How To Live The Abundant Life with special guest Carl Grant III

So sometimes you see people in their lives and they seem to have really mastered things, and it's like, all right, whatever they're drinking, I want to drink. Whatever they're wearing, I want to wear. And you just want to find out the secrets. What if in this show right now, you could find out some secrets that could change your life beginning today? So we all want to live that abundant life, right? I mean, Jesus says we can all live the abundant life. So what happens when we're not? Is there something that we haven't discovered yet? So I am so excited today because I have my friend, Carl Grant iii. He's a very successful entrepreneur. He's also an amazing man of God and a family man with five kids. So he's going to be here today talking about how to live that abundant life. Carl, thank you so much for hanging out with me today.

It's my pleasure, Hannah. Good to you.

Oh, my goodness. This is going to be fun. So I, I came across you and I was just really intrigued. Like God was like, hey, this, this man has some secrets. And I was. The more I, I thought about, I kind of, you know, I was a little creepy. Did some research. You know, you find out about the people you want to find out about and you have a book out. I was like, yes. And the book is how to Live the Abundant Life. I was like, he does have some secrets. And so I want people to just kind of get to know you. Tell me a little bit about your story, where you came from and how you managed to achieve abundance in your life.

Well, I'm the married father of five children, grown children like you. And by the way, isn't it fun.

When they grow and they start to, like, get out and like, do their thing?

Yeah, I'm waiting for grandkids. I'm not there yet. So, you know, I have one who's married, so hopefully he's the first to have kids. We'll see, right? You just never know these days. And you know, we were pregnant eight times and so, you know, but my wife was done after five. She just. Her body said, no, no more. So, you know, you know, having seven, you know, I mean, like, once you go beyond five, the whole world changes because the normal, like, SUV will hold five. Right, Right. The Cadillac Escalade is what we have. Still have. Right. But once you go, once you go to, you know, six or seven, everything.

Has to scale up. We had to get a 15 passenger church van. You know, we looked like a daycare everywhere we went. And of course, the Doors open and we still look like a daycare because the kids are piling out one after another after another. So, yeah, I get it.

I thought about it. I've thought about it, and I'm like, you know, what were we thinking? Like, could we have really? I mean, I look at people in the airport with like, three, four kids, and I'm like, how did we ever do it? Like, how did. Because we went all over the world with five kids and, you know, it's. It's, you know, it's hard and savage. I mean, I'm not. I'm not telling you.

Right, right, right. But it's fun too, Carl. It's.

Oh, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Never, ever. I couldn't imagine my life missing one of my children.

Hey there. If you're a mom and you're struggling to lose weight, stop everything you're doing and listen. I'm Hannah Keeley, America's number one mom coach. Top researchers of mom brain. And all the things you're doing, the diets, the workouts, the counting calories, all the cardio, all of that is working against the way your brain is wired. So chances are you have mom brain. And did you know the mom brain is actually wired to make you gain weight and keep the weight on? That's why you're struggling. That's why you feel like no matter what you do, you just can't drop the weight. Well, I want to show you how to, how to reverse that. When you go to momzempic.com I have a complete program for you on how to rewire the mom brain so you can lose weight and keep it off. And it works by keeping you fuller, longer, resisting the cravings, and actually create a fat burning thermostat in your brain so your body can drop the weight. So stop the struggle. Go to momzympic.com that's momzympic.com M O M Z-E-M P-I-C.com so you can start losing the weight and keep it off by working with the mom brain. Oh, my gosh. Well, you know what? I was in the grocery store the other day, so they're. They're grown. I've got four grandkids. And I was in the grocery store the other day, and I noticed this woman, and she had the carrier in the front, and she had a toddler in the. In the cart, and she had two more kids on each side. And I looked at it, and she didn't even have as Many kids as I have. Right. So. And I had them boom, boom, boom, boom. Like, like my little brood there. And I was looking at her and other people were looking at her, and I realized. So that's why people stared at me every time. Like, for me, it's like, totally normal, you know? All right, one kid on the back, one kid in the cart. Okay, you hold on to me. You hold on to me. You hold on to her. You hold on to him. All right, now we're ready to go. And of course, a little baby, too, so. So, yeah.

Yeah. So that's. Yeah, that's beautiful. I mean, brings back great memories.

It does.

You know, so. So I. We got kind of off on a tangent, so I. You know, I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have stepped into this. This life of mine had I not come to Faith. And so at the. You know, so I don't know what your faith journey was, but, you know, so I was. I was.

Were you raised in that kind of home, or was it a decision where you're like, oh, I. I want to. I'm going to try out this Jesus thing. Like, what was it?

No, it actually was much more raw than that. I mean, I wasn't looking for God called.

God found you. Right?

He found me. And so I guess the realization that he was doing something in my life was when I drove to Indiana, like, I was going to Indiana University for graduate school, and. Sorry, there's a helicopter going by. It looks.

You can't hear it. You can't hear it. It's fine. That's what's cool about Zoom.

Right over my head, and it's like, okay, how could you not hear that?

Zoom has great audio isolation. So for everyone who's listening, like, you didn't even hear that helicopter, did you?

That's great. Then I will just carry on. So. So I'm driving in to my apartment at Indiana University, and I'm. I've never seen so many churches in my life. There were churches lining the street from the main highway to my apartment. There were like 20 churches. And I'm looking and. And I said to myself, literally, I said, I wonder if God's calling me. I don't think we had cell phones back then. I think I just said it to myself and.

Yeah, yeah.

And. Because I'd never seen that many churches on one street in my life. And so I kind of parked that thought and went about my. My business. But. But some things that happened to me leading up to that, right. I. I was in a Fraternity in college. And we didn't call sin sin back then. We just called it fun, you know, and so people just did what they wanted to do. But. But those consequences were all around me. Sexually transmitted diseases I got. I went in ROTC and we had to take HIV tests back in the 80s and it was a brand new thing and we didn't really know much about it back then. And all we knew is that you got skinny and died. And it was kind of scary. And, and maybe you had to be gay and maybe you had to use drugs, maybe or maybe maybe not. Like, we didn't know. And. And so there was like five guys in my ROTC group and one of them tested positive for hiv. And I'm like, holy crap. Like, you know, here in a small town in Ohio. And. And it didn't change my behavior. I still carried on, you know, recklessly, but, you know, enough of these things register. And then when my. When my brothers. So my brother, against my parents wishes, lived with his girlfriend in college and. And she. She woke up one morning, he didn't even know she was pregnant, and like, gave birth and he woke up to a baby.

I'm sorry, what? Oh my.

Yeah, no, no. Like, this rocked my world. I was in graduate school and I'm like, oh, wow, like what? You know, what a. What an awakening. You know, I mean, he didn't plan for that. He was just doing what everybody else does in college. And, and so, you know, it was that point that I started to realize that actions have consequences, right? If it's not an STD or HIV or, you know, it could be a. An unplanned pregnancy. And it just, all of a sudden, like, reality started to set in, like, you know, maybe you shouldn't carry on this way. And so I decided at that point I needed to change my ways because here I am, I think I was. I was 23 at this time. And I'm thinking, you know, you want to get married one day? Is this really the best strategy for meeting your future wife? Like meeting a girl and trying to get her to sleep with you? Like, I don't think so. That's the mother of your children, right? And so, and so these, this is my thought process. And I tried to change my ways, but I was a miserable failure. I mean, because as I tried to like, behave, it was like a challenge to every girl I met, you know, and I'm like, this is not working for me. And so I. That was. That was the beginning of my come to Jesus moment because I I went down to Panama after falling into sand. I don't need to, you know, go into all that, but went down to Panama for army duty and. And I had to make a decision. I was with a group of soldiers. I was the only officer, you know, and my soldiers were heading out. We were the first unit to stay off of the military post after we had invaded Panama. So the Panama. Panamanians were very happy to see us. They wanted the American dollars. And I said, what are you guys doing tonight? And they said, well, sir, we're gonna pursue. There's one prostitute in front of the hotel, but these prostitutes, right? And I'm thinking to myself, like, you know, as bad as I'd been, I never had to resort to prostitutes. And so I just. Like, that didn't seem like a good idea. And so there was a guy named Wayne from Mississippi, and. Sorry, this is a little raw.

And it is what it is, completely raw and real.

Okay.

All right.

Okay. Well, so Wayne from Mississippi. I said, wayne, what are you doing tonight? I had, like, three choices. Go with the boys, you know, see what Wayne's doing, or go back to my room. And so I said, wayne, what are you doing? He said, I saw some lights out the window, and it looks like they're having a church service down the street. I'm gonna go check it out. And so prostitutes, church, you know.

I.

Decided to go with Wayne. That was. That was like, the pivotal decision of my life, like, because I went with Wayne.

Praise God.

I go down to this. I mean, it's not like a church that you would picture in the U.S. i mean, this. These were poor people. They had, like, a dirt floor. They had a, you know, a sheet metal roof held up by sticks with the light bulbs strung to it. And I'm looking at these people, and they have no material possessions yet. They're. They've got something I don't have. And I'm like, you know, what is it? I mean, I. I knew nothing about Christianity or, like, who the. What these people were worshiping. And, like, are they going to sacrifice me? Like, I had some really weird thoughts, right? And. And so. And. And plus, we're in Panama, and I'm a sunburned white guy with a crew cut. We just invaded their country, and everybody there is just a different shade of dark. And I felt very uncomfortable. Right?

Yeah.

Because I stuck out like a sore thumb. And so I'm standing there, and eventually they coaxed us into the. The service. And I'm standing there next to these people, and I'M like, what in the world are they doing? They're carrying on, waving their hands, singing in Spanish, and I don't know what's going on. And all of a sud. This wind blew from where the congregation was, but it blew right through me. And it wasn't like a normal wind that blows your clothes and hair and stuff. It just blew right through me. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. I looked at Wayne, I said, did you feel that? And he goes, yeah. And so I didn't know what I just experienced. And there was a black gentleman there who looked like an American. So I said, hey, are you from the United States? And he goes, yeah. I said, what is this? And he said, it's kind of like a US Baptist church, which didn't mean anything to me.

Right, right, right.

Coming from that point.

Yeah.

So. So I go back home and I told you I fell into sin before going down there and I'm going back, you know, but the Bible says a dog returns to. Dog returns to his vomit, right? Like, I was there, I was going right back. And an interesting thing happened. I'm there with this woman and I'm about to do something I know I'm not supposed to be doing. And all of a sudden, God revealed a Bible verse to the Bible. But there's a Bible verse that says, no temptation has seized you except that which is common to man. And when you are tempted, God is faithful. He will provide a way out so you can stand up under it. Well, at that moment, I looked and the weirdest thing was there was an open door and I ran out the door and I. I never talked to that woman again. I just ran away on the radar. I don't know, Like, I didn't know what was going on. I mean, that was not. That was not my human nature, right? I mean, this was. I don't know why it ran away, but I did. And so I ran away and I. All I knew is I needed to be. When I got back to school is I needed to be in a church. Like, I didn't know, like, after that experience. And so I didn't know what church to go to. I forgot about the Baptist thing. And so literally, I started going. I told you about those 20 church. I started going to two churches in the morning, 9 o', clock, 11 o'. Clock. I don't know what I was looking for, but I was going all by myself and checking out churches. And I ended up, you know, this is the. The next Bible verse that God showed me. He you know, there's a Bible verse, and I never read the Bible, but he showed it to me. It says, you will know my disciples, by the way, they love one another. And so I walked into this one church where the love of the people was so overwhelming. I'm like, oh, my gosh. Like, I had old people making me dinners. I had young, like, not, you know, tempting girls, baking me cookies and wanting to marry me. And, like, it was, like, it was so nice, you know? I mean, I, I, I'm like, wow, like, this is really nice. So I hung out there. I sat in the back pew every weekend and listened. And, and around through this time, there was this, this young woman who lived across the. Her name was Anne. And she saw me going to church, and she said, I see you going to church every Sunday. She goes, are you a believer? And I said, I don't believe what I didn't know. I didn't know anything. Like, I didn't know anything. I'm just. This is new to me. And so I said, I, you know, I have my, my doubts or whatever. And she said, she said, well, if you question your faith, it'll grow stronger. She would say all these things about praying prostrate, like, like it was stuff I didn't know. And so I was kind of intrigued with her. So we talked God all the time. And then. So one one day, I'm standing in the parking lot talking to her and her atheist friend Mandy, and I don't even remember what we're talking about. All I know is that wind blew again the second and only time, and I. I'm freaking out. I'm like, oh, my gosh, there it is. There it is. And she goes, that is the Holy Spirit. Which I didn't know what that was, but she did. And, and when I, When I realized that this was really real was when Mandy, the atheist girl, burst out crying hysterically. And I'm like, okay, this is the second time this has happened. I've had another person there both times to validate this was happening. I got a girl crying here who's an atheist, and we're hugging each other, and I'm like, whoa. And so that I. I think it was that weekend I went to church, and the pastor, who, by the way, just. I just learned he passed away at 96. So it kind of kind of crushed me because he led me to Christ. But he. He quoting the Bible, said, he who acknowledges me before man, quoting Jesus, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But he who disowns me or denies me before man I will disown before my Father in heaven. And all I knew, I didn't know anything. I didn't know anything. I had never read the Bible. All I knew was I needed to acknowledge him because this was real. And so I didn't what I was signing up for, but I walked forward and I said, I need to acknowledge Jesus. And I, you know, after it took about an hour, hour and a half for them to finally get me to be baptized because, you know, I hadn't surrendered yet, but I did and, and you know, so when I surrendered, I was handed a Bible, a New Testament actually for the first time. And I began to read it and all I can say is I felt like my, I was being turned inside out. You know, I don't know how else to describe it.

It was, yeah, it really is like he does that inside out transformation in you. Like he starts in the core and, and once you get that renewed spirit, then you, then you can get a renewed soul and then it starts to show up in your life, which you've noticed.

So, so, Hannah, the one footnote to this whole thing, I told you, I ran away. I remain celibate until I got married four years later.

So praise God.

Yeah, I mean, that, that was God.

Because you had tried in your own power. And that's why what our behavior is not what makes us righteous. It is because we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. And this, that knowing when that changes your identity and you know who you are, then the grace can start to invade those areas of your life and you no longer have the desires you used to have. So I, I like, oh, I had the desires.

I don't, don't wrong. I had the desires. I just. He who is in me was greater than he was in the world. So it was that, that conviction was more powerful than my, my normal human desires. And so when I met my desire, it did lipstick. I, I knew there was something better and I knew that, I knew that just, you know, having sex outside of marriage was empty and, and pointless and, and I wanted something better than that. And so I, when I met the woman who's now 30 years, I, I, and I really, I was 24 years old. I wasn't really, or 25 at the time. I wasn't really like in a hurry to get married, you know, but I, I basically said, if, if you want to sleep with me, you have to marry me. And, and we dated for three years and sure enough, we, you know, we were together on our wedding night. And she never met a guy like me before. And so I guess it worked, right? It worked.

I love it. That is so beautiful. So that, so that. And you're saying all your success is really boils down to that decision you made, and out of that, to not taste the prostitutes. Yeah, the decision you made to humble yourself and, and now acknowledge Jesus. Like, I want to make you the Lord of my life because absolutely, the thing is, like, whatever it is, whatever it could be that shows up and, and makes you feel like you are the God of your own life, it can be sex, it can be money, it can be, you know, the, the achievement.

And those are all the temptations in life, right? What? You know, we all, we're all tempted by something, whether it's money, power, sex, whatever, you know, fame, you know, so, so you've read my book. So you, you know, so. So if I could boil down the whole theme of the book. It's. It's doing. You want to find abundance, you do the opposite of what comes natural to your, like, human nature. Right? So my human nature told me to go have sex with whoever. Like, but, but there was something better than that. Right? And so, and so your, your human desire would tell you to go out and, and take, take everything that you want and, you know, if you want to be first, take everything from everybody else. But no, it's the opposite of that. It's, it's, you know, you bless others and you will be blessed. You do unto others as you would have them do unto you. You want to be first, you must be last and servants of all. Those are Bible verses for anybody listening who doesn't know, you know, it's all.

Counterintuitive, really, to the flesh. That's why we can either worship at God's throne or worship at. At mammon, because we're either going to chase the resource or we're going to abide in the source. And Jesus, like, right before he was crucified, like, his message, I always, always think about it, like, if you can leave one thing behind, he's like, don't forget to stay grafted into me, because apart from me, you can do nothing. And I think this is like, you may have achieved financial success, you may have achieved other areas where the world's like, oh, yeah, he's really making it big. But without this first recognition of, I am not my own, but he bought me with a price. And now from that comes an abundance that far outweighs what you could achieve in the natural so how did you start this journey of just your own personal growth, your. Your entrepreneurship, the financial expansion, the. The authority that you've taken? How did this begin?

Well, so when I was in graduate school, you know, it was like the halfway point where I came to faith. And so I had to figure out, like, how does this fit in to, like, the stuff I'm studying? I'm going into business and I'm reading books like Power, Persuasion and Ethics. I'm reading a Machiavelli, you know, and I'm like, all right, there's these views. And then I go home and read my Bible, and I'm trying to figure out how, you know, what does this look like a Christian in the workplace? And so as I started to step out into the work world, I decided to try to put some of Jesus's teachings into practice. You know, some of the ones I just mentioned to you, right? What is doing unto others as you would have done unto you? What does that look like? And it looks like giving first. It's, it's. It's, you know, not going out. And so I was. Most of my jobs throughout my career have been business development jobs. And most business development people I run into are out trying to see what other people can do for them. And so they sit down and meet with you, and it's like, all right, what leads do you have to give me? This is what I want. How can you help me? And I took the opposite approach. Like, I want to know how I can help you. I mean, I just had a meeting yesterday with a guy who's, who's in a. In a position in a company where he could hire the firm I was representing. And he started talking about his needs and so forth. And I said, look, I'm not here to pitch you. I'm like, I'm here to get to know you and see how I can help you. Right. And inevitably, I'll probably end up working with the guy at some point. But. But if you lead with just like, what can he do for you? You're just going to turn everybody off. And so I stopped him from talking about.

It's that nasty smell of urgency. You know, you can't be like, as soon as you feel it, like, you can. It's tangible. It's like, stop. It's icky, it's gross. It's just that it's all so selfish. And it's the gain. It's that personal gain. And this is what. And I want. I want to talk to people today because sometimes that's so hard to navigate because we do see areas in our life, whether it's in the family or in your finances or in your. Basically in your joy, where you're like, there's, there's scarcity here, there's lack here. Now, our first reaction, this is why you said, you know, do those things that are counterintuitive, do the things that you don't naturally feel like you should do in the natural. We're like, okay, who's got what I want? And we go after that instead of, what if God is my source and I. And I run to him and I latch onto him and then out of that can flow resources, whatever it is, into my life wherever there's lack. I just believe in the presence of God, you can't experience lack of.

I agree.

That makes you more of a person.

Yeah. I'm not going to say I'm perfect at this stuff. I'm still a work in progress. I'm still.

Dude, until we are at the throne of God, we are always works in progress. Yeah.

So like, I, I wrote in my book what I've learned to date. Like, I, you know, I have a, I still have a long way to go. Right. I mean, I'm still learning. Right. Just what you said. Like, I'm taking something from that right now because he is my source. Right. And I have to remember that. And, and, you know, I'm not, I'm not perfect in doing that. I, you know, you can always improve. And I look forward to the day when I, when I don't have to, like, work to earn a dollar and I could just do whatever he wants me to do. And I, and I, I feel like that day's coming. I feel like it's getting closer.

Let's talk about that. Like, I want to go there. I want to go there because we know that is the power of God to. That allows us to create wealth and he doesn't add toil or sorrow to it. So one of my theories is like, God wants me to enjoy my life. Like he says, you know, I'll give you that abundant life. Like you talk about. Ease, refreshment, recreation for your souls. That's what John 10:10 talks about in the classic amplified. So if we have to hustle and grind, is honoring God. And, and how do you, how do you get this? If he has the power in you, if he's giving you the power in you to create wealth, how do we do that without hustling grind? Like what? Because you talk about, like the day you don't have to work. What if the natural outpouring of how you serve people is your work?

It is, but I, you know, I still have consulting jobs. I'm still putting, you know, I'm putting my son through Baylor, which, you know, it's $280,000. I'm not telling you anything you don't know.

You were born in college. 3. We're like, all right, do we have, like, noodles or rice tonight? Like, seriously? I get it.

Yeah. So. So look, I'm blessed to have been given work to do and get paid well for doing it. And, and so, you know, I don't complain. I'm, I'm. I feel very blessed to have the clients I have and the business I have, and I do what I have to do.

But.

But I have, I have other callings that are, you know, ministry related. And, you know, like, for example, I. I have a ministry called Bridges of Faith, which is something I've been doing for six months, which is just the joy of my life. And so it's a. So it is a. It's an interfaith study between Muslims and Christians.

And so we've got a connection in.

The body Facebook group set up, and we meet every couple weeks. It's not huge yet, but it's. So, it's intimate. You about half Muslims, half Christians, and, and we study the Quran, the Old Testament, and the New Testament, and it's just in the hadiths. And it's, it's just fascinating. It's fascinating to, to have these discussions because everybody comes there with a, like a genuine heart to learn from each other. And, And I have a. A no conversion rule. You know, I mean, it's, it's not. It's. It's. It's frowned on in that part of the world to try to convert somebody. The thing that most Christians don't realize is that Muslims believe most of what we believe. They believe in most of the same prophets. They believe that the, you know, in the virgin birth. They believe that Jesus or Isa is the Messiah, that, that he was the performer of miracles, that he is coming back to rule and reign. This is all in the Muslim faith, you know, and so, so there, There are. I mean, these are a big deal in Christianity. They don't believe as him, as the risen savior, but they will talk to you all day about Jesus or Issa in a Muslim context. And you could, you can debate with them like, did he die? Did he, did he, Was he resurrected? I mean, you could talk about that. You know, and, and you just do it in a way that you're having a respectful conversation about what they believe and what we believe. You know, as I dive deeper, I'm realizing they believe in the resurrection. We've had end times discussions. We've had angel discussions. I mean, it is really fun to have these discussions with people on the other side of the world and we learn from them because they believe stuff that I didn't even realize they believed in. Like we were talking about. Well, I've been traveling to the Middle East a lot. I've, I've. So I, I've been to Pakistan three times and I'm going to Saudi Arabia for the third time in two weeks recently. And, and as I've gone.

Was raised in Saudi Arabia. He, he.

Yeah.

His. So his dad worked at Saudi Aramco and so his, like, he knows that culture so well because he was raised in that culture. And it's beautiful when you can lay aside stigma and have the open conversations. And just like you said, like, I want to trace back really quick because no one converted you. Like, I really want you to think about that. No one converted you. And when. And I've spent, I've been in mission work a lot, as you know, when I was younger. But the idea that we had to convert. What if we have to just be open and hear and listen because God is the love of God that draws people to himself through Jesus. And so when we have this idea that I need to be right and you need to be wrong and we need to make sure we understand that, then all of a sudden we, we put up a wall. And I love that it's called bridges because it's like, no, let's just talk. And it of God that will lead people. And that's, that's been my theory as soon I have had so many people say, well, tell me about this Jesus thing. I didn't have to tell them. Like, the people that I have led to Jesus were mostly people who inquired because they noticed something different. They noticed how I listened, they noticed how I, how I loved really. And it was that love that drew you in. So I believe it's the love of God and it will always come through Jesus.

Well, the, we have some interesting people in this group. So, so the woman who kind of co. Leads it with me, she, she, when she first. I don't even know how she found me. I was speaking in Pakistan and she sent me a. Started sending messages on Facebook messenger and she goes, she goes, I believe that to be a good Muscle. To be a good Muslim, you must be first be a Christian. So, but we've got, but we've, we've got a number of these people that, that, you know, they know how close because so what Westerners don't know is, is that in the early days of Islam, they, they were, the, the Muslims were being persecuted and they, they fled to what is now Ethiopia. And the ruler of Ethiopia at the time was a Christian. And, and they were seeking a safe haven over there. And so he heard them out and he asked them questions about their faith and they explained what they believed. And he drew a line on the ground and he said, this is how big the, you know, the line is that separates you and us. It's just this thin line. He goes, you are welcome to live in our country because this is, this is all that separates us. And so that, that gesture alone at the beginning of Islam set the tone for Muslims and Christians living in harmony. In fact, in most parts of the world, Muslims are allowed to marry Christians. And so, you know, you find that there's, you know, unless you're taking some weird stance where you feel like you've got to, you know, convert people and, and, and you know, change their, their culture, that's not what you need to do. I mean, you just need to love on people and listen to them and understand where they're coming from. And if you do that, then, then you earn the right to talk about what you believe in and, you know, what they're really interested to know. And, and you, you know, we pray together. We.

That's beautiful. I love.

And I, I insist that somebody pray in Arabic each time, you know, and, and, and so, you know, and, and some of the people who are on there, they're, they're Pakistani and they speak or do in Pakistan. So I'm like, come on, somebody's got to, you know, because our, we have one guy who actually grew up with a Muslim dad and a Catholic mother. And so we have a lot of these folks. Like we have a guy who grew up in Egypt, another guy who grew up in Egypt as a Coptic Christian, but he, he like studied in, in, you know, like, learned Arabic in a Muslim school. Like, so we've got a lot of these crossover people that see the world in both ways. Right. You know, we got another guy who grew up wearing like a, what do you call it, the crescent and a star on his necklace. So, you know, it's, it's an interesting group that's pulled together.

Very, very interesting.

And then I believe this little group of ours is the beginning of, like, world peace. Like, this is. I love it, you know, and so, yeah, I wish I could spend a lot of time. I have a draft of another book, actually. It's, you know, it's like, I think we're calling it a Friendly Conversation between a Christian and a Muslim, you know, where I've got a draft and we're looking at, you know, publishing that at some point. You know, that's. That's the kind of stuff. You don't make any money doing this stuff. You just do it because you're. You're trying to change the world.

We are like, God has appointed you and, and anointed you with this desire, and it shows up in the. In building businesses. It shows up in your entrepreneurship. It shows up in this as well. And what I'm seeing by just talking with you is one of the driving factors is this insane amount of curiosity. And I believe that's what a lot of believers are missing. If there's something lacking in your life, not curious, where do I. Where. How do I feel it and where do I get it from in this natural world, but that curiosity of God, I want to know more about you so that your goodness and mercy and your sufficiency can flow into my life. And so I love this. Like, I see curiosity all over you, dude. It is amazing. It is a driving force, and I think it would serve a lot of people to develop that even in times when things are not going well. Like, like, what if instead of griping or complaining, like, like, we're talking about everyday life here, right? When things are just not working and, and, and, and things aren't coming through and even the things you're praying for, what if instead of developing criticism, like, I'm so frustrated, Life isn't fair. God's not coming through. We developed curiosity. What is working out for me? What could I be missing here? Because God's not going to change. God is God, and He is good, and he is faithful and his covenant is secure. So if there's something lacking and I fall into it, I. I was complaining about something this morning, and my husband's like, all right, come on, you gotta shake this thing. Because there, There is something that's working out and it's good. And so I'm like, okay, so if God is good and if I can trust him, then where is he leading me now? And I think that curiosity has really helped you, not just financially, but relationally, in, emotionally, in every area of your life. Would you say so sure.

And you're curious, too, because you. You're drawing all these things out of me, you know, that I don't talk about every day. And so. Absolutely. I think you also read in my book that my wife was sick with Lyme disease for, you know, three years, bedridden. And, you know, you're talking about adversity. That was the first thing that came to mind because it was such a trial to have. I mean, mild trial for me. She was the one in bed, you know, But. But I didn't.

But I'm sure these questions came up for you, like, why is this happening? What is going on? God? Why are you not coming through? How did you manage that?

It was hard because. Because I. I don't know if I put it in the book, but. But my kids had it, too, so. Three of the kids were suffering. We had to. First they were being homeschooled. Did you homeschool your kids?

Homeschooled. All of them.

All right, well, we were homeschooling them, and then she was sick with Lyme disease, so we had to put them back in school. And then they had Lyme disease. At least three of them that we knew had Lyme disease, so they had to be pulled out of school and put on homebound. And so I had a sick wife and suicidal kids. It was horrible. And. And so. But, you know, there's also a Bible verse that says God works all things together for good.

Who lives 8, 28.

Dude, you're called. According to this verse, I can't do chapter numbers, but I can do the words. And. And so, you know, as I watched it. Oh, actually, the craziest thing was, was a guy I had led to Christ started hearing God, like, started. He started speaking to him. And. And I'm like, I had never. I had never faced this before. I'm like, you know, this is totally uncharted territory. And I won't go into all the details of that. I think some of it was in my book, you know, but then he. He said. He said, I. I invited him to lunch one day, and he goes, it doesn't surprise me. I'm having lunch with you because I have a word for you. And I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, I'm terrified. Like, you know, the God of the universe is talking to you about what? You know, like, what did he tell you? Like, I was nervous, you know, and he said, there is a. There is a great blessing in store for you and your family. I said, what is it? I. He said, I don't know. It's huge though. And I, I walked around with my silly notion of what this blessing was. It's got to have at least six zeros behind it. I'm like, all right, you know, I'm looking for this blessing. And it took, it took my. Then this was 11 years ago, my 10 year old son pulling on my shirt tail. I said, dad, dad, that, that prophecy, like, yeah. He goes, that was the cure for Lyme disease. And I'm like, no way. Like, you're right. You can't put a price tag on health. And so my wife was better and in the, the, the most. So here's God's sense of humor. So, so it turned into a, a supplement that, that started generating, you know, revenue because my wife wanted to get it out to the world and, and she gave as many doses as she could of it, like out for free. And then the person making it started charging an unreal amount of money for it, which she didn't have any choice, but she had to pay, you know, and charge it. And, but people were paying it because it worked and they wanted to get better. And so fast forward to where we are today. We have the patent for this formula and it kills other diseases that are thought to be incurable. I don't want to go on this podcast into.

I think we might need to do.

A part two, what those are, but I have preclinical data that it's killing a previously thought incurable disease. And so now we're trying to get into human trials. Interestingly, we did our animal trials in India and we did the. Just did a call two days ago with the Indian lab and they, after they told us all the regulations that we'd have to abide by in India, I'm like, how can we do this? He laughed, he goes, indians go to Australia for their human trials. Oh my God. Enough said. I'm done. We'll do the mice in India. So now I'm reaching out to my friends in Australia to try to. So if any of your viewers or listeners know a good lab in Australia, that's, we're looking for that. And, and I'm, I'm reaching out to my friends there and we're trying to find a good intro to the right lab so we can do the human trials. And all I can tell you is, is if we get this, this human data and it says what we think it's going to say, it's, it's, it's like the biggest thing that's ever Happened, you know, it's really revolutionary.

So that's so incredible.

God entrusted it to me. Like, why me? I'm just, I'm just. I'm not even a life sciences guy. I'm not a scientist. I'm just.

Why would you have to be a scientist? Like, that's why it says, he uses the foolish of the world to confound the wise.

There he is, look.

I know, like, right here. But that's the way God works. Look at how he chose Moses. Look at how he chose Gideon. Look at how, like, all of these people, Esther, it's like, no, I'm going to choose those most unlikely because my power at work through them. Watch what that's going to do. And I just believe. Like, again, I know we're wrapping up here, but I want to encourage people today, like, hearing your stories. I think what you have revealed is one of the hidden keys to abundance. We always want to have the checklist. Like, make sure you build up your team. Make sure you. Make sure you do this. Make sure you follow these steps. And we want to, like, chat, GPT or success. But I think what I'm seeing in you is this. What does curiosity look like when it's brought before the king? And I want to encourage everyone.

You mentioned having a checklist. So I had my checklist for, like, what I wanted out of a wife.

Yeah, yeah.

And. And so I married somebody who didn't meet any of the, any of the checklist marks. What is that?

Like, tell. Tell God your plans.

I'm not even getting my stupid checklist. But, but you know, it. If, if I was on an online dating site, she would have never showed up. Like, I married her before there was online dating. But. But, like, if I would have put in my criteria, I would have never met her, but God picked her for me. And, and we've been married 30 years and it's been beautiful, you know, and so, you know what? Throw out your stupid checklists, whether they're on chat, GPT or something you've concocted in your mind, and just trust God and life will go much better.

I love that. What if it's actually more simple than you're making it? Like, we're, we're experts at making things confusing when we know the author of confusion is enemy himself. But if we can stick with that simple, childlike faith that says, God, I just trust you, you, and I'm just going to walk through the door. I think the one thing that keeps most people from that exceedingly, abundantly beyond blessed life of abundance is that there's an opportunity. Because Jesus says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man opens the door, I will come in and I'll sup with him. I'll eat with him. We'll just hang out together. It's not like, I'll come in, I'll write him a check. No, abide in me. Like, open up the door and let me in your life. And now see what I can do on the other side of that door. And so I think for everyone, there's always a door, but it's always going to take the unknown like that. That fear of the unknown will keep you from walking through that. Or what you're showing me is that curiosity and trust will help you walk through it. And when we walk through those doors, like, I believe everyone listening and watching, there is a door in front of you that God is like, do you trust me enough to walk through this and pursue this without knowing where your foot's going to land? That's faith, and that's what it takes to please God.

Amen.

Yeah. Thank you so much, Carl. This has been such a joy. I so loved having you on the show, and I just believe that that abundant life is available, and when you step into that, you're going to be blessed like crazy.