Pastor Joe sits down with his friend and brother in the faith, Chaplain Willie Alfonso, one of the most decorated sports chaplains in American history. Willie grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn with an abusive, alcoholic father, and by age 11 his parents threw him out onto the street after he stood up to protect his mother. What followed was years of living in abandoned buildings and cardboard boxes, addiction to heroin, cocaine, and speedballs, and doing whatever it took to survive. Then God got hold of him, and nothing was ever the same. Willie went on to serve as chaplain to the New York Yankees for 28 years, the Brooklyn Nets for 22 years, the New York Giants for 7 years, and is now campus pastor at Adult Teen Challenge in New Jersey. He did weekly Bible studies in Mariano Rivera's $10 million mansion. He's got a World Series ring and stories that will make your jaw drop. But underneath all of it is a man who is obsessed with one thing: leaving a legacy that points to Jesus. If you've ever felt like your start disqualifies you from a great finish, this episode is for you. It's only up from here.

From a Cardboard Box to the Yankees Dugout | Willie Alfonso | The Upgrade w Joe Adevai #011

Pastor Joe goes solo again with a raw, no-holds-barred talk about stocks, investing, and everything he learned from over 20 years on Wall Street. From counting stock certificates in a locked vault at Thompson McKinnon to making $300,000 in a minute trading crude oil when Saddam Hussein invaded Iraq, to losing almost everything and having a heart attack from the stress of day trading, Joe has seen every side of the market. He breaks down the four main ways people try to make money in stocks: long-term investing, swing trading, day trading, and options. The numbers are brutal. Only 1 to 5% of day traders are profitable and over 90% of options expire worthless. Joe shares what he wishes he knew earlier, why he tells everyone to just dollar-cost average into the S&P 500, how $1,000 in Apple 20 years ago would be $130,000 today, and why compound interest is the real cheat code. He also gets personal about how pride, FOMO, and the "evil eye" of quick money nearly destroyed him more than once. If you've ever thought about getting into the market or you're already in and bleeding money, this one could save you a fortune. It's only up from here.

The #1 Investing Mistake I See People Make | The Upgrade w Joe Adevai #010

Pastor Joe goes solo on this one and gets into something he's been teaching young men for years: how to actually make money in real estate. No fluff, no guru talk, just 30+ years of experience from a guy who bought his first rental property for $75,000 and has pulled over a million dollars in profit from it without ever selling. Joe breaks down the difference between flipping, buying and holding, and house hacking (which his own son did). He walks through the real numbers on refinancing, depreciation, tax write-offs, HELOCs, and newer tools like HomeTap and Unison. Then he hits you with the three biggest mistakes he sees people make: buying on emotion, rushing in because of FOMO, and skipping due diligence entirely. Whether you're a young person wondering if you'll ever be able to afford a house or someone thinking about their first rental property, this episode is packed with practical wisdom rooted in Proverbs and real life experience. It's only up from here.

3 Real Estate Mistakes I See People Make All the Time | The Upgrade w Joe Adevai #009

Pastor Joe sits down with most of the members of Unspoken, the Christian band that got their start playing a coffee house at Grace Church for five or ten people over 20 years ago. Chad, Ariel, and Matt walk through what 22 years of touring really looks like, from being poor and alone on the road to watching God open doors one nursing home, subway platform, and college campus at a time. They break down how Christian music actually makes money in the streaming era, what it costs your family when you chase a calling that doesn't pay for years, and why the wives are always the real heroes of the story. They also get surprisingly real with any young artist listening: if breaking into the music industry is your goal, you're already set up to lose. Whether you want to make it in music, build a business, or just figure out what you're called to do, the wisdom in this one goes way beyond the stage. And yes, Pastor Joe made them sing at the end. It's only up from here.

Stop Trying to Make It in Music (Do This Instead) | Unspoken | The Upgrade w Joe Adevai #008

Pastor Joe sits down with a very special guest, Mayor Mack Womack of North Brunswick, New Jersey. Mayor Womack has served the town for 21 consecutive years. Born in Travelers Rest, South Carolina (the same town as Jesse Jackson), Mack's journey took him through West Virginia, Orlando, Alabama, and a failed Jimmy Carter reelection campaign before law school and a girl from Bayonne brought him to New Jersey for good. Pastor Joe and the mayor go way back to when their kids were scratching out violin recitals at the same elementary school. This conversation covers everything from why New Jersey property taxes are so high to the future train station, how faith-based organizations fit into the fabric of a community, and what it was like when the mayor showed up at Grace Church's little storefront on 9/11. Funny, honest, and surprisingly deep, this one shows you the heart behind the office. Whether you live in North Brunswick or not, this is a conversation about what real public service looks like.

Nobody Runs on an Atheist Platform | Mayor Mack Womack | The Upgrade w Joe Adevai #007

Pastor Joe sits down with his older brother, Dr. David Dean, for the story behind the Bible that saved his life. David and Joe grew up together but were separated for 13 years after their mother kidnapped Joe and their younger siblings. While Joe was living on the streets of New York, David was studying nuclear physics at Cornell, working underground at a particle accelerator, and proudly calling himself an atheist. Raised by a Unitarian minister father who preached that God didn't exist, David spent his whole life arguing against faith. He once walked into a lightning storm and dared God to strike him down. But when the laws of thermodynamics dismantled his belief in Darwinism, and a big-haired woman at Six Flags dragged him into a prayer huddle he couldn't escape, everything started to unravel. David shares how he went from mailing anti-Christian books back to his father and calling them trash, to waking up one morning at Cornell knowing God was real. When the brothers finally reunited, David handed Joe a Bible at a Beefsteak Charlie's restaurant. That Bible, and a note inside that said "read the book of John," changed everything. If you've ever thought faith and science can't coexist, this episode is for you. It's only up from here.

Physicist Tried to Disprove God... Now He Teaches The Bible | Dr. David Dean | The Upgrade #006

Pastor Joe sits down with Sean Isaacs, known as "The Wisdom Coach," author, Christian businessman, and the man behind the marketing at Star 99.1, one of the biggest Christian radio stations in the country. Sean's story starts in the Bahamas with a praying mother, a twin brother, and an older brother whose mysterious illness and death at 22 became the event that brought both twins to Christ. From almost signing secular record deals in New York City to planting a church in the Bahamas, building a million dollar business that collapsed, and walking with his first wife Deborah through a 20 year battle with cancer, Sean's life has been shaped by one thing: the pursuit of wisdom. This episode goes deep on what it really takes to build a business God's way, why marketing is simpler than you think, why men need mission and not just motivation, and how reading the book of Proverbs changed everything for Sean. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a young man trying to find direction, or someone who just wants to stop making the same mistakes, this one is loaded. It's only up from here.

It Took Losing My Brother to Find God | Sean Isaacs | The Upgrade w Joe Adevai #005

Pastor Joe and Alicia sit down with Associate Pastor Courtney Robinson and his wife Erica for one of the most emotional conversations you'll ever hear. Courtney and Erica both grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, met through a cadet program and a little sister who decided the cure for her big sister's depression was a boyfriend. Erica opens up about childhood molestation, being given away at birth, kidnapped by her own parents, and the walls she built to survive. Courtney shares how he went from being a well-known cadet leader to the loneliest walk of his life at 17 when his family broke apart and he was the only one sent back to the neighborhood they escaped. Together they walk through building a life from nothing in Jamaica, getting married the same day they put the roof on their first house, and eventually making it to the U.S. where everything was tested. The heartbreaking loss of their son CJ, a wrongful CPS case that separated them from their daughter for four months, and the question of how you keep trusting God when the worst keeps happening. This episode will wreck you and rebuild you at the same time. It's only up from here.

We Lost a Son and a Daughter in the Same Day | Pr. Courtney & Erica Robinson | The Upgrade w Joe Adevai #004

Pastor Joe and Alicia sit down with two of their closest friends and earliest mentors in the faith, Pastor John and Susan Bevilacqua. Susan shares her story of growing up with an alcoholic mother, being kidnapped and raped as a teenager, and finding Jesus in a hippie storefront in Baltimore. John opens up about nearly dying three times before age 22, dealing drugs at Villanova, and getting radically saved at 3 AM in a run-down house with no furniture. What brought them together? A cult called the Church of Bible Understanding, where they spent nearly a decade living in lofts, working at Burger King, giving away every paycheck, and witnessing on the streets of Alphabet City. They eventually broke free, got married within a month, and never looked back on God, only on the cult. Now 36 years of friendship later, they share how faithfulness, real community, and refusing to let shame win have carried them through it all. If you've ever felt like your view of God was distorted, this one's for you.

We Survived a Cult | Pr. John & Susan Bevilacqua | The Upgrade w Joe Adevai #003

Pastor Joe sits down with his wife, Pastor Alicia Adevai, for a raw and deeply personal conversation about their journey together. Alicia opens up about growing up in an abusive home, surviving sexual abuse as a child, and the years of silence and fear that followed. She shares how she met Joe on a train platform in New Brunswick, what it was like marrying a former drug dealer turned Wall Street guy, and how building a life, a family of six kids, and a church together pushed both of them to the edge more than once. From a season where their marriage nearly fell apart to the Christ-centered counseling and deliverance that brought real healing, this episode is an honest look at what it actually takes to upgrade your marriage, your mental health, and your faith. If you think being saved means everything is fixed, this one's for you.

If It's Not Revealed, It Can Not Be Healed | Alicia Adevai | The Upgrade w Joe Adevai #002

Joseph Adevai (@theupgradepjoe) · Zencastr

Joseph Adevai (@theupgradepjoe)

Real stories, real faith, real change.

You’re not broken. You’re just due for an upgrade.

The Upgrade is the Grace Church podcast about real stories, real faith, and the breakthroughs that change everything. Hosted by Pastor Joe Adevai, each episode takes you from stuck to set free—with wisdom, laughter, and zero church fluff.

The Upgrade Podcast