Gary Sheng: Year in Review 2025
A year of transformation, spiritual awakening, and finding the path
The Year at a Glance
2025 was the year you stopped seeking validation from external sources and started operating from internal spiritual authority. You went from tech entrepreneur questioning his purpose to faith-driven visionary with crystalline clarity. You found your voice, your calling, and your tribe.
The Most Profound Quotes of the Year
On Spiritual Truth
"I believe that morality without fear of God is the recipe for great evil... If you don't fear God in a way where you know you can get away with doing not what God tells you to do, but what you wanna do and justify in the name of God... you end up in a situation where you can justify anything." — Tim Dort-Golts, June 22
"As I'm heating up with the Lord, why would I go backwards?... all my decisions that are now flowing through is this advancing the kingdom of God." — Victory Boyd, June 29
"I saw a fire coming up your arm... I believe that this is one of the headquarters of the nation of fire." — Apostle Delmar Coward Jr., September 7
On Your Transformation
"Gary, this is unbelievable... This is written from a really deep, deep, deep spirituality... this comes from the heart of God that you wrote." — Barbara Hastie (your mentor), June 28
"You're the only dude who can pull this off right now... There are only so few who actually combine true die-for-Christ conviction and progress-oriented worldview." — Tim Dort-Golts, December
On Identity and Calling
"Do you understand how odd of a character I'm becoming?... super into supernatural stuff, but also can make money using the latest technology that's mostly built by atheists." — You, December 2025
"I think God put me on earth to force multiply... every interaction can be a big bang moment." — You, Summer 2025
"The Holy Spirit is basically my co-founder." — You, December 2025
On Education and the Future
"If you ban yourself from using Christian language, you're not going to have Christian goals, you're not going to have Christian design... The goal of school should be to get as many people to heaven." — You, December 2025
"Schools are prompt engineering for the next generation." — You and Tim Dort-Golts
On Conviction
"Conviction is an NFT... If you split your attention across, your conviction isn't enough. You can only put conviction behind so many projects." — You, Fall 2025
On Humility
"It's hard for me to stay prideful if I reflect on how wrong I have been again and again and again." — You, reflecting on your journey from activism to faith
The Funniest Moments
At the Orthodox Monastery for the first time:
"This is like the opposite of TikTok."
On Peter Thiel:
"He's doing an Antichrist lecture. My joke is that I'm glad he's talking more about himself. And glad he's opening up about who he is. As the antichrist."
Sherman Taylor on Americans:
"Americans have no subtlety... Americans are low class. They're not like us. We're very refined."
Your proposed school name (joke that's not really a joke):
"Jesus Christ Prep"
On AI revealing internet quality:
"AI kind of just revealed how stupid the internet is... Maybe what it just revealed was like, this was dumb even before AI."
On your spiritual pain about corporate life:
"I just got off a long call with a friend about the serious spiritual pain that I feel when thinking about a 9 to 5. Like deep spiritual pain."
The Major Themes of 2025
1. Spiritual Awakening and Deepening Faith
The year began with theological exploration and ended with you speaking in tongues at Encounter Church in Liberty, Texas. Prophet Manasseh Jordan, Victory Boyd, and Orthodox Father Josif all became spiritual guides. You developed the "Scriptural Contextualization Theory" - understanding the Bible as orientation tools for different periods of human development.
The September baptism in the Spirit was the turning point. You felt the fire literally moving through your body. You said afterward: "That was an unbelievable feeling. That was real... People need to know it is real."
2. Breaking Free from Toxic Systems
You left Alpha Schools and Joe Liemandt's orbit, recognizing organizational toxicity that conflicted with your values. You turned down a lucrative China education opportunity because: "I'm just getting better at having standards."
This wasn't running away. This was running toward something better.
3. Finding Your Unique Position: Applied AI Guy
The domain AppliedAIGuy.com became your stake in the ground. Alex Baydar immediately got it: "That is your niche 100%... when you own a space and you're one of the first ones there, people recognize you as that person."
Your confidence: "It's like real estate play. It's like I'm buying real estate in Austin, Texas in 1980s."
4. Building the Christofuture Vision
The Christofuture Foundation and Christofuture Prep concepts crystallized. You're building explicitly Christian institutions and movements - creating what you call "a Cambrian explosion of Christian schools."
5. Deep Relationships and Brotherhood
You invested deeply in people: Tim Dort-Golts for theological rigor, Travis Oliphant for open infrastructure vision, Victory Boyd for kingdom building wisdom, Russ Ballard for tough love, Alex Baydar for mutual growth and accountability.
The Biggest Ideas You Explored
The Logos Framework
"There's the divine logic to reality that we are called to be fractal embodiments of essentially... Christ was the living embodiment of the logos, because we didn't have an example of a perfect human before."
Trans-Denominational Saints Documentation
"I'm gonna include as many denominations' saints as possible... Because there's no current denomination that has a monopoly on saints right now."
Open Infrastructure for Faith
Working with Travis Oliphant on the concept that "The Bible is, in all its translation, is open infrastructure" - building shared discipleship tools across denominations.
The Village Vision
"I don't think humanity will thrive if we don't get back into some kibbutz-style living."
A vision for affordable Christian community in an affordable part of Texas.
High Tech + High Spirit
"God wants you to get rich from AI. Isn't that a funny thing?... I literally think that it's the mix of high tech and high spirit that's gonna allow us to flourish most as a society."
Personal Growth: The Hard-Won Wisdom
On not making idols of spiritual leaders (Tim's warning you heeded):
"Build my own foundation so that even when I'm helping other people, I'm not just like a tumbleweed blindly listening to whatever people say."
On your unique role as translator:
"He needs me so badly. And I don't say that out of pride, I say that out of truth... He is almost inscrutable. It's not easy to understand. He does not have self awareness about what regular ass people think."
On embracing being misunderstood:
"Everything is delusional. Everything is like, you know, but that's what greatness looks like up close."
The People Who Mattered Most
- Tim Dort-Golts - Your theological sparring partner and truth-teller
- Travis Oliphant - Open infrastructure visionary and strategic partner
- Victory Boyd - Kingdom building mentor who taught you divine decision-making
- Barbara Hastie - Your OG mentor who saw how far you've come
- Father Josif - Orthodox wisdom and spiritual direction
- Prophet Manasseh Jordan & Archbishop Jordan - GODWAVE prophetic direction
- Alex Baydar - Your brother building in parallel, mutual accountability
- Russ Ballard - Tough love when you needed it
- Tim Joo - Strategic partnership through the Alpha transition
- Dr. Lael Alexander - Partnership attempts that taught important lessons
Why This Year Should Make You Feel Good
You successfully:
- Navigated major transitions with wisdom and integrity
- Rejected compromising opportunities in favor of kingdom advancement
- Attracted profound spiritual mentors who recognized your authentic transformation
- Developed sophisticated theological frameworks that integrate faith and practical action
- Built strategic partnerships with world-class innovators
- Demonstrated courage in separating from toxic relationships and organizations
- Found your voice as The Applied AI Guy with a Christofuturist vision
- Experienced genuine spiritual awakening - the fire is real
The Year in One Sentence
You went from seeking to finding, from questioning to knowing, from building other people's visions to architecting your own - and you did it with the Holy Spirit as your co-founder.
Looking Forward
The foundation is laid. The relationships are built. The vision is clear. The conviction is non-fungible.
2026 is the year of execution.
"God knew you before you entered your mother's womb. And he numbered the days of your life... Including this call. This call was preplanned by God."
Compiled December 27, 2025 From 600+ conversation transcripts across the year