Preacher: I wanted to give a brief comment on a man that passed away early Thursday morning, Rev. Earl Freeland. Rev. Freeland was the first pastor that I had and while I was only 7 years old when he retired I still can remember some of the stories he told during his sermons. He is the man that performed the ceremony for my sister's wedding. More importantly it was his sermon 21 years ago that the Holy Spirit used to stir my heart and that night I prayed to Christ and told him to be Lord of my life...He took me up on the offer!

But probably even more important than that, Rev. Freeland was the pastor of the church when my mom first went to church in her high school years. And he is the reason mom clung so hard to The Alliance Church and why my sister, my brother, and I were raised in the church. He is probably the reason why all 3 of us profess Jesus Christ as Lord, which gave us great peace during the time of my brother's death more than 2 years ago now.

Preacher Freeland, as we called him, was a MAN in the pulpit and his charisma and passion for the word of God really played an instrumental role in my life and my calling to be a pastor/preacher/ or whatever the heck people want to call me. There are few in the world I might have more respect for than Rev. Earl Freeland, for now and for the rest of my life.