131. Hitchhiking to Burning Man... He Found Christ Instead | Landon Scates Testimony131. Hitchhiking to Burning Man... He Found Christ Instead | Landon Scates Testimony
Raised & Redeemed
Landon Scates shares how a chaotic season of drugs, hitchhiking and a failed attempt to reach Burning Man led to a life-changing encounter with Christ. He then reflects on his journey through charismatic churches, disillusionment with deliverance ministries, and finding steady healing within the Orthodox Church.
1:19:00•24 Jun 2026
From Burning Man Road Trip to Orthodox Faith: Landon Scates’ Wild Turnaround
Episode Overview
- Running from God through drugs, travel and occult practices left Landon feeling empty, anxious and close to self-destruction.
- A desert vision of his life and an overwhelming sense of peace convinced him that Jesus Christ was real and calling him home.
- Simply acknowledging God wasn’t enough; he describes a clear moment of surrender, asking Christ to take over his life completely.
- Charismatic and deliverance-focused ministries gave him emotional highs but also confusion, fear and awareness of spiritual manipulation.
- Encountering Orthodox tradition, especially the Eucharist and a stable spiritual father, brought him a grounded path of long-term healing.
“I knew immediately at that point, it was Yahweh. It was Jesus Christ. That God that the Christians worshipped, it was that one.”
How do individuals turn their lives around after addiction? This episode of Raised & Redeemed follows Landon Scates as he shares a wild, honest journey from punk-rock atheism and heavy substance use to finding Christ on a lonely desert road. You’ll hear Landon talk about growing up between Southern Baptist and Catholic influences, gradually drifting into weed, alcohol and harder drugs, and chasing "soul freedom" through parties, kundalini practices and lucid dreaming.
His backpacking odyssey across the United States includes sleeping rough, panhandling on the Vegas strip, nearly getting stabbed, and hitchhiking towards Burning Man with nothing but a 24-pack of beer to live on. The turning point comes in a tiny desert town when, after a call from his dad, Landon is suddenly surrounded by what he describes as an aura of peace: "I knew immediately at that point, it was Yahweh.
It was Jesus Christ." That vision sends him back home, into school and eventually to a conscious decision to give his life to Christ on his bathroom floor. From there, the episode shifts into his years in charismatic and Pentecostal circles—speaking in tongues, chasing miracles, and even paying for deliverance sessions where he was pushed into dramatic "manifestations" he later questioned.
Landon and Michaela talk frankly about spiritual manipulation, unanswered questions around healing, and the confusion of bouncing between churches with conflicting theologies. The story then moves into how he and his wife Romy were drawn toward ancient Christian worship, chanting, and finally the Orthodox Church. Landon explains how the Eucharist, the apostolic creed, icons, and having a spiritual father brought him a sense of structure, ongoing healing, and realistic expectations about lifelong struggle with sin.
If you’ve ever tried to outrun your pain with substances, spiritual thrills or constant reinvention, this testimony asks a simple question: what would it mean for you to stop running and submit your whole life to genuine healing?
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