The Eric Metaxas Show - Gheorghe Ignat (continued)

Episode Date: March 2, 2023

Gheorghe Ignat, an ex-Greco Roman Wrestling and MMA Heavy weight Champion from Romania and author of "They Called Me Crazy: A True Story of Trial and Triumph," continues sharing his story.

Folks, welcome to the Eric Mataxis show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metaxas show. There's never been a better time to invest in precious metals. Visit legacy p.m.investments.com. That's legacy p.m. Investments.com. Welcome to the Eric Mataxis show. They say it's a thin line between love and hate, but we're working every day to thicken that line, or at least to make it a double or triple line. Now here's your line jumping host, Eric Mattaxas. Folks, welcome back. I'm talking to George Ignat from Romania or Georgie, as his people call him. George, you just said, you know, that you're such a young man and you had to leave the UK.

You're having this pressure. It's unbelievable how young you were. You're married with a new kid. And you go back to Romania. What happens now? I went back to Romania. I left UK after a few years of a lot of sacrifice there. You know, even in the UK, we started, you know, progressively. And now we reached a top where I had my own security company,

doing great in Central London, driving a very nice car, having, you know, but I had to leave everything behind in one day when I heard that the police were after me. So I managed to escape UK as is an island. You know, I managed to get out with a boat. Anyway, it was quite an adventure, but I managed to get out. I get back to Romania and I waited for a few months.

I had one very good friend in UK left there. His name was Tony. And I was in touch with him. He was paying a lawyer to sort the problems out. And in such a way that I would be able to go back. I was so desperate to go back to my life that I have it there. But in the meantime, while in Romania waiting, I thought of following one of my dreams of being an MMA fighter.

So this is the moment in 2009 when I am calling and getting in touch with the arena MMA. It's a gym in San Diego. And I'm sending them an email and they, you know, they liked my CV being a Greco-Roman wrestling champion. They said, okay, we will offer you a free place here to live. We will coach you for free in MMA if you coach us back in Greco-Roman wrestling, our guys. So I had a deal. So while waiting for things.

to be solved in London, I flew down to Southern California to follow one of my dreams. It was to fight in a cage. I knew I had a thing for fighting. I loved fighting on the streets. There was a record, of course, an unofficial record of probably hundreds of fights, street fights, but here it was a sport thing where you need like an official record and everything so you can get into this sport. up there, those guys liked me in Southern California. I started training with them. I had, you know, best people in the world to train with. There are a lot of Brazilians, a lot of big names in MMA. I train with Travis Brown. I travel with Joe Doherty, with Kijanons,

with Nogira brothers from Brazil, like big names, still, not at the time, but they, you know, they were like legends of this sport. So I had the opportunity to train and learn from these guys. I had my first fight, I won my second fight again, and those people in California told me that I should pursue a career as a heavy weight and the way that I was taking people down, they said, you know, if you come, you know, all you need is a good record, 8-0, and UFC will sign you straight away. So that was, that will give me hope again

that I will be able to make it in sport one more time. That was the second chance that I wanted to take. But again, my financial, very, very poor situation at that time because I left UK for quite long time, no work at all. All the money that I had put on the side were spent my wife and the kid and everything. So I went back to Romania just for a few weeks, planning to come back to the United States. I switched plans because of the lack of the money. And I went to Australia to join some good friends of mine who were doing this. ATM fraud just for a short time to make, you know, a couple of, you know, maybe 100 to

100. You got involved with some friends who were involved in an ATM fraud. Wow. In Australia, yeah. So my thought was making, you know, 100 to 100,000. It was not something that would take a lot of time. One or two months, just make a little bit of cash and just come back to Romania, take Adriana and David and move to United States so I could pursue.

my dream of fighting in UFC. Obviously, it didn't happen. I come back to Romania with some money in my pockets. I started a business here in Romania. I start a construction company. I start an MMA gym. I start fighting around Romania. I fought in Europe.

I fought in Romania. I was known as an athlete before because of my Greco Roma wrestling background, but now more people who got to know me because of my MMA career. Everything was going very nice and smooth, Eric. I was driving a range rover, a nice car, big car. I was having a nice house. Everything was setting now very well. I had the business, the construction business.

I was quite well known. I had two kids, family men, athlete, businessman. If somebody would look from outside to my life, will say, wow, I want to be this guy. I want to live his life. The only thing was that inside, that was outside. That was outside because most of us have this ability to show people that we're doing good, we're doing fine, social media pictures, but nobody knows what's in here. Nobody knows what's in here.

And in here, I was a destroyed man. I was a destroyed man. My heart was destroyed. My mind was destroyed. There was a huge fight for my life. And this is when I understood that at those times, we were going through some very very much. very difficult troubles. Me and my wife were, you know, very close to divorce and everything.

And at some point, I heard the news that Tony, my very good friend from UK, was shut down, was shot dead in northern London. That happened in 2010. I was in Romania at the time. So I got this phone call 5 o'clock in the morning saying Tony was shot. He was executed, assassinated, just like that. some big fight happened at the club some very tough guys said you know

you're going to pay for this you're as usual fights were usual there at nightclubs and every time you'll hear this you know I'm going to do this I'm going to do that to you but you see it only takes one time someone to do that to say it and to do it

you know and this is what happened with Tony my best friend now I know you were arrested again was this before you were arrested for the ATM scam Yes, it was before. That was Tony's death and a couple of months later, I was arrested in Romania for the 80 and 4 that happened in Australia. Very interesting. I traveled 15,000 kilometers, Eric, to do something that I thought is going to stay there so far from my home. I told nobody will find out. My family will not find out authorities will not know anything. It's so interesting because everything comes up at some point. People think they, you know, they can do things and get away with them. I doubt my experience

say that even if you travel 15,000 kilometers just to be as far as you can and you just get out of there thinking, you know, nobody knows anything. A couple of years later, they pick me up from my home.

So you are now in Romania, you are arrested and you are put in prison in Romania. Yes. In prison in Romania. Yeah. In prison in Romania, I am visited. It was a surprise. I am visited by the heavyweight boxer champion.

The one that you mentioned a few minutes ago. I met seven years before in London. Yes, he visited you in prison. In prison. So this guy saw on TV that I was arrested and he traveled like half a day. He drove half a day to get to visit me. So this officer called me for a visit. I didn't know.

I didn't expect anybody. So I'm going inside that room and I meet this guy who is hugging me. I said, George, I'm here to pray with you. And like, man, it's tough. It's not the right moment. He was like, let me pray with you. Just a few words. He brought me two books.

You know, he told me about Christ. And he told me a very interesting thing. He said, George, how many years ago was the first time I told you about Christ? And we made the calculation. It was like seven years ago. And he was like, George, in seven years, nothing changed. The same things I told you seven years ago, I'm here to tell you today. Jesus' blood can.

and wash away your sins and can give you a new life. And it's for you. And I will remember all my life. He stood up and he made this. He made a step in front of me. And he said, this is what it takes, George. It's you to make one step towards him. And he will do all the steps necessary.

I was not an easy crying person, but I had tears in my eyes. I said, it's impossible right now. I have so much trouble. I have so much people that owe me money. I have to get that money back. I got arrested. Nobody wants to pay the debts to me anymore, to my wife.

I had the list of people that I had to deal with. We're going to go to another break, folks. You'll hear the rest of the story. It is unbelievable. We'll be right back. In case you haven't been paying attention, the Biden administration has caused a financial crisis, and they have no clue how to fix it.

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Their 100% U.S.-based customer service team make switching easy. Just go to patriotmobile.com slash Eric. Patriotmobile.com slash Eric or call them at 878 Patriot. Get free activation today with the offer code Eric. Folks, welcome back. I'm talking to a legend in the MMA world, a Greco-Roman wrestling world,

but a real person who has been through some things that we all go through tough stuff in life, but this is a dramatic example. So George, you are in prison. I mean, it's unbelievable this journey, even at such a young age. And this man, this hero has come to visit you to tell you about Jesus,

and you're still giving him excuses seven years later. Yes. Still giving him, you know, reasons not to. It was, I thought in my, I considered in my heart, you know, eventually coming to Christ. Not yet. Not yet. Not today. That was the worst moment he could ever ask me to do so.

But he left two books with me, two testimonies of two guys, athletes who met Christ in prison. And he left. 20 minutes later because he didn't have more time. He prayed for me and he left. I went back to my room. I started reading one of these testimonies. Incredible testimony of a guy who was a champion, get in prison, and there he found Christ. Tick book, I'm reading page after page. I'm not eating. I'm not going to bathroom.

I'm not doing anything for hours. I'm just reading this book. I just wanted to see how this story will end. I get to the moment when this guy really understands that Christ died. for him on the cross. And it's the first time, after, you know, quite long time, that a tear went down my cheek like this, and I'm just doing this, and another one, and another one.

And I'm just trying to cover my face. You know, it's good for us to cry sometimes. The doctor says that, but it's okay for you to cry in your bedroom or, you know, a home where nobody sees you. You cannot cry in prison when you have eight roommates. You know, prison is a place where you have to just. show how tough you are, how strong you are. You cannot leave a place for weaknesses there.

But I was crying and I couldn't stop it. I just stood up and I said, guys, and they were like, you know, they want to just, I said, just listen to me. I'm not crying because I miss my kids. I'm not crying because I miss my wife. I'm not crying for this situation. I just have tears in my eyes and I don't know why. It was for the first time in my life, I felt like talking to God and I needed it right now.

and it was not the place in that cell to talk to him. So I called the officer. I knew the only place in that prison that I could talk to God and have intimacy. It was the shower room, a very dark, obscure room, very dirty, because we were like one floor underground. But that was the only place that I could have intimacy in that. And I asked the officer to let me go to the shower. Normally they will take us all of us once a week.

But if you were nice with an officer, he would open that door for you. anytime. So I went in that shower every can. I remember I put on all three showers. And as big as I am, tall as I am, I did not need. I just, I just threw myself down on that, on that dirty floor. And man, what an experience. I just pour my heart out in front of God. I cried, I laughed. I cried again. I talked to him. I told them all about it. It was. not like he didn't know all about me, but I believe that he wants to hear it from us, and he has to come from the heart, and he has to be sincere. I spend there maybe more than an one hour on that floor, and I believe in my heart, Eric, and I'm able, and I wanted to say

this, you know, for the rest of my life to as many people as I can, the personal meeting with Jesus Christ, my personal moment when I met Christ, was in that dirty, floor of that shower, underground, inside of a prison. And the reason I'm saying this is because people need to know there is no darker place in this world. There is no hole. There's no a place full of misery in this world that God will not send his son after us, after anyone who's sincere is asking him and is inviting him in his life. There is no place. If people think that they're too bad or they are in too much trouble, too much misery, too much sin, and God forget about it. It's just a lie. If our heart is sincere and we are demanding this, because I remember

praying on that floor and saying, and repeatedly, I was so desperate. I said, if you are going to give me a new direction, it's worth standing up from here. If you're not doing that, just take my life. I was so desperate for a new life, Eric. I was tired, man. I was tired to be the chairman. I didn't want to be a champion anymore. I didn't want to have money anymore. I didn't, I didn't want to have respect or I was tired of who I was. I was a mean person. I wanted to get rid of that, George. I was tired of him. And I asked God, as I said, I had these two options. You either change my life, either take my life, please, you can do that. Now, and I think he listened the first part of a prayer, because I'm still alive by God's grace. I stood up from that place, and I believe

that was the moment that I met Christ. I went home and I had a surprise at home because me and Adriano, we were in the process of divorce. But when I home home after a few months being released on bail, I had to go to court to have, I had a court case for many years, but I was released on bail. When I got home, my wife had this surprise from me saying that she decided to become a Christian. I didn't know anything because we were not talking. We were like this. and while we were not talking, I was just calling him a couple of days.

I have to interrupt just to say, God is so amazing. I mean, this is, I've heard stories like this many times. You know, it's one thing, the miracle of you accepting him in prison. Then to find out completely independently of you, your wife, I've kept in Christ. So now I know that the two of you are baptized. This is amazing. Please continue, George. Yeah.

Yeah. So I was shocked to hear that from her. And I told her, you know, about my experiences in prison, but we are still like this. So she told me in two months you'll get baptized. It was a massive fight here if to get baptized with her at the same day or not. Eric, two months, I was just rolling in my bed like this. Didn't know what to do, what to accept. You know, there was one side, you know, there was one thought coming and say,

George, it's not the right time. Give it a little bit more time. Just let her doing this and you're going to get baptized. later in the year. Let's see what happens to work. Let's just focus on business and what we have to do right now. Of course, he was, I believe it was the enemy. Well, you, but you started a Bible study in the prison because you had more time on your sentence. That was a little bit later when I had, you know, because we got baptized eventually together by God's grace. We hold hands entering the water, Eric. What happened was we get back from the water and never left tense. Like God put our family

together right there in the water when we said we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Ever since we did not split hands ever again. So the moment that our divorce process was destroyed was the moment that me and Adrenu, we step together holding hands in that water. There's so much more to the story. I want to make sure we have time for it, George. So let's go ahead to, so you started a Bible study. the prison?

Months, two years after I got baptized, I start working with God. Lots of changes in our lives. Friends left us. Financial situation went down. But we started to learn how to live by faith. It was great in extraordinary moments. Two and a half years later from this moment, my trial was coming to an end. And I got a sentence of four years in prison in Romania.

I am getting on my knees. I prayed over Adriana and the kids and I went to prison. On the way to prison, Eric, I'm praying and saying, Lord, I'm not going, I'm a born again Christian, two and a half years with you. I'm not going there just to spend four years like this, waiting,

watching TV to get out. I want you to use me. And I remember I prayed, Lord, if there is one soul, one person in there, you want to bring to you, please use me. I started a Bible study as soon as I arrived in that prison.

You know, I have to be honest and tell you that my size body, my past mistakes and my sports career helped me to organize this and not getting beaten up and being respected enough so people will let me do my thing. So God can even use a big strong guy like you. It's kind of funny. Whatever, whoever you are, God can use that for his purposes. So that's kind of interesting that, that who you were, your size and all. this stuff helped you to get away with starting a Bible study in prison. Yes, that was not something very popular there.

Yeah. People were just doing this, but they were like, I remember at one point, one guy come to me and said, you know, there were seven guys making a plan to jump on you, all of them all together, so to hit you with six and little knives that they have, so they can take you away from here. So we can get back our space. The space that I was doing the Bible study in was the space that were playing cards, poker. So now it was becoming literally like a church.

We're gathering there every single day, seven days a week, from four to five third in the evening, between 25 and 35 people. Every season of day for two and a half years. This is a spiritual battle. And most people who say they're Christians, they're not living on the edge like you were there. This is very inspiring that you go back into prison. You don't need to do this. You don't need trouble. But God used you.

When we come back, we're going to hear the rest of the story and your ministry in the Ukraine right now. We'll be right back, folks. Don't go away. Tell me why Relief Factor is so successful at lowering or eliminating pain. I'm often asked that question just the other night. I was asked that question. Well, the owners of Relief Factor tell me they believe our bodies were designed to heal. That's right, designed to heal.

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You've already written a book. Your last name is Ignaz. Ignatz. I want people to look you up, and TBN is the publisher, and you're working on a new book where you tell this whole story, which is amazing. So, okay, you have started this Bible study in the prison. You're being threatened. We have to leap ahead. we don't have too much more time.

What happens next? What happens next? One of these guys coming to me a couple of days later after their plan didn't work. And he's telling me the truth, why the plan didn't work? It was because the night before they were trying to attack me, the main TV's channel in Romania

played one of my fights during a night show, a sport, night show, combat, sports combat night show, you know? So they played one of my fights that I'm taking off this guy and, you know, like take him down, ground and pound him in 30 seconds, finish the fight. So those guys were planning on attacking me, watching the fight, they just changed their mind. They had different opinion in between them, and this thing didn't happen. So I-

This is very funny, George. This is hilarious and miraculous. It's amazing. It is. So you escape. I know God, God use it that. It's amazing. It's amazing.

Okay, keep going. Go, go, go ahead. While running this. This Bible study was two and a half years that I run this Bible study. 24 people, Eric, come to get baptized and accepted Jesus and get baptized in prison. 24 of the guys that they come to this Bible study. They found Christ, they accepted Christ, me together with one church from outside with a pastor, organizing with the governor of the prison.

We had three baptizing sessions that I have to organize. So in my life, I was an athlete. I was pretty much the things that you know, but I was a pastor too without wanted that. I had to run this little church inside prison. This, you know, 20, 25, 30 people church for two and a half years, 24 of these people come to know Christ and come to get baptized. They choose to get baptized in Jesus' name, inside prison.

We have three sessions of baptizing. it was just great, you know, things that, you know, never happened before, never happened after. The day of my release came, and it was heartbreaking to leave those guys there somehow. I was so happy to go home to see Adriana and the kids, but so difficult to leave my brothers in Christ behind. So we prayed together and I left. At the door of the prison, while I had to go out, we were six inmates, prisoners that have to leave the prison that day to get released. Five of them got released. I was met by three police officers, organized crime police officers at the main gate of the prison, the day that I supposed to go home with some documents in their hands saying, George, we have to give you a very bad news.

I'm like, what is all about? We want you to come down. I said, man, I'm calm. Tell me what's going on. And they were like, you know, we have to re-arrest you. I'm like, what is, what, what's what about? And there were the British authorities, find out you are incarcerated here and they asked you. So they should an European interpol warrant arrest.

So the things that I run from 11 years, 10 years before that moment, they just come after me while I was getting released from the Romanian prison. I was taken to UK in 2017 in the summer, Eric, by the time that I got there, I asked God what to do. He told me specifically that I have to tell the truth. It was not like I was not telling the truth. It was something special because as Christians we know we have to tell the truth. But I'm having God telling me again, George, you have to tell the truth in order to see my hand working in a very strong way. You have to tell the truth. So I was wondering, why is God telling me?

He knows my heart. He knows I'm sincere. He knows I want to live by the truth. Why is keep telling me the same thing? And God knows sometimes we can be tempted so hard. And the reason God told you is because the same thing happened to my friend and my hero, Chuck Colson, because his lawyer told him, do not tell the truth. I'm smart.

I know what you need to do in this situation. You want to see your family again. Do what I tell you. and you said, no, I'm going to do what God told me to do, and you did it. And that's why your story is so beautiful. And this is why I'm free today. This is why I was released only 10 months later. This is why, you know, I had two people with two other guys with me in UK doing those things.

One of them got 10 and one of them got eight years. I only spent there 10 months and three weeks, Eric. And that was because God gave me, because, you know, my wife said, you've been so brave, you kept the truth because all the odds were against you saying the truth. But still, you kept what God said to you, what he told you to do. You are so brave. No, I'm not brave. In this way, I'm not brave at all because God, God told me what to do, and he gave me the strength to do it. I was not able to do it, Eric, without him.

But this is a lesson, George. This is a lesson that we all have to hear. one of the reasons I wanted to have you on the program. And I write it in my book seven, I have a book seven men where I write about stories like this. When you do the right thing, God can work in a way that you will never see unless you do the right thing radically. And what Chuck Colson did it, radically. His lawyer was furious at him. And he said, I'm going to do what God told me to do. I'm going to speak the truth. And because of that, miraculous things. things followed. And you need to have that kind of faith. And you need people need to understand.

God is real folks. God is, don't hedge your bets. You go all in when God tells you something. When we come back, we want to hear what George is doing right now in Ukraine so much. We'll be right back. My pillow is excited to bring you their biggest betting sale ever. Get the Giza Dream bed sheets for as low as 2998, a set of pillowcases for only 998, and rejuvvvvig. your bed with a MyPillow mattress topper for as low as 9999. They also have blankets and a variety of sizes, colors, and styles.

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who's writing a new book that tells all the details of this story because we're just giving you the highlights here. So George, we've just a few. minutes left. So what happened next? What are you doing in the Ukraine? Tell us about that. So by telling the truth, I finally got home just with 10 months of prison instead of many, many years, right? So I got home in 2018 and I came home with a vision that God gave me while I was in prison to start a ministry for the people who are coming out of prison. In Romania, 70 to 75 percent of those who get released, they go back to prison in the first six years. They go back to prison

in the first six months. Nothing has done for these people by the government authorities since the communist fall down. So I thought of a place where these people will get three meals a day, will get accommodation, will get job skills,

and most importantly, they will have to know Christ. They will meet Christ. I believe that all the education in the world is very good and it can have effects, but the only one who can really change a heart so profound that that person,

is never going to go back to the life before is Jesus Christ to the gospel. And people better listen and better understand this truth. You cannot change someone through education unless you add Christ in the gospel. Yeah, ladies and gentlemen, we don't have time to give you details, but trust us, this is a fact. What George just said is a fact. You can learn it the hard way. You could never learn it or you can learn it the easy way by taking our word for it. because this is an absolute fact,

and it's been proved over and over again. The recidivism rate drops so precipitously when people come into faith in Jesus. It's shocking. They do not go back. The odds of they're going back drop like a stone. So you started a ministry to minister to people coming out of prison. Yes, I founded this ministry called Fight for Freedom.

And I was called Why Fight for Freedom? Because all our life is a fight. for freedom, freedom from sin, freedom from addictions, freedom from, you know, many, many things. I started this. I was looking into a place to build a center, like a halfway house, first of its kind in Romania. I found this big spot, big place, an ex-communist student house with 44 rooms with bathrooms. Very impressive, massive building that God gave it to us. I started refurbishing this building and we started the program in 2021 with five students, five guys, coming out of prison. In the same time,

Fight for Freedom open up the first shelter for homeless people in Suceava that we still run. We opened up two years ago and is still very active. We feed 30 to 40 people every single day. And during the winter like now is snowing and it's very cold. Homeless people are sleeping there.

They take in shower. So this is part of Fight for Freedom Ministry. When the war started in Ukraine, Eric, we were one of the first ones to respond at the Siret border. It's the biggest border Romania has with Ukraine. through this border between 750 and 1 million people cross this border towards, you know, freedom, Ukrainian people. So it was just God's plan and God's hand for Fight for Freedom to move so fast.

Five people involved in the ministry before the war. 250 volunteers registered with Fight for Freedom in the third week of the war. 250 people working in ships of eight hours, 24 hours in helping Ukrainian refugees, Eric. You tell me how someone with my, you know, there's nothing special. I've done university because I have to. I was pushed. My mom and my parents and my sports, my coach, I did a sport university. I'm not a very smart guy.

I'm not very experienced. I don't have the money. I don't have, but through our hands, we helped more than 100,000 refugees who came in Romania. We have feed inside Ukraine. We were making an estimate with the distribution team because we are feeding at this moment between 8,000 and 10,000 Ukrainian refugees inside Ukraine. They call it internally the space people every week, between 8,000 and 10,000 people every week are fed by the Fight for Freedom inside Ukraine right now. George, what is the website? It's fight fight for freedom.

Dot R.O. R.O. As in Romania. Fight for freedom. dot R.O. The first two letters of Romania, fight for freedom. Dot R.O.

I want people to be able to reach you. As you hear it, that or oh, you also can find this on your Instagram, Facebook and all this. We were estimating right now more than half a million, more than 500,000 people have eaten food because of the work that fighter freedom put in. Of course, we had partners, and I want to get to this.

Most of the help is coming from the United States. The sad thing about it is that the enthusiasm of people to help Ukraine went down very, very bad. And this is why, Eric, this is happening because people make this situation very political. So I have a message for the Christians out there in the United States. we are called to make first politics that we have to make is the heaven politics, not the early politics. We are called to look into the early politics, to get involved,

to try to change things. This is brilliant, and this is what my heart is for. But when it comes with a situation like Ukraine, we cannot have politics involved in helping people. Somebody said the government in Ukraine is bad, and this is why we not help. We are right now feeling, we are sheltering right now 150 orphans. from Ukraine in our shelters in Romania.

We're feeding these children every single day, three times a day. I have a very good friend, Ruslan. He's four years old. It's a small guy. He's my friend. When he sees me, he runs towards me, you know, he hugs me. What if tonight I'm going to Ruslan to his room and say, Ruslan, look, I believe the politicians in our country are bad,

so you're not eating tonight. I mean, people have to understand the politicians in this country could be bad. And the reason we had the war in Ukraine could be because we have a weak U.S. president. These things could be true. It doesn't change the fact. People are suffering. Those of us who go by the name of Christian are supposed to minister to those. The tragedy is an opportunity to show the love of Jesus.

George, we are out of time. It is such a joy to hear your soul. story. I want to tell people, folks, please go to fightforfreedom.ro. You need to know who George is. George Ignaz. It's just wonderful to hear another story of God working in a life in a way that most of us think is made up. It could never happen. It happened to you. I have my version. Many people have their versions. George Ignatz, my new friend, God bless you. Thank you. and people go to fight for freedom.R.O. Fight for freedom.org and give to the work that George is doing by the grace of God.

Thank you. Can you believe, Alvin, can you believe George Ignaut's story? It's amazing. People who need proof of miracles. I think this is kind of the key. When you're living through these dark times, you understand that God is real. He is alive. He is doing things.

He hears our prayers. We need, on some level, it really is about immersing ourselves more and more in God's reality. And stop pretending, stop living in the fake reality that says, well, God's an idea. I don't know. He is more real than whatever you consider real. And when you hear a story like that, I'm reminded to remind our audience that tonight, 6.45 p.m. Sharp. Socrates in the city is happening and we are live streaming it tonight. My guest is Eugenia Constantine. What she talks about in her book, she gets you into the weeds of what happened

during the week approaching Jesus's crucifixion. And there are things in there that I have never read before, never encountered before. And that that is amazing scholarship. But she writes it in a way that is just very conversational. So if you want to join us on a live stream, you got to go to Sokidon City.com, 645 Sharp. Otherwise, you're going to miss me singing the Candyman

because in Socrates circles, you know, if you come to these events, you know I'm considered the white Sammy Davis. That's just we don't need to get into that, but that's just who I am. And, you know, the jewelry and the bell bottoms and the whole thing. and I married Altavis. And, you know, that's just, anyway, we don't need to get into that.

Tonight's going to be serious. We're going to be talking about things that, and by the way, you can go to Israel. One of our sponsors now is the Israel Ministry of Tourism and the thought that you can go to the places described in Jeannie's book, described in my book, as atheism dead, you can actually see the reality of this. I mean, if there's anybody who. hasn't gone to Israel, you know that you want to do this. This is just, I just, I can't even tell you. So the website is Israel.holyland.com travel. Israel.combolleland.com travel. But when I went

there, I went there really before I had the opportunity to do the research on my book, Is Atheism Dead? By the way, the website, sorry, Eric, is actually Holy Land. dot Israel dot travel. So it's holy land. dot Israel. Dot travel. Get that and get it right and get the Israel. Sorry about that.

You're right. Holyland. Israel. Travel. Holyland. Israel. Travel. But it's just fun to plan to go there because,

and I'm definitely going there next year for sure. I mean, that's already like in the books for me. Holyland. Israel. travel. But to be able to see the very places that Jeannie Constance, He was writing about in a kind of detail that I've never seen.

Usually when you read it in the scripture, you miss it because it's so familiar. But she takes you into it in her book, The Crucifixion of the King of Glory, but to be able to go there and to see where the trial of Jesus took place, which they've only discovered recently. If you read my book as atheism dead, you know this is a very recent discovery, upending centuries of where they thought the pavement was and the judgment. I mean, it's just, it's hard to believe we're living in times when you can see these things with your own eyes. I mean, you know, for many centuries, you can dream of going. Now, it's practically easy. Just coming back from wherever I was, I was on a plane with some people that recognized me. You're Eric McTaxas.

We watch you on TBN. And we're just coming back from the Holy Land. And we were just in Israel and da-da-da-da-da. So we start talking about it. So the website is holyland. Israel. Travelholyland.israel.israel. Dot travel. Oh my goodness. We're out of time. We'll see tomorrow.