Matt's Testimony

I come from a very loving family.  My mom and dad are Christians, however they are more Sunday School Christians.  I have a sister who is 22.  Our parents never forced us into attending church.  We occassionally went to Sunday School and very rarely went to big church.  When I was 12 years old, we had left late for Sunday School.  When I got to my class, I had to sit in the back of the class away from my friends.  Of all Sundays to come in late, I was tardy to the one when we had a "test".  My teacher had passed out a test with one question..."what is your testimony?"  What a question.  After looking around and realizing that I had no one to copy off of, I had no other choice to write down my answer..."what is a testimony?" 

Later that week, Bro. Art Horne called me and asked if he could come by and visit.  He shared with me the same story of Jesus love for me, that He died for me, and so on that I had heard numerous times before, but this time was different. This time I knew this was a decision that I had to make, so right there on my living room floor I prayed to receive Christ.  What added to the "coolness" of that moment was when my sister came barging into the room(after eavesdropping on our conversation) saying that she wanted to do the same thing!  How awesome is that.

A few weeks later on Easter Morning, my sister and I were baptized at Central Baptist Church in Magnolia, AR.  However, over the next few years I never truly followed Christ.  My 10th grade year I was invited to a Disciple Now Weekend.  That weekend God showed me where I was in my walk(nowhere), where I should be(with Him), and how to get back on track.  That weekend I re-dedicated my life to Christ.  After that weekend, I plugged myself into the youth ministry of our church and built some relationships that are just as strong today. 

The summer before my senior year in high school, God decided once again to use a Disciple Now Weekend as a benchmark in my life.  Our youth minister, Dick Bagwell, had asked me to lead a bible study in one of the host homes.  I happily agreed!  However, I was given the 7th graders.  These guys weren't just 7th graders, they were the misfits of the 7th grade.  God's power was never more evident than that weekend.  He allowed me to minister to those youth through relationship and in the process called me into full-time ministry.

I then attended college at Southern Arkansas University (the Muleriders).  I still stayed active in my home church along with getting plugged into the Baptist Student Union on campus.  It was during my college years that God defined my specific call to ministry(students--youth/college) by working at Crosspoint Chrsitian Sports Camps and serving as an interim youth minister. 

I met my beautiful wife, Cassie Brewer, at SAU during my senior year.  I stayed around in Magnolia and worked as the Assistant Campus Minister of the BCM at SAU until our wedding on June 14, 2003.  We moved to Fort Worth, TX right after the honeymoon where I am attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  My testimony does not end here.  I have no clue what will happen next in my life, but one quote that remains in my daily walk with Christ is....

"If your testimony is more than a day old, I don't want to hear it."
                                                              --D.L. Moody