Episode #319 — One of the funniest men in the world believes we spend far too much time imagining every possible thing that could go wrong in our lives and not nearly enough time remembering that God can bring us fresh joy & purpose in less than 24 hours. The comedian Nazareth knows from personal experience. He shares the dramatic tale of a journey to the Middle East and the conversation that changed his life.
“The first night I’m there having dinner with my cousin – my atheist cousin – his fiancée, and her sister. So he looks at me and goes, ‘You look happy, what’s wrong with you?! You’re in the Gaza Strip.’ I just said, ‘Guys, since I gave my life to Christ, He gave me a reason to live. I used to be like an old car, always breaking down. Now that I’m a Christian, I’m that same old car, but I’m married to a mechanic, and I have AAA. It is so good!'”
“My cousin got mad. He goes, ‘Don’t listen to him. He’s a born again Christian.’ Well her sister that was sitting with us said, ‘Me too!’ And she’s gorgeous, a beautiful woman. I said, ‘Would you like to marry me?’ It just came out of my mouth!”
To state the obvious, it was an unorthodox move.
“She goes, ‘I’ve been praying for a believer to come to this side of the world for 3 years. Let me pray and fast.’ And three days later she came back and said, ‘Let’s do it.'” And we got engaged! In a few days, it’ll be our 25th anniversary! That scenario was not on my mind!”
Nazareth has lived a fascinating journey. He grew up in The Middle East and moved to California as a young man. Fans of his work can’t help but notice how his love for America shines through what he does. He explains how his unique path has shaped his view of the US.
“This is a great this nation. There’s nowhere else I as an immigrant who came here at 19, didn’t speak the language, didn’t have any money would be able to be doing exactly what I love to do. Have a family, kids, be able to send them to college, and have nobody tell me, ‘You can’t do this because you’re a minority. You can’t do this because you don’t speak English as your native tongue.'”
“The people who complain about this country, please go overseas for two weeks! Please, please. Not even 2 weeks! You know – when I lived overseas in the Middle East – you go vote and there’s only one dot, and there’s someone in the booth with you. We know who is going to be the president ten years from now. You don’t have to do it every four years! So there is that freedom. I mean, we complain a lot that this country is horrible. No. It’s not!”
Nazareth is the tremendously talented communicator who’s done thousands of comedy shows, penned books like his latest Hope in 24 Hours, and hosts a chart-topping podcast.
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On the Road with the Comedian Nazareth
