Pastor: Danny Neal
I have been happily married to my high school sweetheart Jeanna for 30 years. We have four beautiful children; Jessica, Hannah, Daniel & wife, Brook and their daughter Maci, and Jaci, our youngest. I was raised in church as a child. My parents made sure we attended church. Not only did we learn biblical truths from church, we were taught at home. My parents believed God’s Word about training up a child. When I was eight years old my family decided to join the church where we were attending. The pastor asked us about our salvation and I said I was saved. I was baptized knowing for certain that I was not saved.
For ten years I lived a life of fear. I knew if Jesus returned, or if I died, I would not go to heaven, but hell would be my destination. I remember getting up in the middle of the night to look out of my window thinking Christ was coming back. I was terrified. I was active in church. I was singing in the choir, doing usher duties, and my wife and I were even helping with the youth program. Me? I was a lost man doing church work.
God was gracious and kept dealing with me about my lost condition. I wanted to be saved, but I wondered what everybody would think. I finally got rid of my pride and on the last Sunday of October 1987 I came forward and asked Jesus to save me and be Lord of my life. What a journey I have been on!
Since my conversion, God has allowed me to experience His blessings as well as hard times. It was during one of these hard times at our church that God called me to preach. I did not run from this call, but I did allow the circumstances in my life to overshadow the calling God had given me. Again, God was gracious and merciful. I continued working for the Lord in the church. God allowed my wife and I to become the youth leaders. However, in the midst of all of this, God never stopped calling me to preach.
On March 30, 2008, I finally surrendered to His calling. My life has not been the same since. After months of preaching at various churches and other revivals and functions, God called me away from my home church to start a new congregation. We started out meeting in my home for a couple of months and then outgrew our small house! We began to look for a more permanent place. God blessed us by being able to meet in an elementary school for seven years. Now, God has blessed us with our very own building in Corryton, TN. We believe He has us here for a reason. Through it all, God has been with us and God has been good to us. We are experiencing the joy of serving God. I get up each morning just wondering what God has in store for me that day. He never fails me! I can’t help but praise Him. Why? Because His mercy endures forever!