Brother John Durrett

Who would have thought that after 29 years the Lord would lead me and my family to Lula, Georgia. We spent 21 years living in Maryland. I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and recall visiting Spoken Word Church in the late 80’s with my dad. I had no idea as a pre-teen back then that God had a plan to bring me back to Lula as an adult with a family to sit under this ministry, but God knew all about it. As a teenager growing up in the Message, I  knew God was real, but I and my siblings struggled to serve Him. Eventually I went to college in Maryland, and my high school girlfriend, Elisha, went to a college in Barnesville, Georgia.

Although I went to college with my Bible, and had a picture of Jesus over my bed in my dorm room, I lived just like the world. In 1998, Elisha transferred up to Maryland. There we lived the typical “college” life: school, work, parties, and break-ups. It was not until 1999 that things began to change. I met some other students who wanted to study the Bible, and as I studied with them, I recalled the Message I heard when I was young. I started praying in earnest.

Around that same time God was dealing with my brother who still lived in Atlanta. One night in September of 1999, he called me in desperation about a dream he had. He said that I should leave that church and listen to the messages “Thirst” and “Satan’s Eden” by Brother Branham. Amazingly, a major storm caused all classes to be canceled the next day, so I was able to find those messages online and listen to them. This was the start of God opening my eyes. One of the guys that I was studying the Bible with came over that weekend and I shared with him why I could not go back to his church, and about the prophet. 

As I drove him home later that day, still telling him more about the prophet, I heard myself saying, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” When I said those words, the power of God came into the car, and Jesus Christ became real to me. I started crying and had to pull off the road and allow him to drive. I could say little more for the rest of the ride, but as soon as I dropped him off I rushed back to the college campus and shared with Elisha what happened. We met outside to talk and a little after that she went back inside to get a jacket. While standing in the field outside, God started dealing with me again. I ran back inside and met Elisha at the door of our dorm building. We went to my dorm room where the power of God continued to move on me. I have never been the same since that day!

 Elisha and I prayed and talked all night. The next day, Sunday, we found our way to a Message church. Over the next couple of weeks, God transformed both our lives, also revealing to me that Elisha was to be my wife. Within a month we were married and moved off campus. We remained faithful at that church in Maryland, and as the years passed, we welcomed three children into our lives, and grew in the Word. Things were really comfortable and we would have remained there if God did not allow things to start shaking up.

I knew in the back of my mind that Georgia was on the radar because the company I joined in Maryland had its headquarters in Atlanta. I believed God was going to use that to get me back to Atlanta. Sure enough, God led us to leave the church there after some changes, and for the next few years we were not very settled. About this time I began traveling internationally with my family for work. In 2016 on my birthday, while in the Philippines, I got a call from my boss saying that the Maryland office was closing, and they may be going to either our Jeffersonville, Indiana office or to our Atlanta, Georgia office. We started praying!

Eventually it was settled that it would be Atlanta. We began visiting Atlanta helping to arrange the department move. The week before Thanksgiving of 2016 we visited Spoken Word Church for the first time as adults. We enjoyed the Word and were warmly invited to stay and enjoy the Thanksgiving potluck meal. Wow! That day we understood that this may be our church in Atlanta. A couple of years later the United Moving Company’s 18-wheeler with the eagle on the side loaded our belongings in Maryland. We were bound for Georgia!

From the first day of coming full time to Spoken Word Church in 2018, we have been  blessed by the ministry and life of Brother Dale and the ministry in the church. It did not take long for us to realize that we needed this teaching. Brother Dale’s slow, steady, and solid teaching, along with the other ministers under him, has helped, and is still helping, to put together all the many things we heard over the years. Additionally, Brother Dale’s and Sister Peggy’s marriage has been a living testimony to us both. Spoken Word Church is a blessing to us, and I am in awe of how the Lord coordinated all the details of Elisha’s and my life to bring us here in this season of our lives. Thank the LORD!