Ruslan
Appearances
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Oh, man, the secret. Hmm. Well, I'll be vulnerable in some of the stuff we've been going through as a family. I haven't spoken much about it publicly. There's a passage that talks about caring for the needs of your family, extended family, in 1 Timothy 5, and we've always valued that. And
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
we've had the awesome privilege of helping out our extended family, my wife's family, my mom, that sort of stuff. And about five years ago, my wife's niece, my niece, came to live with us. So she had just transitioned. She just turned 18, and the family that adopted her, she didn't grow up with her bio mom, which is my wife's sister, was moving to Texas.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
So it wasn't that you were like angry, flipping God the bird. You just hadn't gotten that revelation yet. And then when... No, but I did.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
So it was like, move to Texas, or you can come live with us. And at the time, I had two condos right next to each other, and I had an upstairs master bedroom, so she stayed there. Her name was Dasani, and she was awesome. She was great. She always wrestled with her faith, and having a rough time, guys, orphan spirit, the whole gamut.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
we had had multiple interventions with Asani because we didn't have a father-daughter dynamic. It was like uncle, big bro type, right? She was an adult by the time she came to us. And so long story short, Asani had been struggling for a while with alcoholism. We came out of a really toxic relationship that did a number on her. And about six months ago, we had an intervention with her.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And we sat down and we're like, hey, look, She had almost beat up somebody at her job over something super petty. And we're like, look, you're like emotionally dysregulated. If you're going to live with us, you got to go to therapy and you got to go to church or you got to pay rent, like your choice. And so she breaks down, she's crying, she's sobbing, and she's grateful.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Whenever we would correct her, she would always receive it well. So long story short, we had a beautiful, beautiful six months of not just going to church, but we would have this thing where we would race to church. Who gets church first? And she started a Bible study at the house, and she's bringing her friends over, and she's asking us to lead the Bible study.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And she's really starting to make some strides in her faith. And we went to... uh, vacation together. Chosen Con brought all of us out, which was like super cool. We did Disneyland. Um, she grew up really, uh, looking up to Kat Von D and had to like her makeup line. Kat Von D came over to dinner at the end of November with her husband.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And so like, and Thanksgiving, her, all her highs and lows was like, I got to meet Kat Von D. I got to do this. I got to do this. She had such a, we had such a great six months. And, um, I, everything professionally has been going really well in terms of like, I get my manuscript submitted by penguin random house. They accept it. I'm getting asked to speak at all these things.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
YouTube is going well. And as all these things are going well, um, December, middle of December, I walk in, I hear something clang in the, in the kitchen and I walk into what I think in what appears to be some sort of seizure. And, uh,
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
I wasn't really sure, so I kind of analyzed the situation, sat, sat down, and it wouldn't stop, because I've seen people have seizures before, and they usually pass within 45 seconds. And so as I'm realizing it's now stopped, I roll her on her side, I call 911, they get there, everybody's calm. They're like, oh, it's a seizure. So they get her in, they're like, hey, pack her back for her.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Don't even follow us. You don't got to ride with us. We'll get her to the hospital. Wait for the hospital to call you is what they say. So we're like kind of chilling. We're like, oh man, like we know she's been struggling with weed and alcohol. And maybe this is like a wake up call or who knows, you know? And then we get a call in about 30 minutes and they're like, where are you?
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
She's in critical condition. You guys got to get here now. And so I rushed to the hospital. By the time I get there, she had already flatlined. They brought her back. my sister-in-law gets there, Dasani's biological mom, and they bring out two grief counselors, one of which actually went to my church, oddly enough. So they're praying with me, which was beautiful.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And that's when I knew it was like, oh, this is bad. Like there's two grief counselors. Like this is serious. And over the course of the next couple hours, man, they they brought her back a total of four times and we just kept, we kept praying for a pulse and we were, we were believing for a miracle.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
We were praying for a pulse and they brought her back four times and they brought her back, um, long enough to get her into the ICU. And we basically had like an extra day to get all family and friends there. And, um, and so everyone's there and they just tell us like, look, like it's, she's not going to make it like it's, it's, it's not going to happen.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Um, you, you need to really consider this and, um, yeah. And so like Dasani went to, went to go be with Jesus that day. And it was, it was really, really heavy. For us, you called me in the middle of all this. George calls me. He's like, hey, how you doing, bro? And I'm like, I'm not doing great. I'm like sobbing. I'm crying. And you were so helpful in that, bro. You spoke life over me.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Because I'm dealing with the reality of losing someone, the shock of having someone under my roof that we thought had turned it around and was going to church and was doing a Bible study and all these things. And for that sort of tragedy to happen, it made... It makes no sense on paper at all. 20 years ago, I had lost my best friend in that same ICU room. So I've lost people close to me before.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And so like the season that we're going through, like a real season of grief, but like God is comforting those who are grieving and that suffering is something that we're all going to go through. And that just because we serve a good God doesn't mean we don't live in a broken world. And so like, you know, first Peter four talks about using your gifts to serve one another and all these things.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And then you think like, oh, use my gifts to build the kingdom. And then it goes right into, dear friends, do not be surprised at the fear of your deal that has come on you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And the aspect of our faith that there will be trouble, we will suffer, tragedy will happen. And it's only brought me closer to Jesus and the resilience of faith to lean into the closeness of God and local church community and our friends. It's been one of the most jarring eight weeks of my life. And it's so interesting. And so that's a real thing that we're still going through.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
I wish I could be like... Yeah, and it's a scar, and God's going to use it. It's an open wound. Wow. It's an open wound. I don't like talking about my open wounds. I don't like talking about stuff I'm going through in real time. But, yeah, this is something we're walking through in real time. My kids were really close to her, so they're processing in their own way.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
This is the second daughter that my sister-in-law has lost. She lost a baby, and now Dasani at 24. They were working on their relationship. And so, yeah, there's like a heaviness that we as a family are kind of working through and being okay that like all things work for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And I don't know what that is right now, but man, does it give me perspective in terms of how little all of the career stuff and all the YouTube, like how little that really matters in the grand scheme of things. And it was just interesting, the timeline of it all happening. It happening right as I'm having this incredible year, and then boom. Tragedy in the middle of Christmas. Family's broken.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
But God's been so faithful through it all, man. Like, we have an amazing local church, Rhythm Church in Oceanside, that's just wrapped their arms around us. I have a great Christian therapist that's been so good on the phone with me as I'm driving home because I was driving home to swap with my wife. And...
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Yeah, man, like seeing God be faithful and near the brokenhearted and knowing that in a tacit, not like an abstract, like no, no, no, no. The problem of evil that people object about, like I understand that evil is real. And I had to deal with it of the one having to call 911 and seeing her in a state of fear and horror and not knowing what was going on to her.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
But we still don't know what happened. The autopsy reports, we don't have them back. It could be a combination of, A pulmonary embolism was the first thing they said to us. Potentially mixing over-the-counter sleeping medication with Tylenol. That's common. We have no idea what happened. And we won't know for like another three months until the autopsy results are back. So, yeah.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Yeah, that's really good. And you kind of echoed the parable of the prodigal, right? And I think in that parable, it's interesting. As the prodigal is coming back, he's giving himself this pep talk. I'm going to get back to my dad. I'm going to say, I just want to be a servant. And it's the father in the story that goes, no, no, no, you're my son.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And so I think the root of what you're getting at, I actually believe it's an identity issue. And you see this explored in secular psychology with the atomic habits bit. Your identity will determine your processes. Your processes will determine your outcomes. And so in Romans 7, it's literally what you're echoing, right? I'm struggling. This thing I hate to do, I do.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
But the things I want to do, I can't do. And then Romans 8 is the release of that. And there's an identity verse.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Yeah, let me read this. Romans 724, it says, which is kind of what you're getting at. What a wretched man that I am who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death. Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. And then this is the identity piece. Therefore...
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. So our identity, there's no condemnation. None. Right? But check this out. This is the cool part. If we keep reading, and I don't want to go through the whole chapter, but if you keep reading verse 13, this is the unlock for me. Verse 13, it says, For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. So kill your sin or your sin will kill you. By the spirit, put to death the misdeeds of the body you will live. So the answer is identity shift first, then by the spirit, put to death the deeds of the flesh. Meaning now I have to take an inventory. and I have to practice the law of replacement.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
I have to rip things out that are fleshly, and I have to replace them with godly disciplines. And that can be that one unlock. For many people, it could be, hey, I'm going to finally join that small group I've been avoiding. I'm going to finally get accountable. I'm going to join the small group. For someone else, it could be,
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Hey, I'm going to start writing in a prayer journal and documenting my prayers. For someone else, it could be I'm going to start my day with Scripture. But you find out one thing to replace, and it usually becomes the domino effect that transforms the rest of our lives. But it is a process, and it's not always a magic bullet.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
I guess it depends, and I'm going to borrow one from Cliff. I don't know.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
So I grew up Armenian apostolic, which is a part of the Oriental Orthodox arm of the church. And I got also baptized as a kid. And I remember some seeds of Jesus and stuff being planted, but I never had a clear explanation of the gospel in that context. I'm not saying they didn't always, but for me, I didn't get it. And then I came to faith as a teenager, and I got re-baptized.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
I mean, the entire service was in Armenian, you know?
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
They planted some seeds, but I didn't really get it. And I remember the only time my terhar set me down was in fourth grade. I got my ear pierced, which was like the craze. And it was like such a big deal. And he like sat me down and read me like the Leviticus passage. And I was like, dang, like that's really what you're concerned about? Like all the craziness that's happening in the church.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
You got a bunch of refugees that come over broken, traumatized. You're going to have folks that are beating their wives and drunk driving and all this craziness, right? Like my ear piercing is like the part that you're concerned about. And so I still love the tradition and I still love it. But what I think happened for me was I think the human heart wants to default to one of two extremes.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
One extreme is legalism, works-based, I'm going to do things to get right before God. The other extreme is liberalism. It doesn't matter. Hyper grace. Jesus paid it all. I'm going to live like the world. But I think what Jesus is after is liberation. I think there's a freedom and a liberation that happens.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And how I persuaded my mom wasn't with having all the right answers and being able to read the scriptures. She watched my life for the past 20 years and goes... Maybe there's something to this Jesus. And then when I was in a position to, despite her sin, despite her alcoholism, honor her and care for her and love her through, she had a really nasty traumatic fall and broke her shoulder.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And it was really bad. Like I was there for her, taking her to the hospital, making sure she got her hips fixed. And like now on the other side of this, of watching me live different, seeing my kids, now she's finally came around and she's going to We have like a Calvary Chapel Oceanside there that has a Russian service. And so it's like our style is our church, but within a Russian language.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
But that took decades. That took decades. The seeds. Yeah, the seeds. It took decades. And so I think to answer your question, not to oversimplify this, but I think. The best way with regards to people from different streams of Christianity that we're in a household with or with people from completely different faiths is that liberating process of the gospel that transforms us from the inside out.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And that's very difficult for people that we're close to. Jesus said that a prophet is without honor in his own hometown. When he came back home, they were like, aren't you the carpenter's son? Like you're little old Jesus, right? And so like his own people didn't even get it. So I just didn't have this expectation that like my entire family was just going to get radically saved.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
It's after decades of planting seeds and living it differently that my mom finally comes to faith and now we're starting to work on the rest of my siblings.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
It's good. Can I just add one thing, I think, to what I've learned?
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
No, praise God. I've been doing more public speaking. And a mentor of mine, Jonathan Picluda, who does really good stuff with workshopping and helping people become better communicators, he dropped his gem on me. And he said, in communication,
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
it's often knowing what not to say wow and leaving things out of a talk that that will because you might over stimulate you might give too much information and so with within the especially within the parental dynamics it's oftentimes what you don't say it's knowing what to take out so that you don't overshare you don't overstate you don't cross lines you don't raise your voice you don't
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
You don't act like the smartest person in the room. And so I've been looking at that, but I think that's a word for you. It's knowing what not to say.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
You did a great job of steel manning our Orthodox and Catholic brothers and sisters. It's not that they pray to saints, it's that they ask the saints to pray for them. So we want to be fair and charitable and actually represent them.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Yeah, so I think you're totally right. They view it in the same way that I could ask Cliff to pray for me. They're viewing it as I'm going to ask. I've asked them. I've asked Catholic priests like, hey, so can I ask Charles Spurgeon to pray for me? Can I ask C.S. Lewis to pray for me? And they'll be like, yeah.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Yeah, we have multiple clips of this. So from their paradigm, that's what they're saying. And there's also a value of knowing some of these saints and what they've done and how they've become more sinless and that whole bit. But from a very lay standpoint, I go to the source. Jesus is the only mediator, so I'm going to go to Jesus.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
He said I'm the only mediator. When he prays, our Father who art in heaven.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
But man, do I get smoked out when I talk about this.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Yeah, let me speak to that. So here's the thing, and again, all props to my Eastern Orthodox and my Catholic folks. They're going to clip this. Both claim to be the one and true church. Both can't agree on whether Peter was the bishop of Rome and the first pope. or whether it's apostolic succession and you need the apostles to pass on the apostolic succession through the disciples.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
This is literally the schism that they have theologically. Pope, Catholic? Apostolic succession, not Catholic, but they believe in the councils. So we say, repent and believe in Jesus. That's it. That's it. Repent and believe in Jesus.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
So my position has always been, I'm going to let you guys fight over popes and councils and apostolic fathers, and I'm going to tell people to repent and believe in Jesus. And I think you guys could be saved. I think if you place your faith in Jesus, you're saved. So in my opinion, that's the most Catholic position one can take. Catholic meaning universal.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
That's the most universal position one can take. So I don't care. I genuinely don't care. And I like watching them fight about it. I like watching the Catholic and Orthodox debate on it. I don't. I don't.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Well, again, my Jesus is big enough that even Catholics and Eastern Orthodox folks can be saved. That if we're saved by grace through faith, even Catholic Orthodox folks can be, even if there's error in their theology and we disagree with them.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
So some people... kiss icons and bow to icons, I can't do it. They do it and they say, hey, we see these as windows into heaven. That's a technical term. And this is, we're not bowing to the inanimate object. We're kissing it the way if you had your kids in your wallet, you pick out a picture, you kiss your kids.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
But we do the same thing, though. We hold a reverence to the scriptures, right? We believe Jesus is the logos, and these are the scriptures, and we hold these in high regard. And in the same way you said that, but at the end of the day, this is a nice leather-bound Bible, and these are just pages. These are inanimate objects. And so we wouldn't want this disrespected.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
They wouldn't want those things disrespected.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Yeah, well, not just Catholics and Orthodox. I believe there's real presence in the communion. Protestants believe, high Protestants believe in real presence in the communion. I believe Jesus is really there with communion. I don't believe the molecules change. I don't believe that.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
I believe that Jesus' real presence is really with me in communion. I don't believe that the molecules have changed to where the bread literally becomes flesh. I don't believe that, but I believe the real presence is there.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Yeah, I think the part that I wrestle with, George, is the end of Matthew 25, the separation of the sheep from the goats. It ends in verse 46. It says, then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Yeah, so when I read eternal, eternal, the righteous, and the unrighteous, eternal. Now, that's the way I've always read it. I hope you're right. I hope what you're describing is right.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Yeah, so I take C.S. Lewis's view of hell, which is the gates of hell are locked from the inside. So I don't think anyone is in hell that didn't choose to be there.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
What I'm saying is I don't think God is going to force a bunch of people that want nothing to do with them to spend an eternity with them. And so the gates of hell are locked from the inside. Now, to be fair to you, George, there have been throughout church history folks that have held to what you're describing sounds like an annihilationist perspective. Yeah.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
So you're not in this like George is crazy. Oh, my gosh. He's, you know, on the edge of heresy. There are people in there and there are groups that do hold and have held hysteric historically different positions on hell potentially being an annihilationist destination being eternal. There's a spectrum of views on hell. Right? And so I don't know if it's as clear cut.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
That's the verse that I've always gone after is like, I see that verse and I go, man, it sounds like it's eternal, eternal. I don't know. I really hope, I really hope there's, I really would hope that it's annihilationism, but I know that God is good. I know that God is just. I know that God is merciful. And I know God's not going to force anyone to spend eternity with him that doesn't want him.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Yeah, I think God can't heal what we hide. And so if we keep that sin hidden and we keep it suppressed and we never confess it to God, we never confess it within the context of community. I talk to a lot of Eastern Orthodox and Catholic folks, man, and the practice of confession is something they kind of got on lock right now, right? Like, they make it a point to go and practice confession.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And if we suppress these things and we pretend that they're not real and we pretend that we're these perfected people, I think it stifles the healing, right? James talks about confess your sins to one another so you may be healed. And I think there's a need to confess so that we can reveal so that it could be healed because
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
justification and what Jesus does on the cross for us, that's instantaneous, saved by grace through faith, right? But the process of sanctification is us cooperating with the Spirit to transform us and conform us and consecrate us. And that, like with you and weed, like that took a while for you to come to those conclusions, right? Or profanity, that took a while for you to come.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
Oh man, the secret. Um, Hmm. Well, I'll, I'll, I'll be vulnerable in some of the stuff we've been going through as a family. I haven't spoken much about it publicly. Um, there's a passage that talks about caring for the needs of your family, extended family, um, in first Timothy five. And we've always valued that. And, uh,
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
we've had the awesome privilege of helping out our extended family, my wife's family, my mom, that sort of stuff. And about five years ago, my wife's niece, my niece, came to live with us. So she had just transitioned. She just turned 18, and the family that adopted her, she didn't grow up with her bio mom, which is my wife's sister, was moving to Texas.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
So it wasn't that you were like angry, flipping God the bird. You just hadn't gotten that revelation yet. And then when... No, but I did.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
So it was like, move to Texas, or you can come live with us. And at the time, I had two condos right next to each other and I had like an upstairs master bedroom. So she stayed there and her name was Dasani and she was, she was awesome. She was great.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And, um, she kind of always wrestled with her faith and having a rough time, you know, guys, orphan spirit like that, like the whole, the whole gamut. And, um, we had had multiple like interventions with Asani because we didn't have like a father-daughter dynamic. It was like uncle, big bro type, right? She was an adult by the time she came to us.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And so long story short, Asani had been struggling for a while with alcoholism. We came out of a really toxic relationship that did a number on her. And about six months ago, we had like an intervention with her and we sat down and we're like, hey, look, like, she had almost beat up somebody at her job over something super petty. And we're like, look, you're like emotionally dysregulated.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
If you're going to live with us, you got to go to therapy and you got to go to church or you got to pay rent, like your choice. And so she breaks down, she's crying, she's sobbing, and she's grateful. Whenever we would correct her, she would always receive it well.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
So long story short, we had a beautiful, beautiful six months of not just going to church, but we would have this thing where we would race to church. Who gets to church first? And she started a Bible study at the house, and she's bringing her friends over, and she's asking us to lead the Bible study. And she's really starting to make some strides in her faith. And we went to...
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
uh vacation together chosen con brought all of us out which was like super cool we did disneyland um she grew up really uh looking up to kat von d and had like her makeup line kat von d came over to dinner at the end of november with her husband and so like on thanksgiving her all her highs and lows was like i got to meet kat von d i got to do this i got to do she had such we had such a great six months and um
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
I, everything professionally has been going really well in terms of like, I get my manuscript submitted by penguin random house. They accept it. I'm getting asked to speak at all these things. YouTube is going well.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And as all these things are going well, um, December, middle of December, I walk in, I hear something clang in the, in the kitchen and I walk into what I think in what appears to be some sort of seizure. And, uh, I wasn't really sure, so I kind of analyzed the situation, sat down, and it wouldn't stop, because I've seen people have seizures before, and they usually pass within 45 seconds.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
And so as I'm realizing it's now stopped, I roll her on her side, I call 911, they get there, everybody's calm. They're like, oh, it's a seizure. So they get her in, they're like, hey, pack her back for her. Don't even follow us. You don't got to ride with us. We'll get her to the hospital. Wait for the hospital to call you is what they say. So we're like kind of chilling.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
We're like, oh man, like we know she's been struggling with weed and alcohol and maybe this is like a wake up call or who knows, you know? And then we get a call in about 30 minutes and they're like, where are you? She's in critical condition. You guys got to get here now. And so I rushed to the hospital. By the time I get there, she had already flatlined. They brought her back.
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
my sister-in-law gets there, Dasani's biological mom, and they bring out two grief counselors, one of which actually went to my church, oddly enough, so they're praying with me, which was beautiful, and that's when I knew, it was like, oh, this is bad, like, there's two grief counselors, like, this is serious, and over the course of the next couple hours, man, they
The George Janko Show
The Christian Avengers | EP. 100
they brought her back a total of four times and we just kept, we kept praying for a pulse and we were, we were believing for a miracle. We were praying for a pulse and they brought her back four times and they brought her back, um, long enough to get her into the ICU. And we basically had like an extra day to get all family and friends there.
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And, um, and so everyone's there and they just tell us like, look, like it's, she's not going to make it. Like it's, it's, it's not going to happen. Um, you need to really consider this. And yeah, and so like Dasani went to go be with Jesus that day. And it was really, really heavy. For us, you called me in the middle of all this. George calls me. He's like, hey, how you doing, bro?
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And I'm like, I'm not doing great. I'm like sobbing. I'm crying. And you were so helpful in that, bro. You spoke life over me. Because I'm dealing with the reality of losing someone, the shock of having someone under my roof that we thought had turned it around and was going to church and was doing a Bible study and all these things. And for that sort of tragedy to happen, it made...
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It makes no sense at all. 20 years ago, I had lost my best friend in that same ICU room. So I've lost people close to me before. And so like the season that we're going through, like a real season of grief, but like God is comforting those who are grieving and that suffering is something that we're all going to go through.
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And that just because we serve a good God doesn't mean we don't live in a broken world. And so like, you know, first Peter four talks about using your gifts to serve one another and all these things. And then you think like, oh, use my gifts to build the kingdom.
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And then it goes right into, dear friends, do not be surprised at the fear of your deal that has come on you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. And the aspect of our faith that there will be trouble, we will suffer, tragedy will happen.
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And it's only brought me closer to Jesus and the resilience of faith to lean into the closeness of God and local church community and our friends. It's been one of the most jarring eight weeks of my life. And it's so interesting. And so that's a real thing that we're still going through. I wish I could be like... Yeah, and it's a scar, and God's going to use it. It's an open wound. Wow.
The George Janko Show
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It's an open wound. I don't like talking about my open wounds. I don't like talking about stuff I'm going through in real time. But, yeah, this is something we're walking through in real time. My kids were really close to her, so they're processing in their own way. This is the second daughter that my sister-in-law has lost. She lost a baby, and now Dasani at 24.
The George Janko Show
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They were working on their relationship. And so, yeah, there's there's like a heaviness that we as a family are kind of working through and being OK that like like all things work for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. And I don't know what that is right now.
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But man, does it give me perspective in terms of how little all of the career stuff and all the YouTube, like how little that really matters in the grand scheme of things. And it was just interesting, the timeline of it all happening. It happening right as I'm having this incredible year, and then boom. Tragedy in the middle of Christmas. Family's broken.
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But God's been so faithful through it all, man. Like, we have an amazing local church, Rhythm Church in Oceanside, that's just wrapped their arms around us. I have a great Christian therapist that's been so good. On the phone with me as I'm driving home, because I was driving home to swap with my wife. And...
The George Janko Show
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Yeah, man, like seeing God be faithful and near the brokenhearted and knowing that in a tacit, not like an abstract, like no, no, no, no. The problem of evil that people object about, like I understand that evil is real. And I had to deal with it of the one having to call 911 and seeing her in a state of fear and horror and not knowing what was going on to her.
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But we still don't know what happened. The autopsy reports, we don't have them back. It could be a combination of, A pulmonary embolism was the first thing they said to us. Potentially mixing over-the-counter sleeping medication with Tylenol. That's common. We have no idea what happened. And we won't know for like another three months until the autopsy results is back. So, yeah.
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Steve? Yeah, that's really good, and you kind of echoed the parable of the prodigal, right? And I think in that parable, it's interesting. As the prodigal is coming back, he's giving himself this pep talk. I'm going to get back to my dad, and I'm going to say, I just want to be a servant. And it's the father in the story that goes, no, no, no, you're my son.
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Married us. Yeah. Forgot about that one. That was a big one. That was a big one.
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And so I think the root of what you're getting at, I actually believe it's an identity issue. And you see this explored in secular psychology with the atomic habits bit. Your identity will determine your processes. Your processes will determine your outcomes. And so in Romans 7, it's literally what you're echoing, right? I'm struggling. This thing I hate to do, I do.
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But the things I want to do, I can't do. And then Romans 8 is the release of that. And there's an identity verse.
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Yeah, let me read this. Romans 7.24, it says, which is kind of what you're getting at. And then this is the identity piece. there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. So our identity, there's no condemnation, none. Right? But check this out. This is the cool part.
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If we keep reading, and I don't want to go through the whole chapter, but if you keep reading verse 13, this is the unlock for me. Verse 13, it says, For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. So kill your sin or your sin will kill you. By the Spirit, put to death the misdeeds of the body you will live.
The George Janko Show
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So the answer is identity shift first, then by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the flesh, meaning... Now I have to take an inventory and I have to practice the law of replacement. I have to rip things out that are fleshly and I have to replace them with godly disciplines. And that can be that one unlock.
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For many people, it could be, hey, I'm going to finally join that small group I've been avoiding. I'm going to finally get accountable. I'm going to join a small group. For someone else, it could be, Hey, I'm going to start writing in a prayer journal and documenting my prayers. For someone else, it could be I'm going to start my day with scripture.
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But you find out one thing to replace, and it usually becomes the domino effect to transform the rest of our lives. But it is a process, and it's not always a magic bullet.
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I guess it depends, and I'm going to borrow one from Cliff. I don't know.
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And my mom's like, you don't have a vacation for God.
The George Janko Show
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So I grew up Armenian apostolic, which is a part of the Oriental Orthodox arm of the church. And I got also baptized as a kid. And I remember some seeds of Jesus and stuff being planted, but I never had like a clear explanation of the gospel in that context. I'm not saying they didn't always, but for me, I didn't get it. And then I came to faith as a teenager and I got re-baptized.
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I mean, the entire service was in Armenian, you know?
The George Janko Show
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It planted some seeds, but I didn't really get it. And I remember the only time my terhar sat me down was in fourth grade. I got my ear pierced, which was like the craze. And it was like such a big deal. And he like sat me down and read me like the Leviticus passage. And I was like, dang, like that's really what you're concerned about? Like all the craziness that's happening in the church.
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You got a bunch of refugees that come over broken, traumatized. You're going to have folks that are beating their wives and drunk driving and all this craziness, right? And, Like my ear piercing is like the part that you're concerned about. And so I still love the tradition and I still love it. But what I think happened for me was I think the human heart wants to default to one of two extremes.
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One extreme is legalism, works-based. I'm going to do things to get right before God. The other extreme is liberalism. It doesn't matter. Hyper grace. Jesus paid it all. I'm going to live like the world. But I think what Jesus is after is liberation. I think there's a freedom and a liberation that happens.
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And how I persuaded my mom wasn't with having all the right answers and being able to read the scriptures. She watched my life for the past 20 years and goes... Maybe there's something to this Jesus.
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And then when I was in a position to, despite her sin, despite her alcoholism, honor her and care for her and love her through... She had a really nasty traumatic fall and broke her shoulder. It was really bad. I was there for her, taking her to the hospital, making sure she got her hips fixed.
The George Janko Show
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And now on the other side of this, of watching me live different, seeing my kids, now she's finally came around and she's going to... We have like a Calvary Chapel Oceanside there that has a Russian service. And so it's like our style of church, but within a Russian language.
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But that took decades. That took decades. The seeds. The seeds. Yeah, the seeds. It took decades. And so I think to answer your question, not to oversimplify this, but I think.
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The best way with regards to people from different streams of Christianity that we're in a household with or with people from completely different faiths is that liberating process of the gospel that transforms us from the inside out. And that's very difficult for people that we're close to. Jesus said that a prophet is without honor in his own hometown.
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When he came back home, they were like, aren't you the carpenter's son? little old Jesus right and so like his own people didn't even get it so I just didn't have this expectation that like my entire family was just going to get radically saved it's after decades of
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planting seeds and living it differently that my mom finally comes to faith and now we're starting to work on the rest of my siblings.
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That's good. Can I just add one thing, I think, to what I've learned?
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No, man, praise God. I've been doing more public speaking. And a mentor of mine, Jonathan Pecluda, who does really good stuff with workshopping and helping people become better communicators, he dropped this gem on me. And he said, in communication,
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it's often knowing what not to say wow and leaving things out of a talk that that will because you might over stimulate you might give too much information and so with within the especially within the parental dynamics it's oftentimes what you don't say it's knowing what to take out so that you don't overshare you don't overstay you don't cross lines you don't raise your voice you don't
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You don't act like the smartest person in the room. And so I've been looking at that, but I think that's a word for you. It's knowing what not to say. Absolutely.
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Everybody's like, I'm gonna hang out on this one. And Stuart or Clint. Let me just say this. You did a great job of steel manning our Orthodox and Catholic brothers and sisters. It's not that they pray to saints, it's that they ask the saints to pray for them. So we want to be fair and charitable and actually represent them.
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Yeah, so I think you're totally right. They view it in the same way that I could ask Cliff to pray for me. They're viewing it as I'm going to ask. I've asked them. I've asked Catholic priests like, hey, so can I ask Charles Spurgeon to pray for me? Can I ask C.S. Lewis to pray for me? And they'll be like, yeah.
The George Janko Show
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Yeah, we have multiple clips of this. So from their paradigm, that's what they're saying. And there's also a value of knowing some of these saints and what they've done and how they've become more sinless and that whole bit. But from a very lay standpoint, I go to the source. Jesus is the only mediator, so I'm going to go to Jesus.
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He said I'm the only mediator. When he prays, our Father who art in heaven.
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I'm not watching them, like, cut the lamb. Okay, so, like, go to a butcher, get some... I don't know how they do it, bro. You made it sound like they're sacrificing a lamb. But they have lamb. They have lamb. Yeah, like, I'm kissing a George. Oh, my God.
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I was going to say, you're going to have every Catholic and Eastern Orthodox apologist channeled.
The George Janko Show
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So, yeah, let me speak to that. So here's the thing, and again, all props to my Eastern Orthodox and my Catholic folks. They're going to clip this. Both claim to be the one and true church. Both can't agree on whether Peter was the bishop of Rome and the first pope. or whether it's apostolic succession and you need the apostles to pass on the apostolic succession through the disciples.
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This is literally the schism that they have theologically. Pope, Catholic, apostolic succession, not Catholic, but they believe in the councils. So we say, repent and believe in Jesus. That's it. That's it. Repent and believe in Jesus. So my position has always been, I'm gonna let you guys fight over popes and councils and apostolic fathers.
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And I'm gonna tell people to repent and believe in Jesus. And I think you guys could be saved. I think if you place your faith in Jesus, you're saved. So in my opinion, that's the most Catholic position one can take. Catholic meaning universal. That's the most universal position one can take. So I don't care. I genuinely don't care. And I like watching them fight about it.
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I like watching the Catholic and Orthodox debate on it. I don't. I don't.
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Well, again, my Jesus is big enough that even Catholics and Eastern Orthodox folks can be saved. Amen. That if we're saved by grace through faith, even Catholic or Orthodox folks can be, even if there's error in their theology and we disagree with them.
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kiss icons and bow to icons i can't do it they do it and they say hey we see these as windows into heaven that's a technical term and this is we're not we're not bowing to the inanimate object we're kissing it the way if you had your kids in your wallet you pick out a picture you kiss your kids i don't look at things that are dirt and put it to the holiness of god i can never do that differently with the bible i get uncomfortable when the bible's on the ground just because this is the word of god and god was the word and became flesh
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But we do the same thing, though. We hold a reverence to the scriptures, right? We believe Jesus is the logos, and these are the scriptures, and we hold these in high regard. And in the same way you said that, but at the end of the day, this is a nice leather-bound Bible, and these are just pages. These are inanimate objects, and so... We wouldn't want this disrespected.
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They wouldn't want those things disrespected.
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Yeah, well, not just Catholics and Orthodox. I believe there's real presence in the communion. Protestants believe, high Protestants believe in real presence in the communion. I believe Jesus is really there with communion. I don't believe the molecules change.
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I believe that Jesus' real presence is really with me in communion. I don't believe that the molecules have changed to where the bread literally becomes flesh. I don't believe that. But I believe the real presence is there.
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Yeah, I think the part that I wrestle with, George, is the end of Matthew 25, the separation of the sheep from the goats. It ends in verse 46. It says, then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
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Yeah, so when I read eternal, eternal, the righteous, and the unrighteous, eternal. Now, that's the way I've always read it. I hope you're right. I hope what you're describing is right.
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Yeah, so I take C.S. Lewis's view of hell, which is the gates of hell are locked from the inside. So I don't think anyone is in hell that didn't choose to be there.
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I have no idea. What I'm saying is I don't think God is going to force a bunch of people that want nothing to do with them to spend an eternity with them. And so the gates of hell are locked from the inside. Now, to be fair to you, George, there have been throughout church history folks that have held to what you're describing sounds like an annihilationist perspective. Yeah.
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So you're not in this like George is crazy. Oh, my gosh. He's, you know, on the edge of heresy. There are people in there and there are groups that do hold and have held hysteric historically different positions on hell, potentially being an annihilationist destination, being eternal. There's a spectrum of views on hell. Right. And so I don't know if it's as clear cut.
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That's the verse that I've always gone after is like I see that verse and I go, man, it sounds like it's eternal, eternal. I don't know. I really hope I really hope there's I really would hope that it's annihilationism. But I know that God is good. I know that God is just. I know that God is merciful. And I know God's not going to force anyone to spend eternity with him that doesn't want him.
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No, old clips. We all caught that one, right? Old clips. No, old clips.
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Yeah, I think God can't heal what we hide. And so if we keep that sin hidden and we keep it suppressed and we never confess it to God, we never confess it within the context of community. I talk to a lot of Eastern Orthodox and Catholic folks, man, and the practice of confession is something they kind of got to unlock right now, right? Like, they may get a point to go and practice confession.
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And if we suppress these things and we pretend that they're not real and we pretend that we're these perfected people, I think it stifles the healing, right? James talks about confess your sins to one another so you may be healed. And I think there's a need to confess so that we can reveal so that it could be healed because
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justification and what Jesus does on the cross for us, that's instantaneous, saved by grace through faith, right? But the process of sanctification is us cooperating with the Spirit to transform us and conform us and consecrate us. And that, like with you and Weed, like that took a while for you to come to those conclusions, right? Or profanity, that took a while for you to come.