Welcome brothers and sisters Sorry I was closing my eyes when you started talking Sorry just start again As you can see he's a comedian An actor and he's a director also who said google oh you're not a director yeah i guess some things some small things naveen richard welcome yeah thank you wow this is happening in real life yeah ladies and gentlemen here we go when we were talking about doing an interview i was looking up like online videos of yours older ones And I was like, these are two totally different people. What is going on? Here he is saying these, you know, words.
And here he is saying, praise the Lord. And I'm like, ah, what? Yeah. And then you mentioned that you were saved last year. Yeah.
And that's how you were like, okay, we need to share this story with you. How were you before last year? Highly driven. Say the two Oscars or?
It doesn't mean anything. I can relate to that. Because one, they'll be like, okay, coincidence. Many people get one Oscar and then you never hear them.
I say two Oscars, then you're established. Oh, okay. Thinking further.
I had to think of two Oscars. So I was... Not a one hit wonder. Yeah.
In terms of music. Yeah. I was like, okay, I have to get a Grammy, obviously. Yeah, obviously.
So how do I get there? Let's work backwards. And I mean, I was always self-aware of...
I know that's not gonna fill this. So I was also looking... I was looking, I was searching for what might be the answer.
I was content. I've achieved more than I thought I could have. I have a nice family.
I get to travel. And yet there's something pulling you. The validation, I guess. I was like, I want to be with Rowan Atkinson and Steve Carell.
And unless I am not only just in a movie, because anyone can just be a movie, I want to be chilling with them as if we're just buddies. And then I will stand on stage and then I will see their faces on them. I was a maniac. That is great.
I hope that happens. Yeah. And now I'm like, it's okay. What happened in between that you don't see things the same way now?
Yeah. Well, the short answer is God. The long answer. Surprise, surprise. It's behind the Marist channel.
What do you think we were going to talk about? I ate a pie and then everything changed. No. I met God.
It was April. Lockdown was like one or two months in or something like that. I was on some Instagram live and I was, you know, using a bunch of bad language on it for no reason. Really no reason at all. A week later or something, my mom had called.
And she's a pretty chill mom. She's pretty chill. But that day she was very upset.
You know, she was like, you know that interview you did? Why did you have to curse? I was like, mom, come on. It's not a big deal. She's like, no, you know that there's so many kids who watch your stuff.
Your cousins even. She was really upset. And I was like, all right, this is not my usual mom. She's genuinely upset in her soul.
And she was like, can you just read the Bible like I've been telling you for the last 15 years? Just a few hours later, my dad called. I remember I was up on the terrace in Bombay. He was like, hey, can you just check for flight tickets back home?
Because your mom has been taking some medication and setting off some stuff in her brain and it's causing some really terrible pain in her head and we're all worried about it. I freaked out and I was like, okay, yeah, I guess I'll check. And there was no flights.
There was nothing I could do. It was a height, fresh lockdown. The next day, just out of guilt for what my mom was going through and what I was putting out through on top of that, I just said, alright, let's pick out this Bible that's been sitting there.
The classic cliche of the dusting off the Bible. I always kept it there. The Bible was either in the bookshelf. There was something that never let me disrespect it all these years.
You know, as much as I could, I would keep it near the bedside. How come it was there in the room? Something like, these are my roots or something, right? I picked out the Bible and I started reading Matthew. It felt like within five minutes or something.
I read something. That part's personal, but it convicted me of something. I was like, am I in trouble? Am I? Is this legit?
And the reason I kind of got a little scared is because for a few weeks before that, there was an uncle of mine. I used to talk about investment and stuff to him. And suddenly he started sending me his notes he was writing on Revelation.
All right. heavy stuff heavy stuff and i'm reading it like but there was also some stuff i could understand here's the other thing about the old naveen i was always curious to know what's going on in the world i could notice there was some darkness in the world i was like why are all the world leaders kind of extreme why are all the shows coming out so dark i felt like something was going on and i was looking for answers so when i was reading these notes on revelation i was like oh okay this kind of makes okay okay hold on match the following you see the do you see the prophecies like playing out in the world today yeah i think so too yeah yeah yeah so this is my introduction to the bible was a revelation that's amazing going from the end yeah going from the end so now when i read matthew and talked about sin and i was like wait so if that revelation stuff is coming true if the bible is true Then this is also probably true. How do I verify this? I can't call my parents and say, so I am a sinner. Like these are the following sins.
I thought about a friend of mine. He shared his testimony a few years earlier. When he was 17, he saw Jesus appear before him i was like oh and everyone else would be like okay weird they looked away i'm like wait no this is the nicest guy most sensible guy so either he's crazy or he's telling the truth so i i was like all right go on and then he told me about so he put his reputation out there and just said it and so when i read matthew i thought about him i messaged him and i said hey man i need to talk to you about this god stuff he called me that night and then i said listen man i think i'm a bit in trouble i don't know haven't you done some of this stuff and like what is the Is it true?
Are we in? He said, so he just calmed me down. He said, listen, relax. And I can't remember the words exactly.
But all I remember is he described his relationship with Jesus in such a beautiful way. He talked about his friendship with him. All I can remember is these words like friendship and Jesus and love.
And for some reason, it was all getting downloaded into my system. It was like my heart was open. It was all going in.
And I just wanted it. He prayed for me. And he said, isn't it crazy that it's Good Friday? And I'm like, what? And he said, yeah, it's Good Friday.
I said, I didn't even realize. I'm like, I wasn't even doing anything that day. Two days later, I called my mom.
I was like, I don't want to get her excited about this stuff. Okay. Because what if I say Bible and she's like, oh, he saved. He saved or whatever.
She's going to jump. She's going to jump. I'm still like, I'm exploring. Let's see what this is all about.
Okay. So I asked her, I said, how do I do to read Bible? How to start?
Where do I begin, please? I mean, just, I'm just checking. She said, okay, you can download this app, this YouVersion Bible app.
So then that afternoon, I was there on my bed. I realized I had to make some changes in my life, people in my life and things like that, that I would have to. I mean, that's the painful part of the story.
Anyway, it hurt. It hurt. Whatever I had to do, it really, really hurt.
I was crying. You know, I was crying in my bed. I said, God, this really hurts.
Because if it's you, then yeah, I choose you. But. How do I know it's you? Is it really you?
Who are you? Am I crazy? You need to say something. How are you going to speak?
How does this work? I said, oh yeah, that Bible. But then the Bible was kind of on my desk and I was so drained in the afternoon. It's the afternoon, all right?
I don't cry much, let alone in the afternoon, all right? I couldn't even reach out for the Bible because I was so drained. And I was like, oh yeah, this app is there. Let me see what's in here.
Maybe I'll start. I don't even know how to. I've never opened the app ever in my life.
And I was like, let's see how to. And I opened this app and then there's this verse of the day for... familiar users of this app will there's always a verse of the day it's always a different verse never been the same verse and there was this verse from revelation which is the what i've been reading and i'm crying and the verse was and he shall wipe away all their tears and that hit me it was like all everything that i was looking for just hit boom there was no doubt and then I was so overcome with emotion and guilt and all sorts of feelings I don't know what happened but I don't if I was on my bed I basically came down I sat on the ground and then I cried even more I was like bawling like it was a funeral because suddenly I was aware of like this the things I've done to offend this God that we used his name in vain and I I wasn't thinking of all of this, but it all just came.
This guilt just came hitting me. But there was also this flood of happiness. I don't know what was going on, but I was just like, you know, pretty ugly crying, man. I was pretty ugly crying. I was on the ground.
God does that. Yeah. And... And then I heard him, alright, and then that's when I knew it was somewhere between here and here, felt like it was coming from here, somewhere here and here, inside, no it's not from, it's somewhere here. And it wasn't my conscience, it was much stronger than that, felt like a real conversation.
It was just like two, three sentences and God said, do you finally believe me? Or do you finally believe in me? And I said yes, yes, yes I do. And he said, will you ever?
doubt me again i said nope nope never will and then i said what about what about you know i said do you trust me i said yes and then i'll take care of it i said okay um after that i think i remember going out to my hall or something and i have this picture of me looking into the trees and i just knew there was something called heaven it felt like i was going there or something i felt like i was safe Now that I think about it, it felt like I was safe. That's what I felt. I felt like I've crossed over something. Wow.
And I was just telling God, I said, God, you've got to help me take someone. Just five people. Ten? Oh.
Okay, let's just do ten. Okay? Don't let me go without taking ten people along to this.
Already bringing an Abraham back in. Yeah. And then life wasn't the same.
And for those who need a pop culture reference, and it doesn't do justice at all to the emotion, but. but it feels like you're unplugged from the matrix. So you're suddenly aware. Not that everything is a simulation, but it was so amazing that it all happened in the beginning of the lockdown. I just sat down with my Bible and just videos of testimonies.
And I was watching testimonies. I'm like, same, same. You also crying? Oh, and not just me. Okay.
So I was like, okay, this feels like a larger family. And so all these things were making sense. Whoa, bro.
That is so incredible. That's the short version. So many things happened after that.
Miracles started multiplying. When I had that encounter with God, after that, I just never cursed again. I just didn't want to ever curse again.
Nobody told me that. I just didn't want to do it. Something about this holiness came.
It's not like I became perfect and I was, you know, it's not like I was perfect after that, but I just, I knew I didn't want to anymore. So then I realized what it meant. I realized what sin was.
I realized who Jesus was and what he did and all of these things. People have a problem with Jesus being the only way, the only truth. How do you know for sure that that is true?
To be honest. When I first had this encounter with God for many months, I felt like I knew God, but I wasn't sure if I knew Jesus. Even though it's the same, I always felt guilty.
I was like, Jesus, do I know? Did I meet you? Who did I meet? Was that you? Was that God?
You're the same. But when I was asking God, I was like, show me, you know, I want to be able to have that personal relationship. And then one day I realized this, that The verses I read from Matthew were Jesus'words.
His words are the words that convicted me. And you knew, when you read that verse in Revelations, He shall wipe away all the leeches, you knew God was speaking to you at that moment. Yeah.
And did you feel it's the same voice? Yeah, it was the same voice. That's the other thing.
I felt like the one who convicted me and the one who set me free were both the same person. Wow. Then I never doubted again.
I could see him in that light. Then I felt like a personal kind of a... That's really powerful. I mean, we could go into the historic authenticity of it all and all of that stuff.
I didn't need to. I've read of the people who have read. It's not like I've gone and checked out scrolls and stuff like that. But I'm convinced, you know.
It's like when you meet a guy and someone says, show me proof, show his birth certificate. I say, dude, I believe him, dude. Just come meet him one day, I guess.
Yeah, exactly. There are birth certificates and all if you want to see, but you can go check out the records. Here's the other thing I forgot to add in my testimony is that there were a lot of people praying for me, which probably just like the shield and then eventually like wore off and broke through.
But the night before I read the Bible, my mom was staying up all night crying out to God, crying like all night into her pillow kind of crying. She'd been praying for 15 years. So many people in church and so many people I grew up with praying, people I never met who just watched my videos, their moms would be praying for me. So all this I heard about later.
But finally it was the tears of my mother the previous night I think that broke through and convicted me the next day, you know. And this is right out of the Bible, but this is also what it feels like. It feels like there's water coming out of your heart. There's so much. There's more than enough for you.
There's enough for others. And that's the reason I'm here talking about this. It's not for attention.
I'm aware of, you know, when you say these kind of things out loud, sometimes it comes at a cost, I guess. So then why would I risk the cost if I didn't believe it was true? Either I'm crazy or I'm misguided or I'm right.
And if I'm misguided and if I'm wrong and if this is just another thing, then cool, hey, you know what the consequences, whatever, they don't matter, you know. But if I'm right, even if from your perspective, there's a 10%, 5% chance that I'm right. The possibilities of that so much.
I can't describe the joy, the security that you have in knowing God. Not knowing of God, not sitting by the ocean and looking at it, but going for a swim in the ocean, knowing God personally, speaking to the one who made the planets. The galaxies, the nebula, what's the pilgrim of nebulae? I think so. He invented dolphins, killer whales, he made them.
The design is awesome. If I could just meet the person who designed it. designed the dolphin i'd be like this is pretty awesome you know my friend you know he designed the dolphin i'd be bragging about it but i'm like this is the god who made that and you get to hang out you know not to reduce it to that but yes to be youthful lingo but it's more than that and you get to revere him and worship him yeah so that's what's on the other side of if i'm right so cool it's not worth missing out on that oh no i mean i'm just here to share the treasure you know it's like an unlimited treasure that you don't have to keep to yourself earlier when i would find the philosophies or whatever that i would be like yeah i'm sorted man you know i wouldn't necessarily go out and share i'm like to each his own to each his own man I guess this is my thing and let's see how it goes.
But when you actually find like this unlimited drive, when you find something beautiful that you know everyone else needs, they don't know they need it and you're like you're yelling out you're like come just come here and see this thing. They're like no no we we also have. No no it's different. It's more.
No no it's fine dude. We're walking different. It's okay you go do your thing. But it's here though.
Yeah yeah. Yeah, I can testify that I know what you're talking about and it's not in Navin's head only. This one girl blamed it on acidity.
What? She watched this podcast where I shared the testimony. She's like, dude, this feeling inside you could just be acidity, dude. I have never heard that one.
It's actually higher, right? Yeah, it's also heartburn. That's there.
But it felt good. It did burn. That is crazy. So, okay. One last thing.
If someone's like a little confused, what exactly is the treasure? How would you describe that? The thing that happened in me that day, where I described I felt this guilt, but also being set free.
That's what the gospel, that's what Jesus was offering. To receive what he gives, we must first acknowledge that we have wronged God. Nobody wants to accept that they are a sinner. You know, they're like, dude, sin is heavy. You know, sinning is like, dude, murder and rape and all those things are sin.
And I'm like, well, what about lies? That's not sin. Everyone does that. All right, let's say you've lied to someone and you felt guilty and you've moved on. Okay.
And you're like, okay, next time I won't lie. Do you know what? Ripple effect you might have caused in that person's life.
How you might have contributed to them mistrusting people. And when we hurt people, we hurt their maker. Their maker.
So that's the second part. So you say, hey, if God loves me so much, why can't he just forgive me? I mean, why is he making such a big deal? See, he doesn't just love you. He loves the next person that you hurt as well.
So if somebody wronged you, God loves you so much that he'll make sure that you get justice. And what about when you harm a third person? It's endless.
So a perfect judge. must punish all people and although it sounds harsh like punishment again you you everyone inherently has this thing of justice yeah so you look at the politician who's done something wrong and say bring him to justice what about you and every day walk so god is just and so he must bring everyone to justice and the price you pay is is a heavy price you you you die you get disconnected from god you know you die a spiritual death yeah And we'll die eternally. Die eternally.
You're going to have to face God one day. God is so holy. He's saying, listen, I'm holy.
I cannot allow that kind, that sin. But at the same time, I want to have a relationship with you. God is saying, I want to have a relationship with you. At the same time, you're full of sin. And the thoughts in your head, people know, you know the thoughts in your head.
They're pretty terrible, all right? Because I can't allow that. At the same time, I want you. So here's what I've done.
I have sent someone to... pay the fine for you. Let's say you are arrested.
This is another man's way of putting it. If you've done something wrong and you have to go face the judge that day, you can't say, but judge, I did nice things. I actually washed your car on the way in.
And, you know, I actually did some social work. He's like, yeah, but you did drunk driving and you kind of killed someone on the way. You know, you hurt someone.
So I can't take all the good things and let you get away with this. Someone actually got hurt. So you can't come here with all your good works for all the good things. That's not how, even earthly justice doesn't work that way.
Let alone in even higher justice. So God said, you know what, you had no way out. You know, you were in real deep trouble. And so I've sent someone to pay the fine for you.
I've sent someone who has borne that punishment for you. How do you avail of this person? Does everyone get to avail of it?
It's those who believe in him. If someone's come and paid the fine for you and they're like, I don't know that guy. You'll be like, all right, go to jail, bye. If your pride gets in the way of a free offer, all you have to do is say, you know, and that's the other thing. Do you plead guilty before this judge?
Are you going to keep defending yourself? You're killing time. like there's a man here who's died for you and that man is god god came down as flesh he wasn't just any man he's like wait so then wait what if i died for everyone since no no no this man was perfect he didn't sin and when this man died it is an eternal and infinite being when he died this death that we were supposed to die he had enough room to accommodate everybody so he paid a fine so big a man who didn't deserve to pay the fine paid the fine and when he paid the fine it was enough for everyone to come and fit so when we acknowledge that jesus paid the fine for us we get to now spend the rest of our lives with god and to even commune with god while we're on earth that is the good news yeah i know sin sounds tasty and all to you guys you're like oh come on but that doesn't mean life won't be fun anymore yeah life has been so much more fun it's like fun minus the guilt fun plus um security a few days after i spoke to god that day i was sitting up on the water tank and i was looking at the sunset in bandra and there was clouds which usually when there's clouds and the sun behind it was pillars of and it looked so beautiful and i was looking at that and i remember asking god just so casually when you don't even know how to overthink speaking to god i was like god will like follow you i mean i'm gonna do it but is it gonna be boring And God was like, you see this thing, this beautiful thing in front of you. Isn't this the whole reason you work so hard? Isn't this the kind of stuff you want?
You want to see nature. I made this stuff. You think I can't show you more of it? I was like, oh, yeah. And I felt immediately at peace.
No more questions. I love that you as a comedian who obviously loves humor and the fun, you know, aspects of things are saying God is a lot more fun than we can have without him. What an adventure life will be when your boss is God. Yeah, yes.
Even sitting in your home, the fact that you're suddenly interacting with another realm, that itself is an adventure. So yeah, it's more fun. I mean, God made fun.
We're the ones who mess it up. Yes, totally. Fun of the world is fun with damage attached to it. That's one of the things I am, you know.
Sometimes it makes me sad. It's like all the people I could have avoided hurting in my life, you know, because I wish they could be healed the same way that I was. And to the fact that I contributed to that hurt, all I can do is pray, I guess.
So what can we look forward to from you coming? I don't know, man. I probably do some stand-up, I guess. Would you like people to see, you know, how Lexi earlier said?
stand up and things like that i've tried to take down as much as i can oh yeah yeah yeah as much as i was aware and what i'm in control there's some shows out there that i can't but whatever i've put up that's compromised i've taken it down whoa i think i hope let me know if there's something that offends you that's really like 180 degree dude everything that i am now is what god gave and i have missed you so everything that i am now is his we would love beliver comedy yeah if possible yeah if god leads you in that some of my friends like how much dude you don't need so much god also oh say can you have keep him in a corner too much of the best thing and god's not going to let you give up the gifts that you gave you know the gifts that i have and everyone has with gifts that god gave that we misused maybe you have the gift of music and that was there to glorify god but then you know some part of you is like i can get some attention check me out check me out and then you start misusing it there and compromising so then i was like okay the gifts god gave me i misused but now i can use it for good that's awesome we are so excited for you uh we bless you in in jesus and We're so glad that we have a new brother in Christ. Yes. Do you want to pray for people who might be, you know, saying, you know, I want this, what you're talking about?
Yeah. Would you? Yeah, I'd love to pray. Okay. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to speak about you, O Lord, and all the wonderful things that you've done in our lives. We thank you for all those who are watching, who have taken the time, who have softened their hearts to listen to your truths. and your wonderful works, Lord.
We thank you for them and I pray that you open their hearts to experience you and in an even more beautiful way than the ones we have experienced, in an even more beautiful way than what we have spoken about. Lord. Yes, Lord.
Show them who you are in their hearts. Help them, Lord. Give them the grace to notice you everywhere and to meet with you in an incredible way, Lord.
Each and every person, I bless them, Lord. jesus mighty name amen amen thank you so much naveen it's been such a pleasure seeing your movie in in script yes the end credits hey that stopped yeah when just now i think so was that rolling yes it was thank you for sharing the treasure god bless thank you vihan and uh please subscribe yes i will link his channel please subscribe as well yeah and thank you vihan for you being an example and, you know, setting aside all your, all those years ago, all the things that you wanted to do, to do this. I love doing this kind of thing. See what I get to hear.
Yeah, do this. And one way, you know, envy is bad, but I envy you for being able to, because these are your thoughts and this is what you speak. In the morning, all I think about is God and then later I have to be like, okay, let's stop thinking about this and think about some relatable humor. It's coming.
It's coming. It's coming. It was a long journey.
So thank you, man, for doing this. Thank you. That means a lot.
Bye, guys. Rest in Jesus. Look to him.
And go send him prayers and blessings and all kinds of good things.