A Passionate Voice And a Moral Vision

摘要

When Bishop Gilbert Patterson began his sermon at the Temple of Deliverance church in Memphis one recent Sun -day, his voice started off soft and velvety. He compared the struggles of Israel's King David to the trials of today's youth who are besieged by drugs and violence. "You are engaged in spiritual warfare," he told them, his voice now rising and his finger jabbing toward heaven. "But the same God that delivered you yesterday... is going to stand up for you and deliver you from all the plots that Satan will put in front of you." By the end, Patterson was stomp -ing, clutching the air, roaring verses as a keyboardist accompanied him. Calls of "Hallelujah!" and "Come on, Bishop!" erupted from the thou- sands of ecstatic souls quivering in the sanctuary. "If [God] has anointed you," Patterson belted out in near song, "you've got to walk in that anointing until you finally get to your purpose!"