Overcoming Anxiety

In this episode of The Extremely Rational Podcast ("The E.R."), Pastor Anthony and Alden open up about their personal battles with anxiety and panic attacks. They share honest moments, what they've learned through the struggle, and how their faith in Jesus has brought them peace, strength, and hope. If you've ever felt overwhelmed, this conversation will remind you that you're not without help and not without hope.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Welcome everybody. This is the Extremely Rational Podcast. My name is Alden Brown. You are PA. We call it the Extremely Rational Podcast because PA tends to be pretty extreme. I think I'm pretty rational. Sometimes that flips, depending on the topic. We for short are the ER, extremely rational ER, because we want to be an ER for you. So if you need to hear a word from the Lord, something biblical based, some scripture knowledge, if you just need to laugh, if you need an escape for a little bit, if you need something to take care of you, we want to be that for you anywhere. Hey. Listen to one of our previous episodes. I'm telling you, those who swing. Those who swing left are actually righties. But that does lead us into the open mic segment segment. We like to open up with the open mic segment, and that is just our opportunity to talk about something random that we feel strongly about. Yep. And so I've got one.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

I didn't tell you about it.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Oh, you Mr. Rand.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

I really think you're going to be on my side on this. Okay. It's sports related. Probably not. I think you will be. I believe that baseball, shout out to baseball, still has something a part of their game that other sports do not have, never had, but I think really should have. And I think it's dying in baseball even, and that's because of replay, instant replay, and automated balls and strikes and all that stuff. But what I love about baseball that you don't see in other sports is that if the umpire makes a bad call, I absolutely have the right as a player or a coach to get in your face and argue my point and argue my side. Now you see less of it now because they can just go to replay. Um but sometimes when you're out of replays and they make a bad call, and and here's the beauty of it is that if the ref the umpire in these situations does not agree and you cross a line, he'll just throw you out of the game.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

But that's how it should be. It makes it so exciting. Now, Alden's saying that because when he was 16, he went to a softball game and thought he could override the ref, jumped over two fences and got in the on the field to play and had his point come across.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

I was correct. It didn't change anything, but to see it was our church softball game, and to see my church be robbed of a trip to the championship over a missed call was too much for me. And so I jumped the fence and I got in his face and I let him know he's wrong. You're wrong. That was the wrong call. And how dare you stay behind home plate when you're the only umpire here and not even make an effort to get out and make the right call. We're paying you money, and Newman. It's a shame. But what I love is in baseball that that is a thing that still happens. Um, if you if you not if you try to do any of that in any other sport, you are slapped with mega fines and suspensions. So you actually are not allowed by rule to go run out and get in a referee's face in in football or on hot in hockey that would be tough because of ice.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

A little slippery.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Yeah. But you can't. And I think it's an awesome thing that it's always been a part of baseball and still is to some degree. That you're it's I to me, it's like you're adults are allowed to be adults. If you want to say men are allowed to be men, whatever it is, but it's like, hey, if you think I made the wrong call, you can get in my face about it, and I'll hear you out too. But if you cross the line, I'll throw you out, and that's it. You you're throwing out for the game, you come back tomorrow. I think it's awesome. I think it's uh it's unfortunate, it's not allowed in other sports. Yeah. Um and I think that it it I wish that it would be more prevalent in baseball still, but because of the rules changing and replay is less replays are gonna diminish that, and they have in football and other sports.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

But yeah, it's part of what it is. It's fun when they go out there and kick dirt on the uh best. It's uh it's uh instant entertainment and Alden's a hothead, so he likes to run out there and argue.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

I am a hothead and it's a challenge for me. I am not on the compelling, I'm very peaceful. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

I won us a championship because I started an altercation and the team we won the championship said we can't hit the ball up the middle anymore. The old man blew his top.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Yes. P I I told you I thought you'd agree with me on this because both of our uh both of us are very hotheaded and we're very intense and we're very competitive. Yes. Um, so I just love that that's a part of baseball. And the truth is, I do also love about baseball that it is still a sport that to some degree polices itself. Meaning, if you hit a home run and you want to dance around and showboat and show up the pitcher, carry the bat. You can you're you can do whatever you want.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

I think you can't. You can.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Right. But if you want to be that guy, then the next time up the pitcher might just throw the ball uh at your head or at your arm and hit you. And then the batter has the right to say, well, well, then I'm gonna charge you and we're gonna get into a fist fight. And so the game polices itself in that way. And it's what's beautiful about hockey that you know you got a problem with each other, you can drop gloves and fight it out, and hey, all right, each of you go to the penalty box for five minutes and uh that's it. Um but in other sports you can't do those things and those things aren't allowed.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

And uh I I think So contextually I'd like to say something quickly. Yeah. There's nothing worse than football. Nothing. That a man would do his job and dance for an hour. My wife watches it and is like, so I'm a secretary. If I type a good letter, should I dance around the typewriter for an hour that I did my job? And the worst thing about football, if a cornerback gets beat by 20 yards and that man drops the ball, you've been beat. You didn't do your job, you dance for another hour. That is something that I do not like. Oh, I'm so with you. I I've always said This is what we're paying you for. We paid you to tackle him, get up and go back in the huddle. Don't do the soupy shuffle.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Yeah. I think the greatest example for me, unfortunately, in football history was Porter. I can't remember his first name. Porter in the uh so it's Colts Saints Super Bowl. Peyton Manning throws a pick six to Porter that ices the game. The cults are trying to make a come comeback, Porter pick six to basically win the Super Bowl for the Saints. And when he gets to the end zone, he drops the football, folds his arms, and stands looking up into the crowd, and I believe at himself on the big screen in the stadium, and as his teammates are trying to celebrate with him, he's shoving them off of him because he wants his moment in the spotlight. And to me, it's just the evidence of pride and disgracefulness. We don't actually care about you as fans. I just wish that they understood that. We care about the team you're representing, we want to see that team win. And in in some way, because of that, we want you to succeed, of course, but we don't for you to be that full of yourself and pride. I miss the guys like Larry Fitzgerald, like Curtis Martin, who would celebrate with their teammates, just hand the ball off the ref. I did my job as I should, and I'm excited about it. I'm gonna celebrate with my teammates, but it is not about me. I miss that.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

One coach said it make it look like um you do this all the time. Not like it's one time that you gotta celebrate. Yeah. And this is a normal thing.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

There's some funny um like reels and and stuff being made, uh, TikTok videos and things now about uh youth kids, uh especially in baseball, and it's like these kids, some of them now they're 12 years old, they have $80 Bruce Bolt batting gloves, a $500 baseball bat, you know, they're wearing eye black, they got all the swag, they got you know thousands of dollars worth of gear. They go one for nine in a tournament, and the one base hit that they had that was a dribbler through the hole, they do a full dance routine at first because they're seeing these guys do this stuff in the pros. And you're like it it this isn't developing camaraderie, um, it's not developing teamwork, it's not developing anything but selfishness, self-centeredness, pride, and foolishness, I think. And I probably sound like an old man on the lawn.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

And we are, uh but that's okay. My last one, football fans, I want you to watch the NFL season coming up this September, and how many times a team goes fourth down and throws the ball 50 yards and a quarterback catches it and uh and dances, and the coach doesn't say anything. You could have had the ball 50 yards that way. Yep, just knock the ball down, caught it, fell down. Selfish. They touched you, so instead of having it midfield, you're on your own five, and you're dancing, and you're dancing on the sideline, and the coach hasn't said anything to you. Yep. If I did that at eight years old, my dad would have had me, I would have been sleeping in the shed for a week. Because we were trained. You just coached a team 45 yards.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Right. We were trained and taught to think team, team, team. We want I want this on the front of my jersey to be what's highlighted. I want to win for my team and for my teammates, and I want to be the best team that I can. They're not taught that anymore. Maybe some coaches, of course, are doing that some places. But so much of what's being built, taught, and and pushed is you got to get your bag. That's right. You've got to prove yourself. It's about you doing the best you can be and being seen and market yourself. And it's awful. It's so it's so affected things in sports negatively.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Especially for us older people who this is not even the same game we watch. I will never ever say they're not the greatest athletes ever. That's worldwide now, but that doesn't mean that you're playing the sport well because you can run faster and jump higher and you're stronger. That doesn't mean you're playing the sport, yeah. Well, I should not sport. Yeah. We blew it up.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

There we go. Go love it. All right.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

So it's something very near and dear to both of our hearts that we feel is really nationally, I'm gonna say, really become a crisis, not only in the world, but in the church that we both have uh similar um situations with.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Yeah, we both experienced it, and that is anxiety. It's anxiety attacks, panic attacks, um anxiety in uh as a minister.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

I deal with so many people that suffer with it that I wanted to Google it, see what they have to say about it, and then uh give you both of uh uh our histories with it. Because we both have a history with anxiety.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

Yeah, so we're gonna share our stories, but also um just give a biblical perspective of this, spiritual side of you know how we can battle through and overcome this. But uh anxiety is uh uh and can be a disorder a disorder. Anxiety disorders are considered mental illness, believe it or not. While occasional anxiety is a normal life response, anxiety disorders involve persistent excessive fear or worry that interferes with daily life, making them diagnosable, mental health conditions. They are highly treatable, often featuring both emotional and physical symptoms, and we know that quite well. Amen. Let's see what else do I want to read here. Key aspects of anxiety. Commonality, anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions affecting over 21% of adults in the United States.

SPEAKER_00 11:31

One in five guys in America. So if there's four, five people in a room and they don't have it, you do. Yeah, pretty funny. One in five.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Um, according to the American Psychiatric Association, types include generalized anxiety disorder, GAD, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias. Some of the symptoms are you know beyond worry, they can cause physical symptoms like racing heart, chest pain, dizziness, and intense fear, all of the things that we've certainly encountered ourselves. Yes. Um, some of the causes they often uh result from a combination of genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life experiences. Trauma. Yeah. Um, and this can be treated. Uh effective treatments include uh psychotherapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy and medications managed by healthcare professionals, um, and a little thing called prayer. Amen. And the scriptures where we renew our mind. And the Lord. Yeah, and some of that stuff is in is a part of our story. Amen. Do you want me to get in any of the scriptures here? No, I think we're good.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

I think both of us are 2 Timothy 1 7. I believe we will end with what we feel um is what we want to even an unbeliever, we want you to know that there are things that you can do to overcome this. And I I I believe hopefully our stories will be encouraging.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

So my I didn't I had no context understanding or um experience with anxiety at all as a child growing up. Um I was if even now, if there's um anxiety in my family line, I don't I'm unaware of it. I don't know. Meaning if, like you know, any of my uncles, aunts, grandparents, you know, anything like that. None of my siblings have anxiety, that I know for sure. So I'm uh oh boy, 17, probably, right around that age. I could have been 16, I could have been 18. I think I actually I think I might have been 18. Seventeen or eighteen. I'm living at home um and I'm in my bedroom one night watching a movie called Sanctum. Um I had never seen this movie. It was about it's a real place on planet Earth, but it's like these key these deep caves and caverns that people go and explore. But you know, it's this is a movie, and it's you know, things go terribly wrong. A monsoon comes, and so there's this entire uh explorer group of people who are down in these caves that are slowly flooding or kind of quickly flooding, and they're just in a fight for their lives, and one by one, they are not making it. And as I'm watching this thing, and I it got it to be late, you know, it was probably past midnight as I'm watching it, finally the movie ends. I shut it off, and I try to go to sleep, and my mind is a full-blown tornado. It's a full-blown blown tornado of thoughts. Now I've never experienced this for I don't know what's happening to me. But I have this um my heart is racing at a thousand miles an hour. I can't even I the way I can explain it is like I couldn't even catch a thought. The tornado is violent in my brain. So, like, even if I had to just focus for that moment on my I couldn't. My brain is spinning, and I am lost. And the only thought that can come through is you're dying. You're gonna die. It's over. You're not gonna you can't breathe. I can't breathe. Panic attack. I'm having a full-blown pack day. I don't know this, I've never had this. So I go upstairs, I wake up, my parents at 18 years old knocking on their bedroom door.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Your mom's a nurse.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Thank you, Jesus. My mom is a nurse, my mom tremendous one. Recognized immediately what was going on. Thank you so much, mom, uh, and was able to get me to lay down on the couch, um, drink some warm liquid, which is very difficult because I'm convinced I can't even drink it. Like if I try to drink this, I'll just drown or die, I'll choke. Like, you know, you have no rational thoughts. It's wild. And it's and it's just fear like you can't, yeah. You know, it's not even fear like you, I'm pretty sure like I'm scared I might die. It's I know I'm dying. I know I'm going to die. It's not true. You you that's all you can think and feel. And so I'm dealing with that, and I don't know what's going on. So, you know, I made it through the night and got through it, and and then from there it started to become more persistent for me, and then it would get really bad to the point where uh I remember being in in it's this is how I know I was 18 because I was in community college. And so I'm in community college, um, and I was in class and I'm ha now I'm having the same things happen. I have to leave and sit in my car. Um I would go through sometimes like a whole week, like seven straight day stretch of constantly in a state of angst where I was one minor trigger from going into full-blown panic attacks. Yep. And it it was just this like 10 million pound weight on my brain. I you know, it was wow. But I didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to get through this. Um, and I'm really struggling. And so I battled for quite a while.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

Obviously, and you have a lot of allergies too. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

So anything can trigger it for me. And that's the other thing, too, that we could talk about. But literally a little bit of heartburn, a little bit, you know, something gets caught in my in my throat. If uh geez, I don't know. Yeah, but even if even if I got a stomach ache or something, like just whatever, it would just trigger like you're you're done. You're dead, you know, like a full panic attack. It was wild. And so I um end up on a going on a trip with my two sisters, and we were gonna go s we're going snowboarding. And unfortunately, the night before we the three of us stayed up really, really late, and it was like two o'clock in the morning when we finally went to bed, and we had to be up at four o'clock in the morning to start our drive way upstate to get to the mountain to go snowboarding, and I'm on no sleep. I am in no I'm not in a good shape there. And then I got like bad heartburn. I didn't have I don't know what I had for breakfast or whatever got me. And I and I don't get heartburn, so this is why it really triggered. I'd never get heartburn in my life, and I have heartburn. And my brain's telling me, Your esophagus has closed, you're done. And so now I'm having I'm in the back of the car, my sister, older sister's driving, my younger sister's in the front seat, I'm in the back, and I'm in a full-blown panic attack, and I don't want to ruin the trip. And so I was kind of faced and forced into an uh a moment where I had to fight my way through something so challenging and irrational to get to Jesus. And in that moment, I remember having the clarity, which is bizarre in an anxiety attack to have any, that the Prince of Peace lives in me. And if he reigns over my mind and he lives in my heart, then anxiety and fear cannot live. It cannot stand and it cannot be active in me. And so in that moment in the back of that car, I remember saying no to the anxiety. Like, no, you can't you can't stay here. The Prince of Peace already reigns here, he rules here. So I have peace. Powerful. And it felt like someone um poured warm oil over the top of my head, and I could like feel like peace as if it was warm uh, you know, oil or liquid just kind of pouring over my face and and down my shoulders, and all of this peace just came rushing over me. I was so excited, I came out of a panic attack into euphoria that I I think my sisters were listening to Justin Bieber or something, and I I kind of stuck my head between the front two seats and was like, You guys have no idea what just happened. I was having a full-blown panic attack. I was gonna ruin the trip, I was dead, and I just called on the name of Jesus and I just called on truth, and I just said the Prince of Peace reigns over my mind, and he totally freed me. Totally freed me.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Um now what period of time did you was that from the 18 to now this trip? It was within within the same year. All right, so with for about a year you were having attacks for about a year.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

Definitely um and so uh that moment was so huge for me because it really did free me. And then it it it was years later that another moment of panic even tried to grab me. And I it was so much easier not to let it. Amen. For that one simple truth for me. Amen. And I'm not saying this is gonna be the case for everybody or that easy for everybody. I'm just so grateful to the Lord that there is that much victory.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

There is that much victory, it is it's I I was able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

And so, yeah, any time I ever in the since that day, and God has And how long has that been? Seventeen, no, seventeen years, yeah. So half your life. Half my life. And now I've never been overcome by a panic attack again, and there have been very few instances, maybe a handful of instances, in which I felt anxiety or panic coming on me, and in each and every one I was absolutely able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

Through this faith, you have overcome half of your life of uh not having one attack to debilitate you anymore.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

And I'll add to that there are definitely practical things that you can do that have nothing to do spiritually with anything that could help just for that initial moment to get you to be able to see clear enough to pray. And the trick that works for me is to focus on w is to make sure you focus on one physical thing. So because my brain, I remember the first time, like I said, it was such a tornado, what I didn't realize was that there are physical things that I can do to bring my brain to a thought, meaning I could just take my finger and just kind of rub it on the uh nightstand or or on the table that I'm near and just focus on the way that feels and lock your brain on it. Just feel that. Do nothing else right now, just feel what that feels like. Maybe it's your feet on the floor, just move your toes, move your toes, just feel what that feels like. What does that feel like? Feel that, feel that. And then it can anchor you just enough for a second where you can then.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Your mind is clear enough.

SPEAKER_01 20:55

Yes, to go, okay, hi God. I need you right now. You're the Prince of Peace. Yep. Now reign right here. Anxiety, go, get out of here, get out of here. The Prince of Peace Right, so you can do that. So there's some practical ways to help, which has helped me.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

The devil is the author of confusion. Yes, and it's chaos. That's exactly He wants to keep you in that confusion and keep you in that chaos. And the longer you stay in it, um, the harder it is to get out of it. Harder it is for your mind to believe you can get out of it. Because I I have a mental illness too. But it is uh in my mind. It's not real. That's right. But it is an illness. Yep. And um powerful. Any more?

SPEAKER_01 21:33

No, please share yours.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

So mine is really the same but completely different. I I you know, I'm 70 years old, and so uh that means I come from a generation where men don't talk about things like this. We're not weak, or if we experience some so quickly, uh just a history I found out. Um my brother uh had agrophobia, which is crippling. You can't leave your home. Now he It and so he would drink and do drugs so he could go out. But there were many times we'd play a softball game, a championship. Mikey's not here. And I come to find out in his mid-40s, I find out I've been agrophobic my whole life and I'm medicated and blah, blah, blah. So then I find out my father, when he's 60, he tells me about it. And now when I see my history, uh, everyone in my family, you know, has passed, and I believe they're all in heaven. But um, so my brother was on medication, my sister was on medication, my dad was on medication, my mom should have been on medication. She had a mental illness. Um, my brother's two girls are on medication, and my sister's two girls are on medication. So it's obviously I got it. Right. It's in there. And those of you who know me would say the last thing is this guy is afraid of it. He's just, he has no fear. That is really one of my gifts. Yeah. But it's amazing how it can happen. So my story is I'm 45, sitting at my kitchen table. I hope I don't get a panic attack talking about it because it's people have really have no idea what it does to your mind. Oh, yeah. A 45-year-old minister sitting at his kitchen table turns to his wife and says, Honey, I don't know how to breathe anymore. I haven't what? And imagine just what? And you're kidding, right? No, I don't know how to breathe anymore. I'm dying. I'm dying. And if I drink water, I'm gonna drown. And I lose it. Uh, we I I remember, and you know, I we called the parents, they said, Tell him to have a glass of wine. He's you know, he's nervous. He's just tell him to calm down. I didn't have your mom, I didn't really go to any medical resources, and so I suffered. Yeah, and uh finally uh one night um they just took me to the hospital. And I'm standing in the hospital, and it's two in the morning, and the doctors come out and I say, I'm gonna die of I I don't know, I I can't breathe in. If I drink water, I'm gonna drown. And you know, this is listen, I don't know who you are, but they literally started laughing and said, that's not gonna happen. And so obviously they didn't know how to deal with it either. And so um I suffered with it for years. Years. Uh it would come and go, I would be in and out of the hospital, and um I just and I I don't know why I didn't do this right away, but I just began to, in a sense, do what you did. Practically think, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I have a God who's greater. Um I I I'm a Bible teacher, I have to do this. It's 2 Peter 1.24. Two incredible things happen in your conversion. Number one, the Bible said, through this act of righteousness, you are now dead to sin and alive to righteousness. So now in this conversion, you have a new nature. And so that nature can resist sin now. Could never in the world, it didn't have power, the Holy Spirit. And the second part of the verse is, and by his stripes you were healed. We walk in healing, whether we know it or not. And so if we're allowed to resist sin in righteousness, we're allowed to resist sickness in health. So freaking cool. That's awesome. That's that's that's the Bible. How many Christians are walking that know that? And so I just began to say, you know what? I don't have to receive this anymore. I I won't receive this anymore. I won't no. And so I began to slowly but surely every time it came, run and get a bottle of water. Can't drink water, you're gonna die? Let's guzzle. And slowly but surely, my faith and acting on my faith, just they left. Yeah, because like you said, fear is not the opposite of faith. Fear is the absence of faith.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

That's great.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Totally different. I used to think that the opposite of faith is fear, it is not. The absence of faith is fear, you have no faith, and the world really, you know, it doesn't. But we should be able to be so equipped, and and and and uh guys, I'm gonna say for any sickness, any disease, I have two new knees, Alden will tell you I played softball. My PT therapist said, please stay away from me. You cannot do what you do with two new knees and you're 60. You can't. Well that my God, I can't. I had a 17.8 radical cancer in my body. Radical PSA. Correct. And averages 0 to 4. Sorry, aggressive, which means it's spreading. That's what they said. That was six years ago. And I have to go annually to have it checked. So the doctor looking at my chart said, uh, you know you had a 17.8 six years ago. You know your last three PSAs are 0.3, 0.2, and 0.1. You know, that's impossible. Not with my God. Amen. And right now I'm here with a microchip in my chest that Alden told me not to play softball last year because he felt a softball was gonna hit it. I'm scared. And um, what he doesn't know is that the Islanders won a big game. And I'm going off tangent, that's all right. And when when the Islanders win a big game, I go charging at my wife, and she's been everything. And so what if she goes like this and hits it? Oh she punched it, and I went right into trauma. My producer loves it. He's laughing. Oh my god. Nobody knows that. A couple of people at church know it who I was counseling. What kind of trauma are we talking about? Uh everything. Everything. You just punch this thing, it's going into my heart. I'm dying. There's a pain here, and uh it lasted probably less than 24 hours. But again, I used my faith to combat that. And Alden was like, PA, what if you're pitching? Somebody's a line drive right off that thing. It's gonna send it into your heart, you're gonna die.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

Because you pitch, so you're the closest to that happening. And I didn't put anything covering it.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

And and so what I want to say is two new knees, if you saw me, you would never know. It's true. And they were bow-legged, they're straight. I just finished playing softball in my 70th year. We won the championship, we came in third in the tournament of champions. Um, I can run. Uh, my cancer is totally gone. Yeah, and my heart just had my second ablation, will be fine all by faith. You can go to a doctor, but go in faith that the doctor will use the wisdom of God. Oh, how can that be scriptural? Every good gift comes down from your father.

SPEAKER_02 28:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

So any good gift on this earth, medicine, whatever it is, it came down from daddy. Yep. And to him be the glory. And so I will say, for 20 years, I'm not going to get into it, but uh I had a year of a nervous breakdown. I took over this church, and we're not going to get into it now. That was a totally different scenario because I was living, in a sense, a lie. It's not the call of God for me. And so, in that uh was a heaviness. As soon as I handed it over, that heaviness began to lift. And the last one was my mom. Uh, just was very traumatic. We were moving around, and it came again one night. And so this is the verse that God gave me. Now, again, this is a 20-year process where I can say that my faith has kept me anxiety free 98% of the time by faith. And so I went to bed in Florida and told my wife, because I had had a nervous breakdown before, whenever you've experienced something, when it comes back, there's trauma. Because you think of what happened, and your body is like your hair, you're gonna have a breakdown. And I literally went to bed. It was eight o'clock at night. I said, Hunt, I don't know if I'm gonna wake up in my right mind. And as soon as my head hit the pillow, I believe it's 2 Timothy 1.7, and I looked it up, yeah, and it said, God has not given you a spirit or the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound, disciplined mind. It left. I love it, and it has never ever come back. Yes, because it has no authority to come back. That's right. And like Alden said, maybe you won't experience the way we do, but don't you, if especially if you are a born-again believer, you have authority over your body, your God dwells in that body, your God is not sick. You know what the the Lord's prayer is? Our Father who art in heaven, glory to your name, let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Nobody's sick in heaven, nobody's scared in heaven. No, there's no fear that should be coming and invading us. I pray it every single morning. That prayer over the earth and my wife and I. I do not want anything touching us, and I demand that it's not allowed to touch us. And if it does touch us, I demand that it leaves. And so I am 70 years old, it has not come back, it has tried twice. Well, and then you have the minor ones when you're in bed. And this faith in God and this power in God has kept me anxiety free. And I am the only member of my family who has never taken medication. Again, my mom should have. My mom died, and my mom died very poorly. Everyone else, I refuse to put medication in my body. I'm not telling you not to take it. Right. But if you do take it, I'm telling you, say that I'm not going to take it forever. Yeah. Especially if you're a believer. Yeah. There is victory in Jesus Christ over any sickness, any disease, and anxiety. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Well said. Thank you. There is. And so if you're struggling with it, anybody out there.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

One in five Americans.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

Yeah, and comment. Like, look, if you if you if you need prayer for it, we want to pray for you. If you want to um dialogue it, talk about it. Come out to Eastgate Church on a Friday night. Pastor Anthony is there every Friday at seven o'clock and um could absolutely talk you through some of these things.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

And our Bible class has turned into a healing room. It's incredible. And from 50 to 80 to 100. Holy Spirit night, 150. Yeah. Our church yesterday had seven, eight hundred people in it. Yep. Just two years ago, there was seventy to a hundred. Yep. God is just doing, we're not lifting the church up, we're lifting what God is doing up.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

Always Him. He gets all the glory.

SPEAKER_00 32:17

It is amazing. And as a believer, you do not have to receive anything that is not from the hand of God. Not only is He for you and with you, but He's given you power. That's what it says. I have not given you fear. I've given you power. Yes. Power. Yep. Sound mind. Love. Yeah. And that can overcome anything. And we are two living stories.

SPEAKER_01 32:43

That's for sure. Let's pray. We'll pray for anybody right now, Lord. Anybody who's dealing with anxiety, anybody who has an anxiety disorder, anybody who's even just had a singular panic attack, whatever the case may be, Lord, we just lift them up to you right now. Thank you, Lord. We declare that you, as the Prince of Peace, would reign over their minds, that you would reign over their heart. And Lord, that you have not given them a spirit of fear, but you have given them a sound mind. You have. And so I just pray right now that you touch them, love them, let your peace wash over them. Thank you. Thank you. And let them just walk in a whole new level of confidence, of peace, of joy, of strength in this season. Lord, we want to lift up anybody who has any iniquity, any infirmity, any pain, any need for healing in their body, mind. We pray right now that you would be that healing. You are the healer. So heal them right now. We speak in the name and authority of Jesus. Heal. Lord, we love you. We pray that anybody listening who doesn't know you would receive you as their Lord and their Savior. Thank you for it, Jesus. That you, Lord Jesus, would be all that they desire. And that you, Lord Jesus, would come and draw near to them and make yourself real to them and love them, Lord. And so we honor you, we praise you, we adore you in Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_00 33:52

Beautiful, beautiful. Any topics, guys, any question, anything you have to say, we're here to serve you. Yeah. We want to meet your needs. We love you. And he more than that, he loves you. He's got great plans for you. Yep. Good and not evil, hope in a future. And the last thing I will say is that perfect love casts out all fear. He is perfect love. And you, as a Christian, have that inside of you. Yes. We love you. God bless you. Thank you, Tony. Producer number one, you the best. Bam.

unknown 34:27

Woo!

SPEAKER_01 34:29

Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. It truly means a lot to us. If you'd like to hear more episodes like this, please subscribe to our channel. It's the simplest and most impactful way to show your support. We'll see you on the next one, and as always, God bless.