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When Mr. Whiskey's Navy ship set the record for most suicides in a year, he knew there had to be a better way forward. This powerful conversation reveals how one veteran transformed trauma into a mission of healing. Following his military service as a nuclear operator, Mr. Whiskey founded Couple of Nukes LLC—not just another podcast, but a comprehensive resource hub designed to address the interconnected challenges of mental health, addiction recovery, physical wellness, and spiritual founda...
When Mr. Whiskey's Navy ship set the record for most suicides in a year, he knew there had to be a better way forward. This powerful conversation reveals how one veteran transformed trauma into a mission of healing.
Following his military service as a nuclear operator, Mr. Whiskey founded Couple of Nukes LLC—not just another podcast, but a comprehensive resource hub designed to address the interconnected challenges of mental health, addiction recovery, physical wellness, and spiritual foundation. His approach acknowledges what many overlook: our mental, physical, and spiritual health exist in delicate balance, each affecting the other.
Growing up with an alcoholic father who weaponized religion, Mr. Whiskey's journey to authentic faith was anything but straightforward. From declaring himself the "Antichrist" in his darkest moments to reading the Bible cover-to-cover and discovering its transformative wisdom, his spiritual evolution provides hope for anyone feeling abandoned by God during life's harshest trials. "We're not chasing after God," he shares with quiet conviction. "God is chasing after us... we just need to turn around."
The statistics are sobering: approximately 76% of military suicides stem from spiritual and moral injury. Through his work, Mr. Whiskey addresses the epidemic of disconnection plaguing not just veterans but society at large. His mission extends beyond podcasting to speaking engagements, particularly targeting high schools where mental health crises and suicide rates continue to climb among younger generations.
What began as an introverted childhood in a controlling home has blossomed into a life of connection and service. Despite multiple attempts to quit podcasting, divine encouragement continually redirected his path. Today, his full-time mission extends to podcast production, speaking engagements, and comedy—all aimed at reaching diverse audiences with messages of hope and healing.
Check out coupleonukes.com to explore categorized episodes addressing specific challenges, or to connect with Mr. Whiskey directly. His story reminds us that our darkest moments can become catalysts for our greatest purpose—and that sometimes, the most powerful healing comes through helping others find their way.
Mr Whiskey’s Website
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00:29 - Meet Mr. Whiskey: Military Veteran & Podcaster
02:50 - Origins of "Couple of Nukes" Podcast
04:49 - Resource Hub for Mental Health
09:23 - Military Mental Health Crisis
13:12 - Faith Journey Through Darkness
21:46 - Running A Full-Time Podcast Company
26:51 - Military Service & Maintaining Faith
33:16 - Final Words of Encouragement
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Hello everyone, thanks again for joining me on another episode of the Dorshow Show.
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Today we have a special guest with us.
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His name is Mr Whiskey and he is a US Navy veteran.
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Author, preacher, podcaster, speaker, comedian, voice actor, dog, dad and more.
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He is the founder of Couple of Newt LLC, which serves as a resource hub for people to improve their lives, the main source being his podcast, where guest experts are the resources for mental and physical health, lifestyle and business.
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Mr Whiskier fought through the dark environment of suicide, depression, anxiety, addiction, addicted loved ones, the military and plenty of other trauma and plenty of other trauma.
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Through those setbacks, he has rebuilt his dreams and rebranded his life, and he hopes to help mentor young adults in order to find peace and good health.
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Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
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Thank you for having me.
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As always, Gratitude to God and to you for allowing this opportunity that we can put out some value to the world.
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Definitely.
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So what is the story behind the name of your podcast?
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In the military and we referred to as nukes, and so a lot of people they hear the word nukes, they think of weapons of mass destruction, some people think of nuclear power.
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For us we were nuclear operators, they called us nukes, and originally I wanted to create a show that highlighted that unique community.
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So we were sitting around as a couple of nukes.
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I looked around and said look at us, a couple of nukes having these conversations, and that's how the show kind of formed a name.
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And even though I have branched out to so much more than that, you know it's where I started.
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I like to recognize origin.
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You know that ties into humility and always remembering where things started from and how far we've grown.
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I think that's really important, especially as believers, and so I've kept it.
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You know, not everyone understands what the name is, not everyone checks out the show because of it, but I know that God can take it where it needs to be, regardless of what the name is.
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Yeah, what do you discuss on your show?
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Is it a variety of topics?
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Is it one specific topic or niche?
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So a lot of people always say you should niche down, that the more you niche down, the better your podcast is.
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They said, don't make your show for everyone because then it's for no one.
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However, I have made my show for everyone because I want it to be a resource center.
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So every episode is different and what I like to do is on my website I have it categorized.
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So I only encouraged a website, but even just scrolling through the show you can do this, which is, you can find which includes pornography, drugs, alcohol, whatever addiction it is.
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Even sugar addiction is an episode we recently did.
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So a lot of different addiction recovery.
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Then we also do physical health.
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That's both eating disorders.
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You know diet and fitness as well as you know new health and recovery techniques to hormone treatments.
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Then we have, you know, I have each military branch categorized.
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So if you really like army, mental health and army stories, there's army people.
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I've got Vietnam veterans, I've got Marines.
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I've got Air Force.
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I've got unique individuals.
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I've got faith-based episodes for those who are believers.
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So I try to have a variety of different approaches, experts and techniques.
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So when you come to the show, you can not only find what you want to improve in your life and with resources and experts there, but also a variety of different ones, so if you're not feeling one or the other, you can connect with a different one.
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So even like I have plenty of mental health podcast hosts and self-improvement podcast hosts on my show you know I don't see them as competition trying to help one another and if someone connects better with you know a listener than I do, then that's how it is.
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Now, what made you do the show?
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You know what's the background for mental health and addictions.
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That said, hey, I want to start a show based on these things or these topics.
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Right.
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So it actually was originally just a comedy.
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It had nothing to do with any of this.
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It was supposed to be a comedy with occasional life advice built in.
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And really what happened is when I got out of the military and lost my ties to the nuclear community.
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You know, I kind of shifted to military in general and we would do a lot of funny stories.
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You know Marines and Army guys getting into trouble and whatnot, and we would do a lot of funny stories.
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You know Marines and Army guys getting into trouble and whatnot.
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But we also hit a lot on mental health because my ship had set the record for most suicides in a year and a long time.
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The base I was at before that was one in three suicides a month.
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You know there was a high dropout rate.
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There was depression, anxiety, stress, and when I would record with other military members, there was a lot of overlaps in terms of how leadership affected mental health, how camaraderie affected mental health, how schedule sleep, all these different aspects.
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And so we really started to dive into military mental health.
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And then I wanted it to be a show for civilians as well.
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I felt like it was good for civilians to hear about this stuff and apply different techniques into their life, but also wanted civilian experts on mental health and suicide prevention.
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And then the show started to branch out more and more.
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I didn't want to be limited to just PTSD or suicide prevention.
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You know, I think addiction actually plays a huge role into military mental health, more than civilian health actually, you know, because of the PTSD and just negative de-stressors and coping mechanisms.
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And so I also have ties into addiction with my father's journey of alcoholism and other people in my life.
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I think it's about one out of five people are addicted and, like you know, three out of five people know someone who's addicted.
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So a lot of us know someone who has given their life to drugs or alcohol or pornography.
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So it's important for me to cover those aspects.
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But at the same time, physical health plays a part into mental health, just as mental health plays a part into physical health and same with how it can affect your career and your career can affect it.
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So I want to make sure I covered all the different aspects of life so that a person, if they're struggling in one or the other, could improve that, so it didn't affect everything else in their life.
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Did you ever struggle with any addictions while you were in the military or when you got out of the military?
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No.
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So I'm very fortunate in the sense that, because of my father's alcoholism and what I saw it do to my family, you know I was not into that and I wasn't even of age to drink, but in the military underage drinking is very commonplace.
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It is a huge issue.
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In fact, the nuclear community that I was part of is probably the number one base for alcohol-related incidents.
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They had this big billboard with days since last alcohol incident and it was almost always reset to zero.
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They had said that if we could get it to 50, we would get a day off.
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And I remember one time we had gotten up into the 40s and everyone was like fingers crossed, come on.
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And then it reset back to zero and it barely made it to double digits.
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So I was in a community where I think addiction was more likely than other military occupations, but I never had that urge to cope with drinking or even sleeping.
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A lot of military members will just go to sleep and sleep away their life, or they'll play video games for hours and hours, and I never wanted to just, you know, go from the military all day to just subdued in a fictional world.
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I wanted to get off base and explore the real world and, you know, still try to talk to family back home and keep my connection to the real world.
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You know so many people just want to escape and so they live between, you know, this fictional world of just suppression and then the military, and I think that's part of what damages their mental health so much.
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I mean I saw sailors, both underage and of age, who would go home and just drink entire bottles of alcohol I mean excessively, either to black out or to just, you know, numb themselves, and I never wanted to be like that.
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I never saw, you know, a desire.
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You know I would go running, I would write poetry, I would, you know, hang out with people and I would really listen to everyone's.
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You know my addiction became trying to make everyone's lives better so that they didn't cope negatively, and I ended up getting burnt out.
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Pretty bad because, as a chief stopped me one time he said, mr Whiskey, even Superman couldn't save everyone he goes.
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You're always going around trying to help everyone, be everyone's therapist and best friend, and it's a lot, especially when you're on a ship and everyone on the ship has issues.
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I wouldn't say I struggled with addiction either inside or outside.
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Some people say I'm a workaholic and work has become my addiction.
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But if that's the case, I'm very glad to have that rather than something like alcohol or drugs.
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Absolutely.
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If you could be remembered for one thing, what would that be?
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If I could be remembered for one thing.
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I think as a believer I work every day on being more humble and serving God more, and I'd want to be remembered as a man who glorified God and served God.
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I want to be remembered as a man that people were like.
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God used him.
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He was a modern King David, a prophet, which sounds very proud and prideful, but I want it to be where people don't remember me, necessarily for me.
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They remember that God was able to use me to reach so many people and have that be an inspiration for others to serve as a vessel for God.
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You know, I'm not a perfect man.
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I am a sinner and will be a sinner again, and I have sinned.
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But I have seen God, you know, forgive me and use me, and I want him to use me more and more.
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I know that every day I need to work on becoming a better vessel for him to use.
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Can you tell us your story a little bit more in depth, about your story, especially when it comes to the faith-based aspect of it?
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You know, did you grow up in church?
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You know when did you get saved and think of that nature?
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For sure.
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You know it's a story that I really appreciate because so many people let that in feelings of people who hurt them from the church or just in real life.
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You know, people just associate humanity with God.
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You know, I was recording the other day with a guest and it was interesting.
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We looked at other religions and said you know, I was recording another day with a guest and it was interesting.
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We looked at other religions and said every other religion, the gods are like humans.
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In Christianity, god is perfect.
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He's not a flawed human.
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So it's the only religion where God is perfect and humans are the ones who are messed up.
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And that's very much the case.
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But so many people try to blame God for the actions of people.
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They want to have free will but then hate when it's abused and unfortunately that's on.
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Looking back on my life, I could have very easily fallen into that mindset, but I have always been an intellectually curious person.
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When people said God said this, god did this or people hurt me, what ultimately happened is I ended up turning to the Bible and that's what set everything straight for me, for me.
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So I grew up Catholic which I no longer am Catholic, but I grew up Catholic, going to the Catholic church with my father.
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I went to this private school that was very corrupt and so they put a very sour taste for religion in my mouth.
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And then my father, you know, he weaponized and twisted religion.
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He was, as they call it, a cherry picker for Bible quotes and he kind of made religion this thing to worship him and put other people down, and the whole purpose of religion is to lift others up and praise God.
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So he had it very twisted.
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I just kind of really abandoned the faith by freshman year of high school, which is my family life.
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The traumatic childhood was just so bad and it was completely outcasted that you know I actually said I was going to make my own religion.
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I said, god, you know you're not real, I can't do this.
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I'm going to make my own religion.
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I'll give you one last chance, which, looking back on it is, you know, crazy to say that to God.
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But you know I said I'll give you one more chance.
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You know, prove you're real, because I'm done with this.
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And my right arm got split open, acquired seven stitches, and so I have a scar on me.
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So I think in my book God versus indomitable human spirit.
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I talk about doubting Thomas.
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I am, you know, because I talk about my journey with that.
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But you know I knew God was real from that day forward for sure.
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But knowing God is real and then seeking after Him are two very different things.
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And I wasn't seeking after Him, I wasn't reading the Bible and so much of my youth and even my military years, if I had read the Bible and known the wisdom that was in there, it would have saved me a lot of trouble, a lot of heartache, a lot of pain, a lot of trouble.
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So I really encourage us as parents and adults to put forward the Bible to the youth.
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But after that point, you know, the military was definitely a hard time for me.
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A lot of people lose faith, in fact spiritual and moral injury.
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About 76% of military suicides come from the fact that people lost their faith during their service.
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You know, and it's hard, you know, when you're in that kind of situation and environment and as much as the military tries to, you know it's not a very faith-based, incorporated, you know organization individually, when you're surrounded by people who, especially the nuclear community, was the highest atheist population on the whole ship.
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It's hard.
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But you know I saw it, as these are very difficult times and all we can do is lean on God.
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I said when times are rough, the last thing I want to do is make God my enemy.
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I said life is already hard enough.
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I said so the best we can do is just hope and believe in him.
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You know his word is true and you know he doesn't lie.
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So that kind of brought me closer to God again.
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And it was really my father's alcoholism gotten so bad.
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He started talking about how I was the antichrist and he was Satan's best friend and the Legion wanted me.
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And I ended up having this dream where I spoke to Jesus Christ, because I really my father had a lot of influence over me, especially in my youth, in my military years, and I really started to believe that I was the Antichrist and that you know.
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I remember in my dream I called out toward heaven.
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I said Jesus, would you not save also the Antichrist if he called out to you?
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And Jesus said I would.
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And he gave me this farmer's belt buckle and after that dream I was like I need to read Revelation, I need to know more about the Antichrist, I need to know more about Jesus Christ, and from there I ended up reading the whole Bible and that's what really brought me close to God was actually seeing his word and reading it in order.
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I had always just read random parts of the Bible.
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I didn't realize it was actually a story.
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It's a historical story.
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And it always just read random parts of the Bible, I didn't realize it was actually a story.
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It's a historical story and it all builds upon one.
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You know each section on the other, so reading it from beginning to end.
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And now I'm going back and reading through it for like the third time.
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I study it and I'm looking at parts of it in Greek and Hebrew and it's like it has brought my faith to such a better understanding and my ability to serve God has been brought much better.
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And so that's where I'm at today, where you know I had religion twisted against me, used against me by a Catholic school, by my father.
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I've been hurt by plenty of people, but having read the Bible and wanting to know the truth, I understand and have learned that.
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You know people are people but God is God.
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We are not him and he is not us.
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And when he was us, when he came down as man, he was among us, not of us.
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He was a man who was perfect, and so I think it's so important for people to know that they should seek God and the truth, no matter how much hurt they've been through.
00:16:55.860 --> 00:17:04.798
Right, I know you do your podcast and you help people with your addictions and everything.
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Do you have another career besides that or is that your full-time career?
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So a couple of nukes is a company that I run full-time it's just me, I do everything for it, looking to branch out, maybe get some employees this year because it is growing exponentially.
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But you know, that's why I do full-time, by the grace and glory of God that I'm able to live this life that I never expected.
00:17:29.036 --> 00:17:37.810
I've tried quitting podcasting probably three, four times, and every time I have gone to quit I thought that it was the end.
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God just came in and blessed me in ways I couldn't imagine, took me to states I didn't ever see myself going to.
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I grew up in a very controlling home, very introverted, never talked to anyone, was always an outcast.
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And God, the first time he brought me to a podcast event it was 3,000 people.
00:17:54.847 --> 00:18:01.011
I said Lord, I don't know how to talk to people, I don't know who these people are, and he somehow made me this social person.
00:18:01.011 --> 00:18:03.357
That was like well articulated.
00:18:03.357 --> 00:18:04.907
So I'm very grateful for that.
00:18:04.907 --> 00:18:07.696
But you know, it's the podcast.
00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:17.138
I've recently branched into podcast production and I'll be making a couple other shows for other people who want to make podcasts but don't know how to do it this year.
00:18:17.138 --> 00:18:21.276
And then I have a couple of speaking opportunities.
00:18:21.276 --> 00:18:32.711
I'll be speaking at some conferences and events and trying to branch into that, and my ultimate goal is to one speak at high schools and reach those younger folk who really need.
00:18:32.711 --> 00:18:40.000
You know, the younger generations are growing up with a huge mental health crisis and suicide epidemic especially.
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:48.354
You know I won't get into social media and all that, but I talk about that a lot on my show in a very negative way, unfortunately, just because of how people have used it.
00:18:48.354 --> 00:18:52.928
And then I am doing you mentioned comedy in the very beginning.
00:18:52.928 --> 00:18:58.234
I want to do more of that this year and that's just to reach people in a different way.
00:18:58.234 --> 00:19:00.109
You know I talk about the.
00:19:00.170 --> 00:19:01.795
Speaking is one way of reaching people.
00:19:01.795 --> 00:19:03.171
The podcasting is another way.
00:19:03.171 --> 00:19:04.309
The comedy is another way.
00:19:04.309 --> 00:19:10.770
Preaching is another way, you know, and even just like artwork and poetry, and there's so many different mediums of communication and everyone is receptive to different ways.
00:19:10.791 --> 00:19:13.799
You know there are some and there's so many different mediums of communication and everyone is receptive to different ways.
00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:27.336
You know there are some and that's why I think it's great that there's so many different preachers and pastors out there, especially with technology enabling so many more believers to reach others, because everyone is receptive to the word in a different way.
00:19:27.336 --> 00:19:43.933
So I'm not upset that there's so many translations of the Bible, because, as long as it is accurate which I, you know, urge a spirit of discernment when picking your Bible it helps it reach more people and different people.
00:19:43.933 --> 00:19:45.917
So I think it's amazing and that's why I enjoy doing this.
00:19:45.917 --> 00:19:55.954
It's a lot of work some days, and some days are definitely difficult, but, as you know, god will send birds with breadcrumbs to his prophets, so he will take care of us.
00:19:55.954 --> 00:19:57.999
We're worth more than sparrows.
00:19:57.999 --> 00:20:02.005
I think that it is the path I am on until God tells me otherwise.
00:20:02.005 --> 00:20:11.054
I'm kind of letting him take the lead in my life, which can be very scary, especially financially, but I know that he will never leave or forsake me.
00:20:11.684 --> 00:20:15.016
What's one thing about your career that you didn't expect?
00:20:17.067 --> 00:20:17.990
Can I say all of it?
00:20:17.990 --> 00:20:26.516
I didn't even know what a podcast was until about maybe two and a half years ago, and then I ended up making one a few months after I first heard one.
00:20:26.516 --> 00:20:28.792
So I never expected this.
00:20:28.792 --> 00:20:40.010
I never expected to, having grown up so outcasted and so in this little bubble, reaching and interacting with so many people.
00:20:40.010 --> 00:20:46.231
I recently went on a cruise, a podcaster's cruise, and I never expected to leave the country in my life.
00:20:46.251 --> 00:20:53.557
I grew up thinking that New Jersey was the greatest state of all time in most of America and then hadn't really gone to other states.
00:20:53.557 --> 00:21:05.778
And then when God brought me into the military, he brought me down south and that really opened up my eyes culturally and going out of the country now, like I'm planning a trip to Japan.
00:21:05.778 --> 00:21:17.484
I grew up in such a small world and I never expected the world to be so big and to be able to record with people in different states in different countries and have conversations with them and get along.
00:21:17.484 --> 00:21:33.817
You know, I was raised to think that every country was just so full of hate and raised towards each other and really raised to be almost racist and xenophobic, and so to now interact with such a diverse range of people every single day, multiple times a day.
00:21:33.817 --> 00:21:45.317
Honestly, that's the most unexpected part and the part that I really truly appreciate being able to interact with so many unique individuals and just show connection and unity.
00:21:46.826 --> 00:21:48.473
With what you're doing now.
00:21:48.473 --> 00:21:54.536
What's the biggest challenge that you're facing and how are you tackling it?
00:21:56.401 --> 00:22:29.884
The biggest challenge for me right now it's interesting that you bring this up because I was just thinking about this is the world itself, the way society is receptive to information, just pure entertainment, and they'll get millions of likes and views, whereas I put out stuff you know suicide prevention, addiction recovery, self-improvement and it is not receptive by social media.
00:22:29.884 --> 00:22:32.771
It is, you know, maybe a couple hundred or a couple thousand.
00:22:32.771 --> 00:22:38.662
It does not do as well and there are plenty of creators out there who do what I do and they have a big reach.
00:22:38.662 --> 00:22:47.092
But, honestly, getting it out there is the most difficult part and what I try to do to help tackle that is.
00:22:47.353 --> 00:22:49.503
I always say it's God's show and it's in his hands.
00:22:49.503 --> 00:23:00.208
And I say God, it's not about how many people it reaches, it's about reaching the right people at the right time, and only you, lord, are capable of that, because God is the perfect time and the perfect place.
00:23:00.208 --> 00:23:01.471
He exceeds time and space.
00:23:01.471 --> 00:23:10.134
As long as he is taking episodes to the people who need them rather than hundreds of people who don't need them, then I'm OK with that.
00:23:10.134 --> 00:23:18.994
But it is frustrating as a creator, as anyone running a podcast or doing social media influence to you know, not focus on the numbers?
00:23:18.994 --> 00:23:21.909
It's very difficult to not see them and be disheartened.
00:23:21.909 --> 00:23:23.787
You know like, are people really listening to this?
00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:26.906
Oh yeah, I can definitely relate to that.
00:23:26.906 --> 00:23:49.953
You know, I know how you're feeling and you know just to I mean, I'm sure you've heard it before from others but just being encouraged, you know, as I am to know, that, hey, at least you got somebody listening and you know, being encouraged by what you, by what you're saying, by what you put out there.
00:23:51.576 --> 00:23:57.833
Yeah, and knowing that it's a marathon, not a sprint, we're trying to make content for well after you and I have passed away.
00:23:57.833 --> 00:24:03.287
This is an episode right now that could be listened to 200 years from now and it can bring someone to Christ.
00:24:03.287 --> 00:24:06.150
So that's when I say God exceeds time and space.
00:24:06.150 --> 00:24:08.387
This is something amazing.
00:24:08.387 --> 00:24:16.386
Like I said, the right time and place and a quote I like that I heard recently was we're planting the seeds of a tree whose shade will never sit under.
00:24:16.386 --> 00:24:18.220
This isn't for us, for you and me.
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This is for whoever is going to hear it when it's the right time and place.
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