Pleasant Grove

Last night I visited Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Wren, just south of Moulton, Alabama. Chris McDaniel, formerly with the country music group Confederate Railroad, performed his music and gave his testimony. Chris was a former member of Confederate Railroad from 1984-2000. In 1992 his group received the ACM Award for New Group of the year and recorded his first No. 1 Single on the charts. He was nominated for CCMA Song of the Year.

Chris received salvation at the age of 15. Life continued and he went in different directions seeking a music career. In 2000, on Easter Sunday, he found himself in rehab for the third time with a sixty thousand dollar a year drug habit. He decided this time to give the problem to God.

He became a pianist at Unity Baptist Church in Rossville, where he played for over a year. On Jan. 19, 2003, he did his first concert of Contemporary Christian music.He is now involved with Heartbound Ministries, which is a prison ministry.

It was an awesome time of worship and encouragement. The pastor also delivered a short, but practical and convicting message about the reality of hell. He spoke about the reality (from the Bible) of who will be there and what it will be like for those who are there. He challenged non-Christians to accept Christ and shun hell. He challenged Christians to visit, call, and/or write to people that we know that we are not sure about where they will spend eternity and share with them the Good News.