A Former Bodybuilder Shares How Discernment And Forgiveness Rebuilt His Life

A half-million dollars shows up across a table at IHOP, a bodybuilding dream collapses under a sudden health scare, and a Bible verse about birds lands with literal force. We’re joined by Chase Bergner, founder of Momentum, to talk about what it looks like when faith and business stop being separate buckets and start shaping the same decisions. He walks us through building a gym without a college roadmap, learning how to pitch a business plan, and discovering that real opportunity often comes from years of serving people when you have nothing to gain. 

Then the conversation turns personal and intense: the pressure to perform, chemical enhancement in bodybuilding, hepatitis A from raw egg shakes, and the identity crisis that followed. Chase shares how anxiety and old trauma resurfaced, why he began questioning yoga as a spiritual practice, and how the turning point became forgiveness toward his mother and a deep dive into generational patterns. One moment with Matthew 6:25, “Consider the birds of the air,” reframes fear into trust and sparks a new commitment to Scripture and spiritual discernment. 

We also pull clear leadership lessons you can use right now: lead from the back, stay transparent with your team, never stop learning, and build discipline through small repeatable habits. If you care about Christian leadership, resilience, entrepreneurship, proactive health, and building a team that believes in the mission, this one will stick with you. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Transcript

Tempo: 120.0

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Oh no.

SPEAKER_03 0:22

Yeah, uh-huh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

Come on, come on. Alrighty, welcome, welcome, welcome. Welcome to the Biblical Leadership Show.

SPEAKER_04 0:35

How are you doing, Dr. P? I'm doing good. I'm recovering from a bad sinus infection. I mean, I've had this like two weeks. Thankful for doctors in medicine, but man, it just knocked me down.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

I think it was all it could, you sure it isn't a uh juice um birthday hangover or anything.

SPEAKER_04 0:54

You know, I was feeling so bad. I didn't even have birthday cake except a small piece. I normally have my wife normally makes Mississippi mud. That's my favorite cake. And I said, No, don't even make it right now. And so our daughter was in town, and uh she got me a little piece of German chocolate cake.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Well, it was my thought. I was gonna get you a birthday cake this morning, but I've been running around all morning and I thought about it as I'm setting up show. I'm like, okay, well, I can't leave now. So all right, well, happy birthday anyway. You know, thanks so much. And we have a guest today. Guest, where's the guest? I look around.

SPEAKER_04 1:31

Um had for about 10 years, um, met him at church, and uh this is Chase, and um so uh I've asked him to come on and uh we'll let Chase little like introduce himself. Give us a snapshot of his of who he is and what he does.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

So let's let's set him up here for success, right? So you met him at church?

SPEAKER_04 1:53

I met him at church, he was one of the the parishioners. Okay, and he and his family. In fact, him and his family were the last ones that I baptized before I retired. I didn't know that. Yeah, really?

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 2:08

So I baptized the whole family on one day, and we did it outside in a horse trough. Remember that? That was oh, this is the horse that's the horse. He told me that story here a couple weeks ago, actually. So I did Chase. That's awesome. All right. And so um uh but I met Chase through church and uh got to know him, and just a phenomenal uh guy, and he has an amazing family, and um he's just worked hard to get where he is in his in his business life, in his career.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

And uh well, he must have been one of the people who showed up early instead of the front of the church because we always snuck in the back door instead of the back. He normally sat in like the third row. He did. So we're in the back corner because we always were running late, you know, and we had to sneak in real fast from that corner.

SPEAKER_04 2:57

So he has a uh gym um uh just about a mile about a mile from here. Yeah, not too far. Yeah, not too far. For men and fitness, and it's just uh going great gangbusters and just a phenomenal person and and he's worked hard to get there. So, Chase, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 3:18

Welcome, welcome.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Yeah, I'm grateful for the opportunity to come and learn from you guys and speak a little bit about my story, and then really I like being a listener. Yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_04 3:29

Well, why don't you give us a little you know, a little bit of intro about you and you know, just uh anything you want to share.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

We're open. Um my name is Chase Bergner. I am uh I guess I'd say I'm a serial entrepreneur. Nice, but I was also an IFBB professional bodybuilder. I was a cover model. I've been on about 30 book covers. Um I've done rapping when I was a kid.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Nice. And we're gonna we're gonna get into the little rest of it.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

We're excited about it.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

We talked him into doing a little rapping for us here in a little bit. So it's I'm very excited about that.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

So um I just I got really lucky because I was super passionate about helping people. And it started selfishly with helping myself because I had a rough, a rough upbringing, you know, we can get into that later. But uh, by the grace of God, you know, with those two things and always God number one, you know, that's the foundation. Um, he's taken me through some trials. He's put me through some things where, hey, you're not ready for this, you need to learn some more stuff. Uh, but I still know he's there. I feel like Jacob, you know, yeah, I'm wrestling with God.

SPEAKER_04 4:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

But surely he will bless me.

SPEAKER_04 4:36

Yeah. That's good. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

That's awesome. So thank you. So let you know, I I've got a little bit of the the initial, how, you know, some of your stories and everything like that. But let's let's let's let let's talk about now, because we want to open up, you know, tell us about the gym. How how did you go down the path of being a gym? All right.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

So when I was about 24 years old, I had a quite a good book of business built up. And I had one lady who really noticed how I went above and beyond for everybody. I was never on a time schedule. I spent as much time as I could with everyone. And one day she comes up to me and she says, Chase, mind you, I'm like 24. She goes, Chase, you should open up your own gym. And I'm like, Zee, I have no idea how to open up a gym. She goes, Well, you don't need to. She goes, you already have all the things. And I said, Well, what are the things? She goes, You care about people and you're passionate about what you do. I said, Well, that's all it takes. And she goes, she goes, Well, she goes, Well, yeah, that and a business plan. And mind you, I had no idea what a business plan was at 24. Um, I did not go to college. As soon as I got out of high school, I went straight into training and really working on myself because I knew I had to change from my past. And uh, she got me connected with an investor that was a family friend of hers that owned a bunch of IHOPS. And so she said, I need you to go write a business plan. Remember, I don't know how to do this, so I'm Googling what is a business plan? Right. And I realized I have an attorney that I trained. Okay, well, maybe I can ask him if he'll help me. And, you know, he was very generous. He spent about four or five hours with me and we wrote this business plan together. And uh a couple days later, she got me the meeting, and I went and I met her and her husband at their house. And I walked in, sat down, we sat in the living room, and I pull out this business plan and I just start pitching the passion, you know. And he's like getting into it, and I'm like, maybe I can do this, you know. And finally I get done with my whole plan and how we're gonna do it, how we're gonna make it work. And he looks at me and he goes, kid, you got a lot of passion. But a gym's kind of like a restaurant, it's either a hit or a miss. And he's like, I just don't know if I'm ready for that risk right now, but I guarantee you that you can find somebody if you just keep pushing. I said, Okay, sir. Well, I appreciate your time. Um, so I kind of walked out of that house meeting with my tail between my legs, and I was like, I can't do this. I'm not smart enough, I'm not good enough. Um, so a couple, a couple weeks later, I got another interview with uh one of our customers who I knew they had a lot of capital in their family, and so I presented it to him and he liked the idea. He also said, I just need to run some numbers, but maybe we could make this work. So I got a maybe something.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

Right, that's good.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

That's plus. That's a maybe, okay. Yeah, that's good. So I'm kind of boosted my confidence. Uh a couple weeks go by, I didn't hear anything. Confidence is going down again.

SPEAKER_03 7:33

That's the way it works.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

And then all of a sudden, Z comes back up to me. She goes, Chase, I may have one more person that's interested. And I'm like, Okay, where do I need to meet you? She goes, I want you to meet us at IHOP. And I'm like, IHOP. Well, I guess you can't. I love pancakes. Right. So we went to the I the IHOP that's off a little road over there about 287. And I sat down and I'm sitting there, I bring my lawyer because I'm afraid to talk because I feel like I don't know anything. I need him to be my like interpreter. And uh I in walks in her husband, the guy that turned me down, and I'm like, oh great, he's here again. This isn't gonna feel good. But then in walks in this old man who's like shaking, and I'm like, he's like five foot five. I'm like, who is this guy? He had to, he looked like he was 85, 90. Um, come to find out he was the like the godfather of IHOP. He was the major IHOP mafia. Right. And then by the grace of God, in walks in his son, who was a kid that I swear to you, I used to help at LA Fitness out of the kindness of my heart. Didn't ask for anything, wasn't trying to sell him anything. I just was super passionate and I was helping his son. That connection, he walks in, he sees me, he goes, you, and I go, you. I pulled my business plan out, I presented it with confidence. I just felt good. Awesome. And that day the guy handed me a half a million dollars. And I still think, God bless that guy for believing in me. Because I don't know, I don't know what why I know he did it probably he was wanting something for his son, you know, because his son did come on. He was an art, he was our operations manager at that time, but it was just it was a god thing, yeah, you know, and and I'd working been working so hard towards this, and it was just finally it was like he had answered a prayer. Right. And so we opened up momentum 10 years ago. We just had our 10-year anniversary about a month ago. Yeah. And it was kind of cool because at that 10-year anniversary, Sam, the original guy that I met with that said no, he comes up to me, he goes, Chase, I am so proud of you. It is so incredible to see this. 10 years you've done this. And I go, Yeah, aren't you? Aren't you sad you didn't invest? Just kind of teasing him. He goes, I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna be honest with you today. He goes, I'm gonna tell you why I didn't invest in you. And I'm like, what? What was it? He goes, It's because you rode a motorcycle. He goes, like, you checked all the boxes, but you rode that motorcycle. You're 24, you were a kid. That motorcycle tells risk to my brain. So I didn't do it. But he goes, if I could do it again, I would have done it.

SPEAKER_02 10:06

So you still have a motorcycle?

SPEAKER_01 10:07

No, no, no, all right, uh-uh, don't have a motorcycle anymore. Um, and then you know, over these past 10 years, uh, half of the five, I was a pro bodybuilder. So I was all about building muscle and getting stronger. And uh I turned professional in 2020, picked up some contracts. That was another huge critical threshold that was met because I took took me seven years to turn pro, and uh, which it's a biblical number. Yeah, so I think it's a God thing, right? It took me seven years to pay off my gym. Nice, longer than what the investor wanted, but he still got his money. Um, so I'm trying to think where I was going with this. So, where was I? Pro card. Pro card, yes. So in 2020, I had this crazy experience because being a professional bodybuilder, you're kind of pressured to use chemical enhancement. And so I started using chemical enhancement. Luckily, I was smart enough to go to a doctor to do it. So he took me in. I started eating, I was eating six, seven thousand calories a day. Crazy, isn't it? And it was crazy. And I was getting big. I went from 195 pounds to 235 pounds. And as you can see, I'm not a super tall guy. I think I'm like five, nine on a good day. And uh, I was just gung ho because I'd taken a year off since I turned pro because so we and my me and my wife could have our baby. Um, so long story short, I ended up getting sick. I got hepatitis A. And I got it because every night I couldn't eat that much food. I was doing these raw egg shakes, and you guys, you saw Rocky. Rocky didn't get sick. He did sick. I was fine. He was good, he was good. So I keep doing these shakes, and then all of a sudden, Darla's looking at me one day and she goes, like, you look like you're green. I'm like, What?

SPEAKER_02 11:52

I don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

And she's like, Yeah, you need to go to the doctor. And so I did start having some stomach issues, and I was throwing up, so I went into the doctor, I got my blood checked, and they were like, We think it's salmonella. Um, and so they said, Okay, here's some antibiotics, lay off the raw eggs, and you should be fine. A couple days later, they call and they say it's hepatitis A. So they go, You need to quit everything you're doing, quit the chemical enhancement, go back to doing what you know how to do, and that's being healthy. So over the next month, I did everything I knew how to do to be healthy. I started doing my cardiovascular training, I started cleaning up my nutrition, uh, it was all water was coming in, and I felt better. So I went in for a checkup and I asked my doctor, I said, Hey, Doc, I've got a contract at the end of the year to go to Hawaii. I was personally invited by Sean Ray, who was, you know, one of the big Olympia guys. I don't know if you remember him. You ever follow bodybuilding?

SPEAKER_02 12:42

I I yeah, I did. I I know the name. I I don't know him right off, right? So he's not one of the stands out big, but I've heard his name throughout the the course of all the boys back then.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

He's like the flex wheelers, the Ronnie Coleman. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, so he personally invites me. So I don't want to let him down. I gave him my word, and then I'm also wanting to get back in the limelight because ever since I was a kid, I needed attention. That's what got me in trouble. Um, so he tells me, hey, everything's fine, go ahead and start back doing your stuff. So I get back on my regiment, I'm training every day, and I actually I feel okay. But luckily he set me up for a checkup two weeks later. So I come back in, they do some blood work, and they go, Chase, your liver enzymes are through the roof. You have got to go to an imaging center and get your liver scanned. And now I'm like freaking out. I'm like, oh my gosh, this selfish dream that I had. This is this is what I deserve, you know. Right. So I get to that imaging place, I'm sitting there, and I just start praying to God. I'm like, God, if you get me out of this, I am done. I will quit bodybuilding. I swear to you, I am done with this. And I was severely anxious when I walked in there. You know, you think in worst case scenario. Oh, always. Always. Always. So I go in, I lay on my back, and they take this little gel, you know, machine. Yeah, they start rubbing up my lower stomach, and I'm breathing, my heart rates up. Like, what are they gonna find? Finally, we get done. I go back out to my car, and it was like all of a sudden that anxia that anxiousness that I was feeling just starts to like dissolve, and I felt like I could breathe. And about a day later, they called me and we go uh the imaging place called me and they said, Hey, we got your results back. We can't find anything wrong. We're actually very perplexed from your panels because your liver enzymes are completely normal, they're not elevated, you have no bruising, no lesions, nothing. And that was when I say, God, I hear you, I'm done. So I quit bodybuilding at that point. I had a severe identity crisis because that was who I was, right? Right. And so, not knowing yoga was a spiritual practice, I needed like an outlet to get into like this, something that was physical. And I knew flexibility was a big part of why I maybe didn't feel so good. So I started doing these yoga sessions that were private. I get in there, I'm starting to get more flexible, and I'm I'm feeling better because I'm getting opened up. But all of a sudden we get to the end of the session and she starts going into this weird, like, I don't know if it was a prayer. It's not biblical. Let me tell you that right now. And I would get anxious every time she would go to this. And so I chalk it up that that's my Holy Spirit telling me that I shouldn't be in here. So I still keep going because I think maybe I'm just going crazy. One day she has me on my back and she's got me in this pigeon pose. And I don't know if you guys know this, but you know that trauma gets held in your muscles over years. There's a really good book. If you want to learn more about this, it's called The Body Keeps the Score. So your muscle tissue is kind of like the brain of your body. So you may forget trauma, but your muscles don't forget it. So when you start getting into these deeper, deep, deep layers of tissue that haven't been opened up in your whole lifetime, things start to come back up. So she's pushing me on my back, and I'm like, no, no, no, stop, stop. It's too much. She goes, like, breathe, breathe, breathe. I'm like, okay, because I'm a man, I'm gonna push it. And like my leg just drops two inches down. And I just had this like urge to start like crying. And it wasn't like a cry that was like, it was like a and I, but I cut it off really quick because I'm like, I'm not doing this in front of a female, I'm a man. That's gonna get my man card away. I won't be able to tell dad jokes anymore. This thing.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

So I get out of there and I left and I went home, and it was really weird because every day at 5:30, this cry would come back. And at home, I was by myself, I would let it out. And it was like I was letting something out. I don't know. I've read about it in different books, I've seen it in Catholicism. I don't know if it was possession. I don't know if I I think what it was was uh trauma, demonic strongholds, right? Um, and I knew that yoga, there's something not right about it. I couldn't put my finger on it, I was not educated enough, but something wasn't right. That wasn't what I needed. So when this happened to me, I just kept crying every night at the same time. At the same time when I was a kid that I was scared to sleep in my own bed because my parents got divorced, my mom tried to kill herself, my dad traveled all the time, I was stuck with my grandparents. And so I developed this immense fear of aliens. Aliens, because my mom let me watch a show on ABC called like UFO abductions, and I'm like five, you know. Right. So it, I mean, I had to go see a specialist every night. I would sweat and be terrified. I would sleep under my dad's bed because he's like, You're a man, you need to get a job and you need to not sleep with me. I'm like, Dad, I'm six, seven years old. Um, but then I sort of realized like something's not right, something's going on. So it was really interesting. And uh Dr. Posey actually worked at the Methodist home many years. Many years ago. And when I was 15, I spent two years there because I was getting into trouble at school. And uh I had a counselor by the grace of God named Dwayne Sims, he's a doctor now, who just took a liking to me. And he had called me that day and he says, Hey, I want to come see the gym. I want to see what you're doing. And I'm like, that'd be great. Come on up. So he walks in and he sees a gym and he's like, This is amazing. And I'm like, Yeah, it's just a gym. And he goes, No, Chase, you go, he goes, You don't understand. Most of those kids that were in your unit and in the Methodist home at that time are either dead or in jail. He goes, I think you might be the most successful kid that came out of the Methodist home that I know of. And I said, Well, that's not saying much for you guys. I'm not a brain surgeon, I'm not saving any lives. He goes, No, he goes, you are saving lives. Right. He goes, Look what you've done. And he said, I really would like to see if you could come speak to the kids at the Methodist home. So when he left, I had this like feeling like that's what I'm supposed to do. I need to go tell these kids my story and help them because I know what they're going through. So a month goes by, I don't hear anything. So finally I reached back out to Duane. I'm like, Duane, what's going on with this? And he goes, Chase, I'm sorry I haven't called you. I've been talking to the Methodist home and they know who you are, they've looked you up, they remember you, and I don't think they want you to come speak. And I'm like, Well, why? What is it? I said, Is it because I had some tattoos? Is it because I was a bodybuilder? Do they think I'm on steroids or something? Um, and he's like, No, Chase. He goes, I'm not very happy with the Methodist home right now. He goes, I believe that they don't want you to come speak because if you do, you could hear a pin drop because those kids are gonna listen. He goes, I I don't think they want those kids to get better. I think they I think they're connected to the pre-he goes into this like and this may be conspiracy, but the prison system and how that's a business. And so they're looking at like you know, um, analytics of okay, how many, how many of these people actually go to prison, how much money do we make? And I'm like, that's insane. He goes, but Chase, I'm gonna tell you right now, he goes, I've I'm gonna tell you something I've never told you. He goes, When you came to the Methodist home, I knew something was different about you. He goes, I remember the first day we started playing ping pong. You were terrible within two weeks. You could beat everyone at ping pong. He goes, the way your brain worked so fast, he was like, there was just something special, and he's a big believer. And he goes, Something in my heart told me to help you, to cultivate you, to inspire you. Um, in fact, this guy was so amazing. Once a month, we were allowed to leave the home on the vans. He made it a point to take me to a coffee shop to read poetry because I could I was good at writing. Don't ask me to pull any math out, but I'm good at writing. And so he actually would take me and he taught me public speaking. And I was terrified at first, but now I don't think anything of it. I think about Dwayne. So Dwayne says, Chase, when you were there, you reminded me of a David. And he said, David, King David. And I didn't even know much about King David at that time. I knew he'd be Goliath, blah, blah, blah. There's way more to the David story than just that. And I remember I talked to him for about two hours that day, and I was in a very hard spot. You know, I'm almost paid off my investor. I'm working 18 hours a day and taking zero money. It was very, very challenging. So, you know, he gave me some therapy, but he just kept going back to this David thing. So I hung up the phone and it was crazy. Um, my, what was it? Yeah, my wife gets home and I'm kind of like upset. She goes, What's going on with you? I go, I don't know. But Dwayne told me he thinks I have a spiritual gift, and I remind him of David. I gotta go talk to my Mee mom. She's the only person in Dr. Posey, you know my Mee mom. She's devout. She is there every Sunday. She loves Dr. Posey. Um, who doesn't? Well, that's true. That's true. But uh, I just said, I gotta go pick her up. So I get in my car, my baby was just born. Uh so my wife's like taking care of the baby. I get in, it was my wife's car, and as soon as I started the ignition, it was gospel music blaring as loud as it could go. And my wife wasn't a Christian at this point. She was like the new age yogi, you know, be free, love. And it was just weird. And it was blaring. And I just start crying again. So I'm driving to my grandma's house. I'm like, God, what are you telling me? What is what's going on? I get to my grandma's, I ring the doorbell, and I'm like crying. She's like, What is wrong with you? And I'm like, Mima, I need to talk to you right now. I need to get some biblical information. I need you to tell me if I'm crazy or what's going on, what's happening to me. She goes, Okay. So she gets in the car, we drive back home. My wife puts our baby down to go to sleep about 6:30 at night. And uh we sit down and we just start talking. So I start to tell the story from when I'm five years old all the way up to this point. Guess what? The first thing to come out of my grandma's mouth was Chase, you remind me of David. And I was just, what are the coincidences that they would say the same thing in the same day? Right. And I just, she goes, I always wish something like this would happen to me. I wanted to be a servant. Uh, but it makes sense to happen to you. You've seen the other side. You need to talk about it. But she goes, I wanted to be an instrument my whole life, and I just never got the opportunity. But she goes, now that's your mission. So I ended up taking her home. We get in the car and we're driving. And something in my heart, call it discernment, is telling me, listen to her words. So we're talking, and I'm like, Mima, I don't know anything about the Bible. I mean, I was in confirmation class, I've read a few verses. I'm not smart enough to talk about the Bible. And she goes and starts telling me the story about Moses and how Moses couldn't speak very well. So he had his brother speak for him. And I'm hearing this and I'm like, man, this is really good information, but I don't know if this is what I'm supposed to hear. And so she gets done telling me the story, and I just look at her, and I wholeheartedly told her, I said, Mima, thank you for being my mom. Because you know, my mom had left me. And uh, she looks at me and she goes, Chase, I will never forgive your mother. That's all I heard was forgive your mom. The door shuts, forgive your mom. Boom, I get this cold feeling again, like something's telling me that's what I'm trying to tell you.

SPEAKER_02 24:29

Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

And I get in the car, I drive home, all of a sudden I walk into my house, boom, my cell phone goes off. It's one of our clients, Mary, who's another big Christian. She just so happens to send me this Bible verse. And I'm like, Mary, uh, why did you send me that just now? She goes, Oh, I just thought about you. She goes, You did you see the video I sent you last week? And I'm like, No, and I scroll up, and it's this video by this guy named Derek Prince. Do you know him? He was a pastor like in the 80s, and he was like, This, you know, I guess I don't know. A part of me thinks maybe he was a motivational speaker and he wasn't really legit and he was using the you know the Bible like sheep and wolf's clothing. I don't know. But he had a video on generational curses. And so I asked my wife, I said, Darla, I'm going through something. Will you watch this video with me?

SPEAKER_02 25:17

Yeah, is he an Asian guy? Prince? It's it's not that Prince, right? Yeah, no, not that guy. Yeah, he's been around forever. I was just I just saw him when I was flipping through the channels the other day, you know, Prince Ministry.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

So he's like an older white guy.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

Okay, all right, just checking.

SPEAKER_01 25:30

Very old school. I mean, you could tell these videos are done in the 80s, right? And so we sit down and we start watching this video. And about five minutes in, under my breath, you could hear me, but under my breath, I said, My mom, it's like it literally is explaining my mother. When I said that, Darla is a witness. The doors in my bathroom pop open. I've never seen a ghost. I don't believe in ghosts, I don't hear voices, I'm not crazy. This happened. I freaked out. I grab my wife's hands, I get on my knees, I'm like, God, what are you trying to tell me? I'm listening. I'm sorry, whatever I did. Just tell me what I'm supposed to do. And uh all of a sudden, I'm looking at my wife and I feel like there's something she's not telling me. And it's like I'm holding the grudge against my mother against my wife, because I think my wife's gonna abandon me. And so all of a sudden I realize it's because I haven't forgiven my mom. So I go, okay, I'm sorry, darla. You know, I almost told her we I think we need a divorce. I don't know what's going on with me. It was just this discernment, and I didn't understand it at the time. And finally she calmed down and I said, Let's just finish the rest of this video. So we get done, and at the end of the video, it was basically declaring the blood of Jesus Christ over your life, um, repenting for all your sins, and just just using that authority of that name. It was a very long one. I wrote it verbatim because you know I was willing to do anything. I just wanted help to figure out what's going on. So we hold hands, we recite this prayer, I even lit a candle, we say it verbatim, and I'm thinking maybe I'm gonna start floating or something now because this is kind of weird and don't understand it. Nothing happened. But I remember at the end of this video, and I don't know, I'll get your guys' opinion on this afterwards. It says if you have any occult symbolism in your house, kids will not be able to sleep, and it allows a doorway in for darkness. And so I went around my house and I found one zodiac calendar that my wife had in our washroom. So I went and I threw it in the trash. I go to lay down to go to sleep, and I feel like I'm six, seven years old again, scared to death, and I am sweating profusely in bed. Like it was like I jumped out of a swimming pool. The whole night I didn't sleep. I thought like ghosts were watching me. I'm like, is this demonic? I don't know. I'm just you're going to movies, right? You're going to movies in your head. I stayed up the entire night and I realized it's about six o'clock in the morning. My wife is still next to me. My daughter's still asleep. This was the first night my daughter slept in her room alone. Coincidence.

SPEAKER_03 28:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

But remember those things in the house, right? I don't know. Could be true. Who knows? And I get up, I hadn't slept at all, but I felt different. I felt like joy that I hadn't felt in years, like I was happy about life. My dad comes over, I tell him this whole story. And mind you, my dad's dad was not a pastor, but his grandpa was. So he's raised in the church. He looks at me, he goes, Are you okay? You know, he's thinking it's more of a mental thing. Um, and he just says, Well, I just wish you the best. You didn't really take me serious. And it's kind of kind of hurt my confidence a little bit, but I was, I knew what I saw, what I felt, and and knew I didn't have any clue what was to happen next. But I go to work the next day, and right, I'm I'm still a trainer at this time. And uh my my client Mary comes in who sent me that message. And I just tell her the whole story. I don't even think we trained that day. We just talked. And she's like, Chase, you've got to go see Maria. I'm like, Maria? Maria Fisher, the one we did martial arts with? And she's like, Yes, she has a spiritual gift, she can help you in this. And I'm like, okay. So I asked her to set a meeting with Maria, and she said, Maria won't come to the gym because you guys do yoga there. And I'm like, wow, she's serious. And that's when I started looking into this yoga thing, and it's a Hindu practice, it's actually a spiritual, it's like a religion. So obviously, one can only serve one master. So maybe that was a discernment that was going off in my head because I'd been baptized when I was a baby. So finally they agreed to meet uh Maria at Mary's house on Saturday. So I texted my mom, didn't get a response. Finally, I double-texted her. She says, Hey, I'll meet you Saturday at Starbucks and I'll talk to you. So I sat down with her and I literally just poured it all out. And I said, Look, I forgive you, mom. I love you. This went over her head. She goes, Who are you talking to? Are you talking to like witches or something? What are you doing? What's wrong with you? I did my part. She didn't, she didn't reciprocate, but I did what I was supposed to, and I meant it. So I went straight over to Mary's house where Maria was there, her husband was there, and uh Maria's husband was there. I'm sitting in the driveway, and it's like something in my conscience is telling me, you can't tell a lie in this story. You need to let it out. It's like a confession, right? Every dirty little detail of your entire past as a kid. I walk in, Maria sees me, and she's got this big book in her hand, and I just felt good to see her. I hug her and she's like, You need to talk to me, don't you? And I go, Yes, I really need to talk to you. And uh I had said hello to her husband. I hadn't seen them in 15 years. Uh, and we went and sat in uh Mary's sunroom. So, you know, this room that we're in right here, I'll kind of kind of use it as an illustration of where everything was. So this back wall here was all windows, massive windows. And then this wall was all massive windows, and then over there they had a library, and there was her husband sitting in that corner. There was a couch against this wall with that big window behind us, and it was me in the middle. Maria was next to me, and then Mary was on this side. So Maria tells me, she goes, Okay, tell me your story. And she pulls out this book, and this is a notebook, and then she's got the big book. So as I'm talking, I start to tell this story from five years old all the way up to that point in time. I think it took me an hour and a half, two hours to get this whole story out. And it's crazy because Maria, when I'm excited, she's excited. If I was sad, she was sad. It's like she was riding with me on this journey. It was incredible. I never felt somebody listen to you so well. And I get done, I'm almost out of breath. Okay, Maria, what's happening to me? She looks at me and she goes, Chase, you have a spiritual gift. And I'm like, Really? What is it? She goes, You have the gift of discernment. And I'm like, Okay, but she goes, but you have a lot of stuff you need to get rid of. So now there's a list of 10 things that I need to get rid of. One was addiction. My mom was addicted to alcohol. Um, the second one was soul ties. The third one was um uh self-idolatry, the other one was uh anger, I think it was, uh, the spoken curse of my best friend that died. I told him he was gonna die that day. He was getting into drugs, we were about 20 years old, and I said, Something bad's gonna happen to you. He died that night, overdosed. So there were these little things. She says, You've got to break these things. And uh, all of a sudden, when we're talking, Mary, who's right here, goes, Oh my gosh, look behind you. And we look back, and all of a sudden, thousands of birds just come down and land right in her backyard. I swear to you, on the Bible, Maria's hands start going like this. Remember, I don't believe in ghosts, never seen ghosts, don't believe in superstition, none of that stuff. She starts shaking. She goes, 625. And then she looks at Maria or Mary and she goes, Is this like a common occurrence at your house? Does this happen? Mary's like, I have never seen this in my entire life of 15 years of living here. And Maria goes, 625 again. And so she pulls this book out, and I it was the Bible, obviously. Matthew 625. Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink. Is your life not more than food? Is your body not more than clothing? Consider the birds of the air, how they not toil nor spin, yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And when I heard that, it was it was like this emotion that I can I can feel it right now.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

I felt so cold. And I just, I mean, I felt God.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

He was real, he was, it was all so real. And she says we need to pray. So I remember we locked hands, I bowed my head, and I just started praying. But I started praying in rhymes, and it wasn't like I was speaking tongues, but I was using words that I did not, I didn't have in my vocabulary, like trepidation. I don't think I've ever said trepidation or breaking shackles of deception. Like I have never used those words. And we let our hands down, we said amen, and I looked up and it was like I was reborn. I was a different person. And so I asked Maria, I said, Maria, what happened to me? She goes, Chase, God is He's He's taking you on your next step. What you think was for you is not for you. But let me tell you something. Music is gonna sound different. Your mind is gonna think differently. Um, I said, Well, what about my ADHD? She goes, he's gonna show you how to heal from this. Um, but she said, There's one thing I want you to remember. This is God's power through you. This is not your power. That's the one thing I want you to remember. And so now I feel like I'm chosen, right? And I remember leaving that day. I felt on top of cloud nine, I felt amazing. Music did sound different to me. Secular music sounded different. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was like the lyrics were a message that was not for the greater good of Christ. I could, I could hear it for the first time. I went to the gym, I was stronger than ever. I could do the splits, I couldn't do the splits before that. Maybe this is all in my head, but it was just this feeling I could do anything. And then all of a sudden, my life started getting really, really, really hard. And it's funny because I hadn't been to church in probably 10, 15 years. And that first Sunday comes, and I remember walking in to Trinity. And you remember at the end of the sermon, you're like, Does anybody in here want to change their life and devote themselves to Christ? It was like I lifted out of my chair and I walked up to Dean and I said, Sir, my name is Chase Berkner. I have a spiritual gift and I'm willing to do whatever I need to do for your church. And he goes, Yes, you do. And then uh who was the uh assistant pastor at that time? Sweet lady. Brenda. Brenda, yeah. She comes up to me, she goes, Oh my gosh, like they were just greeting me and so loving. And it was like they agreed with me. They didn't even know any of my story, but they agreed with me. And ever since then, it was like God put me on this different path. And I don't know how I've made it this far. I'm not, I don't think I'm very smart. Um, but you another thing to talk on, like Maria said, you're healed. I couldn't really read a book without losing my focus. She told me that the only way God's gonna talk to me is through the Bible. He's not gonna talk to you like you'd think. You know, it's not a voice in your head, he's not gonna come to you in dreams. Maybe he does, but uh, she said, you got to read the Bible. That's where he's gonna talk to you at. So my grandma got me a Bible called 365. And you guys seen those, right? It's like an Old Testament, a New Testament, a Proverbs, and a Psalm. I read the entire thing day by day, but then I also started picking up a lot of other books. Because remember, I'm a business owner, I'm going from operator to actually owner. So I had to learn a lot. I read a hundred books in a year, and I've done it ever since.

SPEAKER_02 37:13

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

And I maybe it's the power of the mind, but I still don't I don't think it is. I think it's God. So there's a synopsis.

SPEAKER_04 37:21

Well, Chase, first of all, thank you for sharing. That's an awesome story. 100%. And as I was listening, I'm just picking up on some leadership principles that I think are so obvious in your story. Um number one, you had really good people that believed in you. You know, and and I think as a good leader, whatever you're whatever you're doing as a leader, you you need to know your people need to know that you believe in them. If if they don't think you believe in them, the leader doesn't believe, the boss doesn't believe in you, that's gonna be a real challenge. You know, I know you've got guys on your staff, women on your staff, um, and it's obvious, because I've been in your gym, um, that they know that you have their back, that you believe in them. And um, and so I I think that what a great leadership principle. The other thing is, and you just said it in your last few sentences, a good leader never stops learning. You know, you keep reading, you keep trying to improve, whatever that could be, you know. It could be business, it could be hospitality, it could be your own self-guidence, it could be your your physical self, your spiritual self, you know, economics, whatever. But a good leader never stops learning. And when you believe that you've had it all and you don't need to learn anymore, that's I think that's when you begin to go down. Drift. Yeah, you begin to drift. And so, um, and then here's the other thing, and I know Tim has picked up on some of this stuff too. You're the friends that you surrounded yourself with, okay, they kept focusing you on Christ. I mean, they were always going back. So, so as a leader, no matter what happens, some good things happen, some bad things happen. As a leader, we're always trying to get our people back focusing on the mission. You know, what the main thing is the main thing. And you've had people that did that in your life and really have set you up for success. They believe in you, they kept help you focus on the mission, you know, they were there to support you. And uh that's just what good leaders do and good friends, but we're, you know, this is a leadership show. So I think uh what's some great leadership principles that you share with us this morning?

SPEAKER_01 39:48

I think the first one is uh a good leader leads from the back, right? Uh one of the big things that happened when I paid off the facility was I knew, because again, I surrounded myself with people who are much smarter than me. They said, You got to quit working in the business and you got to work on it. I made a great living as a trainer, but it was time that I had to give it up. So I told I pulled my team together and I said, guys, I'm gonna give you all my people. I trust you, take care of everybody. I'm gonna start working a role that really doesn't pay. So I took a massive pay cut. I'm also very, very open about the books and everything. I share everything with the team. And what's crazy is if we run into a hiccup, they're the first ones to give up something if they need to, because I do it and I've lived by it. I did it for two years until we finally had to, okay, we got to decrease uh uh what is it, uh contract labor. I did not want to take money from my team. I did not want to do it, but I had different consultants telling us like this model just it you you pay your guys too much. And so we sat down and I painted the picture of where are we trying to take this? I want to create the first ever proactive healthcare facility that pushes against the machine of reactive health care that only covers up things with band-aids and keeps you hooked on medication. We know that we can fix this stuff by community, by sunlight, by taking care of our bodies, putting the right foods in our bodies, and most importantly, putting the right things into our minds. Um and they were on board. I didn't lose anybody. I've had the same team for 10 years.

SPEAKER_02 41:26

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

But I honestly I say we do so well because of them.

SPEAKER_04 41:30

But transparency. Okay. And and sometimes you just have to you just have to do that. I mean, you should do it all the time. But I understand, well, sometimes you can't share everything, but being transparent, know that you have a team that you know you're with. And so I'll just stop and let Tim jump in here.

SPEAKER_02 41:50

No, you guys are doing great. I was just saying, you know, they believe in you, and that's the whole key, you know. And as a leader, people have to believe and they they they know your story and and they know what you're what you're about, you know. And you're leading from from the back, but you're you're leading from forward too, you know. They know where you've been and they know where you want to go.

SPEAKER_01 42:10

So and I think another leadership tip that goes with that is like excellence is your capacity to withstand pain, right? Because like we talked about Jacob wrestling with God for how long wasn't it an overnight? Yeah, it's an overnight thing. Overnight, all night. God, you're surely gonna bless me. Um, just the ability, which I believe physical training creates that. The mental side of it by reading and studying scripture, but I feel like you have to have the physical exertion, like you doing triathlons, don't you think that gives you just an extra level of mental endurance and resilience?

SPEAKER_04 42:47

Perseverance. Now, I was I've been reading several articles lately about the mental side of physical training, and it's so important um that you train your brain um to do what you want to do. You don't want to overdo it and hurt yourself, okay? But I have a great swim coach, you know, he was on the show here a couple weeks ago, and he's been so patient and encouraging because I'm not a natural good swimmer, but he it's obvious from day one that he believes in me. He just keeps pouring that positive stuff into my brain. So it's like, wow, he believes I can do it. I need to believe that I can do it, you know. And um, and so that's so important. The mental aspect of life is such an important thing. And so what you say, how you say it to your people, how often you say it, you might not say it, but you might show it through your actions, that is so, so crucial. And uh mental capacity or lack of it can really take you a long way or stop you. You know. So I agree with you.

SPEAKER_02 44:09

I I use that i i it just you know from the gym standpoint and you know, because I've got a little bit of a gym background, I tell people a lot of times just to increase your mental if you want to work out, and and I tell them, here's what you gotta do, you gotta be disciplined, right? And I said, even if you can't work out that day, you need to drive to the gym, walk in the gym, stand there for one minute, and leave. Because your brain sees that as a habit. You showed up. You might not have worked out, you might not have time, you might have a big meeting, but you need to drive to the gym, walk in, and then leave. Because you're training your brain that every day we go to the gym. We don't miss ever. And if you do that, and I I tell people in seminars, that's that's how you're training your brain to be consistent, to get through those mental capacities, like, well, we're just gonna miss one day. Well, that one day becomes two days, three days, four days, and then oh, I'm out, you know, February 1st, biggest day. People are like, Well, I'm done with this. I've missed a week of working out. I'm I'm done with this membership. I'm I'm gonna cancel it, right? And I tell them just drive to the gym. I don't care if you're in street clothes, walk in, stand there for a second, and then walk out and say hi to everybody and leave. Because that's how you're gonna train your brain to be successful as far as working out and getting back into it.

SPEAKER_04 45:20

And I tell the same basic thing about people reading the Bible. Okay. I mean, my practice for years, unless I'm reading through the Bible in a year, one chapter in the Old Testament, one chapter in the New Testament. You know, that takes about five minutes to do that, maybe seven, you know, depends on the chapter length. But it's training your brain. This is what I want to do. Spend some time reading the Bible every day. It's like I get up, that's what I do first. And um, and it's just a habit, but um that's that's what you have to do. And you've shown that, Chase, over your life that you were very determined, but you had a lot of people backing you and believing you. And um and so great.

SPEAKER_01 46:08

When I think about like the leaders, I think of them as the star, but not the star that you're thinking, not the superstar. It's more about success through accepting responsibility. Yeah, that's T-A-R. Success through accepting responsibility. So the first S is stop, pause before taking any kind of action. That's where the mindfulness comes in. The T is think, think about the action you were either about to do or avoid, weigh the pros and cons, and then visualize the results clearly. A is act, take action once the clarity is achieved, and R is review. Review and revise your victories and losses without judgment. That's great.

SPEAKER_04 46:48

That's a great, yeah, great.

SPEAKER_02 46:50

The review is one of the most important parts. Yes. A lot of people don't do.

SPEAKER_04 46:53

So yeah. Well, you know what?

SPEAKER_02 46:57

Yeah, I'm excited to go have some cup of coffee and come see the gym. I want to learn more, and and uh we we're gonna go down some rabbit holes together, I think, over the the course of the next few weeks, you know.

SPEAKER_04 47:07

Chase, we I'm so glad you've been here and uh just tell your family hello. And uh I haven't seen well, I I saw him a couple weeks ago when I was at the gym, but uh just tell everybody hello. But we need to pivot a little bit because we haven't had one dad joke.

SPEAKER_02 47:24

I know. I I saw him over there, dad joke Jones and right.

SPEAKER_04 47:27

So you know, posey 46 new dad jokes on my phone this morning, and I got to share at least one.

SPEAKER_02 47:34

He's gotta do something. Yeah, exactly right.

SPEAKER_04 47:37

I mean, our audience is just begging for dad jokes.

SPEAKER_02 47:40

Begging. They're like, oh my god, this is a normal show up to this point, right?

SPEAKER_04 47:44

I know my goodness. So um over the weekend, I did have a sinus infection, but but I helped a a friend move into the new house, his new house. Right. You know what? In gratitude, he gave me two small aquariums. That's the tanks I get.

SPEAKER_01 48:02

Did you get a shark in there?

SPEAKER_02 48:07

Oh, okay. I don't know. That was almost a trombone.

SPEAKER_04 48:13

Okay, so how do snails throw a party? How do snails throw a party? They celebrate.

SPEAKER_02 48:22

Oh, nice. That's a dad joke. I was thinking I was thinking something slow moving or something like that.

SPEAKER_04 48:28

Yeah, something, yeah, whatever. Um okay, what is as big as an elephant?

SPEAKER_02 48:34

Only on slow, slow days.

SPEAKER_04 48:36

Yes, I saw days. What is as big as an elephant but weighs nothing?

SPEAKER_02 48:44

Big as an elephant and weighs nothing. Got me.

SPEAKER_01 48:50

It's shadow. Ah, that was so obvious when I wanted to say that one. Dang it. It's always under the nose with these dad jokes.

SPEAKER_02 48:58

It is.

SPEAKER_04 48:59

Well, why did the duck set its alarm for early in the morning? He wanted to wake up at the quack of dawn. Yes! Awesome. Great job. There we go. Okay, so how do you make dog biscuits?

SPEAKER_01 49:22

Um you gotta rough the edge. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 49:26

I'm just thinking how about with collie flour? That was tougher. That was tougher.

SPEAKER_02 49:32

That's close. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 49:36

Oh, I I I've been telling him from the beginning, I need the buttons over here.

SPEAKER_02 49:43

And I've been listening to him.

SPEAKER_04 49:46

Okay. What's the difference between a camera and a sock?

SPEAKER_01 49:56

I think I know this one.

SPEAKER_04 49:58

A camera takes photos and a sock takes five toes.

SPEAKER_01 50:03

Ah, play on words. Yeah. Man, these are tougher. These are tougher. These are a little tougher.

SPEAKER_04 50:08

Well, you know, we got a smart audience.

SPEAKER_02 50:10

He's a dad joke kind of connoisseur, right?

SPEAKER_04 50:14

So Okay, here's my last one, maybe. Did you hear about the big Lego sale last weekend? People were lined up for blocks. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 50:25

I said I know it's something to do with blocks. I just don't know which way he's going.

SPEAKER_04 50:29

Yeah, that's where I was going.

SPEAKER_02 50:30

All right, one more pussy.

SPEAKER_04 50:32

Okay. Um, so there's a park not too far from our house, and um uh I was training squirrels there, but I got banned from going to the park. Uh, I guess they didn't like me critter sizing.

SPEAKER_01 50:51

Oh, that's good. Hey, I got one. You got one, okay. A dad leaders joke. Okay, we're ready. And you're a builder, so you should know the screen. I like it. What is the biggest room in the world? The biggest room in the world.

SPEAKER_04 51:08

In the world. I'm thinking it's not a physical building. The biggest room. I don't know. What?

SPEAKER_01 51:18

The room for improvement.

SPEAKER_03 51:19

Oh, there we go. That's a good room.

SPEAKER_02 51:27

Okay, you know it is. Okay, so well, go ahead. You know where I'm going, right?

SPEAKER_04 51:31

I was gonna say, hey, we can't. We promised some rapping.

SPEAKER_02 51:36

We did poetry.

SPEAKER_04 51:37

Okay. So, Chase, why don't you kind of lead us toward the end with whatever you got? Okay.

SPEAKER_01 51:42

There. You ready? Since we're on a leadership, yeah, resilience, let's go with that topic. So if you want something bad enough, you got to go out and fight for it, to work day and night for it, to give up your time, your peace, and your sleep for it. And if all that you dream and scheme is about it, and your life seems useless and worthless without it, but if you will gladly sweat for it and fret for it and plan for it and lose all your terror of the opposition for it, and if you can simply go after that thing that you want with all of your capacity, your strength and sagacity, your faith, your hope, your confidence, and stern per tenacity. Neither cold, poverty, famine, or gold, sickness or pain, or body or brain can take you away from the thing that you want. If it grows darker than grim, you besiege and beset it, and with the help of God, you will inevitably get it.

SPEAKER_04 52:40

Awesome. Whoa, that's great, dude. Good job. Wow. Okay. Well, all right, well, Chase, thank you so much for being here today.

SPEAKER_01 52:52

Thank you guys for giving me the opportunity to do this.

SPEAKER_04 52:54

Oh my gosh. It's been a pleasure to see you always and have you here in the studio today. It's been really, really good.

SPEAKER_02 53:00

Looking forward to catching up more and more and finding out more about your story.

SPEAKER_01 53:03

So I'm gonna make sure I bring you dad jokes that you've never heard. That's good.

SPEAKER_02 53:07

You're close. You're gonna have to come back and join us on our show again. Yeah, I would love for the opportunity. Right around the corner from my the studio. All right, yeah. Well, all right. Well, if you want and if you can, and if you can deal with Dr. Posey's dad jokes, like, share this with a friend. Uh be sure and check us out biblical leadership show.com. Other than that, we want to extend it. Great thank you for joining us today. Welcome back anytime. Uh, we'd love to have you back. Uh happy birthday, belated birthday to you, and and belated birthday to our guest, too. He was a week before that. So, other than that, uh Dr. P take us out. Hey, thank you for joining us. Make it a great day. Thank you guys.