 is waiting for the manifestation of the sons and the daughters of God. Wow, are we glad that you are alive to be a son of God or to be a daughter of the king? We're here on Hope Today. I'm Amy Schaefer here with Jay and Boy Jay. The world is waiting to hear what you have to say and this topic and guests. Yeah, I'm real excited, ladies and gentlemen. Listen, ladies, get all the men together. Men, call all your homies and everyone else that you got. Bring them all together because we have Mark Cook in the house and he's got a phenomenal book called The First Hour. Listen, it's gonna be a blessing to you because we are gonna be talking to the men. Men are truly important to set the standard. I would say like this, Pastor Amy, that men are the thermometers, I'm sorry, the thermostats and women are the thermometers. And also men are the head, but the woman is the neck. That's right. I mean, we can go on and on for days. Men are for Mars, women are for Venus, but I know one thing for sure is that there is no woman that does not want her man to be a mighty man of God leading the family, leading in the home, leading the marriage, leading in the church. So today it's a great word, not only for the men but also for the women. And even maybe what is our part in that story? Yeah, for sure. And you know, masculinity is under attack in a way that it never has been before. And it's so important that men rise up, you know? One of my favorite friends, Neil Kennedy, who's been on this show several times, he's been to our church. He is a phenomenal guy that just really empowers men. And we need to see men. He always says, men, get up front in church, sit up front, lift up your hands, worship. Men need to set the tone. And that's what the first I was all about. So it's gonna be good. Oh, it's gonna be good. And here to represent is Moa in pink and Pastor Jay in blue. No, we did not plan it, but we are ready for Stump the Host. Pester Jay, I can't believe they're trying to stump us. Here we go. What did Moses throw into the bitter water to make it fit to drink? The bitter waters of Mariah. Do you remember that? I just read this. A stick. A stick. Yeah. No, not as right, just a stick. Stick. Yeah. Stick, final answer. Yay! Yes, yes, yes. A piece of wood from Exodus 15, 25. I need more makeup after this, I'm sweating already. Which king had Daniel put into the den of lions? Darius. I think you may be right. I'm gonna say final answer. King Darius. Woo! Ah! You representin', you might've stopped me on that one, I'm not even sure. That's good. Okay, there's a lot of kings in the Bible. I'll just say that. Okay, last question. Which of the Gospels traces Jesus' family all the way back to Adam? Matthew. Matthew. Yeah, I wanna say Matthew. Final answer. Luke, final answer. Oh no! They said... John. Oh. Roman. Great. Luke, oh man. Luke, oh the doctor. Of course the doctor would do it. Two out of three. You know, I think they got me with that one before. You guys do that on Purpose Day. They got me with that before. We oughta have all the producers here and then we throw them the questions. You know, we should've known that one. We definitely should've known that. What's done to the producers? Well, you know what? We gonna get it next time. Two out of three though, that's better than what we've gotten in the past. We're still winning. For sure, we sure are. Well listen, we need men to win as well and we all need God in our daily lives and in order for Him to guide us and to live out the plans He has for our lives, we need to spend quality time with Him. Mark Cook is a speaker, author, and Hollywood film producer and in his book, The First Hour. He shares how we can give God an opportunity to fulfill his dreams for our lives. Mark, it's great to have you with us on Hope Today. Thank you, I'm honored to be here. Well, Mark. Thanks for staring at me in that old game in the beginning. Thank you. We was gonna bring you on, but you know, I mean, it is what it is. We'll give you time next interview that we have with you to come on and see if they can stump you. Maybe you got, I told you, I think Mark Cook is gonna be an up and coming theologian. I mentioned this before we got on the show. And so Mark, we're gonna see what. I got two of them. I got two out of three right. Two out of three ain't bad, right, like the song. So you're right with us and we're pastors, so it's all good. It's all good. Well, hey, let's jump right into this, Mark. I'm real excited to talk about The First Hour. You know, masculinity is truly under attack in this day and in this hour. Why did God put this book into your heart and how important is it for men to lead in their families? I'll tell you, it's all. And the mission statement for this book, The First Hour, is if you heal the man, he can heal the family and the family can heal the nation. And as we all know, this world's a mess. I mean, this country's a mess and it all stems really down to fatherhood. And it's interesting that I think over 90% of all the prisoners in a federal prison, men's prison, are from fatherless homes. So it all stems from the man. And it's all about being spiritually of the house but being a great father, if fatherhood. And I had a great dad growing up and I tried to be a great dad. I wanna start out by this, it's funny, the Holy Spirit always wakes me up like at 3.30 or 4.00 a.m. Can't be at 6.30 when I'm doing my prayer time. And I get these acronyms all the time. And because we're talking about dads, the last acronym that I got was dad, D-A-D. And you know how the Holy Spirit works over and over in your mind, these thoughts. And I always write it down and he laid on my heart, there's three types of dads. And the first one, dad, okay, is drunken disorderly. And we have plenty of those. The second one is distracted. And the third one is doing above duty. And that's what I strive for and that's what us men need to strive for. And I think most of the Christian men these days fall between one and two, distracted and disengaged because they feel they don't have enough time to spend with their kids because they're providing and they feel okay, but we gotta go above duty. We need to be dads doing above duty and love on our kids, pray with our kids and become that role model for them because they watch everything we're doing. You know, Mark, I've heard you talk before and in your book you mentioned about how this book was a template that you lived. Explain to the people that are out there on how this book really isn't like a journal per se or a devotional, but it's more of a handy guide for men to have some handrails to get them along to kind of set the standard for something. Can you share a little bit about how God led you through that process and how it turned into this book here? Sure, it's a check off list. And you know, when people say speaker, author, I can definitely, yeah, so I can speak, but author I am not. And once again, the Holy Spirit woke me up one morning, 2005, so it's 18 years ago. And I was a new Christian at the time. So I was really struggling with the up, down, up, down and just seeking God. And woke up at 555 a.m. and once again over and over in my mind, get up, give me your first hour, give me 30 minutes of prayer and 30 minutes of reading my word. And that's how you know it's the Holy Spirit that Mark Cook didn't write this, because I'm thinking 30 minutes of prayer. I'm a new Christian. I'm, what am I gonna pray about for 30 minutes? And was repeating into it, and then that time to go into the whole craziness of how these prayers came about, but there's 18 prayers. And it's interesting because the first three prayers, I call them three keys to unlock powerful, effective prayer. And there's another acronym there. It's war, W-A-R, and we are in a war. In our war, Ephesians 6, 11 says, put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand up to everything the devil throws your way. Which to me meant, if you don't put the armor on, you won't be able to stand up. So the first three prayers in this book, the first one, W, you get up in the morning, you wash yourself with the precious blood of Jesus Christ and repent. Second prayer, A, armor up, okay? I say armor up or get slaughtered. And the third prayer is a refilling of the Holy Spirit, which equals war. Those three prayers now, not only are we righteous through Christ, first thing in the morning, but we're sinless. And approaching that throne and reaching out to God, there's something just supernatural or anointed about giving your first fruits, your first waking hour to God. And that radically changed my life. So after that real quick, I said, okay, 30 minutes of reading the word, what am I gonna do? I'm a baby Christian. And I grabbed my NIV and I said, well, there's 240 pages of the New Testament divided by 30. If I only read eight pages a day, which is only four pages, I've read the whole New Testament. So God put me through this check off with seven steps. And 30 minutes of prayer, 30 minutes of reading the word. And here's kind of funny that I said, well, there's 30 proverbs because I had time left over after reading those first eight pages. And I didn't realize there was 31 proverbs till day 30. So this was not intentional. This was inspired by the Holy Spirit. The seven steps, get up early. You have to work out, pray, read the word. But the key is you have to spend 30 minutes with your children and bedtime prayer and an hour with your wife, phones off guys and bedtime prayer. And that has been radically transforming marriages, because how do you spell love, T-I-M-E? And so many women just want their husband to man up, become that godly leader. You know, Mark, in your book here, the first hour, I think it's so vital. I think the title says it all. Men don't always realize they're called many times to lead while they're bleeding. What happens to a man when he doesn't take that time with God, if he's not initiating that time and prayer in the world? And then the word, what will happen in that family dynamic, in his dynamic, if they don't get in the habit of developing that first hour of consecration with God? You know, I can tell you, the enemy is a joy robber. I call him Junior. And he's there to rob you of your joy. And he can't steal your joy. You gotta give it to him. And I can tell you from experience. And there's been, in the beginning, especially, there's been days that I didn't give my first hour. Didn't even give the first five minutes. And that whole day's different. You're filled with anxiety, the stress. You have to lift up that shield of faith against all those fiery darts that come at you. And he's there to rob your joy. So it is imperative. You know what's interesting is that in the Bible, the only thing we're allowed to test God on is tithing. And we're supposed to tithe the first fruits of our income. I think, and I'm just saying I think, because I've had a lot of pastors get on me about this. So don't get on me, Jay. I think him being our father, that's probably just important to him that we tithe our time. You know, I mean, he wants to spend time with us. And I'll tell you, when you give God, seek ye first the King of God and all else will be added. There's not a bigger blessing in the world than joy and peace. And when you give that hour to God, you can't spend an hour a day, your first hour with God without him showing up. You can't. It's a radically transforming habit. And we got to just get its life changing. Mark, I can't think of one woman, married woman that doesn't want her man to be a great man of God and a great leader in their home and family. What do you suggest for the man that isn't stepping up or isn't taking the initiative? How can we as women gently encourage them? Well, I'll tell you, my wife, and that's one of the other reasons I knew there was a God, because we just had our 30th anniversary on January 22nd. I got that right for once. I've said it a few times on national wrong date. 30 years, she stuck with me. And my testimony, promise keepers came in and did about a four minute testimony, which is on thefirsthour.com. It's called lost in space. Well, it looks like we're experiencing some technical difficulties here. And until he comes back, I want to go back to something here. You mentioned about how important it is for- Out of a frame. Oh, are we back? The power of a frame right by Stormman and Mershin. I was a mess. I mean, I was in the Hollywood A-leaders. I wasn't a Christian. I was partying. I'd tell her I'm going out to the store and I'd come back three days later. I put my wife through turmoil, but she stuck with me. She prayed for me. So women out there, you gotta pray for your husband. You're okay. It's just acknowledgement and just respect. And you can do this. Come on, you can get together. You're encouragement. So the women, if they could just encourage their husbands and guys out there, I've, we've had, we've given away over 400,000 books. We have testimony after testimony. And a lot of them come in, women saying, my house changed. If you meant commit out there and give, start this 30 days, okay? And it's not easy. It's commitment will radically transform you, your marriage relationship with the children. But the women are a real, real big factor of just encouraging their husband and above all, praying for. Well, you know, Mark, I'm so glad that we had this opportunity to be able to chat with you on the first hour. Thank you so much for your time. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen, you need to go and get his book the first hour. Ladies, it's, I heard that 60% of all the people that were buying his books at one point were buying it for, but were by women and they were going to get that book for their husband. It's a phenomenal guide and blueprint to help men get on the right path. And I believe that if you will stick with that path and stay consistent with the principles in that book, you are gonna see God's blessing upon your life. So we are gonna be back in just a moment because we've got a scripture and some ministry for you. Stay tuned, we'll be right back right after this. Are you tired of just getting bills in your mailbox? Find inspiration instead by subscribing to the Cornerstone Television's Hope Today newsletter. Each month, we'll deliver good news about what God is doing in our region and world through CTVN's ministry. We'll keep you in the know about our latest special programming and our full program guide will keep you connected to all your favorites. You'll also find a new Dashing Dish recipe every month. As you read our Hope Today newsletter, stay encouraged knowing your generosity and giving to CTVN is making a difference and building God's kingdom. We can't do it without you. Sign up today to receive your inspirational, free Hope Today newsletter every month in your mailbox. Go to our website at ctvn.org slash news or call us at 888-665-4483. Thank you for being a part of our Cornerstone Television family. Hope happens here. Hope does happen here and we all have hope no matter male, female, whatever situation you're in, we all have hope because the word of God is the truth and we always can find the victory and hope in the scripture. Let's go to Psalm one versus one through three. Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law, he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he does shall prosper. Woo, listen, if you want the victory, if you want the breakthrough in your life, just chew on that grouping of scriptures for just a while. You know, we're talking, Jay, about men leading, about strong men and this scripture specifically addresses but he who delights himself in the law of the Lord. I mean, we've got to get back, you know, it's simple. Like he said, I just have a checklist in this book of what to do. This scripture to me is a checklist. Okay, delight in the law of the Lord. Don't walk in the council of the ungodly. Then you'll be like a tree. It's just a checklist of what we can do to find the victory, to find the freedom, to walk in the fullness of it. Then your life's gonna overflow if you do these things. So I think it's a great checkup today. Like what is my life producing? Yeah. And what's coming out of my life, my relationships, my marriage, my children, the church and just stop and reflect on our lives. Well, you know, when you mentioned that scripture said bless this man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of the sinners, nor siteth in the seat of the scornful. So you gotta ask yourself, are you sitting or are you planted? Ooh. There's a difference between the two. One is planted in the word of God. The other one is sitting in things that they shouldn't be sitting in. So when you're sitting, you're not producing in your life. You know, stinking about your husband, a great man of God, how important is, I mean, you've raised your kids, or you have one more, I think they're still graduating, correct? But all of them are serving God. What, well, how important was it for a pastor buck to set the tone? Because the men are the seed bears. And that's why I tell women real quickly. That's why I tell women all the time. Before you get married, always inspect a man's seed because you can only multiply what he initiates. No matter how much you want, you can pray, you can fast, you can do all that. But if that man does not set the tone in that family, nothing happens in the family until the man initiates it. Not that you can't pray for him or anything along that line, but man, it is so important. How important was it for pastor buck to set the tone in your family? Well, here's the deal. Before we even got married, I myself was such a strong woman. I mean, I knew, yes, I knew. I knew I have to marry somebody stronger than me or I will lead them. I knew that. I thought I would date a guy and thought I would like roll my, I could lead this guy anywhere. I just knew he wouldn't step up to the plate. He wouldn't make the call. I would be leading the charge. And I just somehow knew. I'm not saying I had it all together. I just thought I want a man. I want a guy that's going to lead, that's going to buck the system, that's going to follow God no matter what it costs. He's going to do what's right. And it doesn't matter what the kids say or the wife says or, ah, no, I don't want it. It's like, no, this is what we're gonna, this is the direction for the money. This is the direction for the children. This is the direction for the church. And I'll tell you as a strong female woman, it just, it thrills my heart when he leads. I want him to lead. I want to put the pressure on him to lead. But here's the thing. If he steps back and doesn't lead, I'll step up to the plate, you know? And I think that that's so interesting. I don't think it has to be quiet, wife, just no voice, no platform, no vision. No, no, we are co-laborers together in this thing. So I think it's strong man, strong woman, strong children, strong families. You know, Jay, our family dinners, we literally need cameras in the room. The conversation is so spirited. It is so feisty. It's so vigorous. I can't explain it, but we bring it all to the table. And we're challenging dating life. We're challenging what the Bible says. We're challenging how dad dealt with this. We're challenging how mom said this. I mean, we're, it's invigorating. And I thought, you know what? These children are gonna go out into the world and they're gonna change the world. And I think that is what a strong male leader does. He doesn't oppress the family. He lists the family by following God. I have a follow-up question, ladies and gentlemen, for Pastor Amy here. Strong woman, I see all of that. He's a strong man. What do you say to strong women that are out there when a man is trying to lead? How does she still keep her strength but still use that cuss word submit at times she needs to honor that man? What would you say to strong women that are out there that have a strong man in their life that are trying to lead? I would say it's really scary if you're not working together that you submit therefore one to another. Here's the deal. If he makes all the decisions, he's gonna make a mistake. If you make all the decisions, you're gonna make mistakes. Like there's an element of nobody's going to get it right 100% of the time. So it's like there's a, you wanna weigh in your voice on these subjects and really important directional things for the family. It's not like this is what we're gonna do, submit and follow and shut up. And it's not like that. That's not the way it is in the kingdom. It's not like we talk with him. We walk with him. We work with him. We're in fellowship with him. We have trust with him. We have faith in him. So things have to be brought to a table of mutuality and mutual respect for one another. But if you, I don't know, there's a lot to be said about this. It's very multifaceted. There's the nagging one. There's the one that's always talking. There's the one that's always trying to domineer. The one that's always trying to initiate the inter- Well, I think that's the most important note for a man though. That's why I think as a man, as a husband, my wife is a very strong widow. I tell her, she may be tiny, but she doesn't get it twisted. She will ride, and I'm glad that I have that. I want a woman like that in the foxhole with me. But it takes a secure man that can look at his wife and say, baby, you're right. You know, and there's plenty of times I say, baby, hey, you're the one that has the right decision there. There's times in my own ministry. There are times that I'll be like, we should move in this direction. And the Holy Spirit will say, she's got the direction. Or maybe I went in this direction and it was her way instead. So we also men have to be willing to give our wife the ability to not only lead and speak into our worlds at time, because as you said, to submit to one to another. But we also have to admit when we're wrong. We have to be willing to come in and say, you know what? You were on point. You were right there. And so I think that's so important. And then in ministry, you know, it's a whole other facet because you both are pastors as well. But I think it's so important though that men establish that leadership. They have to have the courage to do that. Let me ask you this question. One thing, because I want to get it from a woman's perspective. I know I'm not interviewing you, but I am. What do you say to a woman out there that's a strong woman or a woman that wants her man to lead? What could she say? What do you feel she should say to a man that needs to step up? How does she encourage him to take on his role? Oh, that's easy. Put the pressure on him to lead. Whatever you want, babe. What do you think, man? Yeah, right, right. Come on, what do you pick for dinner? What do you think we should do with this $10,000? This is what's happening with the children. What do you think? I mean, just keep putting the pressure on him to lead. And I believe that it is in him to lead. Actually, it's a reflection of Jesus and the church, his love for the church, that the man is the head of the home and the family. And Jay, to your point, the scripture says that he brings out the best in her. That's right, that's right. I mean, so talk about a secure man. You're trying, like when she looks good, when she's talking good, she's working good, she's doing great with the kids, she's making you look good. When she's running that business, helping in that church, leading, that's a compliment to you, sir, that you have allowed her to flourish in your presence, that part of your seed that you mentioned earlier, your fruit is flourishing around you. Talk about a huge compliment. So, I mean, I just pray right now for the body of Christ. For that we're not in competition with one another. We are, we're complimenting one another. We need both male, we need both female. We need strong men, strong women, strong kids, and strong families in this day. Culture and the world and sin and anxiety and depression are trying to oppress the family, that unit that God created. Before He established the church, He established the family. And I love to think about, you know, when it talks about Jesus returning, it says, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be when the coming of the Son of Man. And back in that day, in the days of Noah, God used a family to rescue and to save His people. So I believe today, God wants to use your family. Man, it's time to man up. Woman, let's be a blessing, let's be strong, and let's see people have hope today. On Tomorrow's Hope Today, discover why God uses the least likely of people for His purposes. Bible teacher and author, Tamar Miller, examines the lives of five different women from the Bible to showcase that God's grace redeems lives. Don't miss Tomorrow's Hope Today. Cornerstone Television wishes to thank all our faithful viewers whose consistent prayers and financial support have made this program possible.