The transformative power of Jesus

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, May 28th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: More Americans call themselves spiritual but not religious. The so-called “religious nones” —n-o-n-e —increasingly follow pagan and occult beliefs. Many say social media has played a big part in that.

EICHER: A former occultist hopes his story of bondage to spiritual darkness serves as a warning to those who are dabbling in what they may think is a harmless belief system.

WORLD senior writer Mary Jackson spoke with Adam Prout, a musician who gained recognition in the early 2000s on MySpace, one of the first social media platforms. He was known then as Adam Absinthe. His gothic androgynous look and alternative metal music attracted more than a hundred thousand followers.

WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has the story.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: By 2008, Adam Prout had a Hollywood music agent, and acting and modeling jobs. But his plunge into the occult, debauchery, and drugs and alcohol, led him down a different path.

PROUT: A couple of us just kind of created alter egos for ourselves and made our profiles and started really being entrepreneurs and just promoting ourselves.

MUSIC: [Taken — Adam Absinthe]

Adam mirrored his alter ego after the rock star archetype. Musicians and bands like Mötley Crüe, Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson.

PROUT: It had always been this, you know, feminized lead singer thing, you know, wearing the makeup, skinny, long hair and that's what I had. I became sort of a poster boy of this Gothic emo, you know, rock star type, which was very popular back then.

Underneath this alter ego, Prout sought love and acceptance. That desire stemmed from a troubled childhood, including physical and sexual abuse. But his efforts to mimic rock musicians led to other things.

PROUT: I was incorporating just like they did a lot of occultism, Satanism, witchcraft, things of that nature into the imagery and the lyrics and all this kind of stuff.

Prout’s journey into the occult started out small. He owned a deck of tarot cards but didn’t use them. He started reading books on Satanism and New Age spirituality. But when MySpace died, so did Prout’s fame. He turned to the occult to fill the void.

PROUT: I was sort of trying to reinvent myself and what I would do next. And I became deeply, deeply entrenched in the occult, at that point, that became the thing that defined me. And I wanted to be this YouTube personality, this lightworker, healer kind of guy. And I was going, I mean, hardcore.

Prout says his involvement in these practices, coupled with substance abuse, opened him up to demonic oppression, self harm, and suicidal ideation.

PROUT: I was having nightmares of demons. I was seeing demons and ghosts. I was waking up with like, handprints on my wall, scratches on me, and schizophrenic sort of elements were coming in. And I began this thing that lasted for years of wandering around like Legion in the Bible. I would wander all night long. If you combine alcohol, drugs, and all this black magic witchcraft, I mean, does it really surprise anybody that demons are now in you? Like, how much more of an open door could you give them?

One night while in this altered state, he fell into a river. Somehow, he managed to grab a hold of a bridge and pull himself out. The next morning, when he came to his senses, he knew he shouldn’t be alive.

PROUT: I fell to my knees and I cried out to God, the very God that I had committed so many blasphemies about, made such a big part of my MySpace persona about hating God, hating Christians. And there I was. Just so over, done. I gave up on everything. And I said, God help me. Please just help me.

Prout believes God heard his cry. He got his hands on a Bible. He joined a church. At a men’s retreat, Prout made a confession of faith in Christ. Shortly after that, he was baptized.

Four years later, Prout returned his focus to social media, but this time with a very different mission.

PROUT: Did one of the internet’s first celebrities become a Christian? What I tell you next may shock you. The reason he went from this to this is because of Jesus. And that’s not all. That man is me.

That’s Prout in a 40 second clip he made for TikTok. It includes side-by-side imagery of his days as Adam Absinthe and now. The video went viral.

PROUT: I can see like, wow, this is really edifying for the body of Christ, because you can really see like physically see the transformative power of Jesus. I went from a frail, pale, androgynous wraith to, you know, a man, and like, it's just cuz of Christ. Because 2nd Corinthians 5:17, I'm a new creation, because I'm in him now.

At first, venturing back into social media was unnerving.

PROUT: It struck me, somewhere down the line that I used my talents that God gave me to glorify myself, the world, and the devil. And it hit me like a ton of bricks, like, you know what I'm going to, I have to use these to glorify Him.

At age 44, Prout now sees online evangelism as part of his calling.

On his social media channels, Prout addresses more in-depth details about his story. He also posts reflections about demons, spiritual warfare, and the dangers of the occult. He aspires to reach those who are seeking the divine on social media.

PROUT: The algorithms are going to push more and more soul-damning, evil stuff out there that people are going to grab on to for hope, and be left high and dry. And that's, you know, a big reason why I'm an online evangelist, because it’s sort of like, well, let's break into the algorithm, just like you would step into Rome, like Paul, and all this paganism. And it's all around us. But let's break it and get some people saved.

Prout recently released his first single since his days as Adam Absinthe. It’s a praise song called, “The Children’s Bread.” He plans to release more music––and a book. But those pursuits are slow going. Prout works a day job. He’s in the process of moving. And he’s prioritizing his own spiritual health and growth––and God’s perfect timing.

PROUT: I do believe I went through what I went through for such a time as this.

MUSIC: You are victory from the night
You are freedom, Jesus Christ
I am baptized, purified.
Armored, ready for the fight
By your name, we are the light.
We’re saved
We’re saved

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin. This story was written and reported by Mary Jackson.

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