Hi, my name is Andrew. I'm currently in BAM, and this is my testimony. I was born into a Christian family in Irvine, California, and before I received Christ into my life, I lived knowing of Christ but not fully understanding the gravitas he had in my life and has in my life.

I was baptized as an infant and took this as an assurance in my salvation just because of my parents' belief. Because of this, my faith and, importantly, my relationship with God was weak, if not void of all reliance or belief. My time was my own, lacking any thanksgiving or praise to God.

Sunday services were two-hour chores that made me feel better about myself, and I did not seek his love and forgiveness in my daily life. The relationship I had with him was stunted, relegated to a conversation before food or something bad happened in my life. As I grew in the world, I slowly began to push the thought of him away, repulsed by those who said they loved him, focusing more on school, career, and future earthly plans.

My misdirection led to an ungodly mentality that affected my relationship and my personal health. I was unable to attain the results that I wanted, nor was I able to gain any sort of joy from beating others and, quote, "coming out on top." I yearned for the idealized version of a successful earthly life that ultimately failed me, leaving me feeling empty, weak, and alone.

I filled this void with profane language, anger, and partying, seeking to fill myself with something I thought I could find on this earth apart from God. With poor decisions in relationships and friends, I was slowly pulled farther and farther away from my relationship with him and into the fleshly life that the world had slowly made me enjoy.

When I was at my worst, God brought a friend to my life my second year of college that really pushed me to change the worldly emphasis of my life and kept me accountable while I began repairing my relationship that I had severed with God. It was at this time as well that I felt the true weight of his atonement for my sins, with that weight being lifted from my shoulders, making the faith my own, so to speak.

So reparations came in the form of reconciling with God, repenting for my wrongdoings and my past actions, and I felt secure in his forgiveness and full assurance of my place with him forever. Those idealized versions of myself that I thought were the only way to find peace suddenly just now seemed so strange and twisted with the peace I had now found with God.

Through meeting those in the body, studying, and learning the word with them, I was able to build a stronger bond with his family and ultimately God. After receiving Christ, many things that used to be chores became blessings. As in Matthew 7, 17, "So every healthy tree bears good fruit, and the tree bears bad fruit," I've seen the roots of my life removed from these earthly things that I loved and planted firmly in him.

And as I grew within the community, I became healthier in my faith, bearing more fruit for the community that I served. As my relationship with him matured, much of that fruit came in the form of serving the church and being a witness to others in their walks with God.

As I progress in my faith, I continually look to build my relationship with God. I learn and grow each day in devotion and in his word. I no longer seek the approval of man or the riches of this world, but I wholly look to him for my peace and joy in life as I know that he is the ultimate source of my salvation.

This led me to today, wanting to publicly proclaim my faith to Christ and my full life's dedication to him. Thank you. >> And if you understand, if you're going into the water here, you're going to be impacted. (applause)