Bishop Tempers Message With Climate of Acts
"What began as an explosion at Bethel was largely due to the presence of Gil Glover in that place...It's because he's one of the first persons to impregnate our minds with the reality of stewardship," Bishop Rudolph McKissick, Jr. said at First A.M.E. Church during the church and pastor's 17th anniversary celebration.
First A.M.E. Pastor Gillard S. Glover relocated to Jacksonville in 1983 and later joined Bethel Baptist Institutional Church as a minister. Prior to that, he was an attorney in New York. He founded First A.M.E. Church in 1992.
McKissick, senior pastor of Bethel Baptist, was the recent speaker, bringing his congregation to First A.M.E. and his choir turning their vocal abilities to higher heights.
National Success With Sermons, CDs
Glover expressed his view of McKissick as his brother and one of the nation's best preachers.
McKissick's own musical blessing has produced three Word and Worship CDs for which he has received national acclaim. He's noted in The African-American Pulpit as one of the "Twenty to Watch." He's had sermons published in several books and publications.
He tempered his message with the climate of Acts 16:25-29, exposing Paul and Silas' incarceration as a result of their faithfulness to the call on their lives, rather than God's anger.
McKissick Tells Church: Stay Put
McKissick's sermon was titled, "Stay Put." He preached about how Paul and Silas stayed put after an earthquake erupts, the jailhouse doors open, and their chains were loosened.
He said to stay put during life's challenges "because you don't grow in the delightful places of life. You grow in struggles...in pain...in hardships...in obstacles...in difficulties.
"The reality is God is developing disciples and will do what's best," McKissick said. "He will do this through the situations in life that we do not like."
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