Jesus Studio
Welcome to Jesus studio podcast where we record the testimonies of personal journeys of individuals coming to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Each episode features, a unique testimony, offering listeners, a glimpse into the transformative power of faith and the varied past that leads to a relationship with God.
Our guest recount, their experiences of encountering the divine overcoming challenges. and how their lives have been changed since embracing Christianity.
Join us as we explore the deeply personal and inspiring stories of faith, redemption and spiritual awakening that demonstrate the universal call of Christ to all whether you are a believer, seeker or simply curious, these stories resonate with hope Love and the life changing impact of no in Jesus.
Jesus Studio
Dropped from the Academy, Caught by Jesus - Brandon’s Story
Nineteen-year-old Brandon did not grow up around faith. In his home the name of Jesus was never spoken, and rugby became his identity, his purpose and the thing that bonded him with his dad. From a young age he chased the dream of professional sport, eventually joining the Harlequins Academy and building his life around performance, pressure and the culture that surrounded it.
Everything changed when he was unexpectedly released from the academy. The loss shook him deeply. His confidence fell apart and, while trying to cope, he became distracted by a relationship that left him even more empty. During this season he began searching for something real, something that could fill the growing sense that life had more meaning than he was experiencing.
Throughout his journey, God kept breaking into his life. He protected him in moments where he should have been seriously injured. He stirred questions in him when fear overwhelmed him. He placed Christians around him whose lives looked different and who gently invited him into conversations about faith. A school Bible study opened the door to understanding Scripture in a new way, and later an old friend reached out out of the blue and invited him to church. These moments led to powerful encounters with the presence and peace of Jesus that Brandon could not ignore.
Bit by bit, his life began to change. He rebuilt after heartbreak, started to walk in freedom from old habits, launched a business, chose baptism and discovered a level of joy and clarity he had never known before.
Today, Brandon is passionate about helping other young men find the hope and transformation he has found in Jesus. His story is a reminder that God is often pursuing us long before we recognise it, and that even in our most confusing seasons, He is already at work.
Stay to the end as Brandon prays for anyone searching for purpose, struggling internally or longing for something genuine and life changing.
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00:00:00 Speaker 1
And this was a really steep hill.
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I had like a ledge where if I fell I probably would have died because I should have been injured and missed but I was going very fast and I knew I had to brake.
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And throughout this whole thing I don't know why I just thought like there was something with me and I slid about 5 metres down the hill and I'm about 3 metres from falling off this hill and I had no cuts on my body whatsoever.
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You're listening to the Jesus Studio Podcast.
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So, Brandon, welcome to Jesus Studio Podcast.
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It's great to have you here, mate.
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So I know you from Alpha.
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I met you on Alpha, didn't I?
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And you've got a very interesting story that we can't wait to hear.
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So, Brandon, tell us your story.
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Yeah, thank you for having me.
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Yeah, so my name is Brandon.
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I'm 19 years old.
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I've been a Christian for two years now.
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I say that very loosely, as I've probably only followed Jesus for a few months.
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Yeah, Christianity was never a thing for me when I was young.
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I had a really loving family.
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Parents were great.
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But the name of Jesus was probably a swear word and we probably went to Christmas carols once a year and that was it.
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And it was never something we spoke on.
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We still don't.
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My family are all atheists at the moment.
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But I remember I always had this just fear of God, like,
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I would say I wouldn't believe in him, but I had this fear of God.
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I had this one experience where I was in primary school.
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I was probably 10 or 11 years old.
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And I remember I was always a good kid, right?
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But there was one day where I swore.
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I said the F-word or something like that.
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And someone heard me, this other kid, and he was like, oh, I'm going to tell the teacher.
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I'm going to go tell someone.
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He was like, you've just swore against God.
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And I just had this fear come upon me.
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And I was like, on my days, like, what's happening?
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And I don't know,
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Where that comes from, maybe instinct.
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But I remember, it was like he didn't do it to the next day and I was just like, just so fearful of it.
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But that's probably the youngest experience I have of, I guess, an experience of God, which is really random because me and my mum, my dad never spoke on it and it was never a thing we talked on.
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Massive part of my young life was rugby.
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I played a pretty high level since I was like 5 years old.
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I played.
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So it was a massive part of my life.
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And my dad played.
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He got me into it really young.
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And I loved it, to be honest.
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I loved the community.
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I loved how it brought people together.
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I just loved the sport.
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And it was really good.
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I think the main thing I loved was it brought me and my dad together.
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You know, although we weren't Christians the way it brought us together, it was like Sunday morning was our time where we're going to go train, we're going to go play a game.
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And that was something I knew we were going to do.
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So I played a lot when I was young.
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Kept playing, got to about 12, 13 and just started to pick up.
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I always probably decided at that age that I wanted to play professionally and it became really serious and I think I never lacked purpose because I had that and that was almost like what absorbed me.
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So it was never like a thing of at that age I was searching for something more because rugby was like, you know, this is it, this is what I'm going to do.
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I have pictures of me when I was like 5, six years old in front of the TV with an England shirt on and it was like what my dad thought I would do and what I thought I would do.
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So 12, 13 years old, I got into Harlequin's Academy, which is like the equivalent of a professional academy down here.
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And yeah, I loved it.
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was a really good experience.
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And I think dad was proud and that obviously was great.
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But at that time, I think just being around the rugby culture, it's very contagious and it's very hard not to get sucked in.
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So like that was probably at that age when Lust was born.
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I think probably around that age is when I first watched ****.
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and it became a very prevalent part of my life.
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it really became a daily habit and it was very destructive.
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And I think that was a common theme from that age where I kept on playing, rugby was still the purpose, but the rugby culture and that just kept kind of absorbing me and kept falling into that kind of lustful trap.
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So yeah, fast forward, I keep playing rugby and it's going well.
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I remember I had
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around 15, 16, I looked to, I was at school and I was playing rugby and I looked to move school going into the next year.
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So we had a few options, looked for some ones.
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And then I ended up going to a boarding school up in Surrey, which was a really big change.
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I think just being away from my dad and my family and being around all these young people, it was like a really exciting thing.
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but also being around young people like they're quite unwise like I was.
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So it was, it was a big change.
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But like I said, something comes to mind before that I had this experience where I was still an atheist at this time.
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I wouldn't question it.
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I can remember at that school, I probably would, you know, laugh and scoff at religion and think it was like a really just random thing.
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Like I'd hear stories of Jesus turning water into wine, the sea parting and
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It just wouldn't really make sense to me.
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So I had this experience where we went on holiday to Centre Parks, which is like a thing up north in the woods.
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And I remember we hired these bikes and I got a bike and I remember we're driving away, I've lost my family at this point, it's just me.
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And I've got a path going up and I've got a path going down.
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And the one going down said, don't, they see it's like no bikes this way.
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Some of you in me said go down this way, so I did.
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And this was a really steep hill.
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I had like a ledge where if I fell, I probably would have died.
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And I remember I was just speeding up, speeding up.
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I'm going way too fast.
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And throughout this whole thing, I don't know why, I just thought like there was something with me because I should have been injured in this, but you know, I was going very fast.
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And
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I knew I had to brake and for some reason I hadn't rode a bike in a while so I didn't think, let me just grab the brakes.
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The way I broke was by like sliding on my side and I slid about 5 metres down the hill and I'm about 3 metres from falling off this hill and I had no cuts on my body whatsoever.
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And I remember I looked at the car, they were driving up, you know, the other way and they just looked so shocked at me, like, what has just happened?
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And I just think in that moment I knew there was something else.
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Subconsciously, I never, it wasn't like that moment was like, oh, I'm going to follow Jesus.
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It was just like,
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I felt a different presence there.
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And it was probably a common theme, like I said, from when I was young.
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I almost instinctively feel like I knew something was there, but I never took it seriously.
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So the summer before I moved to this boarding school was when things got a bit more serious.
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I think again, the rugby culture just engulfed me.
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I remember times where there was one in particular where
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I went to three Friday nights, which is like an event at Goodwood, and I don't even know if I was of the age to go in or drink, but I got there.
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We watched the horse racing.
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I wasn't quite with it at that time.
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And then obviously you have the party afterwards.
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So, you know, you get in the party and it's all crowded and, you know, people are just, there's a massive mosh pit and it's not very fun.
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It's just like a sweaty mosh pit with music and whatever.
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But I remember I'd lost my friends.
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There was this group of girls next to me and
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It's almost embarrassing to say, but there was this girl there, thought she was attractive, had like a few conversations and then literally just started kissing her within 10, 20 minutes.
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I didn't even know the girl.
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And I kind of wonder like what goes through a boy's head to think that is normal.
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So yeah, that was, that was challenging.
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But at the time I thought like, this is it.
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I'm the guy.
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I'm an academy rugby player.
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I'm getting with these women.
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Don't even know who they are.
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That's #5 or whatever.
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in the last year or whatever.
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And that's probably when we spoke on it, the hole started to develop.
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Of like, I knew there was a hole there that rugby wasn't filling.
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These women weren't filling.
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So I went to this school and yeah, it was a strange time.
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I think like I say, being at the boarding school, being away from family, it was
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a time where I changed A lot.
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And I just got way too engulfed in the world.
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I think like being with different women, I would get there and it was all exciting.
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I'd be with one woman and then go and entertain another woman.
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And it would just, yeah, it was painful.
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Like I would hurt women like as in not physically, but like I'd be with a woman and I'd almost lead her on and then go and be with another one, which now I look back and I have to ask for forgiveness for because it is
00:09:06 Speaker 1
Yeah, it's challenging.
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So there was obviously parties there, got with a few women there, and it led into this relationship with one woman in particular, where it was just filled with lust, and it was like all this lust building up from when I was young, which just like poured into this.
00:09:34 Speaker 1
So at this time I was still playing, but the rugby, I kind of took my eye off it and I was just engulfed by this relationship.
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It became like my idol and my God, which sounds awful to say, but it kind of was.
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And like I say, it was very lustful.
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I would go and see her after school, I'd go see her at her house and it just absorbed me.
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And then I remember around this time, I'd always wanted to play rugby.
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It was always my thing.
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It brought me and dad together.
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Like I can probably count on one hand how many games he missed that was at home.
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So I never wanted to let him down.
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And that was like the thing I always wanted to do.
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And I remember one night I'm in my boarding room, I'm just sat there and I hear a knock on the door and it's one of my friends.
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And he goes, oh, Brandon, are your parents here?
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And I was like, what?
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Like,
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I live an hour and a half away from the school.
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I was like, why are they here?
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Anyway, I go downstairs.
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I grab them, I pull them up.
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And they sit me down.
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They say, are you all right?
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I was like, yeah, I'm all right.
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And I knew something was up.
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And I see it in my dad's face.
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He's like almost about to cry.
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And he's like, son, like you've been released.
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Like you've been dropped from the academy.
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And that hit me like a train.
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I think unless you're in it,
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and you've been in sport and it becomes your life, you don't know what that feels like, but it was like a part of me being ripped out.
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And that was really tough.
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that was always the glue between me and my dad, that rugby and that being taken away was a massive thing and I almost felt like I'd let him down.
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So that was really tricky.
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And I think in that moment I had like 2 choices.
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The number one was to keep going with rugby and really push all into it and say, you know what,
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Let's do it.
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And the second one was I had this last relationship.
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It was just to be digging, dig my head in the sand.
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And like, unfortunately, the second one is the one I picked.
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So I almost dug my head in the sand, tried to not think about it, and just went headfirst into this relationship, which was a very bad idea.
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Like she, it wasn't a great relationship.
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She'd just come out of another relationship, long-term one.
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And she would always spend time with other guys, consistently four or five guys, which I always found strange, found strange.
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I would mention it, but she'd kind of brush it off.
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And I remember there was one guy in particular she was best friends with for a long time.
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And again, never really, I thought of it, but it never was an issue she saw.
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the next six months was just that relationship, really.
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I pulled loads into that.
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And I remember God gave me many signs that he was like, don't sleep with this woman.
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Like, for months, I knew God didn't want me to.
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And I think just being lost, like I chose to ignore it.
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And, you know, it got to a point where I did sleep with her.
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And I think in that moment, I just felt like God said, like, do it.
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Like, craze your knee.
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I told you the way, but you've ignored it.
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Go and experience what I'm telling you not to do and you'll see what.
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So I did it and it is probably still one of the regrets I hold and it was my life.
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Like I would go to school, I wouldn't really apply myself, weekend, you know, go and have sex and that was it.
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Like this is what I'm going to do.
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But again, I remember in this time, I always thought there was something more.
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There was games I'd have before that months prior where I would pray.
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First time I'd pray.
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I don't know why, right?
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And I would just feel these nerves for the game.
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I'd be like, oh, I don't know what's going to happen.
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I need to impress the coaches.
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And the night before I'd sit there and I'd pray.
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And I don't know what, I still can't explain it.
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I've thought on it.
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I don't know why.
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I think again, from that young childhood swearing and having like the fear of God, it's just an instinct I had.
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because it's not been given to my parents.
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I'd have times where I used to have really bad panic attacks about death.
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It was a massive fear I had.
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And thank God Christianity and Jesus has solved that for me.
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But I remember like I'd have this week, I had this week where I just have panic attacks about death.
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Like I would sit there before bed and think like, what if I don't wake up?
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just the feeling of like, okay, I die and it's just blackness and that's it.
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And I remember I brought it up with my mum one time and I think I was in tears and I was upset and I said, mum, like, how do you deal with death?
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Like, is that it?
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Like, how can you deal with that?
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And obviously, my mum's an atheist, so she just said, look, just don't think about it.
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And for me, I was like, it didn't solve it.
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She was like, just don't think about it.
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gives life meaning, just don't think about it.
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So that was really tough and made me think there's more.
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Yeah, so I was in this relationship for about six months and
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Like I say, it was just filled with lust and it was very detrimental.
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Got to about March of that year, so after about six months, and I remember I was in class and I had this thought that I was like, damn.
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It kind of sounds narcissistic, but I was like, I'd be way better off without this person.
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And I know how much better I'd be with it.
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First time I've had that thought at that time.
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And I remember I got out of my notes app and I started putting out the pros and cons of being in this relationship.
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And it became real at that time.
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And I think that's all God needed to think like, okay, he's actually, there's a person in there.
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He's not just a slave to this.
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Like he actually has a conscience.
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The next week, she sits me down.
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I probably don't have the courage to do it myself.
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She broke up with me.
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And that's when things hit me more as well.
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Because
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The rugby had gone.
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That was actually my purpose.
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The thing I tried to hide the purpose with the relationship was now gone.
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And I remember walking out of that room when she told me and it was just like I'd come back to life.
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Like I had all these emotions hit me at once.
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Like I had anger and I had pain and like, oh, I've just, you know, this relationship's gone.
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I also had like this drive again.
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Like I always had a drive when I was young to play rugby and get up and train.
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Like I train three days a week and play on Sunday.
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It was just like that all came back to me.
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So I think in that time it was like, again, I had a choice either to dig my head in the sand or to actually try and become better.
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And I did choose to be better and that's what I chose.
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And I think at that time, like the rugby hadn't worked, what I thought was the purpose.
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The relationship didn't cover it.
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At that time I moved to this school and there was Christians around me.
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So
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I respected these people, I saw the way they moved and they were slightly different.
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Like I say, I pray every now and again, if I was nervous or I needed something, like, oh God, if you're really there, you know, I want this, please allow me to play well.
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That was probably my prayer life, but I thought, you know what, like I've hit the bottom now.
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I feel like the only thing I can do now is look up and give this Jesus thing a go.
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So I did and it changed my life.
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I was up at boarding school so I couldn't, and I was working on the weekends so I couldn't really go to church, but we had this Bible study at school and that was great for me, really good.
00:17:42 Speaker 1
Just being around other people who were in the same boat where a lot of them were curious but didn't understand it, very unwise like I was.
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But just hearing about these stories beyond just sitting in a, you know, in chapel for 20 minutes with your little hymns,
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it actually brought it to life.
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And I remember there was one time in particular where I had a teacher I really respected, South African guy, his name was Mr.
00:18:11 Speaker 1
Bez.
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And I think we were going through Proverbs and kind of the topic or the theme of the verses we were going over was lust.
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So I was very heavily interested in this one.
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I was like, well, you know, what does the Bible say about this?
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We go over the verses and I remember he said something that was just like shifted the way I look at lust A lot.
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He said like, he was very passionate in the way he was saying it.
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He was like, I'm so sick of young people making being a virgin a bad thing and how they've made sex this normal thing where it's just a transaction.
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And he painted this picture.
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He said, look, the way I look at it is when you're born into this world and you're a virgin, you are a puzzle piece and you have all the puzzles in check.
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You can see yourself, other people can see you the way you are.
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Every time you sleep with someone,
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you trade puzzle pieces with them.
00:19:01 Speaker 1
And every time you do that, you lose more and more of who you are.
00:19:04 Speaker 1
And you can't see yourself, and you lose yourself in that.
00:19:09 Speaker 1
And again, that was just heavy.
00:19:12 Speaker 1
I was still battling with lust at this time, and that was like, wow.
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Like, I think there's a more spiritual element to this that I didn't quite see and understand.
00:19:32 Speaker 1
So I think from that moment it was just seeking God and trying to learn more and more.
00:19:37 Speaker 1
Like there was still that pain, like the relationship left a massive hole, the rugby thing kind of caught up and I felt the pain then after trying to numb it and put that band-aid over it.
00:19:48 Speaker 1
So I was just reading my Bible every day, I was praying and it became a habit and it gave me a sense of peace.
00:19:54 Speaker 1
And I remember I told my mum one time when I came home, I was like, and she knew I was going through all this.
00:20:01 Speaker 1
I was like, mum, I've been going to this Bible study and I think I believe in God.
00:20:07 Speaker 1
I think I'm a Christian.
00:20:07 Speaker 1
I read the Bible and stuff.
00:20:10 Speaker 1
And she was like, oh yeah, that's great.
00:20:12 Speaker 1
That's great.
00:20:13 Speaker 1
And I love my mum.
00:20:14 Speaker 1
She's listening.
00:20:14 Speaker 1
I love my mum.
00:20:16 Speaker 1
And she probably thought it was a bit of a crutch and a phase.
00:20:18 Speaker 1
Like, okay, you're going through a tough time.
00:20:20 Speaker 1
That's fine.
00:20:21 Speaker 1
But it just gave me so much peace.
00:20:23 Speaker 1
Like, although I had this massive pain and hole, it's like,
00:20:27 Speaker 1
I still had to heal from that, but he filled that God-shaped hole that I was always looking for.
00:20:31 Speaker 1
And not only he could fill.
00:20:36 Speaker 1
So yeah, that from then on was just trying to keep getting in the word.
00:20:41 Speaker 1
And I remember at the time, I was trying to better myself as well.
00:20:45 Speaker 1
It was like, I said, I come back to life.
00:20:47 Speaker 1
I was seeking Jesus.
00:20:48 Speaker 1
I was trying to.
00:20:49 Speaker 1
I was definitely not perfect and I'm still not.
00:20:53 Speaker 1
I also was trying to better myself, so I was going to the gym.
00:20:55 Speaker 1
I was actually like trying to apply myself and stuff like that and learn more.
00:21:00 Speaker 1
I was posting these gym videos online just, I guess, because I enjoyed the gym.
00:21:04 Speaker 1
And Sam Watson, who is at Aaron, he saw one of the videos, saw I had like a cross in my Instagram bio.
00:21:11 Speaker 1
And he texted me and he was like, oh, I didn't know you were a Christian.
00:21:15 Speaker 1
Do you want to come to church?
00:21:18 Speaker 1
And bear in mind, like this guy, I went to primary school with him, Sam.
00:21:20 Speaker 1
I haven't spoke to him for seven, 8 years.
00:21:22 Speaker 1
And he just reaches out out of the blue.
00:21:24 Speaker 1
And I didn't hesitate.
00:21:26 Speaker 1
I was like, yeah, let's do it.
00:21:28 Speaker 1
I used to work on the weekends in the gym.
00:21:32 Speaker 1
So I booked a weekend off and we went.
00:21:35 Speaker 1
And yeah, I mean, it was not what I expected.
00:21:39 Speaker 1
Like I remember walking in and he was like, it's not going to be what you expect.
00:21:42 Speaker 1
And I was like, yeah, all right.
00:21:44 Speaker 1
And then I walked in and he got the band there.
00:21:47 Speaker 1
You've got people singing, you've got young people.
00:21:49 Speaker 1
And I was like,
00:21:50 Speaker 1
like, hold on a minute, this is not what I expected.
00:21:53 Speaker 1
I think the devil, one of the things he'll do is make church seem boring and make Christianity seem like a chore.
00:21:59 Speaker 1
My family will say it now, I don't want to read the Bible, I don't want to go to church.
00:22:03 Speaker 1
But it's like, now I actually desire, I want to go to church, I want to read the Bible.
00:22:07 Speaker 1
See, I loved it, I felt at home and just a peace that I hadn't felt and really enjoyed it.
00:22:14 Speaker 1
Something as well just come back to mine.
00:22:18 Speaker 1
With that relationship, obviously, she broke up with me.
00:22:22 Speaker 1
For 2, three weeks, it was still in a phase where as a relationship is, like, I'm toying back and forth, like, oh, you know, is it going to work?
00:22:29 Speaker 1
Can we make it work again?
00:22:31 Speaker 1
And I remember there was one time where I prayed one night because I was just so tired of just going back and forth in my mind.
00:22:38 Speaker 1
Like, I think it was the enemy again, where he was just like, oh, maybe she'll take you back.
00:22:43 Speaker 1
Like, maybe this will work.
00:22:45 Speaker 1
So I prayed.
00:22:45 Speaker 1
I was like, God,
00:22:48 Speaker 1
please just make it very clear if this is from you.
00:22:52 Speaker 1
Next week, I'm working, I'm in the gym, I'm just hoovering the floor and I just get an urge to open my phone, you know, I guess that's quite a common thing, but I open my phone, I go on Snapchat and I see a story and it's her with that guy best friend.
00:23:07 Speaker 1
And I was like, wow.
00:23:08 Speaker 1
And it was almost a relief.
00:23:12 Speaker 1
I think in that moment I knew God had answered my prayer and I knew that wasn't a coincidence.
00:23:19 Speaker 1
And it was a relief then of at that time before that I had two options of, okay, let's just hang around and see, or let's push on and pursue God.
00:23:28 Speaker 1
That almost just burnt one path and it was like, okay, now all I'm going to do is just see God.
00:23:31 Speaker 1
I have nothing else.
00:23:32 Speaker 1
So this is what I have to do.
00:23:36 Speaker 1
So yeah, after I went to church, I kept praying and kept reading the Bible and just trying to see God.
00:23:44 Speaker 1
And
00:23:46 Speaker 1
Yeah, it's changed my life in a lot of ways.
00:23:48 Speaker 1
I think just the peace I have now and the joy I have is a lot better.
00:23:55 Speaker 1
I started a business out of school, I guess out of the element of wanting control, but I still do enjoy business.
00:24:01 Speaker 1
So it's kind of like maybe gone from God's turn what would have been bad for good, I guess.
00:24:07 Speaker 1
You know, I wanted this control from being dropped from coaches and them having control from this woman having control.
00:24:11 Speaker 1
I was like, I need control.
00:24:12 Speaker 1
How can I find it?
00:24:14 Speaker 1
So, you know,
00:24:15 Speaker 1
While seeking God, I also looked into entrepreneurship and everything with that.
00:24:20 Speaker 1
So I started a business straight out of school, alongside working in a gym as a personal trainer.
00:24:25 Speaker 1
And I'd work as a personal trainer 5, six hours a day.
00:24:28 Speaker 1
I'd spend like every other waking minute on this business, the marketing agency, which I still run.
00:24:34 Speaker 1
And that was great.
00:24:36 Speaker 1
Really enjoyed it and it gave me that purpose.
00:24:37 Speaker 1
Fast forward a few months.
00:24:42 Speaker 1
I think at this time I had God, but the organisation of it was business and God.
00:24:49 Speaker 1
And it was like, I'm going to get up, I'm going to work 12 hours a day.
00:24:52 Speaker 1
If I have time to pray, cool.
00:24:53 Speaker 1
But it's not my priority.
00:24:55 Speaker 1
I know God will be with me and give me grace.
00:24:59 Speaker 1
And it was like that for months.
00:25:00 Speaker 1
But I remember one evening I was in prayer and it was a different prayer.
00:25:10 Speaker 1
I was just trying to be honest with God and
00:25:12 Speaker 1
not use fancy words and just be present.
00:25:16 Speaker 1
And I remember I went to sleep and I had this dream.
00:25:22 Speaker 1
And in the dream, at this time, I'm, before that, at this time, I'm still kind of struggling with lust.
00:25:27 Speaker 1
And it was definitely not as frequent, but I think just from all that scars from before, it was still like, you know, every now and again.
00:25:36 Speaker 1
And I had this dream that I was in the supermarket with my family and I was in a wheelchair.
00:25:42 Speaker 1
And they were pushing me along in this wheelchair, my family.
00:25:46 Speaker 1
And I was sat there, but I knew I could stand up.
00:25:50 Speaker 1
I knew I wasn't injured and I knew it was in my power to stand up.
00:25:53 Speaker 1
I was just choosing not to.
00:25:54 Speaker 1
And it was frustrating me in the dream.
00:25:57 Speaker 1
I was like frustrated.
00:25:58 Speaker 1
I was like, why can't I just stand up?
00:26:01 Speaker 1
So I remember I was laying down, obviously asleep, and I just start calling on the name of Jesus.
00:26:07 Speaker 1
I'm just like, Jesus, come, Jesus, come, Jesus, come.
00:26:10 Speaker 1
About the 4th or fifth time,
00:26:12 Speaker 1
I'm still asleep, but I'm kind of half conscious now.
00:26:15 Speaker 1
My variety of drum pops and I just hear this like heavenly cry, like sounds like thousands of voices just singing in like a heavenly tone.
00:26:23 Speaker 1
And I see this white light come over me and I can see it.
00:26:26 Speaker 1
It's like one of the brightest things I've seen.
00:26:28 Speaker 1
I could see it through my eyelids and I hear this cry.
00:26:31 Speaker 1
And I go to look at it and as I look, it's gone and I wake up.
00:26:36 Speaker 1
And yeah, I think that can only be God.
00:26:43 Speaker 1
And I think what I take from that is like, maybe God was telling me like, you can get up.
00:26:47 Speaker 1
Like I freed you from this.
00:26:49 Speaker 1
You don't have to sit in that chair.
00:26:51 Speaker 1
You don't have to sit in this sin.
00:26:53 Speaker 1
Like I freed you from it.
00:26:57 Speaker 1
So that was on my mind a lot.
00:26:58 Speaker 1
It still is like the kind of meaning of it, but that's what I take from it.
00:27:05 Speaker 1
So I remember I was running this business and I still am, but I was running this business for a few months.
00:27:10 Speaker 1
I learned very quickly how not to spend money, 3K on an Airbnb, 500 pound a month on a car, a grand on flights when at this time, yeah, I'm 19 years old, I'm 18 at the time, I don't need to be doing all this.
00:27:24 Speaker 1
So like I say, it was very much like still a case of like business 1st and status 1st and then God.
00:27:31 Speaker 1
So I was in and out of, I was in, I travelled to South Africa for a bit, spent some time there, ran the business.
00:27:39 Speaker 1
And that was lonely.
00:27:41 Speaker 1
I think I learned very quickly how important community is and how I took Aaron for granted and the people around me.
00:27:50 Speaker 1
So in between all that, I came home and got baptised with five other guys.
00:27:57 Speaker 1
Yeah, it was really cool.
00:28:00 Speaker 1
we went up, we said our testimony, me, Tom, who's been on there, Dan and all the other guys, which was really cool.
00:28:10 Speaker 1
And it was like a short condensed version of this.
00:28:12 Speaker 1
And my mum was there, which was great.
00:28:17 Speaker 1
So that was good.
00:28:18 Speaker 1
And I felt a shift there.
00:28:18 Speaker 1
It was like, now I've made this public, I actually have to follow it and follow my faith.
00:28:26 Speaker 1
So yeah, just dive more in.
00:28:28 Speaker 1
kept on reading the Bible and kept on learning more and more.
00:28:31 Speaker 1
And it started to click more and more, like in terms of what he'd say.
00:28:34 Speaker 1
Like there'd be bits I didn't agree with, like, you know, why should you wait before marriage?
00:28:38 Speaker 1
Why can't I do this?
00:28:40 Speaker 1
Like that doesn't make any sense.
00:28:41 Speaker 1
But then I think just reflecting back and learning, like, and seeing the damage had done, it painted it very clear.
00:28:57 Speaker 1
so I remember I went back to South Africa and I was there for three months before coming home again after being baptised.
00:29:04 Speaker 1
And like I say, it was a lonely place in terms of it was just me most days working and I'd go to church, but most of the time it'd be me, maybe one other fellow I knew.
00:29:17 Speaker 1
And I remember I had a dream one night, which I 100% think is from the enemy.
00:29:23 Speaker 1
I remember I always used to, I still do, I read Psalm 23 and Psalm 91 before bed.
00:29:27 Speaker 1
It just kind of steals me and gives me a piece of like, I know who God is, right?
00:29:32 Speaker 1
So I remember one evening I was just knackered.
00:29:33 Speaker 1
I was like, I've worked 12 hours today and you know, I leave the prayer, that's fine.
00:29:38 Speaker 1
So I didn't pray and I went to sleep.
00:29:42 Speaker 1
And I remember I had this dream where there was a pool and there was a woman sat on the pool, but I was looking at the back of her head.
00:29:50 Speaker 1
So like her hair was there and I couldn't actually see her face.
00:29:53 Speaker 1
And as I look at the back of her head, her head turns around immediately.
00:29:56 Speaker 1
I see like red in her eyes and I knew it was like a demon.
00:30:00 Speaker 1
Like I could just feel it in me.
00:30:02 Speaker 1
And I was trying to say the name of Jesus.
00:30:03 Speaker 1
I was like, I couldn't say the name.
00:30:07 Speaker 1
And then immediately I'll say the name of Jesus and I wake up.
00:30:10 Speaker 1
And I was shook and I was like, okay.
00:30:15 Speaker 1
It's funny as well, because if I say this stuff out loud, it sounds like, what are you on about?
00:30:19 Speaker 2
No, not at all.
00:30:20 Speaker 2
I think this happens to a lot of people.
00:30:22 Speaker 2
who are spiritually aware as well.
00:30:25 Speaker 2
Definitely.
00:30:26 Speaker 1
Yeah.
00:30:27 Speaker 1
So yeah, I had that and flew back home from South Africa, saw the family, mainly for Big Church, which is a festival where there was 35,000 people, singing worship songs for three days.
00:30:45 Speaker 1
And this is probably where I reorganised it.
00:30:47 Speaker 1
Like I still was following Jesus and the business, but it was like, I need to become this man and make 6 figures and then I'll follow Jesus.
00:30:54 Speaker 1
This probably reorganised it where it flipped from like business God to the other way round.
00:30:59 Speaker 1
I just remember being there, I think it was day two with Martin Smith playing and just hearing 35,000 people around me and it was like, wow, like this is something like this actually feels real.
00:31:12 Speaker 1
And
00:31:13 Speaker 1
if heaven is a fraction of this or more than this, then, we're in for a treat.
00:31:19 Speaker 1
So I remember I got home after the three days and I started praying.
00:31:24 Speaker 1
I put on some worship music, probably some Martin Smith, I think, from the days.
00:31:29 Speaker 1
And I remember I just started bawling, like I was literally for like 10 minutes straight, just crying.
00:31:35 Speaker 1
And I'd never had that.
00:31:38 Speaker 1
And it wasn't a sadness, it was just
00:31:41 Speaker 1
overwhelming emotion, I think.
00:31:45 Speaker 1
And like I said, I think it made me reorganise how I view God and to not put him in a box and, I'll do that before bed.
00:31:53 Speaker 1
I'll pray before bed and the rest of the day, that's it, you know.
00:31:57 Speaker 1
So yeah, since then, you know, that was a couple months back, so it's very recent.
00:32:02 Speaker 1
Just been trying to see God and I think the joy now is just seeing other people come to God.
00:32:07 Speaker 1
Like my twin brother came to Alpha the other day, he's still an atheist, but you know, he poses some good questions.
00:32:13 Speaker 1
We had Jack, Jack, where he went to Alpha in February, didn't see him for months and he's came back last month and now he's giving his life to Jesus and seeing stuff like that and he's just so thankful for obviously Jesus, but us guys trying to be stand with him.
00:32:32 Speaker 1
We had another guy recently where I saw, I used to work in this gym when I was mopping the floor and
00:32:40 Speaker 1
I used to see this guy there who's my age, we work out every now and again.
00:32:43 Speaker 1
And obviously I left that job, didn't see him for a couple of years.
00:32:47 Speaker 1
After coming back from Cape Town, off the big church, I went back to this gym one day and I walk upstairs and I see him there.
00:32:54 Speaker 1
I was like, how you doing, mate?
00:32:55 Speaker 1
He was like, yeah, going well, thank you.
00:32:58 Speaker 1
And obviously like that's the standard response to how you did.
00:33:00 Speaker 1
And so I was like, oh, you know, how things have been.
00:33:03 Speaker 1
And he opened up, he was like, oh, and to be honest with you, I've just had a breakup.
00:33:08 Speaker 1
It's been really difficult for me.
00:33:10 Speaker 1
losing that person.
00:33:12 Speaker 1
And I was like, trying to comfort him in it.
00:33:14 Speaker 1
And I saw on his chest he had a cross right here, a big cross.
00:33:17 Speaker 1
And I said, oh, are you a Christian?
00:33:21 Speaker 1
And he was like, yeah, I haven't been to church in a while, but yeah, I believe in God.
00:33:26 Speaker 1
I was like, oh, you should come to Aaron.
00:33:28 Speaker 1
So he did.
00:33:29 Speaker 1
He came to Aaron and he loved it.
00:33:31 Speaker 1
He's been four or five times now.
00:33:33 Speaker 1
And the recent week, the last one, he just let it all out.
00:33:37 Speaker 1
I remember Becca was speaking on
00:33:40 Speaker 1
I think just letting things go and heartbreak and how God sees it all.
00:33:45 Speaker 1
And I remember he was just, he was just crying through the whole thing.
00:33:48 Speaker 1
We went to the front crying again and we all prayed for him, hands on him.
00:33:53 Speaker 1
And he was just like, Brandon, I don't know how, you know, I've never experienced anything like that.
00:33:58 Speaker 1
I don't know how people can say this isn't real.
00:34:01 Speaker 1
And it's just like stuff like that now that gives me such joy and still trying to learn more myself as I know, like,
00:34:08 Speaker 1
People have been in church for like 10, 20 years over me.
00:34:10 Speaker 1
So I'm humble in that I don't know a lot.
00:34:13 Speaker 1
But I'm also just trying to grow myself, but also bring people to the Lord.
00:34:20 Speaker 1
But yeah, it's changed my life.
00:34:21 Speaker 1
And, you know, I pray one day my family sees it and has that experience.
00:34:31 Speaker 1
I guess the thing, the moral for me is like God was always with me.
00:34:35 Speaker 1
You know, there's like,
00:34:37 Speaker 1
I can see that throughout, even when I was an atheist.
00:34:38 Speaker 1
He had so much grace to be with me and he instilled that fear of him in me from young, from God knows where.
00:34:44 Speaker 1
I actually don't know.
00:34:50 Speaker 1
You know, even one time I probably should have been injured in a car crash.
00:34:53 Speaker 1
I just passed my driving test and I remember I was going down this road.
00:34:57 Speaker 1
There's a guy going very slow in front of me and I was going to turn right.
00:35:01 Speaker 1
And I remember I tried to go around him because he was going slow.
00:35:04 Speaker 1
I thought I'm going to go around him, then turn right.
00:35:06 Speaker 1
So as I go around him to turn, there's a car coming head on at me and I've literally missed this guy by like 1 metre.
00:35:12 Speaker 1
And I slide out, I skid out, he skids out and I literally didn't even touch his car.
00:35:17 Speaker 1
And we're going like, you know, fast, like 20 miles an hour or something like that.
00:35:21 Speaker 1
He's going faster than me.
00:35:22 Speaker 1
We're like 40.
00:35:25 Speaker 1
And I was shook, but again, I knew there was something with me.
00:35:28 Speaker 1
I don't know, like at that time I was a Christian.
00:35:30 Speaker 1
This was
00:35:32 Speaker 1
for about a year after the breakup.
00:35:36 Speaker 1
I could have died there again.
00:35:38 Speaker 1
And I know that was an angel with me or that was God or something, like an external force where it was like I didn't have the wheel, like it just turned, like my, how do I explain it?
00:35:48 Speaker 1
Something in me was trying to turn left and thought, let's turn left to get out of him.
00:35:51 Speaker 1
But then the wheel, someone almost took over the wheel and just pushed me right and I didn't hear him.
00:35:57 Speaker 1
So God has always been with me.
00:36:00 Speaker 1
And I think just for young people, I'd say like, don't conform to society and what they want you to do.
00:36:08 Speaker 1
I think very much people are lost and like lust is a massive plan of the enemy.
00:36:15 Speaker 1
I think young men especially, it's how he wants to control them.
00:36:20 Speaker 1
Because naturally if you're controlled in lust, you're going to focus on yourself.
00:36:23 Speaker 1
You can't focus on anyone else.
00:36:24 Speaker 1
How am I going to give to someone else when I'm in my shame and guilt for being in lust and enslaved by this?
00:36:30 Speaker 1
And the enemy knows there's a spiritual element to it.
00:36:32 Speaker 1
Like I can tell you firsthand the mental damage it's had for me or had for me.
00:36:36 Speaker 1
And the only thing that can set you free is Jesus.
00:36:38 Speaker 1
Like I tried, you know, so many things to set myself free from lust, but Jesus is the only thing for me that worked.
00:36:48 Speaker 1
So yeah, I think that's a story.
00:36:52 Speaker 2
It's amazing, man.
00:36:53 Speaker 2
It's something that's incredible to see like what God has done in you and like your wisdom because you're only 19, right?
00:37:00 Speaker 2
And like you've, like that can then, I feel like there's something going on with your age group as well.
00:37:05 Speaker 2
Like young men obviously struggling with lust and struggling with this kind of life.
00:37:11 Speaker 2
And it's almost like that's the meaning of life for some people.
00:37:15 Speaker 2
And they're a bit, they're so confused, but I feel like
00:37:18 Speaker 2
Jesus is coming in and he's transformed, he sees it and he's transforming your generation.
00:37:24 Speaker 2
Do you see that as well?
00:37:25 Speaker 2
Like it's not just he's transforming, it's not like he's just come in and it's like he's opened your mind up because you're so open to spirituality and to what's going on spiritually.
00:37:37 Speaker 2
Your blind eyes were completely lifted and you saw what was going on and I feel like you have like the wisdom of a 50 year old really with some of the things you've said.
00:37:47 Speaker 2
And I think is that happening with your generation, do you think?
00:37:50 Speaker 2
Like, do you see a lot with Jack and Sam, like Sam who brought you to church?
00:37:57 Speaker 2
he's well spiritually aware for his age, isn't he?
00:38:00 Speaker 1
Definitely sounds good.
00:38:01 Speaker 1
Yeah, I think so.
00:38:04 Speaker 1
I think the Holy Spirit is obviously contagious and it's almost like God, he peels back your eyes and you see it for what it really is once you come to Jesus.
00:38:15 Speaker 1
Like obviously,
00:38:16 Speaker 1
if you've listened to the story with Tom, you see that transformation and that's so different and miraculous of like where he was to where he is.
00:38:24 Speaker 1
Same thing with me of being quite honestly addicted to lust and sex, to being set free and to seeing it so differently where no, I want to wait for marriage.
00:38:33 Speaker 1
I know how damaging it is and how, you know, like I want to, if I can help other people from, you know, just guide them in that.
00:38:40 Speaker 1
But I think definitely young men are waking up and
00:38:45 Speaker 1
seeing it for what it really is.
00:38:49 Speaker 1
And I think it's just experience is always the best thing, unfortunately, I guess.
00:38:54 Speaker 1
Like I would experience it where I'd do it, and afterwards you just feel how empty it is.
00:38:59 Speaker 1
It'd be like, is that it?
00:39:02 Speaker 1
So I think having that experience, people and young men are realising like there must be more than this.
00:39:06 Speaker 1
And yeah, I definitely think so.
00:39:11 Speaker 2
Yeah, there's definitely a movement, I think, with young men.
00:39:15 Speaker 2
trying to find something.
00:39:17 Speaker 2
They're searching.
00:39:18 Speaker 2
They're either searching in the wrong places or they're finding.
00:39:22 Speaker 2
And it's amazing you found Jesus.
00:39:25 Speaker 2
When you were at school then, does that when, was it Mr Bez who first introduced you to Christianity or you said about these Christians at school?
00:39:32 Speaker 2
Like what was, how did that happen?
00:39:34 Speaker 2
Was it one person?
00:39:35 Speaker 2
I know Sam obviously bringing you to church was a big thing.
00:39:37 Speaker 1
Yeah.
00:39:39 Speaker 1
I think.
00:39:41 Speaker 1
I had a friend, Tommy, in particular, where he was a very strong Christian, he had been from young.
00:39:46 Speaker 1
He was a very good friend and he was one of those where I really respected him.
00:39:50 Speaker 1
And obviously through the breakup and through the rugby, he was a good friend for me and he guided me in the right way.
00:39:56 Speaker 1
But it's almost like he didn't push it on me, he just knew it was the right thing.
00:40:00 Speaker 1
So him and Mr Bez led this Bible study.
00:40:02 Speaker 1
So he brought me into this Bible study and that's ultimately where it came.
00:40:06 Speaker 1
And I think just a mix of him
00:40:09 Speaker 1
being there for me, bringing me into the faith and showing me what it really was, combined with even online stuff.
00:40:16 Speaker 1
Like I would have like, my TikTok feed would just be flooded with Christian content.
00:40:20 Speaker 1
I'd watch every single one, all the way to the end.
00:40:23 Speaker 1
And I'd just learn and learn and learn and I'd be just fascinated by it, like what the verses mean.
00:40:29 Speaker 1
Because obviously when you're new to it, Jesus, him saying certain things like, you know, cut off your hand, cut off,
00:40:34 Speaker 1
What is it, cut off your hand if you're a slave to last stork?
00:40:38 Speaker 1
take out your eye.
00:40:38 Speaker 1
So you read that and you're off.
00:40:40 Speaker 2
Your right arm causes you to sin, cut it off.
00:40:42 Speaker 2
Yeah, which is a big thing to cut your arm off, especially 2000 years ago.
00:40:47 Speaker 2
Like today, at least you've got some decent medical care.
00:40:51 Speaker 2
I guess what that means is it's not easy, is it, to get rid of something that's causing you to sin?
00:40:58 Speaker 2
You know, so that is a hard thing.
00:41:01 Speaker 1
So I think those two things, Tommy bringing me into that bible study and just watching content online and that was probably the main things I think.
00:41:13 Speaker 2
It's great mate.
00:41:14 Speaker 2
Well I love hearing the story and it's amazing and I've loved meeting your alpha and you're bringing people along and it's great to see your brother there as well and your brother's like you said he's got some great questions and he's an atheist but that's what we want and it's great to chat to him and hear his side of the story and his perspective on life.
00:41:32 Speaker 2
It's great and we've loved it.
00:41:34 Speaker 2
We've loved having him and I hope he keeps coming as well.
00:41:38 Speaker 2
And you brought your other mate as well along.
00:41:41 Speaker 2
I don't want to say names because obviously we don't know what they want us to say.
00:41:44 Speaker 2
But it's great them coming.
00:41:45 Speaker 2
It's really, really cool.
00:41:48 Speaker 2
So I'd love it if you could pray for us before we left.
00:41:51 Speaker 2
Just pray for some, you know, there's obviously a lot of young men in your position right now and they might be watching this thinking, hopefully they're watching on TikTok like you are or it's on their feed somewhere and they're probably like, you know, I'm in the exact same position.
00:42:04 Speaker 2
I don't want to be locked into this.
00:42:05 Speaker 2
So would you pray for those people for us as we close?
00:42:09 Speaker 2
Thank you, mate.
00:42:11 Speaker 1
Dear Lord, thank you for this time.
00:42:15 Speaker 1
Thank you, Lord God, for what you're doing in young men.
00:42:19 Speaker 1
I see, Lord, that you have a plan in young men, and there's a reason why the enemy is attacking them so heavily.
00:42:25 Speaker 1
I just pray, Lord God, over anyone listening to this right now, if they are, you know, a slave to lust, a slave to sin, and they have a desire to be free, Lord, I just pray that you would set them free.
00:42:36 Speaker 1
And I pray, Jesus, that you know who the son sets free is free indeed, and that, you know,
00:42:41 Speaker 1
if they're sitting in that wheelchair where they know they can get out, you just say, stand up, Lord.
00:42:47 Speaker 1
I just pray you allow them to get up, to walk into what you have for them, and just to be bold, not to be afraid of sitting in a church alone, not to be afraid of looking different and carrying a Bible and being scoffed and laughed at.
00:42:58 Speaker 1
I just pray, Lord, they can know the truth and be bold in that, and that you would just meet them where they are, and that you would just show them the next step to come closer to you.
00:43:07 Speaker 1
Yeah, I just pray that Lord and just bless anyone who's listened to this and bless the young men.
00:43:13 Speaker 1
In Jesus name.
00:43:15 Speaker 1
Amen.
00:43:16 Speaker 2
Amen.
00:43:18 Speaker 2
Oh, thank you, mate.
00:43:19 Speaker 2
Honestly, that was so good.
00:43:21 Speaker 2
That's really powerful.
00:43:22 Speaker 2
Like your story is really powerful, mate.
00:43:25 Speaker 2
Thanks for listening to the Jesus Studio Podcast.
00:43:28 Speaker 2
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00:43:30 Speaker 1
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00:43:35 Speaker 2
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