This past weekend, I got to spend some time with one of my favorite persons - Kenneth Bishop. Anyone who's been following Southern Gospel Music for any length of time certainly remembers Kenneth from his days with the Bishops, singing between his two sons, Mark and Kenny.
Every now and then, we'll get questions from fans asking about Kenneth and what he's up to in his retirement. Well, as I learned this weekend, I'm not sure Kenneth's actually retired.
Every Tuesday, Kenneth leads a Bible study at a Richmond, KY, retirement/assisted living complex. He teaches a Sunday school class - not to mention all the other roles he has in his home church. He fills pulpits in area churches every now and then. He has a part-time job at the local Ace Hardware store to give him something to "piddle with," too.
He's still the same Godly man that we all grew to love as the Bishops journeyed through Southern Gospel Music. He still sets a Christian example and standard that even many pastors would have a hard time matching. I'll have to agree with what emcee Chris Champion said the other night when he introduced "Pappy" to the crowd: If the phrase "Godly man" was in the dictionary, Kenneth Bishop's picture would be right there next to it.
Pappy spent a lot of his time these past few days visiting with friends from literally all over the country. It was almost amazing to watch him greet people as they came into the venue - calling them by their first name, asking about their children which he also named, asking them about their parents (which he also named), asking about the town where they lived (which he also named) - getting the picture here?
Some days, I have a hard time remembering my name. Yet, here was Kenneth, making everyone feel right at home.
But more importantly, everyone in that place knew they were in the presence of someone special - even though he thinks differently.
We've all heard that the Spirit will bear witness in everyone's life if It's truly there. We've all encountered people who make the claim but have nothing to back it up with - but someone who is genuinely Spirit filled, in tune with the Lord and full of desire to be something for Him - is one that we don't we see often enough.
Go get that picture of Kenneth and let's use it again.
