Addicted Atheist To An Evangelist For Christ!! | You Are Loved Podcast

hopes of encouraging you to keep going no matter how hard it is and to show you how loved you are by your Heavenly Father. This week I had the honor of sitting down with Joshua Nick Sargent, widely known as Holy Beards. He was a broken, addicted atheist who had just attempted to end his life for the third time when he had a radical encounter with the Lord. Today he is 23 years clean and on fire for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. His testimony is amazing and the Lord is using him to touch lives all over the world through his massive social media influence. You have to hear his story. So tell me a little bit about yourself. Well, I am 23 years clean and sober of drugs and alcohol. Three times suicide survivor at the age of 18 and I was an atheist as well. So I felt the Lord in my back bedroom, an atheist at my third suicide attempt. I've been in church my whole life since I was a kid but I always felt the top of church that I went to. It was what God was against. Hair, tattoos, our clothes, we didn't have a TV. So my mom and dad was very strict what they would call strict holiness. So my whole life as a child, I always seen what God was against in a way of, well, I can't do this by not doing this. I'm pleasing God. But I didn't know that he was for me or for love. I didn't see that side of things. So if anything, I ran from it because I felt like I couldn't live this lifestyle of works, I guess. Right. Don't live up to his stand. Yeah, later on, especially now the standards to Holy Ghost, but back then it was how you looked. So I ran from that. I always believed in a higher power but never in a God because of that. And I was at my back bedroom, third suicide attempt and God literally, in all my prayer videos, I said, "Lord, wrap your arms around them. Let them know they're loved by God that won't let them go." Because that's what I felt. That was, everybody's like, "Well, the Bible is a way of indoctrination or brainwashing." And I'm like, "Well, hold on, man, because I didn't have a Bible there. I didn't have it there. I didn't have a preacher preaching to me. I was not in a worship or nothing. I had a gun in my head. So I didn't have any of this. So when people attacked me, "Well, God's not real. I'm not a look dude." I felt something. I went from not believing to believing because of my encounter. And you cannot take my encounter away. You cannot sit there and tell me that that did not happen. You can say whatever you want. You was not there. And so the gun, I laid the gun down and gave my life to Christ. I felt the hands of God. Seriously, come from, come from the root. I felt the hands of God. Yeah.

And then I just started living for him ever since. And then, you know, the calling, the minister, the whole social media, just whenever you want to, that's pretty much like, that was the start. That was at the age of 18 on 40 now. So that was, that was the start of it. And then as I got saved, I got hurt. I church hurt. You know, it's true. And there. Yeah, a lot. But now it don't bother me as much because it's to really, it's to be expected. Not, I'm not going to be everybody's cup of tea. You know, I'm not going to be everybody's. I don't want to be everybody's favorite preacher. It ain't going to work that way, you know. So why do we try to perform or try to even do that when we know we're not everybody's going to like us because not everybody like Jesus, right? And they came against him. So they're going to come against us the same way. So my brother-in-law actually told me that I was going to be a preacher, a prophecy. I'm sure you believe in that. Absolutely. Yeah. And I was like, there's no way. There's no way. I barely got a high school education. You know, I'm sure you went through it. We all do, right? We're not smart enough. I can't speak the right way, you know, like Moses. So Moses, Idi, and Jeremiah. Then we got some good examples. Examples. And that's why I think God put them in there. Yes. So we can relate to that. And I was like, man, so I ran for 11 years. - Wow, okay. - After you met the Lord at eight. - Yeah, from my calling to prison. - Okay. - Yeah, I wish I wouldn't have, but yeah, 'cause I didn't think I was good enough. My past, I felt guilty. And then I had a God tell me this, and this is gonna help a lot of people. When we say that God cannot take away our past or our past was so great that how can God forgive me? Like I hear that all the time, I even said it. You're basically putting your back on the cross to say he didn't do his job. - Wow.

- Yeah, so when he told me that, I'm like, wow, yeah, like he's already been on the cross. So when we say that he can't forgive all sins or certain sins, then we're saying that his sacrifice was not enough. - Wasn't it like our sin was bigger? - Yeah, and then it's not, right? So when he told me that, that was my revelation moment. - Okay. - We all have revelation moments, right? - Yeah, yeah. - So I said, okay, if I'm called to preach to God, I need the anointing, I want the power of God. I've seen preachers preach, and they're just anointed and the Holy Ghost, they have that, that's what I want. And he, of course he gave me the Holy Ghost and I started preaching, I wanna say nine years ago, maybe 10, I'll probably go on my 10th year. - Wow, that's awesome. - I always had Facebook, but never really posted Christian content, just family content. - Okay. - And until, I guess nine years ago, I started putting clips of me preaching. - Okay. - And then Facebook kind of stayed the same. My Facebook blew up to a million followers right now. Reels is what did that. - Yeah. - We started posting the reels.

- Your prayer reels mostly, those are awesome. - Yeah. Well, the Lord told me when I first started TikTok, TikTok's been three years, it's my newest platform. - Okay. - Instagram, I've been on there for about six to eight years, but when I started my beard company, I was, my videos would be on how to take care of your beard. - Okay. - So it was not Christian content. - Yeah. - And God told me, you're leaving me out. - Wow. - That's what he said on TikTok, you're leaving me out. So he said, I want you to start praying for people. Now, I'm not one, you do not ask me to say prayer at church or even say grace over food. - Okay. That surprises me. - At one time. - Okay. - Yeah, I was not your cat. No, I wasn't. I stuttered in my words, but already we're our biggest critic though, right? - We are. - We compare. - And when we're good at something, then we don't need God to take care of us. - Well, that's where I'm headed.

He said, he said, I said, I can't do this. He said, you're the perfect candidate because you can't, but I can't. If you could, you'll take credit for it, like you said. - That's right. - You'll pack yourself on the back. So man, I started, I said, all right, all right, I'm gonna do this prayer videos. And it started out just praying for people, like 60 views, 80 views, and God says, I want you to run to the camera. I'm like, what? He said, I want you to run to the camera. So they'll count down 10, nine, eight, seven, six, round two. I'll start running one, I'll get to the camera. And I started doing that. And then the Lord said, start taking people by the hand. Like all this was, I never did this for reviews. I still don't do it for reviews. I don't do it for shares, I don't do it for likes, but I will say this. What else better to be out there than Christian content? - Absolutely. - A lot of people say, well, I would get on Facebook or TikTok, but it's too dark. Well, my answer to that is, what are you doing about it? Why aren't you not posting Christian content? - I don't feel right, like we're fighting. - So like help us out that's posting, let's let all Facebook be Christian content. - Absolutely.

- You know what I'm saying? 'Cause in the darkest is when we're gonna shine the brightest. - Amen. - Right? 'Cause I get a lot of heat. You shouldn't be on TikTok. Well, no, we've been able to prevent 190 suicides 'cause of that. - Wow. - 'Cause yeah, 'cause of my prayer videos. And if I would've allowed what other people tell me how that I've been told don't pray like this, I've been told don't pray on my knees. - Everybody has an opinion, right? - I've been told not to pray with my hat on. Like I'm like, God's like, it's from the heart. - Yes. - Regardless. - And it's the power of God, not your closing. - Yeah, I know, right? I'm like, man, I'm praying from my heart here. - Yeah. - And I don't care if you don't have a hat on, if you're not praying from the heart or have the right intentions of praying, it ain't gonna do you no good. - Right. - You know, and I always say, you know, the spirit of God, 'cause it's not by my, not by power, but by my spirit, right? Go through this phone 'cause they ain't a jail cell. You say we're dirty some gels.

- Yeah. - So there's, and that's why that's what that scripture means. That's why it's not by my not by power by my spirit because the spirit of God go to the crack houses Strip joy. It don't matter. You know, it's gonna go and do what it wants to do Yes, and I said all right guys So I started doing prayer videos and I'm telling you I went from like 5,000 followers to 100,000 to 200,000 We're at 2.7. It's awesome But but it's all been through obedience. Yes, because everybody's like how did you do it? Well, it I didn't want to do it Yeah, I didn't want to do it. That was the thing if I would have had my way I wouldn't have did it the way I did it right but it was what God wanted and as long as you're obedient to God He is a rewarder those right that digitally what seek him, right? Yes, so we stand his will I Tell so many people this How do you know you're in your calling how you know if you're in the will of God? It's when you're flowing in it. Yes, I don't believe that God's will or what is called you to do should be so hard Right, right if it is maybe you're not called to that and that restraint is you're not called to that right? Right because when you're in the will of God things flow People get on board right it all flows together, right? I'm not saying ain't no hesitation from the enemy But I'm saying as an evangelist if I'm an evangelist and God's called me to do that doors will open Right, so I'm saying cuz that's my calling right and I will flow in that but yeah, we've been able to prevent 190 suicides I had a lady Said that she had four kids and she was gonna scroll tick-tock one last time One last time. She's gonna take a bottle peels She had as a survivor when you do the note There's nothing stopping you. Wow once you make that note suicide note. It's usually over at that point and she had her suicide note written out how she felt like a failure as a mother to her kids and She said these words. I'm still friends with her today on tick-tock. I'm gonna scroll one Can you imagine? I'm gonna do this one more time before I take my life I'm just gonna sit here and scroll one last time What is the chances? Oh my god of seeing me on there, right?

And they got follow me or anything. Yeah, she didn't know what it was. It's amazing And here I am running in the field Saying hey, you know, don't do it. God loves you. You're not a failure Yeah, and man is she didn't take that bottle peels and she talks to me about once a week But that's that's how God operates and that's how God works. It's amazing. You know, we just gotta be obedient It's why I'm here right now. It's how I met Eric and all this is the social media is great It's opening doors, but I was even obedient when I didn't have that. Yes I was obedient when nobody was calling me. I was still praying when nobody was calling me Right and a lot of if you're only doing this for opportunities. You're doing it wrong, right? You're doing it wrong because God will reward your heart, right? You got to start somewhere It's like a boxing match, right? You're not successful if you're not preparing in the dark You got to prepare for absolutely and you have to do it on your own in the quiet when nobody else is around there cheering you on Right, and so that's so important and it sounds like you did that for a lot of years I Was in David's term feeding the sheep on backside. Yes for a long time. Wow. I Was I was the pastor preacher saying when is it my turn? Wow? Yeah, when's it my turn? Well, see God is not going to throw you out there and not prepare you for it, right? Sometimes that preparation is tough isn't it? Preparation is very key even in a fight absolutely got to prepare your body in your mind A discipline your mind because you know, honestly, I'm not a super spiritual jot here But I would not be able to do the things I'm doing right now a year ago Does that make sense? Yeah, because I wasn't spiritually mature or grown right to do the things I'm doing right now We walked into a church in Missouri in the first five minutes. I had to cast out devils That was an automatic when worship started now to say a couple year would I've been able to do that? Probably would a panty. Yeah, so like God knows man We we just we don't need to get ahead of God God knows God's prepared to wait for us We just have to be obedient like my wife's like, you know can rain and I'm like I didn't even bother to here I'm dressed here. I'm excited about this event, right and I didn't know I didn't look at the weather Yeah, you know my wife's like you can rain. I'm like well if it does it does if it does God has a plan Well, I remember when I'd walk all night just to get high. Yeah, it didn't matter if it was raining or not That's good. I stole from my momma's pocketbook just to get so if I'm able to do all that for the devil Then we should give God so much more. Wow. That's good so much more. Yeah, you know

I walked over people's bodies I didn't know if they was dead or alive or old deed or whatever Just to stay high and we'd party all night long I looked through the people at the hotel door for for the drugs that was coming at two or three in the morning - Right. - That don't make sense. - Right. - I was not a coward for the devil and I will not be a coward for Jesus. - Let's get him. - If anything, I'm gonna give him more. - That's right, absolutely. - Every mile, every hotel, and guys, if you're wanting to be an evangelist to hear me hear me well, a lot of people ain't gonna see what you're gonna go through. I'll be going to Mississippi, then from Mississippi next weekend, on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in Ohio, which is nine hours from Mississippi to Ohio, away from my family, away from my daughter, away from my wife. There is a process that you're gonna pay, but so's guys, that has to drop every one of us. - Yes. - It's so's, so's for the kingdom of God. - Right. - That's my fire. - We have a limited time here. - We don't.

- Who are we bringing with us, right? - Absolutely. - Yes. - 'Cause this shows, this is what I tell people, if we don't love our neighbor, then who will? - Mm-hmm. - The devil. - I love the house. The drug dealer will love your children as long as, as long as they're high, you know, he's got to hug them and love them and they're, what are we doing, what's, what are we showing our kids? - Yeah. - Are we praying, are we telling them what they need to pray? Or are they looking into our room and saying, "Mommy and Daddy, praying?" - Yeah. - See, it's, look, I don't like wearing my seat belt. I don't, I hate wearing my seat belt. But how can I tell my daughter to wear her seat belt if I don't wear my seat belt? - Right. - So I'm telling her with my words, but not my actions. In other words, I'm telling her, you better wear your seat belt, but my actions is, I'm not wearing it. So it's a hypocrite. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah.

- That's good. - So how can I tell people to pray when I'm not? - Right, yeah. - So it don't work that way. - That's good. - So it doesn't mean everything flows out of your prayer life. That's why when Jesus, when the disciples walked up to Jesus, and they said, "Teach us to pray." They didn't say, "Teach us to be great evangelists, teach us to be great speakers, but teach us to pray because I believe when you pray and you have a heart for the Father in prayer, everything, your marriage, your ministry, everything flows out of your prayer life. And we restrict our ministry and our family if we take our prayer life and do like that to a water house. - Yeah. - Yeah. - We need to open up our prayer life, man, and flow. And that's why I do prayer videos. - That's good. I've been through those times, right? Your prayer life is lacking and suddenly you start noticing that you're just susceptible to all the attacks and you don't have your armor on, right? And so that's so important, absolutely. - But I don't, other than the past, I'm traveling and preaching now. I know we skipped the least five to six years, but I really didn't do too much for sitting

on the church to do. - What's it like? - But I think we all was there, you know what I'm saying? - There too. - I stayed on the church for you 'cause I didn't think I could do it. - Yep. - And that's why, look guys, I'm the least. But look, even Paul says that he was right. Paul says I'm the least to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church. - Yeah. - Like I'm not worthy to be an apostle because of what I did. And a lot of you guys are probably thinking the same thing from the things that you did, your past hurts and failures and stuff. But Paul says later on in that same sentence, "I am what I am by the what? Grace of God, right?" So if you're in this 20 years, 30 years, 50 years, 60 years, it's only about the grace of God that we're here. - Yeah. - And that's my answer to everybody, man, is just be obedient. - I love that. - Be an obedient man, you know, to what God calls you to do. - Yeah. - 'Cause he'll prepare you, then I'll say this aside, we're waiting for the perfect opportunity to step out and to believe God. Look at Peter when God said, you know,

when Jesus told Peter to come, whenever Peter says, "If it's you, bid me to come," he stepped that in a storm one. - Yeah. - Like of all situations to step out on, he chose to step out and believe in the middle of the storm. So if we're waiting for everything to be just perfect, to start preaching and worshiping, if you're waiting to be perfect to preach, you'll never preach. If you're waiting to be perfect or get it all together, you'll never worship. And that's what the devil wants to bind you up and say, no, you know, it's when I'm hurting is when I need to worship. It's when I don't feel like worship is when I need to worship, right? It's when I've had a bad day, I need to worship. It's when I don't feel good is when I need to worship. - Yeah, not when we feel like it. - No, 'cause you'll go through that way, you'll go through your trying times, your storms, your valleys, and you'll go through your tough times, through praise, through prayer. 'Cause honestly, do you ever really truly feel like reading the word? - I mean, I do love our words. - I had to ask God to give me absolutely a word because in the beginning it was hard. Lord, let me love your word. Let me be a fire for your word.

And it took a lot of prayer to get that fire for the excitement of the word. - That's okay. - Yeah, I mean, I love it now, but it took time. And I had to force myself many, many nights to open it up and read it when I didn't feel like it. - I told those guys over there, I said, how was the food, they said it was great. I said, I've ate a lot of food that wasn't good, but I ate it because I was hungry. - Right. - How many people today is at a church 'cause they're so hungry, but they're eating something that's not real, something that's false. - Yeah. - But they're so hungry for God and so thirsty for God, they're willing to eat something that is a false doctrine or something that's wrong just because they're hungry. - Right, yeah, so we need to feed them, right? - We need to feed them while we cancel what we're here. - Absolutely, we're doing what-- - Right, anytime, yeah. - 20 people tonight. - I told them, go ahead and get a jump start on that. I left my shorts, I guess I'll be doing it this way. I left my shorts, who does that? Who leaves their shorts and their shoes and everything to baptize in, bro? - Yeah, sorry, I don't have an exercise. - And I'm two hours away.

- Well-- - I need some waiters. - Yeah, you do. - Yeah, you put them on. - Somebody here has got to have something, there's a nice crowd. - I don't know. - Well, hey, I know you need to get back. I have one more question that I just wanna ask you and I super appreciate you just being willing to share with us. We, in our series, it's called Your Loved, and so we talk about love because I think the world has a very twisted understanding of what love is, what love looks like, and so we wanna make sure we talk about that and show people what the true love of Christ is. So I'm curious if you could talk for a minute about when you were living in the world or even sitting on a church pew, but for you truly knew the love of God, what did love look like compared to today? Now that you know what real love is. - Well, I was the dude that played the Salvation card. I'm saved on my way to heaven, and that was my love for Christ, but how would it look if I only spent time with my wife once a week or I needed her more than I loved her? So if we're not careful, we'll need Christ more than we love Him because the benefits of marriage comes at love and my wife. I can't love her because she does things for me.

I can't love her because she's pretty and all that's great. Those are outlooks of an attraction of love, but for me to submit love her first and then everything that happens in marriage that is supposed to happen will happen outside of the love. You know what I'm talking about without saying those words. Same thing for Christ, like we, for example, do this for me and I love you. That's an example. So what if I went to my wife and say, "Hey, if you're doing this, then I love you." That's not how it works. - She wouldn't. - She wouldn't. - And he doesn't either. - Right. - 'Cause you love God first and then the blessings and things flow out of that. Love is the key of it all. For example, it says perfect love cast out all fear, right? - Yes. - Or, no, I'm sorry, a true love would endure all things. That's the other scripture I said is right too, but what I want to talk about is true love will cast out all things. If me and my wife lost her house and was on the street, our true love for each other, guess what? We'll go to the streets together. - Right.

- So I'm sad. So like true love, our love for Christ, we should be able to endure anything this world offers, anything that comes after us or tries to take us out. Our love for God, we should be able to endure whatever's thrown at us, whatever hardship, Romans eight even proves that. It says what shall separate from the love of God, right? Tribulation, I mean, it gives a whole list of things, right? - Not one thing. - But it says, nay in all these things, we are more than conquerors. And what things to trip all that was up there, we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. Nay in all these things. That means we're gonna go through those things. - Right. - It may be hard at first, but love is gonna get you through just as much as if my wife lost her job tomorrow, me and her will sit down and make things happen, cancel our cell phone, we'll do whatever it takes to endure. - Yes. - 'Cause we love each other. Same thing with him. - That's good. - Yeah, it's gotta be love's number one. And I don't know why I didn't say that at the beginning, but I pretty much gave you my testimony. But yes, love, man, God's love for us is unconditional. A lot of times we give our love

on what you can do for us. - That's true. Yeah, we're conditional beings. - Right. - But I love him. I don't love you to get something back. - Right. - And that's God same way. - That's good. - He loved me at my worst. He's gonna love me at my best. - Yes. - Thank God. - Does his love change when you see it? - No. - No. - So loves you, right? - That's right. - So you're worst day, he still loves you. - Yes. - And that's the love that we gotta have. And that's the love that I am grateful for, because if it wasn't that type of love that he had for us, then I would sit here and question, does he love me? - Right. - But because I know he has unconditional love for me, I've never questioned it, have you? - Never. - 'Cause I know.

- I know. - Yeah. - Even in my dark times, my hard times, my times of wanting to quit, I know he loves me. - That's right. What a beautiful feeling, isn't it? - Well, everybody on this earth wants to be loved. - Yes. - I promise you, they're looking for something and that's love. - Right. - They're just looking for it in the wrong place. - Right, 'cause the animals-- - The bottle, yeah, yeah. - They're all else, yeah, but that's why I think, you know, people say they're that hole there, that void. - Yes. - 'Cause God knew that nothing could fix that but him. - Right. - And that's why so many people feel so incomplete until he comes and that's not there anymore. - Yep. - That hole just, it's love. - It's such an awesome feeling. - It is. - So I pray that everybody watching knows that. - Well, that's why you could be single and not have a husband or anything and still feel loved and be loved by him and still make it day to day. - Yep.

- 'Cause I know, I love being told, I love you. I don't know about you. I love what my wife says, I love you. But not everybody gets that. - Right. - But knowing that he does. - That's even better. - That's what I'm saying. - Yes. - And let that get you through those hard days 'cause everybody ain't got a mom or a dad. They may have died early or, you know, they may abuse them or they may be in prison. They don't hear those words. - Right. - So hearing it from him makes everything. - Absolutely. - Just kind of falls away. - Yes. - 'Cause I mean, that dude over here chooses to love me or not, not you, but I'm just using that guy down there. For an example, that's fine. He has that choice. But knowing that he loves me, that overrides everything. - Yeah. - So. - That's awesome. - Absolutely. - So, okay. So, Tella, everybody, you mentioned your social media.

Where can people go to follow you? - Well, Jesus had a holy beard. So I wanna go ahead and say this. My beard is not holy. A lot of people are like, what makes you think your beard's holy? It's not. My daughter, see what, she's 18 now. I got to meet the boyfriend yesterday. - Oh. - Yeah. - Okay, how'd that go? - It went good. - Good. - Yeah, we had a talk. - Oh, good. - Yeah. - He's probably a little intimidated. - That's fine. I told my daughter, you know, I need to know who you gonna go out with, you know? - That's right. - But, holy beards with a Z, not an S. And that's what probably sets everything apart. 'Cause if there is another one out, if there is or not, it's the one with the Z. And, yeah, I left 22 years from Shaw as a truck driver, 60 grand a year, easy without overtime, 70 with overtime,

walked away from all that, came out with my own beard, butter, old wash. And it allows me to travel and what I'm doing today. So, yeah, I'm not rich by far, but that's not what I want. I just want to be able to, I've learned time is so valuable even over money. - Yes. - To be, this is being able to be here to do this interview instead of at work is freedom to me. - And when you need to heaven, God's not going to say, what'd you do with all your money? - I know. - It's going to say how many people did you bring with you into the kingdom? - I don't want to go myself to you. - No. - I want to take as many people with me too. - For sure. - Absolutely. We appreciate you, all that you're doing. It's amazing to watch. And just thank you for everything you-- - I'm after one million souls. - Okay. - I got a book, I'm right down, I got five already. - All right. - But that's my vision is see one, one million souls saved for the kingdom of God. - I believe we need something to fuel this guy.

- Absolutely. - Yeah, one million. - All right. So if you're one of those souls, let them know. - Let me know. - Awesome. Amazing. - Love you guys. Share this out. - Wasn't that awesome? I love his heart, his honesty, and his willingness to just share and be vulnerable. If you have never heard Holy Beards Pray, you need to go and check him out right now. Go to his social media pages and subscribe. I promise you will be blessed. Plus, you will get to help him, me, and other content creators like us fight the good fight in the dark world of social media. Join us next week to hear another encouraging story and be sure to subscribe or follow so you never miss an episode. Most importantly, I pray you know that no matter how far you or someone you love have run from God, it is never too late. There is always hope because you are loved. (gentle music)