I recently was preaching in Clanton, Alabama. That church is really on the move. They have so many young couples, children and youth. Rev. Larry Anderson is giving super leadership.

One of the first people I met was Bryan Prescott. He was one of the co-chairs of the Renewal-09 event.

Bryan offered to give a testimony at church one night. I was extremely impressed with his witness. I asked him to write down his testimony and the following is what he shared with me:

I grew up in Montgomery.   My family and I went to an Episcopal Church in Montgomery.   I was very active in the Church until my senior year in high school.   That year, my father was killed in a hunting accident.   About two months later, my cousin was killed in a car accident.   About two months after that, a mentor of mine died.   About two months after that, my best friend was killed in a car accident.   

After these deaths, I hated God for what I thought he had done to me.   I ran as far away from him as I could.  I began abusing drugs and alcohol. I continued to do this for some time trying to fill a void in my life.   I ended up going to college where I was able to quit using drugs for the most part.   However, I continued to abuse alcohol.   I really don’t know how I graduated from college because I basically drank my way through college.  After college, my grandfather talked me into going to law school…  I went to law school where I succeeded.  

After law school, I began working for a large law firm in Montgomery.   However, I still abused alcohol.  None of this seemed to satisfy me.  

A drinking buddy of mine began going to Frazer.   I began to see the changes in his life.  One day, he asked me to come to Frazer. I decided to go.  At Frazer, I began to listen to John Schmidt and John Ed Mathison’s sermons. Their sermons began convicting my heart.  I ended up moving in with my grandmother in Clanton, AL.   However, I continued to drive back and forth to Frazer on Sundays to hear them preach. 

One day, my uncle invited me to FUMC – Clanton.  He told me they had a contemporary worship service. I went and immediately fell in love in Brother Larry, Elevate, and all of the singers. I want to thank FUMC for offering a contemporary worship service.   I love my church family here and am glad to be a part of it.  

I also want to be honest, the more I grow in my Christian walk to more I have learned to appreciate the traditional style of worship.  I now understand the words to the music and why they worship the way they do.  I am glad to be a part of FUMC where we have both because I know we all worship the same God and Jesus Christ. We are all in this thing together.