Latest / Reborn w/ Antonio Boutros / From Rock Bottom to Rebirth: My Journey in Christ

Transcript

From Rock Bottom to Rebirth: My Journey in Christ · Reborn w/ Antonio Boutros

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another episode of the Reborn Podcast of Tony Buchos.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Tony, your host, and today we're diving into a very personal story.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: My baptism journey.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't just about a single event.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's about transformation, overcoming adversity, and the power of faith.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're seeking spiritual insight, personal growth, or just an inspiring story, this episode is for growing up life through some tough battles my way.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Depression, anxiety, and obesity were my shadows.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Following me into every corner of existence, these challenges persistent and dawning shape my early years.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: But as we know, every story of darkness also holds a potential for light.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: For those of you who don't know, I'm gonna go through my journey a little bit right now just so you can have some more context.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: In third grade, I moved from an inner city school, smaller school.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, it wasn't the greatest school uh academically, but I had friends, I was happy, everything was great.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I was overperforming.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: The school, unfortunately, was underperforming academically.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so what my parents did is they made a sacrifice.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: They took me from a school where I was overperforming, and the school was underperforming.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: They moved me to a school that was overperforming, uh, actually, one of the best schools in the nation.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, that was Carmel, the the Carmel Clay Schools district.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: And what happened overnight was you would have thought that someone like me who excelled in a in an opportunity that wasn't the best would have thrived.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: But that's actually not what happened.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, what ended up happening was was I went overnight from a straight A student to a C D and F student.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: I had gone from all these friends to being an outsider, to being a loner, and I had no relationships.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that led to depression, anxiety, uh, which also then led to me becoming obese.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: And uh through that time, I found myself wanting power or fame or whatever you want to call it.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: I found myself very drawn towards the popular kids.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and I wanted to be like them.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so my whole childhood was not lived for me, it was lived for them.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: It was lived to be one of them, and that never happened.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: So again, caused depression, anxiety, etc.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the times after school, when I would come home, I think like three or four o'clock, I would come home, I would go to bed, sometimes I would wake up at 10, go eat, go back to bed, sometimes I would sleep through it at night, wake up the next morning, and go back to school and repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: I spent almost as much time, if not more time, in therapy growing up than I did in school.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so when I tell you, hey, I am passionate about mental health, tell me what's going on because I genuinely want to help you.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's why.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, you know, this episode's only been three minutes.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot more we can go through, but that's the gist of it.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I will go through one last thing though before we move on to the next part.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh between November and December of 2022, I ended up uh uh going to inpatient therapy.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's how bad it got.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: I was suicidal, I had lugged myself in the room, um, you know, I was cursing everyone out, and things were not good.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and actually, this was 2021, I apologize.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: 2021, uh, November, December.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, like the week after uh Thanksgiving, like a few days after, right?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: I went to inpatient for one week, and I am grateful that I did.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: It was the most boring part of my life ever, ever.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we couldn't even wear shoes, we were in gowns, we were doing therapy all day.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Boring, right?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: But what it taught me was to appreciate the little things in life.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: I remember one day when we were working on whatever worksheets we were working on, they had started playing music.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: They started playing a little radio, and I had not heard anything from the outside world that week.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so I don't know if it was Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, or what, but whatever the song was, the song is important.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: What's important is that it showed me the little things in life and to appreciate them.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: The songs, the the the birds outside, the sun, the grass, you know, all the little things of life that we take for granted.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, even waking up is not something that happens to everyone every day.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: So after that, uh I ended up dropping out of high school, ended up getting kicked out of my parents' house uh with like a hundred dollars in my bank.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, had to sell the car I had at the time.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh a couple months later, I had, you know, I had gotten in a true rental.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: A couple months later, I uh I got evicted because I couldn't pay rent.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um I had gotten scammed a couple times on a couple businesses I was trying to start.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then in May 2022 is uh really when the when the turning point came.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: And uh that's when I actually started going to the gym for the first time consistently, like every day.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: But not only that, I also started whenever when I went to the gym, I was talking to everyone, which was something that I had learned not to do in the past just because of you know my previous experiences.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: I had social anxiety, right?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: I talked to no one.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: And um I don't know, it was just something like snapped, something, something switched entirely.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: I was talking to everybody and having good conversations.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I actually was not Christian at the time.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: I I didn't become a Christian until I think it was October uh 2023, so just last year, not even a year yet.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: And um, but that's a turning point.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I genuinely feel that God uh was with me, even though I uh I I was not with him yet.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I maybe I had uh opened the door a little bit, was I don't want to be a part of a hypocrisy, because what my feeling was was that there's lots of Christians that, especially my age, uh I was probably 19 at the time.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: So especially my age, there's probably lots of Christians who uh they go to church, they put under Sunday best, Sunday morning, Saturday night, Friday night, they're out there partying, getting drunk, sleeping around, and I didn't want to be a part of that.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: But I I I do feel like that partially I was somewhat Christian.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: I just didn't want to be an unfaithful Christian in a sense.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember talking to a couple friends at the time that were pivotal, powerful for me at the time.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And those two names were Nathan Baethea Martinez and uh Donovan Green.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: They both spoke into me, they both had very powerful words, very powerful conviction.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll be honest, a lot I think when I first spoke with them, some of it was like, they they gotta be messing around, man.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like this conviction is crazy.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: They have to be joking.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, but it but it still felt powerful.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like I could, I could see, like I could feel their their energy, their conviction, their motivation, uh, their love for God, right?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I at that at the time I thought it was cringy, and now I've become one of those people, right?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so they were pivotal in my journey.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: So shout out Nathan, shout out Donovan, um, you know, Ethan, uh Jamar, uh uh uh Nathaniel, Pastor Ken, Pastor Bates, all these amazing, amazing, amazing people, Greg Enus, um, who are pivotal.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: And and there's so many more that I did not name.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: So if I didn't name you, absolutely no disrespect whatsoever.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: You have 100% been pivotal in my journey.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I really appreciate all of you guys.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, but a turning point came when I realized that I couldn't do this alone.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: I needed help beyond what was visible or tangible.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: My journey to God wasn't about running from my problems, but rather walking towards a solution that held promise of peace and purpose.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'll share how stepping into faith began reshaping my mindset and my heart.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: And again, even though I thought it was cringy, you know, one of one of the things I always hear about people coming to God is I came to God when I was at my rock bottom, is what I always hear.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: And looking back, reflecting, I uh I wasn't necessarily at my rock bottom, that was probably a few months earlier, but I still wasn't nearly where I wanted to be.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I also was at my rock bottom, funny enough, physically, right?
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so I actually had gotten a concussion.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: First time ever boxing sparring, uh light sparring, um, first time, never should have gotten injured.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: I got uh I got a concussion, I was better for two weeks.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Towards the end of that two weeks, I downloaded it, and then I believe this was a Thursday.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh obviously I'd been sleeping a lot, but I downloaded a Bible app.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: I started going through their daily Bible verse uh and you know, prayers and everything that they have.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um and highly recommend that for any new Christians or you know, if you've been faithful for 50 years, 100 years, I recommend that to anyone.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then that next weekend I went back to my church.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: I went to Northview, uh, over here in Carmel, Carmel, Indiana.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, would love to connect with anyone who goes there as well.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and that was that was the beginning.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: And because of Donovan, actually, I got introduced to a lot of different men's groups, uh, which lots of the names that I just mentioned are from uh one of those specific men's groups that I do go to, which has just been extremely powerful.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now uh this is this part's gonna make me very, very excited because this third part, segment three to baptism, a new birth.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: My birthday is September 11, 2023, uh, not 2023, 2003.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: And which is weird because I'm Middle Eastern and everyone knows what happened on September 11, but my day of rebirth is April 7th.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: April 7th marked just not just a calendar day, but the beginning of a new chapter.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: My baptism was more than a ritual, it was a declaration of freedom from past afflictions and a commitment to a new path guided by God.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'll take you through that day.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: From the first dip into water to the overwhelming sense of renewal that followed.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: So another one of the mentors who've been pivotal in my journey, Ethan Fernauber, Ethan F, is actually the one who baptized me.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: And we had actually been talking about it for uh a couple months prior.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we have a group that meets every month uh at at a local park, um, and there's a river, and you know, it was freezing cold.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, hey, I am down to get baptized, but not in there.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna get hypothermia.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we had been talking about it, and uh, I think actually the week before, so you know, April 4th, April 5th, whatever, I had been uh not feeling so great, but then God put this conviction on my heart that hey now is the time.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so because I knew Ethan's heart, because I knew um that he, you know, now we had previously spoken about it, uh, I I messaged Ethan, I think this was on a Friday, Friday evening, and I said, Hey, Ethan, can I uh can I get baptized on Sunday?
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: And uh then actually I kind of uh I don't I don't know if I want to call it a devil or just self-doubt or what, but uh he said uh he said yes.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um I and he sent me a bunch of verses which were kind of very, very, very refreshing to read.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them I could physically feel my body physically like they were difficult to read because they were uh related to me so much.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: And um I felt me, I was kind of after he said yes, I was kind of going back a little bit, but ultimately God put it on my heart that hey, this is you know, now is your time.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so that Sunday I went to a new church, a church I've actually never been to before, uh, with both Ethan and another brother of mine who's been extremely, extremely pivotal, super, super powerful guy, uh in love with the cross uh Lord Um John Gammon.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: And man, he uh they both uh were there for me that day.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: We went out to we went out and got some uh a massive, massive burrito afterwards, but obviously that's not the important part.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um so that day we we went to church.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: I actually was the the devil tried to try to try to stop me from going.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um I got pulled over uh driving there because I had recently bought a car, given me a bunch of issues, and the plague was expired.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I got pulled over, and I was about 10, 15, 20 minutes late.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so by the time I got there, like the service had already started.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: And but it was fine.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um I went to church, I met with Ethan uh and John and a couple other new people from that church uh that I hadn't you know met before.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then I I think it was towards the end of the service, I went with Ethan to the back room.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we, you know, I got changed into some clothes that could get wet so that I want to get my good, you know, church clothes wet.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then we came out and uh he asked me, you know, will I devote my life to Christ?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Do I believe that he died for me?
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I said yes.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: And um then I was then I was put under the water.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: So um now that is my day of uh rebirth.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: So now the reborn podcast has a new meaning.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then yeah, and then like I said, we went out to we went out to get some burritos after that.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: So um definitely a good day, definitely a day I'll remember the rest of my life.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I just want to again say thank you so much to all the brothers, but especially on that day, uh Ethan F and uh John Gaiman.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: So um, but yeah, it's I want to also talk about my, you know, it's not been long, but my journey after that.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it's it's it's incredible how much life has transformed since that day.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: God has blessed me with a thriving business, robust health, a supportive community, and most importantly, a deepening relationship with him.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: These blessings aren't just additions from my life, they're the very foundations of my rebirth.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say the very foundation is the relationship with him, 100%.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: All that other stuff is amazing.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: But if it were taken away, if I have a relationship with God, that's all I need.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually want to talk about uh something I've been having lots of conversations about recently with some friends and family, and that is um when I first got baptized, I didn't think I was gonna, you know, feel a physical difference.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it just something Christians do.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: I thought, you know, God had called me to do it, so I'm gonna do it.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: But I didn't feel like I was gonna feel a physical difference.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I did.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: I did.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel much more in touch with this, uh with the Holy Spirit now.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, honestly, uh I'm gonna be very, very relatable here.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, one of the biggest things for me is so many people, so many people in this world have road rage.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: I get flipped off, I get people cutting me off, honking, that you know, nonsense, whatever, right?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: And before, man, that would get me furious.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: But now with the Holy Spirit, I'm just like I I I will say sometimes I have tried to you know make a a holy uh uh uh like diss, right?
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you are you know the son of Judas or whatever, right?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um which obviously is not great either, but it's better than you know cursing him out and flipping him off and whatever, right?
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Going indulging in all that.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: But it's taught me patience and it's taught me peace.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually want to touch on something very, very important, and that is since that happened, I actually uh the business faced a lot, a lot of realistic resilience.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: My health has faced a lot of resilience.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: I've gotten injured multiple times.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I haven't been able to, you know, keep up with keep up with my community, but I have been able to deepen my relationship with him.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to talk on that because I do genuinely believe that God works in mysterious ways, and not only that, but he sometimes is at the he's doing the most work when you feel like you're at your lowest.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I I genuinely trust that God will provide, right?
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: And with that said, this last month has been a month of triumph, of, of, of resilience and perseverance and persistence and all that good stuff, right?
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's genuinely deepened my relationship with God.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I've actually had probably three, four, five days this past month that I've been better at it.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: So that's almost, you know, a six at a month, right?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: Which isn't fun.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I also had a big financial loss in the business, but I just learned yesterday that one of the projects we had been working on is going to be netting us a substantial amount of money, more money than we've ever made on a single project before.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so that is God's work, is God's will.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so and and and and and that project is also gonna be very, very good for the community, like you know, being in real estate, it's revitalizing the community.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's um that that that property specifically has been an uh an issue property for I think 30 years is what the what the agent told me.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: So um, yeah.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even kind of kind of losing my train of thought here because it's you know just very, very exciting.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: So um, but for anyone who's listening who's facing their own giants, know, please know that transformation is possible.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'll share practical tips that have helped me align more closely with my faith and uh purpose, practices that might guide you on your own spiritual journey.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say the first, the very first one is trust in God, right?
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to also think of praying and reading the Bible and you know going to these men's or women's or you know, discipleship groups, all these things are amazing, okay, but God doesn't want you to think of those as uh as homework, which I think for me for for a long time I did.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: And God wants you to think of those as hey, I get the opportunity to read about my God in his time, okay.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: I get the opportunity to to go talk to you know my brothers, my sisters, my uh my my community about our Lord, our savior.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um I get to engage in a conversation, a conversation with my God.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: That shouldn't be homework.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: That should be something you're excited to do.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that's a very, very, very first one is trust God.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I think another one on on that note and trust in God is when you hit your bottom, trust God.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: When you hit your top, well, I don't think there is a top, but you know, when you're up high, uh trust God.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: When things are going amazing, trust God.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: When things are going horrendously, trust God and follow him.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I do think another one though is uh engaging in communities, is reading his word, is praying and communicating with him.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: And don't be afraid to To bring your worries or concerns to me, he asks you to do that.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: And there's so many more tips.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, if you know me personally, feel free to reach out to me.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't know me personally, feel free to shoot me a message, a DM.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: But um, what does baptism symbol?
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna go through a few questions that I um have learned recently, right?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: And the first one is what does baptism symbolically mean in Christianity?
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a great question.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: The way I think of it, and this may not be by the Bible, but the the way I think of it is it's your rebirth.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's saying that I know Jesus died on the cross for me.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: I know uh I have faith in Jesus and I will follow him.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: Inherently, that means I am reborn.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, which br again brings in a whole new uh you know meaning to the to the reborn podcast.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: So um that's what it means to me is you trust God, you're following God, and you are reborn in God.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: How can someone struggling with personal issues find solace in faith?
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we touched on this a little bit today with you know, this last month that I was saying all the triumphs, the resilience, persistence, etc.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I really think you really just have and it it's cliche until you know it's not.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you really just have to trust God.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and another thing is faith without works is dead.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not just, hey, God, I'm trusting you.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go, you know, go lay in bed and watch Netflix, you know, all day, and boom, I trust that you're gonna you're gonna um you know boost my business again, right?
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: Faith without works is dead.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: So still doing the same thing, even if it's not reaping results.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm reminded of the story of Simon, right?
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: The story of Simon where he was going to be killed by the Romans, but he was not because he saw after a whole night of fishing, him and the best uh you know, fisherman in the town, right?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he saw on the shore, uh he's like, Man, the Romans are already coming for me.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then he comes closer to the shore and it's Jesus.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: And he doesn't know who Jesus is yet, but Andrew, his brother, is like, this is a man I've told you about.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: And at first uh Simon doesn't believe him.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: But he comes to believe him, and Jesus tells him, Hey, put put your uh your your net in the water.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: And he does.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: And when he lifts it up, he can't even lift it up.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because there is so many fish he couldn't even imagine.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that is what trusting in God will do for you.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: God will provide.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: Trust and follow his word.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: And question three, what daily practices help maintain this renewed spiritual connection?
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things I've been doing recently, well, a few of the things I'll go through is but one of the things that I never would have thought I uh would would do that Jesus called me to, I think even just this past week, I don't think it was even past this maybe two weeks, right?
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and that is grounding.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: So every morning, um, going out into the grass um barefoot and just you know, stretching, praising God, uh, thanking them for the grass, the sun, the the trees, the birds chirping, and and all the good that we oftentimes take for granted.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, another thing I think, and I've been smiling about this all day.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: Another thing is uh listening to a lot of worship music, and worship music doesn't have to be because I know a lot of people think it's boring or whatever.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it doesn't have to be, you know, like I don't think it's boring, but it doesn't have to be boring, right?
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, like for me, for example, I used to be one of those kids that all I would listen to is rap, okay?
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: And they have amazing rap, uh Christian rap.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: There's KB, LaCrae, um, uh Forrest Frank, and a ton of other great artists.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Again, if you know me, feel free to reach out.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: I will send you my playlist.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then another one is again going to uh meeting with the community of you know, like-minded followers, believers.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um obviously praying.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I try and pray before every meal, I try and pray in the morning and in the evening.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um really, I I pray, which I used to I when I thought of praying as a chore, I maybe would do it once a day.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe once a day.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm doing it several times a day.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so some of the prayers are five, ten, fifteen, twenty seconds.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus, for this day.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for uh the trees, the the grass, this this little dog that's over here sleeping.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um uh, you know, thank you for the sun.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for waking me up again.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, thank you for life.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for um breathing fresh air into my lungs.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um I pray that I follow you you and your word today.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: I pray that you know that these deals get closed today, and um I pray for the health of my loved ones.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: Hallelujah.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus, in Jesus' name, amen.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's all it takes.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: And it and I don't want you to confuse that with you know that that quick prayer is that's the only type of prayer.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many types of prayers, and if I talked about all of them, that would take me literally days.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, um, and then I think you just have to seek him out because uh one of the things I often hear is he can be as loud or as clear as as humanly possible or as you know, even godly possible, right?
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: But if you are blinded or if you are deaf, then you won't hear him, you won't see him.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that reminds me of the show uh The Chosen, where one of the characters, I can't remember her name, but Barnaby's friend, uh, she was blind, and she, you know, they came to see Jesus, and she's like, Who's this?
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is uh standing right in front of her, but she doesn't know because she's blinded, and that doesn't mean she's not faithful, she just literally cannot see it.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and you know that's a that's a bit different because she was faithful, right?
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: But uh she couldn't see him because he was she was blinded, okay?
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, so I hope you guys enjoy this episode.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's a little bit different than usual.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so thank you.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: And well, real quick, going back over to uh the FAQs, what does baptism symbolically mean in Christianity?
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: It means you're reborn in Christ.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: How can someone struggling with personal issues find solace in faith, trust God, and follow his plan no matter what?
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: What daily practices help maintain this renewed spiritual connection?
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: Community, talking with God and seeking him out.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: With that said, thank you for tuning into the Reborn Podcast.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, no matter where you are in life, rebirth is possible.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: The path isn't always easy, but it's worth every step when you're walking with faith.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you find solace or inspiration in today's story, don't hesitate to share it.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: And join us next time as we explore more stories of rebirth and transformation.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: Until then, this is Tony Buchos.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: Keep striving and keep believing.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: Have a blessed week.