BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

“I now had something I loved as much as bodybuilding. I loved saving souls. I was bold on airplanes. I was bold in my private life. I was bold at World Gym. I learned how to walk and live by faith.” Whatever John heard Kenneth Copeland say, he implemented. One day he told Zalika, “Babe, we’ve got to become the man! We don’t want to be the kind of man that has needs. We want to be the man who meets needs. The kind of man who gives away houses and cars.” Although John and Zalika haven’t given away a house yet, they’ve given away four cars. One day the Lord pointed out a stranger to John, and told him to give the man a car. When he handed the man the keys, the man fell to the ground, sobbing. His ex-wife had moved far east of L.A. In order to see his daughter, they met halfway. When his car had died, his ex-wife refused to drive the entire distance. As a result, he hadn’t seen his daughter in three months. Mr. America Is Back! In the fall of 2011, John stood in a supermarket, opened a bodybuilding magazine, and was surprised at what he saw. The Mr. America competition was back! Mr. America was the oldest bodybuilding contest in history. Started in 1939, it was shut down in the late 1990s. It had been dormant for years until a man bought the rights to the title, John explained. He’d decided to operate it under the Natural Bodybuilding organization. Standing in the supermarket aisle, John prayed, “God, You know this has been on my heart my entire life!” God replied, 'You’re wrong about that. I put it on your heart before time began.' “Father, I need Your permission to do this.” 'You have the green light.' John decided to keep it to himself until he prayed it through in tongues. While praying, the Lord directed him to only share it with the person who would help him train. He didn’t even tell Zalika. For the next seven months, John unleashed everything he had. The whole experience was rough, but he kept a smile on his face every day, in spite of the fact that he was training with great intensity and eating less than their cat. A month prior to the competition, God gave John the green light to tell Zalika. She was thrilled and booked tickets for them to fly to Secaucus, N.J., for the competition. As time for the competition drew near, John noticed that his body was retaining water. In an effort to flush his system, he drank too much water and retained more fluid. As a consequence, he didn’t eat or drink much in the last couple of days before the competition. On the day of the competition, John stood ready to receive the title of Mr. America. When the winners were announced, John’s heart sank as the announcer proclaimed, “The title of Light Heavyweight Mr. America goes to…John Heart!” He had won the title in his class, but not the overall title of Mr. America. The man standing next to John had won by one vote. Leaving the airport the next day, John stepped outside to see a limousine waiting for him. The driver stood holding a sign with his name on it, followed by the words “Mr. America.” John walked past the limo, refusing to get in. “I wouldn’t get in the limo because I wasn’t Mr. America,” John admits. “I won my class, but that isn’t the same as winning the overall title. I was so crushed that I wept that night. “My phone blew up with calls from friends and family congratulating me on being Mr. America. I hated to hear it because I didn’t have the title. Part of the reason I was so upset was that I hadn’t listened to the full counsel of God. Toward the end, I’d done my own thing, and it cost me the title. I repented to God. 14 : BVOV

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