New Life

Joel Cates' Story

I walked the aisle and made a profession of faith in Christ at a Baptist tent revival when I was 15. My family did not attend church. By 1983, my lifestyle choices of drug and alcohol abuse brought me to a place of ultimate despair and decision. I could die in this intolerable existence or seek spiritual help from the Christ who had reached out to me years earlier.

While attending school in Waco, the ministry of a local church and it's pastor, who had befriended me, provided me with the kind of Christian fellowship and spiritual tools that would help me in my struggle with drugs and alcohol. My relationship to God in Christ and the aid of a twelve-step program have transformed my life. The bankruptcy, humiliation and embarrassment of a life controlled by substance abuse have been replaced by feelings of peace and hope.

As I earnestly attempt to follow Christ, I get a daily reprieve from the power of sin contingent on the maintenance of my spiritual condition. I make the decision each day to do my will or God's will. I stay close to Jesus and He drives the desire for and torment of substance abuse away from me.

My greatest compassion is for those still living and suffering with addiction. I would like for them to know, from my own experience, that there is hope for freedom, peace and forgiveness through a relationship with Christ.

Relevant Scripture

John 8:36 (New International Version)

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.