One80: Testimonies of Transformation
Be inspired by stories of Christian transformation from around the world--and next door! Hear miraculous coming-to-Jesus stories from all walks of life and be amazed at how God writes a story in all of us. One80 is a production of OneWay Ministries.
One80: Testimonies of Transformation
91: The Gospel of Done, Josh Poteet
Be amazed by the complete turnaround of Josh Poteet, from an alcoholic in a “Jesus adjacent” family to a pastor and author on discipleship in the home. Hear his compelling testimony as he eloquently and humorously comes to the truth and heart of "The Gospel of Done.”
” One by one as my world orbited around drinking, alcoholism started getting a hold of me. . . Everything that I thought gave me value was evaporating. And so my view on God continued in that vein of 'Yeah, God's real, but how could he possibly care about a guy like me?'”
Josh finally comes to the end of himself when he realizes God does care–so much that He gave His son! And the story of Josh’s baptism will have you laughing and crying.
This is a great show to share with those you know who might be suffering from alcoholism. There is hope in Jesus.
Helpful Links
Josh’s book: Parenting Against the Current: Taking Back Discipleship in Your Home
Josh’s Church, 180 Life Church, West Hartford, CT
Josh’s article on The Disciple-Making Family, from Discipleship.org
Help for Alcoholics
Teen Challenge (Adults Too)
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OneWay Ministries
And me believing that it was about my resume and not that Jesus stapled his resume on top, was that mind-shifting moment for me where I had to realize 'Hold on, like it's not anything that I have done on my end.'
Margaret Ereneta:Josh Poteet had a list-- some do's and some don'ts. The list would grow and then get shredded, crushing Josh in the process, until he realized the gospel isn't about do's and don'ts, it's about dones. Really, just one done. This is Margaret Ereneta. Welcome to Josh's One80.
Josh Poteet:I live in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Josh Poteet:I grew up, though, in Florida and was really kind of raised in a household that I would call it Jesus adjacent. Like we were around the church a little bit, but church never really made it into our hearts or into our home, and so we would go to church on Sundays and then we would come back home and kind of do life. However we did. It turns out we were really just attending to appease my grandparents. I didn't know that at the time, but that's what it ended up really being. So when we moved away in middle school, that kind of just fell off the grid.
Josh Poteet:My world at the time was raised in a larger home. I have a twin brother, a little brother and a little sister, and having a twin really just made everything highly competitive, like we were best friends right out of the gate. But what that meant is, if I wanted the attention, I wanted value, I wanted people to give me the accolades I had to achieve and perform really well and perform really well, which is translating directly to my view on how God was. I never in my life really struggled with the idea of God being real Like who is God? That was a different question. But is he real? Like I couldn't be convinced that this just happened on accident.
Margaret Ereneta:Have you ever thought about the difference between just believing God is real and actually knowing Him? So interesting.
Josh Poteet:But I believed that, like in my house, my value to Him came from what I pulled off, and so it was about getting the girlfriend and scoring the touchdowns and getting the GPA and the scholarship in the school or whatever, and that's what I built the hierarchy of my life on, which meant that by the time I got to high school, I thought I was God's gift to the world. I thought it was incredible, everything that I did I was finding success in and I was just like man this is like you're welcome, I'm here which led to fun fact about how parenting works.
Josh Poteet:That leads to a pretty destructive relationship with your parents when you think that you are God's gift to the world. So my relationship with my parents was abysmal. But again, I thought I was awesome, went to a really good school and when I went to that school for college, fell into a different group of friends. They weren't athletic, they didn't care about sports, they didn't care about school. It wasn't their priority. And so I had to redefine the win because I wanted to be successful in the eyes of the people I was around. What it looked like for that fraternity was I needed to be the guy that everybody had the most fun with.
Josh Poteet:Up to this point in my life, I believed that I was an alcoholic before I ever drank. I believed that three out of four of my grandparents died from the disease, so I just I knew that we had a lineage of this thing and so the odds were it had me. So I didn't drink until I was 19. But when I drank, because I fell into that group of friends where, man, I need to be the guy you have fun with, everything shifted for me. My whole world oriented around drinking and the party scene and treating women in ways that is just not appropriate or good or God honoring, although I didn't know God at the time and that was a big shift for me. I stopped. I say that I went to school, but I wasn't going to school. Grades decreased significantly and the whole goal of Sunday mornings was how can I get somebody to drink with me that night?
Josh Poteet:When I went into college, I had this checklist and it wasn't written down, but I had a list of things that I would never do, so my list looked like: one, I would never drink because, again, I thought I was an alcoholic from birth. I was always going to be the faithful boyfriend or husband. I have been as a husband, but as a boyfriend, I put myself in several compromising positions. That was unfair and unkind to the person that I was supposed to be caring for, and I had a marker on my list that I was going to be incredibly successful and make a lot of money. Well, that's gone. I'm in ministry now, so that's not really the target anymore.
Josh Poteet:And so, piece by piece, I had this, I would say, the list of things that I would never do was tacked right next to a resume that I thought gave me value. And so the resume looked like getting good grades and being successful and getting the job that everybody envied and being that guy that everyone wanted to be around, and both those things were moving in the wrong direction. And, one by one, as my world orbited around, drinking and alcoholism started getting a hold of me, I was looking at this list, seeing one by one, I was checking those things off, and everything that I thought gave me value was evaporating. And so my view on God continued in that vein of yeah, god's real, but how could he possibly care about a guy like me where my resume was so good? And then I went and I lit it on fire.
Margaret Ereneta:Are you ever, like Josh, feeling like you have a God resume you're working on and then you blow it? Josh blew it. Like, he literally blew it. Listen in.
Josh Poteet:And at that point I started to realize there was an issue, and I was around 22 years old, so pretty early on I got in a actually my 21st birthday. My twin brother and I got in a horrible fight. I was drunk. We beat the bejeebus out of each other and he ended up in the ER. I had two black eyes and a torn knee. And I remember waking up the next morning looking in the mirror and hating the person that I saw, thinking I had no value, I had nothing to offer. My birthday is around Christmas and my family was like, hey, you're not invited to Christmas this year.
Josh Poteet:And that was one of the hardest and best things I think my parents have done for me, because I needed some sort of wake up call that what I was doing and the way that I was living my life was destructive and was hurtful and not just hurtful to me but to the people around me that I said I cared about. And so that was the turning point where I was like all right, something needs to change. Jesus not in the picture yet, but something needs to change. And so I did what anyone who's trying to get sober does I joined the military because that's a great idea. Like if you watch one military movie. You're like this is a great idea. Like if you watch one military movie, you're like this is a horrible idea, Josh, just watch the movie. But that was my plan. I was like I can't drink for basic training. I'm going to go there, I'm going to serve, it'll be the National Guard. So in eight months I'll come back home, it'll be fine, my life will be all in order and right again. So I go and I do that. The problem is that wherever I go, there I am, and so I would just bring my problems with me.
Josh Poteet:So I got back eight months later and I fell right back into the same rhythms, doing the same things, checking off this list of things that I said I would never do, thinking that God didn't care about me, finally got to the point where I was committed like hey, I need to get sober, this needs to be removed. I thought alcohol was the problem. I didn't realize that I was actually the problem to be removed. I thought alcohol was the problem, I didn't realize that I was actually the problem, and at that point I started attending a 12-step program that would help me find sobriety, and in that they encouraged me to figure out who God was. They didn't tell you who God was, they didn't like say, hey, this is a Christian organization. But they said, hey, you need to figure out who God is. And so I dove in. I was like, all right, I don't know if it's Jesus, I don't know if it's Islam, I don't know if it's whatever. But I know that I'm going to look at the evidence and try to figure out what's real and good and true and then I'll give my life to that. And as I looked at the evidence, it was overwhelming in support that the resurrection occurred, that it was real and that Jesus is the Messiah. And so I was like, all right, I'm all in, like I'm gonna figure out who this Jesus guy is.
Josh Poteet:And that started this two-year floundering period for me where I was hungry, like I was plugged into three churches at the same time. Which fun fact, you can't be plugged into three churches at the same time. But that's just how hungry I was. And I'm living my life really the same as I always had been, just trying to learn more and more and more about who Jesus is. And I say, over those two years, nothing in me spiritually grew outside of my hunger.
Josh Poteet:And there was this night where I was driving home from an AA meeting and I was just, I just felt convicted. And it's like the first time that I like ever like remember or know that I was convicted by the Holy Spirit and like the Holy Spirit wasn't in me, but he rested on me in that moment. And the conviction was that there was this girl I was in relationship with that I just knew in passing that I had treated horribly and I needed to call her in that moment and ask for forgiveness. And that was it. And so I call her and I go Ashlyn, I'm so sorry, please forgive me. The way I treated you was awful. You didn't deserve that. And then the conviction kept coming and I told her this wasn't planned. But I told her I was like hey, Ashlyn, I have to tell you that there is a light in you and it's so obvious to everybody around you and I know for a fact I don't have it. Like what do I need to do?
Margaret Ereneta:It's amazing that Josh calls out to this friend that he knows casually in passing, he says. Don't downplay the impact your faith may have on other people, friends.
Josh Poteet:She unpacked the gospel for me and she shared who Jesus was. She asked about my story and she asked how my relationship with Jesus was, and I was like I don't even know how to answer that question. And she just walked through what walking with Jesus is meant to look like and can be. So she really took time, sat down with me and said hey, let me share what Jesus did for me and how it wasn't just about being good enough, but it's that he has already done that. While we were still sinners, Christ died for her and fun fact that I didn't realize He also died for me, not that I had it together, but because I couldn't. And so in that moment she sharing the gospel was that moment where I was like I'm all in, like this is it. It's not just head knowledge, now it's I'm going to place the weight of my life on Jesus, who I believe went onto the cross for me, who I believe went into the tomb and then on the third day he rose again. And so that was that turning point for me where I placed the full weight of my being on Jesus. It was as if, like those last two years, the only thing grew was my hunger. And then somebody pointed me to the fridge and I was like all right, this is it. Like this is an all-you-can-eat buffet, I am all in. And so I dove in.
Josh Poteet:Three months later, I'm sitting in church and they're doing this mass baptism which I have very mixed opinions on. But they're doing this mass baptism where they're like hey, like, if you've signed up to get baptized, get baptized, and if you didn't sign up but you're convicted, get baptized too. And there I am, like I've been at this church for two years. I've been serving, didn't know Jesus while I was doing it, but I was there and I'm in an arm wrestling match with God. I'm like God, please don't make me do this. Like I don't want these people to see that I am like brand new to this thing. I don't want to have to get baptized in front of everybody. Like can't this just be cool? Like let's not make this a big deal.
Margaret Ereneta:Josh is so like "be cool. I love God's sense of humor in this story. Listen in.
Josh Poteet:And I remember just sitting there and the Holy Spirit again just saying you said you would do anything to follow me, like it's time, and so I get in this line of it was probably about 100 people, like it was massive. So I'm in this line saying, all right, god, I have changed my prayer. Like my prayer, like I'm getting baptized, I'm doing it, let the service be done. Like let it. I'm at the end of this line, let the service be done by the time I get up there. And the reason I share this is one, god is hilarious. And two, he did something unbelievable here for me. One, I get up into this giant pool and the guy, the pastor that was baptizing people goes hey, josh, stay up here real quick, we have to close, we're going to close from here and then we'll baptize you as the grand finale. So I am up on this screen. I prayed like God, let them not notice. I'm up on the screen for at least 10 minutes just standing next to this guy as he's closing. But God likes to soften my heart through very funny things. So he's over there playing games with me. But the reason I share that is and he doesn't always do this, this isn't his promise, but he did this.
Josh Poteet:For me in this moment was after I chose to step forward in obedience when he called me to get baptized. I met the guy who would disciple me, would walk beside me through maturity and have an impact on who I am as a husband me choosing to marry my bride, who I am as a father, like huge impact on my life and journey. So within two weeks I met him. I met my best friend who would move into my house one day and what he did was he got me consistent in the word. Like every day he was like, hey, man, where are we doing our quiet time? And it got me consistent in getting to know God's character through his scripture. And then, within the same two weeks, I met my wife. All in different places, all not His promise, and yet I stepped forward in obedience. And God I say he always shows up, but sometimes he shows off and he showed off tremendously. I was reading scripture at the time but a lot of that was head knowledge-based. It was really like I'm hungry and I was doing that for the last two years.
Josh Poteet:The truth that came to me in that moment with Ashlyn and that really has kind of carried on through is from Galatians 2.21, where it says I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. If it was about works, christ died for nothing. And me believing that it was about my resume and not that Jesus stapled his resume on top, was that mind-shifting moment for me where I had to realize hold on, like it's not anything that I have done on my end. In fact, I'm not living today to earn something from Jesus. I'm responding to an undeserved favor that he's already offered me. And that was a shift, because that was my entire mindset up until, really, that conversation with Ashlyn was I need to provide value, because if I don't provide value, I don't have value. Instead, receiving the value that Jesus put himself up on the cross and then calling me a son, like that's where my value comes from. It comes from the relationship Fast forward. I'm plugged into a life group and I'm leading a life group and I'm participating in a young adults ministry and I'm actually attending just one church, but fully plugged in growing and maturing and failing miraculously at the same time, but really being stretched in who God's called me to be. Eventually, I get married.
Josh Poteet:Right after I get married to my bride, jenny, I get convicted again that God's call on my life wasn't the military, like I thought, wasn't EMS like I thought. I had a job in EMS, I loved it, but he was calling me into ministry and I again was like Lord, please don't make me do this. Like I don't want to, like I've got a plan and it's awesome. And God again was like Josh, that's really cute, but that's not what I have for you. So then, all right, I'm pursuing ministry, I step into a young adults ministry role, eventually a student pastor role, and really just started getting stretched in ways that I didn't know that he was calling me to grow, found out that I was a okay communicator, even though I really fought against that too. I was like God, I don't want to teach from a stage. And he was like yeah, but I gave you this gifting, you should do that. So, over and over again, god is just showing off and leading me to press into relationships with other men to help lead them into maturity. Helping other people who are struggling with alcoholism or struggling in figuring out what a relationship with Jesus is meant to look like, or other dads trying to figure out. How do I be intentional with my two-year-old or my five-year-old, how do I shepherd their hearts, which became a huge passion of mine.
Josh Poteet:God called us to pray on moving to Connecticut, and so that started a two-year training process with my lead pastor in Houston of growing and maturing and being stretched, it being a great training ground. And then eventually we accepted the call to come to Connecticut. We heard that the ground here in New England was hardened toward the gospel, and that's where we felt called to be. So me, my bride and our kids stepped out over here, and we've been here for almost two years.
Josh Poteet:And God is moving, he is alive, he is speaking truth over the lost and he's whispering things still over me of lies that I used to believe, lies like hey, it's not about what you do, josh, because I thought it was about my performance. It's about what Jesus did on the cross. It's not the gospel of do, it's the gospel of done. And so this idea of contending and competing is really meant to be more of a community walking together, lifting each other up, giving praise to a God who already did the work. So that's a shifting. That is like a daily. Like he says deny yourself. Pick up your cross and follow me Like that's my daily cross that I need to pick up and be reminded of. Like Josh, you're not as awesome as you thought you were, and you don't have to be, because what I couldn't do, jesus did for me.
Margaret Ereneta:Josh has a new book called Parenting Against the Current Taking Back Discipleship in your Home and we'll link it in the show notes.
Josh Poteet:This passion of parents discipling their kids first was started with me trying to figure out how do I lead my family.
Josh Poteet:Well, like, kids don't come out with a tutorial or a book of like a how-to. Don't come out with a tutorial or a book of like a how-to. And I know that for me there's a current in this world pulling away from intentionality in the home. Busy just finds its way into the home and with busy, intentionality kind of falls away. And so I've really kind of took some discipleship strategies that I knew, one from what Jesus modeled and two practices from the churches that I've been a part of and really wrestled through hey, how can we scale this into the home?
Josh Poteet:So that guy who discipled me, Matt Nations, is the co-author of this book. He's the best dad that I've ever met and I really wanted to partner with him and like let's create something practical, helpful for parents where they can grow and mature as disciples of Jesus and then really accept that primary calling that they have as parents, which isn't to raise successful kids, it's not to raise well-behaved kids, it's to raise up disciples of the King. And so how do we raise up godly men and women in our homes?
Margaret Ereneta:Since Josh's story kind of started out with him not knowing who God is and searching for that and finding it, we wanted to close with asking him to tell us who God is.
Josh Poteet:So the God of the Bible is the triune God. He's the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three persons, one God. So we've got the Father who reigns on the throne. He doesn't fall off his throne. He is a perfect judge and calls us to perfection, even though we can't reach it. And because we can't reach it, he sent his Son to pay the penalty for my debt. That's what forgiveness is. It's a canceled debt, but no debt is truly canceled, it's just repurposed right.
Josh Poteet:And so my debt, that my sin owed, was repurposed onto Jesus on the cross. He took on the wrath of God that I could be made clean, infused as clean through the lens of Jesus. And then the Holy Spirit comes as the great sanctifier and convictor of my life, Because I'm still and you can ask my wife still not perfect, Like I still have not arrived yet, and because of that, like I need the Holy Spirit in me to lead me, to shepherd me, to press me closer to Jesus and the Father in the way that I'm meant to be, and so the Holy Spirit is constantly convicting and leading me throughout my days. Just want to say thank you to one, my Lord and Savior, Like I could not be anything of value without him and so just so grateful for what God is doing and how he's moving in the people around me. Obviously grateful for my bride, Jenny and our son Ezra and our daughter Lilla. And thanks for One80 Podcast for letting me join you guys and share what Jesus has done in my life.
