Unlocking the Secrets to Ecstatic Marriages and Transformative Leadership

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Casey Cease: Hey, thanks again for coming back for another episode of The Casey Cease Show. show This is Casey. And I’m here with my good friend today, John Michael Clark, also known as JM or Pastor John Michael, but we refer to him as jam affectionately. And he is the founder and lead coach of The Family Captain.

You can go to the FamilyCaptain.com to learn more there. Or is it just family cap. It’s TheFamilyCaptain.com. Yeah, that’s right. TheFamilyCaptain.com. But I asked

John Michael Clark: The Ohio State University.

Casey Cease: That’s right. I asked John Michael to come on today and to share a little bit about his entrepreneurial journey and [00:01:00] starting The Family Captain.

John Michael is also a pastor. He’s an entrepreneur, a great dude overall. And he coaches many men and how to captain their ship and their homes and their lives. So John Michael, thanks so much for joining me today. And why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself, your family your church and The Family Captain, and we’ll dive in and talk more about your journey.

John Michael Clark: Absolutely. Thank you for having me, everybody. Great to be here with you. Natalie and I have been married for, we’re coming up on 17 years this summer. My dream girl. I tell folks we are ecstatically married, not just happily married. We got three boys, Elijah, Brock, and Hudson. As of today, I’m a parent to two teenagers.

Brock just turned 13. Hudson is 9. Elijah is 15. And planted Salt Church three years ago next month. And been doing The Family Captain full time for about a year and a half now, or three and a half years. So planted the church just after went full time in The Family Captain. I was a staff pastor at a church for eight years ago. My story was [00:02:00] one of, it took a long time to find the groove that I feel like I’ve been in for the past three years. So I’m 39 years old. I know I look like I’m 17. But I’m 17 and a half.

Casey Cease: Half.

John Michael Clark: but I’m, 39. And yeah, it took a long time for things to gel, for things to drop into place. But I told Natalie, I mean, it was right after the church was planted,

it was after The Family Captain was happening, “baby, I have everything I’ve ever wanted now. Yes, I want to build influence and I want to impact kingdom work now.” But for me personally, I just feel so much in the sweet spot of life. I feel so much for exactly what I was built to do, exactly what I was put on the earth to do to shepherd Jesus’s church.

And to equip my brothers in Christ in family leadership and sex and marriage through The Family Captain. And if you took both of those things away from me tomorrow, I would still be a thrilled and happy man because I still get to love and shepherd my wife and love and shepherd my sons.

And if by some tragedy something happened to them, [00:03:00] of course primarily I am a Christian, I love and follow King Jesus for real as I put it. That’s the distinction between, like, are you Christian or are you Christianl ike? For real, that’s how you know somebody’s really, really getting after it. No, not with perfection, but with faithfulness. So I love the Lord. I love his people and happy to be with y’all here today.

Casey Cease: You have a profound passion to see men of God become the men that God has created them and redeemed them to be through Jesus and to love and lead their families well and to have ecstatic marriages and not to settle for the status quo. But that wasn’t always your experience or your story.

Talk to us a little bit about how that passion began to increase for you. What you did about it and what led to ultimately the birth of The Family Captain.

John Michael Clark: Yeah, so years ago, before Natalie and I were ecstatically married, I would have said we were happily married. We both would have said that. In fact, we had the best marriage that we knew of. There was no crisis. There was no divorce talk. There was [00:04:00] nothing was falling apart. And yet, I just had this thing inside me, this sense of, like, It’s got to be more. It’s got to be better and for a while, I thought that was just selfishness, that’s just you know ego, that’s just pride.

Don’t expect too much, expect less and then you’ll be happy. You’ll be content with the scraps that you have but looking back now I know it was the Holy Spirit who was bringing this direction to me in this hope and this expectation. Primarily for me, it was centered around two things. I knew as I looked at the scriptures. This whole headship and submission thing, I was uncomfortable with it. I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew there was something to it. I didn’t know how to apply it, but I knew we didn’t have it. And I knew, there was no marriage around me that I could point to that had it.

Again, some happily married folks. But I was like, but are we doing that? Because that seems different. What I’m reading in the book seems different from this. To me, a good Christian marriage looked a lot like a good worldly marriage. We all know people who aren’t believers, and they have, good marriages, they love each other, they care about each other. And there’s a lot [00:05:00] of good things happening there, but I’m going, Christians ought to have the best marriages. Christians ought to have the best sex lives.

Christians ought to have the best everything. Like, Our God designed marriage, it’s His jurisdiction. Sex is His invention, all, every part of it. The headship and submission thing was part of it. Where I was hungry for more and then the other piece was the sex in marriage. Like I didn’t have the frequency that I wanted or the freedom and the passion that I wanted. And again, that was another place where it’s like hey you’re a bit of a pervert for wanting to enjoy a robust sex life with your wife. And so, I had to get over that and be like, no, I’m not.

I love this girl. I like this girl. Natalie and I were both virgins when we got married. So I was like, hey, this is the person. I choose her, and I want all of her, and I want a lot of her. And so, when those things weren’t what I expected them to be for a long time, it was just frustration. I say a long time. I don’t know. Maybe six years into marriage is when I was really ignited in my own journey. But I wasn’t getting answers from the church when it came to these things. I’m going Hey, you know, the headship thing, for example, Hey, what does it mean when the scripture says that I’m the head of my [00:06:00] wife and the answers I got were like, be careful with that.

What do you mean? I thought I was talking about the Bible. like Be careful with that stuff. I’m like, okay. I’ll be careful with that stuff. So anyway, what does it mean when the scripture says, the husband’s the head of his wife, or man wasn’t made for woman, but woman was made for man. Don’t say that too loud. Okay, fine.

But what does it mean though? How do I apply these things? Well, It doesn’t mean your wife’s some kind of doormat. Duh, obviously I love this girl. I like this girl. She’s my favorite person in the whole world. I like her a whole lot more than I like you, Pastor Melvin. So what does it mean?

Well, It doesn’t mean you’re kind of tyrant? Clearly, it says I’m to love her like Christ loves the church. It says if I’m not gentle, and live with her in an understanding way, he won’t even hear my prayers. So, Got it on all that. What does it mean though? When it says that she’s supposed to submit to me, and respect me?

And how does that look? How does that show up on a Tuesday afternoon? And I just got nonsensical answers. And I came to the point where I was, like, all right, either this guy doesn’t [00:07:00] know, and this guy is a caricature. This guy represents evangelical culture at large. It represents a church, the body of Christ in the West who has been pressured by society as opposed to conforming, being transformed by the word of God.

So this Pastor Melvin is not a person, but it’s a perspective where really out of fear of man, or fear of abuse, or all kinds of fears we avoided the good the true and the beautiful. So that’s where I really said, okay, enough is enough. I want to really go on this journey and that’s what it was.

It was a million books, a million podcasts I sifted through what I call a lot of septic tanks at times. And I would come out with a little diamond and I would go, that’s true! That was garbage, that was poop, but that’s true. And if it’s true, that means it’s God’s truth. Like, I wasn’t afraid of the source of where something came from, I was just like, red pill culture and all kinds of nonsensical stuff out there.

But I was like, wait a second, these guys are more accurate on this particular item than the church has even been. And what happened, Casey and [00:08:00] friends, is as I started doing this, I started to see it in the word. It had been in the word the whole time. But now, the lens was opened up. I’m going, that’s in the word.

From Genesis to Revelation, I’m seeing all these things. From the goodness of the masculine, the goodness of the feminine, the goodness of God’s design for sex, all these things, like church lady syndrome started to fade away, and I started to walk this stuff out. And long story short, Natalie and I begin to employ these things and say, let’s walk in more obedience to this.

And we stumbled forward because I didn’t have a guide apart from all the pieces trying to put it together. But I’m ruthlessly practical, so I kept trying to make it practical. And eventually, we got to that place. We were ecstatically married, like, this is awesome. There’s masculine and feminine polarity. I knew how to be the husband, not just the gender neutral human marriage partner.

She knew how to be the wife. And that meant something. And we both loved it. And it got richer and deeper in all dimensions of our marriage and life. And I’m going, wow! Let’s live happily ever [00:09:00] after. And it was at that same time when the Lord was stirring in me and I was realizing, like, John Michael, this wasn’t just your thing.

You thought you were the only person who needed this. And then as my eyes are open, I’m going, Whoa, this isn’t like my thing, my little niche. This is the thing. And that brings me to the place where I am today. Casey, my conviction is like, this is a powerful piece of preaching the gospel to the world.

Marriages, households, families, where people can look in and, go, whoa, is that Christ in the church? Sign me up for that. Not to mention, it’s human flourishing. You’re just not always going to be happy being a Christian. Well, Sure, I guess not, but walking in obedience to the Word of God looks like something, and it will lead to a lot more joy.

And we’ve seen that over and over in our own lives, and in the men that I’ve been able to help. That’s what led me into The Family Captain work. How do I start helping other men? Maybe I just post online a little bit. I made an online course in 2018 and then eventually, we came to the iteration that we have now, The Family Captain, as everyone knows it, where I’m doing the personal coaching with guys.

And we’re getting into the weeds, and we’re helping men transform to [00:10:00] become the greatest man your wife and kids have ever known, to lead with strength and love. To be the man your wife wants to have sex with instead of the man she has to have sex with. Changing family cultures and bringing glory to Jesus.

Casey Cease: Yeah, I have to share the story because the way you and I got connected was that you put a post in Christian groups and non Christian groups

John Michael Clark: I put it in a lot of

Casey Cease: a lot of places of, do you know any guy who loves his one-woman man, Christian, mature, but also knows Facebook ads.

And so, a few people tagged me in it and then we got connected that way cause you’re just putting it out there. And I remember meeting you and I was like, this guy’s a firecracker. Like I saw your picture at first and maybe you just started growing your mustache out or something.

But like the early stuff I saw, I was, like, man, this kid’s on fire. I didn’t realize that you know, I’m only about six years older than you. I thought I was about 16 years older. And just the passion you had and the fact that you were so intentional building it up. But getting you to that [00:11:00] place where, you and I met a little over a year ago, I helped with him letting everybody know that John Michael is a client of mine and has become a friend and has become a coach. I’ve actually been through The Family Captain program and as someone who, you know, Stephanie actually became more complimentary and sooner than I did. And we really started leaning into that many years ago, which is it’s not popular. But when people are able to see the outcome and the fruit of our marriage, and our children, and our home, and the way our life is that there is some curiosity like you were talking about, because you’re right. A lot of times when people talk about the roles of men and women, they’re like, that was back then.

And that’s now, well, okay, maybe I’m not saying throw all contextualization out the window. But at the same time, there is something beautiful in that. But a lot of times you get, people bringing all the caution of all the ways it could go wrong rather than slowing down to speak to all the ways it could go well.

And so, when I met you and started working with you and you actually, I don’t know if you remember this, it gave me access to the whole program because I was building out [00:12:00] advertising for you to bring guys into the Facebook group which I encourage any guy listening to this that wants to see more about it, go check out The Family Captain Facebook group and come in there and you can let Christian know or one of the guys know that you came in through this podcast. But you really were intentional Even when we met on how you wanted to go approach guys and the goal of we’re not just dragging people along.

There is truth. You were saying earlier, like, Hey, the Bible does teach things, many things that are popular today. But I’ve always appreciated John Michael, how you approach it with, but what’s true? Okay. I understand my denomination interprets it this way, but what does the Bible say that’s true?

But how does that go from someone having a personal conviction, pastoring a local church into having a growing and thriving coaching practice that’s actually attracting men from other parts of the world? I mean, I think you recently had an Australian that came into the group and people from all over.

How did you decide, like, I’m going to make this into like a coaching program and do something really powerful with it? Like, you know, Most people think [00:13:00] that, man, I learned that I’m going to share it with my small group. Maybe I’ll, speak at a breakout session. Talk to us a little bit on the entrepreneurial side, how you and Natalie, and I’ve had a chance to meet your wife as well online and one day in person, ladies, she does blink and she does think for herself and is beautiful and thoughtful, but they have a wonderful synergy in their marriage. Because that’s an objection I always get. like, So beyond the doormat and everything else, she’s just not supposed to have an opinion. No, like there’s plenty of that. you know?

John Michael Clark: Yeah,

Natalie right now is chained to the water heater in the basement,

according to my opponents and enemies.

Casey Cease: That’s right.

Yeah. That’s the way he handles it. But talk to us a little bit on the entrepreneurial side of I’m learning this, I’m sharing it with people around me. I’m pastoring a church, sharing it with them too, I feel like there’s a broader audience for this and there’s more guys who want to know, how did you make that connection?

And what were some of the steps you took to really get going?

John Michael Clark: Man, it was, the starting point was the conviction. It wasn’t just like a, man that was a helpful tip and a helpful trick, like good for me and I’ll share it with my buddy, like you said, on the back deck or something. But the conviction of it was made everything else [00:14:00] inevitable. The conviction that this is the thing, like Martin Luther fought where the fight was.

And you’re not a faithful Christian if you’re not fighting where your fights are. Well, I don’t want to talk about this thing because that’s a cultural thing. All the more reason that the church needs to speak up into that thing. We are the pillar of truth in the earth, and we need to tell the truth on all kinds of things.

And people naively believe that these issues are down the pipeline. I agree that they’re not Apostles Creed level, but they’re not as small as the saints think they are. The disintegration of male and female has led to our current insanity in the West. And people think that it’s a preference thing. Oh, well, that’s how they choose to do it.

That’s how they choose to do it. No, my argument is these are objectively better. This has worked for us. My friend, I would say if this has worked for us, it’s only because you don’t know how good it can get. Because I would have said all the same things.

Casey Cease: No,

John Michael Clark: This is fine for us. This is fine for us. Yeah, I know your ego is protecting you because the consequences of what I’m saying, if they’re true, it means a lot of insulting things. It means a lot of [00:15:00] hurtful things. I’m emasculated? She’s masculinized? How dare you, sir? Smack me across the face with your white glove and challenge me to a duel.

All that stuff shows up in people, and they’re like, you know, all the anger and all the angst, to which I just say, Hey, my friend, let’s just go to the scriptures, forget this guy and let’s see if the word of God really says what it says. But if you take any variation of, what you gotta remember is, you start to make me nervous, because what I start to hear is, You did God really say?

And that’s what I still hear constantly in the body of Christ today. Did God really say? And I think the snake is still whispering the same thing he said in the garden. Did God really say? I know he said it. I know the New Testament has a bunch of explicit commands to husbands, explicit commands to wives, so much so that if I were to read them out loud right now, it would be embarrassing because they’re just so plain and obvious.

And you go, We either have to say, it ain’t what you think it is. And that’s what Pastor Melvin used to do. Like, well, There was prostitute worship in Ephesus and at the council of Crimea, the [00:16:00] Hebrew Aramaic inversion of the revelation. I’m like, I don’t know what you’re saying. I don’t know if you’re a coward, or if you’re just confused.

But either way, I don’t trust it. I believe the book of God is safe for the common man to pick it up, believe it and obey it. And to get good fruit from it. So that was the first conviction, fight where the fight is, this is good true and beautiful and it is powerfully amazing. People think, well, my marriage is already at a 10.

Good news, bro, it goes to a hundred. Ours is at a hundred, good news. It goes to a thousand, wherever we are, there’s more. So that’s the real conviction that’s within me. This isn’t a niche. It’s not a John Michael thing. If I couldn’t do The Family Captain anymore, in all fairness to opponents who would say, well, you’re selling something fair enough.

I’m literally selling something. But I was passionate about it before. I’ll be passionate about it long after because I love God’s truth and I love to see people thrive. And I know the impact that it’ll make. So that was the starting point, the real conviction and the rest became like I said, in 2018, I just started putting something together.

It’s like, This is good news. When [00:17:00] John Michael gets excited about something, you’re going to hear about it. If I don’t know about something, then I’ll say, I don’t know about that.

Casey Cease: Yeah, I know you do. Good about it?

John Michael Clark: I don’t want to fight about end times. I don’t have pulpit pounding conviction about a lot of end times things. Jesus is King. Jesus is coming back. You should kiss the sun lest he be angry with you. I got plenty of conviction where the word of God brings it to me. But there’s plenty of things I’m like, I’m not so sure.

But man, if I get sure on something from the scriptures, you’re going to hear about it. Everybody’s going to hear about it and I can show it to you. Like, I don’t need you to trust me. I don’t need you to take my word for it. I can clearly articulate it to you and walk you through it from a lot of different angles. So that’s what I started doing. And in 2018, I just put together a little simple email course and it was so funny.

I’m so naive. I thought it was going to blow up, man. This is the thing. I know what it’s done for Natalie and I. I know what it’s going to do for the world. Like 20 some dudes signed up for the thing. You can have the best lemonade in the world, by the way, if you’re an entrepreneur.

But if you’re in the middle of the woods and no one knows that your lemonade stand is there, it’s difficult for folks [00:18:00] to enjoy it. This little six month email course, it was all built on action, which is a big part as Casey knows, we have captain’s actions in the course. and,

You know, I was just finding the guys weren’t getting those kinds of results that I wanted him to get. And I naively tabled it, had a big job opportunity to go run a company. I took them up on the offer, put my stuff on the back burner, which was a mistake.

And then during RONA, when all that was happening in 2020, I had an opportunity coming, I saw the writing on the wall. I knew I was going to get fired. And I knew I had a moment that was coming. I was like, I put my thing on the table. I knew I shouldn’t have, I knew this is part of my calling in life.

So do I run around like a chicken with my head cut off with my resume? I don’t look that great on paper. I don’t have a powerful resume. And do I just go and get money? Cause that’s the thing that you’re supposed to do to get a job. Cause a man does have to provide. There’s no question there.

Biblically that is certain. There’s no argument. So I knew that I’m supposed to provide, but what’s the best way to do it? And it was in that moment where I was just, I felt in sense from the Holy Spirit that I [00:19:00] was supposed to go all in on The Family Captain.

So when I got laid off, that was the moment, it was the beginning of 2021. So it was a couple days after Christmas, actually, 2020. It was December 28th. My boss called me. Long story short, he loved me. It was a very complicated political thing. We got bought out by another company and he was like, here’s what I’m gonna do.

I’m gonna keep working with you. I’m gonna give you $100,000. I was like, no, Ray, I love you. You’re wonderful. Goodbye. and then it was going, okay, it’s time. It’s time to go all in on this Family Captain thing. And so that day one, January one, I was full time in The Family Captain. And that meant Facebook posts every day. And that’s all I knew to do. A little teaching here, a little nugget there, a little invitation for guys to work with me. And then a month or so in, Brad Anderson, the first ever Family Captain reaches out and goes, talk to me. And he came on board and the rest is history for Brad.

And then comes Lee, who still in the Family Captain and others, and it built. I stayed faithful with it. And now it’s been like we said, three and a half years ago since that happened and it has [00:20:00] been awesome. It has been a fun ride.

Casey Cease: Yeah, I mean, the way you make it sound is pretty easy, but I know when we met, you guys were doing organic outreach, connecting with guys. I

John Michael Clark: Oh man. It was awful.

Casey Cease: Yeah, you

John Michael Clark: I mean,

Casey Cease: you were

John Michael Clark: mean, It was a job.

Casey Cease: you You were doing the work.

John Michael Clark: It was work. Yeah, it was every day. It was like, make this Facebook post that like, you have to post in these other Facebook groups. You have to moderate comments. You gotta message the guys who interact. It’s tedious. There’s no way to track it. Or there’s no way to manage it.

Because I didn’t know about softwares and anything like that. I’m just duct taping this thing. And doing my best to be faithful with it. It’s just a piece here and a piece there. And that’s when I finally hearing about Facebook ads. And I was like, I need a guy. And that’s when I made my unintentional offensive post where I was searching for Casey.

Casey Cease: Wasn’t offensive to me.

John Michael Clark: Because in the post,

Casey Cease: was,

John Michael Clark: I was in the post I said, I want I need a guy to run Facebook ads. He needs to be a Christian, he needs to be married to his first wife, which a lot of people didn’t like that.

Casey Cease: They didn’t like that one. Yeah.

John Michael Clark: Not that I didn’t wanted him to have a second wife [00:21:00] eventually, but I was just saying, didn’t want a divorce guy and everybody’s like, why?

And I was like, and I won’t be answering any questions about my criteria, you know, on and on. So tons of people were like, how dare you? And then Casey was like, I got you. And.

Casey Cease: Yeah, I had friends of mine tagged me like, Hey, you seem perfect for this guy. And so, we connected and we’re able to do that. And I really appreciate.

I mean,

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Casey Cease: By that point, you had already your oldest son was working with you. You also have Christian Kelly, who’s a another Family Captain. But let’s talk a little bit about one, you mentioned something earlier that people get offended that you’re charging for this.

always interesting to me in the church that people believe because Jesus is involved that you should just give away everything for free. Which you give away a lot more than most people for free in your Facebook group and on your podcast and things like that just you don’t have investment. But it’s interesting to me because the value of what you’re bringing to the table is just with the consequence in the ongoing benefit of really following the Lord and obeying Him and loving and leading your family.

The fruit of that, it’s really hard to even put money on. I mean, I’ve coached CEOs before we inevitably talk marriage, family, things like that on top of the strategy. And they always say that the faith component, the marriage and family [00:23:00] component, they can’t even put a price on. And I charge a lot of money to coach.

And so, But they’re like, it’s priceless. How did you navigate that? I think the first question for me is how did you navigate charging for what you’re offering, being a man of God? And I think that’s an important discussion to have, because I know a lot of Christians wonder, how do I, charge?

Because if Jesus is involved, is the right charges, I think that’s a fair conversation. And then, as you’ve been growing your team, you have several part time people that are working with you, and stuff like that. And so I think that’s interesting part of, this isn’t just John Michael any longer, like the wizard of all is pulling all the strings.

You have a growing business that has been doubling down on momentum the last few months. So talk to me about navigating the pricing and charging for things. And then we’ll talk through kind of the growth and the growing pains you’ve experienced.

John Michael Clark: Yeah, I’m thankful because the financial thing wasn’t an area where I came from having baggage with. So personally, it was actually news to me that people were offended by it. So it’s really easy for me to navigate in my own conscience because I’m going like a pastor’s worthy of double honor, literally double pay. [00:24:00] So that’s right. And actually sidebar. I take a very small salary for my church. That’s deliberate. And that is designed to stay that way. Long term has nothing to do with cause we’re a church plant.

That’s just part of our design and the way I felt conviction to do that. I’m not required to but it’s something I chose to do, but pastors are worthy of that, it was a few years ago, there was in some Facebook groups, some guy was like, you charge for discipleship, don’t you? And I say, yes, just like every Christian author on your bookshelf. And he had no reply.

So it’s funny, like I’m allowed to write a book for 20 bucks. right? Yeah. Yeah. That’s okay. Am I allowed to get profit from it? Or is only the publisher, how, tell me, how does it work? And you find that folks haven’t thought it They just,

Casey Cease: They haven’t.

John Michael Clark: They haven’t, because if they did, then they would have to come to some really silly conclusions, which I’ve never met anyone who actually pull the thread on their logic and find out that it’s empty. There’s nothing to it. There could be problems in anyone’s heart, with finances, with greed, with all kinds of issues, poor people, rich people in between people. But [00:25:00] personally, I didn’t have a problem with it. So anytime that objection has come up, it just doesn’t land for me.

Well,

Casey Cease: And to be fair, John Michael, the fact is the many hours or years that you’ve put into studying this, you have a unique gift of taking complex concepts and simplifying them for people to understand. And then, you do a great job of drawing out application, how to do that. And my hope when I invested in joining your course initially was Stef I feel like. we have a really great marriage, but I think there’s more to be had.

There’s more of Jesus to be had through our marriage and we want, pursue that. But also, just valuing the challenge and the accountability to press for more that there’s more to be had in that context is extremely valuable.

And in that beyond just, should you give me something for free because we’re Christians, that’s just silly. And so overall I’m with you. I, charge plenty for all the services I do and Jesus comes for free with it. But ultimately the work I’m doing, my [00:26:00] ability to deliver on the work is of a value.

And so, yeah, I’m with you, but I was just curious cause people do wonder that if they’re Christians or if they’re doing business in the Christian sphere of things, how do you navigate that? But also as you’ve been growing and needing to add more people to your team, what’s that been for you? And how did go about making those decisions?

well, That’s the other part. Business is a kingdom asset. This is the whole thing, like, just like in The Family Captain, we have to reclaim sex, for many believers. For many husbands, many wives, it’s this thing, it’s kind of like the devil’s jurisdiction, almost. So we blow that lie way up, and we say no, this belongs to the Lord. This is His invention, this is His design. Perverts are gonna pervert. And Satan is a pervert, so he perverts things. But we’re not gonna let him ruin anything for us. So business and resort, everything belongs to King Jesus.

John Michael Clark: So, I don’t even think we have to redeem business. I think just a tool. It’s just a mechanism that is to be used for kingdom purposes. And kingdom purposes involve me feeding my children, kingdom purposes involve me bringing on employees and expanding [00:27:00] this thing. Focus on the families allowed to exist. right? That Goliath, that makes it sound like an enemy. That monster of a company who’s been here forever, like, they’re doing great work. Yeah, and they got like hundreds of employees, I would assume, and a monster budget, and they charge for all kinds of things. So it’s just, okay. It’s just all fine.

There’s just no problem with any of it. But beyond not having a problem with it, what an advantage, what a blessing. How many Christians are employed, probably, at focus on the family? How many Christian households are fed and fulfilled by Christians, paying Christians, and Christian resources and Christian values?

And I’m sure, give away tons of free stuff, just like I do. Whenever guys complain, which is rare, but whenever somebody complains, like, I could do this on my own, I’m like, absolutely you could, I did. You can do it, man. It’s the long road, but you can do it. By the way, you don’t have to go as long, because you can enjoy the over 30 hours of video trainings I put together for you for free. Well, What about the whole course? Like, This problem isn’t with me, homie. This is with you.

well, You’re wrong. Okay. King Jesus will sort it out. That much I’m sure of. I’m kind of dismissive of it, I think.

Well,

Casey Cease: That’s a [00:28:00] gift in and of itself. So growing, making the decisions to add team members to, make steps. It can feel scary at times making those decisions and growing and everything else. What’s it been like for you as you went from you being on your own by yourself to now having an admin, having Christian that’s working with you, having some of the other guys that help moderate and do different things, how’s that growth trajectory been for you?

John Michael Clark: Man, I had the advantage of laziness. So, Because I didn’t want to do everything. you know, Some people are like ready. Well, What is it? The,

the ready? Aim, aim, aim, Aim. That’s not me. I’m the ready, fire, aim if we can. At some point in the future that would be great. Ready, fire, let’s get this thing going. But I was so burdened by all the minutiae. Obviously, got my own family, I’m pastoring a church, and I do want to grow the business, but I’m like the details were overwhelming to me. So I very much love getting the right people in the right place. I love me getting to do what only I’m supposed to do.

And I know a lot of people struggle with that and the [00:29:00] temptation to micromanage. If I’m actually just personality based, if I was going to make a mistake, I would typically err on the side of too detached and where I’d zoom out too much. And just because I don’t want to be involved in something, oh, the team’s got it, and really that could even be an irresponsibility on my part if I wasn’t careful.

So that’s already my bent, cause most of the time in the coaching and business world, that’s what business owners need to hear. Like, Hey, Stop letting your business run you, you know, you need to run the business.

And so I have just enjoyed the process. I’ve got friends, I’ve got brothers like you, Casey, Sean, Steven, Alan, these other men who I get to work with. And my assistant Nicole, and we all just have a good time together. But people understand my role, I understand theirs, and I still, feed myself resources that help with that.

I know we’ve talked about Buy Back Your Time, and a few other books, just even in the past 12 months, that I’m still looking to implement even more to how do I make this thing less Jemichael dependent, and just more of, a living organism [00:30:00] built off of a body. We’re not as a church, but truly, like, he’s the hand, she’s the foot, maybe I’m the mouth, but truly a real system and a real team.

That’s been a fun thing for me. And whenever I can find a new, easier way, I’m not opposed to investing. I will invest. I’ll invest in a coach, I invest in like, I got no problems parting with money. I’m like, you know what? It’s money. This is what it’s here for. It is a servant to get things done and to, answer problems. So I love blessing people and households and friends with it.

Casey Cease: So what do you see The Family Captain going from here? You’ve got employees, you’ve got a lot of people joining the coaching program and then staying on in your extended coaching program. Um, Where do you see the next few years? Where do you see The Family Captain?

John Michael Clark: Continuing to expand. Like We’re at such a place of, even after our first year, there was such a sigh of relief. Like, Okay, this is real. This is happening. And then after the second year is I think we’re stable. And now it seems as though it’s time to just build the influence. Just continue to reach more men.

Like, [00:31:00] How can we reach more brothers? So that’s where of course, you and I were strategizing talking about. What does it look like to get out into more places? Where, how can I go speak more? How do I get on more podcast episodes? How do we get this message out? How do we shine the lighthouse, shine that light farther and brighter? Because as you and I know, like, that’s what makes guys respond.

It can’t just be just another thing, but there’s something different there. And it’s okay if you hate it too. like, Hey, I hate that guy. Fair enough. At least, you know, but nobody’s going to come across The Family Captain and think it was vanilla. Nobody’s going to come across it and think it was beige. You’re going to come across and go, you have to reconcile with this. You have to reckon with it one way or another.

So we want to continue to do that to get the word out because this is where the fight is. So, As we continue to bring brothers on board, as we continue to coach, the fruit’s gonna expand, and the more we can get the word out about how Jesus and the Word of God have a perfect plan for marriage, for men being men, women being women, and walking out that [00:32:00] delight. You already see this.

I’m so encouraged because I see more and more ministries like this, even in some of the ways that aren’t as pure and perfect as they could be. I’m like, man, If they’re not against us, they’re for us at this point. This is wartime ministry. So when you’re at war, you’re like, you know what? You and I might not be allies in the future, but today we are. And if it’s helping people to walk closer to the scriptures and obedience to the word of God, then I’m cheering for him. But I see more and more hunger for this because people are so burned out on androgyny.

Christians are burned out on androgyny on husbands and wives. So everything’s the same. Everything’s equal. Well, You have equal value, is that what you meant? You have equal worth because I agree with that. Are you saying something different? I think you might have been saying something different. We’re not the same. And people are burned out on that because they realize it’s a lie.

And I think people are getting hungry to actually answer the question. We make fun of the world because they can’t answer, what is a woman? and we go

ha ha ha

ha And I ask the church what is woman and they go, so [00:33:00] You the church has to have clarity around what is a man. To me, a man is honest. What? A woman’s supposed to be honest too. Oh, yeah. What is a man for? What is a woman for? To be able to answer those things with clarity, so we can train our children.

Little boys are different from little girls. And it’s not just because of their plumbing, although it has great meaning, that’s not all there is to it. Back to your question, Casey, what now? Keep at it.

Keep preaching the truth, keep telling people the good news and letting them enjoy the fruit of it. Well,

Casey Cease: Man, I appreciate coming by show. Can you share with everybody where some places they can find you online?

John Michael Clark: Yeah. The Family Captain Podcast is a great place to enjoy things wherever you get your podcast. If you’re on Facebook, by all means, hop in the Facebook group, just The Family Captain. Or if you look that up, you’ll find that there’s a page on Facebook and there’s the Facebook group. And then of course our website, TheFamilyCaptain.com. You can go check things out there. You can book a call, an assessment call.

So we always do free assessment calls, 10, 15 minute call with one of our community specialists. One of our specialists, one of those guys that you heard mentioned [00:34:00] already. And they’ll just want to talk to you, bro. Hey, tell me about yourself. Where are you at? What’s going on? And they’ll probably just hook you up with free resources from there. If you want more support, they’ll talk to you about coaching and what that could look like. But,

uh, we got tons of free stuff to truly hook you up.

We’ve got tons of guys, by the way, who have changed their entire life.

I’m talking family cultures, destinies, and generations because of it from free stuff. So enjoy it and be blessed by it.

Casey Cease: John Michael, thanks so much for stopping by the show. And for all of you tuning in, whether you’re watching on YouTube or listening to one of your favorite podcasting outlets, really grateful for you to stop by the show, please feel free to like, and share and leave reviews along the way, and we’ll look forward to seeing you on our next episode.

That wraps up this episode of the KCC Show. Make sure to visit our website, thekccshow. com, where you can subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify, or via RSS, so you’ll never miss a show. While you’re at it, if you found value in this show, we’d appreciate a rating on iTunes, or if you’d [00:35:00] simply tell a friend about the show that would help us out too.

You might also want to check out our book for business consultation available at lucid books or double your sales strategy session at planify agency. Be sure to tune in next week for our next episode.