Welcome to Relentless Heart Ministry!
“Mine has mostly been a life of persevering through suffering. Even from the day I was born, my life appears to be an earthly representation of the relentless spiritual battle and enmity which God said in Genesis 3:15, that He would place between the seed of the great dragon, Satan, and the Seed of the LORD Jesus Christ.”
- Michael Chriswell
Since 2011, God has used this ministry to help hurting Christians find His help in their suffering, and to pursue fullness in Jesus Christ through the obedience which comes by faith. The Spirit’s focus in my life has been to first live, and then preach the cross-carrying, self-denying, world-hating, faith-walking narrow path, which is the only form of Christianity that leads to eternal life.
“Michael, my Dear Brother in Christ...I don’t know how I could ever express my feelings and gratitude to you in your Ministry! In my opinion you have been an anointed blessing to me and I am certain, a blessing to a multitude of souls you have impacted by your Ministry, bringing them to Salvation! You have poured yourself out like a drink offering in ways, that many may not understand and at the risk and expense of being so transparent, have endured evil judgment upon yourself by those that have no place in the company of true Christian believers! In honor of who you are in Christ, I say thank you and you are loved dearly!”
12 important things to know about this ministry
A Brief History of the Ministry
2009 - 2023
February 19 - 23, 2009
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? - Mark 8:34-37
The Ministry Seed Planted
Panama, Central America. If there is one picture that most closely captured the turning point in my life, from 19 years of worldly Christianity, to the cross carrying, obedient spiritual life which comes by faith, it is this photo, taken on February 21, 2009. While eating dinner on the Panama Canal, three ladies prophesied about God’s plans to impact millions of people through me, in a future ministry, but they also told me that I had a major area of weakness which God was going to want to see me changed in first.
Training in Spiritual Warfare
Just before leaving for the rainforest, I was in a crisis in my marriage to Keri. I walked into the woods crying out to God and He spoke a remarkable word right to my heart, letting me know that he was about to teach me about an invisible battle (spiritual warfare) that I cannot see with my eyes, and that I could not win with a positive mental attitude, which thus far had been my major life strategy. I had also recently started seeing all those 666’s, not yet realizing what they meant or how God was going to use them to teach me about spiritual warfare. Then, the night before I left, I had the most remarkable three part prophetic dream I have ever had, which has now been turned into drawings.
October 30, 2009
After 19 years of professing to be a Christian, I had what Oswald Chambers calls my “white funeral day”, where I gave a total surrender of my life, my will, my family, and my business, to God, no longer willing to be torn between my desire for “success” in this life, and my desire for more of Jesus Christ. This is when God would begin to strip me of everything I acquired in my life, which was outside of His will for me.
2010
“I haven’t been fully honest!”
On July 10, 2010, while packing up my stuff to move out, facing an imminent divorce, I was suddenly prompted to sit down and shoot a public video confession of my faith in Jesus Christ, to the two thousand business clients I had for my sales training. This video could be considered the first ministry video of what would ultimately become Relentless Heart. My first spouse, Keri, separated from me five days after this video and filed for divorce exactly 21 days after the video was shot, on July 30, 2010. (Please excuse my clothing and music as I was still in the early stages of being separated from my old worldly tastes.)
The Divorce Heard Round the World
On July 30, 2010, 21 days after I made the confession video above, my first wife Keri, filed for divorce. This was the start of what would become the world-famous 777 day divorce. By God’s Sovereign will, it was the death blow by which He would choose to bring about so much resurrection blessing and fruit. Every ounce of spiritual fruit that has come into my heart and into my ministry, is all rooted in the strange blessing of this excruciating divorce. I’ve never seen a better example of Romans 8:28 in my life. What my unfaithful spouse and Satan meant for evil, God meant for the blessing and the saving of many thousands!
2011
A Dangerous Leap of Faith
On February 11, 2011, right in the middle of a high-conflict divorce, the Lord asked me to fire my attorney and trust Him alone for my defense. He first used a complete stranger, Antonio Phillips, to get my attention and plant the seed of what would become the biggest and most dangerous leap of faith I had ever taken. This becomes the action of faith, which would forever separate my two “Christian” lives, where I once was always doing my will, and now I would be doing my Father’s will.
Intense “Bible School” Time
After the divorce began, God had me move to Huntsville, AL on May 27, 2011, where He isolated me from my old life and began training me for the ministry. I entered into a very intense three and a half year period of Bible study. I read and studied the Bible four to five hours ever single morning, perhaps only missing five days in a full year. The Holy Spirit taught me His Word and I began assembling thousands of verses into categories for application in my life and ministry.
The School of Prayer
There is no way to explain the importance of these “prayer” trails to the fruit produced by the Lord through this ministry, and to the relationship I enjoy with Him today! I averaged going to the prayer trail at least five days a week for nearly 10 years. Sometimes I spent 90 minutes in prayer with the Lord. I poured out my heart to Him and enjoyed the sweetest of fellowship with God. I would often say, as I was stepping on the trail, “I’m here Father, please meet me in this place.”
First Ministry Videos
Then, in September of 2011, while the divorce battle was increasing, I began making my first ministry videos, sharing my story up to that point, and what I was learning as I began walking with Jesus Christ in the obedience that comes by faith.
2012
Friends and Family Impact
In early 2012, I received a ministry call from the Lord, when He said to my spirit, “Tell the story of all that I have done in your life.” I then began the work on what would become “Trusting God in the Storm”, and the foundation for building this ministry. At the same time, my closest friends and family began sharing the dramatic impact my story and suffering was having on their own life and faith in God. It was becoming clear that my story was more for others, than it was for me.
Intense Spiritual Warfare
On July 30, 2010, 9 months to the day after my full surrender, my first spouse filed for what would become, the miraculous 777-day divorce story known as “Trusting God in the Storm”. Eleven years later, one of the most remarkable attacks of Satan in my ministry is still the two weeks it took to get the video to render on Dec 20, 2012. Had I not documented it all, most of it couldn’t be believed. This attack of Satan showed me how important this story was going to be to the Kingdom of God, and gave me visible proof that Father had indeed commanded me to tell it!
December 20, 2012
The story was finally finished on December 20, 2012, but never permanently made it onto YouTube until November 27, 2015. By 2018, it had been watched over one million times and tens of thousands of people emailed me from around the world to share the impact it had on their life and faith in God.
First Suicide Prevention
On December 19, 2012, Jeremiah Turner, from the band Unknown Lyric, devastated and hopeless from a parental alienation battle, decided to end his life. By the mercy of God, his first attempt was unsuccessful and before he could make his second attempt, the next day, on December 20, 2012, he woke up to text from me with a link to the Trusting God in the Storm Video. It was the very first day it published after those two weeks worth of Satanic attack! Jeremiah’s story showed me God was going to do extraordinary things through this story!
2013
A Risky Financial Leap of Faith
In 2010 I had started a small story telling business to help entrepreneurs and ministries tell their stories with video. On Jan 19, 2013, the Lord directed me to set down my secular work and to now trust Him entirely through prayer and faith to provide for my finances as I did the ministry work full-time. I was not to ever hint, or make my needs known to anyone but Him alone. I took the leap and ten years later, He has never once failed to provide for my finances!
The Day of Small Beginnings
In 2013, after finishing TGITS, I started creating short teaching videos between three and seven minutes long, as a way of encouraging the Christians who were reaching out to me in their own troubles. TGITS had not yet made it on to Youtube so these videos were only being watched by about 40 to 50 people for the first three years. Several times I was frustrated with the small beginnings, but I knew that I had to keep obeying God, regardless of the results I saw with my eyes. God was testing my motives and my obedience.
Local Ministry and Fruit
For the first three years of my ministry, most of it was done locally in Huntsville, AL where I was living at the time. I would share my testimony with almost anyone who came in my path, for more than a few minutes. I also became very aware of people who were hurting when I was out. Often the Lord would have me approach them and give them a card with a link to the TGITS story on it. The Holy Spirit set up some incredible divine encounters, a few of which can be seen in this video.
Real World Discipleship Lessons
October 2013 - After spending about 200 hours studying and compiling the actionable commands of Jesus, found in the four Gospels, I spent a full year taking ten men, through an intense weekly discipleship journey through His teachings. The Lord used this as a training ground to show me the principles of successful discipleship, and the many obstacles to it.
The John 7:17 Challenge Beginning
In November of 2013, still while discipling the men each week, I began sharing the teachings of Christ online with the practical life application insights I was learning from experience. Unknown to me at the time, all this work I was doing would become the foundation of what is today the John 7:17 Challenge discipleship training workbook, which thousands around the world have partaken of and been blessed by. Praises to God!
2014 - 2015
First Stage of Wilderness
The way I see it now, there are types of “wilderness”, and types of “promised lands” in our walks with the Lord, but truly the majority of the Christian life, here on earth is all one long Wilderness Journey. Our true “Promised Land” is in heaven. Nevertheless, regarding the “types”, I have had what appears to be three stages to my wilderness journey, with the first being from 2012 to 2014. These were very difficult days, filled with all sorts of attacks and troubles from Satan, all Sovereignly designed to crucify more of my my sinful nature (flesh), and to make more room for the reign of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ in my heart.
God Tests Me with Homelessness
On July 8, 2014, I became homeless for four months to the day, even though my parents had offered for me to move into a second home they purchased. I obeyed the Lord’s lead to not move in to that house, or any of my friends’ houses. I knew the Lord was commanding me to stay put and trust Him, even though it meant I was now homeless. I spent the first night in my car and the rest of the time I slept on the floor of a hundred year old office building. Every day I worked on writing the John 7:17 Challenge.
“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” - Mat 8:20
The John 7:17 Challenge
Remarkably, when I was finished with the first version of the Challenge, the Lord graciously allowed me to move into my parent’s second home. He had not only tested me with the homelessness, and not only allowed me to identify personally with Christ’s homelessness, but He clearly isolated me and gave me a tremendous amount of time and focus, in which to complete this incredible project. I remember knowing the moment it arrived in my hand, that the blessed Lord and Holy Spirit took this much, much further than I could have ever done. Looking back on this project, I can see so clearly what it means only to be the instrument, which He uses.
October 22, 2014
The first 100 copies of the John 7:17 Challenge arrived and suddenly it seemed that my sufferings, while homeless, were no longer worth comparing with the future glory that was now going to be revealed through this completed discipleship work. It was an extraordinary blessing to hold my first copy in my hands, and to now see that thousands around the world have held a copy in their hands, it is just such a beautiful reminder that God wastes NONE of our pain, and never misses and opportunity to turn death into resurrection life. (Romans 8:18).
First Precisely Time Disaster Prediction (COVID-19)
On February 26, 2015, I posted this video called “Finding God’s Peace in the Storm” on YT. In the video, I say “America’s days are numbered.” Five years to the day later, on February 25, 2020 at 4:30pm, COVID-19 was announced, by the CDC, as a Pandemic in the US. Most news outlets announced it to the US the next day on the 26th. This becomes the first of four prophetic messages or warnings in my recordings, which are then connected to COVID-19 or another disaster, with the precise timing that only God can do.
2016
My 2nd Marriage
Israel’s unfaithfulness did not nullify all the miraculous works of God, which He did in getting them out of Egypt, through the Wilderness, and into the Promised Land. And neither does my second wife’s apostasy nullify the amazing power and faithfulness of God we saw when He did the impossible to put us together. This was a story of genuine faith, empowered by God's grace, to overcome 36 significant obstacles which resulted in the "impossible" becoming POSSIBLE! We married in Hyderabad India on March 24, 2016 and we left to come live in the US, nine months later to the day, on Dec 24, 2016.
Prophetic Warning from India
While living in Hyderabad, India, I was moved to warn people that things were going to soon get much worse in the world and time was running out to take their relationship with God seriously. I mention an increase in mass shootings and storms and disasters. The largest mass shooting on US soil occurred one year to the day after I made this message, and the largest recorded storm season happened the following year in 2017.
Astonishing Suicide Preventions
Since TGITS came out back in 2012, God had been pleased to use the ministry to prevent a few suicides in remarkable ways. None were more astonishing than the story of Kim John Curtis, on December 31, 2016.
Kim sent me the picture of the .357 magnum which he had put to his head and then pulled the trigger. What happened when the gun went off is just astonishing.