Episode 3 - "Jesus' Whole-in-One" with Eddie, Nick, & AlbertoEpisode 3 - "Jesus' Whole-in-One" with Eddie, Nick, & Alberto
Raw Rough Real Recovery
Nick shares how a journey through heavy addiction, mental illness and suicidal thoughts meets a strict, faith-based recovery programme and a praying mother. The conversation focuses on repentance, relationship with Jesus and the belief that even the most broken person can find purpose and hope.
1:19:51•23 Jul 2026
Faith, Mental Health and a Mother’s Love: Nick’s Journey from Addiction to Purpose
Episode Overview
- A loving family and stable childhood do not guarantee protection from addiction or mental illness.
- Self-medication with alcohol and drugs can drive depression and suicidal thoughts rather than relieve them.
- Honest conversation and persistent love from family, especially a praying parent, can open the door to real help.
- Faith-based programmes like Teen Challenge can frame recovery as both spiritual and practical, emphasising discipline and scripture.
- Moving from knowing about God to knowing God personally, through repentance and relationship, is described as central to lasting change.
“You are worth the love that he can give you.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation with Eddie, Alberto and their guest Nick Remke offers a raw look at addiction, mental illness, and a faith-filled path to recovery. You’ll hear Nick trace his story from a loving Midwestern upbringing and early success in golf to a spiral into alcohol, drugs and severe depression. He admits he was "the best" at partying, self‑medicating from about age 14 and constantly chasing an escape from his own thoughts.
Hospital visits, near-fatal drinking, and suicidal ideation became regular features of his life, while he hid behind a convincing smile that fooled almost everyone. A turning point comes through his mother, who spends a year praying and holding onto a phone number for a faith-based Teen Challenge programme. When Nick finally calls Pastor Steve, he’s told that God has a purpose for his life, words he says he believed for the first time.
From there, he describes entering a strict, military-style recovery house, reading the Bible for the first time, and slowly moving from knowing about God to actually knowing God. The heart of the episode focuses on that shift: repentance, building a relationship with Jesus, and learning to see mental health struggles and addiction as deeply spiritual issues as well as emotional ones.
Nick talks about finding self‑forgiveness, feeling shame lift, and experiencing the Holy Spirit while reading scripture, especially Acts 9 and 1 Peter 2:25. Eddie and Alberto weave in their own experiences with suicide attempts, self‑worth and the "old man" of addiction, tying Nick’s story back to scripture and the ongoing work of sanctification. The conversation closes on hope: the belief that anyone, no matter how broken, is "extraordinarily loved" and can find purpose, community and healing.
If you’re wrestling with darkness, or supporting someone who is, could this be the story that reminds you you’re worth fighting for?
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