Episode 51 - On God and Faith: Hearing the Call

Episode 50 - On God and Faith: Hearing the Call

summary In this raw and unscripted conversation, Jonathan Fodera and Matt Berthot delve into deep topics surrounding faith, personal growth, and spirituality. They explore their journeys of self-discovery, the challenges they faced, and the importance of parenting with a spiritual foundation. The discussion also touches on a life-altering experience that reinforced their beliefs and the responsibility of nurturing one's spiritual life.

takeaways

• The importance of asking the right questions in conversations.
• Understanding faith can evolve over time.
• Personal development is a continuous journey.
• Spirituality plays a crucial role in personal growth.
• Parenting involves instilling spiritual values in children.
• Overcoming challenges can lead to deeper faith.
• Life experiences can serve as spiritual awakenings.
• It's essential to be present and not dwell on the past.
• Connecting the dots in life can lead to profound insights.

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Transcript

0:02

Hey everybody, welcome to the Integrated Entrepreneur. I am here with Matt Berthot. He has Voice by Matt. And this is gonna be one of the most raw shows that I do. And the reason is because of Matt. Matt is a professional, he's a great human being. he just knows what questions to ask. this is completely unscripted. This is two friends that are going to have some deep conversation about things, that I have never spoken about publicly. so I really appreciate you guys sharing this. Matt, welcome, brother. Jonathan, I love how raw you are. I remember when I had you on my podcast, I was like, this is the guy that if something went down, I want in my circle you can always count on Jonathan. And I told you that, I've been in the background, listening to you talk with Angela about some of the work you do and how quick you move and the no nonsense that you portray. And it's like this, beautiful East Coast, I got you. Don't you worry about it. I got you. the feeling's mutual, Jonathan. I love how tough you are. I love how good. of a father you are and how much that means to you. And I love this conversation that we're gonna have about God. Appreciate that, I grew up Lutheran, which is JV Catholic. it's like a watered down version of Catholicism. growing up, there's all these rules, all these legalisms memorize this go to catechism on Wednesdays get confirmed go to Sunday school we're just gonna get real with it. Growing up, I never really understood until I went to college what Jesus dying on the cross actually meant. we would do communion and I was told, you can only do communion at this church, you can't go to any other church, and nobody else from another church can do communion at this church. And that doesn't seem like what Jesus actually would want. And I think a question to just piss off the listeners already is this. What would Jesus think if Jesus actually walked into a church today? I don't know. And I think he'd be like, what did you guys do? What is this? I'm hanging from a cross right now, I get it, you're honoring me and my death, but. supposed to be everywhere, Like a lot of us, in the last three or four years, I have started to dig into my religion more. That pull, that you have to say this or do this, or not do this, or not say this. I think there's this intention that is intuitive, that is a combination of your spirit, your soul, and your body. when your spirit, your soul, and your body all come together, That is the holiness version of you. For people that are doing personal development, you're making yourself better, you're working out or you're reading you're meditating, whatever you're doing to make yourself better every day. As we grew, and I say we, because a lot of us are in the Arate syndicate, as we grew over the last six years, we outgrew the people that refused to grow. you come to a point in your growth pattern where external growth starts to be very minimal. And then there's a lot of internal growth that you have to do. And so the routines that I used to do religiously, get up at 4.30, go do this workout, go do a second workout, drink this, blah, blah. got to the point where you can't hear God. because your mind is so cluttered with bullshit. I've never had that moment. Before we got on the show. I told you that the last 12 months, has been the most I've ever dove into religion. give you a backstory, I was a cradle Catholic, Went through everything, went through all the sacraments And I would go to church here and there. growing up, I would go on the holidays. My cousin, is a bishop. Bobby Brennan, out of Brooklyn. he's one of the best people I know but I've never really dug deep into religion I feel like I have been blessed with way more than I deserve broke every rule even when i matured i didn't understand it all i made some pretty bad mistakes and i've wrestled with this i don't know what called me to dig in more but i've always believed in god that's never been a question But I didn't study it. I didn't understand what it meant. I would just go through the motions. but I've always tried to help others. I've always had that in me I got that from my mom. that And even when I was a world class piece of shit, I did always try to give back. I've learned I've changed I've become someone I'm a little bit more proud of being. it might sound like I'm being hard on myself, but there's a dark side. I don't know if the dark side ever goes away, you just get better controlling it And so. I have been obsessed after losing my dad and not having either one of my parents. I dug really deep into religion. Currently reading the Bible for the first time in my life. I'm trying to do cover the cover, at the same time I'm reading revelations. I also bought patterns of evidence if you guys are doubting or on the fence about your religion and about your faith, what I would tell you is you don't need proof or you shouldn't need proof for faith. I am. 100 % sure and I mean that I'm saying it now after reading the Bible at least what I've made it through and I'm in the Old Testament still Some of the mistakes that I made I don't know recoverable, but I'm trying and reading revelations and going through seeing these people that have these encounters, and are literally being directed by God. Have I had one of those moments? No, I haven't. But this is something that in the background I have been obsessed with. It's kind of crazy, at this stage to pick it up and I'm so glad I did. But there's a lot that even I struggle with it's hard to put it all together, It's a continuous process. I don't think it ever ends. by the way, Matt brought this up. I was saying, Matt, this is podcast that shows a little different. We're to wrap on something you pick. And he started asking me questions and we got to it. And we're like, all right, Let's do this. So this is real raw for me. as raw as can be because I've never done this before. Jonathan, you're not alone in reading the Bible for the first time I know quite a few people that are reading it right now, and I think that's a beautiful thing. I think the obsession and the curiosity around what is God, who is God, who is Jesus, how does this all fit, why are we so right? and they're so wrong. What makes us so right, These questions, the curiosity, that's the call. That's God going, and you're not the only one that has that right now, which I think it's by design. I think a lot of us, It's like God is knocking on our door. And if you don't answer, You're gonna get knocked out. And you're You're gonna wake up to it. But I really appreciate what you said. I wanna unpack that a bit about going through the motions of church. That was one of the reasons why I stopped going to church. I was a music minister for five or six years. I was a campus minister at the college I went to for four years. And it turned into business behind the scenes. And I was like, I want depth. wanna know how did Jesus walk on water, how did Jesus turn water into wine? How did Jesus heal people? where are those disciplines that we should be learning to prepare ourselves with our spiritual gifts? Yeah, we're going there. So that when evil does come into the world, we're prepared. Because it's very surface. The majority of churches that I've been to in my life, you can look at the calendar and know exactly what you're gonna get. And as we know, repetition's great and it's important. The reminders are great. But there's gonna be a point where there's gotta be more depth. There's gotta be, it's deeper. The ocean is deeper. There's more in the ocean. the juxtaposition that you talked about about money about Jesus about Jesus turning over tables in the church the tax collectors and the people that were concerned about money Everybody has the thing, like the vice, whether it's alcohol, drugs, pornography. playing video games all the time. people have one of or multiple of those. You mentioned four things, I can tell you that in the last 15 years, I had a problem with three of those things. early on, I kicked one of them. and later in life recently I kicked the other two. All and on this search to be a better person on this search to praise and support and live more by the words of God and it's been a struggle it's a responsibility that the people that are listening to this podcast, that are leaders, it's a responsibility that you've got to take care of your shit. here's where I'm gonna really step in, One of the biggest things I've been focusing on isn't me. It's my kids and how they have a relationship with God. so they go to church, they go to religious class I did that growing up. I'm not saying that anything my parents did was wrong. I'm saying that I didn't make the connection myself. it took me a lot to understand that. I don't know how easy it is for kids to understand, I have noticed that anything that my kids see me do, they will do. Good or bad. And I have made it a mission in the last 12 months that they only see good, Or they see as much good as possible I minimize the bed. they know we're going to church on Sunday. They know if we can get into confession, we're going to go. When dad is beat to shit, Which feels like a lot These days, they'll see me and i'll have them pray the rosary with me once a week once every other week and i do and i do think that matters I hope this helps other people. It's helped me. I've mentioned it because in the group that we've been part of in Arate people are like, hey, what do do when you stress? What do do when you burn out? And the easy one is physically, I need to change something in my body, right? I need to change my physical state. So I like to work out. I like to run, like to lift weights. I like to do something. But the other part of it or the bigger part of it is I have been praying a lot more. I never, I did not pray daily. When I wake up, I go right next to the bed and thank God for everything. When I go to bed, I try to do the same. And I try to either read the Bible first thing in the morning or last thing at night. And I might only read one or two. little scriptures, if you ever read the Bible, it's broken up pretty small. But it's something that I have been doing almost to get a different North Star. I think what turns people off about religion and about God and about having faith is the people that they see preach it the most. are usually the ones that are most full of shit. They haven't lived it. And I don't know if I'm moving it. I don't. you are and I think that's what's happening right now, Jonathan, We that have said yes to the call, yes, I surrender God to you, whatever you want me to do, right? when you say those words, The life as you know it is going to be over. Because if you fully do surrender to God, that means that your purpose, your mission, however God designed us, you your whole life is to fulfill that mission. I don't remember who said it to me. It was one of my mentors, but he said, It doesn't help us to worry about the past and feel the shame and guilt of the past. And it doesn't help us to worry about the future. We need to be present and still right now in this moment with me and Jonathan on this podcast. That's all we need to be right now. The other thing I want to say, because this is something I want to give to you, Jonathan, that guy from 15 to 25, for me it was about the same, we're not that guy anymore, yeah, we did those things, but we're alive right now we're here, God spared us to be in this moment, anybody that hears that, what I just said, The things that you've done in your past, if you grew as a human, you became a better version of you, I'm a much better man now than I was at 15 years old or 25. So why would I just beat myself up over and over and over for those things that I did? Because that kid, he was just trying to make it. He was just trying to figure it out. And you know what? He had some gifts, And sometimes those gifts we took advantage of we didn't use them in the right way. I mean, it's like every freaking movie there's a light side and a dark side. That's just what it is. And... The heroes of the world are always tempted by dark. You're gonna read in the Bible, Jesus was tempted by the devil. And Jesus said, no. And for all the Christians out there, Everybody that is diving into deep spirituality and religion right now, evil's gonna come at you and you need to be prepared. the preparation is the declaration of saying you have no dominion over my life, over my world, because Jesus Christ died for our sins and he is the king. God, has my back. so you have no jurisdiction in my life, my thoughts, my house, my city, my state, my country. You have no jurisdiction to mess up anything. So I say that as hope and peace to everybody that's listening, because we get caught up in the evil and the darkness and the shit that could happen, I agree with that. looking into the past and then looking into the future and worrying about that. One of the biggest things they say in the Bible is, don't worry. Don't stress. Have faith. in practice. Way easier to say all those things, than actually live them. I've always had strong faith in what I can accomplish because I know what gifts God gave, right? It's looking at the big picture. Can I tell you what I see? You have a giant humble heart You don't judge people, you know them, and we're able to come to you whole. And because we're able to come to you whole, there's no guard. you allow us to have this freedom that we can come to you whole. which is a definite spiritual gift. But the vision also that you have the framework that you're able to see, the steps that need to happen the swiftness that you're able to achieve those steps is also a gift. So you also have the gift of vision, that's a spiritual gift. But I want to acknowledge that because you said you've never had any moments that awakened you, right? I did. I don't know why I forgot about it. The boat accident. And that was the freakiest thing that ever happened. Maybe that's when I started really reading the Bible. And I didn't put it together until now. Ha I'll tell you the story. Maybe August of this year? If not, September? Took both of my sons. on a charter fishing trip for tarpon or sharks, whatever we could get. Local guide probably had a 23, 24 foot boat. It was my 10 year old Jonathan, my six year old Ronan and my brother Frank. we're out with this guide. fishing, it's a great day, beautiful day. we're out early and we had maybe two bites and then nothing. We didn't land shit. And he could tell the kids were getting, they're getting bored. This guy is doing his very best to have us hook up with a big fish and have my boys have a great time. as a father, that's the only thing you can ask for, So he gave us extra time and he's like, you know what? I know a good place to pull sharks we will pull a big shark there. So we go to this place. we drop line. And then I look over and he looks over and we see part of the skyline. And if you've been to Florida, you know the weather can change here on the drop of a dime. I look over and half the sky is pitch black and it's not night time. So storms rolling in. Big, big storm. land. you don't want to get caught out in that type of storm. So we pull up and we start heading in, and he's flying, trying to avoid the rain and the storm, and we are going through the channel markers and because of the rain the rain hits the surface where you can't see like you normally could and he decided to cut a channel marker i'm gonna get to the point where god came in real quick i was really feeling queasy when i first jumped on the boat I didn't realize that he didn't have life jackets. Big, big no-no. Second, no-no is because I went on and we were already in, there's no way for me to know that he doesn't have life jackets until I ask him and he says, no, we're already passed. I made the wrong call and I should have told them, hey, turn around, I have life jackets on my boat. never, never go out without them. OK, it's a crime. So long story short. There's no real seats on this boat. It's a fishing boat. I have both boys and they're cold because it's raining and we're going pretty fast. I had them in each arm. so my arms are around them. They're on either side of me. I don't know if I saw a vision or God said something, but he put something in my head that said, hey, be careful. Hold on. grip him tight. it might have been a 30 second difference, but I squeezed the shit out of my boys. And he cut that channel and ran aground. But when he ran aground, we were going very fast. So I see the boat starts wobbling. I feel the hit. I take both boys and I try to just fall on them. And next thing I know, the captain got launched out of the boat. My brother who is six foot and probably 280 got launched 15 feet out of the boat in about two or three feet of water. They were okay. Believe it or not, They had scrapes, cuts. my boys the oldest smashed his head on the side but i because i fell on him he didn't leave the boat the six-year-old who is not a proficient swimmer and if he got ejected and something happened he probably would have died i took him and I actually almost slammed him, I bounced his head on the floor of the boat. He cut his face, but he stayed in the boat. Both my kids stayed in that boat when two grown men got launched. And then the boat was stuck and he had to call for somebody. So we stayed out there for another hour until someone could come get us. And we almost had hypothermia because we were caught in the rain. However, everybody was alive. Everybody could tell the story. if we are talking about a time that I can remember that God spoke to me, that is the clearest one in my memory. So my faith is rock solid. I don't speak about it much. But that's a very clear time when I had a conversation with God. And what did he say again? I don't know if it was a voice or a premonition or a vision, but I could just tell that he wanted me to hold on to both boys and I knew some shit was gonna happen. And I could not tell you what. that's a frickin awesome story. I'm so glad we got that recorded for you That was incredible. you did everything that you possibly could do so they didn't fly out of the boat. And I want to acknowledge when I had you on my podcast, you you told me that you basically helped raise the family that you grew up in. I don't know if I'd say I raised it. My mom was a sole provider, she died early. When she died, I was 22, 23. I took on the financial burden and responsibility so look at that, That story that you just said. I had to take on the financial responsibility. And I remember when you told me this, was like, what? How many kids were in that house? And to you, because it's you, it's normal. that is not normal at all. it's extraordinary that you felt called, okay, I've got to take care of this. I've got to figure this out. And now, Now you do that for all kinds of businesses that need help. through your gifts, your understanding of abundance and money, you're able to help all of us when we need help, which is pretty freaking awesome. It makes so much sense because every time Angela talks to me about Jonathan, I'm like, well, he's gonna figure it out. And because it's so easy for you to figure it out. It's just like me asking these questions, helping people with their voice, this story that you just brought out, Me tying all this together for you. I do this literally every day, But every human on earth that wants to grow has this potential. for these layers to unfold. And that moment on the boat, That was an awakening spiritual moment for you to be like, thank you God, I could have lost my six year old. And God spared them. God spared your kids, And you. And your brother. And I've been through similar things too. We're running out of time I gotta get food for my boy, cause he has rehearsal at 5.30. We're gonna have a part two guys Matt Matt's coming back and me and him are gonna have a part two about his journey with God and his faith Because he dissected and ripped mine apart in front of all of you, which I think is awesome Which I think is amazing because there's no one else that probably could have came on here and done that live Well, you were ready for it, John. You were ready for it. And I think you needed to get that out. I can tell you this, I'll be real with you. I needed to connect those dots. And I can't tell you why on the show, but I needed to connect those dots. So thank you. Well, I can tell the listeners why. Purpose, mission, to be a leader, it is very lonely, But right now, where we're at in the world with this, I'm just gonna say it, this spiritual awakening happening, We need people. to really step into their spiritual gifts, period. And not shy away from it and not think it's hocus pocus. Fucking scary. It's a responsibility. And that's the thing we need more people to talk about is the responsibility and the discipline it takes to continue to grow our spirit and grow our energy, our capacity of spirit and energy, because it can grow, but not without being disciplined in prayer like you're doing, the gratitude. And one thing that you're doing, Jonathan, is what I tell my clients to do. when I work with them, you're literally bookending the day, starting and ending, the day with gratitude. And every little step that we take increases our capacity and our spirit and our energy. And energy is frequency, and frequency carries information. once your spirit expands, once your energy expands, it can never go back to its normal size. So that's why I was saying to everybody and Jonathan, that guy that was in the 15 to 25, His capacity of spirit and energy was not that great. It wasn't that big. We are 50 times spirit and energy of that guy of the past. So why would we ever measure what we are now to the guy in the past? It's a waste of thought, it's a waste of worry, it's a waste of energy to think about that guy from the past or the girl from the past. that's true man. It's Learn, bring the lessons with you, but not the person. Bring the lessons, not the person. are all different, we have all evolved and changed. That's true, man. We are we are going to do a part two. This is fun. This was more for me than it was for you. And guys, if you're listening to this, share it. I get that you guys will get a lot out of it, but selfishly. I needed this. Thank you, Matt. No man, thank you for allowing me to be me. Because that's one of your gifts. Appreciate it, brother. Thank you. Guys, follow Matt. you guys listening. Matt, this was incredible. Love you, brother. Thank you.