David:

[0:00] Well, today I'm super excited to have with me Malayne Butler. She operates the Eden House, teaches entrepreneurial classes and Bible studies. She's had a successful business found in New Age beliefs, but found emptiness up at the top there. And that emptiness can only be filled with Jesus. And so, interestingly enough, she gave her life to Jesus a little over a year ago, and her journey has been quite the ride since. So there's been a lot of cool things that God's been teaching her, and she is a good example of what it means to truly redeem your business, buy it back, and use it again for the glory of God. So, Malayne, welcome to Redeeming Business Today podcast. Great to have you on the show.

Malaine:

[0:42] I'm so happy to be here and glorify God and share my testimony of the wonderful things that He's done for me and how He truly has redeemed my business and turned it all around. So excited to share more and get into it.

David:

[0:58] Yes, very good. We've met before, and it's a very exciting journey. Very good. So, Malene, before we start, what is one way you believe we can honor God in our business that others may not know about?

Malaine:

[1:14] That's such a great question. I feel like there's so many ways that we can honor God in our business, but something that I do so often, if not daily is surrendering the business at the altar. You know, I say, heavenly father, it's not my business. It's not my ministry. It's yours. So I leave it at the altar, take whatever you need to take off of this.

Malaine:

[1:41] Break whatever needs breaking, illuminate the next step for me. And also I'm willing that if tomorrow he says, okay.

Malaine:

[1:50] I don't want you doing this anymore. I have to be okay with that because it's not my business. And that's a real 180 from my life prior to surrendering to the Lord, where it was my empire and my business and my money and my this and my that, where now it's like, no, it's his. I'm just simply stewarding it. And if tomorrow he says that I'm going to steward something else, I trust him. So I think that, you know, a lot of people would be really served to surrender everything afresh at least weekly, if not daily and say, look, your way, have your way with my business. And, and we'll be okay that maybe the business needs to change, or maybe it's a new business that needs to be created and birthed through you, knowing that the Lord's always, he's never going to leave nor forsake you, but it might be a change that's in the midst. And if we're not surrendering it, we could easily get caught up doing our own self-will. And as we know, any works, you know, not connected to the vine or outside of him are dead works. And I think a lot of business owners that I've talked to over the past year, that happens a lot of times where they start, the Lord gave them an idea, they execute it, and they're off and running, but then they start implementing things that the Lord never told them to implement or never told them to add on. And they're like, why is this not working? Why is this not successful?

Malaine:

[3:15] Like the Lord told me this. He gave me this. And it could be a number of things. But one of the things that a lot of times it is, is that you took the idea, but then started executing it outside of his counsel and advice.

David:

[3:29] Sure. Yeah, that reminds me of something my mom used to say to all her, when she would counsel and talk to teenagers about worry and anxiety, she's like, open hand, put it in your open hand and say, God, this is yours. And she goes, don't take it back. You got to put it there and quit taking it back and he can take it away or put something different in there. Yeah, very good. Just say, hey, this is yours. Take it, use it. And yeah, it's a daily thing. Very good.

David:

[3:57] So go ahead and take three to four minutes and tell us a broad brushstroke of your journey over this past year, where you were and to where you are today. And then we'll ask some more detailed questions about your journey.

Malaine:

[4:10] Yeah, yeah, for sure. I will do my best to summarize this in a very concise manner. I've had the honor of sharing my testimony in a couple of spaces, including my church. And it's always like, okay, can you summarize this? in like a paragraph or like a three minute, um, you know, segment. And I'm like, okay, we'll do my best. Um, but the long of the short is I grew up Christian, um, in a Christian family, but very cultural Christian. So, uh, we were Catholic and we went to church on the holidays. There was a period of time that we were going quite often, but there was no, um, spirit in the church. It was very religious. It was very just going through the motion. I went to Catholicism school in the evening. I went to Bible school or Bible camps in the summertime, but there was, it was religion. So there was no relationship with the Lord. There was no talking to the Lord, seeking his counsel, inquiring of him. And for me, the Bible seemed like this old dusty book that just had stories in it that didn't relate or pertain to me.

Malaine:

[5:18] And so that's a really important and peace, because of that, because there was no spirit of God, there was no relationship with the Lord. I was really looking for that in all the wrong places. I was seeking the power of the Holy Spirit in all the wrong places. I was looking for a relationship with Jesus in all the wrong places. Now, if you were to ask me 10 years ago, I wouldn't have said that I was looking for a relationship with Jesus, but in hindsight, that's what I was craving. That's what I was looking for because that relationship with him is the only thing that's going to fulfill and satisfy you. Knowing the plans that he has for you and executing those plans are the only plans that are going to, you know, truly satiate and fulfill you. So I'm looking outside for validation, for love, for all the things that he'll give me for identity. And, and that led me into the new age.

Malaine:

[6:07] And quite deeply into the new age. I lived in Manhattan at the time when I first got into the new age. And if anyone listening in has lived in Manhattan, gone to Manhattan, been there for a day or a week, you'll know that it is literally a cesspool of all of the new age and satanic and like paganistic rituals that have been around since the beginning of time.

Malaine:

[6:28] And so I got heavily involved in that. And I really felt that I was doing good work. I felt that I was doing work of God. I thought that I had a relationship with God. I thought I was hearing from God. Unfortunately, I was hearing from familiar spirits and other spirits that were not the Holy Spirit. And that led me further and further astray because as I've come to find out

Malaine:

[6:53] that while God has a destiny and game plan for you, so does the enemy. And so I was on track with the enemy's game plan and life was for me. Now, nothing is too far gone. No one is ever too far gone for God to redeem them and completely transform and use everything the enemy wanted to take, to kill, to steal, to destroy from your life and to use it for your good and his glory. And that's exactly how my story started to unfold. So in 2023, my daughter was about six months old when we hired a nanny who was Christian and she came into our home and basically played gospel music all the live long day. And I thought, okay, well, this music isn't that bad. Like it's actually quite nice, but I didn't realize that she was actually shifting the atmosphere in the home. And so she's playing that all the time. She's constantly, you know, talking to me about scripture and this and that, but not in a forceful way. But she was always weaving it in. Oh, you know, well, God says or God's word says or whatever.

Malaine:

[7:56] And we had gone away together for a work trip where I was teaching and hosting a retreat. And she was there the whole time watching my daughter. And we were staying up late a few nights, and we really started to get into these conversations. Like, well, I would say to her, well, what does it say in the Bible? And she really noticed this, like, heap of interest in Scripture and the Word and wanting to know, well, what does God say about these times that are unfolding right now? Like, I really started to get more curious, yeah? And along that whole year, I was also watching so many people in the new age

Malaine:

[8:34] give their life to the Lord. And I thought, why are they leaving these million dollar successful businesses for Jesus? Like what's going on? And I'd have these conversations with other new age people, like what's happening? And they're like, oh, don't worry about it, Malayne. You know, we're on the right track. Jesus said this or whatever we had. It's not that I didn't love Jesus. It's not that I didn't believe in Jesus. us. It's that I didn't know God's word. I didn't know the Bible. I was very, very deceived. So I was like, I love Jesus. Like, I don't understand why people are like just giving this all up. Like Jesus loves me too.

Malaine:

[9:09] Super deceived. So I'm watching all these people give up their businesses in the background, having these conversations with the nanny. One of my uncles does deliverance missionary work all over the world. I went to one of his workshops and that really was an eye opener for me. And I think the real tipping point was at the end of the year, I was at this moment where we were driving from Sedona to Denver and at, on our way on that trip, there was a snowstorm, a blizzard that hit. And we were at the top of a mountain and the car started to kind of skirt off the road. And that was really scary. I mean, I had my daughter in the car and right. I was like, I don't want to die today. I'm way too young. And like, I have my daughter in here. And which is interesting because my daughter's name is Ava and Ava in Hebrew means life. And she really had a list that brought things back to life for us. And, and so in that moment, I started praying and I said, Jesus, like, if you help me, I'll give my life to you. Now I was making this negotiation in my mind.

Malaine:

[10:17] I was like, you help us. You're going to send us a pickle. I will give my life to you.

Malaine:

[10:23] And the nanny was also praying for.

Malaine:

[10:26] Shortly after a man appeared out of nowhere, literally helped us. We were able to get to our destination safely. And the whole journey for the next like 10 hours, I was deep in a conversation with the Lord in my mind. I wasn't saying it out loud, but I was deep in this dialogue with him in my mind. Like I'll give you, okay, well, what about this? And what about that? And my biggest fear, quite honestly, was my business. Like how do I let go of this business that I've built that is making all of this money.

Malaine:

[10:56] What do I do? Like, what do I say to the people? Like, how does this unravel? How does this work? And that was the piece, the last piece that really was kind of holding me back and delaying the process because I just couldn't wrap my brain around how to surrender this business to him because that was really the biggest piece that had to go that I was deceived in.

Malaine:

[11:18] And so I said, okay, well, I'll give it all to you once I get home. Let me just get through this trip and then I'll do everything when I get home. And when I got home, I would love to say that I surrendered, but I didn't. And things in my house started to really escalate. The tension between my husband and I and things that were playing up with my children. My children were saying things that were clearly not of God, particularly one of my sons was saying that he didn't want to live anymore. And I just thought there's a spiritual war going on. There's like this awareness that we were on the wrong team and we're in this spiritual war, this spiritual battle, and we're not protected.

Malaine:

[11:59] And that awareness coming in paired with the Lord just plaguing my thoughts day and night to reach out to a certain person who I knew was Christian. And I couldn't stop thinking about her. Like I'd wake up and it was like, reach out to her, reach out to her, reach out to her. Like all day I'd be on a call. And in the back of my mind, it's like, when are you going to reach out to her? When are you going to reach out to her? And I knew that once I did, then that was it. Then I was fully surrendered because, she had also, uh, walked away from her new age business that was making, what, more, much more than me, multiple, multiple, multiple millions, like $30 million a year kind of thing. And she walked away from it and gave her life to the Lord. So I knew that if I reached out to her, then that was done. And so I, you know, I pick up my phone, I quickly voice note her and just kind of throw the phone.

Malaine:

[12:48] And, um, that moment she embraced me with open arms, supported me,

Malaine:

[12:53] gave me such godly wisdom and counsel around next steps and what to do. And that was really the, I was off to the races and the Lord just started to take over. And, you know, to just finish up, I gave my life to him and I had a radical salvation and encounter with the Lord at church when they anointed and prayed over me. Scales literally fell off my eyes. I started to see the world completely different. And at that moment I said, all right, I'm yours. Just tell me what to do. I have no idea what to do. I didn't realize that when you surrender to Jesus, that's what's supposed to happen. Like you're meant to give it all in. You're meant to push it all to the front and have everything, have your way. And I literally had to hang on his cloak minute to minute, hour to hour on decision-making around the business because I didn't know how I didn't know what to do. So I was like, well, you've brought me this far. I'm all in show me. And I'll never forget. I had this visual of this massive cruise liner ship that was kind of slowly turning.

Malaine:

[13:58] And he said to me, Malayne, if this ship turns fast, everyone falls off. But if this ship turns slow, people stay on. And those that want to get off will hop off. I didn't come to save you. I came to save them. And I'm like, whoa, here I am making it all about me. Yes, I was the beneficiary of being saved. I praised the Lord. but also he had, he had, I said, wow, your plans are so awesome. I could never have done that. I wouldn't know. He's like, well, my ways are not your ways. Right. And so in that process, about 12 people also gave their life to the Lord in that steering process. And then that impacted husbands and families and children and aunts and uncles

Malaine:

[14:47] and other mothers and fathers. And I mean, it was just like this ripple ricochet of salvation that started to happen all because of that one decision to listen to him and to be obedient to those next steps. And, and, and that's really how he's redeemed my business is just hanging onto his cloak, asking for the next step, inquiring what the next step is and not taking action until that comes through, which is probably the hardest, hardest thing to do, especially for entrepreneurs to wait on the Lord. but it's worth it.

David:

[15:21] Yes. Very good. I like your illustration about the boat, about turning quick or turning slow, because you had mentioned about you have these coaching clients or businesses that you teach, but the content has completely changed. And so it was like, what do you do now? You just dump them with your hand and the money back, say, I can't do this anymore? Or do you do something else? And explain just really briefly what you did then with those customers that you really can't continue to teach a new age philosophy anymore. You got to teach something else. What did you do with those?

Malaine:

[15:54] Yeah. So it was really difficult waking up. I felt like I was in this den of snakes and, not really knowing what to teach. And that was the thing. It's like, well, what do I even teach? Like, what do I get on? I have to teach tomorrow. What is it that I teach? And in the beginning, he really brought me through this like step-by-step process. I no longer was teaching anything about new age, but he really was so detailed on the languaging that I was using to help bridge the gap between some people that were in new age to coming to Jesus without just saying, Jesus is the way, the truth, the light, and this is it. And this is, this is what you need to do. Now that's what I wanted to do. Like I'm all in for Jesus. And I just wanted to shut things down. He's like, no, no, no. And so what I started to do was, um, I believe it was in February of last year that I run this 30 day prayer group. And every day, um, I would give like a tool or a tip to praying. And I would say, I'm going to pray to Jesus. I'm going to pray to my heavenly father in the name of Jesus.

Malaine:

[16:56] You can pray however you want to pray. There's no judgment, but this is how I'm going to pray. And so I'm dripping on them for 30 days, praying and using Jesus, but also saying, if it doesn't feel good for you, adjust it accordingly. And that for so many people helped them jump over. So many people said to me that that month supported me in the surrender because now you went from, you didn't just go like from one extreme to the next. There was a soft bridge and it really invited me like, well, what do I want to call it? Well, wait, do I have a relationship with God? Well, wait, she keeps saying, Jesus, what's going on with her? The other piece too, was that my demeanor and the way I spoke completely changed. And so I would, I wouldn't characterize myself as unloving or ungenerous or unkind. I was, I was always those things, but I was also very self-seeking and very self-centered and, And I really cursed a lot. And so, so many people immediately saw that shift where I went from cursing every other word to not cursing at all.

David:

[18:04] People literally, they literally messaged me. I can't see you as doing that, but that's because I don't know you from a year ago.

Malaine:

[18:11] Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. It's so wild. It's so wild. But people literally were like, what happened? Like, what's going on? Why? And what do you mean what happened? You're not cursing anymore. Oh, I gave my life to Jesus. And so these side conversations start happening because they're noticing the tangible shift. They're seeing that there's a shift that has occurred. What's happening? I want that. So there's these side conversations going on. And then he's having me slowly turn the boat. It took about two months for people to pick up that the boat has been turning. And in that in that turn I'm like blown away that it took that long for some people to recognize that that it you know the turn was happening and in that turn um you know people would come to me and say hey I'm just I'm not really loving the new shift would it be okay if I left and I said sure and I would just let people break their contracts left right and center and And that was it. And, you know, people leave. We'd leave on good terms. We would negotiate what that would look like. And people were really super kind. There were a few people that weren't so kind. But for the most part, most people were really loving, really kind about the chef. They're like, hey, love the direction. Not for me. And I'm like, yep, that's cool. And so that's what started to happen. And then new people started coming in, you know. So it was like this slow transition. And I think on the overall, it took about...

Malaine:

[19:41] It took about six months for the transition to like fully happen where everyone had left and all the new people were in. And the more that happened, the bolder I was getting at proclaiming the good news, at sharing the word. And in the meantime, because I was not working as much as I normally did, I was just in the word all the live long day. It was like I was on this accelerated path of the school of.

Malaine:

[20:08] You know, like learning. And he was just embedding scripture into me and just embedding lessons and revelations into me because a lot of people at that time, like six months in, were like, how do you, how do you know so much scripture? I'm like, I'm just in the word all day. Like I have nothing else. I only have him. So I need to study up on this. And I was led to taking courses with some pastors who I met along the journey who have been really pivotal in, in that as well. So the, the first step was really that, that bridge between new age and Jesus. And then the second step was, um, which I've never like broken down the steps,

Malaine:

[20:45] but now that I'm talking to you, I'm like, okay, well, these are the steps. And the second step was, um, really just not holding anything tightly. So if anyone had contracts and wanted to leave, they were welcome to leave. Whoever wanted to say was welcome to stay. And then as my new courses really started to come to life that were based on the word of God, as those started to come to life, then I would have conversations with people like, Hey, you can see that this has really taken a shift. I don't know if this is going to suit you anymore. You get to decide if you want to stay or leave totally up to you. Um, and a lot of people stayed and a lot of people left, you know, it was kind of like a split and, and those that left, you know, they got whatever they paid for. And then that was that. But immediately when I walked out of that church that day, I went directly to my website and shut everything down.

Malaine:

[21:36] So immediately no, no one knew could come in. So now it was just like, okay, we got to, um, manage Lord, you need to help me in who we have, but we're not adding anyone new into the community or the mix until we sort the situation out. So that was immediately shut down. I immediately started wiping material offline, closing down my YouTube, wiping my YouTube, expunging things to the best of my ability. You know, there's still trainings that are out there or interviews that I had back in the day where people can find, but to the best of my ability, I've expunged a lot of stuff.

David:

[22:13] Yep. Yeah. So way at the beginning, you would ask the question to yourself,

David:

[22:18] I know these people who turn to Jesus, how could they leave all that business and money to follow him? Now that's happened to you. Is it worth it?

Malaine:

[22:29] It's a hundred percent worth it. It's a hundred percent worth it. But here's what I want to say. It's not going to be easy. There's going to be challenges. And I think that that's an important thing to note because when challenges arise or when, you know, conflict arises, or there's just, you're like, oh, like you need to know that you made the right choice, that you made the right decision. You need to know that if only, this is what I say all the time, if only eternal life was the gift of surrendering to the Lord, that alone is enough.

David:

[23:03] Yeah, that's worth it.

Malaine:

[23:04] But on top of that, that alone is worth it. My family is saved. My husband is saved. We have eternal life. That alone, worth it. Done. But then on top of it, Jesus is like, hey, no, I have plans for you. There's more.

David:

[23:20] I want to pass for you. There's more. But there's more, yes.

Malaine:

[23:22] But there's more, you know? But I think that there's this.

Malaine:

[23:29] That conception that or idea that when you surrender to Jesus, everything gets better and everything's amazing.

Malaine:

[23:36] And that's not always true. You know, there's a lot of teachers that will say like, you know, when you surrender to Jesus and you were just like completely like having all these miracles pop off left, right and center and like nothing bad was happening. I'm like, that wasn't my story. I'm like, who has my story? That was not my story. There were miracles happening, happening. There was restoration happening. And there was so much death to self happening. The level of pride that I had that I didn't realize I had was at times felt humiliating when it was being ripped off of me, felt painful when it was being ripped off of me, felt soul crushing when it was, when it was being ripped off of me. And the Lord is, you know, such a gentleman. Like our heavenly father is such a gentleman. So he did it in phases and stages with me. So I would say that it is 1 billion percent worth it. But I think as a caveat to know that surrendering to Jesus doesn't mean that there's now this cural elixir that you're never going to suffer again. In fact, you are going to suffer. He suffered. We're going to suffer. That's your good news. That's a blessing if you're suffering. You know, in the first month, I because of proclaiming that I surrendered to him and and starting to share that with everyone I was mocked I was ridiculed I lost friends I went through punishment I went through people slandering my name and every time that happened I was like.

David:

[25:05] Thank you god this is amazing

Malaine:

[25:07] Because I knew it was a blessing I was like I'm I'm grateful that I get to partake in a like a like a little minute sliver of what it might have been like for you. I know it doesn't even touch the ends, but I'm grateful and what a blessing. And my navigation of the business imploding and turning, And all the people that were ridiculing and mocking, et cetera, the way I walked through it, because the Lord was with me, was I was at such peace. Like, I never had a meltdown about it. I just was at such peace. And my husband looked at me one night at the dinner table and said, what's going on with you? Like, why are you not melting down? You would have been like losing your mind when people, because I'd sit down and go, oh yeah, another client left today. And he's like, why are you not losing it? I'm like, because he's got us.

David:

[26:01] Jesus has changed me. Absolutely.

Malaine:

[26:04] Yes.

David:

[26:05] So yeah, worth it. That's neat. That's been a very neat testimony in all the things you've done. And so we are going to have to wrap up. But you also run the Eden House, right? Yeah. And so there's going to be different links and stuff to how to get more information from Malene in the show notes. So make sure to check that out. But before we close, just one real quick, you've talked about a lot of things.

Malaine:

[26:31] Yeah.

David:

[26:31] Is there one thing you want, if there's one thing you want our audience to remember, what would it be?

Malaine:

[26:37] What would it be? You know, coming out of the new age, we were always seeking the next modality or healing device. We were always seeking outside of ourselves for the answer. And Jesus literally is the answer, the solution to everything you've been searching for. So whether you've surrendered to him or not yet, or maybe you have surrendered to him, but you're still doing it in your own way, in your own will, in your own accord, I promise you when you lay it all down, he will give you the blueprint, the map, the next steps, and he will not only give it to you, but he's going to hold your hand and walk you through it. You'll never, ever have to do any of this alone.

David:

[27:28] And that's very neat. That resonates with a few of the guests I've had on when they gave their business to God. They're basically like, I don't know what to do, just show them what to do. And step-by-step, God has led them. So it's very neat confirmation that you're experiencing the same thing that everybody else is going through. Well, thank you, Malene. very much for your time and encouragement today. And friends, that's all we have for now. Trust you have been inspired to redeem your business, buy it back, and use it for the glory of God. And remember that time, time has limits and you can't do everything, so choose wisely.