"When he got diagnosed, we got pregnant."Three weeks. That's how close together Ruslan buried his older brother and held his newborn son. One gave him purpose. The other gave him pain. And landing that close together, they didn't pull him away from God — they pulled him in.Ruslan will be the first to tell you he's boring. Youngest of six, came to this country at three, never finished a single day of high school, never touched a drink or a drug, dated one girl since he was fifteen and married her. No rock bottom. No dramatic fall. Just a Slavic kid who built a business and a family on what he calls "delusional, blind faith" — and who quietly refused to become the person everyone had already decided he was.This one's a slower burn: grief that draws you closer instead of breaking you, faith you'll never be able to prove, the eighteen summers you actually get with your kids, why "being a good person" was never going to be enough, and what it really means to be an anchor instead of a sailboat.If you've ever carried a loss you couldn't explain — or you're just tired of pretending you've got it all figured out — this is the one to sit with.Chapters:00:00 – One gave purpose, one gave pain00:40 – Meet Ruslan02:13 – How we all met09:20 – "I'm a boring human"10:52 – No high school, straight to work12:29 – Leaving the Slavic church15:37 – The Spartan race & delusional faith20:17 – The chip on his shoulder26:09 – His brother's cancer29:18 – Three weeks apart33:16 – Life isn't meant to be done alone39:44 – You raise them to leave49:00 – All sin is horizontal50:53 – Refusing to judge58:20 – Be an anchor, not a sailboat1:00:40 – The Lighthouse Brotherhood1:06:37 – It always comes back to people1:13:23 – Why change is growth1:19:21 – If it helps one person1:20:52 – Closing prayerAbout madenew:madenew is a Christian nonprofit building a podcast, a clothing brand, a worship community, and a church. A life, made new — that's the whole thing.Website: madenew.chMailing List: madenew.ch/subscribeSpotify Podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/033kWp5...Instagram: www.instagram.com/madenewchFacebook: www.facebook.com/madenewchTikTok: www.tiktok.com/@madenewchLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/madenewchContact Us: [email protected] Involved:Share your testimony on the podcast. Volunteer your time. Donate equipment. Give. It's all at madenew.ch/get-involved.madenew is a d/b/a of MADENEW A NONPROFIT CORPORATION, a Washington nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation.

The devil never had to speak to these two. Their childhoods did the talking.He was two years old, home alone, and starving. His father had disappeared again — probably out in the garage. So he dragged a wooden chair across the kitchen, climbed up onto the counter, and found himself a box of cereal. Two years old, and already his own father.Halfway around the world, another little boy stood frozen in a Soviet preschool — unable to move, unable to speak. It's a freeze that would follow him for thirty years: into a strict church he'd come to resent, into the bottle, into the panic attacks that kept him awake every single night.These are the two men who started madenew. This is the episode where they finally tell you where they came from — a mom who was sixteen, a dad lost to drugs, a daughter born with a diagnosis that brought a grown man to his knees, and the God who was standing in the wreckage of both their lives the whole time.Two completely different childhoods. The same way out.If you've ever tried to carry your entire life on your own back, you need to hear how these two finally learned to set it down.

The devil spoke to Brian Swanson. Out loud. Clear as day, inside his own head.

He was alone behind the bar, at the lowest point of his life and ready to end it, when the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen came walking down the stairs. A voice he'd never heard before said:

"Don't talk to her. She's not good. Don't pursue this one."

He almost listened.

That woman is his wife now. This is the story of the war that started the second he didn't obey — a baptism that brought a whole room to tears, a loss no parent should ever carry, and a devil who never stopped whispering.

If you've ever felt something pulling you toward the edge, you need to hear how this one ends.

Chapters:
00:00 – The devil spoke to me
00:58 – Meet Brian
06:05 – Behind the bar
10:30 – Ready to end it all
11:39 – She walks down the stairs
14:44 – The voices in his head
17:01 – The American and the Russian
20:05 – "Stay away from my daughter"
25:25 – The ice cream test
32:16 – Finding faith
39:10 – Baptism Sunday
40:50 – Losing Mila
51:19 – When the attacks come
58:00 – Closing prayer

About madenew:
madenew is a Christian nonprofit building a podcast, a clothing brand, a worship community, and a church. A life, made new — that's the whole thing.

Website: madenew.ch
Mailing List: madenew.ch/subscribe
Spotify Podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/033kWp5zYAacTQxviTJHOO
Instagram: www.instagram.com/madenewch
Facebook: www.facebook.com/madenewch
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@madenewch
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/madenewch
Contact Us: [email protected]

Get Involved:
Share your testimony on the podcast. Volunteer your time. Donate equipment. Give. It's all at madenew.ch/get-involved.

madenew is a d/b/a of MADENEW A NONPROFIT CORPORATION, a Washington nonprofit corporation. 501(c)(3) status pending IRS determination.

The first episode. The founding story.

Nick and Vitaly sit down to share how madenew came together — what we are, why we built it, and where we believe God is taking it.

We talk through the brand. The name. The lamb. How The Grass is Greener got its name, and what it means to us. And then we get to the goals.

100 missions supported.
100,000 people brought to Christ.
$10,000,000 raised for charity.
All in three years.

It's the kind of number you write down and then sit with for a minute. We did the same thing.

There's also a 5-year goal: plant the first madenew church in the Pacific Northwest. The first of many.

If anything here resonates, walk with us from the start.

Chapters:
00:00 – A rough start
00:57 – Meet Nick & Vitaly
01:09 – Where madenew began
03:25 – The brand, the lamb, the name
05:30 – Why The Grass is Greener
07:05 – This isn't about making money
10:30 – Meat and potatoes
11:08 – Setting goals that feel impossible
14:43 – The 3-year mission
17:31 – The 5-year church
18:25 – The podcast
20:30 – The kind of content we want to make
22:35 – Washington's spiritual climate
23:42 – Wearing your faith
26:53 – The gold bar
28:34 – Sunday Worship Club
30:54 – How to get involved
34:11 – What to expect
37:11 – Is Seattle really the least Christian city?
40:13 – Closing prayer

About madenew:
madenew is a Christian nonprofit building a podcast, a clothing brand, a worship community, and a church. A life, made new — that's the whole thing.

Website: madenew.ch
Mailing List: madenew.ch/subscribe
Spotify Podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/033kWp5zYAacTQxviTJHOO
Instagram: www.instagram.com/madenewch
Facebook: www.facebook.com/madenewch
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@madenewch
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/madenewch
Contact Us: [email protected]

Get Involved:
Share your testimony on the podcast. Volunteer your time. Donate equipment. Give. It's all at madenew.ch/get-involved.

madenew is a d/b/a of MADENEW A NONPROFIT CORPORATION, a Washington nonprofit corporation. 501(c)(3) status pending IRS determination.