The sanctuary of Faith Fellowship was full of attendees to hear Brian Cole speak. – Photo by Sarah Beth Radomsky
LUCK – Brian Cole, a former convict turned evangelist, delivered a testimony of transformation during the Sunday morning service at Faith Fellowship on Sunday, Feb. 23. The event, hosted by Pastor Ken Mettler, drew community members to hear Cole’s story of overcoming a 33-year life of crime, drug addiction and satanism through faith. The two met at a Gideons conference the prior fall, and Cole had agreed to come to speak at Mettler’s invitation.
Cole, who spent 27 years in prison, recounted his troubled past, including arrests starting at age 14 and a federal sting operation that led to a decade-long sentence after robbing 250 homes. He described a life spiraling deeper into addiction and the occult, culminating in an 18-year sentence for shooting a man in a love triangle dispute. It was in a county jail cell in January 2009, facing additional charges, that Cole said he found redemption.
“I was 44, with 15 years hanging over my head,” Cole said. “I’d despised Christians my whole life, but a Gideon Bible and a faith-based program changed everything.” He cited a psalm he read as part of a recovery program he participated in to rid himself of a meth addiction, Psalm 51:7, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean,” as a turning point, echoing rituals he once performed in the occult but now saw in a new way. Two weeks later, on Jan. 22, 2009, Cole embraced Christianity.
Since his release after serving 15 months, Cole has devoted his life to ministry. For 14 years, he traveled the U.S., speaking for groups like the Gideons and serving with Faith Riders Motorcycle Ministry, Prison Fellowship, and Good News Jail and Prison Ministry. He also pastored full time, including a four-and-a-half-year stint as youth pastor at an Evangelical Free church in Stanley.
Cole stepped back from itinerant ministry 18 months ago to focus on his growing church and family. “The Lord pushed me to be a shepherd here,” he said, noting that his current speaking engagements are now rare and mostly local. Married for 15 years, Cole expressed pride in his sons, Isaiah, Dylan and Lance, and their dogs, Rose and Luke.
Mettler praised Cole’s message. “His story shows God’s grace can reach anyone,” he said. The service, open to all, included worship and a call for attendees to seek faith, with Cole emphasizing forgiveness as key to his transformation.
Cole plans to speak at a Gideon convention in Colorado in April with his son Dylan, continuing to share how a small Bible in a jail cell altered his life’s course.
