Crushed by the System

 Carl O’Neil’s Comeback from Chronic Pain, Faith Crisis, and Legal Hell
One moment changed his life. The system tried to break him. Faith helped him rise.

In this deeply moving episode of Rise From The Ashes, Baz Porter sits down with Carl O’Neil, a former exercise trainer whose heroic act in the workplace turned into a personal hell of chronic pain, legal warfare, and spiritual collapse. But Carl didn’t stay broken he rebuilt from the inside out.

From battling a failed workers' comp system to navigating deep emotional wounds, Carl shares how his lowest point became the launching pad for spiritual awakening, personal leadership, and radical self-mastery.

🔥 What you’ll take away:

• The mental toll of chronic pain and how Carl took his power back
• How the legal and healthcare systems failed him (and how he fought through)
• The role of spirituality and faith in his recovery
• Insights from his book Eight Lives to Change a Lightbulb
• Leadership lessons forged through personal breakdown

Carl's story is a roadmap for anyone facing pressure, pain, or powerful transitions. If you’ve ever felt unseen, unheard, or stuck in a system designed to keep you down this episode is your firestarter.

If Carl’s story lit something inside you buy me a coffee for $3. It’s not about caffeine. It’s about keeping this mission burning.
☕ Support here → https://www.buzzsprout.com/2217291/support

Colorado’s best business coach, Baz Porter, has a new mindset strategy mentoring service to help you unlock new heights of growth, prosperity, happiness, and success. Book your first meeting with the coaching visionary at https://www.ramsbybaz.com/

Chapters

• 0:01 Carl O'Neill
• 8:04 Spiritual Journey and Overcoming Adversity
• 20:02 Life-Changing Spiritual Encounters
• 28:21 Power of Love and Faith
• 36:02 Personal Relationship With God

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Ladies and gentlemen, good day. I'm your host, Baz Porter, and this is Rise from the Ashes podcast. My next guest is Carl O'Neill. Carl, what do you do and tell the people who you?

Speaker 2: 0:16

are. I'm a dining attendant at a senior living facility. I break down breakfast and set up for lunch. I break down breakfast and set up for lunch. I work there four days a week, three hours a day. Because I have an injury in my low back and partial feeling in my right leg. I can't work eight hours on my feet all day.

Speaker 1: 0:36

There was a story how you got here, wasn't there, carl. I'm interested because we met through strange circumstances. My wife, nicola met you in a taxi. Can you explain how that has transpired In?

Speaker 2: 0:49

2016,. I was working as an exercise trainer at a physical therapy hospital for 10 years. In that 10th year, in November, I was working with one of the patients on one of the cardio machines. He started to fall off the machine. I dropped, everything went under him and he came down on my hands, which I had over my head and my body was in a bent position, and so at that time he's dead weight. At the time I'm a strong guy I'm 45, but I'm strong and this guy was dead weight. As he was coming down. He was trying to get off the machine by himself. I was telling him to wait for me to help while he's impacting. While coming down, I'm trying to push up. I felt two jolts in my legs. I knew something was wrong. I got him off the machine safely. I noticed something was wrong. I couldn't move it. As well as a moment ago, I went to tell my coworker and then my manager. They sent me to a workers' comp doctor. The doctor gave me some pills, told me I probably had a bowel obstruction, which I thought was stupid. But at the time I'm thinking okay, you know what I'll just I'll bounce back anyway. Tomorrow I'll be better. He gave me pain pills.

Speaker 2: 1:58

I went to work the next day. After about four hours I noticed I couldn't walk that well. In fact, every time I walk it felt like somebody was stabbing my low back and I was in that much pain and I've never been in that much pain in my life. I didn't know what was going on. My wife was there. She was telling me that just take it easy and everything, and if I need to go home, talk to my manager. I talked to my manager.

Speaker 2: 2:24

After I ran to the restroom because I was sweating a lot, I finally broke down. I had never broken down like that before. I was hurting so much and I could barely move normal, and so finally he told me to go ahead and get some rest. I went home that day and called the workers' comp clinic, me the runaround. They told me that basically, doctor was busy, you don't have to see me later, because when he saw me the first time he told me that basically he'll check on me in one week, after one day. I needed to see him and he wouldn't see me. And so finally they, after about 40 minutes of being on hold, he told me, or they told me the doctors couldn't see me until a week later and I felt like I was just lost Because for me a doctor's supposed to see, but I never dealt with workers' comp doctors before. I had no idea.

Speaker 2: 3:18

A friend recommended a workers' comp lawyer. She was really good. She told me everything to expect from the workers' comp doctors and took my case and then she told me that basically she had told them that I was not going to be working at that point until I knew what was going on with me. The doctor basically claimed that I'm just having some back pain. It really annoyed me. She told me after he gets his report on me after six weeks she would fire him and recommend another workers' comp doctor, mainly because the doctor I was seeing didn't let me have an MRI because of the workers' comp politics. When I saw the new doctor, he recommended an MRI for the MRI, so that three of my discs were damaged, they were compressed and that's what was going on.

Speaker 1: 4:09

So you compressed your lower back. Yes, what happened next? You've got an attorney. Now you still have pain that hasn't been resolved. What happened after that?

Speaker 2: 4:19

I should have had surgery right then and there, and that was 17. Probably about four months later I should have had surgery and they didn't give me surgery at all.

Speaker 2: 4:31

They cut me off from treatments. My attorney was fighting for that. They finally got me back on the treatments. They were doing everything to make me look like I was faking it. I was highly stressed, and not just because of that. The company I worked for. My wife worked for the same company and they were retaliating on her. My wife worked for the same company and they were retaliating on her. We decided to move to Idaho where our daughter and her family was, and just to get a fresh start, but still going through this workers' company.

Speaker 2: 5:01

When I moved here about two days after, I got a letter from the agreed medical examiner in Santa Barbara that they wanted me to start working again, but my doctor in Fresno said you're not going to be working again. It was a conflict. They cut me off from treatments for almost a year. I had nerve damage. Now my right leg is no longer having any feeling and I can't get any treatment. It would affect this case and I was getting depressed, getting frustrated with everything. Finally, I had surgery in 2018.

Speaker 2: 5:33

The medical examiner in Santa Barbara told me the damage to my back was so bad that I wouldn't be able to walk normal again, and that really hit me hard. I was depressed and ready to give up. That was in the morning At the airport. The plane got delayed again and again. I'm sitting at the airport and my back is still recovering, and I was depressed. But I met a friend named Nicola. I told her everything and she made me feel like there was hope. We took a cab ride to LA together because our planes were delayed. We took a cab ride there and just talked the whole way and became good friends.

Speaker 1: 6:18

When I heard your story, carl, and Nicola was explaining this to me I had to get you as a guest. I think I don't think I know your story and that the journey you have been, through multiple layers of that is so inspiring. The message is don't give up the depression, mental health, rediscovering who you are, these elements, your resilience to adverse situations that most people would have gone. I'm checking out, I'm done. Yep, you had something unique about yourself. Not only you had a loving wife, you had a couple of friends around you, nicola included. I didn't know you back then, so I didn't have that experience or privilege.

Speaker 1: 7:13

But what you're speaking into now, carl, is something that is lacking in a lot of worlds the entrepreneurial world, the neglect in the medical world and the medical field. Now, I know doctors and and medical staff out there do fantastic jobs, but equally, there are some that do not. I'm not going to go into that because of the ethics of it and I don't want to get sued. It's that simple. But the idea of you coming out in and asking for help with these people the people that should have been helping you and solving your problem essentially were not.

Speaker 1: 7:51

You were being discarded, correct? That's unacceptable. Luckily, you worked through it. You had justice At some point, speaking to Nicola, what was the journey afterwards? You were writing a book. You, you've done, yes, a lot of work and you've done a lot of rehab as well. Yes, you touch on that subject because people out there who have had similar injuries may be going through something just like you were a few years ago when I met, met Nicola, even after surgery and the news from the doctor about not getting better, I was suicidal.

Speaker 2: 8:31

I had never been like that before. I heard of people who had gone through adversity like that and they killed themselves, but I never thought I would actually think that and I began to understand. Part of it was the pain, but also you see how people really are and how they treat you like a criminal, like you've done something wrong and I didn't do anything wrong. I was the victim. And yet here I am, being treated like a criminal, not just for a few months, but almost three years. Every day you have people's surveillance. If you saw him at a store or outside your house, you felt like a prisoner but played mind games with me. But the one thing that held me together was my belief in God. If I hadn't had that, I would have given up a long time ago, aside from supporting my family. But that foundation is what kept me going. When I was trying to find a doctor to work with me in Idaho, nobody would take my case because it was an out-of-state worker's case. I spent months looking for a doctor until finally I broke down in front of my house in tears, asking God, please help me, because right now I have nothing. I don't know what to ask anymore. This is a test. If I failed, I'm me, because right now I have nothing, I don't know what to ask anymore. This is a test. If I failed, I'm sorry. Please help me. A few weeks later, I get a call from a nurse practitioner telling me there's a doctor in town that could work on me. He was the best doctor in Idaho. I was on cloud nine. Thanking God, this man got me walking again. I'm not 100%, but I'm not where I was before.

Speaker 2: 10:08

That spiritual journey, even before the injury, is something I struggle with. The injury was in 2016, but my spiritual journey began in 2011. At that place, I was working at the hospital, I had gotten employee of the month, and so I was on cloud nine, but I felt empty and my schedule was tuesday through saturday. So saturdays I looked forward to because it was just me no managers, no other co-workers, no and so I ran the place myself, and so when we had downtime, I would write fan fiction just for fun, and at the time, I didn't feel like I had a passion. So, spiritually, I was actually empty at that time, and my wife may have worked at the hospital too, but she teaches dance to her passion. To this day, I didn't have a passion, so I was frustrated and jealous of my wife's passion. Angry, bitter, you name it.

Speaker 2: 11:08

At that time I was trying to get closer to God, but then that's when I started to have dreams of demonic attacks. Okay, and this lasted from 2012 to 2014. It was horrifying because I'd never had night terrors before in my entire life and a lot of those dreams, or attacks, were recurring Dreams of falling asleep, for example, and I would see the bed. I would see part of my body as I fell asleep, but then, all of a sudden, a dark figure would run in the room and it would be dark in the room, but I would see this shadow come to my feet, grab me off the bed and drag me through the air and I would wake up in a cold sweat. That dream happened so many times. I was actually scared to fall asleep and I thought I was going crazy at first, but I didn't connect. That Part of it was because I was bitter, angry, in a dark place in my head, but at the same time, I turned my back on God. At that point. I didn't realize I had done that at first because I was angry at God. When I turned my back on him, he allowed me to go through this, but he was always there. In some of those dreams, a demon would be in the form of a man, but I couldn't see his face. It would be blurred. He would be calling for me, but something would tell me don't go towards him, stay away from him. I would do exactly what the voice said. This lasted for maybe two years and my wife noticed something was wrong with me. I didn't really talk about it, I looked, I was not shaving much, I was just not myself and people knew it. I tried to play it off like the same old Carl, but it wasn't until my final night.

Speaker 2: 12:56

Demonic terror or whatever you want to call it. Demon took the form of my wife in the dream and tried to seduce me and knew something was wrong and I rejected it. And it attacked me and we were wrestling on the ground. It was trying to rape me. In my dream I woke up and jumped out of bed. My wife was sleeping. I jumped out of bed to get my bearings and my surroundings and I was angry. This is the first time I wasn't scared. I was actually angry. This is three o'clock in the morning, so I went out in the living room and I'm talking to God. Look, here's the deal. This is happening too much. I don't want to go through this anymore. It's affecting me, my relationship with my wife, how I treat my family. I don't want to go through this anymore.

Speaker 2: 13:43

While I was at work on my break, I researched demonic attacks and found out that the things that I had been going through were real. I had no clue at the time because it never occurred to me to look it up. Things like a buzzing sound as I'm getting dragged, as I'm getting pulled down, covered in a black mask, or like a tar, and it would grab me and suffocate me and I would actually feel like I'm being sucked underground. I always wake up at that point, calling Jesus, and I wake up scared to fall asleep. But at that point I researched how to say prayers to get rid of demonic attacks. So I went home that day, didn't go to the gym, didn't eat after work, I went straight home into my bedroom. At the top of my lungs I literally was saying this prayer out loud, with authority. Like I said I had to do. It took about 10 minutes and I was drained. At that point it felt like a great weight lifted off my back, like whatever was attacking me was gone. I got on my knees, started crying and told God I'll do anything you want me to do at this point, just don't let him come back.

Speaker 2: 14:50

That night I slept great I slept. It was the first time in two years that I actually slept normal, and so I had this epiphany. I think it's from God. I thought, okay, I'll write a book. Right, I like writing. I realized that was a passion and so I started to. I started off with the children's book because I like to draw, also cartoons. After a few weeks, something kept telling me I need to write down what I experienced a spiritual book. I was like I don't want to write a spiritual book. I don't know nothing about that. I've researched near-death experiences and stuff. I mean, I was fascinated by them, but I don't know nothing about that. I'm going to stick with this book and do what I want to do.

Speaker 2: 15:30

I hadn't gotten to the point yet and then, in my opinion, this correlates to the point where I got injured, but I felt like I don't have time to write a book. So I decided to back off and someone kept telling me you need to write the book. You need to move. I got too much stuff to do. I just don't have time. When I got injured I realized God didn't injure me. But when he told you to move, he means move. I could sit down for less than five minutes, any more than I was in pain. Any more than five minutes of standing I was in pain. I had to lie down. A lot I couldn't even work out. That's when I realized I need to start writing this book.

Speaker 2: 16:11

I talked to a friend in Monterey, a good friend of me and my wife's. We talked for hours and she told me you need to write this book. It's God's telling you to write it. You write it. I got the message write the book. When I had the opportunity to write, I didn't do it. But now that I lost the ability to sit for long periods, I couldn't do it, except for short periods. So I could write a little bit and I had to stop. So now I want to do it. But I couldn't do it now, and so, after the surgery was over and I got a little bit better. I was able to sit for longer and I started writing, but I didn't know what to put down. And God said write down what you experienced In the book. That's mainly chapter four.

Speaker 1: 16:54

What I love about you, carl, because you've covered so much between redefining rock bottom, understanding a deeper meaning within life. Spirituality isn't just being religious. I relate to some of these experiences through my own journey with demonic attack. Understanding the higher power, rediscovering yourself, the loss of belief. Understanding the higher power, rediscovering yourself, the loss of belief. This isn't just your journey. What you're speaking into now, carl, is something much bigger than anybody can imagine, including myself. I can't walk your journey. I'm not who you are and I don't wish to, but this is why this podcast exists to share stories, and not just any stories. These stories can resonate with others.

Speaker 1: 17:48

Spirituality the concept of writing books from children's book into transmission of which is what we call channeling art in a book is an art form. But you didn't listen the first time. There's an old saying if you're not listening, the music gets turned up and source God, whatever power you believe in, has a unique way of turning up the message until you listen. Yes, it isn't usually pleasant and it's quite painful. Lessons aren't taught effectively out of gentle pushing. It's usually called a spiritual two by four or, in my case, an eight by 16, because I don't listen.

Speaker 1: 18:42

What you're speaking into now is the myth. You're not just someone that's come out and written a book. This is a message of hope, resilience and redefining aspects of who you are. At core level, you found faith again within yourself. That is powerful, especially when you've lost it completely. And you lose everything you hold dear and on top of that, you lose the ability to function. I can't probably every time you do, you're in pain, etc. But what you've done is turn it into elevating others through a message. At what point did you say to yourself enough, I have to do this. What was that transition like for you?

Speaker 2: 19:34

that actually is the work of another dream or vision I had. I had already seen the dark side. I see what happens when I turn my back on God, because there's a difference between believing in God and believing in the idea of God, and at that time I was believing in the idea of God, but not really believing and having that relationship.

Speaker 1: 19:54

Can you just touch on the definition and the difference between the idea of God and actual belief?

Speaker 2: 20:02

For me, the idea of God is when someone tells you God is real, but you believe it because they told real, but God is distant. And maybe he's real, maybe he's not, but he's distant, he's far away. Whatever you're going through, god may understand it, but this is your life way. Whatever you're going through, god may understand it, but this is your life. For me now, having a relationship with God means God is not just in my heart but next to me, and so I actually take time to not just pray but to actually spend time with God, telling Him this is how my day went and everything. And I really believe that he really does exist and everything. And I really believe that he really does exist. And without him, if I turn my back to him, he'll still be there with me. My back might be turned to him, but he'll still be with me. If I turn from him, I see all the garbage out there. If I turn to him, he protects me.

Speaker 2: 20:55

I have a very close relationship with him, so much that when I was going through that dark period, he allowed me to have a dream where I saw my mom, my dad, my wife's mother and my wife's older sister, who passed away. I found it profound is when I was talking with them. I was so happy to see them, but I couldn't touch them because I was separated from them. And they were in this beautiful forest of land. I love land, I love greenery, trees. I was separated from them. I was talking to my wife's mother, pat, who passed away before I even met my wife. But ironically, I've met Pat before, but I just didn't know that there was a correlation between the two. And Pat gave me a message for Stacey.

Speaker 2: 21:43

When I woke up, I felt like my body dropped into bed. I started crying. I pulled the sheets over my head. Stacey was actually sitting up in bed and she can tell you this too. She was sitting up in bed asking me while I was crying. I told her I got a message from your mom.

Speaker 2: 22:00

I dreamed I saw your mom and this was the message that she turned to me and she almost started crying herself. I said what's wrong? She was. I was just thinking about my mom, wondering if she was in heaven, and I said the time we were married and even before we met, she's always wondered whether her mom was in heaven or not or whether she died. And there was just nothing. And I reassured her that, yeah, there's a heaven and I just saw it. And the truth is I want to go back, but I knew I couldn't go back, even though I tried to have that dream again and that feeling because I felt like I was was so spiritually touched that I saw the beauty of what I believe was a spirit world instead of the dark side of it. And it happened again recently last year when I had a heart attack.

Speaker 1: 25:36

You had a heart attack last year. And then there's something else added on top of it. Yes, wtf, wtf. They say, things come because we have to experience them for some reason we're not fully aware of. But you've been through hell, bruv, yep. Then that's stacked on top of that. How did your relationship, not just with the god faith, but with yourself and your wife, how was that bond? Was it strengthened, not again what happened?

Speaker 2: 26:18

um it, it was strengthened until the heart attack still strong right now. You know I'm a big guy. When stress hits me, it hits me. They say when you're. You know, when you're overstressed, your heart can't take it. I ended up collapsing.

Speaker 2: 26:30

When I hit the floor, I had one of those visions again. I was laying down, felt comfortable like a baby. I didn't want to move and I didn't want to get up and I didn't. Figures early, white silhouette figures all around me. I felt safe.

Speaker 2: 26:47

Then I saw this man come up to me. I swear he was Jesus, but I cannot be sure. I've seen pictures of Jesus. But this man was different, very handsome. He told me I had to come back. It wasn't my time yet. I told him what happens if I don't come back. This is where it got real for me. He showed me everything, from my wife to my children, to my grandchildren, what their lives would have been like if I died that day. The whole thing shook me up. I I told him I'll go back. He disappears.

Speaker 2: 27:20

Then my son's face is over me, asking me am I all right? Am I right? And at the time I was disorientated and I kept asking him is the lawnmower still in the front yard. He was asking what I go the lawnmower. I was cutting the yard. Can you make sure the lawnmower was pulled in? I kept saying it over and over. Stacey asked me if I was all right. I said yeah, my chest was killing me. I grabbed my chest and hit the ground. I don't remember anything. I came in the house, tried to sit and I'm now waking up on the floor and she told me you never sat Because as they were coming back in the house, as I was sitting down, I never sat down. I hit the floor and they called the EMTs and everything. I had to go to the hospital for a couple of days.

Speaker 2: 28:00

During that time I didn't realize what was happening, but I knew I can't leave my wife and my family and I didn't know why I was bent on. After everything I've been through, I'm not going anywhere right now. I have a book to publish. People need that. The purpose of the book isn't money. It's about bringing people closer to God. I want to bring as many people with me to God as possible.

Speaker 2: 28:22

I'm a loving person. Even you can take the worst person in the world, but God didn't create that person like that. God created us all to be loving people, but the world makes us how we are. We just have to choose from the inside where God is, if we want to practice his fruits or do we want to practice the fruits of the world. And I choose to practice God's fruits as best I can.

Speaker 2: 28:55

But after that I realized, if I'm going to die, let it be when I'm supposed to, not when something stresses me out or whether I eat something that I'm not supposed to eat or whatever. Take care of myself. I still exercise, by the way, but take care of myself, because I have a whole lot of family that apparently depends on me a lot more than I thought, because somewhere in my mind I kept thinking, if I die, they'll get along with me just fine. Whole lot of family that apparently depends on me a lot more than I thought, because somewhere in my mind I kept thinking, if I die, they'll get along with, I'll be just fine, or apparently I was wrong. God showed me I was wrong. We, we need each other, whether it's family or friends.

Speaker 1: 29:20

We're all interconnected to each other spiritually and I love this message, carl, and it's very I find it very inspiring. You actually touched me. I don't get moved very often for various reasons. I'm a different soul, but when you're speaking, there's something about your message. It doesn't just move you on a physical or mental level, it moves you on a much deeper level. And when I speak about resilience with people and then I asked this sort of question with resilience, what do you want to be your legacy? What do you want to be remembered for and how would, if someone your grandchildren was going to go, do you remember, carl? What's the first thing that's going to come to their mind?

Speaker 2: 30:16

I would like for them to remember that I was loving and that I was giving. That's something I do with. I try to do with my children, for example, like each week or week or two or whatever. I try to go out and I'll buy them something that they like, for example, like food or something right. Like one of my daughters, I'll buy a sushi, another one. I might buy a Starbucks Another one, I might buy a teriyaki bowl or something like that, things like that and I made it a tradition for myself because for me, this is me giving to them and letting them know that I love them, and I want all of them to know that I love them, regardless of what the world may throw at them or how stressed out they are.

Speaker 2: 30:56

I want them to know that when I die, that there are no regrets. I want them to know that I love them. I'm a loving person and I want to give them the best love that I can, as God made me to be, and that's with family. Sometimes, let's face it, the world gets in the way, but I try to bypass that as best I can, and it's frustrating sometimes, because sometimes you get pushback, but I wish that sometimes others could see the world how I see it. Sometimes I see it like a Charlie Brown cartoon. I know it sounds silly to say it like that, but because I love peanuts so much peanuts the world can be chaotic, but it's all about just being happy, trying to find the things that make you feel good and giving that love to others and hopefully get back to you and just down, taking the time to enjoy each other. That's what I want them to remember me by, and so Better Late Than Never as far as I'm concerned. I had to go through all this to be the person I am now.

Speaker 2: 32:08

And hey, Better Late Than Never. God's got a plan for all of us, and I'm on his plan, not my own.

Speaker 1: 32:13

What's the book called? Because I'm going to leave the links below. I really encourage people to go and get the book, read it, study it, go back into the podcast as well and take notes from this, because these are real life experiences and they and these are people who are. Carl isn't a person that hasn't just walked the walk, he talks a talk, so really take note of what the valuable information he has here. So what's the book called?

Speaker 2: 32:40

called carl, okay the book is called eight lives to change a light. Basically, what it's about is a spirit from heaven who comes to earth in the form of different human beings eight specific lives. That teaches him his heavenly gifts and he makes mistakes along the way, like we all do as humans, but in each reincarnation he learns something along the way and then eventually reaches his gift to what his true godly purpose is. And then what the book's about the struggles that he goes through to get there.

Speaker 1: 33:22

See, I think what this reiterates for myself and I know for a lot of people, that, no matter how hard things get, carl, I never give up. Exactly Wherever we find inspiration from inspiration meaning within yourself, within your soul. That's where inspiration comes from. And also to change identity, identity, the broken down meaning from the latin is to reinvent oneself, and there's a whole thing I know about how words work and what their meanings are. Anyway, the more you speak into divinity, faith that you've learned, the message you have is so powerful. This is why I wanted to have this conversation with you. Thank you, and this message I know because I just do that message needs to be heard by the right people. Yes, I'm going to endeavor to make that happen for you as much as I can. I will push this into the right areas to help you get this message out to support other people. I appreciate that. I want to thank you for your time today, carl. If you've got any passing words, have you anything to add? I'd love to hear it.

Speaker 2: 34:57

May I ask God and this applies to everybody some people might look at me when I speak with God and look at me as though I'm strange, because when I speak to God, sometimes I'll move my Because when I speak to God, sometimes I'll move my lips when I'm having a conversation with him, and it might be similar to when a child is having a conversation with an imaginary friend. As an adult, people might look at that as being strange. For me, it's not. It is okay to have a conversation with God out loud if you need to, because God is real and if you truly have a relationship with God, then it doesn't matter what other people are thinking. If you want to have a deep conversation with God out in the opening or by yourself in a room and talk talk out loud or whatever that's okay, because that's how confident I am with my relationship with God and I hope that people see this and it lures them to want to have a close relationship with God and to get to know Him, because he will reveal Himself to you.

Speaker 2: 36:03

It's more than just religion. You know what I'm saying. It's beyond that. You take away the churches, you take away all the scriptures and just focus on just God alone, he'll come to you. But when people push God away or, what's worse, listen to other people's opinions of God, that's when you start having too many questions and not enough faith into believing that God is out there for you. So that's my message to people God is a personal thing. It's not a group thing. It's a personal relationship with him. If you want to know God, just ask him Straight up. Just ask him and he'll answer yes, he will.

Speaker 1: 36:43

I'm much aware of one. Carl, I want to thank you very much for joining me today. I love these stories. I'm looking forward to carrying on the conversation, looking forward to hearing more about your book, seeing people act on it. Thank you From all the listeners, please. Once again, thank you very much for joining us today. Myself and Carl are always grateful. Please share this message and inspire another day From myself, bass Porter, to my Ashers have a blessed, wonderful day ahead and remember my purpose. Inspire legacy.