I was born as an Orthodox Christian, and the journey you and many other people born outside from Orthodoxy have had really humbles me to the core. So much trouble and pain you had to endure untill you find real faith...although, i myself had many troubles and insecurities , and was searching the answers everywhere but in the Orthodoxy. Great video, greetings from Serbia !
In America being Orthodox is not something that just happens to you. It is not only that you won't be born into the faith here, it's that you won't even know what the word Orthodox means. It's rare because we do not have an autocephalous church in our country. Even the OCA, the Orthodox Church of America, is not American. Here you can find a single convention of a single Protestant denomination that is larger and more well known than all the jurisdictions of Orthodoxy put together. For all but a few, being Orthodox in America is something you studied on your own at first and then had to go searching for
@@patrickbarnes9874this is so true. I'm going to an Orthodox church for the first time this Wednesday! Please pray for me while I try and repent of my sins and give myself to Jesus completely
I’m one of the current parishioners at St Raphael of Brooklyn! I was so surprised to see myself, Fr David and our parish in your testimonial. The lord works in mysterious ways. Glory to God for leading us to his church.
As someone who was born in the Orthodox faith, I often struggle because I feel a deep sorrow for those who cannot experience it, either because they closed off their heart to God or any other circumstances, but these testimonies and conversions fill me with hope and show me that God truly has a plan of redemption and salvation for everyone. Although I am not worthy, let me bid you welcome to the narrow path my brother in Christ and may the Holy Trinity, with the intercession of the Theotokos, keep us on that path until our last breath.
Great testimony, brother. My name is Cam. Baptized as Nicholas in 2015. Gonna be 40 in December and have battled addiction for 27 years. I have a wife and 3 small kids. Wandered away from my faith countless times. Got into the occult. Almost joined the Freemasons. But Christ slapped me awake. Please pray for me and my fam. I’m off the booze and drugs but struggling hard with the cigarettes still. This testimony was encouraging for me big time. God bless you for taking the time to do this. Also, the track played at 2:02:50 is amazing 😎
Blessed to have Brother Macarius as my sponsor, and Godfather. And now he is taking time to sponsor my two kids, and soon-to-be wife for their baptism into the holy ROCOR Orthodox Church. Grateful! Macarius is a spiritual giant. I bow down to him. Thank you, my beautiful brother. Glory to God ☦️🙏🏻
I went to my first Great Vespers this weekend at St. James Antiochian in Modesto. I've been in the bottom of drug addiction and free from that for 12 years but God has been guiding me to Orthodoxy the past few months. It was the most beautiful service I've ever been too and the Father and Subdeacon welcomed me. Going to keep going and hopefully become a Catechumen soon!
I would suggest asking the priest if you can attend the catechumen classes as an inquirer first unless and until you are certain that joining the church is what you really want to do. It is taken very seriously and while you are a catechumen your success will be prayed for by everyone in the parish every week. Becoming a catechumen is not something you do in order to decide whether to become Orthodox but is instead the first thing you do after you have already made that decision. But I'm sure your priest will explain all this to you. God be with you on this journey you have started! ☦
Glory to God!!! I'm so glad you came to The Truth brother! As a "genuine" Orthodox Christian, I agree with your criticisms. This passion, the "Temptation to the Right" is a really big problem, especially online. People will put an icon as their profile picture, and think themselves as some kind of "Confessors". Our metropolitan asked a friend of mine to look into a lot of these "keyboard warriors", and find out who they were, and found almost across the board: 1. None of them go to church with any regularity 2. They can speak for hours about church politics and "theology" but none of them can even recite the 50th Psalm. 3. Almost none of them are baptized, or even catechumens. Speaking from my own experience: the desire to "expose" or "condemn" the sins of another almost always stems from pride and self-justification. May God preserve you and your family, strengthen you in faith, and deliver us all from judgement of others! ☦️
Brother, I love your input here. Thank you for sharing this. Please, if you'll go to the 'About' section on the channel and find one of my socials, please reach out so we can stay in touch. Until then, I wish you a most blessed Lent 🙏🏽☦️
Raised by Word of Faith protestant, I got in trouble for my innocent questions. I thought God hated me. I figured since this is Christianity and this is AWFUL, everyone around me was right, Christianity didn't make sense, and it's a joke (WOF is a mockery of Christianity, ppl just don't know it) I quickly became an atheist. My existential crisis had quickly lead me to despair. After 15 years of being a living corpse, finally broke down and asked God if He was real...He showed me. It was a long and hard 5 years though the protestant labyrinth to Orthodoxy. Was baptized with my husband and children this April on Lazarus Saturday. All Glory to God, He truly is the Most Merciful. Glad you've found your way, looking forward to hearing the rest of your story. 🕯🕯☦🕯🕯
Glory to God! This was a straight up CINEMATIC testimony video. My wife and I skipped out on a nap today (something that just about never happens...7 kids and all) to watch the entire thing in one sitting. That should tell you how engaging it was! If anyone thought my testimony video was good, the production quality of this is like mine on steroids 😂You definitely raised the bar. While each conversion is a miracle of grace, I found your story particularly amazing. The trials that you faced, the depths of depravity and drug addiction to which you fell, the crippling chronic health issues, and your long path out of darkness and into the light make for a story with the substance to match the presentation. Finally, the closing portion which gracefully shared your critiques of Protestantism was eloquent and powerfully compelling. This is the kind of content and effort that, by God's grace, is undoubtedly going to win souls. People that need to see this: • anyone who is "spiritual but not religious" • anyone who's been down all the rabbit holes • anyone with debilitating anxiety • anyone wrestling with Orthodoxy after being exposed to the issues with their Protestant paradigm • anyone who is coming to realize that the devil is real and is flirting with the general idea that Christianity is the truth 5/5 stars! I am so proud of you, my brother in Christ. I know from experience how MONUMENTAL of an undertaking a project like this is, and how much of a weight must be lifted off of your shoulders having completed this labor of love for the benefit of the salvation of others. May our Lord use it for His glory and for the benefit of His Kingdom, and our nation☦🙏🖤🤍 ☦
I was blown away by your testimonial video. Not to diminish yours by any means but this one takes the cake. Both of you guys seem to have very similar stories Maybe she worked together on sometimes.
As a cradle Orthodox Christian, I can say for certain that many of us including the new generation do not know the gift we have in the Church. Thank you for reminding us of this gift, I will share this video with my kids and others in the hopes that it will resonate. You truly have a way with words and storytelling! May God bless you and your family and this platform that you have to share the good news!
Great testimony brother ☦ Glory to God! Your journey was crazy and somewhat similar to mine in many ways. I was also raised in a secular home, smoked a lot of weed and got drunk often, ended up getting bad gut issues and started to prioritize health. In doing so, discovering all the elite agendas, the push for crappy food/bugs/GMO, etc, and then through that journey coming across people like Tristan Haggard and Jay Dyer which made me begin to question everything I'd ever been told about religion
Thanks for the feedback brother. I'm glad you managed to find your way out of darkness and into the light as well. Knowing so many of our stories are so similar is just yet another testimony to the grace of God, that He would draw us into His light together in a way that we can better understand one another's struggles and share each other's burdens. Glory to God indeed!
@@mreajamorgana ahhh I did it on PC and I did : orthodox cross : (without the space in between the words and colons) and a cross emoji popped up that I clicked
@@orthodox_soul I’m also amazed how eerily similar our stories are. I’ve been on a journey through addiction & recovery, through uncovering hidden truths of our world & getting stuck in multiple rabbit holes with no end, through new age beliefs, to finally the Orthodox Church. Would love to connect with you brother, thank you for this. God is good.
Great testimony brother! I’m praying for you please keep growing an an Orthodox Christian ☦️💚🙏🏽 Jesus is with you. Please pray for me. I’m ex-Muslim who became Protestant Christian now interested in Orthodox Christianity.
Welcome home brother ☦️🤍 Amazing testimony. A russian sister in Christ from Vienna sent me a picture of her church yesterday. It was the one you had your first divine liturgy in 😄 God bless. ☦️🤍
Well there went my entire afternoon.❤ This was absolutely riveting! Glory to God for your intellectual honesty. May we never forget what a gift it is to have our faith. I was moved to tears at the end on how good God is. ~Dec 5th, 2021, (St.Xenia) I came home. I am still in awe. Even when my personal prayer is lacking, it all becomes perfect prayer when I attend divine liturgy. ☦️ We also drive almost an hour to church every Sunday and we have been blessed to have started an official mission church where I can ride my bike every Friday for vespers. I shared your video with family and friends. May God grant you many happy years!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and personal experiences Lori, and for sharing the video around. I'd hoped to move and inspire others, and you've already helped serve that end. God bless you sister ❤️☦️
Parts of this hit hard man...Glory to God. I was addicted to H for nearly a decade, been sober 9 years, orthodox for nearly 4. I started with pills but it gets difficult to source the 30+ pills per day, so u up it to 5 oxy or morphine but those even harder to source and more expensive...so H was cheaper and I could source unlimited amounts...after I detox (18 days of pure torture withdrawal no sleep no eat, 3 emergency room visits) in winter of 2013, I only lasted 11 days before I required methadone to taper myself to a stable functional level, which took couple years...only when I found Orthodoxy was I able to get totally free from my pharma-leash. 🙏 thanks for this thorough testimony! Highly relatable. Even your childhood, the secular family, existentialism at young age, moving stunting social development...lots of things I experienced like you. "The worst part of addiction, is all the times you can't show up when your brothers and sisters (loved ones) need you." -Stevie Ray Vaughn
I'm a Greek Orthodox Christian and on my final year of studying theoretical physics. Firstly, I'll try to explain why Orthodoxy is the only True/Correct faith. Secondly, I'll suggest some things that could help anyone who is interested in Orthodoxy. For the first part: Orthodoxy is the First, Original (Historically) and only True faith which is the outcome of the direct revelation by God Himself (the Ιncarnated Word of God = Jesus Christ -> Bible) and thus is not a relegion (religion=a man-made belief system which is trying to explain God, as all known religions (Islam,Hinduism,....) or Christian heresies (Protestantism, Catholicism,...) are. Also, Orthodoxy is not a gesture of men reaching God, but is a gesture of God revealing himself to men) Also, is called "Orthodoxy" which in Greek (The language in which the Bible was written by the Apostles originally) means the correct(Ortho=Ορθός=correct) belief(doxy=Δοξασία/Δόξα=belief/faith/dogma/tenet) and is the faith of all Greeks (to which Jesus=God said: (John 12:20-24): " ²⁰Some Greeks had gone to Jerusalem to worship during Passover. ²¹Philip from Bethsaida in Galilee was there too. So they went to him and said, “Sir, we would like to meet Jesus.” ²²Philip told Andrew. Then the two of them went to Jesus and told him. ²³Jesus said: The time has come for the Son of Man to be given his glory. ²⁴I tell you for certain that a grain of wheat that falls on the ground will never be more than one grain unless it dies. But if it dies, it will produce lots of wheat") Prophesying that the time has come for Him (Son of Man = Jesus as 100% human as the son of Virgin Mary/Theotokos) to die on the cross (...grain of wheat...it dies) and then given His Glory (Jesus as 100% God) after His Resurrection and Ascension to the right hand of God. Also Prophesying that His death "will produce lots of wheat", which is linked to Greeks stating that Greeks (and also all other people which are not Jewish and follow the same path (as Greeks in that time symbolized all non Jews), will glorify Jesus by recognizing Him as their Messiah, Savior and true God and they will keep the True and Correct Faith (Orthodoxy), and they will not go astray (as the Heretics or other religions), and In this way they will participate in the "production of lots of wheat", (In contrast to Jews and other Heretics (Catholics, etc which will do go astray and so they won't be able to inherit God's Kingdom and be Gods by grace)) (Jesus was always, before and after His death and always, simultaneously 100% human and 100% God. At first as 100% God He took the human nature by His gestation in Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit and became simultaneously 100% human too. Then by His tortures and the death of His human nature on the cross He took upon Himslef the sin of the entire fallen human nature and put an end to it with the death of this fallen nature of humans which didn't had the ability of Theosis (Theosis=To become God not by nature but by grace), but was the outcome of spiritual death and sin (see Genesis in the old Testament and the fall of Adam and Eve). Finally, with His Resurrection and Ascension (As 100% human and 100% God simultaneously) to the right hand of God (The Father, and also with the Holy Spirit to Which He was fully connected to both of them always as the second Person of Holy Trinity by his 100% God nature), He led the human nature to the ABILITY of Theosis and the inheritance of God's Kingdom making humans who manage to go to Heaven the same as Him (by grace not by their nature)=Gods by grace. But there is a big misconception in some heresies: God didn't Ιncarnated, became human and died on the cross to put everyone who says that believes in Jesus in heaven. Instead He did all that to give to people the ABILITY of Theosis and the inheritance of God's Kingdom. Whether this ABILITY is reclaimed and a person is saved and not go to hell, depends on the person's FREE WILL, (and what they truly believe in their heart), which is expressed by their actions in their lives on earth, the acceptance of God's Truth by becoming members of His one True Church by Being Orthodox Baptized (Other heretic baptisms as Catholic, etc are invalid even if some orthodox priests who are in places where Orthodoxy isn't very common say otherwise) and Chrismated (also this two things are necessary in order to be able to commune with the Holy Spirit and then Jesus Christ and Actually see God Himself and his Uncreated Light from this Life on earth) and having a correct lifestyle which includes Gods commands and participation in the liturgical mysteries, and having a spiritual father for guidance. This belief that everyone will be saved just because they say they are Christians is wrong, it was made just because it's suits people as the easy path and this is a typical example of why all these diefferent heresies were created. All known religions are either man-made paganistic phylosophies (Islam,Hinduism,....), or heretic ideologies (influenced by the Revelation of God by God Himself=Orthodoxy---historically precedes all its heresies and islam too which is influenced by Orthodoxy too anyway) where the truth/Orthodoxy is falsified, misquoted and manipulated in order to conform to the sinful prejudices and to the enforcement of authority of the different people that made them (Pope, Mohammed,....). The belief that every belief is true and correct as long as someone refers to the word Jesus is wrong, the truth and Gods' presence and grace is only in Orthodoxy. Also, an other proof is the miracle of the Holy Light at the day of the celebration of Resurrection in Easter which always is done by the Orthodox Patriarch until today, and one time in history (In 1549 AD) when the heretics didn't let the Orthodox Patriarch perform the miracle and tried to do it by themselves, the miracle didn't happen and the pillar next to the Orthodox Patriarch opened and the Holy Light came out illuminating only his candles. The Emir watched the events from the minaret of the mosque opposite the Temple and shouted "One is the true God, the God of Christians. I believe in the Risen Christ", Then the Muslims caught him and beheaded him. His holy relic is kept to this day in the Holy Monastery of the Great Virgin of Jerusalem. The crack of the pillar located in the middle column to the left of the entrance to the complex of the Holy Sepulcher is 1.20 meters high and, it looks like a rising flame. From then on Heretics gave back to the Orthodox Bishop the right to do the miracle himself. THE BIGGEST PROOF IS THAT IN ALL THIS RELIGIONS PEOPLE CAN NOT SEE GOD, BUT IN ORTHODOXY GOD CAN BE SEEN DIRECTLY, EXPERIENCED WITH ALL SENSES, EATEN AND DRUNK UNITING DIRECTLY WITH A BAPTIZED PERSON'S HEART (BY THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY EUCHARIST) AND A PERSONAL EXISTENCIAL RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION WITH GOD, THEOSIS AND THE EXPERIENCE OF HEAVEN AND GODS KINGDOM CAN BE ACHIVED BY THIS LIFE ON EARTH AS THE MAIN ELEMENT OF ORTHODOXY. For the second part, some things that could help are: The Channel "trisagion films" which has videos about Orthodoxy and lives of saints in English and the movie of "the life of saint Joseph the hesychast" which is available in English in youtube. Byzantine Music and hymns. The book "Great Gerontikon" and the lives of saints. Elder Ephraims of Arizona monasteries throughout US (who is most probably to officially declared a saint in recent future). Holy mountain of Athos and Vatopedi monastery and its youtube Channel. Pray to God by your own words or with known Orthodox prayers, as much as you can, in order to start feeling the grace inside your heart. LEARN ABOUT THE "UNCEASING PRAYER OF THE MIND AND HEART" ("JESUS PRAYER"). AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: Know that the most important thing is actions and not just knowing stuff in theory. The only way to achieve Theosis is through ascetic life and keeping a proper schedule on doing our spiritual duties. Find a spiritual father for guidance Start having a correct lifestyle which includes Gods commands, and learn as much as you can by studying. Participate in the liturgical mysteries of the church. When you feel ready be Orthodox Baptized (Other heretic baptisms as Catholic, etc are invalid, even if some wrongly say the opposite) and Chrismated (2 things necessary to be able to commune with and see God Himself and his Uncreated Light from this Life on earth, and for later to be able to inherit God's Kingdom and achieve Theosis). THE ONLY PURPOSE OF ALL THOSE THINGS IS TO HELP A PERSON ACHIVE COMPLETE COMMUNION (PERSONAL EXISTENCIAL RELATIONSHIP THAT HAPPENS WITH ALL OUR BEING-BODY AND SOUL) WITH GOD, THEOSIS (AS AN OUTCOME OF THE FORMER) AND THE EXPERIENCE AND INHERITANCE OF HEAVEN AND GODS KINGDOM (=GOD'S PRESENCE), FIRST FROM THIS LIFE AND THEN FOR ETERNITY IN THE OTHER LIFE, BY SACRIFICING THE ONLY THING THAT WE HAVE/CAN PRODUCE BY OUR SELVES WHICH IS OUR FREE WILL (AS A GOD GIVEN ABILITY...EVERY OTHER THING EITHER COMES FROM THE GRACE OF GOD/HIS PRESENCE OR THE ABSENCE OF THE GRACE OF GOD/HIS ABSENCE...) (FREE WILL = THE ABILITY TO ACCEPT OR REJECT THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN US...WE ARE LIKE A MECHANICAL MACHINE, WE CAN DO CERTAIN THINGS (THAT ARE SIMILAR TO THE THINGS GOD HIMSELF DOES...IF GOOD..., AS WE ARE IMAGES OF GOD) BUT ONLY IF WE HAVE THE NECESSARY FUEL IN US WHICH IN THIS CASE IS THE GRACE OF GOD (IF WE ARE SPEAKING ABOUT GOOD THINGS), OR THE ABSENCE OF THE GRACE OF GOD (IF WE ARE SPEAKING ABOUT BAD THINGS...THERE IS NO EMPTY SPACE IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, BUT THE "EMPTY SPACE" OF THE ABSENCE OF GOD IS "FILLED" WITH THE OPPOSITE TRAITS OF GOD WHICH ARE THE EVIL THINGS...). EVERY GOOD THING IS A RAY OF LIGHT OF GOD'S INFINITE UNCREATED LIGHT AND EVERY BAD THING IS AN ABSENCE OF A RAY OF LIGHT OF GOD'S INFINITE UNCREATED LIGHT.
@@orthodox_soul Glory to God! May He bless and guide, you, and all your family, give you His Holy Light and fill your hearts with His presence and Grace. I wish, if it's beneficial for your spiritual development and salvation, that, with Gods help, you continue contributing to the spreading of the word of God/Orthodoxy, always with humility, discernment and much prayer and ascetic attitude in preparation. You're in my prayers.
Glory to God! This was so so good. Amazing testimony and beautiful video! I have only been attending the Orthodox church for about 7 months, but I am the only one at my church that isn't a Protestant convert. My story is like yours in many ways. I was raised without religion and basically considered myself 'agnostic' for all of my adult life. I have always taken interest in conspiracy 'theory' topics, but never dug into the trenches of WHY the world is the way it is until 2020. Then I went all in. I ended up in a lot of woowoo, new age, all is one, enlightenment, etc. etc. ideas and spent much time listening and reading into these ideas to the point of disassociation and feeling like everything was an illusion. Thank God, I didn't just stop there and I just kept digging and digging for truth, but also for application. It was a painful soul search, but by some grace, I found my way to the church. Thank you for sharing your story!
I'm glad it was edifying for you, I've heard of many similar stories with these kinds of parallels as well. Glory to God that you found Holy Orthodoxy! May we both continue to grow and mature spiritually on our respective journeys 🙏🏽 Thanks for sharing your experience and feedback ☦️
Very well done! I’m starting my journey into orthodoxy. I pray usually twice a day with the Jesus Prayer. I find it’s been slowly purging the past traumas from me and purifying me. Thank you for such a thorough testimony!
It was finding the Jesus Prayer that started me into Orthodoxy. I also found the prayer to have a profound positive effect on me. I found myself always wanting to go deeper with the prayer. After about six months of practicing the Jesus Prayer I decided to start inquiring into becoming fully Orthodox myself.
@@patrickbarnes9874 Thanks for sharing your experience with me. I started reading the morning and evening prayers and then doing the Jesus prayer after. I’m going an Orthodox Church tomorrow. I’m giving orthodoxy a year to see what happens. There are some things that are hard to accept in Christianity for me. But I want to see what happens if I go all in. I just had no idea Orthodox was about there and that it centered around Theosis. At least that is my understanding. I know very very little but the little I know is drawing me to it.
@@orthodox_soul I don't have one set exactly yet, but my bishop assured me it will be soon. My family and I have been attending an antiochian parish for over a year now and initially attended inquirer classes, but when we started going to our parish the catechesis classes had already begun, and then this year they haven't been started because our priest is retiring - so our catechesis process has been a bit different and we've had more individual instruction from our priest; we don't know if he will be the one that brings us into the church. It's just a transitional period for our parish right now. But it's gonna happen at some point in the not too distant future according to my bishop because we are both ready and the kids are too ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ
@@johnvanderschuit actually, you might be surprised. Alot of people I know face some kind of extenuating circumstances when trying to come into the Church, including us! So, you're in good company brother. Either way, I'm thrilled for you and your family and that you all get to take that monumental step together ✊🏽
Listened to while at work and I gotta say your testimony is awesome. I was moved emotionally multiple times throughout and it takes courage to share all that you did. I'm working on my own testimony and I found your video inspiring. Funny enough, a lot of elements that were involved in your coming to the Faith echoed my own journey to Orthodoxy and I'll say your not alone in terms of the truth of the world. In the sense of cosmology and the absolute deception that rules the world today. I'm glad to have you as a brother in the faith and look forward to future videos. God bless! Christ is Risen! ☦️👍
Incredible testimony, I see so many parallels between your life and mine, I’m so blessed to have discovered the Orthodox Church recently, please pray for me and all the other lost sheep who are drawn by the voice of the one true Shepherd
I’m enjoying this soooo much! Just at the “Early Life” part. I’m writing a book about my journey called “Confessions of a Controlaholic: My Journey from Hedonism, Psychology, Hinduism, Protestantism and Roman Catholicism to Eastern Orthodox Psychotherapy and Healing!” I started it in 2017 and I’ve got an Orthodox publisher editing it now! I pray it will help some women, especially boomers…☺️🙏🏻☦️
This was incredible. Thank you for the time you have put into sharing your story. As a convert also raised in a secular family as an only child, it has been rare to hear of anyone with similar upbringings. I struggled with feeling very out of place in church for a long time before my baptism, so it was very heartwarming and invigorating to watch this. I also jumped out of my chair when you spoke on the subject of the enclosed system. It is a huge part of how I escaped my atheistic worldview, and there are many of us Orthodox who have quietly come to similar conclusions - even in my own parish. Thank you for including that.
That's great to hear! Having a sense of solidarity with others always helps me feel better when the isolation starts getting to me. It was hard becoming a flat-head, knowing that no one I talked to would ever agree or even listen (even among those who were "awake" to various conspiracies). THEN, in becoming Orthodox, I found myself in an even smaller bracket among those identifying as Christians. So I felt somewhat disheartened to keep finding myself in smaller and smaller subsets of people who could relate to me or share my beliefs--only to realize later on that it turns out it's rather common to encounter Orthodox Christians who also believed all these things, including enclosed cosmology! That was a pleasant surprise. But it makes sense. Those who love the truth and pursue it at all costs--following the evidence where ever it leads, regardless what we believe--such people invariably end up arriving at many of the same conclusions in all the same categories. And Holy Orthodoxy just so happens to be the last destination where all forks in the road ultimately converge at the very bottom of the rabbit hole. So I thank you as well for sharing that. I'm grateful to know that I'm in good company, Glory to God!
Wow! Glory be to God in all things, what a wonderful story dear brother. God keep you and your family and may He enlighten many many more as He has you. Please pray for me and my parents brother, my name is Timothy. ☦️❤️
I had so many things that I needed to do today, but the Holy Spirit compelled me to watch your documentary in its entirety, as you shared your journey to Orthodoxy. So beautifully made. It touched my heart. I am glad you found your way to Him. You were always His, you just didn't know it. But now you do. Welcome. Δωξα σε ο Θεός, κατα το μεγα έλεός σου. Δωξα σε.
Thank you Yo-Ta, I'm glad you felt it was worth the time. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. Now that we live out in the country and want to grow our own food, my wife is trying to learn how to prepare many different homemade dishes--I'll have to point her to your channel for recipes!
@@orthodox_soul that is very kind of you. You know your video moved me. I appreciate your kindness and I pray for you and your family. God bless. Κύριε ελέησον, Κύριε ελέησον, Κύριε ελέησον.
Fellow Eastern Orthodox here. With the exception of the FE stuff (which I think helped break the fixed mindset attitude but is still wrong), this is a very beautiful video.
I can respect your opinion on that, thanks for the feedback. As I mentioned in the video, there is a link in the description to an article I wrote which covers the subject more in depth and the reasoning behind it (if you're at all curious). God bless!
This is an incredible video. As a fellow artist, I respect the vision behind the entire production. Similar to your alcoholism, cannabis was a major feature of my life, always the main event. It wasn't until I walked into the Orthodox church for the first time that I was able to fully rid myself of the addiction. Lord have mercy.
I have visited the Russian Orthodox Church each Sunday for the past month. My wife and I decided to become catechumens But I slip and fall constantly. Your video has really helped me get back on track. I feel so unworthy, and I feel like my drinking and my other passions will keep God from accepting me
Glory to God! I'm glad you the video was edifying for you brother, and that you've decided to proceed with pursuing baptism--the journey can be tough due to the passions and attacks from the enemy, but nothing in this life is more worth the effort. While I've gotten past the obstacle of alcohol, to this day, I still continue to struggle with a number of other sinful thoughts and habits. Some passions just take longer to conquer, but by your refusal to give up and always choosing to repent and keep going, God can and will work His grace in your life. Just keep pressing forward!
The part towards the end about prelest was incredibly insightful. Someone of your age rarely would have seen through this. God bless you. There is a difference between the mind of the Church , and online orthodoxy. We have almost too much information these days. Many years to you and your family. We are Antiochians from Pennsylvania.
Excellent presentation brother. Beautiful videography, very compelling backstory of your journey and lots of truth nuggets. May God continue to bless you and your family as you continue in the Orthodox faith ☦️
Simply beautiful & honest video about your life. I'm very happy for you and your whole family being a part of the One Truth. May God bless this video and whoever stumbles upon it!
My friend, it's comments like yours that remind me that all the time and effort I poured into this project was well worth it. Your being motivation is my inspiration ☦️🙏🏽❤️
Tears are a second baptism! You can read about tears in St Isaac the Syrian and St John of the ladder, and especially in the book by St Sophrony on St Silouan the Athonite! I had cried all through my time in a Hindu meditation cult and into Protestant and Latin heterodox groups. Only Holy Orthodoxy brought me understanding of tears in ongoing continual repentance! I still cry in prayer often, in fact if I don’t I know I need to go deeper with Psalm 50! (Or 51)
Welcome home brother to you and you family! Welcome to the Eternal Mercy of Our Lord, welcome to the way to Salvation of our souls which thousands of saints walked before and therefore can lead us, incompetent modern sinners,every step of the way! Greetings from a cradle orthodox living in Russia.
Wow, that was very interesting. I learned a lot more about you. You are so smart, creative and strong. Thanks for sharing more about yourself. That's great that your path eventually lead you to become Orthodox Christian. You have come a long way. You are a good person. Brad and I are glad to have met you. God bless you! ☦️
@@orthodox_soulFinished this today. Great job! This was all really well produced and clearly a lot of effort and thought went into it. I was in LA from late 2015 to late 2018 and I couldn’t have been happier to get out of there. I’m glad there are people out there putting together these high quality Orthodox focused documentaries. I’m hoping to put something together myself sooner than later and this has motivated me.
really good video dude, bless the lord he never saw fit to trial me with a substance addiction, but I've been plagued by lust since the age of 5 or 6, even though I never actually touched myself until I was around 14 or 15. I've finally managed to get things sort of under wraps now that I go to church, pray the hours and try to keep the love of god in my heart, but I can't lie and I need to be open about the fact that I still regularly bodge it all up even while trying to keep it on the straight and narrow. I don't honestly know how the lord puts up with me, but I still want to put my faith in him. I'm hoping to become a catechumen sometime around Pascha, but I've only been attending church for around 6 months, and I don't think I've developed a strong spiritual resilience yet, as I often get demonic attacks even in the middle of the church. Those ones are especially hard to deal with. recently, I've begun trying to take to heart what Sint Silouan the Athonite relates to us in the vision he had about prayer; 'remember death, and do not despair!', but it's hard to apply when I struggle to even put as much love or faith in the lord that I feel I both need to and should do. Maybe those last ones are thoughts from the demons, couldn't say for sure, but St. Paisios often talks about how the demons would goad him into doing more than he could manage. It probably all stems from my pride. 'Is this really all the lord needs me for?' I say as I have no idea about the greatness that he has in store for each and every single one of us. If anything I should be happy that there's very little he's probably asking of me, just put that pride aside and live as someone unimportant to the world; that's how the lord meets you. I'm just too wretched to actually see things as they are, and too guarded to let the lord into my heart. I'd like to be less guarded, but something tells me that's going to take a lot more time to figure out. If anyone takes the time to read through all this, I hope you have a wonderful day, and may the lord bless you. If you just scrolled to the bottom, may the lord bless you doubly so. We all need his help, whether we're aware of it or not. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Glory to God! I'm glad to hear you're striving to unite yourself to the Church brother. In the midst of all your spiritual struggles against the passions, nothing will ever serve you more than prioritizing that single decision. I relate to the sentiments you've expressed wholeheartedly. For a long time--as I mentioned in my testimony--I enjoyed the benefits of having my conscience supernaturally purged of filth, to the extent that both my language and even my thought-life were under strict guard. But as time went on and the spiritual high of being newly converted began to subside somewhat, I noticed that some of these old struggles I thought I'd put to death gradually began to resurface. It wasn't until I became Orthodox that I discovered there was a whole new set of obstacles with higher high's and lower low's than before. But what I can guarantee you have to look forward to is enjoying the reality of living a sacramental life--that each week, and indeed even each day, we are (ideally) preparing ourselves for the next time we are to receive the most pure Body and most precious Blood of Christ in the life-giving Mystery of Holy Communion. And there truly is something transformative that takes place in the sacrament of Confession. We put the old man to death in the waters of Baptism which regenerate the soul. These holy gifts really do something, and things begin to change. Until then, just remain humble, patient and persistent my friend, and always in prayer. Thanks for sharing some of your journey here, and I look forward to the day when we'll truly be brothers in Christ! May the Lord continue to bless and guide you on your journey.
Great video! Our stories are so shockingly similar that it would be much easier to enumerate only the differences of detail: the greatest of which is that it wasn't until I learned about Orthodoxy that I was called to Christ at all, despite the efforts of many. I was received as a catechumen this very day after nearly 2 years of inquiry, and with God's mercy I'll be received into the church no later than Holy Saturday.
Glory to God! That's great to hear. I'd be curious to hear more of the details from your journey into the faith and the Church--please do shoot me a message on one of my socials, if you feel so inclined (see channel 'About' section). God bless. ☦️
Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you liked it! I imagine we'll be seeing alot more conversions in America in the coming decade--the house of cards in the modern, western expressions of the faith seem to be steadily collapsing. Lord willing, we'll be hearing alot more testimonies in the near future.
dude, i have a congenital heart condition and having periodic arrhythmia is just part of the condition but in the last year or two i been having intense episodes almost like what you described and i eventually realized it might just be anxiety but i dont really know. but anyways i ended up becoming so worried about it that it finally forced me to set aside my laziness and get myself to an orthodox church finally and i been going regularly since last november. even tho i already believed for a few years and i intellectually knew orthodoxy had to be the ultimate truth, i had never actually got myself out of my silly little comfort zone and got to the church like i knew i was capable of doing. having that sense of death being possibly near really is convicting, it really makes one realize they have to get right with God. first thing i did was not call the doctor but rather i got my butt to church lol man life is a trip. and boy can i relate to a lot of what you went thru except the relationship issues and drugs. i was raised nondenom christian, but fell away and did the new age thing and still felt lost and dealt with that struggle with un-asked-for nihilism and depression and persistent sense of doom, yeah im still crawling out of that mental/psychological nightmare with the help of Christ and the Church, thank God. Same thing finally brought me back around to God- i was at the end of my rope and didnt know what was reality or what was true and i did the silliest thing- i prayed and asked Who-Ever-Is-In-Charge-of-All-This please show me the Real Truth, not another stupid deception but the actual Truth, if God is truly a reality and if Christ is God please help me find the way. i was tired. and that spring/summer i ran into orthodoxy in my mom's NIV study bible and looked into what 'orthodoxy' actually was. i never knew what it was. dang. what an adventure
My brother!!! What a beautiful video! Δοξασμένο το Όνομα Σου Χριστέ μου! What a beautiful journey! My brother, know that nothing in our life happens by chance. If you carefully check your life from the beginning, all the paths you have passed, you will find that everything was done to reach this right one where you are now! That is, you will see that in a miraculous way everything was done so that you could know our Father! Nothing in our life happens by chance! May God guide you in your life and strengthen your faith! We must ask God to make us Saints. For the Lord himself says: "Αιτησθαι και δωθησετε", which means to ask him (that which is good and beneficial for the salvation of our souls) and I will give it to you. He also says: "Αγιοι γινεσθαι" , which means "Become Saints"! That's why we ask him to take our passions and give us virtues! Thank you so much my brother for sharing your journey with us! You give us courage and strength. May Theotokos, our Mother, have you under Her care!
Thank you for taking the time to indulge me this long presentation and for sharing your encouraging thoughts! Funny enough, my wife and I have talked about that exact subject before: how, if anything at all had happened differently, then our parents would have never met, and we wouldn't have been born, and wouldn't have met the mutual friend who introduced us not realizing we would get married and have children, and every last little detail in between up until we ultimately found our way into the very Church our Lord Himself established. Had even one thing happened differently--not only in our own lives but in all of history!--then we would not be. Yet, by God's Providence and by His grace, everything unfolded exactly as it did, just as the Scripture promised: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." May Christ reign in our hearts on the count of this revelation! I pray the Lord continues to guide and bless you on your journey. Peace be with you.
A truly amazing testimony... i find so many similarities to my own journey through addiction and wandering around different protestant denominations and new age spirituality until finally going back to the roots and rediscovering my first love- Eastern Orthodoxy... i have been thinking to write a book that could help people with the same struggles, but your testimony is just so much more powerful as you are an amazing example of how amazing God is and how much He loves each one of His creations... i hope you and your whole family persevere in the true faith until the end...it is a daily decision to fight the good fight and a daily battle with our passions and weaknesses, but with the help of the saints and the prayers of the Theotokos, we can reach the goal, by God's grace! слава на Бога за всичко!
I spent this week watching your testimony!!!!! Absolutely loved every second of it. I'm so grateful for this work. I appreciate you and will pray for your family. I would love to say more but I have to run. May God bless you and your entire family abundantly
You took the Leap of Faith into the Adventure of living in the Kingdom in Oklahoma! We decided that the candle factory is where we will “leave our bones” (Fr Cosmos of Gregoriou in Apostle to Zaire by UMP) as missionaries in California…. Some days I really want to get out of here, but then I call on Him to increase my Trust.☦️ and to deny myself.
...for me, the most touching moment was to see you all in these white robes...a true representation of God's Kingdom...this is how our souls must look like after every confession...and also the ultimate purpose of our earthly life- to be as pure as possible so we can communicate with our Heavenly Father and be part of His holy family! May God bless you!
Very inspirational testimony. A lot of similarities to my own story. I battled many of the same demons throughout my life, and I used music as an outlet too. I wish I had realized sooner that all my music was demonically inspired and that because I had been brainwashed by the world I was only putting out more of the same evil propaganda about drugs, filth, sex, and violence. I was a slave too. And I’m still a slave, but I’m striving for freedom which can only come through Christ and His Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church! God bless you brother! ☦️
Bless you. I hope your faith stays full and never stray. Me im just starting my steps. I feel sometimes not worthy to be in the light, me being a heathen bastard. I believe in God always have but never trusted or believed any preacher i came across. Take me to a church i would sleep no matter how loud the preacher got, the harder i slept. Now i want to learn i want to be better, i apologize for my failings and mean it and i accept im a human with a soul who needs the Church the Real Church. You know i have faith always have, always had hope, but i was not letting my faith lead me i fought it now i know God is in charge not me never have been in charge never will. Orthodox is the real thing. Im sorry im rambling, but thank you.
I was born as an Orthodox Christian, and the journey you and many other people born outside from Orthodoxy have had really humbles me to the core. So much trouble and pain you had to endure untill you find real faith...although, i myself had many troubles and insecurities , and was searching the answers everywhere but in the Orthodoxy. Great video, greetings from Serbia !
In America being Orthodox is not something that just happens to you. It is not only that you won't be born into the faith here, it's that you won't even know what the word Orthodox means. It's rare because we do not have an autocephalous church in our country. Even the OCA, the Orthodox Church of America, is not American. Here you can find a single convention of a single Protestant denomination that is larger and more well known than all the jurisdictions of Orthodoxy put together. For all but a few, being Orthodox in America is something you studied on your own at first and then had to go searching for
@patrickbarnes9874 as this pertains to my experience, I agree completely agree
@@patrickbarnes9874this is so true. I'm going to an Orthodox church for the first time this Wednesday! Please pray for me while I try and repent of my sins and give myself to Jesus completely
Hristos vaskrse!
I’m one of the current parishioners at St Raphael of Brooklyn! I was so surprised to see myself, Fr David and our parish in your testimonial. The lord works in mysterious ways. Glory to God for leading us to his church.
Amen brother! All things work together ☦️🙏🏽
As someone who was born in the Orthodox faith, I often struggle because I feel a deep sorrow for those who cannot experience it, either because they closed off their heart to God or any other circumstances, but these testimonies and conversions fill me with hope and show me that God truly has a plan of redemption and salvation for everyone. Although I am not worthy, let me bid you welcome to the narrow path my brother in Christ and may the Holy Trinity, with the intercession of the Theotokos, keep us on that path until our last breath.
Amen!
If it makes you feel any better, I was an absolute hardcore atheist not even a year ago and now I go to Divine Liturgy every week.
@@kodokanshiai2143 it does! Welcome to the narrow path my brother, pray for me like I will for you!
Great testimony, brother. My name is Cam. Baptized as Nicholas in 2015. Gonna be 40 in December and have battled addiction for 27 years. I have a wife and 3 small kids. Wandered away from my faith countless times. Got into the occult. Almost joined the Freemasons. But Christ slapped me awake. Please pray for me and my fam. I’m off the booze and drugs but struggling hard with the cigarettes still. This testimony was encouraging for me big time. God bless you for taking the time to do this. Also, the track played at 2:02:50 is amazing 😎
Blessed to have Brother Macarius as my sponsor, and Godfather. And now he is taking time to sponsor my two kids, and soon-to-be wife for their baptism into the holy ROCOR Orthodox Church. Grateful! Macarius is a spiritual giant. I bow down to him. Thank you, my beautiful brother. Glory to God ☦️🙏🏻
I went to my first Great Vespers this weekend at St. James Antiochian in Modesto. I've been in the bottom of drug addiction and free from that for 12 years but God has been guiding me to Orthodoxy the past few months. It was the most beautiful service I've ever been too and the Father and Subdeacon welcomed me. Going to keep going and hopefully become a Catechumen soon!
I would suggest asking the priest if you can attend the catechumen classes as an inquirer first unless and until you are certain that joining the church is what you really want to do. It is taken very seriously and while you are a catechumen your success will be prayed for by everyone in the parish every week. Becoming a catechumen is not something you do in order to decide whether to become Orthodox but is instead the first thing you do after you have already made that decision. But I'm sure your priest will explain all this to you. God be with you on this journey you have started! ☦
Glory to God!!! I'm so glad you came to The Truth brother! As a "genuine" Orthodox Christian, I agree with your criticisms. This passion, the "Temptation to the Right" is a really big problem, especially online. People will put an icon as their profile picture, and think themselves as some kind of "Confessors". Our metropolitan asked a friend of mine to look into a lot of these "keyboard warriors", and find out who they were, and found almost across the board: 1. None of them go to church with any regularity 2. They can speak for hours about church politics and "theology" but none of them can even recite the 50th Psalm. 3. Almost none of them are baptized, or even catechumens. Speaking from my own experience: the desire to "expose" or "condemn" the sins of another almost always stems from pride and self-justification. May God preserve you and your family, strengthen you in faith, and deliver us all from judgement of others! ☦️
Brother, I love your input here. Thank you for sharing this. Please, if you'll go to the 'About' section on the channel and find one of my socials, please reach out so we can stay in touch. Until then, I wish you a most blessed Lent 🙏🏽☦️
@orthodox_soul I just sent you an email! Same to you, good strength! 💪✝️
Raised by Word of Faith protestant, I got in trouble for my innocent questions. I thought God hated me. I figured since this is Christianity and this is AWFUL, everyone around me was right, Christianity didn't make sense, and it's a joke (WOF is a mockery of Christianity, ppl just don't know it) I quickly became an atheist. My existential crisis had quickly lead me to despair. After 15 years of being a living corpse, finally broke down and asked God if He was real...He showed me. It was a long and hard 5 years though the protestant labyrinth to Orthodoxy. Was baptized with my husband and children this April on Lazarus Saturday. All Glory to God, He truly is the Most Merciful. Glad you've found your way, looking forward to hearing the rest of your story. 🕯🕯☦🕯🕯
One of the best testimony videos ive ever watched! Glory be to God 🙏☦️🙏
☦
Glad you enjoyed it! I appreciate the kind words ☦
@@orthodox_soul You are refuted here...
th-cam.com/video/3AplWYXFiCA/w-d-xo.html
Glory to God! This was a straight up CINEMATIC testimony video. My wife and I skipped out on a nap today (something that just about never happens...7 kids and all) to watch the entire thing in one sitting. That should tell you how engaging it was! If anyone thought my testimony video was good, the production quality of this is like mine on steroids 😂You definitely raised the bar.
While each conversion is a miracle of grace, I found your story particularly amazing. The trials that you faced, the depths of depravity and drug addiction to which you fell, the crippling chronic health issues, and your long path out of darkness and into the light make for a story with the substance to match the presentation.
Finally, the closing portion which gracefully shared your critiques of Protestantism was eloquent and powerfully compelling. This is the kind of content and effort that, by God's grace, is undoubtedly going to win souls.
People that need to see this:
• anyone who is "spiritual but not religious"
• anyone who's been down all the rabbit holes
• anyone with debilitating anxiety
• anyone wrestling with Orthodoxy after being exposed to the issues with their Protestant paradigm
• anyone who is coming to realize that the devil is real and is flirting with the general idea that Christianity is the truth
5/5 stars! I am so proud of you, my brother in Christ. I know from experience how MONUMENTAL of an undertaking a project like this is, and how much of a weight must be lifted off of your shoulders having completed this labor of love for the benefit of the salvation of others. May our Lord use it for His glory and for the benefit of His Kingdom, and our nation☦🙏🖤🤍 ☦
I was blown away by your testimonial video. Not to diminish yours by any means but this one takes the cake. Both of you guys seem to have very similar stories Maybe she worked together on sometimes.
As a cradle Orthodox Christian, I can say for certain that many of us including the new generation do not know the gift we have in the Church. Thank you for reminding us of this gift, I will share this video with my kids and others in the hopes that it will resonate. You truly have a way with words and storytelling! May God bless you and your family and this platform that you have to share the good news!
This was really Beautiful, I am currently on the Journey to the One True Church founded by Christ ☦️
Glory to God!
Hristos a înviat!
Glory to God for your journey! May we meet in Heaven! 🤗
Every American needs to see this!
Every share helps serve that end! 🙏🏽☦️
God bless you for your difficult journey to Him, brother. May our Lord Jesus Christ save all of us, amen
Beautiful testimony. Welcome home to the Church. Δοξα τω Θεω. Prayers and blessings for you and your family always.
Great testimony brother ☦ Glory to God! Your journey was crazy and somewhat similar to mine in many ways. I was also raised in a secular home, smoked a lot of weed and got drunk often, ended up getting bad gut issues and started to prioritize health. In doing so, discovering all the elite agendas, the push for crappy food/bugs/GMO, etc, and then through that journey coming across people like Tristan Haggard and Jay Dyer which made me begin to question everything I'd ever been told about religion
Thanks for the feedback brother. I'm glad you managed to find your way out of darkness and into the light as well. Knowing so many of our stories are so similar is just yet another testimony to the grace of God, that He would draw us into His light together in a way that we can better understand one another's struggles and share each other's burdens. Glory to God indeed!
@@mreajamorgana It should be in your emojis on your keyboard
@@mreajamorgana ahhh I did it on PC and I did : orthodox cross : (without the space in between the words and colons) and a cross emoji popped up that I clicked
@@mreajamorgana you can try to copy and paste these ones. ☦ ☦ ☦
@@orthodox_soul I’m also amazed how eerily similar our stories are. I’ve been on a journey through addiction & recovery, through uncovering hidden truths of our world & getting stuck in multiple rabbit holes with no end, through new age beliefs, to finally the Orthodox Church. Would love to connect with you brother, thank you for this. God is good.
Great testimony brother! I’m praying for you please keep growing an an Orthodox Christian ☦️💚🙏🏽 Jesus is with you. Please pray for me. I’m ex-Muslim who became Protestant Christian now interested in Orthodox Christianity.
Glory to God! You've already overcome a major hurdle, brother. I pray that you persevere on your journey towards the one true Church 🙏🏽
@@orthodox_soul Thank you so much my brother. God bless you ☦️🙌 means a lot brother
Welcome home brother ☦️🤍 Amazing testimony. A russian sister in Christ from Vienna sent me a picture of her church yesterday. It was the one you had your first divine liturgy in 😄 God bless. ☦️🤍
That's amazing, it's an absolutely beautiful church. I hope I'm able to take my wife there some day. Thanks for your support!
A testimonial masterpiece. I don’t have any other words.
You are deluded.
th-cam.com/video/3AplWYXFiCA/w-d-xo.html
Well there went my entire afternoon.❤ This was absolutely riveting! Glory to God for your intellectual honesty. May we never forget what a gift it is to have our faith. I was moved to tears at the end on how good God is. ~Dec 5th, 2021, (St.Xenia) I came home. I am still in awe. Even when my personal prayer is lacking, it all becomes perfect prayer when I attend divine liturgy. ☦️ We also drive almost an hour to church every Sunday and we have been blessed to have started an official mission church where I can ride my bike every Friday for vespers.
I shared your video with family and friends. May God grant you many happy years!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and personal experiences Lori, and for sharing the video around. I'd hoped to move and inspire others, and you've already helped serve that end. God bless you sister ❤️☦️
Parts of this hit hard man...Glory to God. I was addicted to H for nearly a decade, been sober 9 years, orthodox for nearly 4. I started with pills but it gets difficult to source the 30+ pills per day, so u up it to 5 oxy or morphine but those even harder to source and more expensive...so H was cheaper and I could source unlimited amounts...after I detox (18 days of pure torture withdrawal no sleep no eat, 3 emergency room visits) in winter of 2013, I only lasted 11 days before I required methadone to taper myself to a stable functional level, which took couple years...only when I found Orthodoxy was I able to get totally free from my pharma-leash.
🙏 thanks for this thorough testimony! Highly relatable. Even your childhood, the secular family, existentialism at young age, moving stunting social development...lots of things I experienced like you.
"The worst part of addiction, is all the times you can't show up when your brothers and sisters (loved ones) need you."
-Stevie Ray Vaughn
You should totally upload that epic final section on why you chose Orthodoxy and know it’s the true church ad it’s own shareable video!!
I've been trying to decide which sections would make the best clips, so I'll make note of that. Thanks for the input!
I'm a Greek Orthodox Christian and on my final year of studying theoretical physics. Firstly, I'll try to explain why Orthodoxy is the only True/Correct faith. Secondly, I'll suggest some things that could help anyone who is interested in Orthodoxy.
For the first part:
Orthodoxy is the First, Original (Historically) and only True faith which is the outcome of the direct revelation by God Himself (the Ιncarnated Word of God = Jesus Christ -> Bible) and thus is not a relegion (religion=a man-made belief system which is trying to explain God, as all known religions (Islam,Hinduism,....) or Christian heresies (Protestantism, Catholicism,...) are. Also, Orthodoxy is not a gesture of men reaching God, but is a gesture of God revealing himself to men)
Also, is called "Orthodoxy" which in Greek (The language in which the Bible was written by the Apostles originally) means the correct(Ortho=Ορθός=correct) belief(doxy=Δοξασία/Δόξα=belief/faith/dogma/tenet) and is the faith of all Greeks (to which Jesus=God said:
(John 12:20-24): " ²⁰Some Greeks had gone to Jerusalem to worship during Passover. ²¹Philip from Bethsaida in Galilee was there too. So they went to him and said, “Sir, we would like to meet Jesus.” ²²Philip told Andrew. Then the two of them went to Jesus and told him.
²³Jesus said: The time has come for the Son of Man to be given his glory.
²⁴I tell you for certain that a grain of wheat that falls on the ground will never be more than one grain unless it dies. But if it dies, it will produce lots of wheat")
Prophesying that the time has come for Him (Son of Man = Jesus as 100% human as the son of Virgin Mary/Theotokos) to die on the cross (...grain of wheat...it dies) and then given His Glory (Jesus as 100% God) after His Resurrection and Ascension to the right hand of God. Also Prophesying that His death "will produce lots of wheat", which is linked to Greeks stating that Greeks (and also all other people which are not Jewish and follow the same path (as Greeks in that time symbolized all non Jews), will glorify Jesus by recognizing Him as their Messiah, Savior and true God and they will keep the True and Correct Faith (Orthodoxy), and they will not go astray (as the Heretics or other religions), and In this way they will participate in the "production of lots of wheat", (In contrast to Jews and other Heretics (Catholics, etc which will do go astray and so they won't be able to inherit God's Kingdom and be Gods by grace))
(Jesus was always, before and after His death and always, simultaneously 100% human and 100% God. At first as 100% God He took the human nature by His gestation in Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit and became simultaneously 100% human too. Then by His tortures and the death of His human nature on the cross He took upon Himslef the sin of the entire fallen human nature and put an end to it with the death of this fallen nature of humans which didn't had the ability of Theosis (Theosis=To become God not by nature but by grace), but was the outcome of spiritual death and sin (see Genesis in the old Testament and the fall of Adam and Eve). Finally, with His Resurrection and Ascension (As 100% human and 100% God simultaneously) to the right hand of God (The Father, and also with the Holy Spirit to Which He was fully connected to both of them always as the second Person of Holy Trinity by his 100% God nature), He led the human nature to the ABILITY of Theosis and the inheritance of God's Kingdom making humans who manage to go to Heaven the same as Him (by grace not by their nature)=Gods by grace.
But there is a big misconception in some heresies: God didn't Ιncarnated, became human and died on the cross to put everyone who says that believes in Jesus in heaven. Instead He did all that to give to people the ABILITY of Theosis and the inheritance of God's Kingdom. Whether this ABILITY is reclaimed and a person is saved and not go to hell, depends on the person's FREE WILL, (and what they truly believe in their heart), which is expressed by their actions in their lives on earth, the acceptance of God's Truth by becoming members of His one True Church by Being Orthodox Baptized (Other heretic baptisms as Catholic, etc are invalid even if some orthodox priests who are in places where Orthodoxy isn't very common say otherwise) and Chrismated (also this two things are necessary in order to be able to commune with the Holy Spirit and then Jesus Christ and Actually see God Himself and his Uncreated Light from this Life on earth) and having a correct lifestyle which includes Gods commands and participation in the liturgical mysteries, and having a spiritual father for guidance. This belief that everyone will be saved just because they say they are Christians is wrong, it was made just because it's suits people as the easy path and this is a typical example of why all these diefferent heresies were created.
All known religions are either man-made paganistic phylosophies (Islam,Hinduism,....), or heretic ideologies (influenced by the Revelation of God by God Himself=Orthodoxy---historically precedes all its heresies and islam too which is influenced by Orthodoxy too anyway) where the truth/Orthodoxy is falsified, misquoted and manipulated in order to conform to the sinful prejudices and to the enforcement of authority of the different people that made them (Pope, Mohammed,....). The belief that every belief is true and correct as long as someone refers to the word Jesus is wrong, the truth and Gods' presence and grace is only in Orthodoxy.
Also, an other proof is the miracle of the Holy Light at the day of the celebration of Resurrection in Easter which always is done by the Orthodox Patriarch until today, and one time in history (In 1549 AD) when the heretics didn't let the Orthodox Patriarch perform the miracle and tried to do it by themselves, the miracle didn't happen and the pillar next to the Orthodox Patriarch opened and the Holy Light came out illuminating only his candles. The Emir watched the events from the minaret of the mosque opposite the Temple and shouted "One is the true God, the God of Christians. I believe in the Risen Christ", Then the Muslims caught him and beheaded him. His holy relic is kept to this day in the Holy Monastery of the Great Virgin of Jerusalem. The crack of the pillar located in the middle column to the left of the entrance to the complex of the Holy Sepulcher is 1.20 meters high and, it looks like a rising flame. From then on Heretics gave back to the Orthodox Bishop the right to do the miracle himself.
THE BIGGEST PROOF IS THAT IN ALL THIS RELIGIONS PEOPLE CAN NOT SEE GOD, BUT IN ORTHODOXY GOD CAN BE SEEN DIRECTLY, EXPERIENCED WITH ALL SENSES, EATEN AND DRUNK UNITING DIRECTLY WITH A BAPTIZED PERSON'S HEART (BY THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY EUCHARIST) AND A PERSONAL EXISTENCIAL RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION WITH GOD, THEOSIS AND THE EXPERIENCE OF HEAVEN AND GODS KINGDOM CAN BE ACHIVED BY THIS LIFE ON EARTH AS THE MAIN ELEMENT OF ORTHODOXY.
For the second part, some things that could help are:
The Channel "trisagion films" which has videos about Orthodoxy and lives of saints in English and the movie of "the life of saint Joseph the hesychast" which is available in English in youtube.
Byzantine Music and hymns.
The book "Great Gerontikon" and the lives of saints.
Elder Ephraims of Arizona monasteries throughout US (who is most probably to officially declared a saint in recent future).
Holy mountain of Athos and Vatopedi monastery and its youtube Channel.
Pray to God by your own words or with known Orthodox prayers, as much as you can, in order to start feeling the grace inside your heart.
LEARN ABOUT THE "UNCEASING PRAYER OF THE MIND AND HEART" ("JESUS PRAYER").
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:
Know that the most important thing is actions and not just knowing stuff in theory. The only way to achieve Theosis is through ascetic life and keeping a proper schedule on doing our spiritual duties.
Find a spiritual father for guidance
Start having a correct lifestyle which includes Gods commands, and learn as much as you can by studying.
Participate in the liturgical mysteries of the church.
When you feel ready be Orthodox Baptized (Other heretic baptisms as Catholic, etc are invalid, even if some wrongly say the opposite) and Chrismated (2 things necessary to be able to commune with and see God Himself and his Uncreated Light from this Life on earth, and for later to be able to inherit God's Kingdom and achieve Theosis).
THE ONLY PURPOSE OF ALL THOSE THINGS IS TO HELP A PERSON ACHIVE COMPLETE COMMUNION (PERSONAL EXISTENCIAL RELATIONSHIP THAT HAPPENS WITH ALL OUR BEING-BODY AND SOUL) WITH GOD, THEOSIS (AS AN OUTCOME OF THE FORMER) AND THE EXPERIENCE AND INHERITANCE OF HEAVEN AND GODS KINGDOM (=GOD'S PRESENCE), FIRST FROM THIS LIFE AND THEN FOR ETERNITY IN THE OTHER LIFE, BY SACRIFICING THE ONLY THING THAT WE HAVE/CAN PRODUCE BY OUR SELVES WHICH IS OUR FREE WILL (AS A GOD GIVEN ABILITY...EVERY OTHER THING EITHER COMES FROM THE GRACE OF GOD/HIS PRESENCE OR THE ABSENCE OF THE GRACE OF GOD/HIS ABSENCE...) (FREE WILL = THE ABILITY TO ACCEPT OR REJECT THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN US...WE ARE LIKE A MECHANICAL MACHINE, WE CAN DO CERTAIN THINGS (THAT ARE SIMILAR TO THE THINGS GOD HIMSELF DOES...IF GOOD..., AS WE ARE IMAGES OF GOD) BUT ONLY IF WE HAVE THE NECESSARY FUEL IN US WHICH IN THIS CASE IS THE GRACE OF GOD (IF WE ARE SPEAKING ABOUT GOOD THINGS), OR THE ABSENCE OF THE GRACE OF GOD (IF WE ARE SPEAKING ABOUT BAD THINGS...THERE IS NO EMPTY SPACE IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, BUT THE "EMPTY SPACE" OF THE ABSENCE OF GOD IS "FILLED" WITH THE OPPOSITE TRAITS OF GOD WHICH ARE THE EVIL THINGS...).
EVERY GOOD THING IS A RAY OF LIGHT OF GOD'S INFINITE UNCREATED LIGHT AND EVERY BAD THING IS AN ABSENCE OF A RAY OF LIGHT OF GOD'S INFINITE UNCREATED LIGHT.
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts so extensively to give such a zealous defense of Holy Orthodoxy as the One, True faith. 🙏🏽☦️
@@orthodox_soul Glory to God! May He bless and guide, you, and all your family, give you His Holy Light and fill your hearts with His presence and Grace. I wish, if it's beneficial for your spiritual development and salvation, that, with Gods help, you continue contributing to the spreading of the word of God/Orthodoxy, always with humility, discernment and much prayer and ascetic attitude in preparation. You're in my prayers.
Glory to God! This was so so good. Amazing testimony and beautiful video! I have only been attending the Orthodox church for about 7 months, but I am the only one at my church that isn't a Protestant convert. My story is like yours in many ways. I was raised without religion and basically considered myself 'agnostic' for all of my adult life. I have always taken interest in conspiracy 'theory' topics, but never dug into the trenches of WHY the world is the way it is until 2020. Then I went all in. I ended up in a lot of woowoo, new age, all is one, enlightenment, etc. etc. ideas and spent much time listening and reading into these ideas to the point of disassociation and feeling like everything was an illusion. Thank God, I didn't just stop there and I just kept digging and digging for truth, but also for application. It was a painful soul search, but by some grace, I found my way to the church. Thank you for sharing your story!
I'm glad it was edifying for you, I've heard of many similar stories with these kinds of parallels as well. Glory to God that you found Holy Orthodoxy! May we both continue to grow and mature spiritually on our respective journeys 🙏🏽 Thanks for sharing your experience and feedback ☦️
Very well done! I’m starting my journey into orthodoxy. I pray usually twice a day with the Jesus Prayer. I find it’s been slowly purging the past traumas from me and purifying me. Thank you for such a thorough testimony!
It was finding the Jesus Prayer that started me into Orthodoxy. I also found the prayer to have a profound positive effect on me. I found myself always wanting to go deeper with the prayer. After about six months of practicing the Jesus Prayer I decided to start inquiring into becoming fully Orthodox myself.
@@patrickbarnes9874 Thanks for sharing your experience with me. I started reading the morning and evening prayers and then doing the Jesus prayer after. I’m going an Orthodox Church tomorrow. I’m giving orthodoxy a year to see what happens. There are some things that are hard to accept in Christianity for me. But I want to see what happens if I go all in. I just had no idea Orthodox was about there and that it centered around Theosis. At least that is my understanding. I know very very little but the little I know is drawing me to it.
This has to be the greatest testimony I've ever heard. Glory to God!
This is just incredible, with many parallels to my life
My family and I will be entering the church soon ☦️
May God grant you many years, brother
Glory to God! Do you have a date already set for your baptism? I'll keep you in my prayers until then ☦️👍🏽
@@orthodox_soul I don't have one set exactly yet, but my bishop assured me it will be soon. My family and I have been attending an antiochian parish for over a year now and initially attended inquirer classes, but when we started going to our parish the catechesis classes had already begun, and then this year they haven't been started because our priest is retiring - so our catechesis process has been a bit different and we've had more individual instruction from our priest; we don't know if he will be the one that brings us into the church. It's just a transitional period for our parish right now. But it's gonna happen at some point in the not too distant future according to my bishop because we are both ready and the kids are too ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ
@@johnvanderschuit actually, you might be surprised. Alot of people I know face some kind of extenuating circumstances when trying to come into the Church, including us! So, you're in good company brother. Either way, I'm thrilled for you and your family and that you all get to take that monumental step together ✊🏽
Listened to while at work and I gotta say your testimony is awesome. I was moved emotionally multiple times throughout and it takes courage to share all that you did. I'm working on my own testimony and I found your video inspiring. Funny enough, a lot of elements that were involved in your coming to the Faith echoed my own journey to Orthodoxy and I'll say your not alone in terms of the truth of the world. In the sense of cosmology and the absolute deception that rules the world today. I'm glad to have you as a brother in the faith and look forward to future videos. God bless! Christ is Risen! ☦️👍
I’m a former emcee who found Eastern Orthodoxy as well. Welcome home.
Incredible testimony, I see so many parallels between your life and mine, I’m so blessed to have discovered the Orthodox Church recently, please pray for me and all the other lost sheep who are drawn by the voice of the one true Shepherd
Dear brother, I thank God for you and your story!
An amazing witness and baring of your life and growth in the Lord. Thank you for doing this and sharing it! God bless!
I’m enjoying this soooo much! Just at the “Early Life” part. I’m writing a book about my journey called “Confessions of a Controlaholic: My Journey from Hedonism, Psychology, Hinduism, Protestantism and Roman Catholicism to Eastern Orthodox Psychotherapy and Healing!” I started it in 2017 and I’ve got an Orthodox publisher editing it now! I pray it will help some women, especially boomers…☺️🙏🏻☦️
You will be the Orthodox babushka a lot of us young men need!
@@aeternusromanus I’m here! I pray for all of you!
I’m weeping… magnificent… thank you. I hope we meet sooner than later…🙏🏻☦️
Welcome home and welcome to Oklahoma!! Thank you for sharing your story andGod be praised for finding the Orthodox Church.
Best video ive ever watched on youtube ❤ ☦️
Thank you my brother, I'm glad you enjoyed it 🙏🏽☦️
@@orthodox_soul “Slave” is 🔥 btw
This was incredible. Thank you for the time you have put into sharing your story. As a convert also raised in a secular family as an only child, it has been rare to hear of anyone with similar upbringings. I struggled with feeling very out of place in church for a long time before my baptism, so it was very heartwarming and invigorating to watch this. I also jumped out of my chair when you spoke on the subject of the enclosed system. It is a huge part of how I escaped my atheistic worldview, and there are many of us Orthodox who have quietly come to similar conclusions - even in my own parish. Thank you for including that.
That's great to hear! Having a sense of solidarity with others always helps me feel better when the isolation starts getting to me. It was hard becoming a flat-head, knowing that no one I talked to would ever agree or even listen (even among those who were "awake" to various conspiracies).
THEN, in becoming Orthodox, I found myself in an even smaller bracket among those identifying as Christians. So I felt somewhat disheartened to keep finding myself in smaller and smaller subsets of people who could relate to me or share my beliefs--only to realize later on that it turns out it's rather common to encounter Orthodox Christians who also believed all these things, including enclosed cosmology! That was a pleasant surprise.
But it makes sense. Those who love the truth and pursue it at all costs--following the evidence where ever it leads, regardless what we believe--such people invariably end up arriving at many of the same conclusions in all the same categories. And Holy Orthodoxy just so happens to be the last destination where all forks in the road ultimately converge at the very bottom of the rabbit hole.
So I thank you as well for sharing that. I'm grateful to know that I'm in good company, Glory to God!
This was fantastic! I could relate to so much of his journey. I cried a few times. Wow! Glory to God for and in all things! ☦️☦️☦️
Brother, welcome to Orthodoxy!
Wow! Glory be to God in all things, what a wonderful story dear brother. God keep you and your family and may He enlighten many many more as He has you. Please pray for me and my parents brother, my name is Timothy. ☦️❤️
I had so many things that I needed to do today, but the Holy Spirit compelled me to watch your documentary in its entirety, as you shared your journey to Orthodoxy. So beautifully made. It touched my heart. I am glad you found your way to Him. You were always His, you just didn't know it. But now you do. Welcome. Δωξα σε ο Θεός, κατα το μεγα έλεός σου. Δωξα σε.
Thank you Yo-Ta, I'm glad you felt it was worth the time. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. Now that we live out in the country and want to grow our own food, my wife is trying to learn how to prepare many different homemade dishes--I'll have to point her to your channel for recipes!
@@orthodox_soul that is very kind of you. You know your video moved me. I appreciate your kindness and I pray for you and your family. God bless. Κύριε ελέησον, Κύριε ελέησον, Κύριε ελέησον.
Thank you for sharing your journey to Truth and Love! I am also a convert of 22 years, so very grateful!
My pleasure Francine! God willing, some day I'll also be able to say I've been Orthodox for 20+ years. How cool!
May God bless you and keep you all your days!
Glory to God! This is a great video!
Fellow Eastern Orthodox here. With the exception of the FE stuff (which I think helped break the fixed mindset attitude but is still wrong), this is a very beautiful video.
I can respect your opinion on that, thanks for the feedback. As I mentioned in the video, there is a link in the description to an article I wrote which covers the subject more in depth and the reasoning behind it (if you're at all curious). God bless!
God bless you my brother in Christ! Such a beautiful journey, almost brought a tear to my eye near the end! Glory to God!
Thanks for your input brother, I'm glad you enjoyed it 🙏🏽☦️
the intro bro is top tier stuff !!!
Welcome home.
This is an incredible video. As a fellow artist, I respect the vision behind the entire production. Similar to your alcoholism, cannabis was a major feature of my life, always the main event. It wasn't until I walked into the Orthodox church for the first time that I was able to fully rid myself of the addiction. Lord have mercy.
Glory to God! I'm glad to be in good company brother ☦️
One of the greatest videos I've ever seen. Fantastic!
I have visited the Russian Orthodox Church each Sunday for the past month. My wife and I decided to become catechumens But I slip and fall constantly. Your video has really helped me get back on track. I feel so unworthy, and I feel like my drinking and my other passions will keep God from accepting me
Glory to God! I'm glad you the video was edifying for you brother, and that you've decided to proceed with pursuing baptism--the journey can be tough due to the passions and attacks from the enemy, but nothing in this life is more worth the effort. While I've gotten past the obstacle of alcohol, to this day, I still continue to struggle with a number of other sinful thoughts and habits. Some passions just take longer to conquer, but by your refusal to give up and always choosing to repent and keep going, God can and will work His grace in your life. Just keep pressing forward!
@@orthodox_soul thank you so much and God bless you
The part towards the end about prelest was incredibly insightful. Someone of your age rarely would have seen through this. God bless you. There is a difference between the mind of the Church , and online orthodoxy. We have almost too much information these days. Many years to you and your family. We are Antiochians from Pennsylvania.
Excellent presentation brother. Beautiful videography, very compelling backstory of your journey and lots of truth nuggets. May God continue to bless you and your family as you continue in the Orthodox faith ☦️
Simply beautiful & honest video about your life. I'm very happy for you and your whole family being a part of the One Truth. May God bless this video and whoever stumbles upon it!
May God Bless you and your family, you are a miracle in our times!
Halfway through, gotta say one of the best testimonies I’ve heard and you don’t know how much it means to me hear your story right now.
My friend, it's comments like yours that remind me that all the time and effort I poured into this project was well worth it. Your being motivation is my inspiration ☦️🙏🏽❤️
Tears are a second baptism! You can read about tears in St Isaac the Syrian and St John of the ladder, and especially in the book by St Sophrony on St Silouan the Athonite! I had cried all through my time in a Hindu meditation cult and into Protestant and Latin heterodox groups. Only Holy Orthodoxy brought me understanding of tears in ongoing continual repentance! I still cry in prayer often, in fact if I don’t I know I need to go deeper with Psalm 50! (Or 51)
Glory to Lord Jesus. Thank you for your testimony brother.
This was a great listen. Thank you for sharing this. Testimony like this is so incredibly helpful to everyone.
Welcome home brother to you and you family! Welcome to the Eternal Mercy of Our Lord, welcome to the way to Salvation of our souls which thousands of saints walked before and therefore can lead us, incompetent modern sinners,every step of the way! Greetings from a cradle orthodox living in Russia.
Fantastic brother
Beautiful ☦️
Wonderful testimony I've been contemplating making one myself however I'm still young so it would be short. God bless you and your family.
Wow, that was very interesting. I learned a lot more about you. You are so smart, creative and strong. Thanks for sharing more about yourself. That's great that your path eventually lead you to become Orthodox Christian. You have come a long way. You are a good person. Brad and I are glad to have met you. God bless you! ☦️
Thank you for this
Absolutely beautifully done. Much appreciated from a Catholic looking into conversion.
I am so happy for you, brother. A really beautiful story. Glory be to God.
Starting off with a radiohead song so I already approve!
It just felt right haha
@@orthodox_soulFinished this today. Great job! This was all really well produced and clearly a lot of effort and thought went into it. I was in LA from late 2015 to late 2018 and I couldn’t have been happier to get out of there. I’m glad there are people out there putting together these high quality Orthodox focused documentaries. I’m hoping to put something together myself sooner than later and this has motivated me.
love that I found this. Thank you
So many similarities to my story. Top notch video man
Thank you for your testimony. I look forward of seeing more of your journey ✌️☦️
Brilliantly delivered testimony. Praise God.
Stunning, I resonate with this so much! So much of this is my story. What a blessing it is to see this and watch.
Glory to God. Well done testimony I enjoyed it very much God bless you and thank you for the transparency
Great video and well put together. I'm acquiring Orthodoxy and your testimony was a blessing. Peace be with you always 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿
really good video dude, bless the lord he never saw fit to trial me with a substance addiction, but I've been plagued by lust since the age of 5 or 6, even though I never actually touched myself until I was around 14 or 15. I've finally managed to get things sort of under wraps now that I go to church, pray the hours and try to keep the love of god in my heart, but I can't lie and I need to be open about the fact that I still regularly bodge it all up even while trying to keep it on the straight and narrow. I don't honestly know how the lord puts up with me, but I still want to put my faith in him.
I'm hoping to become a catechumen sometime around Pascha, but I've only been attending church for around 6 months, and I don't think I've developed a strong spiritual resilience yet, as I often get demonic attacks even in the middle of the church. Those ones are especially hard to deal with.
recently, I've begun trying to take to heart what Sint Silouan the Athonite relates to us in the vision he had about prayer; 'remember death, and do not despair!', but it's hard to apply when I struggle to even put as much love or faith in the lord that I feel I both need to and should do. Maybe those last ones are thoughts from the demons, couldn't say for sure, but St. Paisios often talks about how the demons would goad him into doing more than he could manage.
It probably all stems from my pride. 'Is this really all the lord needs me for?' I say as I have no idea about the greatness that he has in store for each and every single one of us. If anything I should be happy that there's very little he's probably asking of me, just put that pride aside and live as someone unimportant to the world; that's how the lord meets you. I'm just too wretched to actually see things as they are, and too guarded to let the lord into my heart. I'd like to be less guarded, but something tells me that's going to take a lot more time to figure out.
If anyone takes the time to read through all this, I hope you have a wonderful day, and may the lord bless you. If you just scrolled to the bottom, may the lord bless you doubly so. We all need his help, whether we're aware of it or not.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Glory to God! I'm glad to hear you're striving to unite yourself to the Church brother. In the midst of all your spiritual struggles against the passions, nothing will ever serve you more than prioritizing that single decision.
I relate to the sentiments you've expressed wholeheartedly. For a long time--as I mentioned in my testimony--I enjoyed the benefits of having my conscience supernaturally purged of filth, to the extent that both my language and even my thought-life were under strict guard. But as time went on and the spiritual high of being newly converted began to subside somewhat, I noticed that some of these old struggles I thought I'd put to death gradually began to resurface. It wasn't until I became Orthodox that I discovered there was a whole new set of obstacles with higher high's and lower low's than before.
But what I can guarantee you have to look forward to is enjoying the reality of living a sacramental life--that each week, and indeed even each day, we are (ideally) preparing ourselves for the next time we are to receive the most pure Body and most precious Blood of Christ in the life-giving Mystery of Holy Communion. And there truly is something transformative that takes place in the sacrament of Confession. We put the old man to death in the waters of Baptism which regenerate the soul. These holy gifts really do something, and things begin to change.
Until then, just remain humble, patient and persistent my friend, and always in prayer. Thanks for sharing some of your journey here, and I look forward to the day when we'll truly be brothers in Christ! May the Lord continue to bless and guide you on your journey.
amazingly done Darian
Many thanks brother!
I love the transparency
Great video! Our stories are so shockingly similar that it would be much easier to enumerate only the differences of detail: the greatest of which is that it wasn't until I learned about Orthodoxy that I was called to Christ at all, despite the efforts of many.
I was received as a catechumen this very day after nearly 2 years of inquiry, and with God's mercy I'll be received into the church no later than Holy Saturday.
Glory to God! That's great to hear. I'd be curious to hear more of the details from your journey into the faith and the Church--please do shoot me a message on one of my socials, if you feel so inclined (see channel 'About' section). God bless. ☦️
Thank you. This was amazing. I’m also a convert to Orthodoxy. This was a beautiful way to tell your story.
Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you liked it! I imagine we'll be seeing alot more conversions in America in the coming decade--the house of cards in the modern, western expressions of the faith seem to be steadily collapsing. Lord willing, we'll be hearing alot more testimonies in the near future.
Awesome testimony welcome home
dude, i have a congenital heart condition and having periodic arrhythmia is just part of the condition but in the last year or two i been having intense episodes almost like what you described and i eventually realized it might just be anxiety but i dont really know. but anyways i ended up becoming so worried about it that it finally forced me to set aside my laziness and get myself to an orthodox church finally and i been going regularly since last november. even tho i already believed for a few years and i intellectually knew orthodoxy had to be the ultimate truth, i had never actually got myself out of my silly little comfort zone and got to the church like i knew i was capable of doing. having that sense of death being possibly near really is convicting, it really makes one realize they have to get right with God. first thing i did was not call the doctor but rather i got my butt to church lol man life is a trip. and boy can i relate to a lot of what you went thru except the relationship issues and drugs. i was raised nondenom christian, but fell away and did the new age thing and still felt lost and dealt with that struggle with un-asked-for nihilism and depression and persistent sense of doom, yeah im still crawling out of that mental/psychological nightmare with the help of Christ and the Church, thank God. Same thing finally brought me back around to God- i was at the end of my rope and didnt know what was reality or what was true and i did the silliest thing- i prayed and asked Who-Ever-Is-In-Charge-of-All-This please show me the Real Truth, not another stupid deception but the actual Truth, if God is truly a reality and if Christ is God please help me find the way. i was tired. and that spring/summer i ran into orthodoxy in my mom's NIV study bible and looked into what 'orthodoxy' actually was. i never knew what it was. dang. what an adventure
all it takes is an authentic prayer, a crying out for help, so crazy but its so real
Best testimony I've heard.
My brother!!! What a beautiful video! Δοξασμένο το Όνομα Σου Χριστέ μου! What a beautiful journey! My brother, know that nothing in our life happens by chance. If you carefully check your life from the beginning, all the paths you have passed, you will find that everything was done to reach this right one where you are now! That is, you will see that in a miraculous way everything was done so that you could know our Father! Nothing in our life happens by chance! May God guide you in your life and strengthen your faith! We must ask God to make us Saints. For the Lord himself says: "Αιτησθαι και δωθησετε", which means to ask him (that which is good and beneficial for the salvation of our souls) and I will give it to you. He also says: "Αγιοι γινεσθαι" , which means "Become Saints"! That's why we ask him to take our passions and give us virtues! Thank you so much my brother for sharing your journey with us! You give us courage and strength. May Theotokos, our Mother, have you under Her care!
Thank you for taking the time to indulge me this long presentation and for sharing your encouraging thoughts! Funny enough, my wife and I have talked about that exact subject before: how, if anything at all had happened differently, then our parents would have never met, and we wouldn't have been born, and wouldn't have met the mutual friend who introduced us not realizing we would get married and have children, and every last little detail in between up until we ultimately found our way into the very Church our Lord Himself established. Had even one thing happened differently--not only in our own lives but in all of history!--then we would not be. Yet, by God's Providence and by His grace, everything unfolded exactly as it did, just as the Scripture promised: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
May Christ reign in our hearts on the count of this revelation! I pray the Lord continues to guide and bless you on your journey. Peace be with you.
Love this!! Sharing with family!☦
Awesome! I hope they're left with a similar impression 🙏🏽
Great production!
Thanks, God bless
Bravo! Glory be to God! Your testimony mirrors mine almost exactly, except my mother is German and I’m female….
Absolutely golden testimony, Brother. Thank you for sharing. GBY🙏
Beautiful!
Wow, you have a lot of icons!
You're the first person to comment on that. I've been waiting for someone to say something lol😂
A truly amazing testimony... i find so many similarities to my own journey through addiction and wandering around different protestant denominations and new age spirituality until finally going back to the roots and rediscovering my first love- Eastern Orthodoxy...
i have been thinking to write a book that could help people with the same struggles, but your testimony is just so much more powerful as you are an amazing example of how amazing God is and how much He loves each one of His creations...
i hope you and your whole family persevere in the true faith until the end...it is a daily decision to fight the good fight and a daily battle with our passions and weaknesses, but with the help of the saints and the prayers of the Theotokos, we can reach the goal, by God's grace!
слава на Бога за всичко!
I spent this week watching your testimony!!!!! Absolutely loved every second of it. I'm so grateful for this work. I appreciate you and will pray for your family. I would love to say more but I have to run. May God bless you and your entire family abundantly
I'm glad it was edifying for you Laurie! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for your prayers. May the Lord bless you as well! 🙏🏽☦️
You took the Leap of Faith into the Adventure of living in the Kingdom in Oklahoma! We decided that the candle factory is where we will “leave our bones” (Fr Cosmos of Gregoriou in Apostle to Zaire by UMP) as missionaries in California…. Some days I really want to get out of here, but then I call on Him to increase my Trust.☦️ and to deny myself.
...for me, the most touching moment was to see you all in these white robes...a true representation of God's Kingdom...this is how our souls must look like after every confession...and also the ultimate purpose of our earthly life- to be as pure as possible so we can communicate with our Heavenly Father and be part of His holy family! May God bless you!
Wow so happy for you and you family
Very inspirational testimony. A lot of similarities to my own story. I battled many of the same demons throughout my life, and I used music as an outlet too. I wish I had realized sooner that all my music was demonically inspired and that because I had been brainwashed by the world I was only putting out more of the same evil propaganda about drugs, filth, sex, and violence. I was a slave too. And I’m still a slave, but I’m striving for freedom which can only come through Christ and His Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church! God bless you brother! ☦️
Unbelievable video. God bless you.
Bless you. I hope your faith stays full and never stray.
Me im just starting my steps.
I feel sometimes not worthy to be in the light, me being a heathen bastard. I believe in God always have but never trusted or believed any preacher i came across. Take me to a church i would sleep no matter how loud the preacher got, the harder i slept.
Now i want to learn i want to be better, i apologize for my failings and mean it and i accept im a human with a soul who needs the Church the Real Church.
You know i have faith always have, always had hope, but i was not letting my faith lead me i fought it now i know God is in charge not me never have been in charge never will.
Orthodox is the real thing. Im sorry im rambling, but thank you.
Well done