It was nearly twenty years ago that God came and rescued me out of the darkness I was in. He chose one of the most shameful moments He possibly could to show up and pull the scales off of my eyes. I will never forget sitting on the couch that night while I was strung out on drugs as God spoke to me and answered every question I had for Him about life. I got up off that couch and I was no longer blind. I did a complete 180-degree turn after that conversation . . . giving up a life of drugs, alcohol, and self gratification and turned my life over to Christ. I could only compare the months and even the initial years that followed that night to finding new romance. It was like a high for me. I was overflowing with zeal and passion for God. I was in full pursuit of Him and He continued His pursuit of me as well. I literally thought I could walk on water during that season. I felt like I could dodge bullets. No, I really mean it . . . I literally thought I could dodge bullets. Who knows . . . maybe I could have! I know my faith and belief in God were great! My faith and excitement were “like a child”. . . as Jesus said.
But somewhere along the way in the years that followed, something happened. A mortgage and bills happened. Running a business happened. Marriage and children happened. I believe the words Jesus used were . . . “the worries and cares of this world” happened! And just as He said would happen in that parable . . . they were choking out the fruit of the Spirit within my life! Its interesting that Jesus used the word “choke” , because I remember at times feeling like I was literally suffocating. That childlike faith I once had slowly began to dwindle and was replaced with more and more days of anxiety and fear and anger. That joy I once had was replaced with on and off seasons of depression. Peace was replaced with discontentment. Amid all of this my life slowly seemed to resemble more and more of the world I had supposedly forsaken to follow Christ.
This season of darkness naturally led me to a period of intense self-examination. It forced me to grapple with some serious questions I knew I had to resolve and get answers to. And all of those questions seemed to lead to one larger and more haunting question . . . Did I really know Him? Was I truly saved? I found myself questioning my entire salvation. Jesus said we could tell a tree by its fruit. Was I producing any? Is it possible for an apple tree to produce no apples? I remembered what He said about trees that produce no fruit. I also remembered Him saying that on that day many would claim to have known Him and be disappointed when they find out otherwise. I knew I professed Christ and I honestly believe I would have died for Him if I had to. I prayed, read the Word, and even was a consistent giver. Heck . . . I even started a blog about God! Yet . . . as I examined my life it still seemed to feel more and more lukewarm . . . and I knew what He said about the lukewarm.
When I looked at my life, I just didn’t see much that was different from the rest of the world. The same things that caused unbelievers to have worry, doubt, and fear were causing me to experience the exact same emotions. My joy seemed to be tied to the number of real estate closings I had on the books. I knew the world worships at the alter of money, and selfish ambition, and yet as I examined myself I found my thoughts continually dominated by how to take my business to the next level, make more money, and lose the next percentage of body fat before summer vacation. Was I really any different from anyone else? When was the last time I shared the gospel with an unbeliever? What was I doing with all of this money I was making? Sure . . . I was giving . . . but was it sacrificial? Was my life being impacted by my giving? Why was I still struggling with some of the same sins I had been battling for almost twenty years? Shouldn’t those things have been conquered by now? I knew there had to be more to this Christian walk than what I was experiencing. Either the entire Bible was wrong . . . or there was something I was doing wrong . . . something I didn’t know!
Everything changed about nine months ago when a friend of mine sent me a YouTube video by a guy named Dan Mohler on “How To Pray”. As I watched that video I saw something that intrigued me. I saw a man who was passionately in love with Christ and full of JOY!! He was a little goofy and honestly a little “like a child”. He even admits to being nicknamed “Happy Dan”, but . . . as he spoke I observed something that I desperately needed in my life! Naturally, I assumed that maybe this Dan guy was a new Christian! Maybe this was Dan on a good day! So I immediately searched YouTube for more videos of his and I continued to watch and listen! I consumed hours and hours of his content. I watched videos of his from years before and recent ones as well. And here is what I found . . . he was the same Dan Mohler in every one! This wasn’t a show. It was authentic. This guy had walked with God for as long as I have been and yet his joy wasn’t fading and his message wasn’t changing. He lives this way every day. This was Dan’s normal life!!
Now I realize you may think I am exaggerating what I observed but please understand . . . I have been walking with God now for twenty-years. I’ve been to Bible college. I’ve read countless books on God and the Christian life. I have listened to hundreds of sermons in person. And probably hundreds more online and through podcasts. But this was different. I was hearing a message I had never heard before. . . and I was seeing fruit I hadn’t seen before.
Since then I’ve continued to consume as much as possible of Dan’s teaching and as a result I have seen things about the message of Christ that I had never understood. I have experienced a new joy I haven’t felt before. I have found a peace that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I have found myself seeking God out of desire rather than out of duty! I have found myself truly conquering in areas of my spiritual walk that I have always desired. And I don’t mean conquering by mere “will power”. I’m talking about my heart and desires changing. I have found myself listening to worship music all day long . . . not because I feel like it’s what a good Christian should listen to, but because I am finding myself in love with Him again.
So I realize by now that some of you may be wondering. . . ” Ok, Mike . . . What is it specifically that you have learned from Dan that is so powerful?” I promise I will get to that quickly. But before I do, I must mention I find myself in a bit of a predicament because I really believe that no matter how well I attempt to craft my words, I will not be able to articulate them adequately, and you will find yourself unchanged if you don’t listen to Dan’s teaching for yourself. So . . . if you have only one option . . . to continue reading my post or to listen to Dan’s message for yourself, I would ask that you stop reading now and go listen for yourself. Here are a few YouTube links to some powerful videos I have watched. Yes, I realize some of them are long but I believe your life is worth it!
- How To Pray-( 30 minutes) This was the original video I watched that sparked a fire within me!
- Sexuality and Marriage-(10 minutes) This is a link to my last blog post where I have a ten-minute segment from one of his longer messages. In this ten-minutes he speaks on sexuality and marriage. This message had a radical impact on me as a man. It has since had a profound impact within my marriage, and I really believe it’s a message that every man and woman needs to hear!
- Intimacy with God-(1 hour) This message really hits hard on the area of self-condemnation and believers who are walking in guilt and shame.
- Dan’s Personal and Marriage Testimony– (1hr 50min)This is a SUPER POWERFUL video on Dan’s life before knowing Christ, his salvation experience, and how his marriage was revolutionized in the midst of it all!…( I purposely linked the video to start at the 12 minute mark where Dan is introduced)
Lastly . . . I would like to say, I do not idolize Dan and my goal is not even to promote Dan. My goal is to promote Christ and the life changing message He is speaking through him. I truly believe that God has anointed him to speak a specific message to His people during this time and my goal in this post is to lead people to that message. The truth is . . . Dan isn’t speaking any different message than the one Christ already spoke.
Below are the fundamental truths I have learned from Dan’s teaching and some screenshots of messages I received from someone who read my last blog post and started watching Dan’s teaching. . .
What have I learned from Dan Mohler?
Truth #1
If I had to sum up in one word what I feel is the message that God has given Dan to preach it would be the word “identity”. I picture God in heaven turning to the Son and saying . . .”They have no idea who they are! If only they understood who they are everything would change”. The church has missed the entire point of the gospel in this area and as a result we suffer from an identity crisis. This has been caused because we have preached a message that has been focused on saying a prayer so we can get to heaven rather than transformation on earth. God didn’t come to save us merely so we could escape hell. He died so we could be transformed NOW into the very image of His Son! He came to restore relationship. He came to restore to man everything he lost on that day in the Garden. He came to restore communion with Him. He came to restore the peace and joy and innocence we once possessed. And the blood of Jesus restores those things NOW!! Remember, He said . . . “the Kingdom of God is at hand”. We do NOT have to wait to arrive in heaven to walk in those things. Why and how are they available? Because His blood has covered me and He has removed my sins as far as the east is from the west.
This truth of the blood is what brings me to the first major stumbling block that was removed for me as a result of Dan’s teaching . . . self-condemnation! I was “sin-conscious” as Dan puts it. And I’m not even necessarily talking about blatant and outright sin. I’m talking about the way I would beat myself up for not being a “good enough Christian”. For not praying long enough. For not praying passionately enough. For not getting up early enough. For not reading and studying the word enough. For not giving enough. For wanting to listen to 106.1 in the car rather than the Christian station. The list goes on and on. I was walking in continual self-condemnation as I subconsciously pictured my Dad in heaven with a big disappointing look on His face. The fact is. . . I didn’t truly understand my identity. I didn’t truly understand how much He loves me, and I certainly didn’t understand the power of His blood. I will never forget in that first video on “How To Pray” when Dan said. . . ”anything that keeps you from His presence is a lie”. Those words penetrated my heart. I remember rewinding it because I had to hear that part again! I was being kept from His presence because I felt He was continually disappointed in me. How much weight was I bearing when I felt the creator of the universe was upset with me? I am now truly coming to an understanding that He is for me and not against me. That He is eagerly waiting, with a smile on His face, for me to spend time with Him. Just like a child learning to walk . . . every time he falls, the Dad’s smile never fades. He is always saying. . . .”Come on, let’s get back up and try again.” The Father is always waiting with open arms for the prodigal son to return. I have truly learned that absolutely any thought in my mind that is not producing life within me is not from Him. Any thought or belief that keeps me from His presence is a lie!
And it’s amazing . . . as a result of me realizing I’m not a huge disappointment to Him I have found that all of those areas I was once beating myself up about have changed. I have actually desired to get up early and be with Him. I have found myself wanting to give more. I have found myself desiring the things of this world less and less as I pray and ask Him to continue to make me more Holy and more like Him.
The text messages below were received from a follower who read my last blog post. Check it out...
Truth #2
Absolutely everything I was missing in my life . . . the love, the joy, the peace, etc . . . can all be found in one simple and yet profound truth. And that truth can be summed up in one word. . . . DEATH! The more life I want, the more death I must have. Let me explain. . . . Jesus said . . .
“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple”
Luke 14:27
What did the cross represent? Death! When I made a decision to follow Christ I decided to DIE! To follow Him means that I decided to die to myself and this world. I died to my life, my ambitions, my desires, my rights, my agenda, my daily to do list, my goals, and everything I think I deserve, and I possess nothing! I also died to everything I think this world owes me and everything I think my fellow man owes me. No one owes me anything. I relinquished all that! Those things were nailed to a cross and died along with my old man. This is what Jesus meant when He said. . . .
“So then none of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions”Luke 14:33
It is also what Paul meant when he said to the Colossian church . . .
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” Colossians 3:3
That is the message of the Gospel. . . . Just as I was in Adam when He sinned in the Garden and sin entered into me. So I was also in Christ when He was nailed to a cross. When He died I also died with Him. All the rights and agendas of that old man also died. I relinquished all my rights and possessions in exchange for me being purchased by His blood. I now have a new owner!
You may wonder why I would say that I have found all this peace and joy and contentment in giving up all this. It is because when we let go of everything . . . we then find that nothing in this world can phase us. When we realize that no man owes us anything then we simultaneously realize that no man can take our joy and cause us frustration and anger! For example . . . when I walk out of the grocery store and see that the person next to me has swung open their car door and hit mine and now I have a scratch on my new truck it doesn’t bother me because I have relinquished all of my rights and I possess nothing. The truck was never mine. It was His. When a driver swings in and steals the parking spot I was patiently waiting for . . . it doesn’t bother me because I realize that I have died to this world and no man owes me anything and I have no rights to anything. This is the reason Jesus commanded us . . .
“ if someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also”
Mathew 5:39
It’s the reason I can continue to have joy when I’m at the airport and my flight keeps getting delayed. BecauseI died to my agenda, and if God in His sovereignty, has decided it’s not time for me to get on that plane . . . then so be it! You see . . . once I realize that I have died to my agenda then I’m all of a sudden freed up to sit at that airport gate and exhibit joy in the midst of a crowded room of unhappy passengers. ISN’T THAT THE GOSPEL? Isn’t that the fruit that will cause the world to want what we have? I think so! The joy I saw in Dan Mohler was a result of him understanding that no one in this world owed him anything. It was the joy of a man who had relinquished all of his rights and possessions! Remember the words of Jesus . . .
“Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”
Luke 17:33
Truth #3
The previous truth dealt with everything we must give up and relinquish, but this one deals with the other side of that same coin. Where the last one dealt with death . . . this one deals with new life in Christ. Specifically, the fact that all of my needs have been met in Him. He purchased me. He owns me. And just as a slave relies on his master to meet all of his needs, He now meets all my needs. I am not dependent upon any man or woman or any other system of this world to meet my needs or provide anything to me. This has been life changing for me, especially within my marriage.
There are two reasons why I believe this truth is so life changing. One, it frees us up to LOVE . . . unconditionally! Here is what I mean . . . When I believe I need something from someone then every “loving” act I do is at risk of being done so I can have my “needs” met from that person in the future. Even if that need is just a simple expression of gratitude for what I did. It’s like a scoreboard where I am storing up points that I expect to cash in at some future time. And then what happens when I go to cash in and that person doesn’t have the emotional, spiritual, or physical capacity to meet my request? Bitterness and anger rise up within me! But the one who has no needs is truly freed up to love others unconditionally because he needs nothing from them in return. This was the essence of what Jesus demonstrated at the cross, in that while we nailed him to a piece of wood, He said . . . “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” He was able to love us while we crucified Him because he neither expected nor needed anything from us in return.
The second reason this truth is so powerful is because the one who has no needs is no longer dominated by thoughts of self preservation. Thoughts like . . . will I have enough money? Will I have enough food? Or in my case, do I have enough closings on the books next month? Our communion with Him is what sustains us as we trust that whatever He chooses to provide beyond that is enough. Consider Paul’s words below . . .
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”Phillippians 4:12
Listen to how Paul described himself to the Corinthians below…
“…as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.” 2 Corinthians 6:10
And now, because we are not dominated by thoughts of self preservation and how we will meet all of our own needs, we are then freed up to fulfill the only obligation we have from our new owner . . . LOVE!
Conclusion
I have tried my best to articulate the life changing truths that have become real to me as a result of watching Dan Mohler’s videos. I still know I have not done them justice. Here is my encouragement to you . . . If you are not full of joy and peace and contentment in your life . . . if you are battling seasons of loneliness and depression as I was . . . or if you are like me, and you know in the depths of your soul that there must be more to this walk with God than you are currently experiencing . . . I hope you will watch the videos I have shared and see for yourself as I did, like the person who sent me those text messages did, and like the hundreds of other people who have written their testimonials in the comments section of his videos on YouTube.
As you can see from what I’ve written, I am not talking about anything other than the message of the cross. The truth is . . . that’s all Dan talks about as well. It is the solution to everything. EVERYTHING!! But for some reason God has anointed him to preach it in a way I have never heard before.
Do you have loved ones you desperately want to know Christ? Maybe a son or a daughter or a spouse even? Here is the solution . . . bear fruit! BEAR FRUIT!! We must stop blaming the world for not wanting what we say we have. They hear us talking about fruit. But when they examine our lives . . . they are not seeing this wonderful fruit we speak of! If we would just be the trees that we were called to be we would naturally bear the fruit of that tree. And just as I came starving for the fruit I saw in Dan Mohler’s life, they will come begging for what we have!
It’s kind of funny. The whole problem began in a Garden with two trees and a piece of fruit . . . and I am becoming increasingly convinced the entire solution is found . . . in trees and fruit!
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” Galatians 5:22
- How To Pray-( 30 minutes) This was the original video I watched that sparked a fire within me!
- Sexuality and Marriage-(10 minutes) This is a link to my last blog post where I have a ten-minute segment from one of his longer messages. In this ten-minutes he speaks on sexuality and marriage. This message had a radical impact on me as a man. It has since had a profound impact within my marriage, and I really believe it’s a message that every man and woman needs to hear!
- Intimacy with God-(1 hour) This message really hits hard on the area of self-condemnation and believers who are walking in guilt and shame.
- Dan’s Personal and Marriage Testimony– (1hr 50min)This is a SUPER POWERFUL video on Dan’s life before knowing Christ, his salvation experience, and how his marriage was revolutionized in the midst of it all!…( I purposely linked the video to start at the 12 minute mark where Dan is introduced)
