Sobriety, Baptism, and the Call to Serve

For Jarrett Leeth, sobriety was not the end of a journey but the clearing of the fog. 

Leeth’s parents were pillars of Baptist Temple. Morgan and Lynn were deeply involved in teaching, music, and community ministry. But Jarrett was drifting in the opposite direction. “I was getting out of the church scene and going my own ways. Not good ways, doing bar scenes and such and going the wrong way,” he said. What began as casual drinking hardened into habit, and habit into dependence. He would later describe those years plainly: hurting other people, hurting himself, using friends and even his parents for money, and watching alcohol quietly dismantle both his work and his integrity.

He was a licensed journeyman plumber who learned his trade in the Navy as a Seabee. Plumbing was the one steady thing in his life. But even that began to erode. After a diabetes diagnosis, he refused to change his lifestyle. Medication came; the drinking continued. He let his plumbing license lapse and tried to begin again at Home Depot, imagining a steady career until retirement. Instead, he found himself working part-time at night stocking for modest wages, barely covering fuel costs.

He pivoted again, this time into sprinkler fitting. The work suited him. The drinking did not stop.

Then came the physical consequences. Diabetes advanced. Sores appeared on his feet and would not heal. A toe was amputated and still he drank. His nights blurred into mornings as he drank himself into brief unconsciousness only to begin again. Finally, it got so bad he was hospitalized for liver failure.

That was three years ago. “I don't even have the slightest thought of alcohol in my mind anymore,” he said. 

Leeth quit cold turkey. No gradual taper. No negotiated compromise. March 14 will mark three years without a drop of alcohol. The early weeks were difficult, but the cravings eventually fell silent. Sobriety did more than restore clarity; it restored memory. With painful vividness he began to see the damage he had done—to himself, to others, to the life he might have lived.

Then he began to pray. He began to feel the Holy Spirit working in his life; a quiet conversation between him and God. He had been thinking about baptism for months before he spoke it aloud. He even considered marking the occasion on the third anniversary of his sobriety. Yet his deeper questions were not about ceremony but about direction. About following the way of Jesus.

He was baptized on February ninth, not just as a testimony of what he left behind but, also, a declaration of where he hopes to go. At fifty-five, Leeth describes himself as “wide awake.” Plumbing was his identity, the one thing he stuck to. But now, sober and alert, he feels the weight of larger questions: Where am I headed? What is the purpose of the years that remain?

He reads Scripture and seeks deeper understanding. He searches the stories for answers about life and eternity. He is seeking a way to make a difference. “Serving others, that’s probably what I'm looking for right there,” he said.

And the questions that once haunted him—about death, about direction, about meaning—are gradually giving way to something quieter and more enduring: the desire to belong to Christ and to spend what remains of his life serving others.

Spiritual and physical health make stronger disciples.

Installing the gym floor in 1967

 

The Baptist Temple gym was completed in 1967 as a way to provide physical fitness opportunities for our community. BT has a long and storied history of sports activity. Our oldest trophy is dated 1936 for a softball championship. Since then, there have been numerous championships in multiple sports.

The gym has been used for a variety of activities including basketball, volleyball, badminton, martial arts and more. However, as the membership of BT aged, gym usage declined. By the start of the 21^st century it was rarely used.

When the church resolved to increase its community involvement, things began to change. A new charter school used the gym daily during the school year and our summer day camp used it when school was out. In the evenings, we had karate. On the weekends a variety of recreational activities.

As word got out, youth basketball teams started using the gym for practice in the evenings and, occasionally, for tournaments. Additionally, mission groups that stay on our campus overnight use our locker room showers.

Today, the gym is used day and night, seven days a week all year long. Along with the youth basketball clubs, four adult recreation groups use it as well.

San Antonio has a higher than average number of diabetics and its related problems. Fighting childhood obesity, a nation-wide problem, is key to preventing “lifestyle” diseases, including diabetes. Organized recreational activity is not only improves physical health but, also, provides a healthy after school environment. In fact, studies consistently show a connection between activity and better school performance.

As to be expected, the years have taken their toll, so we are launching a fund raising campaign to renovate the gym. The highest priority is repairing and re-striping the gym floor. Beyond that, we, also, need to repair the surrounding tile, remodel the restrooms and update the showers. As funds allow, we will also renovate the back staircase.

The fundraising effort began with a special Mother’s Day offering and will include a variety of events and grant applications. We want to partner with as many people as possible who want to invest in the physical and spiritual health of our community.

You can contribute online here or send a contribution to Baptist Temple, 901 E Drexel, San Antonio, TX 78210.

Bread is More Than Gluten and Carbohydrates

A Rabbi once told me that keeping kosher (following Old Testament dietary laws) made him think about God every time he prepared food. I like that. We say grace before meals to acknowledge God as the source of our daily bread.

At the same time, I thought the Old Testament dietary laws were health-related. The timeless lesson being that we watch what we eat to optimize our health so we can honor God with our bodies. I now realize that there is more to it than that.

As a soldier and competitive athlete my relationship with food had always been performance based. I knew how to get the right amount and type of calories for my body. If my body fat percentage or blood chemistry was out of range, a few adjustments would get me back on track.

However, a healthy diet and exercise has not prevented me from deadly health related diseases. In 2009, a section of my colon had to be removed following an attack of diverticulitis that perforated my colon. That year I was diagnosed with diabetes (family history). Over the last year my diabetes and high blood pressure required greater amounts of medication and, last week, I had quintuple coronary by-pass surgery. Factors other than diet and exercise have been at play.

Early one morning I was making breakfast while the rest of the house slept. I do everything in slow motion these days so I was mindful of my movements. I gathered my ingredients and utensils in silence with the care given a Japanese Tea Ceremony. I recalled the health benefits of each ingredient as I mixed my super-healthy oatmeal together. I ate slowly and with gratitude, not only for the healthy breakfast but, also, for the health to prepare it.

We eat to live but Jesus said, “It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone...'” (Matthew 4:4)

Jesus reminds us of the connection to the God who sustains us. Meal times, whether we eat in community or solitude, offer an opportunity to slow down and remember the connection between our physical and spiritual needs. Life (animal or plant) gives life and labor (ours and that of others) placed a meal before us. Our physical health is improved when we are mindful not only of what we eat but how.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me will never go hungry,

and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

John 6:35 (NIV)