Joe and his family have been a part of BridgePointe for a couple of years. This past Sunday at the end of the second service, Joe was baptized by his father as an expression of his acceptance of forgiveness and allegiance to Jesus as Lord. He had been walking toward Jesus for a long time, but felt convicted he needed to take the step of surrender through baptism to say he chooses to live his life for God moving forward.

I first learned about God as a child. My parents brought my two brothers and me to a Catholic church and eventually enrolled us in a Catholic school. I was an altar boy and learned a lot about God. A few years later, we were introduced to a pentecostal church, which seemed a little crazy to me at first. It was different but felt more real. This is where I first experienced God and started to know Him.

We moved on to another church, where I accepted Jesus as my Savior and was baptized, but I didn't accept him as Lord of my life. At that time, my father was studying to be a pastor. I was very involved with the church youth group and even went on a mission trip to Uruguay, South America, where I mixed concrete for a couple of weeks.

Looking back now, I don't know how I started to drift away but, nevertheless, I did. I started hanging out with the wrong people, partying, doing drugs, drinking, and doing everything that is wrong in God's eyes. By this time, my dad had become a pastor and started his own church, which I wanted nothing to do with. He would ask me to come to church all the time but I wanted no part of it; I just fell further and further away from God. I still believed in Him but He wasn't part of my life. There was a hole in my life and I kept trying to fill it with everything but Him. Drugs, women, cars, material things, people who I thought were my friends… I can tell you from experience that none of those things will make you happy. I was still so determined to do it on my own.

So, what brought me back to God? My dad, the pastor, adopted me when I was three. So I have two fathers. My biological father, whom I had a good relationship with, had a major stroke on March 7, 2021. He passed away seven days later on March 14. It pains me so much that I knew the truth but we never really talked about Jesus and now I would never have that opportunity ever again. I vowed that I would not let that happen to anybody else I loved. So I came back to Him, on my knees, asking for forgiveness, and surrendering my life to Him fully and accepting him in my heart not only as my Savior but also as my Lord. I am so thankful He has accepted me with open arms and delivered me from my drug addiction and I am ready to live my life according to His Word. Praise God all the glory and honor to Him.