George Janko on Marriage, Faith, and How Jesus Transformed His Life from Dead Success to Living Purpose

[00:00] so George been amazing to get to know

[00:01] you throughout this last year you

[00:03] recently got married

[00:07] congratulations and we are an

[00:09] organization that celebrates marriage

[00:12] that celebrates the family that rejects

[00:14] hookup culture that thinks that this all

[00:16] this whole sexual promiscuity is a

[00:19] disaster we want people to save

[00:21] themselves from marriage we want people

[00:22] to celebrate the sacrament of marriage

[00:25] and the Divinity and around that talk

[00:27] about how your life changed um as you

[00:30] got married this last year well I I got

[00:33] to speak from my heart and the truth is

[00:35] I was not following the word of God um I

[00:39] slept before I was married I my wife

[00:43] followed me wherever I went and I was

[00:44] the one that convinced her you know we

[00:46] should live together and I lived in the

[00:49] world where is Jesus G to get mad at me

[00:53] I mean is he going to get angry at me

[00:55] and the truth is after I got married and

[00:57] I saw all the beauty behind it he wasn't

[01:00] angry he was

[01:02] sad when he sees that I chose the

[01:05] secular world and what they feared and I

[01:08] listen to their music and I listen to

[01:10] their movies I I feared the wrong thing

[01:13] I feared what they told me to fear hey

[01:15] dude get out out of your system now

[01:17] because when you get

[01:18] married oh dude you got to get out of

[01:20] your system

[01:21] now get what out of your system when am

[01:25] I getting out of my

[01:26] system when I got married I got on my

[01:28] hands and knees and I B hold my eyes out

[01:31] because what he was giving to me I was

[01:35] pushing this blessing away from me I

[01:38] pushed the beauty of marriage away from

[01:41] me and I taught everybody around me like

[01:42] oh no it's cool dude get out of your

[01:44] system be like this but I've learned

[01:46] really quick that if you fear anything

[01:48] besides

[01:50] God you're going to pay for

[01:57] that and through the grace of God he

[02:00] gave me an incredible woman and through

[02:03] that I learned how to be a husband I

[02:05] learned how to be a better son I I saw

[02:08] what my mom was doing that I didn't

[02:10] appreciate there's so much reflection of

[02:13] Christ behind that of course the devil

[02:15] doesn't want you to get

[02:17] married and and George talk about how

[02:20] you have grown from that and just the

[02:23] celebration of marriage and you look at

[02:24] your life before you were married versus

[02:26] now being married yeah one is full of

[02:29] joy and peace peace and security and the

[02:31] other one is like bro like they just

[02:33] keep trying to find this happiness and

[02:35] joy that only Christ could bring to a

[02:38] marriage with the clubs and these women

[02:41] and all this stuff and I promise you I

[02:42] know there's a bunch of you out there

[02:44] that are like yeah dude but not me but I

[02:47] promise you man like clean yourself up

[02:51] clean yourself

[02:52] up if you if you truly truly are a man

[02:56] of God and you're like doing the I'm

[02:59] waiting until God brings me the right

[03:01] woman how dare you why would he bring

[03:04] you that woman when you're acting like a

[03:08] child I am the head of my household but

[03:11] he is the head of everything so how

[03:14] could he give me something to manage and

[03:16] grow with and build and teach and

[03:19] sharpen if my me myself I'm acting

[03:22] arrogant and selfish and

[03:26] stupid anything that goes with against

[03:29] the word of God is

[03:31] foolishness is

[03:35] foolishness so so George so many people

[03:38] are being told though that marriage is

[03:40] outdated it's not worth it you know

[03:43] having that kind of propaganda pushed at

[03:46] young people and pushed relentlessly can

[03:48] be very difficult to overcome yeah how

[03:51] do we overcome that as a cultural

[03:53] movement that does celebrate

[03:57] marriage don't listen to the world

[03:59] listen to

[04:01] god plain and simple it I I could say

[04:05] another 10 minutes of something but the

[04:07] truth is

[04:08] this God didn't give you these rules and

[04:11] regulations because he sits on a throne

[04:14] and he's like yes follow my lead he gave

[04:17] it to you because he's your father he

[04:20] gave it to you because he loves

[04:22] you the fear is go the fear of God isn't

[04:25] me being oh I'm scared to disappoint him

[04:27] because he's going to unleash pain on me

[04:30] the fear is the same fear that I have

[04:31] with my father on Earth I don't want to

[04:33] disappoint him he's sacrificed too much

[04:36] to me

[04:39] so just think we've lived in a world

[04:42] where everybody wants to give their

[04:44] truth there's no such thing there's only

[04:47] one truth there's only one

[04:52] way there's only

[04:56] one so let's let's kind of fast forward

[04:59] to you know the the world that we're

[05:01] living in right now which increasingly

[05:03] deemphasizes biblical truth harder and

[05:06] harder for young people to speak out

[05:08] their mind for Christian values you know

[05:11] having been in both the media space in

[05:13] the Christian world and the secular

[05:15] world what are the differences and

[05:17] compare and contrast those two well

[05:19] that's a great question there's a Bible

[05:21] verse that I never

[05:23] understood and it was so like weird to

[05:26] listen to there was a gentleman that

[05:27] wanted to bury a relative of his and he

[05:30] goes up to God and he goes I love you

[05:31] but I I got to go I got to bury my

[05:34] cousin and you would think that our God

[05:36] that is so loving would be like yeah I

[05:37] get that go bury him come back but he

[05:40] said one thing that shook me to my core

[05:42] he said let the dead bury the

[05:45] dead and I didn't understand that until

[05:48] I was

[05:50] absolutely at the best place of my

[05:52] career had the best Finance had the best

[05:54] situation everything I begged God for

[05:57] was at my feet or at my possession and

[06:00] I'm looking around and I feel like that

[06:02] dead man and I asked God God how is it

[06:05] that I feel dead here but when I was

[06:08] working at Five Guys I felt

[06:10] alive and he whispered in my heart not

[06:13] audibly but he said because when you

[06:14] were flipping burgers you thought about

[06:17] what I wanted not what you

[06:23] wanted and when I took that and I was

[06:26] like okay then what do I do and he goes

[06:28] stop being selfish

[06:30] every time you go and talk to me you

[06:31] talk about yourself you talk about your

[06:33] needs how could I send you to go do

[06:36] great work if all you're concerned about

[06:38] is

[06:39] yourself so I humbled myself and my new

[06:42] prayers are Lord I want to walk in this

[06:44] spirit and have fruits of the

[06:46] spirit and I want to talk to somebody

[06:48] who you know what they always say be

[06:51] careful what you pray for you know who

[06:53] says that

[06:56] Satan If any man ever tells you again be

[06:59] careful what you pray for shut his mouth

[07:01] and say no no no no no no prepare for

[07:04] what you pray

[07:06] for prepare for what you pray

[07:12] for following Jesus isn't for the week

[07:15] it's the toughest thing I've ever had to

[07:17] do in my life but he did all of the

[07:20] work he did all of the work what I

[07:23] realize this and I hope this seed plants

[07:25] is into your heart when you meet the

[07:28] almighty God and you could today John

[07:30] chapter 1 says that the flesh be uh that

[07:32] the word became flesh and he gave us

[07:34] these beautiful words the Bible I joke

[07:36] and I say basic instructions before

[07:38] leaving Earth okay and what I've learned

[07:42] and I and I tell new Christians is this

[07:44] prepare to be in the presence of a light

[07:48] you have never experienced

[07:51] before that when you stand I'm so sorry

[07:54] I have to get up I can't just sit down

[07:55] but when you stand before God you're

[07:58] going to be in such a bright atmosphere

[08:00] that you all of a sudden realize who you

[08:03] are and you see your flaws and you see

[08:06] your ickiness and you say well why would

[08:08] he ever want me and I want you to know

[08:11] if any man stands before you and says

[08:13] clean yourself up first you're not ready

[08:15] to meet God he goes against the

[08:17] scripture Jesus says come as you

[08:21] are do not wait do not wait to meet the

[08:25] king of Peace you could never work for

[08:28] what he's going to give to you for free

[08:30] it's a gift it is a gift you don't have

[08:33] to work for a gift Christmas is around

[08:35] the corner one of you have any of you

[08:38] worked for that gift so then why do we

[08:41] question our God for

[08:45] salvation and the only thing you need to

[08:47] do is realize what the truth is and to

[08:49] be honest

[08:50] Charlie the reason why we're in a dark

[08:53] place right now in this country and a

[08:55] lot of people might get mad at me for

[08:57] saying

[08:58] this we we kicked God out of this

[09:02] country you can't complain about the

[09:04] schools after you took God out of the

[09:08] schools you cannot get upset about the

[09:10] government when you know damn well they

[09:12] don't care about Christ but they did

[09:16] before when we were

[09:18] prospering so all it takes is one person

[09:21] to stand up and says no I'm not going to

[09:23] believe the lie you could tell the snake

[09:25] grab the Apple kick a rock I follow my

[09:29] God my

[09:32] king So what had the biggest impact on

[09:35] you coming back to Christianity as a

[09:39] Young

[09:39] Man uh pain and sorrow like you know

[09:43] what I'm saying have you I'm I grew up

[09:45] in a middle eastern house and my parents

[09:46] would uh never spare the rod you know

[09:48] what I mean and I look at some

[09:50] households and I'm like oh they spared

[09:52] the rod like for sure yeah if you ever

[09:55] look at some kids that are not scared of

[09:57] their parents those guys are Psych go

[09:59] they need to go

[10:00] away if you're not scared of your

[10:02] parents there is no order to the stature

[10:05] of where you

[10:06] live I I'm terrified of my dad you know

[10:08] why because he was a good dad he was he

[10:11] was there for me I didn't talk back to

[10:13] my mom you want to know why cuz she'd

[10:15] rip my tongue out of my

[10:18] mouth and so I think that what we need

[10:21] to do is stop being a forid you know Ben

[10:24] Carson and I had a conversation and he

[10:27] said something so beautiful to me he

[10:28] said we can cannot be the land of the

[10:30] free if we are not the home of the

[10:36] brave and so I got to ask you guys what

[10:38] are you Brave about people come up to me

[10:41] all the time they like bro I love the

[10:42] way you speak about Jesus I be like dude

[10:45] why are you scared about talking about

[10:47] Jesus have you not read the gospel where

[10:49] there was millions of people against

[10:51] barely anybody and all they did is dance

[10:53] and sing and praise God and all the

[10:55] armies fell down to their feet and

[10:56] you're scared about a social media post

[10:59] [Music]

[11:01] you're scared that somebody's going to

[11:03] unfollow you you're scared you're not

[11:05] going to have enough followers Jesus had

[11:07] 12 one unfollowed

[11:10] [Applause]

[11:17] him do do you think that this country is

[11:21] ready for a

[11:24] Revival let me ask them are you guys

[11:26] ready for a Revival

[11:30] [Music]

[11:36] it makes me really really really happy

[11:38] to see our kids getting excited about

[11:43] it and can I say something and this has

[11:46] nothing to do with what we're talking

[11:48] about but I pray that the spirit of God

[11:49] helps me speak this but guys the only

[11:52] people we have to be worried about is

[11:54] the people here are

[11:55] neighbors we are too busy dividing each

[11:58] other a house that is divided cannot

[12:01] stand and I see more Christians going

[12:04] after Christians than I've ever seen in

[12:06] my

[12:07] life if you have a problem there's no

[12:09] problem with righteously judging a man

[12:13] but you better bring the word of God to

[12:16] the table if you're going to point your

[12:18] finger at another

[12:20] man I love every single one of you guys

[12:22] for being here because you guys have the

[12:25] fear of God in you

[12:27] guys but remember if we only had fear

[12:30] then we wouldn't really know who Jesus

[12:32] is and if Jesus came down with an

[12:35] attitude and an anger to wipe out the

[12:37] people that didn't understand none of us

[12:40] would stand so the next time you see

[12:42] your neighbor who does believe in God

[12:45] but maybe his Traditions maybe his

[12:47] worship maybe his words maybe his

[12:49] church is not perfect to the word of God

[12:53] that why don't you be the one that God

[12:55] sent to help this man get on the right

[12:58] path instead of being like what the

[13:00] devil wants you to be and kick them wall

[13:02] he down and say you're crazy we have

[13:04] enough people in this country to say

[13:07] that we're crazy for believing in

[13:09] Christ my sister and I don't always

[13:11] agree but there will never be one of you

[13:14] guys that could take us apart from each

[13:16] other why because she's my family and if

[13:19] you say that Jesus is Lord and king you

[13:22] are my

[13:24] family regardless of where you're from

[13:29] so there's in this room you know

[13:34] thousands and thousands of young people

[13:36] that are going back to their college

[13:37] campuses what should their marching

[13:39] orders be George to to spread the gospel

[13:42] to spread the good news in this broken

[13:45] and Confused culture um my okay so this

[13:48] is just like an honest take and remember

[13:50] I'm 31 I just started learning right so

[13:52] like any I'm January 3rd the same age

[13:56] yeah that's crazy uh but the one thing

[13:59] that I learned is humility plays a big

[14:02] part in Jesus working with you and a lot

[14:05] of people would come up to me like oh my

[14:07] God the way you preach the way you

[14:08] preach the way you preach but I never

[14:09] preached all I did was work on my flaws

[14:12] in front of the world and there God was

[14:15] able to grow fruit it wasn't because I

[14:18] was telling people hey follow me it's

[14:20] because I was showing people hey don't

[14:21] do this because this I almost robbed

[14:23] myself and Hey listen I learned this

[14:26] so once I took the time to ask Jesus

[14:30] Christ hey what do you want from me

[14:33] everything in my life became

[14:35] fruitful everything in my life became

[14:38] fruitful so if you're going to college

[14:39] or you're starting a career or you have

[14:41] a talent or you have something in your

[14:44] life that you've been working on and you

[14:45] can't get it done I truly say that if

[14:49] you think you're talented now if you

[14:51] think you're wise now if you think that

[14:53] you're sharp now wait until you go to

[14:55] the king of kings and say hey what do

[14:58] you want from me

[15:06] you are who you hang out with can

[15:07] anybody

[15:09] agree you know it's so funny what are we

[15:12] uh uh like in the gospel we're sheep I

[15:15] don't know if you ever hung out with

[15:16] sheep before but they do two things they

[15:17] act like the other Sheep next to them

[15:19] and then they scream for help all the

[15:21] time that girl just laughed like a sheep

[15:23] I don't know if you guys heard

[15:25] that but no no no we're sheep so if

[15:28] we're going to be sheep and you are who

[15:30] you hang out with then start your

[15:31] morning with

[15:33] Christ fill yourself up with the holy

[15:35] spirit so that way when you walk outside

[15:37] of the house you're not acting like your

[15:39] friends who don't believe in Jesus

[15:41] Christ but your friends will start

[15:43] acting like you who are reflecting Jesus

[15:47] Christ George in closing

[15:50] here talk about the encouragement you

[15:52] receive from people stories of people's

[15:54] lives transformed that have given their

[15:56] life to Christ the the work of the Holy

[15:58] Spirit what have you seen just as the

[16:01] your audience your followers from your

[16:04] fans I think a lot of people are

[16:06] inspired of where I was at and then

[16:09] where God took me and I think people

[16:12] need to read the gospel I think we got

[16:14] into a very lazy generation where people

[16:18] would rather have another man tell them

[16:20] what God is saying but like how many of

[16:22] you guys like listening to me

[16:26] talk I appreciate it but what if I told

[16:29] you I'm a pile of

[16:32] dirt and nothing I say should ever be

[16:35] something you guys should take to heart

[16:38] I am a man trying to figure it out and

[16:40] the only reason that I may give you

[16:43] Goosebumps or may put you on the right

[16:45] path is because you're giving an inlink

[16:48] a tiny percentage of what I brought from

[16:51] Christ to

[16:53] you so imagine where our country would

[16:56] be if we stop asking our neighbors what

[16:58] we could do and if we start asking Jesus

[17:00] what we could

[17:01] do you

[17:03] know I want to leave you guys with this

[17:06] when I was a little kid I uh I dressed

[17:08] up as uh John F Kennedy and I had one

[17:11] line and the line was don't ask what the

[17:14] country could do for you but what you

[17:16] could do for the country and I stand

[17:18] before you guys as George jenko and I'm

[17:20] saying This truly to you guys our people

[17:23] our family for our kingdom stop asking

[17:26] your neighbors your country

[17:29] your family what you should be how you

[17:32] should act and what you should be doing

[17:35] go to your

[17:41] creator go to Christ he knows you more

[17:46] than you'll ever know and he loves you

[17:49] with all of his heart the one thing I'm

[17:51] going to leave you with is it's not the

[17:53] problem is you do not know Jesus enough

[17:55] the truth is you do not know how much

[17:57] Jesus loves you

[17:59] because if you would have known that you

[18:01] would have ripped your clothes off gone

[18:02] to the church put your head onto the

[18:05] ground and did nothing besides worship

[18:07] the way the angels in heaven are

[18:09] worshiping

[18:11] God George shenko everybody so much