My name is Dionysis Theodorou. I was born in Cyprus, I lived in England for eight years and in New York for eight years.
In April 1998, while living in New York, I came to faith in Jesus and was born again.
I went on to study Biblical Criticism, Jewish History and Hebrew Linguistics.
I moved to Israel in October 2002 where I have been living since.
I am a music producer and instructor and I perform around Israel with my band Bouzouki Groove.
I recently started producing worship music.
When I was six years old I bought a Bible
When I was six years old I bought a Bible from my junior school jumble sale and I was absolutely fascinated by the idea of an all powerful God who created everything and who visited His creation on earth.
The God of Israel and the stories and characters of the Bible totally captured my heart and mind. Maybe that’s why the world could never live up to my expectations.
Before Jesus came into my life, I was depressed, angry, addicted to substances, lacking confidence, self worth and self esteem.
Events in my life caused me to lose hope in myself, in people, in the world and in the institutions that comprised it.
It’s not as if I could identify that something was missing. I just had an emptiness inside, which was accompanied by anxiety and depression. I knew that there had to be something more to life.
Boredom was never an issue. I was always very active and busy. I started learning how to play the bouzouki when I was eleven. A few months later I performed for the first time.
From the age of 12 I was performing on the bouzouki a few times a week throughout the school year and during the summer holidays.
At the beginning of my military service I was in the army band and throughout my service in the Cyprus military I performed once or twice a week.
Jesus indeed saved me
Only at age 25 at the point of my deepest despair and depression did I surrender myself and call out to the God of Israel for salvation. At that very moment my life changed. I was born again.
My life changed. My mood changed. My attitude changed. My behaviour changed.
When I fell in love with Jesus I was suddenly excited about life. I came to terms with the past and I was optimistic about the present and the future.
This is not to say that life is a walk in the park; it is far from it; however, with the Lord Jesus everything has new meaning with a new perspective and approach.
In my weakness His strength is made perfect
2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV)
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
The Lord came to heal the sick and the needy
Mark 2:17 (KJV)
17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Jesus came to heal the sick, that the blind may see and that the deaf may hear. Lepers were cleansed, the paralysed walked and the dead were brought back to life.
Maybe there are people who casually move through life at ease.
Maybe there are those who feel no stress, no pain—who are comfortable in their own body and in their relationship to the circumstances and people who surround them.
I never felt comfortable. As far back as I can remember I always experienced discomfort, anxiety, lack of confidence and lack of trust for others—A stranger and a pilgrim in the world.
I always suffered from addictions because of my constant need to escape my reality—to alter my state of mind.
I numbed the pain with excess smoking and drinking.
I started smoking when I was 12 years old.
That’s also when I started performing at weddings on weekends.
By 13 I was performing at a hotel 3 evenings a week and was smoking almost a pack a day.
By 14 I was performing 5 evenings a week and drinking alcohol almost every night.
By 16 I was smoking pot.
School was very difficult for me; however, I was actually very responsible concerning attendance.
I’d arrive from performing at around 1230-0100, I was hardly ever late and never missed school.
I remember believing that by 25 I would somehow overcome all these problems and I would start getting settled into a normal life.
I didn’t know how this would happen. I thought I would just grow up and grow out of negativity, addiction and self-destructive habits.
In 1998, at 25, living in New York I found myself in the worst state of depression ever.
I was reading the scriptures and hoping to find answers that would change me.
In April 1998 at age 25, I reached my breaking point: the place of no return.
I called out to the God of Israel who led me to my Lord, God and Saviour Yeshua who changed my life forever.
Romans 10:13 (KJV)
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
Joel 2:32 (KJV)
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered:
I prayed to the Lord that I would randomly open the Bible and asked that He would show me something that would change my life.
I opened randomly at the book of Ecclesiastes “Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity.”
Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 (KJV)
2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. 3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
This was the verse that I personally needed.
I had always thought of how futile everything was and that there must be something more to our life and to our existence.
The Lord Jesus opened my eyes and I understood.
I felt relieved and I experienced light, hope, love and joy.
At that very moment my life changed. My perspective changed.
I was excited about my newfound love and purpose.
I was born again. I had hope for the future. All old things had passed away and I was a new creation in Jesus the Messiah.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
John 3:3 (KJV)
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Eventually the addictions dropped away not by my own efforts but because I was captured by Jesus’ love and I had no urge to consume substances in order to escape reality.
Matthew 11:28 (NASB)
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
I now had everything to live for and my reality was filled with the joy and love and knowledge of the Lord.
I fell in love with Yeshua. He opened the eyes of my heart and mind to understand the scriptures.
When I fell in love with Yeshua I experienced an amazing turnaround and overturning in my life.
I was gripped by a powerful reassurance and conviction which led me to make decisions in a way that required no contemplation - decisions of a heart, mind and body captured by the love of Yeshua.
2 Corinthians 4:16 (KJV)
16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
I fell in love with with the people and the land of Israel and I knew that the Lord was going to make Israel my home.
I was excited about learning Hebrew so that I could read the Bible—TANACH in its original language and so I could move to Israel.
I moved to Israel from New York in October of 2002.
When the COVID 19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill I started producing worship songs with the bouzouki as the lead instrument.
This is a song that I first sang with the fellowship of believers in Cyprus in 1998. https://www.yeshuamytestimony.com/post/seekhimfirst
More on the music here https://www.dionysistheodorou.com/post/praise
Psalm 150
1Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary:
Praise him in the firmament of his power.
2Praise him for his mighty acts:
Praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3Praise him with the sound of the trumpet:
Praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4Praise him with the timbrel and dance:
Praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5Praise him upon the loud cymbals:
Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6Let every thing that hath breath
Praise the LORD.