about: my testimony

I started abusing drugs and alcohol in the summer of 1977, right after high school graduation. I became a thug. A hellion. A criminal, with no respect for my parents, for authority, for my neighbors, or for God. I was now the “god of my own universe.” My rules, my way. Eighteen months after I started using drugs and alcohol, I committed a series of felonies and was sentenced to 3 years in state prison. I ended up in some very dark places during my forty years of active addiction.

Prison did not “cure” my addiction. In fact, I used illicit drugs during my seven years of parole without getting caught. Active addiction cost me the usual: two failed marriages; estrangement from my sons and family; dismissal from a number of excellent employment positions; repossession of four vehicles; and total financial ruin.

I was charged for misdemeanor theft twice from 2016 and 2018 directly related to my addiction. The 2018 charge nearly landed me in state prison forty years after I had first been there at age 19. Finally, this was my true bottom. I became determined to stop abusing substances and build a life as an adult. Luckily, I was admitted to my county’s’ drug treatment court program in 2019. I completed the program in 2020. I have not had a drop of alcohol since 2008, and I have not abused opiates, marijuana, or benzodiazepines since June 8, 2019.

Returning to the church of my youth, where I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior in 1972 at age thirteen, I pursued a new relationship with Jesus. Several leaders at church circled the wagons and loved me until I could love myself. To date, I completed a B.S. in Psychology and earned an M.A. in Theology at Colorado Christian University. I am currently earning a master’s degree in Practical Apologetics and Cultural Engagement.

God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). I met a man several years ago who said, “God wants you to know that everything you’ve been through in life, from the moment you were born to this moment standing here with me, has been ordained by Him to mold you into the man he needs you to be.” God called me ministry at age 14, but I had no idea what that looked like for me.

Today, I serve God as a mentor to men struggling with active addiction. Also, I share Jesus and defend the Christian faith through evangelism and apologetics. Conversations about religion, sin, faith, and Jesus Christ are rather daunting at times in today’s post-Christian culture. Apologetics refers to defending the gospel against false claims, heretics, skeptics, detractors, and others who challenge the Word of God or the story of redemption through Jesus Christ. Primarily, it means always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks me for a reason for the hope that is in me regarding the gospel (see 1 Pet. 3:15).

In Christ,

Steven Barto