Nick Shakoour, who has inspired millions through his portrayal of Zebedee in “The Chosen,” is openly sharing his incredible faith journey.
Shakoour told CBN News his new book, Transformer: Awakening From A Spiritual Coma – A Nick Shakoour Autobiography — which details his path “out of darkness and into Christianity” — is a “tribute to God.”
The text recaps his personal story, tackling everything from Shakoour immigrating to America from Lebanon to his radical encounter with Jesus — a stunning, spiritual moment that led him to faith.
Shakoour, whose encounter with Christ came after he started working on “The Chosen,” shared the details behind what unfolded, explaining how new Christian friends made during filming helped lead him into a true walk with the Lord.
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“I’ve always said ‘The Chosen’ was a conduit that God used to get me over to Texas,” he said. “Lo and behold, I didn’t think it would lead to a church conference invite with friends that I started to make with the construction crew, and then there are friends outside of the production.”
Shakoour continued, “I started running in all these, I’d say, believer circles. So, it amalgamated to the Holy Spirit encounter. But so much had to happen, as I talk about in the book, starting with my grandfather, Nicholas, who was a Greek Orthodox … spirit-filled priest.”
The actor explains all of this in Transformer: Awakening From A Spiritual Coma – A Nick Shakoour Autobiography, but it’s his radical encounter with the Lord that is perhaps most eye-catching.
“It happened after the church conference was over,” Shakoour said. “We were in an empty arena. It was just me and pretty much nine people praying over me.”
The moment came at a key time in Shakoour’s life, as the actor admitted he had reached a “climax of not understanding the point to life.” Though he wasn’t suicidal, he was deeply struggling and knew he needed something more.
“For some reason, I was thirsty to know who God really was,” he said. “I was growing tired of people telling me to refer to Scripture.”
The Bible had started speaking to him at the time, but Shakoour still had questions.
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