How one man went from living with guilt to living in grace.

For 32 years, James Calderon rarely went to church. His parents had him baptized in a Catholic church when he was four months old, but attending church wasn't a family priority.

Then they began visiting Apostles Lutheran Church, San Jose, California. "While I was in grade school and junior high, we would go to the candlelight Christmas Eve services and attend a few weeks a year, but never on a consistent basis," he says. "Attendance was more out of personal guilt for sins than out of love."

When his mother began taking the Bible information class at Apostles, Calderon was 14. She enrolled his sister and him in the catechism classes for children who didn't attend the Lutheran elementary school. He went—out of obligation—for one semester. "I was very self-centered and had many doubts about God's existence, his love, and his Son," says Calderon.

For the next 18 years, Calderon lived as he saw fit. "I thought I was simply walking my own path—from experimenting with drugs to sexual immorality to overall living an ungodly lifestyle. In retrospect, I was running from God," he explains. "However, my life wasn't complete debauchery all the time. The changes were subtle. Gradually I drifted further and further away." He sees now that "the enemy is cunning that way."

HEARING THE GOSPEL

During this time, Calderon was working in the roofing business; a family friend took him along on side jobs from the age of 13. When he graduated from high school, Calderon bounced from company to company in the roofing industry until God placed him exactly where he needed to be—with his current employer, Al Diaz. The Holy Spirit used Diaz to bring hope back to Calderon's life. Diaz started by sharing small stories from the Bible and passages of encouragement. He also talked to Calderon about prayer. "I still had my doubts, but gradually I began to take an interest in Scripture," says Calderon, who began looking online for sermons so he could hear the gospel every day.

"I started to see what God had already done in my life and that I already was forgiven through Jesus," says Calderon. "The Holy Spirit began to work within me and had begun changing my life, my attitude, and my confidence in Christ." He told his wife, Dee, that he wanted to start going to church regularly. Even though he had forgotten nearly everything he learned as a child, he thought, Let's start at the church I went to as a kid and see what it is all about.