From Lost In Space to Found By Faith

From blockbuster Hollywood success to rock bottom—and ultimately to redemption—this episode tells the powerful story of Mark W. Koch’s rise, fall, and rebirth.

Mark climbed the ranks to become one of Hollywood’s most promising producers, landing massive success with the 1998 hit Lost In Space and building a career filled with momentum, influence, and opportunity. But behind the scenes, a growing dependence on drugs and alcohol began to unravel everything he had worked so hard to build.

As his life swung from the highs of mansions and country clubs to the lows of uncertainty, loss, and starting over in a modest apartment with a borrowed car, Mark faced a defining choice: continue down a destructive path or fight for something greater.

In his darkest moments, he turned to faith—leaning into the Bible and developing a transformative daily practice he now shares in his book The First Hour. What began as a desperate attempt to regain control became a powerful roadmap for spiritual grounding, clarity, and purpose.

Today, Mark’s story is no longer about what he lost—but what he found. With a renewed sense of peace, strong family relationships, and a life rooted in faith, he proves that true success isn’t measured by Hollywood standards, but by the strength of your foundation.

This is more than a comeback story. It’s a journey from Lost In Space… to Found By Faith.

Transcript

Intro To Mark Koch

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Your second movie gets a $90 million budget after you waltzed in uninvited to an executive's office? Like that is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

I look back and I'm thinking, what was I thinking? When you're arrested, man, what am I doing here? Got right in, opened up, walked through the lot, found his office, walked the door. Could I have a meeting? Oh, he happens to be here. Wham, wham, wham.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

It's the Fit for Radio Podcast. I'm your host, Drew Tiedeman, and as usual, we are at the Stafford Hills Club where work meets play for me here. Also the saltwater pool. And if you are anywhere near this place, now that it's sunny out, you'll find that it is the staycation spot and you want to get in where you fit in. Family memberships will become weightless once it's all full up. So make sure you're there. Staffordhills.com. Tell him Drew sent you for half off your initiation. We are in here for a special sesh. I'm uh super stoked to have this guy in here. He is a famous Hollywood producer and also has had a very seasoned and special life that has led him to the mission that he's on now. Um, I'm just, we're gonna dive right into it. Mark Cook joins me in studio. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Man, K-O-C-H Cook.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

That's right. Uh, so glad to have you in here. You were a massive producer in Hollywood. Um, Lost in Space. A lot of people know this movie. It hit the top of the box office. This movie also, um, tell me anywhere where I'm incorrect, but uh knocked Titanic out of the top spot. Yep. Um, and this is in 1998. 1998. 1998. So before we get into what got you all the way to that, Mark, um, you you grew or you were born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and you found your way to Hollywood at some point. How does a how does a kid from Michigan end up in Hollywood?

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Oh, let me tell you something. We could do an hour podcast on that. And I've been working on getting through this part quick so I can get to the juice because there's so much, and it's so What's the Cliff Note? The Cliff, that's what I'm giving you, man. I'm giving you a Cliff Note. So, born and raised in Detroit, um, played ice hockey, goalie. So if you see me moving around a lot here, you know I'm still puck shy. You know, but uh got a degree in automotive marketing, that's who your associate's degree. And but I always had this dream to be a Hollywood producer. Now, as I look at that now, it's definitely a divine intervention. Because what is a guy from Michigan, Detroit,

A Kid From Michigan With a Big Dream

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Michigan, say, I don't think I'm gonna be a Hollywood producer. And it's funny because I remember my one of my best friends' moms, I kept saying, I'm gonna go produce movies one day. And, you know, that negativity that we all experience through certain people. She's like, Oh, Mark, what makes you think you can produce movies? Who do you think you are, Steven Spielberg? And I had such an ego, and we're gonna talk about that today, too. I remember saying to her, I said, the only difference between Steven Spielberg and me is $100 million, and I'm gonna find it. I'm like, what am I thinking? Long story short, graduated, uh, moved out to Hollywood. I took a job because at Northwood they had a great placement, you know, okay to do F and I and automotive. I I moved to Anaheim. My whole goal was I'm moving to California so I can become a movie producer. Yeah. My dad wanted me in the car business, so sufficing him. And uh I took a job in Orange County Volvo Sab and uh went back and forth to Hollywood thinking, boy, was I surprised. I figured I'm just gonna go out there and get to the doors. I'm gonna be a movie producer. And uh I look back and I'm thinking, what was I thinking? So, long story short, that didn't work. Move back to Florida, but still that dream was there. The dream was always there. Yeah. And uh and it's funny, uh, Drew, because I didn't want to be a director or writer, producer. I don't even know what that means. Yeah. So my dad passed away. Um, that was very difficult. Um, I was 26. I moved back, I moved from California to Palm Beach to be with him.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

We knew you were close, yeah and your dad.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Really close, man. Amazing, man. Uh, he had a heart attack at 41 and passed away at 56. I was 26. So after he passed away, I said, okay, man, I gotta make this dream. This burning desire inside. And for your listeners, God places a dream in all of us. And some of us think that you know, we fight it and fight it and fight it. But when there's something that just continually is in your heart, body, soul, and mind, that that's your DNA. I call it your divine natural assignment. That's your gift. So flash forward, I borrow my sister's American Express card. I'm broke. And uh sneak in through the gates of Paramount. And here's the good thing. I'm gonna make it sure. I'm not gonna tell you how I got in because I usually go 15 minutes on that because it is a story. As I look back and I'm like, what was I thinking? So snuck through the gates of Paramount, ended up walking into an office. I have my mark, Bob Raimi and Mace Newfeld, who were icons.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

So you targeted who you were gonna find.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

I mean, I had a target. I was on a mission, you know. Okay. Um, it's quite a story. And uh got into their office, convinced the assistant to get me a meeting with them. And at that time, Newfell Raimi, they were uh they were doing a hump for act tour, repatriate games, just big movies. Massive. Yeah, and and Bob Raimi was actually the president of the Academy Awards. Oh, okay. I remember walking into that office, and it's funny, we'll end that at we'll end it here. How I got involved. I was so nervous that you know how your mouth gets dry? It's like my tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth. Remember walking in, you see all these movie posters and the big Oscar statue on here. Yeah. He goes, Hey, how you doing? Come here, sit down. Really nice guy. He goes, Can I get you some water? And I don't know why I said that, but I said, No, but I I could use a crowbar to get the tongue off the roof of my mouth. I'm a little nervous. He goes, Oh, stop. I got a chuckle out of them, you know. So that broke the ice. And next thing you know, man, after a long meeting going to lunch, I end up getting a first look deal at Paramount Pictures, knowing nothing about the business. Nothing. And and it's next thing you know, I'm at Paramount Pictures with all these interns working for me. And I had what's called the first look deal. And that means you develop projects, look for projects, hire writers, and end up stumbling upon the rights to lost in space. I met with the widow. It's all in God's timing because I look back, you you just can't make this up. You can't you can't achieve these doors that just opened for me. So next thing you know, um, I have a bidding war between I acquire the rights from the widow. That's another 20-minute story. You can get some of these on the internet if you read about it. We'll have to have you back. Buddy, it's just insane. And uh so next thing you know, I have a bidding war between Fox and New Line. And at the time, there was a 26-year-old guy, Mike DeLuca, who was the president of New Line, that had Ted Turner's checkbook and he wanted Lost in Space. And uh my attorney negotiated the deal. Next thing I know, it's like, we want to do this. Here's $90 million. Go make your movie.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

That is amazing. Yeah, and it's just fluke. And just to give people perspective, you know, before that, um well, when I'm like looking at your IMDB, before that, you had only made the movie which which broke records, but you had a straight to HBO movie. Yeah. And so that movie is kind of a catalyst that gives you a little bit of a bump there, but your second movie gets a $90 million budget after you waltzed in uninvited to an executive's office. Like that is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Just the doors. It's it is absolutely a divine intervention. Because there's no really um logical explanation of, and again, the way I got through the gate, we're not gonna talk about today, but yes, I look back and I'm thinking, what was I thinking? Yeah, and when you got arrested, man, what am I doing here? Got right in, opened up, walked through the lot, found his office, walked in the door. Could I have a meeting? Oh, he happens to be here. Wham, wham, wham. Like, wham. It's interesting because you pray. You know, I was born and raised Catholic. So I was always a believer. Not really, I wouldn't say I was raised in a Christian home. My dad was very had a lot of ethical, spoke truly, dealt truly, you know, lived truly, was really strong on speak the truth. You know, tell the truth.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Yeah, that's how my parents are. It's kind of a even if they're not in church all the time, they're they live their life by a moral code.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

And that's so important, you know. But so being Catholic, we went to church twice a year, Christmas and Easter. But it's interesting, no relationship with God, how when you're doing these things, there's there's three things I've noticed. When we're in big trouble, or a loved one's sick or something, like, oh God, please. Amazing how we go to God when we really need him. Yes. I remember saying a pair like, God, get me through these gates. But it wasn't even from the heart. It was just kind of a God, get me through these gates.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

And you did. So there you have it. And so you get through the gates, you you have this movie blow up. Um, and then you you have back-to-back success, right? You have Lost in Space does massive, and then your next movie, which is a Patrick Swayze movie, which is my guy, I love I love me some Swayze. Um, my mom grew up loving dirty dancing on another level. So you know, we've always had a spot for Swayze. Um, and so you go back to back, you're at the top of the mountain, and and you kind of like have uh, is it like an epiphany there or like what what happens? Um, because I've I've heard you talk about the story where you're you're

The Roller Coaster of Hollywood

SPEAKER_00 10:09

looking at them changing the marquees and all that stuff. Well, where are you kind of at in this part of your life? Here, here's the thing.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

This uh first of all, I'm so happy to be on here because getting me warmed up again to say, man, I'm gonna get to the cliff notes here. So keep me in line. Yeah, because each each part of this journey is a long story. Yeah, but the cliff note version is this Lost in Space comes out, knocks Titanic out of first, sets a record. Black Dog came out two weeks later, and that was just because of fate, because Lost in Space, we shot that in England, and we had 18 months of pre-production. We we had 10 sound stages, we built 600,000 square feet of set. It was massive. Yeah, Black Dog, and I it was is a truck movie, uh a script that I paid a dollar for. Okay, so you don't need to go see Black Dog, okay? It was just something that but, anyways, um and I we shot that in 31 days. It was a 40 million dollar picture, or just so they came out, even though I started Lost, I was way done with Lost of Space before I even shot Black Dog. But they just happened to be released a week apart. So I had two in the top 10. Now I had an ego, like I said, excluding God out. Like I did it. I everything was I, me, me, me. I did it. But here's here's the kicker. I met the woman of my dreams at the time, and I was engaged when I got my Paramount deal. I got my Paramount Pictures deal. Then I met Stephanie, got engaged, but I was living a dual life. Okay. I mean, I really wanted that marriage and family and everything. But what happened to me is man, when I got all that success and money, I mean, I got like a million dollars up front they assigned it just as an advance. And uh I went hog crazy without Jesus Christ in my life.

unknown 11:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

And the kicker is this without my father in my life. You see, they say that a man never becomes his own man until he loses his dad. Because I didn't have anybody to hold me accountable. I tell people this my dad would have flew to LA and pulled me out of there by my hair and put a whooping on me, then loved on me.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Yeah, but he would have regulated it.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

So I got into the A-list party group. I mean, I used to mention names, and I got calls like, hey man, quit mentioning my names. Stop talking about me. Hey, stop about that stuff. I'm talking about the drinking, the booze and the Hollywood flavors, the drug, everything. I was in it deep. And you could probably tell by my personality. I don't think I have an addictive personality, but I'm obsessive-abusive. Right. Yeah. So if I'm gonna do something, man, you're all in do it all the way. And man, I would disappear. My you know, dating my wife the time, I'd she wouldn't hear from me for three days because I was doing stuff I shouldn't be doing. When you're awake for three days, I think some of your viewers know what I was doing. Yeah, it can get pretty manic and a whole different thing. It's just I was hitting it so hard as I look back. So what happened was this. I ended up getting married, okay, and uh Lost of Space came out. And I remember my wife had enough, okay. And she, because I got married before Lost of Space came out, just you know, about a year. Okay. About a year before it came out. But it's all still production. So I'm in London making a movie, she's home, now pregnant. I'm living dual lives, hi honey, being trying to be a great husband, but not being. And then back on the rocket ship. Yeah. So when I find she started to catch on, like, what's with these disappearing acts? There's this one testimony that she's actually on the show with me. She goes, I just remember Mark saying he's going to the store and to get something. And I wouldn't hear from him for three days. I look back, it brings tears to my man, the stuff I put her through.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

And when you're in it like that, you're thinking, oh, I'm getting away with it. Oh, this is this is all living the lie. Living the lie. And that poison, like when it's when it's got a hold of you, it's it's tough because really it feels like there's there's no way out of it. And I think so many people feel that when they're in that pit.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Yeah, and you know what it is? It's the blame game. When we talk about the book, Lamar tell you, you believe in God, you believe in Jesus, you better believe in Satan, the enemy. He's real. And I'll tell you, I've seen evil uh out in Hollywood. You know, the Church of Satan, which was founded by Anton LeBay, it's on Sunset Boulevard. It's, you know, freedom of religion here. It's right there, Church of Satan. They they meet, they're more dedicated than any Christian or any church. They meet every night at 3 a.m. They cast out the, you know, as as a believer and a follower of Jesus Christ, they can't touch me. But if you're not, and you're not walking, and you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, the enemy's powerful. He can influence. So the thing is, lies, lies, lies. And the enemy's number one trick is to divide and conquer. Look what he's doing to this country, look what he's doing to this world. That's what he tried to do in my marriage, because his worst nightmare is me sitting here with Drew saying, I'm out to reach men, I'm out to tell men that they need to become the spiritual leader of their home. They need to become a loyal, great husband, they need to be a great father. That's the enemy's worst nightmare. Yeah. So jumping forward, my wife had enough of me. Um I came home one day, all my clothes were on the porch. Okay, stacked this high. You got the classic exit. And and here's the great thing you working out and stuff noise. She even nicely dumped all my creatine and protein powder on top of my clothes, you know, that look like laundry soap. And uh, because she had enough. But it's interesting, and I got off track talking about the lie. You see, the blame game is this. It's all my wife's fault. I'm a great guy. I give her everything. Yeah, she's pointing the finger. What is she driving today? The Jag or the Range Rover? She's living in a beautiful house, you know, like 7,000 square

The Blame Game

SPEAKER_01 16:12

foot. I give her everything. It's that blame game. I look back and I'm thinking, man, did the enemy have a stronghold on my mind and my thoughts? You know. So I moved out of the house. Here comes the transformation. Moved out of the house, and uh I'll never forget this, man. Lost in space and lost in space came out in Black Dog. That was the big shot, you know. And that now that I'm separated, I can really run wild. Yeah, you've got no leash. Okay, and uh hitting it hard. And what I found out was this it was just an emptiness in a hole and no peace, no joy, frustration, anxiety, anger. You know, I go off on anger. There was nothing there. And here's how it happened. I was staying at a place in in Palm Beach, and I was on the beach. Okay. Oh, backing up. So I was up for a couple days. I'm staying on the beach in Palm Beach. I drive down this road, it's called Okeechobee Road, because you mentioned the L. Okay. And driving down this road, man, I'm tired. You can only party so long, drink so much guys without eventually going, man, I'm I gotta stop this. Yeah, the tank starts to run dry. And how many times do we say, I'm never doing this again? I'll never then you get healthy, you work out, and then boom, I'm just gonna have one little cocktail. So I remember it was like probably six in the morning, driving down. And back in those days, the movie theaters didn't have all this digital kiosk stuff, you know? It was those big long poles with the suction cover. Yep. And I could see it down the road. I see this pole up there, and I see Lost in Space and Black Dog. They're both on there.

unknown 17:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

So I thought I pull up there, grabbing the L. Our mutual buddy here loves this story. He goes, Noel. He calls me Noel. And I stopped, pulled over, watching it, and just amazing. Watching him pull the titles down. I went back to where I was standing, went on the ocean, and I had an absolute God encounter. And I wasn't searching for God. Okay. Everything was my wife's fault, this fault. I'd do everything. I wasn't it was an absolute like Saul to Paul transformation for you for you people that already know the Bible. Sitting on the beach, tired, you know, lonely, empty hole. It's like I was on the top of this mountain. All my worldly dreams came true. Everything. The money, the cars, the house, the beautiful wife. Number one movie in the world. Right? Yeah. It's all the boxes checked. All boxes checked. It's like I'm on top of this mountain. You look at all this destruction and how you've been running to hit that. And once it was over, it's like I'm sitting on the beach going, my dream came true. Now what?

unknown 18:58

Now what?

SPEAKER_01 18:59

I just lost and I felt the presence of God. And over and over my mind, that's how the Holy Spirit and God talks to us.

unknown 19:05

Your thoughts.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

You know, my mind was flying, you know, saying, Look at you. You're lost in space. That's what I was saying. Mm-hmm. Oh, this is kind of interesting. You're losing everything. Your wife. And I had two young kids at home, 18-month, a newborn and an 18-month-old my daughter. And the presence of God was so thick. And I sat there the next day, and it's in my book. And the only thing you read in this book, and we'll get into it, is the eight pages of how God woke me up every morning. This guy named Dean Lovett shows up while I'm staying. I don't even know him. Next morning, comes in and said, I'm Dean. I'm like, Yeah. He goes, My wife's best friends with your wife. I'm tired of waking up every morning and stuff and hearing about the guy. I just want to tell you. He's got this talk of I just want to tell you, he's got a Bible in his hand. You believe in God? Okay. He's mad. He's ticked off. I said, I get done. And I was like, of course I believe in God. I was born and raised Catholic. I graduated from Gabriel Richard. Well, here's a Bible. You're losing everything. He was very successful guy in Palm Beach, very wealthy guy. Um and I just sat there and go, You want to go to church? I got a great church. I said, Yeah. It was just a God thing. Show up at church the next day. And it was at Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach. And you know, God knows how He knows everything, obviously, but He knows how to get us. And I walk in there and they're playing that music, and it's Lord, I give you my heart.

A moment of Salvation

SPEAKER_01 20:38

And the same way the enemy likes to use music and media for the Holy Spirit. And the presence of God in that song is like, Lord, I give you my heart, I give you my soul. I just was like overwhelmed. I had a soft ball in my throat, not a go, not a lump, man. I figured I'm dying here in church. I had so much sin in my life. So much sin. Okay. And God just this presence was thick. And the music, I just wanted the ball, but I had so much pride. Okay. And that's another one of the the enemy loves pride. Yeah. And uh I wanted to cry, but I looked too down, my wife's there too down. It was a setup, by the way. It's another podcast. It was a full setup. Oh, yeah. I'm grabbing tissue. I'm itching my eye. I mean, you know, uh this is their intervention. 100%. Even the pastor knew. Yeah. Okay. So Pastor comes out big, burly guy, man. Pastor Tom Mullins. That church now has about 30 or 40,000 members, eight campuses. It was small at the time.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

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SPEAKER_01 22:35

So the pastor comes out, ex-football coach, you know, reminds me of my dad. That's the first thing, you know. Just tough guy. And he gets out, he's preaching, and I'm listening, I'm looking up at him. And he said, if you think you can live in perpetual sin without consequences, he's looking at me. You can't. You need to get a grip and points right at me. I'm kind of like, okay, dad. I mean, you know, I didn't know. It was, I'm thinking this message is just for me. This guy, you get a grip. Okay. So I was so overwhelmed. The presence of the Holy Spirit was so over me. And then they do the altar call where it's like, any of you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Now's the time. Make the public come up. Man, my knees were shaken. I didn't want to go. Or should I say the anime didn't want me to go?

SPEAKER_00 23:25

I mean, because you're just a few days removed from where you're in complete denial. I mean, just yeah, it was wham, wham, wham.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

Kind of like how I got my movie deal.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Yeah, it's the other way, but wham.

SPEAKER_01 23:37

And uh so I pulls up, I go up there, I'll never forget it. It's a special time. And I got on my knees and we did the sinner's prayer, let us through it. But I myself said, Lord, I'm a sinner. Cleanse me. Okay, forgive me for all of my sins, everything and anything I've done. Says in your word that you will forgive me. Give me a fresh start. Here's what I said, Lord, I give you my life. I surrender. Use me, mold me, change me, make me the man you want me to be, Lord. I surrender. The difference is I really meant it because I was such a mess. Yeah. It wasn't a pressure thing. The relief, man, was crazy. I hugged my wife. I'm bawling like a bait. The pride's gone now, man. I'm just bawling. Man, you see, I get emotional out there. I'm like, yeah. And so my wife and I get back together, and I'll never forget the pastor saying every time somebody gives their life to Christ, the thousands of angels are singing and praising. Okay. I go out, we get out there, I go back, I move back in the home. I'm a new man. I get a second chance, man. We're the god of second chances. And what he didn't tell me is this there's also an enemy, named Satan. Okay. And it's just like in scripture, the seeds long in the past. When you first hear the word of God, you accept Christ, the enemy wants to take you out. He wants to pull you out before you have any roots. Well, here's the difference. I was marked because you see,

The Struggle: Spiritual Warfare and Second Chances

SPEAKER_01 25:12

the enemy, even in the Bible, God gave him authority over the airways. He's actually called the prince of the air, which is what? Internet media. Okay. And so what the pastor didn't tell me is you better put your armor of God on because also the enemy is going to come after you. They don't give any stage time to, hey, you gave your life to Christ. Now get ready because you're going to have some spiritual battles. There's going to be a fight for you as you walk, and it's continuous. But mine was intense because here's what I visualize the thousands of angels that were singing. There's also Satan himself down there around a boardroom table with the seventh general saying, Boys, we got a problem. Cookie, that was my nickname, Halloween. Just accept the Christ. Get him. Get him. Telling you, spiritual warfare is real. We'll get to it in my book. So I just cliff notes now. Flash forward. Up, down, up, down, up, down. Sin, repent, go to church. I'm sorry you were. I'm gonna have one vodka tonic, ten later. I'm sorry, you are. It was a never-ending struggle of, and like Paul says, why do I do the things that I don't want to do? Why can't I do the things I do want to do? That was me. And it started getting so old and stuff. Here's the kicker though. I look back now, just a smile on my face. Three months after I gave my life to Christ, my wife and I moved back into our house. We had beautiful house. We lost everything. Everything. And I had the cars, the house, you know, we belonged to Marilago, you know, just elite. And what happened was two of my stunt men got killed on Black Dog. And uh, of course, the timing was the family, rightfully so, sued Universal Pictures, but they sued Prelude Pictures. My company also sued the producer, who's a big guy, which is me. Ended up losing the case. I had a $42 million judgment put against me. I think I was telling uh Scott, one of our guys, we know a guy, remember China going by a car and they pull your credit and the machine start smoking.

The Fall: Losing Everything

SPEAKER_01 27:26

And they're like, what the heck is this? It's not four million. Yeah. And I wasn't worth that. So it was done. But it's interesting because when you get a judgment that big, it all comes crashing down. You know that you're not gonna go hide stuff and do this. That's a serious judgment. We went from an 8,000 square foot house all within 90 days of me accepting Christ to an 800 square foot apartment. All the cars were gone. I had to sell all my wife's Rolex watches, her wedding room. We'd sell everything.

unknown 27:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

And uh it was horrible. And of course I got mad at God sometimes. I'm gonna be out in the backyard, if this is what it's like to be a Christian, you know, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Well, I think I think that was my exact question, was gonna be piggybacked off of that idea, is that you have to be wavering in your thought at some point, because even the strongest person and the strongest Christian is going to be like, okay, there's a plan, there's a plan, there's a plan. But when the plan involves taking everything that you have. Job, who am I? Job's descendant here? Yeah. And you know, I'm I'm a dad of multiple children too. So you're thinking about their well-being and everything, and you're like, well, there's a plan, but like we got to eat, we got to do this and that and the other thing. And so it must have been a tough time for you.

SPEAKER_01 28:37

It was, it was extraordinarily tough. There was anger, there's rage. However, I didn't go back to any drugs, any drink, anything else. It's impressive. However, there was, even though I was mad, I had enough confidence, it was no longer private confidence. I'll make it back. I can make it back. And my wife said, You can make as long you can sell anything, as long as you can sell something, we'll eat. But it got to the point where we're rolling quarters from McDonald's and stuff, and I couldn't get a job. I couldn't, nobody would hire me. You know, I tried to get a job in the sales because that's my background. Of course, when I want to sell Mercedes or Land Row, I'm not gonna go sell Chevy.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

But you were used to this high life.

unknown 29:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

And nothing. I ended up at a buy here, pay here, used car a lot. The difference was this. There was an inner peace and joy, and I'll end that part with this. Okay. That 800 square foot apartment was more of a home than that 8,000 square foot house ever was.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

I didn't even want to go to that house. There was actual love in that apartment. And there was camaraderie.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

Stripping me down. So, okay, now that I look back, it's so easy to see. And I'm like, thank you, Jesus. Saying that I look at my king up there saying, okay, he he he he wants, he's accepted me. He's my child now. It's good. But take everything. It wasn't the enemy. Satan didn't come and take everything.

The Transformation: Finding Peace In Simplicity

SPEAKER_01 29:59

It was God. It was God saying, as long as this cat's got a couple mil ski in the bank still, this is gonna be very temporary. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yes. And the enemy's gonna come in and pull this net. Take it, take it all. The best thing that ever happened, he was losing everything. The best thing. And it was a long road. And of still upbound, upbound, still sinning and stuff, but the sin was different. And I noticed that when I would fall into sin of drunkenness or whatever, that there was conviction. Before there was never any conviction, you didn't have anybody to hold you accountable. So that's when I just got so tired of saying, Lord, help me. I can't do this. I need your help. And that's when this starts. Get into next. Yeah. I finally was at the end saying, Lord, you gotta help me here. I got.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

Yeah. So what this book now, this book has had a lot of notoriety and it's had a lot, it's changed a lot of lives. Um, how does this come about for you? And and I guess the question is, does it come about while you're at that kind of rock bottom place? Are you coming full circle at that point? Or where does this come about?

SPEAKER_01 31:11

Yeah, this is this is such an amazing story. So as I was telling you, the up, down, up, down, just it's interesting. God always supplied the manna, enough to eat, pay the rent, you know, rent an apartment. Yeah. And I just really cried out saying, Lord, help me, lead me, guide me, show me there's gotta be what's going on. It was that next morning after I'm I'm probably crying. It wasn't like, help me, Jesus, like you know, you need it. I felt like such a loser that I can't provide anymore. But yet it felt good to be good. My marriage was good. My wife, and think, but help me, Lord. So here's how it happens. After that prayer, I woke up the next morning at exactly 5:55 a.m. Now, being a film guy, I'm usually reading scripts at night because I'm still trying to get back in film, but that's not really working. Yeah. And uh, so I usually get up at 10 o'clock in the morning, you know, 5:55 a.m.,

The Journey From Rock Bottom to Purpose

SPEAKER_01 32:08

wake up, boom, like this. The same thoughts, just like on the beach saying you're lost.

SPEAKER_00 32:15

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SPEAKER_01 33:08

Get up, give me your first hour, okay? Give me 30 minutes of prayer and 30 minutes of reading my word. Over and over my mind. Yeah, I try to go back to sleep. Get up, give me your first hour. It was so distinct. Now I'm thinking that. It's not like I hear God's voice, you with me, but yeah, get up, give me your. I need to get up, give God my first hour, 30 minutes of prayer. You know that's the Holy Spirit. So I remember finally being obedient, saying, okay, I'm gonna go read my Bible and stuff. You know it's God because Mark Cook wouldn't say, I think I'm gonna give God my first hour for the next 30 days, half hour of prayer, half hour reading his word. What the heck am I gonna pray about for 30 minutes? It's a long time. That's you know, I mean, so this book, and what's cool about it, it's not a book you read, it's a checkoff list. The only thing you read in

The Call To Morning Prayer

SPEAKER_01 34:03

it is the crazy eight pages, how God woke me up every single morning at 5:55. This is important. So get up, give me your first hour. I go upstairs, being obedient, and uh what am I gonna pray about for 30 minutes? Go up to my desk, and my desk is usually cluttered with everything scripts, this, a little ADD here. Yeah, you might pick it up a little bit, you know? But I knew where everything was at. Yeah, you know, and uh my desk is wiped out clean. On the center of my desk is one book. It's called Prayers That Avail Much by Jermaine Copeland. It's about this thick. And I open it up, I look, and there's like 240 pages and like 160 prayers. I go, this is interesting. Okay, I'm supposed to pray for 30 minutes. I grab a yellow pad and I'm gonna start, I gotta do it for 30 days. I'll keep track. And I went through the index and I figured, okay, I'm timing this, Lord, 30 minutes. I'll see how many prayers I do. And my intent was to do the same prayers for 30 days. Yeah. So I have a routine. The very first prayer on there was wash yourself with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, reprint, ask for forgiveness. The second prayer was putting on the full armor of God. And the third prayer was refilling of the Holy Spirit. The fourth one was this, fifth one. It ended up being 18 prayers. But here's what's interesting, okay? Those 18 prayers, the first prayer was on page like 140. So I put a little yellow sticky note, one. The second prayer is on page 22, and I had 18 sticky notice. I got 18 prayers in. I'm the next morning. Okay. So after that was done, I went, wow, these power, these prayers are powerful. Then I said, okay, I'm supposed to read God's word for 30 minutes. What do I do? And I grabbed my New Testament and I look, and there's 240 pages. I'm like, okay, 240 divided by 30 is eight. Wow. If I only read eight pages a day, which is only four pages front and back, I've read the entire New Testament in 30 days. This is cool. I did that. And then I had about 10 minutes left over. Okay. I said, well, here's how people know that I had no intention of getting up and saying, I think I'm gonna do a men's devotional. Okay. Because I go, well, there's 30 Proverbs, so maybe I'll do a proverb. And Proverbs is the most, to me, one of the most powerful books in the Bible. It's lessons in life, it's learning, it's wisdom, it's discernment. It's amazing. I read them every day still. So I got done with that. Then I just started writing down things. Okay, I'm gonna get come home the same time. I'm gonna work out for 15 minutes. I put a checklist. I'm gonna return home the same time every night. Man, I'm gonna be a good husband. I'm gonna spend 30 minutes with my kids in bedtime prayer, and I'm gonna spend an hour with my wife in bedtime prayer. And I wrote it down where I just did a checkoff list. Yes, no, yes, no. So getting through this, first of all, I didn't know there were 31 Proverbs until I hit 30. Oh, hey, there's an extra one here. There we go. Here's the thing it's tithing your time. And I'm gonna get into the book a little more because it's transformational. The same way, it's the only thing that we're allowed to test God on in the Bible is tithing. The only thing, okay, says test me on this. You can't outgive them. Okay. And uh God laid in my heart, if it's so important for our father for us to tithe the first fruits of our income to him, okay. Don't you think as a father, you're a dad, I'm a dad. Love our children. Of course. Hey, we like your rent money, honey, but they're not spending any time with us. We're they're still abiding by our rules because they're paying the rent, but not spending any time with us. Okay. I would think as a father, it would be just as important to him, if not more, to tithe our time. Give them the first fruits of your day. And I'll tell you, we've given away over 500,000 books. I think we're at like 530. First book's free. Okay. Do a plug. Then go to thefirstour.com, get a free book.

SPEAKER_00 38:15

Yeah. It's good to know where to find it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:17

And and I tell you, this routine had such a radical transformation in my life. People started asking my wife about maybe a month after. Because I never stopped. I kept doing the hour, kept doing the prayers over and over again. Well, Stephanie, what's what's what's the matter? What's different about Mark? I mean, is it something is he okay? You know? I mean, he's still the same. He's still, I'd really say, but there's something different about him. What's different about him? Like they could sense the peace. Yeah, there was a change. And she goes, Well, he's getting up every single morning at 5.55 and giving his first hour to God. Really? What's he doing? Well, he's got these prayers and this and that. And she goes, I gotta tell you, it was like two weeks in, and he'd wake up and say, Stephanie, don't even tell me what time's the clock say, 5.55. God woke me up every single morning for 30 days. Now, the eight pages that you're reading here is a story how he woke me up and what the significance of the number 555 is. He revealed it at the end. But but Drew, like clockwork, I didn't have to look. It was getting freaky, you know? Yeah. And so these women start saying, Well, could he write that down? I'd like to give that to Tom. Yeah, have him give me one for Steve, too, and Drew and Scott, this and that. That's how this was born. I never had any tensions. I never woke up and said, I think I'm gonna do a men's devotional and show men what I did. Yeah. This is just something that I did. Okay. And it's funny because the 18 prayers in the book, I didn't even write. People, when I go speak, people say, author, speaker, will we producer? No, I'm not an author. I could definitely yak. Yeah. Okay. So call me yakker, not speaker. But it's it's just insane that these prayers, okay, aren't even mine. The Bible, I surely didn't write. So I'm a compiler. The only thing I did was put the order, the checkoff list. And these prayers are in perfect order. God first, family second, career third. So out of those 500,000 plus books we've given out, I get testimony after testimony after testimony of lives radically transformed. And there's no Oscar, there's no trophy, there's nothing that can compare that uh to the what the difference that's been made there. I'll share one with you. Thank you, thank you. I waited three minutes months to write you because I thought maybe this, I don't know his name, let's call him Jim. I thought maybe this was just another phase Jim was gonna try and go through again. But it's been three months, and I'm happy to report. My husband is transforming. He's becoming a new man. His relation, our relationship is being healed. The relationship with our 16-year-old son is being restored. Thank you, Mark Cook. Thank you. I'm like weeping. You know, you're like, oh my, there's nothing that gives you that kind of joy saying, man, thank you, Lord. You use me to help restore this family. This this marriage was gone. This marriage would have been gone. And thousands of them. See how emotional. Yeah, the Holy Spirit's in this room, man. I hadn't teared up in a podcast in a long time ago. Well, it's good. It's good. It's just there's power in the hour. And I tell people, you can't spend an hour a day with God, your first hour, tithing your time, without him showing up. You can't. I challenge somebody, we're giving a bunch of books away at the show. That's why I'm in Portland here.

SPEAKER_00 41:39

Yeah, no, one Moto show, which is an incredible thing.

SPEAKER_01 41:42

And I'll tell you, you can't. Somebody said, So um, you're thinking this is gonna change? I said, I'm not thinking. I guarantee it. It's the word of God guarantees it. Okay. And I said, hey, here's my address. You do this for 30 days, get in prayer, and really do it, commit

Transformational Power of Routine

SPEAKER_01 41:58

to it. You're changing. You're changing. And I've I've noticed here there's a lot of uh um non-believers, uh, to the point of uh a couple atheists I ran into, and they like to question me, and they'll look like I'm looking in your eyes. I can tell you, you know, you you're a man filled with the spirit, man. I'm just telling you right now, but you can see, you know, the eye is is is the doorway to the heart. I've met a lot of people at this show, man, that are just lost. And you can't judge, you gotta deal with love. So you it really changed you, huh? I said, buddy, that was 20 years ago I did this. And I can only tell you this, okay? I surely haven't made any money on it. Okay. I've done a lot of tithing on it. We give that first book away. I said, out of 500,000 men like you, okay, that did this book, the tens of thousands of testimonies I get would blow your mind. I could say this. If you woke up this morning, you said, today's gonna be a great day. Thank you for this new day. And you were filled with joy, you had no anxiety, your marriage is great, okay. You're walking downstairs, whatever. I'm telling this guy this. He's just looking at me. I said, and he kids, hey kids, go, and everything, you just had joy this morning, and you don't need this. But I can almost guarantee you, okay, if you speak the truth, you didn't wake up that way this morning. I wake up that way every single morning, and there's nothing that's gonna steal my joy. Life is short, eternity isn't. Okay. And I'm not here to preach to you. And and you know what's interesting, Drew? Um, I tell people a lot, I go, if it wasn't for all those crazy Christians, man, I'd have got saved a lot earlier. We can't save anybody. All we can do is plant the seed. Yeah. It's the Holy Spirit. People don't want to be preached to. They want, like you're talking about your father and mother stuff. They led by they led us by example integrity, authenticity, truthfulness, love, correction. Discipline. Yeah. Okay. Good father. Good husband. Okay. So that's that's basically the bottom line. The book, man, the the prayers are powerful. Um, I encourage everybody. Uh closing up for me unless you have other questions, is I was on the Huckabee show and it's interesting, it was during COVID, and the first book was free, and Huckabee's like, what a great Father's Day present, you know? First book's free. And we got like 13 or 13 or 15,000 orders. I started noticing my gosh, like 60% of all these orders are from women. Ordering for their husband. Yeah, because we well, I didn't think of that at this at the time I go, did I forget to say this is first hour for men? I said, Where did you get this? I mean, so I actually called one of them. I said, Hey, Mark Cook. And I said, I'm just curious. I said, first of all, thanks for ordering your free book. And just want to know um if this is for you. She said, No, no, it's for my husband. I said, Okay, because it's like 60%. There's like 8,000 women out of this book. I want to make sure that I was clear saying it's for men, even though the women can do it. Women, you can do it. There's one prayer you need to change, only one. And it hit me thinking, all these women out there, man, are just dying and longing for their husband to become a godly man. They're dying for him to become the leader. They're dying for him to become the spiritual leader, the dad. They're dying to be able to trust him, you know, and honor him. And half the problem with marriage is stuff. The wife's don't respect us men, we need respect. Man, if our wife says, I'm so proud of you, you can go do anything then, versus, are you kidding me? Are you gonna do this? Why couldn't you have done that? You know, the the power of a wife in in the marriage is powerful, but how's the wife supposed to give you all this respect and stuff when you're not setting the example to your family? So the whole book is this if you heal the man, he can heal the family, and the family can heal the nation. And I'm I'm on a rampage to get this.

SPEAKER_00 46:03

And it is, it is a thing where it um it's a snowball effect, you know. So if it's the same thing with at my house, if you're doing all the things, checking all the boxes that you need to as a father, being a good dad, being present, helping around the house, all those boxes changes the way that they see you and they and they react as well, you know. So it really does start from the per the parents on down the line, which is what builds that home.

SPEAKER_01 46:30

Yeah. You know, there's an interesting, if they go to the firsthour.com, it says about Mark, uh, Promise Keepers did a testimony when they did their relaunch in 2019, and it really proves um that heal the man, healed the family, heal the nation, and it proves the power of a dead because my son, who was a NASCAR driver, Jake Cook, okay, he owned NASCAR for 38 years,

Changing Lives Through Transparency

SPEAKER_01 46:55

my grandson in this video is probably about six. They came to Florida and they did my testimony, which is only four minutes long, and then they flew to North Carolina and gave my son's testimony. I'll never forget what my son said. He goes, all I remember that my dad, I was about 12. And uh I saw my dad radically change. It was always a good bad, but it wasn't around much that much. But I see him radically change when when God got a hold of his heart. And that change drastically changed me, even at 12. He goes, I can probably guarantee you, I might have been a NASCAR driver stuff, but I wouldn't be driving for Compassion International. I am second. I wouldn't be out giving my testimony and talking about God at Daytona, Calvary Chapel, whenever. You know, he's at Texas, though him and Trevor Bain, a couple other guys, they go and preach the gospel. Yeah. I've probably been driving for like Hooters and Jack Daniels, and this could have been a whole different story. Yeah, that's you know, but now I love it when my son comes downstairs and they show my grandson coming down sitting on his lap, and I can read the Bible to him. So we, it's never too late. We, us men, can change, can break generational curses. I call them, okay. I can get deep on that too, by by turning our lives around, Penton. Because you're a lot of people are victim to their upbringing. And my dad being a great guy, and you know, all the stuff I told you, honest, authenticity, and that, but he he he's still a player, so to speak. Yeah. He wasn't, you know, that it was cool to be a player, a flirt, and this and that and stuff, you know. And I just thank God that Mark Cook, that he used Mark Cook to break that generational curse adultery of when I say it's gone.

SPEAKER_00 48:43

Yeah, it's a vicious cycle, and it just you have to, and I always say about changing the culture of whatever it is that you don't like. And a lot of times it's when you talk about the culture of abuse and other things like that. Oh, yeah, you have to change how, you know, it's like uh two generations ago you were beat thoroughly, one generation ago you were spanked thoroughly, and now you talk it out. That's it. You know, so it's like what a great analogy. We're just kind of working our way back to center. Yeah. Um, so I I think it's a it's a great message, and it's also um, you know, you mentioned uh being at the show here, and there are uh it's not the South, you know, there are there are people who have wide range of thoughts on religion and all that stuff. But I think uh for anyone who's looking to explore more and to kind of see where they are at, uh, this book's a great thing to give yourself that 30 days to kind of walk through it, schedule something with yourself, baby, and test it out, you know, and and see how it goes for you because you know it doesn't have to be every morning for the rest of your life, but if you do that 30 days, maybe it becomes something that's fought on if that works for you.

SPEAKER_01 49:44

That's what we call it 30-day boot camp for men. The most important thing is, again, I keep talking about the enemy, he's real, he doesn't want you to do it, he wants you to do it. It's a 30-day boot camp. Doesn't mean it's gotta be 30 days in a row. Some people say, Man, I was doing good for 11 days, I missed the whole week and not, and then they'll put it down and get and get rid of it, pick it up. I promise, your viewers, promise I can do that because the word of God, the Bible promises seek ye first the kingdom of God and all else will be added to you. Okay, ask you, shall receive, not the door will be open. It's just going. I promise you, if you do this 30-day boot camp, okay, expect change. Expect it. It's guaranteed. Now, for some of you, it might be great, for some of you, not so good. Like me in the beginning, because the Holy Spirit plow is gonna come in and start pulling some of those weeds out, guys.

SPEAKER_00 50:39

Yeah, but it cleaned out your garden. It found you where you are now. Fired up, man. Yeah. So if somebody wants to find your book and to try out the 30-day boot camp of the first hour, where should they go, Mark?

SPEAKER_01 50:51

Okay, so thefirstour.com. I say this because I'm not promoting Amazon and stuff. I had to put it on Amazon because there's just so many, and we do a lot on Amazon. They're $14.95. They sell them on Amazon. Don't go on Amazon. Okay, go to thefirstour.com. First books free. Any other books after that are hugely discounted. So it's like buy three, get five free, and you're not gonna get that on Amazon.

SPEAKER_00 51:19

Because you want the word out more than anything else.

SPEAKER_01 51:21

All about getting it out. There's a duplication process, and it's it's working, man.

SPEAKER_00 51:25

The finalhour.com. The first hour. Oh, sorry. Not the final hour. The first hour. Maybe that's maybe that's the secret. I was gonna say you got one last it's the it's the book you read on the final day. Uh, but no, all jokes aside, the first hour uh has got a great message. Mark Cook, thank you so much for taking the time to come in here and sit down with me. You're listening to the Fit for Radio podcast brought to you in part by the Stafford Hills Club. If you haven't been here, voted the best health and wellness facility in the Portland area. And when you get here, you'll see why. Not only is it a premier tennis facility, it is so much more. And I think that's one of the misconceptions about this place is that there is a great pool here, a saltwater pool. You also have amazing workout facilities, free weights, machines, classes, uh, TRX. There's so much to do here. And of course, pickleball, outdoor tennis as well. And then a bunch of new amenities on the way here at Stafford Hills, where it is a family, a community, the type of thing you want to be part of. Check them out today at staffordhills.com. Tell them Drew sent you for half off your initiation.