Ep.6 - Guided by the Holy Spirit | Emman’s Faith & Music Journey

In Episode 6, I sit down with Christian artist and lyricist Emman for a powerful conversation about faith, purpose, and the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding our lives.

Known for his heartfelt and rhythmic rap style, Emman is a thoughtful lyricist whose storytelling has drawn comparisons to UK rap artist Santan Dave. But beyond the music, Emman’s story is one of faith, transformation, and obedience to God’s leading.

In this episode, Emman shares his testimony and opens up about his journey as a Christian navigating the music space. We talk about how the Holy Spirit has guided him throughout his music career, helping him make decisions, remain grounded, and stay aligned with God’s will.

As Scripture reminds us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

Emman’s journey is a living example of what it looks like to follow God’s direction rather than relying solely on our own plans.
We also reflect on the importance of listening to the Holy Spirit, remembering the promise in John 16:13 that “when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth.”

This conversation is honest, encouraging, and a reminder that when we surrender our gifts to God, He can use them for something far greater than we imagined.

Tune in to hear Emman’s story and be encouraged to trust God’s leading in every area of your life.

This episode features Emman - be sure to check out his work and show him some love!

Follow & Support Emman:
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_.emman
🔗 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ak.emman

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The victory with me, the father, the son, and filled with the Holy Ghost. Enemies bleed when you say his name. Heart step to the one, the Lord of host, my Lord of all. Bread of life, feed me more my daily dose. For his joy, I'm stronger, my weakness is strength. The only two are both.

SPEAKER_03 0:15

Hi guys and welcome. My name is Annabelle Renee, and this is the Holy Music Chatroom. This is a space where we speak about all things Christian music and faith. Today I am blessed to have with me Iman.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Hey guys.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

Hey y'all, thank you for coming. I really appreciate it. You know, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Hi everybody, my name is Iman. I am a gospel rap artist from South London. I'm 23 years old and I've been making music for a long time, since like 2019. Um, started off secular and now I'm gospel. We'll get more into that later. And I also own a Christian clothing brand called Mercy's Clow. This is one of my new drops coming. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

Let's go. Okay. Thank you for putting that in there. I'm just gonna start off by asking you some introduction questions and then we'll do some trivia and then we'll do some like mid-section questions before we and if that's okay with you. Um, okay, first, could you share with us how your faith journeys influenced your music?

SPEAKER_02 1:16

Wow, that's a great question to start with. Um, how has my faith journey influenced my music? So from when I was young, I've always been a Christian. I grew up in a Christian household. My dad even became a pastor about a couple years back. Um, so I've always known of God, I've always believed in Jesus Christ, but it was during my time at university where I realized that I need to begin to know God for myself. And once I went into that journey, a season of pruning started where some of the things I was doing, some of the things I was um indulging in, and some of the music I was making, I started to realize like it didn't align with my new values that I was applying to myself. Um, in terms of when it started affecting my music, is when I actually stopped listening to secular music that came by actually just listening to some of the lyrics I was singing. I was like, am I allowed to use an example?

SPEAKER_03 2:15

Um, of course, no swearing though.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Yeah, of course. So there was a there was a song that I love called Grease by Clavish. I used to play that song on repeat, and then I remember one time I was just sitting in my uni room and I actually listened to the lyrics. I was like, wait, this does not align with anything that's godly. So from there I stopped listening to secular and I started, I was actually just only listening to my unreleased and released music. And from there, I wanted to release a new piece called My Love Letter to You. And when it came to finally releasing it, I heard the Holy Spirit say, Oh, you're not dropping that, bro. Like those is our words. It was August 1st, 2023. I heard her say, You're not dropping that, bro. And so from there, that's when I started writing um gospel rap. And it's taken me about two years to finally release it, but it was through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, changing my morals and my values, and actually just stepping away from some of the things I was indulging in and how my faith influences my music today.

SPEAKER_03 3:15

Okay, yeah, that's so beautiful. Well, as you're gonna touch on a lot of those things after like your secular music uh journey and all of that stuff, if you don't mind anyway. How would you describe your your sound in three words?

SPEAKER_02 3:27

How would I describe my sound in three words? Yeah, real.

SPEAKER_03 3:33

I hear that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

Real, I wanna say this with all humility, but effortless. Okay, I try to make it sound as effortless as possible and truth.

SPEAKER_03 3:46

Amen. Okay, truth. I'm in for it.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Real and truth, they're a bit of the same, but you know.

SPEAKER_03 3:50

It's okay, we're not gonna shun you. So if you let's say I'm gonna paint a picture and give you the scenario. Let's say you are a very established man in Christ, but there's a risk, um, and you have an unlimited amount of money, bills sorted, your family sorted, friends are all sorted. What are you doing with your money?

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Family sorry, bills sorted. I am building a creative studio space. Um, this is actually a goal that I've had for quite a long time. You see places like Pirate Studios. God willing, if I ever have the opportunity, I would build a studio space like that where upcoming artists can go to record their music. Photographers and videographers could also use that place to kind of create, kind of similar to the space that we're in right now. Um, that's kind of where I'd want to put my money and obviously give back to the community because I feel like creatives need that space, and it's very hard as a creative to sometimes either find that space or be able to fund that space. So that's where one of my goals.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

I like that. That's beautiful. By God's grace, it comes to pass.

SPEAKER_02 5:01

Um, I'm usually good at trivia, but I don't know why I'm nervous about this one, so we'll see.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

Have you ready a Blackboard?

SPEAKER_02 5:09

I I have been.

SPEAKER_03 5:10

Nah, I joke, I joke, I joke. Okay, cool. So they're gonna be quite fast. We're just gonna, do you know what I mean? Get into it.

SPEAKER_02 5:17

Can I say pass if I don't know to go to the next one?

SPEAKER_03 5:19

Um, you could just ask me, I'll give you the answer. You don't get nothing like English on the ball. Nothing happens if you get it wrong.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

Like no, I'm very competitive. So it's like I want to get them right. So I'm speaking like cool pass, pass, pass.

SPEAKER_03 5:30

Some of them are quite if you were really reading type ones. Okay, cool. Uh so the first one is how much silver was the Lila offered to betray Samson?

SPEAKER_02 5:40

I don't know why I want to say like 36, but that seems like too much.

SPEAKER_03 5:45

You're very blue.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

Very blue.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

If I have to give you a clue, it's in the thousands.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Thousands.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:51

1500. 3,000 silver coins. What is it?

SPEAKER_03 5:58

So together they will give her 5,500.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

5,500. Yeah. Just to betray her.

SPEAKER_03 6:04

Pieces of silver. Yes. Just just terrible dead.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Oh, that's a tricky one from the jump.

SPEAKER_03 6:10

Yeah. Sorry. Okay, so why did God change Abram's name to Abraham?

SPEAKER_02 6:15

It was part of the covenant that he made with him, right?

SPEAKER_03 6:18

Okay, what was it?

SPEAKER_02 6:19

After he told him that he would um make his descendants as many as the stars and greens and sand and whatnot, he said you would no longer be called Abraham but Abraham. Uh Abraham but Abraham.

SPEAKER_03 6:33

Amen. Okay. Okay, you did quite well though. From the parable of the wheat and the tears. Do you know that parable?

SPEAKER_02 6:40

The wheat, the weeds. The wheat and the tares.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

They like the wheat and the um what do they call those things? Weeds. Yeah. Do you you know that parable?

SPEAKER_02 6:48

I think so.

SPEAKER_03 6:49

Okay. Because if you know it, this is gonna be somehow. So from that parable, when were the weeds or tears removed?

SPEAKER_02 6:56

It's like in the back of my head.

SPEAKER_03 6:58

It's okay. Take his head.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

Is it um when the wheat was fully grown?

SPEAKER_03 7:04

Okay, so what do we call that?

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Harvested.

SPEAKER_03 7:06

Amen. Yeah. Oh, look at you, okay. How many sons did Samuel have? King Samuel. It was a king, right? My brain's gone. Let me just shut up.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

I don't think it was a king. I think it was a prophet. We were learning about Samuel the other day in church. Oh, but I don't know how many sons. I want to say like three. But it's probably more. It's lower.

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Yeah. Yeah. You got it. Okay, so where did Moses receive the Ten Commandments?

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Mount China.

SPEAKER_03 7:35

Amen. What's the third book in the Bible?

SPEAKER_02 7:38

Leviticus.

SPEAKER_03 7:40

I love how you basically said, you know what? I don't even need to think about it, okay? What phrase? Oh, English, I know. Sorry, my English. Hey, hey. What phrase is mentioned in the Bible 365 times?

SPEAKER_02 7:55

It's there. I wanna say is do not fear. Okay. I don't know why I heard someone say that the other day at Bible study classes, like apparently it says in the Bible, do not fear, and that means that for every day there's a day weation, but I feel like it's not do not fear.

SPEAKER_03 8:12

It is, it's like fear not, basically.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

Fear not.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

Yeah. So you you basically got it, okay. Cool. So what disciple held a feast for Jesus and invited the sinners?

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Matthew.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

Yeah. Who restored Paul's sight after the Lord blinded him?

SPEAKER_02 8:26

And anites. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:28

It's not very bad, you know. It's not just the best one. Okay, the last one is how long did the children of Israel journey in the wilderness before they found water?

SPEAKER_02 8:38

4T days and before they found water. I swear it was like a week. Is more.

SPEAKER_03 8:46

Less.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Less. Yeah, yeah. Three days.

SPEAKER_03 8:48

Three days, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

I think I remember reading because I read Exodus and I remember reading about how they basically, when they couldn't find water, they were like, oh, we might as well go back to Egypt. Because at least they had, I was thinking like after three days, that's out, that's all it took. Just water for you guys to go back into slavery. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:06

It was better. At least we've been uh you know, fed and stuff. You know, okay. Well, thank you for answering this. I guess we did the best of you did really good actually. I think you got like you got nine out of ten. You only got one wrong, and that's that's really good. It shows you've been reading his reading is Marco guys, amen. Okay, so I guess my first question for you is who is Christ to you?

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Jesus Christ to me is my Lord and Savior.

SPEAKER_04 9:33

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

My first love.

SPEAKER_04 9:36

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Um, the only person that at the end of the day actually matters. Like I was mentioning earlier. I had to develop my own understanding of who Christ was, and that first came of understanding that I needed to have a relationship with him. So Jesus Christ is God as a person who I have my own personal relationship with, um, because that's why um God sent him down so that he could relate with man. And so I think there's something so beautiful in that, and that means a lot to me. There's a verse in Hebrews 4, verse 15 that says, Um, we do not have a high priest that does not empathize with us, but I'm paraphrasing it, but he says, like he was tempted with every sin, but yet did not sin. And so that kind of relation that we can have, knowing that God came down, did not sin, and but yet understands everything we go through, that means a lot to me. So Jesus Christ, some of that also empathize with, and I know that he empathizes with me.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

Amen. Oh my gosh, okay. So, would you say there's a particular scripture um that you've read or recently or whenever that has like encouraged you on this journey?

SPEAKER_02 10:46

Yes, is uh it's actually a random kind of scripture, is he in not Hebrew, sorry, 1st Kings chapter 16, and there's a verse where it says, For David's sake, he gave him a lamp. And I can't remember the name of the king, but basically there was a king that was very sinful, and his descendant before him was also very sinful. But it says that because he was from the line of David, so it went David Solomon, then these two other kings, he still gave him a son and kind of showed mercy upon him. And it kind of made me think during that time when I was studying it, that we always talk about generational curses, but that kind of generational righteousness or that generational blessing that simply because of how David strived after God's heart later down, two generations, three generations later, he was a blessing to that person. And so it's kind of encouraged me to kind of be the best version of myself and also just the best Christian that I can be in terms of my relationship with God because I could be able to bless my son, my daughter, my future grandchildren or great-grandchildren just by the relationship that I had with Christ, and so that kind of encouraged me.

SPEAKER_03 12:04

Okay, so with that being said, what would you say has been one of the challenges of being a Christian music artist in this generation?

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Being a Christian music artist in this generation is I wouldn't say that I'm finding it difficult right now, but when I first started, one thing that I found really hard was separating myself from my old music that I thought was still some of my best music. And what I mean by that is like like I mentioned earlier, the music that I was about to drop when the Holy Spirit convicted me, I believed was some of my best music. It was a project about the cycle of love that everyone goes through, that everyone can relate to, it was a perspective piece. So it was written from different perspectives of my own, my friends, and everything that people could relate to. And so as a Christian artist or someone as an artist who was a Christian at the time, it was hard for me to kind of let go of that side where I was making good music before, and it didn't necessarily have any bad themes or sinful themes, but it wasn't also glorifying God, yeah. Um, because all I ever used to do was talk about my life, yeah. So it was my my life, but I I shared this on TikTok the other day that as my life got less PG, so did my music.

SPEAKER_03 13:24

Right, okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:25

So there was that kind of the time where I was trying to balance that, um, and that was kind of a struggle for me. And today I think the hardest thing is kind of making sure that at the end of it all, God gets the glory. Um, I saw this quote that said, non-believers don't read the Bible, so they read you. So make sure you show Christ.

SPEAKER_03 13:48

Oh, amen. That's powerful. It's true.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

So I think at the end of it all, whenever I'm making my music, putting out music, putting out content, and maybe people are saying, Oh, like this is really good, or how did you how are you able to do this? I always have to make sure to give the glory back to God. Um, because it's only possible through God while why all of these achievements can happen. And um, it's very important that I show that to anybody that could be watching me, that it's not about me.

SPEAKER_03 14:19

You don't I feel like you mentioned that a lot in your music, to be fair, and even that, what you've just said has kind of led me onto my next question to be uh to be honest. So, I mean, what I was gonna say is that your lyrics, a lot of them, in especially with more recent songs, they do touch a lot English, they talk a lot about your um your life and you know Christ and how he's come in for you, you know, the struggles you may be going through in life. So, how would you say that you you find that balance and you know keep it still about God? I know you just mentioned something about it, but how do you think, like, do you have any anyone that's keeping you accountable, anything like that?

SPEAKER_02 14:57

I do. Um, so my girlfriend, I allow her to sometimes either listen to my unrelease, or if I'm on the phone whilst I'm writing, I'll be like, how does this sound? And in terms of music, she was very in um one of she in terms of music, she encouraged me um a lot to kind of make the pivot when I was struggling to. I didn't there was a point where I was just gonna stop music because I didn't feel like I could make the pivot because I didn't know how to. And so she helps me to kind of stay accountable. That I is this really about yourself or is this about God? Down to the first release that I even dropped this year, because still an artist, there was a song before that that I was actually gonna release, and I played it to her, and she was like, Like, cool, you mentioned God here and that, but it's like I don't really think it still feels like it's about you. Um, so maybe I don't think you should drop this one or start with this one. And I was like, okay, cool. So I think she definitely helps me stay accountable, and I think also when I'm just in the writing process, what I like to do is first of all invite the Holy Spirit into my writing. So um I'll find a beat and I'll pray and just kind of be led by that. Also, I like to write from a point of scripture, so I might find a scripture that inspires my writing, or even just writing from my season because I know God is in my in my life, so that's where some of the influence comes from. And at the end of the day, it's just important that all of all of the glory just goes to him, like I mentioned before.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:37

Okay, yeah, because in the word it even says, I think it's like 1 Corinthians chapter 10, or chapter 3, verse 10, and it says, um, all you do, we eat, everything you do should be for the glory of God. What would you I mean, what artists or genres would you say influenced your sound growing up?

SPEAKER_02 16:55

Or even that very, very good question. Brilliant question. And um, I don't know how noticeable it is. A lot of people sometimes say it in the comments, but they'll be like, oh, you sound like Dave. Um Dave, Dev Santa Dave definitely influenced my music growing up. I remember discovering him and thinking like, yo, this guy is very hard in terms of storytelling and just like putting words together in lyricism. And yeah, still uh definitely a great artist that um helped influence my music. I would also say Nux in terms of like the way he kind of flows and his choice of beats. I feel like after he dropped, I think it was his first album, a new surge of kind of Nux type beats started coming out with this kind of like infusion of jazz into drill or um that 140 BPM, and that definitely influences some of the style. But I also like to switch it up and have variation um within my tracks where whether I'm rapping a bit deeper or if I'm going a bit faster and a bit more energetic. Okay. And then not right now, but there was a time where Jack Carlo in America was influencing my music, um, or just just a good influence in music, and that was in terms of like the style of beats and production as well as his um lyricism. There was an album that he dropped called That's What They All Say, and I remember listening to albums like and want to create music that sounds along these lines, like it's just very different, it's not your usual type of rap. Yeah, and um, yeah. So those I would say those were the three.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 18:34

There's others, but like Storm Z and um others like that. So okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:38

I mean, with that being said, what would you say that your three favourite songs are right now? Not of yours.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

Not of mine. I find you know what the other day, does it have to be like rap or just it can be any kind of music? Okay, so the other day I was on the bus and I was listening to Earthen Vessel by Theophilus Sunday, and I listened to that song once for the first time that day, like two days ago on the bus to work. And I was singing it the whole day.

SPEAKER_04 19:07

Really?

SPEAKER_02 19:07

And yeah, and it's a 20 is a 20-minute song, but I feel like songs like that. Oh, okay. Yeah, it's like them kind of trance songs. Yeah, it was just replaying in my in my in my head and in my spirit. So Earth and Vessel. I really do like you know what's hard about this question here. When I stopped listening to secular music, I just deleted Spotify.

SPEAKER_04 19:29

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

So I didn't I didn't transition into listening to, I just stopped listening to music in general. Oh my god. So I'm very up behind on music. So if anyone's listening, like how's he only heard that song now? I've like I don't listen to music. I'll be going on YouTube, but now I've got my Spotify back. That's how I'm trying to learn back, um, get back into it. There's a song that I really love called Promised Land by Lauren Milner.

SPEAKER_03 19:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

She dropped that song and then disappeared. Like she got married, had kids, and stopped making existing. She said, I'm out. But it's it's a really great song, Promised Land by Lauren Milner. Okay, and then another classic song that I like is Sovereign God by Morette Brown Clark, I think her name is. Okay. Um, yeah, so I don't know if it's a surprise that I didn't actually mention any Christian rap or but yeah, I actually prefer worship. It's kind of it's kind of conflicting, like oh, you make you get rap, but you don't actually listen to it and you I'm I'm getting into it. Like if you see my TikTok following, I'm starting to follow a lot of the Christian rap artists that are outcoming in ISO. Oh, great. Um Jojo JTG. I'm friends with Suava, and I'm friends with um a guy called Gods, who are also upcoming in the Christian game. Junior Jr. Oh, if I'm gonna throw a rap one, Ego by Junior Jr. Love that song. My friend Isaac, who's behind the camera, he put me on that song. I played on repeat, and Junior Jr. is a great guy. Like I've messaged him, I've sent him some of my clothes before, and he shows love all the time, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:57

Oh right, okay. Interesting. So that's really fascinating though. That you said you don't really, well, you didn't really listen to history and rap or any other kind of music in the if well in the different genres, shall I say? I mean, what's your favourite song of yours then? And why? And also the story behind.

SPEAKER_02 21:16

So it asked me this question because I've I'm I work in the school, so currently I'm in halftime. And during this halftime, I've been making like a lot of new music. Okay. So whatever new song I make becomes my favorite song. Right. So I'm gonna say a song that's released right now, I'll say I'm fine. Yeah, currently, because it's it's doing this its numbers, it's doing this big one right now. All praise to God. Amen. Um, and a thank you to everyone that's been supporting um DJ AG that gave me the opportunity as well. Uh, but yeah, that's currently my favorite song. My my younger brother, he's 18, and he told me that um, yeah, that's top three E Man songs, and I'm not, and it's and it's not free. And he's not talking just Christian rap. Saying like even my old music before is like that's top three, and then I would say a song that is I've recently made um it's called Not Even. Um, it's inspired by Psalms 18. That song's been on repeat.

SPEAKER_03 22:13

Yeah, that's not released yet, is it? That's not released. I've not seen it. Yeah, so you can't, guys.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

I'm actually working on releasing more because it's been so long before since I've been making music, I actually forget that I have to like keep on going, but yeah, it's coming. Uh no complacency.

SPEAKER_03 22:28

So I mean the song you just mentioned just now, I'm fine. You said it's your favourite song at the moment because I guess your most recent one. So, what's the story behind that song? Because it is very heartfelt. Sorry, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:38

It's very I'm fine, came from a time where I was struggling a bit in my faith and in my walk. And like I said earlier, I feel like I like to be real in my music and real when it comes to um my walk and my faith with God. And it just came from a time where I just felt kind of far. But instead of me being upset about the fact that I'm not doing well, it kind of made me feel grieved that I was far from God, not that he was far from me in a sense, because I'm the one that kind of took myself away and that made me feel bad for him. And so that's why the opening lyrics is for other lord, I'm hurt again, situation worsening. I ain't nothing like Judas by because I hurt a friend and that friend was you. So it was kind of like I don't know where that opening verse came from. I was literally at my lunch break, and I was just listening to the beat, and I wrote that first verse, and the whole song flowed from there. Where it was kind of just like that idea or that feeling of when you kind of grieve God, but then you remember the grace and mercy that he kind of brings you back. Um, kind of like the prodigal son, you know. Um, you may fall away, you may even leave, but he's always waiting there with open arms and an open door and a party to celebrate for you. And so it's those two sides of that time when you hurt God, but then you realize that God is always there for you. The reason why I started the song with I'm hurt again, but it ends with I'm fine, because in this life, in every situation that we find ourselves in, we may be hurt for some time, but by the end of it, God willing, we will be fine. And um, so yeah, that's where the the the title of the song comes from as well.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

Yeah, okay. I mean, I get that. Oh, that's so amazing. Do you want to share your your testimony? English, Annabelle, your testimony with us. Okay, so similar basically to like how I came to Yeah, so how you came to find Christ and then how it's now oh your testimony through the music scene.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

Okay, so quite similar to some of the stuff I said earlier, but like my testimony came from kind of just actually beginning to develop my relationship with God. What did that look like for me? It started with kind of taking a look at some of the things that I saw as vices for me, so the things that were hard for me to put down. So in university, I didn't go out much, I wasn't really a party person, so that was it kind of easy for me to kind of just step away from that for um a set, but it was more so music. I felt like as a person I was making music, I needed to consume music, and so I began to put that away. Um, I started to learn on things that I didn't actually know. So I read this book by Benny Hinn called Good Morning Holy Spirit, and also read another book called 40 Days with the Holy Spirit, and that actually allowed me to learn who the Holy Spirit is because I don't know how, but in the time of me growing up, going to church, I did not know the Holy Spirit was a person, and that's kind of what that book by Benny Hinn explains that the Holy Spirit isn't just some third person or third name that we call. He is he has a be he is a being, he is part of the Trinity, he's not just when he comes third, it's not like third place, like he's just bronze and then there's silver and god. No, he's just as important as the other two, and so I had to um I said the other two that I just felt so wrong. He's just as important as Jesus Christ and the Father, yeah. Amen. Yeah, so that's where my my relationship first began learning about the Holy Spirit, and the book is called 40 Days. It didn't it didn't take 40 days for me to read it. It took me a set, can't lie. I think I started in March and finished in June. If you did a mass, that's not 40 days. Um but eventually I got there, and it was kind of that striving to kind of know God. Um, I also bought my Bible, I had Bibles already, but I wanted to, it was I felt like it was important for me to buy myself a Bible. So those people offering on, like, do you want me to get you one for your birthday? Or I was like, No, I think I have to make that choice. And um, I bought myself a nice black and gold NIV Bible from Amazon, and I started reading from Matthew. And um, as I read, I started learning about Christ's life and just kind of the things that you already knew, but now knowing it for yourself, and it's not just being taught to you through Sunday school, through your parents, and through um RE lessons at school. And so through there, my life began to change. I began to stop doing certain things. So I was a bit of a potty mouth back then, stopped swearing, I stopped drinking, I stopped indulging in just activities that I knew weren't godly. Eventually, I began to see God change me and kind of prune me. And then my biggest testimony about my relationship with Christ comes actually around my birthday. So my birthday is August 19th, and August 21st, 2023, I remember being on the phone to my friends, and I just felt a tugging um from the Holy Spirit. And so I was like, guys, I'm gonna call you back later. I just got down on my knees and I started praying, and I was like, I want to receive the Holy Spirit, I want to receive the spirit of tongues. And so I was praying, I was praying, and even though even as I was praying, there was doubt. Like I could feel those doubt in me, and I stopped and I was like, Holy Spirit, please remove the doubt that's currently in me because I know it's stopping me, it's blocking me. And so from there, I continued praying and I kind of just allowed my mouth to move. And before I knew it, I started speaking in tongues. And as I started speaking in tongues, I started to cry. And I'm not much of a crier, like, yeah, I'm not much of a crier at all. So when those tears came, I shouted for my mum, I shouted for my dad. My siblings were like, What's going on? What's going on? I was like, just get Mama Dad and I pulled them into my room. I asked them to also pray in tongues with me. And from there, we were there for like an hour, and I just started bawling my eyes out, hugging my mum, like crying like a baby on her arm. And I was just like, God, I'm so sorry, mom, I'm so sorry, dad, I'm so sorry. And I just repented right there. And that was that has been one of the biggest breakthroughs that I've ever had in just my relationship with Christ. And as well as just like me as a person, I think it I released a lot of pent-up energy and like feelings in that moment when I received the Holy Spirit for myself, and from there, that moment in 2023, I kind of um just continued living my life like that. Um, this year I also managed to get baptized.

SPEAKER_04 29:29

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 29:30

Which was such an amazing moment for me. I kind of shared during that time um when I before I I think after I came out of the pool, like why it meant so much to me is that when I was born, uh, I was actually not breathing.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

I had an insular idea to be.

SPEAKER_02 29:46

So oh yeah, yeah, I put that in um 23. Um, yeah, so I wasn't breathing when I was born for like 20 minutes, like I was literally dead. And so that baptism meant a lot to me because it was like God kept me alive and has kept me alive throughout every single life moment. There's been other times where life has always been taken from me just so that I could die again, but this time be resurrected through that water, that that dying of self and being made a new creation. So that is my testimony in a small nutshell. I could talk about it for there's so many different things God has done for me, but that right there, in terms of my relationship with God, is yeah, what I'd say.

SPEAKER_03 30:27

Okay, I mean that's so beautiful. I feel like ugh, amen. Like you just give God the glory. Can we give him glory for a second? Hallelujah. Um I'm actually kind of speechless.

unknown 30:40

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

I do want to rumble up.

SPEAKER_03 30:42

No, I mean, I just I mean, wow, like it's it's just such an amazing testimony. I feel like when you allow yourself to get low and surrender yourself to God and the Holy Spirit, that's when like breakthrough happens, like you said. Because yeah, I can I remember times as well and I've just been like, I can feel something heavy on my heart, and God has just been like, talk to me now. Um, and then I talk to him, and I'm just like I'm telling him what's happening, I'm praying, I'm um reciting scripture and everything, and I end up in tears as well. I'm wow, I cry. You don't cry, I cry.

SPEAKER_02 31:18

I really want to get to that point. I shared this the other day because I was speaking at a mental health event, and I basically said to the crowd, like, guys, I can't cry. Um, because it was talking about mental health, and I was talking about a time where it's about navigating mental health as a Christian.

SPEAKER_04 31:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 31:33

And so I was speaking about a time where I had a mental breakdown, and that mental breakdown came because of one stress trying to keep my faith and the reality of my situation, plus the fact that I couldn't cry.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:43

Um to anyone that's out there or like put in the comments or advice, like, how do you guys like get to that point of crying? Because it's not like I'm heartless, and it's not because I don't believe that I shouldn't cry or like men shouldn't cry. I've definitely subscribed to the part where men should cry, but it just don't come for me. Um, apart for that one time in August, because I haven't really since today. But I don't really feel the Holy Spirit, I definitely feel him move and like definitely feel emotional, but tears just don't come, like and I know the prayers and tears, so sometimes I just want the tears to come, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:17

I feel like I mean you don't necessarily have to cry. I feel like because I'm more or less like an emotional person, it tends to just happen for me anyway. I mean, yeah, but to be fair, in that kind of moment where I've surrendered everything to God, I feel like that's when the Holy Spirit is really able to speak to me. And when I pray, I hear God's voulable voice, something I keep saying in these episodes. So it's like it's really an amazing thing, really. I mean, even if I'm to touch on it real quick. Look, we I had no an encounter with the Holy Spirit and God recently where because before last week, I'd say, I was actually struggling with my faith. And it's crazy because obviously I've I was baptized like two years ago, and I feel like since my journey started, it's like it's been up and down. Um, only because I feel like I don't have any proper Christian friends around me. No, like I don't know, I don't know how to explain it, but let me just put that out there. With that being said, recently went through that little uh dip in the road, and I could obviously always hear God calling me. I was just like, nah, like I feel like I've ignored you too much this time. Like I'm not gonna lie, I'm not, let me just let you be, let me be. Still praying though, just I just wasn't really feeling the prayers, like I don't know. So I think it was on Sunday last week, actually. The Holy Spirit was tugging on me, and I was just like, okay, I wake up early, like 5 a.m. Literally got in the shower, and I was like, well, I have nothing to do that day because I watched 2819 from home, so yeah. So um, and then I felt that tugging when I was back in my bed, and I was just like, okay, let me open my Bible. Um, and then I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, Do you remember the chapter? And it's like it's strange because automatically I knew what he was talking about, and it's Jeremiah chapter 3, where um, so in that whole chapter, God's basically talking about um the land of Israel and how they've basically betrayed him, they've dealt with him treacherously, is actually something he says. Um, but he says in verse 22, I believe that um if my children or the basically, if I'm to paraphrase, he says that his children have backslidden, but if they return from their backslidings, he will heal their backslidings. So I feel like that made me break down because I felt like obviously God is speaking to me in that moment. Like I've backslidden in terms of like how my relationship was with God, but he's calling me, so let me come home. And he says earlier on in the chapter that he's married to us, so he um obviously just wants us to come home. And I feel like obviously since then I've not had this boost and I've been trying to maintain it like um as I as I will by God's grace, anyways. Not by my my might or power, but by the Holy Spirit, so yeah, I just thought I'll pull a little tool pencil there. That was my little testimony from recently, anyway.

SPEAKER_02 35:04

It's actually so beautiful, and it's actually interesting that you just said um that you hear God's voice older people because I remember there's this woman called Chris Priscilla Schreier who said that not everybody does, like God speaks to people and they receive it in different ways. So I always find it interesting when people say they heard like what does it does it sound like your voice or like I'm I'm interviewing you.

SPEAKER_03 35:27

No, it's fine. Ask me whatever. On Sunday, when that happened to me, I heard the voice in my head. And I actually made a video in my car, I think, on Monday, which I will post on TikTok one day, but because God told me to post it. Trying to be obedient. But yeah, it's literally it's a voice in my head, but I don't know how to explain it. Because I actually researched recently, apparently, people not everybody has a voice in their head.

SPEAKER_02 35:47

Yeah, no one has not everyone has an internal monologue.

SPEAKER_03 35:50

Yeah, but I do.

SPEAKER_02 35:51

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

And so it was just that, okay. Um, so yeah, the voice I heard in my head was not my voice, but it was I'm assuming God's voice. Yeah, he's obviously turning it on me to read the word, and it's happened to me before, actually, when I first received God, should I say, because if I'm just to give a tiny bit of context, when so my whole life I've always been Christian, but I was never living for God, especially like in first year of uni, even before first year of uni. Hey, I was in the world. I was in the world, I'll tell you right now. Um obviously, God found me in a place where I was really low, um, downbed, depressed, gone. And I just remember crying out to him and I was like, what's going on? Why is this happening? Why are people doing me like that? Like, what's happening for all? And I remember him speaking to me, literally, that was the first time I ever heard his voice. I was kind of scared. But um, he obviously told me to pick up my Bible, which was right next to me. And the verse that he opened up to was Jeremiah chapter, Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 14. And then that chapter in that verse it says, Heal me, oh Lord, and I'll be healed. Save me and I'll be saved for you and my praise. And um obviously talking to you, Peter. Yes. Well, actually, that's something because I realize he speaks to me audibly, but then he speaks to me through his word. But now you've said Jeremiah, I think you might be honest something. Yeah, but yeah, that was what happened to me, and I guess from there I was like, Yeah, I'm walking with you, Lord. Because from that point, I surrendered and I said, Lord, anything you want me to do from this point onwards, I'm here for it. And I feel like doors just started to open up for me and opportunity, people and yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:25

So yeah, that's that's the same thing that's happened to me with music, and I feel like that's kind of what's helping me to kind of continue going on in terms of like the progress and like the things that I'm seeing with music today, as good as I believe my music was back then, it hasn't done what it's doing now. Okay, and so the difference is that God factor that's the way I see it. Like the only reason why this is happening now is because it has to be God, and so this kind of encourages me that this is kind of the right, right thing. Um, and I'm just trying to continue with that, and you just see that when you actually start walking with God, doors actually do begin to open. Yeah, and you see favor and grace in a way that you never have before. And yeah, I may agree with what you're saying.

SPEAKER_03 38:12

Yeah, amen. I mean, it's been lovely speaking with you. Am I even really gonna ask you this last one? I don't mind. You see, I mean, yeah, okay, cool. So, oh wait, English, honorable. Actually, I was gonna say, would you mind closing us in like a prayer or words of encouragement?

SPEAKER_02 38:29

I don't mind. Let's close our eyes and pray, guys.

SPEAKER_03 38:31

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 38:32

Heavenly Father, Lord, I thank you for bringing us here today to discuss how much you have done in our lives. Lord, we bless you and we thank you. We give you the praise that we're even alive here today to just talk about your goodness, about your grace, and about your mercy. Lord, I thank you for everything that you're doing in my life. I thank you for everything that you're doing in Annabelle's life. And I pray that as we continue to create, as we continue to share our testimony, and as we continue to just walk in your will and abide by your word, Lord, you will always be glorified in the mighty name of Jesus, Lord. May you continue to put many testimonies upon our lips, Lord. May you cause us to decrease and may you forever increase in the mighty name of Jesus. Lord, I just bless you for this time here today. And even as we leave, may you give us traveling mercies. May accident, calamity, and mishap be far away from us in the mighty name of Jesus. I bless you and I praise you. I say amen, amen, and amen.

SPEAKER_03 39:29

Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Thank you for coming.

SPEAKER_02 39:33

Thank you so much for having me. This is actually really, really fun. Even when I'm saying like different things, like the the God factor. Before when I was making music, I didn't get invited to no podcast. So you'll be. It's only by God's grace that I'm sat here with you. So I thank God for that. Thank you so much for having me. So where are you going? You're gonna be you're gonna be big. In Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_03 39:56

I can see amen. Yes, by his grace. But guys, that is it. We have Eman here with us. Where can they find you?

SPEAKER_02 40:02

Um, you can find me on Instagram at underscore.eman. That's e-man. Never one M. It's always two.

SPEAKER_03 40:10

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

Um TikTok at a K.eman. So that's AK.e.m a n. Um on Spotify, Eman. And my YouTube channel is Eman AK. E-M-A-N space a K. I'm trying to post more behind the scenes, more vlogs. Um, but if you're looking for content, always go to my TikTok from always posting something there. And um, yeah, thank you guys for any support that you show.

SPEAKER_03 40:38

Amen. Yes, thank you guys. And I just want to remind you guys that this even podcast, everything that we do is not for ourselves, it's all for the glory of God, and also so that people will find salvation through Christ. Um, but yeah, we thank you for watching, and we'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_04 40:54

Bye.

SPEAKER_01 41:00

Yeah. Cool. Father Lord, I'm hurt again. Situation worsening, I ain't nothing like Judas by. You kept my life together once I pulled it apart.

SPEAKER_00 41:17

I was walking.