Jon Nicolas was born in Camden, New Jersey, went to middle school in Bradenton, Florida, and high school in Brooklyn, New York. He lived in Brooklyn from age 12 to 24.When Jon was seven, his single mother, a nurse, came home from work, sent home his friend, and clubbed him over the head with a high-heeled shoe. It knocked him out. She gave him a tissue to plug up the injury. Although his siblings witnessed it, Jon never reported the abuse. That was the first time he witnessed or was subjected to violence and it came as a shock. That was the end of Jon’s childhood. He became defensive from that day on.Jon’s mother continued to abuse him and the abuse escalated. She married but the man was not a father to the children. One time Jon’s mother tried to gouge Jon’s eyes out. Jon has never met his biological father, who had no role in his life.Jon was athletic and friendly in middle school and was looking for the love he didn’t get from his mother. Jon was sexually promiscuous from the age of ten. It was the only thing that made him feel good. This continued through the beginning of his high school years. He also enjoyed making people laugh. It was another way he coped with his pain.One time Jon’s mother told him, “When I think of you, I think of a gun.” Jon’s three older siblings were children of his mother’s first husband and she appeared to love them.At school, Jon watched out for kids that were getting bullied and protected them. He was prone to lose his temper and fight if there was an argument.One night when Jon was 12, at her husband’s insistence, Jon’s mother kicked him out of the house. His 18-year-old brother drove him to the Greyhound station, bought him a ticket to New York, gave him twenty dollars, and put him on the bus. There was no conversation or remorse on his brother’s part.Jim hopes that Jon’s brother will come to Jesus and ask for Jon’s forgiveness for failing to protect him. Jon testifies that God loves to heal parts in us that we thought were already healed. There are parts of us that only the Father can access. Jon gave his sins to Jesus, but there are still things he hasn’t considered. Jon thanks Jim for asking him what happened with his brother that night.Jon had to find his way from the bus station to his aunt’s house in Brooklyn by the subway. He knew where he was going and he found it alone.

 

Jon had grown up Jehovah’s Witness. As soon as he arrived, his cousin brought him to a group calling themselves the Hebrew Israelites. They were African Americans and other minorities believing themselves to be the original Twelve Tribes of Israel. In minutes they had Jon doing knuckle pushups and marching military-style. They renamed Jon “Mahar Yar Lamad,” which they told him was Hebrew for Swift Learner. They taught him from the Old Testament. He met with them a couple of times a week as well as trained with them in a dojo to learn martial arts. They were training him for a race war preparing for the coming of “Yahawashi.” They were organized in groups. The 30 or so young men grouped with “Lamad” ranged from 12 to 18.Living with his aunt, Jon went to school but dozed off in class and didn’t succeed. The Hebrew Israelites told him school didn’t matter; they were preparing for battle. Meanwhile, they prohibited “Lamad” from sexual activity but he would buy inappropriate magazines and bring them in shame to his room at his aunt’s home. Jim contrasts that habit to the online pornography available today to children in their bedrooms.The Hebrew Israelites had multiple wives and behaved promiscuously in front of the young men they were teaching. They believed “Yahawashi” was coming at the end of 1999. When that didn’t happen, they went back to the Old Testament to try to figure out where their calculations went wrong and to create new doctrines. People started fading away from the group and their activities dwindled.Jon moved out of his aunt’s house and stayed with other relatives in Brooklyn and Queens. He started drinking at parties at age 16. At 19, he became a father with a young woman from high school. She wanted to abort, but Jon was against it. He felt responsible for the woman and he needed to be there for her. He was at the hospital when the baby was born and he felt he held love in his arms for the first time when he held his newborn son, Jonni, who is now 17 years old.

 

Jim believes that if all men lived up to their responsibility for their seed, there would be no abortion.

 

It felt natural for Jon to hold his son in his arms and be his father. He knew he loved his son from the moment he held him and he had never felt that kind of love. He moved in with his girlfriend to her mother’s home for a few months, changing diapers, making bottles, and caring for Jonni. Jon’s girlfriend started pushing him away and even got violent with him. She falsely accused Jon of violence several times and he went to jail multiple times. He continued spending time with his son, by God’s grace and showing him love. Jon and his girlfriend broke up, and she tried to keep Jon away from her son. Jon was working at a steelyard threading pipe for a living and paying child support. Meanwhile, Jon began another relationship and within two weeks of approaching her, they were married at City Hall. Jon didn’t feel as responsible and committed to his wife as to his son. He continued to party. Jon’s wife became pregnant with Anaiya, who is now 12 years old. Jon loves Anaiya to bits, but he is divorced from Anaiya’s mother. Anaiya lives with Jon. Jon was in the hospital for Anaiya’s birth and felt great love for her.Jim notes the contrast between raising a son and a daughter.Jon was very angry with Jonni’s mother for keeping him from Jonni. There was a man now living in the home and Jon wanted to maintain his role as Jonni’s father. Jon was preparing to beat the other man to death and kidnap his son. He was on his way to execute his plan, but his wife ran out of the house, grabbed him, and pleaded with him not to do it. Jon’s heart was set to kill a man, but his wife talked him down compassionately. Jon is very grateful to her for that. He took his wife and daughter and left New York for his mother’s home in Florida to prevent himself from committing the potential premeditated murder.Jim affirms Jon for his honesty and transparency, not to affirm murder, but to affirm his openness. Jon had not yet accepted Jesus into his life at that time. Jim talks about how God uses people to influence us to make the decisions that will lead to fulfilling God’s purposes in our lives.The next episode will be devoted to how Jesus came into Jon’s life, how Jon was reborn as in John 3, and how he became a new creation as in 2 Corinthians 5:17.If you lack a father in your life, as a majority of young men do, Jon is talking to you. You do not want to miss this. Please tune in to Episode 13.

Call to Action: Jon invites you to email your questions about what’s not ticking for you. If you show a woman your full love and commitment, she will want to be with you. Jim invites listeners to listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and all major platforms, hit that five-star review, subscribe, share it, and help get this word out and look for the next episode.

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