Participants: Aaron Chancy (Host), Jason Bulgin
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000047
|
00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:05 may be too candid for younger children. 00:09 Today, we'll meet a young man 00:10 that was in a devastating car wreck 00:12 but through it all ended up giving his life to Jesus. 00:15 Join us on today's New Journey. 00:48 Welcome back to the New Journey. 00:50 On today's program 00:51 we have with us J.Anthony Bulgin. 00:54 J.Anthony Bulgin, 00:55 thank you so much for being on the program. 00:57 Good to be here, good to be here. 00:58 All right. For the record you look like a young man. 01:01 I hope so. 01:03 For the record how old are you and where are you from? 01:05 I'm 26 years old, and I'm from Toronto, Canada. 01:08 Okay. Okay. 01:10 Now what's it like growing up in Toronto, Canada? 01:12 I've never been there so you kind of fill me in. 01:15 I mean, you definitely wanna come there. 01:16 Okay. 01:18 It's a great place, it's very multicultural. 01:20 So from any place 01:23 in the world people flock there. 01:24 So you can find any nationality, 01:27 any culture is in Toronto. 01:29 Okay. 01:31 We have a lot us, little sects of different communities 01:34 of different cultures and it's, I mean, a great place to be, 01:38 to be and just learn about different people. 01:40 I mean, you have to be able to understand 01:43 and, I guess, relate to different people 01:45 because, I mean, they're all around you. 01:46 Okay. Okay. 01:48 Now, you grew up in a Seventh-day Adventist home, 01:49 talk about your early home life, 01:52 your father is a pastor, 01:54 give us some details on all of that? 01:55 Growing up in a Seventh-day Adventist home, 01:57 my dad, yes, he was a pastor, my mom is a nurse. 01:59 And they say pastor's kids always the worst kids, now? 02:02 I mean, I raise my hand to testify. 02:05 But I'm... 02:06 Yeah, growing up it was a interesting experience. 02:09 I mean, I loved it. I mean, I was really involved. 02:11 My parents were great, they really instilled in us 02:15 like the values and the, I guess, 02:19 it's just the model of what we needed to do 02:21 as children growing up in an Adventist home 02:23 following God, they laid the baseline very well. 02:26 And, I mean, that is basically what kept me 02:28 throughout my whole life the foundation they set for me. 02:31 Okay. Growing up in Adventist home. 02:33 I also had two sisters so, I mean, we all had... 02:36 the thing is that 02:37 we all had different experiences growing up. 02:39 I mean, my older sister, 02:40 she went through Adventist school 02:41 throughout her whole life. 02:43 I was the one, the middle child, 02:44 who went through public system for most of it. 02:47 It was only in my later years 02:48 that I had the Adventist system experience. 02:50 And it was just a different, 02:52 it was different experience growing up there 02:55 and just getting involved in everything. 02:57 Okay. 02:58 Now, growing up as a Seventh-day Adventist 02:59 as I myself did as well, we're both parents in home. 03:03 What eventually kind of led to the parties, 03:05 to the drinking, and various things like that? 03:08 There is a point in, I guess, every experience 03:11 where you have to make a choice for yourself. 03:14 Okay. 03:15 And I guess being in a home 03:18 where a lot of times choices are made for you. 03:22 You're only curious to know what's on the other side. 03:25 I mean, you wanna know, 03:27 "Okay, what's on the other side of that wall? 03:29 And what's behind that door?" 03:30 Okay. 03:33 And I asked the questions 03:34 and I started to walk in the other way 03:35 just out of curiosity 03:37 and it wasn't anything that I knew I should do. 03:41 I knew I shouldn't be doing it, 03:43 but it was just that fire in you. 03:45 I mean, you know, when you think about trials 03:49 and when we think about being tempted. 03:53 You're only tempted by things that are fun 03:54 or things that are good to you. 03:56 I mean, if it's not good to you, 03:57 you're not gonna be tempted by it. 03:58 'Cause you're not gonna wanna do it. 04:00 Not gonna wanna do it. 04:01 So, I mean, I was tempted by the things that felt good, 04:02 the things that looked good. 04:04 And, I mean and I guess we all have this whole shift 04:07 where we feel that a lot of things 04:09 that are in the church don't feel and look good. 04:12 So it's a kind of like backwards. 04:14 So we go look at all these other things 04:16 and feel that it's good to us, 04:18 and it makes us feel good, and makes us happy. 04:21 But at the end of it all it's temporary. 04:23 Yeah. That is true. 04:24 We sink back and we're like, man, we're missing something, 04:27 we're missing something. 04:28 Okay. 04:30 And, you know, that's so true because the Bible even talks 04:31 about it in Hebrews 11:35, 04:33 where the pleasure is a sin for a season, 04:36 Moses choosing rather to suffer affliction with his people 04:40 than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. 04:42 And you can testify to the fact that, you know, 04:44 sin is fun for a time, 04:46 but eventually when the fun wears off, 04:48 you know, what is to happen. 04:50 I mean, what is to happen is, 04:52 you guys kind of recline 04:54 into a space of like depression, darkness. 04:59 And, I mean, you just feel like there is something missing, 05:02 your soul is not at peace. 05:04 Yeah. Exactly. 05:05 You don't have a feeling of peace in your mind, 05:07 in your body, 05:08 and you feel like you're just going through the motions, 05:10 and you don't really feel fulfilled, 05:12 you don't feel that you're living a life of purpose. 05:14 Oh, yeah. That is right. 05:15 So that's the feeling that I began to feel like. 05:18 It felt like I didn't fit in. 05:19 I was doing things that, I mean, 05:21 I knew should be fun that I thought were fun 05:24 but it just wasn't giving me the same gratification 05:26 that it used to give me. 05:27 Okay. Okay. 05:28 Now, and growing up in Adventist home, 05:30 I know for myself, 05:31 I started to have a little resentment 05:34 or a hate towards it 05:35 'cause it seems like it's kind of, you know, 05:37 all your other friends, they're Christians 05:39 but they're in Baptist churches, 05:40 various other churches. 05:41 And it seems like they can have a little bit more freedom. 05:44 Did you growing up in Adventist home 05:46 had that kind of resentment towards Adventism? 05:48 For a long time I had. Yeah. 05:51 For a long time, I was real bitter 05:53 because I'm a active person, 05:56 I do lot of sports, basketball, soccer, hockey, 06:00 growing up in Canada hockey was great. 06:01 I mean, and there was lot of things 06:02 I wanted to get involved in. 06:04 But couldn't, because of that Sabbath rule. 06:05 Yeah. I'm just thinking. 06:08 Sabbath rule, I mean, it sounds bad 06:10 but, I mean, that's how it was. 06:11 That's how we look it when we were young. 06:13 You know, we don't fully process 06:14 exactly what it is from the Bible, 06:16 we just know we're grown up, 06:18 we go to church on Sabbath, and you can't do anything 06:20 Friday night to the Saturday night sunset. 06:22 And it's like, man! 06:24 It's like you're just on the wall 06:26 just waiting, waiting to, when can I, when I can? 06:28 Sunset, "Yes, you are gone." Yeah. 06:30 Flying right into it. 06:31 So, I mean, it was just growing up, 06:34 I mean, I would, there is so many things 06:36 I want to get involved with like sports-wise 06:39 and I just couldn't, because of the Sabbath. 06:41 And it made me kind of bitter because, I mean, 06:44 I was good and there will be people calling for me 06:46 to come play, people calling for me 06:48 to be a part of certain teams, 06:50 and I couldn't be a part. 06:52 My mom would answer the phone and say, "Yeah, 06:53 Jason's not able to do this, Jason's not able to, 06:56 oh, glad you called, but Jason is not able to," 06:59 and sit in the next room and hearing on the phone, 07:02 I'd be like, wow, man. 07:04 There is a lot of opportunities but... 07:05 Oh, yeah. 07:06 I'm grateful, I mean, there is still, 07:08 now that I look back there was still doors 07:10 that were open for me to enjoy all those things 07:13 and there was still avenues. 07:14 I mean, through the church and outside of the church 07:16 where I was able to, I guess, get involved 07:18 and be a part of all those things 07:20 that I thought I was missing out on. 07:22 Now, how do you think a young person today 07:25 in wanting to, 07:28 you know, I wanna play sports, I wanna do this but, you know, 07:31 I have this Adventism thing over my head, 07:33 the biblical Sabbath over my head. 07:36 How can they possibly balance all of that out? 07:39 You got to get to a point 07:40 where you have to make a conscious decision 07:42 to be consistent and faithful. 07:44 Okay. 07:47 It's not a easy decision. Yeah. That is true. 07:49 Because like we said, sin is fun and then there is, 07:53 just regular things that, I mean, it's not sinful, 07:56 it's something enjoyable, it's something good, 07:57 and it's fun. 07:59 But there's guidelines and boundaries 08:01 that we have to set for ourselves. 08:02 And God outlines them, He gives it to us, 08:05 and we have to be able to trust Him 08:08 and embrace these things, 08:09 and know that He's got our best interest... 08:11 in His mind. 08:13 And He's gonna take care of us regardless of 08:16 how we may feel the situation may look, 08:17 He's gonna take care of us. 08:19 So, I mean, in going out and all those things, 08:21 just be mindful of who is in charge. 08:26 Okay. 08:28 We often wanna take the reigns and say, "This is our thing, 08:30 this is what we wanna do, and this how we wanna do it." 08:34 And we forget that, I mean, 08:35 it's not our own doing while we're here. 08:38 And He has a plan, 08:39 and the things that we may want to do, 08:41 may come full circle in His plan 08:43 if we just follow it. 08:45 To the T, just follow it. Yeah. Exactly. 08:47 Because they all come back around. 08:49 You know, looking back on your life 08:50 and then looking into Bible with Luke 15, 08:54 you have several parables in there. 08:56 I mean, I've gone through, 08:57 I mean, tried to identify which one, you know, 08:59 I kind of and I found myself as the prodigal son. 09:02 But you still have the lost ship,the lost coin. 09:05 You have the prodigal son, 09:06 but also in that third parable of the prodigal son, 09:09 you have the older brother that has an issue. 09:11 Out of those parables, which one do you think 09:14 you relate to the best and why? 09:17 When I first thought about this, 09:19 I thought about the prodigal son 09:21 and that's the, "Yeah, I'm prodigal son, 09:22 I left, came home." 09:24 And, I mean, He embraced me and, yeah, 09:26 that was the fancy story. 09:28 But I also thought of the older brother. 09:30 Yeah. Yeah. 09:31 I also thought of the older brother 09:33 and, I mean, I knew what was right, 09:37 I was there the whole time, 09:39 throughout my whole experience 09:40 I was always involved in the church. 09:42 I was always a part of ministries at the church. 09:46 I was active. Okay. 09:47 And so I wasn't really, I do my own stuff 09:50 but I'd still make that time to do 09:52 what was supposed to be done in the church. 09:54 But I just do, I'd balance it. Yeah. 09:57 Trying to balance it. 09:58 Sitting on the face and just trying to do 09:59 that balancing act like, okay, if I do this, 10:02 then I can't be this, 10:04 but I need to be this, so they can see that 10:05 I'm doing the right thing. 10:06 And so, you know, you got to play... 10:08 Put on that persona. Yeah. 10:09 Put on faces and put on masks, and put on faces, 10:11 and try and balance it, and make it okay for, 10:14 make it seem okay. 10:16 Okay. 10:17 So I felt that I was kind of more 10:18 like the older brother at times, 10:20 because I was there doing the things 10:21 but then I'd see other people who were consistent. 10:24 Yeah. 10:26 They were people who would comeback 10:27 and they get all these blessings 10:28 and get all these things and I'd get angry, 10:30 I was like, how come I'm not enjoying this? 10:32 How come I'm not, 10:33 how come I don't get to reap in this? 10:35 But when I really sat down and thought about it, 10:37 I wasn't being consistent, I wasn't being faithful, 10:40 I was bitter, and you can't be bitter in love. 10:43 Yeah. 10:44 Bitterness and love, they don't go together. 10:47 Don't go hand in hand. Yeah. They do not go together. 10:49 So I had to lose that spirit of bitterness. 10:52 I had to lose it and just wholeheartedly 10:55 be committed to loving God 10:58 and to following what He had set out for me. 11:00 Okay. Okay. 11:02 Now, let's talk about your schooling years. 11:05 You have told me before that you kicked out of school 11:08 and things like that. 11:09 Give us some details on what was going on? 11:11 I was that kid with the temper, going through school. 11:14 So I was very, very smart child, very smart, 11:17 did my work diligent, I always finished my work, 11:20 but then it came to that point where after the work is done, 11:23 I'm gonna distract somebody else get into wittier, 11:26 you know, and that got to a point 11:28 where I remember in middle school 11:31 where I was going to school Monday. 11:34 Monday, Tuesday get in the fight, 11:36 Wednesday get suspended. 11:37 Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday be at home and come back. 11:40 I remember there was a period where that was just the cycle 11:43 whole month where I was just angry, 11:45 just getting in fights, 11:46 and getting sent home, and coming back, 11:48 and just going through that whole cycle. 11:50 So I was getting in trouble, that was in my early years 11:53 and then coming up into the high school 11:57 that was when something started to have something like breaks. 12:01 There was that breaking point 12:02 where I was doing a whole lot of things 12:04 and that balancing act... 12:06 Okay. 12:07 It got, the rope got wobbly and I fell. 12:11 I fell so hard. 12:13 So I ended up having... 12:15 and I think it was 11th grade, my junior year, I had a child, 12:19 I had a daughter best thing ever. 12:20 She is amazing Jordan Naomi. 12:23 I had a child but that kind of, because of who I was 12:28 and whose I was, who I belong to? 12:33 I had to... 12:35 Being a Pastor's son. Yeah. 12:36 I had to, I guess, 12:39 I thought like I was set as an example 12:41 of you do this, 12:43 and this is what will happen to you. 12:45 Yeah. That kind of thing. 12:46 So I was kicked out of school, that's the year is 12:49 when I went to the Adventist school. 12:50 I was kicked out of the Adventist school. 12:51 Okay. 12:53 And that basically put me a year off of my graduation. 12:56 I was bitter about that, but one thing about it, 12:58 I definitely choose to not let it get me down. 13:02 I chose to I guess get back in that school, 13:05 incognito, they kick me out, it was about maybe they, 13:07 twice, they kicked me out. 13:09 They said I could come back and then they read tape 13:12 and said, no, we can't have you back in 13:14 and I had to go back again. 13:15 So it threw off my whole high schooling years 13:17 and I happened to do a extra year, 13:19 not graduate with my friends, 13:20 a new set of people, I had to go to different school, 13:23 afterward went to a catholic school, 13:24 went to this continuing education, 13:28 adult learning thing... 13:29 Just to get my credits together and finish. 13:31 Okay. 13:33 But even in that, it was a trial 13:36 but it was a learning experience 13:38 knowing that I can accomplish anything. 13:41 If I really wanted, I'll go out and get it. 13:44 And, I mean, he gave me the support I needed, 13:46 there was key people in my life at that time 13:48 that gave me the support and wouldn't let me settle, 13:51 wouldn't let me just give up and say, okay, 13:54 this is what I did 13:55 and just wallow in the mess that I made. 13:58 And a lot of us tend to wallow in the mess that we make 14:01 and we don't choose to move forward. 14:03 Yeah. And it's a choice. 14:05 God has given us choices, 14:06 He's given us the ability to choose 14:08 and a lot of us are just, 14:10 we get so down in what we've done, 14:12 get so down in who people say we are, 14:16 and people think we are, and we forget whose we are, 14:18 and what He's called us to be. 14:20 Oh, yeah. Exactly. 14:21 And when we realize who we are and how much stock He has in us 14:26 and the potential we have through His power. 14:29 I mean, there is nothing we can't do. 14:30 Oh, yeah. 14:31 There is absolutely nothing we can't do. 14:33 So, once I started believing that and, I mean, 14:36 there is people around, there's gonna always gonna be 14:38 some key people in your life who are gonna push you forward 14:40 or gonna get you over that hump, 14:42 and they may not be there forever, 14:43 that's the one thing that I learned too, 14:44 they may not be there forever but they're gonna push you 14:46 through that. 14:47 They're gonna push you through a season and, I mean, 14:50 once you get through that season, 14:51 it's up to you to make that choice to continue on 14:53 or just stay stuck at the end of that season. 14:55 'Cause time is gonna keep going. 14:58 But it's your choice to do what you need to do. 15:00 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And push forward. 15:02 Now, when you got involved with the drinking, 15:05 and partying, and things like that, 15:07 what do you think was going through 15:09 your parents mind at that time? 15:10 When they started to, you know, they raised you up 15:12 in a good Christian home, 15:13 they started seeing you gravitating to these things. 15:16 What do you think their feelings were? 15:17 Boy, I didn't raise you to do this. 15:20 I didn't call you, I didn't have you to do this. 15:23 I mean, this is not 15:25 what I did when I was in school. 15:26 They know how they grew up, they know the standard 15:30 that they had as children and as youth growing up, 15:34 and they tried to instil that in us. 15:37 So, when they see us deviating from what they did 15:40 and what they were accustomed to, 15:43 it's just like how did this happen. 15:45 Because I follow the mould that was given me 15:47 and I turned out, okay, 15:49 so why are you deviating from the plan? 15:50 I understand. 15:52 So they were hurt but through it all, 15:55 I mean, they were supportive. 15:59 It's one thing you know 16:00 when see the pain of your parents 16:01 like you could see it on their... 16:03 You could see it. Yeah. 16:04 You can see, you walk through the house 16:06 and you could see the pain. 16:07 I remember when I got a tattoo, 16:08 while I was in college I got a tattoo, and I came home 16:11 and we had a pool in the backyard. 16:15 So that I walking through the house 16:16 and my wife would be there, I was hiding it. 16:19 I had, I knew I had to wear t-shirts. 16:22 One morning I just got up and I had on the wife beating. 16:24 And the look my dad gave me when he saw that. 16:28 Boy, why did you do that? No. No. He leave us. 16:30 No words. 16:32 He was there in the kitchen, it is a long hallway 16:34 and he just looked at me and he was just like. 16:37 All those words, all those starts, 16:39 was just in that look. 16:40 And, I mean, that look of disappointment 16:42 and look of I mean just disdain, 16:45 it really plays on you and those are things 16:48 that sit in your mind. 16:49 I mean, there's those good things 16:50 that sit in your mind with your parents, 16:52 those experiences, 16:53 but those feelings of disappointment 16:55 that you give them and those looks 16:56 so when here your mom crying and those prayers. 16:59 I mean you wake up, you get home late at night. 17:02 Yeah. I know it. 17:03 And you would creep into your room 17:04 try not to make the floor creak. 17:06 Yeah. I know. 17:07 Walking around the corner and you hear 17:08 your mom in a room crying, she on the phone 17:10 with her prayer partner crying, 17:11 "Jason, Jason where is Jason?" 17:13 And, I mean, it tears in the heart 17:14 and those are things that stick out in your mind. 17:16 Oh, yeah. 17:17 And, I mean, they draw you back 17:19 that someone could love you so much. 17:20 Yeah. 17:21 I mean, even in your absence 17:23 they're pleading on your behalf. 17:24 And, I mean, Jesus came, left, 17:26 and he's still pleading on our behalf. 17:28 Just like that mother's love, that father's love, 17:31 and he is still pleading on our behalf. 17:32 Oh, yeah. 17:34 So I know they felt, they were disappointed. 17:38 And they went to those phases of disappointment. 17:40 They were hurt, and all those things, 17:43 but they love me throughout. 17:44 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. 17:45 You know, it's interesting like I say, 17:47 some things in our background are similar and, you know, 17:50 I remember coming home late at night 11:00, 12:00, 1:00, 17:53 2:00 in the morning trying to, you know, creep silent. 17:56 My mom used to tell me, she knew when I got home 17:58 because every time coming home, 18:00 I'm looking for something to eat 18:01 and I'm banging pots and stuff like that. 18:03 So she knew every time that I made it home safely 18:06 because she could hear the pots are banging in the kitchen. 18:09 I'm trying to get sneaked something under refrigerator 18:10 or something like that 18:12 and I make a whole lot of noise. 18:13 Right. But, yeah. 18:15 We definitely share that same story. 18:16 Let's talk a little bit about your book, "25 and Counting." 18:20 What motivated you to write this book? 18:22 And let me say, 18:24 this is a very, very fantastic book of your story, 18:27 but give us a little bit of background 18:29 and, you know, talk about the book? 18:31 "25 and Counting" was, 18:33 it start off as just a healing process for me 18:38 with just notes. 18:39 In high school I like to write. Okay. 18:41 So as my favourite class is my English class, 18:44 creative writing. 18:46 Okay. 18:47 And I used to write from then but when I got in the hospital, 18:49 when I got in this whole accident experience. 18:53 I just started to chronicle what I was feeling. 18:56 The whole recovery process 18:57 and it was kind of like a healing this 19:01 and letting everything go everything out. 19:03 And I found that, 19:06 it didn't start off as a book though. 19:07 It's started off as just me sharing notes on Facebook. 19:10 It started out as me just, 19:13 yeah, sharing notes on Facebook 19:15 and putting it out there as a just testimony of 19:20 what's going on with me, how I'm feeling, 19:22 how I'm looking, 19:24 and it grew into a book of short stories 19:29 and short little thoughts of how God just really blessed me 19:33 and how he took care of me, and how he cared 19:36 throughout all my trials and all my everything 19:40 that I was going through. 19:41 So it was a process 19:43 that I saw that help me to, 19:48 I guess, administer to others... 19:50 Okay. 19:51 ..in their healing process and in their trials. 19:56 Then I figured that when I started to share 19:58 what I was going through. 20:00 I saw that when I started to share 20:01 what I was going through, 20:03 there were so many people 20:04 that were going through the same thing as me. 20:05 Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. 20:07 Even though, all the situations were exactly the same. 20:08 We were all going through the same thing. 20:10 Yeah. Exactly. 20:11 And me actually being able to speak up about it 20:13 and being able to share my story gave them confidence 20:17 in what they were going through that, 20:19 that they could actually make it 20:20 and my whole demeanour in this whole experience was like, 20:22 I got to be happy about this because, 20:25 I mean, He's affirming what I'm doing. 20:28 It wasn't like, Jason, you are on the wrong path, 20:30 you need to turn back and go to the other way. 20:32 It was, "Jason, you're on the right path, 20:33 the devil is coming to get you." 20:34 Yeah. Exactly. 20:36 He's is going to try his best to turn you away 20:37 from what you're doing. 20:39 So he tried but I took at as, 20:42 okay, that's your first blow, 20:44 I'm gonna strike back. 20:46 I'm gonna fight too. 20:48 So I started to fight and this was a way of fighting. 20:50 It was my way of creating a team, team building, 20:54 putting people on the side of God 20:56 and just putting on the side of purpose, 20:58 side of we're gonna make it through whatever we, 21:01 whatever you try to throw it our way, 21:04 trying to put in our path, we're gonna make it, 21:05 we're gonna be conquerors, we're gonna be the greatest 21:09 because God is on our side. 21:10 Oh, yeah. 21:12 And we know the end of the story. 21:13 We know how it ends. 21:14 So if we stay faithful, there is nothing 21:16 that you can throw in our way 21:17 that we can't handle and we just smile through it. 21:19 Yeah. That was one thing. 21:20 I had to smile through my storm. 21:22 Lot of us get down and we look down. 21:23 It's okay to look down at certain times 21:25 but you got to smile through your storm 21:27 'cause you know whose you are. 21:28 Yeah. Exactly. And you know who, He's got you. 21:30 He'll carry you through it. He got it covered. 21:32 He will, He will. Yes. 21:33 So talk about the devastating car accident 21:37 and that's what you chronicled in the book. 21:39 Yeah. 21:41 Talk about that briefly 21:42 and how you could have even lost your life 21:44 as a result of the accident. 21:45 So what happened was 21:47 I graduated from Oakwood University, 2011. 21:49 I was on my way back to Huntsville, driving, 21:54 I like to drive at nights. 21:55 So it was like 11:30, 11:30 at night 21:58 about an hour from the Canadian-American border 22:01 on the Canadian side. 22:02 And I was just listening to music, you know, 22:04 just getting in that zone 22:05 when you are on those long road trips. 22:07 So, I was in this zone, driving. 22:09 Looking around the country and, you know, all the trees 22:13 and the cows 22:15 and all that stuff late at night 22:16 and just relaxing. 22:17 Okay. 22:19 And when you are on the road, I guess you deviate from, 22:23 you just get to places 22:25 you don't know how you got there 22:26 because you're just in that space. 22:27 Yeah, in that zone, yeah. 22:29 So I was in this zone, turned away, turned back, 22:31 Bambi shows up in the road. 22:34 A deer out of nowhere! 22:35 Deer out of nowhere and I'm relaxed, 22:38 my feet are on socks. 22:39 I'm on cruise control, and I'm trying to, 22:41 I see the deer I come back and I'm like, 22:44 first instinct is to avoid whatever is on the road. 22:47 Oh, yeah. 22:48 And that's where, first where I just lost me forever. 22:51 So, swerving goes down into the ditch, 22:54 the middle ditch. 22:55 I remembered torpedoing into the sky 22:59 and maybe spinning maybe twice. 23:00 Wow. And blacking out. 23:03 Yeah. 23:05 So if I see my car after it's like, 23:08 I'm knocked out, my car is destroyed, 23:10 I have a black car, 23:12 lights are gone because I mean 23:14 the impact knocks out all the lights. 23:15 So the black car in the middle in night, 23:18 I'm laying out on the road, 23:20 got thrown through the windshield. 23:22 I'm lying on the road unconscious, 23:23 my face is torn up, bruised, I broke some ribs, 23:28 punctured my lung, just shattered, 23:31 won't bit through my lip. 23:33 So whole bunch of injuries 23:34 and I'm laying out there unconscious. 23:36 Okay. 23:38 Police officer happens to be passing by 23:40 at that time in night. 23:42 I remember, faintly hearing while I was in the ambulance, 23:45 he's like, I don't even know, or when we got to the hospital 23:47 he's like, "I don't even know why I was there. 23:48 I just happened to be there." 23:49 Yeah. Wow. Divine. 23:51 Simply got divine. 23:53 I mean, and I only remember waking up in the ambulance 23:57 to give my phone number, my parent's phone number, 24:00 and I just knock back out. 24:01 Okay. I mean, He... 24:03 God will give you strength to do the things 24:04 that you need to do. 24:06 I mean He is not gonna give you, 24:07 He is not gonna overwork you, I just thought, yeah, 24:10 just think of it now like He only gave me the strength, 24:12 He woke me up to do what I needed to do, 24:15 and then He put me back to the sleep, back to rest, 24:16 back to heal. 24:17 Okay. 24:19 And, I mean, I was able to, they called my parents, 24:20 my parents came and they were like devastated, 24:23 they were like oh, my! 24:24 My mama is a nurse and she came in, 24:26 she was actually kind of relieved 24:27 that I wasn't as bad as she thought 24:29 'cause, I mean, she used to work in trauma 24:31 and see a lot of things. 24:33 So she was expecting like tubes in my throat and stuff 24:35 but she was real calm, my dad, I mean, 24:38 I'm the only boy so this is it! 24:40 This is the namesake. 24:42 So he took it tough, but I mean, 24:45 through the whole process it was amazing to see 24:48 how God just came in and just worked everything out. 24:52 Okay. 24:53 They couldn't operate right way on my face 24:55 because it was just so swollen. 24:56 Okay. 24:57 And my lip was out here and just... 25:00 And actually in your book you have pictures of 25:02 how your face looked 25:04 and everything like that, right? 25:05 Yes, I have pictures in there and it was just, 25:07 one thing from that day, from day two in the hospital, 25:10 I started to snap pictures, take pictures, and take video, 25:13 started talking, posting videos on Facebook and just saying, 25:16 I'm okay. 25:17 Making jokes and laughing, barely talk I had a lose lip, 25:20 my lip was just hanging and I couldn't do anything. 25:22 But it was just letting people know that, I mean, 25:25 even in the worse situation 25:28 I could be happy. 25:30 Even when I think all the things are going wrong, 25:32 I could be happy. 25:33 Oh, yeah. 25:35 And be comfortable in who I am and who God has made me to be. 25:38 I mean, a lot of us have scars from different things, 25:40 a lot of us have issues, 25:42 and we feel that we're kind of blacklisted, 25:44 we throw that word. 25:45 We're set apart and no one wants us. 25:47 Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's not the case. 25:49 God has a place for each and every one of us. 25:51 He has a purpose for each and everyone of us. 25:53 And in all of our misery 25:56 and all of our mess He has a plan. 25:59 And one thing I was thinking about, 26:01 as perfect as that my mess is my ministry. 26:04 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. 26:06 The stuff that He puts me through is my ministry, 26:09 the stuff that He allows to happen to me, 26:11 and the choices that I make are essentially my ministry. 26:14 It's gonna help me minister to you, 26:16 it's gonna help me minister to the next guy 26:18 that comes after me. 26:19 It's gonna help me connect with them. 26:21 So nothing that He has put me in, 26:23 nothing that He is allowed to happen to me is for naught. 26:26 It's all something that I can pull from now. 26:28 Now that I know what I'm here for, 26:31 now that I know that what I'm, He's called me to do. 26:33 It's all stuff that I can pull from to connect 26:34 with those people 26:36 who were once in a situation I was. 26:37 Who were once where I felt, where I how I, 26:42 once felt how I felt. 26:44 Yeah. 26:46 And I can connect with them and encourage them 26:48 and show them that there is light 26:49 at the end of the tunnel. 26:51 Now what real briefly, what triggered 26:52 that change of heart for you? 26:55 Through the change of heart with in terms of... 26:58 Change, leaving the drinking alone, 27:00 the partying alone, and giving it all to the Jesus. 27:03 It was just, wasn't fulfilling. Okay. 27:05 You go through life and you have that 27:07 just that void that we talked about earlier, 27:09 there is just that void and you're just not at peace. 27:11 Okay. So I just wasn't at peace. 27:13 So that what really triggered the change. 27:15 Now what I wanted you to do, 27:17 I want to real briefly talk about 27:19 how people can get into contact with you, 27:21 you're a musician and artist, you do motivational speaking, 27:25 an appeal to that you found a few seconds 27:28 that wants to experience the partying, 27:30 and drugs, and things. 27:32 It's fun, it's fun finding that, and, I mean, 27:35 I'm not gonna lie to you and tell you that, 27:37 you're not gonna want to do it. 27:39 But at the end of the day 27:40 you're gonna be left feeling empty, 27:42 and that feeling of emptiness 27:44 can only be filled by one person 27:45 and that's Christ. 27:47 And going through all that, it's not worth it. 27:50 So those who have come before can use their testimony 27:53 as something that you can pull from. 27:55 I'm excited to share my testimony of life 27:57 with you all, 27:58 "25 and Counting" is an awesome testimony of 28:01 how God restored me and saved me. 28:02 To get your copy 28:04 or just to get in touch with me, 28:05 you can visit me at www.janthonybulgin.com. 28:09 That's janthonybulgin.com, 28:12 and find all my information there. 28:14 All right. 28:15 Jason, we like to thank you for being on our program. 28:17 It's my honour. Praise the Lord. 28:19 Praise the Lord. 28:20 Viewers, we encourage you to go to the website, 28:23 purchase his book, and we also encourage you 28:26 to tune in next time 28:27 for an exciting program of the New Journey. |
Revised 2017-02-09