything just really radically changed for me. And because, Sean, I was tired, man. I mean, you can't run hard, hard without eventually just hitting burnout.
- [13:47]
B
Yeah.
- [13:47]
A
You know, and you could probably tell by my personality right now, when I hit it, I hit it hard, buddy.
- [13:53]
B
I bet.
- [13:53]
A
You know what I mean?
- [13:54]
B
I could picture it.
- [13:54]
A
So it's like eight vodka tonics. That's just a warm up, man. Where's the party favors? You know, and just obsessive. And so there's something in me, like, go to church and I show up at this church. It's called Christ Fellowship and Giant Church in Palm beach. They got about 30,000 members. Wow.
- [14:14]
B
So it's a megachurch.
- [14:15]
A
It's a megachurch. It wasn't at the time. It was small. And, you know, God knows how to get our attention because me missing my father and not having that father figure walked into church. And it's interesting because my wife was too down. I'm like, oh, no, you got to be kidding me. You know, And I had a lot of pride in me, and nothing's my fault, okay? You know, you're living this lie that I'm a good person. Nothing's my fault. And the pastor came out. Never forget it. And he looked right at me, big Ex football coach. If you think that you can live in perpetual sin, okay, without consequences, you can't. And he looked right at me and points and you get a grip. It was almost like, okay. And it was at that time at, at the end, I was choked up. And we're going to talk a little bit about demons too. People don't like talk about, okay, I do. Okay. And it's. We're going to get real on it. Because I was so full of demons. The demon of pride, the spirit of lying that's just filled. And I had a lump in my throat. So I thought I was going to die in church fighting it, but that music's coming on. I just wanted the ball, you know. And he invited people up for the altar call. And my knees shake. And I went up and I went to the altar because all of us want something. All of us in us want a better life. We want joy, we want peace, you know, And I believe it. I love that one sticker. It says, N O Jesus, no peace. No Jesus, no peace. And then it says, K, N O W. No Jesus, no peace. Okay. Everybody's looking for peace and joy. So I went up the altar and here was my prayer man. I said, lord, I thought I'm a sinner. Forgive me, Wash me, cleanse me. Make me the man you want me to be. I give you my life. I surrender. And the presence again, like the beach was, wow. The feeling of relief was amazing. And I got up and my wife's hugging me. I moved back into my house. I'm thinking, okay, this is great. And as the pastor was saying, once you're, for once you accept Christ and you ask him to forgive you, your sins are gone. They're in the past. They're gone, they're washed clean. I felt that I did, but okay, I'll never forget. And a lot of people can relate to this. I'm sure the pastor saying every time somebody gives their life to Christ, there's a thousand angels rejoicing. What he didn't tell me was that if you believe in God and you believe in Jesus, you better believe in Satan because he's real. Okay. What he didn't tell me is there's also an adversary that when somebody first gives their life to Christ, there's plenty of scripture on it, like a siege long authority. He wants to pluck them out. But me being in media and you know, that's a big influence. And I'm going to get a little biblical with you. Okay, I'm just quoting from the Bible. God gave Satan the authority. He actually gave him the name Prince of the air, okay? And he gave him dominion and authority over the air. And what's the air? Media. You know, it's like somebody told me the other day, that phone is. Can be used for good, and it could surely be used for bad. I don't think there's any mistake that. Especially with apple, if you look at the logo, the logo is a bite out of it. What is the very first sin ever, that's the beginning of sin, is the apple with a bite out of it, okay? And what that phone is doing to a lot of our youth, our younger youth, with the. With the axis of the pornography and the bullying, it's a tool that I believe, though, in my heart the enemy's using, but it can be used for the good, okay? And so what the pastor didn't tell me is that old Lucifer down there, I call him Junior because he's a joy robber, okay? I could see him sitting around the table saying, boys, we got a problem. Cookie just gave his life to Jesus. Get him. Okay? There truly is a spiritual war going on. For our souls especially, There is a spiritual battle. And me being a filmmaker, I see it above there. You know, you look out in the sky, it doesn't end. If you really start getting analytical at night, especially the stars, it doesn't end. And we're sitting here. Pinch yourself. Our body is intricate. We're created. I go through a whole thing about evolution versus creation. I got a good one on that. But we're creative. And so the bottom line is the enemy wants to take you out. The enemy's sole job is to divide and conquer. And he's doing a pretty good job right now with the US and the world.
- [18:51]
B
Very good job, okay?
- [18:53]
A
That's his number one tactic, divide and conquer. So when he's down there saying, oh, Cookie gave his life to Jesus, get him, okay? And I'll tell you, man, here we go on this. And too many churches now, they don't want to give the enemy or demons or anybody any stage time. Spiritual warfare is real. I even got one tattoo. It's the only tat I got at 60. It's Ephesians 6:11. And Ephesians 6:11 says, Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand up to everything the devil throws your way. Interestingly enough, 33%, almost a third of Jesus ministry was casting out demons. You read them. Demons are real. Okay? So, Sean, I went through this up now. I'd Be in church on Sunday. Thank you, Jesus. I'm back with my wife by Wednesday. I'm just gonna have one little vodka tonic, you know what I mean? Led to the earth or nothing. Up, down, up, down, you know, just falling all the time, trying to be good. And I realized that there's consequences to sin. Because the other thing I didn't tell you, I got so much content, man. So you just have to roll with me, you know? What I didn't tell you is after I gave my life to Christ, within three months, we lost everything. Okay? I went from, what am I driving today? The Porsche, the Jagger, the Rover. We had a 7,000 square foot house, okay? On one floor. I always tell people the master bedroom's like 1600 square feet. And I'm thinking, what am I thinking, man? The bathroom's 90ft away. You get up in the middle of the night, have to go to the bathroom. It's ego, you know? And we lost everything. Two of my stuntmen on Black Dog, the movie, our guys, they were loading gas bombs underneath the trailers. Five gallon gas bombs. And as they're loading them, somebody triggered the switch. Freak accident. They blew up like 60ft in the air.
- [20:52]
B
Holy crap.
- [20:53]
A
But they're on fire and they're full of gas. So when they went down, couldn't. Couldn't put them out. One of my. One of them lived for a little bit, and the hospital just melted. The other one died instantly. And these were two of my stuntmen that I brought over from England from London. Crushing, crushing blow. And so what happens is the family, they're gonna sue Universal Pictures, they're gonna sue Prelude Pictures of me, and they're gonna sue me personally.
- [21:18]
B
I lost.
- [21:19]
A
And there's a $42 million judgment. Wham. Whoa. So we went from three months, giving my life to Christ, three months later. And you know, when you get that kind of a judgment, they just. They tell the judge, hey, man, he's at risk of transferring assets. Freeze, man. They froze everything.
- [21:35]
B
Damn.
- [21:36]
A
We went from that 7,000 square foot apartment three months to an 800 square foot apartment. Okay? From the house, the apartment. But I can tell you that 700, that 800 square foot apartment was more of a home than that 7,000 square foot house ever was. I didn't even want to go home. My wife didn't like me. You know, it's just turmoil. And that's when. Because I surrendered and gave my life to Christ, I see it now. I look back because I'm back on the rise. Successfully. We'll talk about that. But when you really surrender your life and if you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I don't even have to ask the questions, even though I will ask your listeners. How do you feel when you get up in the morning? Are you filled with anxiety? You feel the stress? You just don't feel any joy? It's like another day I want to do. Or you get up and say, man, today's a new day. Love it. Thank you for the new day. I'm going to go do this and that. And I believe with all my heart, without that relationship and without be grant, without being grounded in the word, okay, you can't have peace, you can't have joy. So what to me, I look back and it's kind of like I can hear God saying, all right, he gave his life to me. He really means it. He said, change me. Mold me. Make me the man you want to be. As long as this cat's got a couple million in the bank, this is going to be very temporary. I'm keep going up, down, up, down, down. We lost it all, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
- [23:08]
B
Wow, what a crazy ride.
- [23:10]
A
Oh, it's just insane. And then. And it gets crazier. So when you. When you want to talk about some of the spiritual battles, let me know on that and tell you out here,
- [23:18]
B
I'm curious on that.
- [23:19]
A
All right. So during my transformation, again, going to church on Sunday, feeling great after leaving church, man, just. And you kind of get tired of asking for forgiveness, you know, in the Christian community, it's like, lord, cleanse me. Wash me clean with your blood. I'm thinking, man, he's going to run out of blood here. If I keep this. Up, down, up, down. I mean, I'm a sinner. And I used to just say to myself, why do I keep doing the things I don't want to do? And, lord, I gave you my life. Why can't I just do the things I want to do? And I'll give you that reason. So stripped me down to nothing, okay. And that's what I call sanctification period. And so the battles were intense. I came back to Hollywood because I'm still dabbling. Here I go onto my office at Paramount, I'd have pentagrams. You know what pentagram is? It's a sign of Satan drawn on my car. Oh, yeah, Okay. I got a letter. Letters to my house in Palm Beach. Poems from, like, witches, clans and stuff. Oh, they're real. So you have two films now you're well on your way. One in London and one in la. My wife's like, who said any of this stuff? I go, I don't know. And the bottom line is the people that I was hanging with before I got transformed, so to speak. Okay, there is absolutely, unequivocally. Well, first of all, the Church of Satan's up on Sunset Boulevard, okay? Anton lavey, who founded the Church of Satan. And they're dedicated, okay? They have what you call, I don't want to call it mass, okay? They meet every night at 3am and they'll cast out demons and do things. As a Christian, the enemy's harmless against me. And I'll tell you why, especially in the book, harmless. I have authority over him. But if you're not, you're open and it's right here is where he's getting you. Thought, influence, phone pornography and anything and everything you do to steal your joy, okay? And so getting the poems, I've had it where, you know, I came back here, I stayed at the Peninsula. I walked in an actual. I got to tell you this story.
- [25:25]
B
I got to hear this.
- [25:26]
A
I'm going to make doggone sure my kids and wife aren't listening to this one. But so I walk into the. Don't forget, I'm a new Christian now. I'm trying to be good because I know that when I'm good, I'm happy, I'm filled with joy. And when I fall into sin, there's conviction. I'm miserable. That's just. There's no happiness, okay? And that's why I tell you Satan's a joy robber. And one of the scriptures says he roams the earth like a roaring lion looking for somebody to devour. He wants to come, rob, steal and destroy. It's real, okay? It's real. So the people I was hanging with, the people I was partying with, there is absolutely, unequivocally. Witches clans, you know, they witch, they're harmless to me, but they can do certain things. Ouija boards, Tarot cards that. Listen, if you call. Look, if you don't call on evil, there's enough pressure on you. If you call on evil. Oh, it'll come. You start playing with the cult and stuff.
- [26:26]
B
Yeah.
- [26:27]
A
And there's a power in that, okay? On the earthly power. And so because of some of these people I knew and everybody hears I'm a Christian going to the Peninsula, I checked in, it's about 11 o'. Clock. I just felt something pressing, something piercing at me and I said, I'm uncomfortable here. It was interesting, Sean, because after I gave my life to Christ, when I'd come to la, even when I would land, I would just, like, feel the oppression, feel the. The darkness. So I walk into the bathroom, kind of this girl comes in the bathroom, and of course, looks like somebody just walked out of Victoria's Secrets, you know, drop that gorgeous black little dress on. Okay.
- [27:06]
B
Bathroom.
- [27:07]
A
The men's bathroom in the Peninsula Hotel.
- [27:09]
B
The men's bathroom.
- [27:11]
A
So I'm checking in the counter. I feel somebody staring at me. Look over, I just see this girl staring at me. So I get my key and I go this way and bolt into the bathroom in the lobby.
- [27:22]
B
Yeah.
- [27:22]
A
And I'm in there, and I'm kind of like going like this. And the door opens and it's her. She just looks at me. She goes, hey. I go, oh, this is the men's bathroom. She goes, hey, Mark. Okay? I'm like. I'm thinking some of my buddies are at the bar putting them up, you know, I'm saying, okay, who's. Who's out there? Simon? Is Dave out there? Jim, who sent you? He goes, no. She said, why are you running from us? And her, the intensity says, why are you running from us? What are you talking about? And she pulls both straps. She goes, you know, you're one of us. Why are you running from us? Pulls it, drops down. There's two pentagrams just like on my car, on her breast. Tattooed.
- [27:58]
B
What?
- [27:58]
A
Tattooed. And I said. Then I knew it wasn't a joke. I said, away from me. This. And that. Bolted out. Went through him. Actually called my wife. Told my wife what happened. Holy. So I was targeted with where I'd have stuff buried around my house. My sister went through a lot of spiritual warfare. It's too long of a story because we don't have time. So. Up, down, up, down. And nobody really told me about the armor of God. Put on the forearm of God that so you will be able to stand up to everything. And when we talk about my book next, I'm gonna tell you about that. And it's a game changer, okay? It's just there is a spiritual battle going on right now for your soul, but more importantly, like, to your listeners, okay? How do you feel each day? How do you feel right now with the pressure, the anxiety, the comparisons, the worry? Especially worry about tomorrow, okay? And there's a great Bible scripture says for why worry about tomorrow? Can't add a single day to your life. And we don't know if we're going to be here. I was talking to one of your guys. He, your technical guys here. You say just saw somebody die on the street down there. Where are you going when you die? Okay. And the most important thing is today matters. Today matters. The enemy's here to rob you of everything. Jesus Christ is here to give you peace, to give you joy under all circumstances. And I can tell you, people thought that this was going to be short lived for me. Oh, he's a Christian now. Wait till Christmas. He'll be partying stuff. It's been 18 years, okay? I did this book in 2005.
- [29:32]
B
Wow.
- [29:32]
A
I get up each morning, I'm filled with joy. I'm filled with peace. The reason I know the Bible's real, because it says, in this world you will have many troubles. Well, isn't that the truth? The difference is how I handle troubles. Now, nothing fazes me. Nothing. The challenges. There's power in prayer and there's power in the hour. That's the book I'm going to tell you about because I didn't write a book. I'm not an author. And I'm going to prove to you and your listeners that this was directly led through me, through the Holy Spirit, okay? Because what happened was as I was up, down, up, down, up, down. I finally cried out. I cried out to God. And if you're listening to this program, there's. This isn't a coincidence, okay? God reaches out to all of us in our spirit. We're reaching out for a higher power, something that, something that fills with peace and purpose. He's got a unique purpose for each and every one of us. And unless we accept him and follow him and live a life in obedience, obedience equals blessings. Disobedience equals discipline. And I realize every time I sinned, I'd get grounded. So finally I'm miserable. I said, lord, why do I keep doing the things. It's been three years now since I'm a Christian. It's miserable. This up down stuff, stealing my joy. Lord, why do I continue to do the things I don't want to do? Why can't I do the things I want to do? Help me. It was at that time, the next morning I woke up at 5:55am sharp. Boom. And the way God speaks to you, it's not audible if he's speaking to you audible or something like that and somebody's telling you, God told me this and I heard him this morning. You might want a demon, right? Yeah. Yeah. And over and over my mind. Get up Give me your first hour. Tithe your time to me. Which was interesting. Tithe your time. What's interesting? In the Bible, the only thing that we're allowed to test God on is tithing. We're supposed to give him the first fruits of our income. And it says in there, I think it said, micah, test me on this. You can't outgive me. Okay? So at this three year battle, I was always tithing my first fruits.
- [31:50]
B
10%, right?
- [31:50]
A
And he's keeping me alive. 10%. And I just said, tithe your time. Give me your first hour. And I'm thinking, try to go back to sleep, get up, give me your first hour. 30 minutes of prayer. 30 minutes of reading my word. Now, me back then, I'm thinking, 30 minutes of prayer. You know, this is God because I'm thinking, what the heck am I going to pray for for 30 minutes? This isn't Mark Cook saying, I think I need to get up and start giving God my first hour. Okay? And I'm going to do 30 minutes of prayer. So try to go back to sleep. Got up, went upstairs, and supernaturally, my desk is bigger than this thing. I got scripts everywhere and, you know, little add kicking in, but I know where everything's at, okay? And my desk is perfectly clear, nothing on it. There's one book sitting on the center of my desk called Prayers Avail Much by Jermaine Copeland. That book's probably sold 20 million copies. What's this? And it said, happy birthday, Stephanie, from her friend. And my wife decided to clean my desk and she put it on there, thinking I could use it more than her. I said, well, this is interesting, and this is important for your listeners. Okay? This is interesting. The book's about this thick. There's 287 prayers. All right, Lord, I'm supposed to give you my first hour. I'm gonna take yellow sticky notes and I'm gonna pray for 30 minutes. But I'm gonna label em first, second, third. So I'm gonna do it every day for 30 days. It was a direct order in my mind, saying, give me your first hour, 30 minutes of prayer. 30 minutes reading my word for 30 days. I'm gonna rock your world. So I did that, and I randomly picked prayers out. And there's no coincidence. The first three prayers, and we're not gonna have time to get into it, are massive. They're three keys to unlock powerful, effective prayer. Okay? And I did the same thing, and they're in perfect order. There's 18 prayers. So then I said, okay, 30 minutes of reading your word. Now what do I do? Here's the good news, guys. It's a checkoff list. I'm not an author, okay? There's seven steps. And I said, well, here's my Bible. There's 240 pages in the New Testament divided by 30, that's only eight pages a day. If I read four pages of the New Testament, I've read the whole Bible. I read the book of Proverbs, and there's a checkoff list. I have to spend an hour with my wife, half hour with my kids. It's a boot camp. But these 18 prayers have radically transformed people's lives. The first three prayers especially to date, we've given away about 530,000. Okay, we give the first book away free. I Sean, there is no Oscar. There's no trophy. There's no big win. There's nothing that can give me the joy of when I get testimony after testimony after testimony of people's lives that have been radically changed from doing this boot camp. Because I say you can't spend your first hour with God, honoring him in prayer and reading his word without him showing up. And I challenge your readers. I'm telling you, I'm living proof that the joy, the biggest blessing isn't financially. The biggest blessing on the planet during our temporary home here is peace, joy and purpose. What are you here for, Lord? What am I here for? So again, to your listeners, if you're getting up in the morning and you're filled with anxiety and just frustration, anger, addictions, everything, Jesus Christ can rid them all when you get serious about it. I'm living proof. But again, back to the Oscars. I get testimony saying, I got one from a woman saying, mark, thank you for being obedient. My husband's a new man. I thought this wouldn't last. So I didn't write you, but I'm writing you three months later to say, he did your first hour. He's sticking to it. He's now, our marriage has grown stronger. He's now bonded with his 16 year old son. He is a changed man. Okay, thank you. I'm like, well, thank you. Testimony after testimony. I could do two hours of testimonies. Two hours. So I tell people, I'm not here to preach and let's do the prayer of salvation together. Sean, come on, man. Because if you're listening to this, if I'm sitting here, there's a reason I believe God's reaching out. And I tell people, if you're allowed to test God, on tithing your income, which I've done, and you can't outgive them, okay? Test him on tithing your time with him and watch him reveal his purpose. We all have a divine destiny, a divine purpose. And we're here for a reason, you know, and today matters. Instead of just going along and I'm telling you, no Jesus, no peace. Okay? K, N O W. I'm living proof. And I do this as you know too. I speak at churches everywhere and they say, what's the speaking fee? Zero.
- [36:51]
B
Wow.
- [36:52]
A
I pay for my own flight. I flew out here on my own dime. We give the books away free. I'm investing because I see my battles against the enemy. And I have a thing. I got acronyms, you know. One is era. And it's interesting because God does wake me up like at 3:30 in the morning and gives me these Ackermans. I got seven of them. Now I'm going to do a book called Seven Ackermans from the Throne Room. But one was important, is ERA Eternal Retirement Account. What are you sending him? What are you Blessing ahead. And that's what hit me. I said, okay, I've lost so many of my friends in death. I sat with hospice with my mom to watch them die. And I had some crazy experiences with my mom. Like, I see those angels again, wings, you know, if you sit with somebody when they're dying and then she goes, oh no, here comes the dark ones again. There is a battle, okay, what do
- [37:44]
B
you think's going on with that?
- [37:45]
A
That there, there's just a battle for the soul, depending where you're at. And. And the again, there's a realm if. If filming wise of dark angels versus waring angels. They're there, you know, and it's interesting. I get in trouble. You don't live in la. I get in trouble when I say this, but I'm gonna say it anyway. Okay? So it says in the Bible, which is a fact, that when God cast Satan down to the earth, a third of the angels fell with him, okay? And that's just the fact. So he sent a third of the angels down and God told him, you're now the Prince of the earth. He actually in the Bible called him king of the world. This is yours. But he gives you and I a choice who we're going to follow. Are we going to go for obedience or are we going to live in the world? And not to get off track here, but God's given us free will. But there's only two sources. You get your thoughts from the Holy Spirit, God, okay? Or the world or the enemy. You have free will, thoughts, thinking, but your source is only two things I'm telling you when you walk in obedience. Okay? There's nothing, nothing on the planet again. I keep going back to Oscars and seeing, seeing so many people change. There's nothing anywhere. No money, no fame. Nothing compares to the blessing of peace, joy, happiness, okay? Enjoying why we're here on this temporary home. Because we're going somewhere. Yeah, you know we're going somewhere. So I got off track like I usually do, buddy. But the book, we've given away 500 some thousand. The first books free. I challenge people and I say, if you get up each morning, you're filled with joy, you're filled with peace. You're like, today's gonna be a great day. I'm loving it. Your marriage is good, your relationship with your children are great. Then you don't need the book, okay? I can probably assure most of your listeners they're not. They're probably struggling with some kind of addiction. Not a good one, okay? Especially on the phone kind of stuff. They're anxious, they're worried, they don't know what their real purpose is. They're lost. That's why one of my testimonies on my website is called Lost in Space, Saved by Grace. I'm just here to encourage people. And again, the era. That's what I was talking about, Sean, okay? The era. Every book I give away is a deposit in my era, which everybody has their ira, which we're down here feeling good and retire, okay? The ERA is the eternal retirement account. There's only two places you're going. I'm not getting into fire and brimstone. And the Bible says I am the way, the truth and the light. No one comes to the Father except through me. And when people tell me you really believe that and stuff, I got a great secular way to say, well, they say Jesus Christ is the only way in the heaven, eternal life, okay? And I'd rather believe that because it comes from the number one best selling book on the planet. Nothing's ever sold more than that. And I heard, okay, I'd rather believe that, okay, Than not to believe it and find out it's true. Okay? I'd rather believe it and find out it's not true. I'm saying, than not believe it and find out it is true.
- [41:05]
B
Yeah.
- [41:06]
A
Heaven or hell? Heaven or hell. It's interesting you had some guests on Muslim versus Christian or something. They're going through it. I got it we'll close with this and tell you how to get the book. A couple things that rationalize with me. I said, okay, Jesus Christ, we have all these other religions. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the light. Nobody comes to the Father except through me. And I got a question to people that are following other religions. What's the date today? It's March. Coincidentally, it's Palm Sunday. To Catholics, it's Palm Sunday, which is the beginning of Holy Week right? Now there's. I don't think that's a coincidence here. And I didn't even know. It's 2026, right? 2026. What is the Earth? Is this world only 20, 26 years old? No, no, it's 2026 A.D. and there's a Greek word for that which means after death. After death of who? Well, could be anybody after death of Christ. I'll tell you why. 3,000 years, I mean, 20, 30 years ago, what was the date? Four, right? For what? BC what person on this earth had more influence than the entire world, stopped the date basically and changed the calendar. And that's a fact. You always. These dinosaurs are from 400 B.C. b.C. Means what? Before Christ. Is it BM? Does it say before Muhammad? Was it BB say before Buddha? Okay, it's before Christ. It's the Bible is the most undisputed word of God. You could talk about it, and here's the bottom line. I know, and your listeners can see it, okay? That is radically transforming, okay? And I'm not out to just preach and condone to everybody. I'm out to say, give us a shot. Spend 30 days in this boot camp. And if it doesn't radically transform you and fill you with peace. And the good news is the armor of God. Prayers there. So I'm going to save you three years of getting slaughtered. I got slaughtered the first three years. It's putting on the forearm of God. It's praying for your wife, praying for me. This book is a game changer, and it's free, okay? So I'm telling you, I want all your listeners that. That really are just battling with everyday life. You know, everybody's dealing with something. And what I want to do is just see people live for today, enjoy today, and know the undisputed word of truth, which is Jesus Christ and salvation and the Bible. And my challenge is test him on says you can test them on tithing. Test them on it. And I can tell you tens of thousands of people have tested on it and have radically transformed their life. So they can get a free copy because of you. They can go to the first hour.com sk and the reason I'm doing this. I'm helping you build your era.
- [44:06]
B
Thank you.
- [44:07]
A
Because anybody gets the book, and I'll tell you, it's. It's a game changer, man, and I wish we had more time. I know we're running out of time.
- [44:16]
B
We'll do a part two at some point. I'm sure you'll be in Vegas one of these days.
- [44:19]
A
Anytime you want to go. Because there's a lot of different topics. I'm giving you little pieces. I could take any one of these things, like the battles and spiritual battles, which you're. I go for an hour on that and tell you stories that are movies.
- [44:31]
B
I mean, the one you did say about the bathroom is nuts.
- [44:33]
A
So there's one far better than that happened to my sister who drove her car through a church on Christmas Eve, running from the devil that she didn't believe in. It's endless. No, I got some really good ones. But, man, I just appreciate. I also wanted to say congratulations. I see what God's using you for in your life.
- [44:51]
B
Thank you.
- [44:52]
A
In your podcast, it's not an easy thing. A lot of people would love to be what you're doing. So you are truly blessed, my friend. Truly blessed.
- [44:59]
B
Thank you. Yeah. I see myself as almost not a vessel, but, like, I kind of can disseminate information through my guests.
- [45:05]
A
I challenge that book. I challenge you.
- [45:07]
B
Yeah, I'll give it a read. Yeah, I will. Well, it's not even a book you read.
- [45:11]
A
That's right.
- [45:11]
B
Right in it.
- [45:12]
A
Yeah. Well, the prayers are powerful.
- [45:13]
B
Yeah.
- [45:14]
A
Game changer.
- [45:14]
B
Cool. Well, Mark, thanks for your time, man. Anything else you want? Should we talk about the jerky real quick, too?
- [45:19]
A
Oh, yeah, Yeah. I sent you a text when you're telling me, you know, there's a picture of Dale Earnhardt Jr. And my two boys. You know, my son Blake, who was a former NASCAR driver, number 11. He retired about six years ago and started a business with Dale Earnhardt Jr. And my youngest son, 26, Christian, who was a musician, but not quite making. It's like, man, you gotta start. It's time for you to start making some money here, buddy. You know, he goes, I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna sell grandpa's jerky. It's an old family recipe, and I hate beef jerky. And 30 years ago, they kept trying to get me to taste my grandpa's jerky. I said, I hate jerky. No. I finally gave in and said, fine, I'll shut everybody up and taste. I'm like, wait a minute. Wow. Because hand cut London broil top brown mare. It's the best. So he wanted to start a jerky. So I said, jerky boys. Remember the old comedy team looked up to see if the website was available. Jerkyboys.com bought it. We sent some to Dale Jr. Who is a jerky fanatic and he said, this is the best doggone jerky that I've had. How do I get more? One thing led to another, he became partners and they just number nine for the Xfinity race series yesterday in Martinsville, the jerky boys car. I was there. Finished top five full blown Jerky boys. Junior's all in his garb and jerkyboys.com, it is.
- [46:40]
B
I can't wait to try it.
- [46:42]
A
I'm sending you bags because Dale Jr tells you think I'm pumped up. In my book, he says, anybody tries his jerky, if it's not the best jerky on the planet, I'll send your money back.
- [46:51]
B
Let's go. We'll let that hello as well.
- [46:53]
A
So blessings are coming in, man.
- [46:54]
B
Absolutely. Thanks for your time, Mark.
- [46:56]
A
Hey, thank you.
- [46:57]
B
Check them out, guys. Check out the jerky as well. Peace. If you learned anything from this episode or got any value at all, please share this episode with a friend. It helps us grow the channel, it helps us grow the podcast, and it means a lot to us. Thank you so much.