Love God? Religion,Not So Much? | The Freestyle Convo with Gio

Coming Up

Araceli: And eventually it was both of us celebrating how God would just, like, answer, and we were paying attention to the signs.

Gio: Yeah. I mean, what I basically did is instead of getting into the Bible, I would let the Bible get me.

The System, Not the People

Araceli: So here we're just gonna dive in and really get personal. And I wanna state before we dive in to that freestyle with my husband, that when we talk about the religious system, we are talking about the religious system. It's a system, and it's not human beings. And we do understand, I want to put this and make this clear beforehand, that we understand that there are brothers and sisters that are in religious denominations that have actually found that relationship with the Lord. We've seen it, but they have been very far and few between. And so this has become a cry of our hearts, and this is why the channel was born. We want you to find God. And know that if you're that type of seeker that wants to know Him but is not too fond of religion, that this is the place for you. You will find a lot of helpful information to help you along your journey so that you can get to know the God, the wonderful God that we've gotten to know outside of a church building.

Why This Freestyle Exists

Araceli: My husband, Gio, he's got his own channel. It's Gioism, Faith-Based Success.

Both, together: Success.

Araceli: And there you can follow him as well. But we just wanted to freestyle on this topic and talk about a lot of the things that I shared, only because just like I shared at the beginning of that podcast, a lot of what I came across in the Bible, in the Word of God, just really wanting to seek truth, wanting to know God personally. In doing that, I was sharing a lot of these things with my husband, and what became a common denominator is that the things that it was doing to me, I noticed that it was starting to do in my husband. So there was a pattern here, and right, eventually we've shared this with other people, and they have found their way to relationship with God as well in the way that we noticed this truth began to take shape and form in us. So I want you to share what it has done for you, and a little bit of your history, right? And then eventually I'll share my history, because I think that's really important for people to really grasp, where you have been, uh, and where you, where you've been, what your journey has been, and what's gotten you here, right? And what has changed.

Gio: You got me here.

Araceli: Mm.

Gio: Or the Lord did, through you. Praise God.

"If You Know the Truth"

Gio: Well, yes, actually I would like to start by saying that, and everybody knows this, the truth will set you free. But what does it say before that? It says, "If you know the truth." So when you started to give me these little truths, it set me free in a lot of different, you know, things. Um, I was worried about religion, sadly, and I think that's why I wasn't ch- doing anything 'cause I didn't like it. I didn't like the, the, the system, if you will-

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: ...of being in the box. So when you started to tell me that He was more about relationship and not religion, it started to make sense. But like I told you, your video really amplified that. Even though I was a firm believer, even though I was already talking about it even in my channel or when we speak to people, that God is about relationship not about religion, and then you wanted to show me your recording, I was like, "Wow." Like, there was other scriptures that I still hadn't known or maybe I had forgotten about them.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: But it brought it full circle and a bigger circle if that.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: Especially your pictures. You know, like I said, that really impacted me. I can't get that one picture of the temple and the priest and the people, and then the church and the altar and the people. I was like, "Whoa."

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: Like, I heard you say, like, things haven't changed, but to really see those two pictures side by side, it was, like, an eye-opener. Yeah. This is what he's talking about, and I, I can see what you mean, and that's the goal.

Araceli: That's the goal. Yes. A lot of… All these scriptures, I have shared them with you early on years ago, but I mean, it's been so long. We haven't needed to dive back in. And I think now that you saw them, it kind of refreshed a lot of things that have been forgotten 'cause we do. But that was, those were the scriptures early on that began speaking into that, those questions that I had. What was interesting is that though I had those questions deep down inside, that was not the reason why, um, I began to see these things in scripture. It was just wanting to have a relationship with God and knowing Him outside of what man had already taught me in religion. And so do you wanna give a little bit of historical, um, sequence, like, the, your upbringing, right? The different denominations you've been a part of and how seared you were to even understanding what relationship with God was and what w- what were one of those things that actually you can share that you feel kept a veil over your eyes? 'Cause dang, when thinking back when I met you in 2010, I knew you had gone through all these religious denominations, and some of them for many years. However, looking back, I could tell you didn't have relationships, though you were… When you grabbed it, you would go religiously every Sunday. You'd even do Bible study and all these things. You even would go to these camps that they would have, right?

Gio: Mm-hmm.

Araceli: Retreats, spiritual retreats. And so that's how much you would dive in. But I remember coming to you in 2010, I could tell you never had relationship, looking back. Because at the moment when I met you, I was not converted, right?

Gio: Well, first and foremost, you met me in 1999. Let's go there. Not 2010. You see who's the girl in the picture?

Araceli: Yeah. Um. I'm gonna get it later.

Gio: I'm insulted.

The Denominational Tour

Gio: So, but you're right. Many denominations, it depended what girl I was dating. Um, I mean, it is what it is. You know, I almost became a JW 'cause of you.

Araceli: Yeah.

Gio: And I was starting to take the courses.

Araceli: Yeah.

Gio: You know, I married the first one, she was Catholic, so I became Catholic. I had to do my first communion and all that, and-

Araceli: Yeah.

Gio: ...the second one was Baptist, so-

Araceli: How long were you in the Catholic before you moved to the other one?

Gio: Well, my family was Catholic first and foremost-

Araceli: Okay.

Gio: ...but then they switched to Pentecostal, uh, when my, my grandma had an awakening.

Araceli: Oh.

Gio: So, yeah, I've been to everything. I, I really have. But, which is something good in a sense to tell people what to stay away from.

Araceli: Right.

Gio: Not, not good in the sense that it helped me.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: Because regardless, and I'll name them all, Pentecostal, Catholic-

Araceli: Mm.

Gio: ...Charismatic, Baptist, non-denominational, borderline JW.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: Mormon.

Araceli: Mm-hmm. And- Mormon?

Gio: She was only for, like, a weekend. But I, I, I learned a little bit about it, you know? So I knew what to say or not say. Ugh. I was bad.

Araceli: Oh, man. He was.

Gio: So- Probably more will come out after this video. You know what, I actually forgot. I dated so and so, and so I did this too. It was terrible. But again, I think Father wanted me to have different experiences.

Araceli: I think so.

Gio: Because there's one thing in common. They are all about the dogmas and the rituals. I, I'm serious.

Araceli: Wow.

Gio: Even the Pentecostal church, which I love, one of my favorites-

Araceli: It's one of my favorites.

Gio: ...yeah, because they're so full of the spirit and all that. And back then, I wanted to speak in tongue so bad, and I couldn't.

Araceli: Mm.

Gio: But I liked it. But even they still, unfortunately, because as we've talked, this comes all the ba- all the way back to the 300s when Constantine started, you know, religion. Religion. Um, how do you call it?

The System, From the Top Up

Araceli: Yeah, so really to, to make it clear to everyone and to you, the viewer, we're not talking about a person, a human being when we say they. We are talking about the system.

Gio: The system.

Araceli: The religious system that created all the systems. And so it just, it's from the top up. It's a system. It's not the humans. We love the humans, all of them, from all denominations. We call them our brothers and sisters in Christ. And so-

Gio: Organized religion is what I was trying to remember. Organized religion. That Constantine started to put together.

Araceli: Yeah.

Gio: And then, of course, the branches started to come out, but the base is that, so that's why you can see similarities in each one.

Araceli: Mm-hmm. So, so yeah, I mean, up to- So you navigated.

Gio: I navigated them all, basically the same thing. And people like you, people like me, that we're serial entrepreneurs, th- there's a cert- there's a certain quality that we carry that we can't be inside the box, whether it be in school or religion.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: So that's why I think that we could never just follow suit.

Araceli: Conform.

Gio: Or conform, yeah, basically, perfectly said. Yeah, couldn't conform.

No Mediator but Christ

Araceli: Um, so with your experiences, of course, what you have now in God, that you understood that there was no mediator, only Christ that was your mediator, the one that you should go to for relationship, that this was no longer a subject of putting man in between yourself and God. Did you, did you experience a big difference in your relationship with God?

Gio: Oh, without a doubt.

Araceli: Compared to-

Gio: I had no relationship. I had dogmas and rituals.

Araceli: Mm.

Gio: Zero relationship, like my mom. And you have repeated that many of times what I told her.

Araceli: Mm.

Gio: She's like, "I've been 35 years and I can't change. How did you change?" I'm like, "Well, I have a relationship now."

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: Just 'cause you were 35 years in a church is not gonna make you a Christian or, or in a relationship with God if you don't know who He is. You know about Him, but you don't know Him.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: And until you know Him, you can't have a relationship. And I gave the example, you could be in a garage for 35 years, it's not gonna make you a car.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: So yeah, you know, no, not till you started to get me to get my eyes open to that and to have a… I thought you were a little overboard, to be, say it as nice as possible. Here's a confession … in the beginning, as you know.

Araceli: Yeah, he was marrying me with a pash- or with, with a pastor or a priest every other week.

Car Keys, Combs, and Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs

Gio: Well, it's like I never saw what you saw. I mean, you would see Him in combing your hair.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: And you would tell me, "Oh, I asked the Lord how to comb my hair." I'm like, he's got better things to do, you know?

Araceli: Yeah, dude. Um, you know, "I asked the Lord where my car keys are." And then He would show me, and I'd pop out of the woodwork w- to my husband, "Look, look, He showed me where the remote was or where the keys were." So he began to see this for himself, right? He began to see this, right? This relationship that where I was drinking from the word of God, and I began having with Him, so I was sharing it with him, but he was still deeming me a little bit cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. But then he began to drink from those scriptures. I began showing it to him, and he began putting it to the test now, getting into his own relationship with God. And you were having your own experience at th- that point moving forward outside of a building. I remember you just being so excited, coming to tell me with the same excitement I would share with you how God showed up, and you would share now your prayers with me, "Hey, I asked God for this." And eventually it was both of us celebrating how God would just, like, answer, and we were paying attention to the signs.

Let the Word Get Into You

Gio: Yeah. I mean, what I basically did is instead of getting into the Bible, I would let the Bible get into me. Because of the revelation you had already given me, that it's not just about reading. I mean, the Pharisees knew scripture by heart, and you told me that one too. I'm like, "Well, it didn't help them much. They're the ones that crucified Christ." So I realized, that's when I realized like, yeah, no, you can't get into the word. You gotta let the word get into you. And, and I always say it and you guys will hear me say this a ton of times. She would show by example, not so much by this, and that's what would really make me want to learn more.

Araceli: Yeah. You wanted to have what I was having. Yeah?

Gio: Yeah. Yeah, but it, it-

Araceli: It freed me … not, not that I'm perfect. I wanna make that clear to you. Um, one of the things I think that you're speaking about is, one, I walked what I talked, one. But two, if I failed to walk what I talked, I was, I was able to sit with the Lord to correct me, and then come back around to him and say, "You know what? I'm sorry. You're right. And, I, you know, the Lord showed me this way how I was wrong." So he saw a lot of humility, which I didn't have before. I would get really defensive. And it was about making sure that he knew what my rights were, and I'd proclaim them, how he was wrong, so he made sure that, you know, that's… A- and I think that's just the way, for the most part, um, I would operate in the past due to hurts and such. But, um, thank the good Lord that I was able to move past that. But this is where he shares, right, where you shared that you saw these changes in me taking shape. A lot of humility, but at the ta- same time, really trying to walk out what I was learning.

Gio: Yeah. And it's like once the Lord opens your eyes to something a- and you see it, this is, it's a pattern, you know? And the patterns lead you to a principle. Because the more you would bring those things up and I would open my eyes to them, the more I would start to see it in people when I would tell them, and they'd be like, "Oh my God, I've been feeling that in my heart-

Araceli: Yeah.

Gio: ...that it's about relationship, not about religion." And it's like, kinda like people say that when you're pregnant, you start to see more pregnant people around you.

Araceli: Yeah.

Gio: It's not that there were not pregnant people be- around before, but you could tell how either you're blind or your eyes just opened. So yeah, it was definitely an eye-opener, and, and it, it, it really changed me. Like, to have a relationship with him, there's nothing to compare it to.

Araceli: Yes.

The Question Gio's Mother Asked

Araceli: I… You know, now that you share that, I recall when you began transforming, your family began noticing it-

Gio: Oh, yeah.

Araceli: ...to the point that your mom asked you one time, and that was so smart. This was, like, I think a good couple months after I started feeding you these scriptures and showing you how God is relationship and then how to connect with him. It was a couple months after that your mom asked you this question because… I'll let you tell the story, 'cause, you know, that's something that you lived as well as me hearing it.

Gio: Well, for starters, this is how she would share scripture. "Baby, look at this. Oh my God, look at this. It's so beautiful. You gotta read this scripture." I'd be like, "Oh, let me see." And then I would look at her face, I'm like, "She's glowing. There's gotta be something good about here." And I would read it again and I'm like, Why?

Araceli: Right.

Gio: And then she'd have to explain it to me, and then when she would explain it and expand, I'd be like, "Ah, wow, that's beautiful, baby." But like you said, as time kept going on, I, I would, my eyes were opening up.

Araceli: Yeah.

Gio: And, and that connection with the spirit of truth that is the one that leads you to all truth, the only one that leads you to all truth-

Araceli: Yeah.

Gio: ...started to happen. And that's when my mom was asking, are you talking about my temper?

Araceli: Yeah. That part?

Gio: Yeah.

Araceli: Wow.

Gio: So I was, back in the day, if you would've Googled road rage, you would've seen a picture of me like this.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: So, and my mom, too, was-

Araceli: Really?

Gio: ...sadly.

Araceli: I believe the story.

Gio: 77 years old, and she had stopped in the middle of the expressway to get out and fight.

Araceli: What?

Gio: So when she saw that I would not get mad, 'cause the train stopped us for 20 minutes in Indiana.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: And then a couple red lights, 'cause, yes, one red light would, like, make my day blow up. It'd be enough. She was like, "How were you able to change?" And that's when she told me that, "I've been 35 years in church, and I still can't change." And that's what I told her, "You can be 35 years in the garage, it ain't gonna make you a car."

Araceli: Yeah.

Gio: Just 'cause you're in church doesn't mean you have a relationship with him. You know about him, but you don't know him.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: I know about Tom Cruise, but I can't say I love Tom Cruise 'cause I don't know Tom Cruise.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: I know about him. So she wanted to know more, and of course you've been a big blessing to my family as well. My aunt, Zoila, same thing, you know? She had read the Bible from beginning to end, like, 10 times or five times, whatever she said. And she said that the moment you prayed for her, for the spirit to guide her into all truth, she's like, "I am reading the same scriptures that I've read before, but I see them now completely different." So yeah, there's a huge difference in that.

Araceli: Yeah. This is why your mom was so impacted because i- and what's interesting to know all your historical journey into the different denominations and to have heard your mom personally, I witnessed her asking you this. For me, I remember the day. I was like, "Wow, Lord, you're, you're showing people through my husband's transformation. Those that knew him and know h- are seeing him now in action. You're showing yourself how it's not about religion, it's about relationship," 'cause they w- they were seeing us, and we were not going to a building.

Gio: Right.

Araceli: We lived with his mom for a couple years, including my parents, before we finally got our economical situation into shape, but this is where they got to see us 24/7. And so when your mom saw that, I knew this was a, "Okay, I see this b- I see this man 24/7. I know my son- I've seen him since he was born."

Gio: Right.

Araceli: She's known him, and she's seeing him under the roof, that he is becoming something 24/7 that she has never been able to attain going to church for 30-plus years. So for me, it was a total confirmation years ago when we first converted in our early walk, and I began sharing what I was having because it was doing the same thing to me.

Araceli's Story: Raised Knowing About God

Araceli: Uh, so a little bit of histor- historical, on my historical journey, um, I was born and raised, um, in Illinois, and my parents, they began their journey into the JW religion when I was six. So this is where I grew up knowing about God. And let me tell you, they, they run a tight ship. They… It's a couple times during the week, not just on Sundays, that you go to church, that you atten- you go to Bible studies, and it's… They go deep. And so this is where my understanding of God came in, and everything I learned there, there were some good stuff. I'm not gonna deny. There was some good stuff. I even learned how to read in Spanish, something that they offered and brought to the table. But I, I was never able to get to this, the point where I had relationship with God. It was always, it always felt like I needed to service this God that they presented to me in order to keep Him happy, in order to make sure that I was gonna be a part of the ones that ended up saving themselves when the end of the world came, 'cause that's what they believed in. And so that's how I grew up. So for me, this was, this was so necessary because as you know, I had a lot of traumatic experiences in my life that shaped me into anxiety, depression, PTSD. Um, I had addictions that could have taken my life. I was suicidal at 17. So at the early age of 6, having learned about God and, and going so much to church, but it not doing nothing inside of me, um, it, it makes me, it… I realize now what was missing. I realize now what was missing. And so the way that for me, God was painted in such a way that He was, He needed to be serviced. He needed to be maintained happy to make sure that you had your salvation when the time came for this end of the world time. It, it really painted him not as a father, it painted him as a slave driver for me. I'm speaking for myself. And so there was just no ability for me to have relationship, not in the way that I needed it in order for healing to begin. And so once this truth came through and I started reading the word of God and sharing a lot of what I shared in the podcast, it began healing me on the inside. A lot of the darkness that my husband saw when we got back together in 2010, got married, um, so we were together seven years when- once I converted. He knew me for a good seven years, and he saw the anxiety gripping me. He saw the PTSD grappling me. He, he saw the, the depression taking hold from time to time. He saw the darkness in my eyes.

The Glow He Had Never Seen

Araceli: And so when he started seeing me taking these drinks of, of water, seeing the scriptures transform me, he began seeing that glow in my eye, as well as the transformation that was happening within. And that's one of the reasons he wanted… He knew he couldn't deny, besides the miraculous experience I had with the Lord in 20-- in 2017. But he started seeing what the word of God was starting to do inside of me, and that relationship that I had. That glow in my eyes was something he hadn't seen. Even my dad was astonished when he saw that glow in my eyes. He would pull my husband over while we lived in their house for some time, and he would tell my husband, "I've never seen that glow in my daughter's eyes. It's the first time ever."

Gio: And- I hadn't either.

Araceli: ...and you hadn't either. So for me, this is what it, this is what, um, sharing has done for me.

Gio: And can do for you.

Araceli: And can do for you. And this is why I'm sharing it. Um, there was there was a, a part in the beginning of that podcast where I shared that I would be selfish to not share it-

Gio: Mm.

Araceli: ...with you if I kept it to myself, which let me tell you, I kept it to myself for a very long time, and my husband could tell you.

Gio: Well, you kept it to yourself as far as, like, not going on social media, but you would share it with all the people that the Lord would bring to you. And I would see these transformations, and that's what would drive me crazy.

Araceli: Mm.

Gio: Because just like you changed me, just like you changed my mom, my aunt, and not you, but God through you-

Araceli: Sharing these things, yeah.

Gio: ...you know? I'm like, "The world needs to know this."

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: So that's what, you know, it took a while for you to do. I, I remember your dad too, because we were h- with him for COVID, and I could not last one weekend without doing some crazy outburst, throwing a can against the wall, screeching the cars, the wheels. 'Cause I got, I got mad throwing something. Now we're in COVID for 40 days, and the man has not seen me lose it once. He chased me to the room one time. "You got mad. You got mad. You got…"

Araceli: I do recall.

Gio: I'm like, "I did not get mad."

Araceli: No.

Gio: Like, he just could not believe it.

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: So yeah, it's… A- and my mom, and I, I gotta touch this real quick because it goes perfectly with this. For COVID-

Araceli: Mm-hmm.

Gio: ...remember my mom? She felt terrible that she had no connection with God because she could not go to church. How sad is that?

Araceli: I remember that.

Gio: I haven't been able to go to church for weeks. I feel terrible.

Araceli: Yeah. Like, you can connect with Him any minute.

Gio: Yeah. And you told her that, and, and that helped her big time.

Araceli: It did, but it took her, it took her a couple weeks of condemnation that she carried.

Gio: Yeah, big time.

Araceli: Yeah. It, it was no joke when we saw it up close.

Gio: Mm-hmm.

"Stop Filming Me"

Araceli: And so this is why, this is why it, it became the pressure point for me to just start sharing. And, uh, but my husband was a big push around this because he would see how when I would share these biblical truths, what it would do to people, even in our own circle.

Gio: Yeah.

Araceli: But the, the, the reason why it was so difficult for me to come before the cameras, I mean, I spent a lifetime running from the cameras. I mean-

Gio: Including mine.

Araceli: Yeah. He could not, he could not start recording and pull up a phone because I'd go hiding to not be anywhere near the shot. So this played a big role. So even though nine years ago the fountain opened and I started just receiving so much in the Word of God and seeing it do so much in me and in people around me that I shared it with, I could not get past thinking that I had to go before the camera to shout it on the rooftops. But my husband encouraged me. I'm so thankful for that, and here I am. The Lord definitely gave me, uh, an ability to sit before the cameras without running away. "Stop filming me." That was usually my cry.

Gio: I wish I had some of them little videos. I'd put them up right now. You know, 'cause she's gorgeous, you know? And I would always want, wanna film her, and the moment that I would start filming her, that's what would come out of her mouth. "Stop filming me."

Araceli: I so did not like it, so I couldn't see myself getting to this point, but here we are, and there's more to come. Continue to, to stay-

Gio: On top of the next episode, we plan to do it in this way where we, uh, present the findings in a way where s- share it with you on a s- on a screen desktop, the scriptures, all the information, and then us eventually sit in this way-

Araceli: And talk about it freestyle to talk about it.

Until Next Time, From Big Door Vineyard

Araceli: All right, so I think this is a wrap. Until next time, God bless you guys.

Gio: And I hope you enjoyed the beautiful winery, vineyard. What is it called? Vineyard?

Araceli: This is, this is Big Door Vineyard. Vineyard. Vineyard. In White, Georgia.

Gio: Yeah, it's so beautiful.

Araceli: It is. They have this beautiful, these beautiful grounds.

Gio: Look at that. You guys gotta come here.

Araceli: They have, they have karaoke on one of the, the days of the week, and on the weekend they have live music. Band, bands playing. It's pretty neat.

Araceli: There we go. Till next time. God bless.