From Gold to Glory

By Jerry Cummings

"This inspiring book chronicles the life of Jerry Cummings, the legendary lead tenor for the ever-famous Harold Melvin &the Blue Notes. It details his rise with Teddy Pendergrass to the top of the music world. His inspiring ministry is a reminder to all who read this book of the wonders and powers of God in our lives."

James

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Sep 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781637692493

Book preview

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From Gold to Glory

Autobiography, Revised Edition

Jeremiah Jerry Cummings

Trilogy Christian Publishers

TUSTIN, CA

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2021 by Jeremiah Cummings/Jerry Cummings

All scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version and New International Version of the Holy Bible unless otherwise noted. Public domain.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, CA 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-1-63769-248-6

ISBN: 978-1-63769-249-3 (ebook)

Contents

Dedication v

Foreword vi

Introduction ix

Growing Up 1

First Time Experiences 26

On My Own 36

Dreams Do Come True 46

Becoming The Classic Blue Note 57

What When On Behind Closed Doors 71

Leaving The Blue Notes 91

Returning to the Nation of Islam 109

The Glory Years: From the Crescent to the Cross 125

...Reflections 129

No Matter What! 158

About the Author 163

Dedication

My great helpers:

Edward Lambese for his artistic designs;

Otis Williams, founder of The Temptations, and LaMonte McLemore, founder of The Fifth Dimension, two brothers I have known for over forty-five years;

Harold Melvin for giving me the opportunity to be a Blue Note and reaching the status of Gold & Platinum;

Bishop T. D. Jakes for anointing me and praying for me in July of 1997;

My glorious wife, Gloria Maria Cummings, for being a true helpmeet in my life and sharing with me her many years of wisdom in the house of God, and demonstrating to me what true love looks like and is.

Foreword

Jerry Cummings had a passion for singing and traveling the world from his childhood to adulthood. In his pursuit of fulfilling his dreams, he met numerous people, learned a magnitude of life’s lessons, both good and bad, and had to press through people we can call dream killers that would give him all the reasons why he couldn’t make it to stardom. But Jerry’s grandmother, Florence, instilled a daily prayer habit in him as a young child that stayed with him his entire life as he traveled around the world. She taught Jerry that he could pray to God, and God will listen to him. She told him many times that God may not come when you want Him to, but He’s always on time. Jerry learned that God was in the midst of every circumstance in his life, and it was nobody but God that gave him life when others wanted him to die.

Jerry lived his dream and got to experience things he searched for and many things that he didn’t even bargain for. After his success and travels, God reminded Jerry of a promise he made to Him as a young man. Jerry had told God that if He allowed him to become a professional entertainer, meet Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, perform on Soul Train and The Midnight Special, whatever God wanted him to do afterward, he would do it.

Well, God did everything Jerry asked Him to do and allowed him to meet all the people he wanted to meet, and afterward, God reminded Jerry of his vow. At this turning point in his life, Jerry began searching for God, realizing that the success of gold and platinum albums and popularity was only a shadow of what he was really searching for. He left the Nation of Islam and came to Christ, began his ministry, and traveled the world again, but this time as an international evangelist, an author, a songwriter, and producer and is called a master teacher of the Holy Word of God.

I’ve concluded, after knowing and conversing with my husband, Jerry Cummings, that he longed for celebrity status, and as a result, he set out on an adventurous life voyage on the open seas of life to discover whatever gold he could find…but glory was found in his life’s quest. And in the land and life he migrated, it made him much richer than his deepest dream, and he discovered that wealth wasn’t really in what he has in his bank account, and neither is it determined by the type of car he may own, or defined by the mansion he may build, but true wealth is in what he has in his heart filled with the glory of God. With this thought, this is how Jerry has come to the title of this book, From Gold to Glory.

Dr. Gloria Maria Cummings

Introduction

As I reminisce on the teachings of my late grandmother, Florence, who raised me from birth until I was nine years old, I thought about her saying things like, Our God can do anything but fail, and He may not come when you want Him to, but He is always on time. I endured many trials of life, countless betrayals, and many experiences in my life as I pushed through oppositions that many times have pressured many other people to throw their hands up and give up.

I met great men and had personal relationships with them, such as Minister Louis Farrakhan, whom I was personally mentored by while in the Islamic faith for ten years. He was a man whom I loved deeply and respected, but God spoke to my heart and directed me to leave Islam and seek His face only in 1996.

I began to read from the book of Isaiah, and I came across Isaiah 9:6 (KJV): For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. My mind was illuminated, and revelation began to pour into my soul as this scripture sparked a search into my heart to seek this out because I remembered reading from the Koran about the virgin birth of Jesus and His ministry in Sura 3:42 that I never heard taught as a former Muslim. In that verse, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her to be submissive to thy Lord. Verse 44 says, When the angel said: O Mary surely God gives thee good news of a word from Himself of one whose name is The Messiah Jesus one who is worthy of praise in this world and in the hereafter (Sura 3:42; 44, translator Maulana Muhammad Ali).

This good news in the Koran is very similar to the response of Mary in Luke 1:34 in the Bible. Here is the Koran response in verse 46, She said, ‘My Lord how can this be and no man has touched me.’ Gabriel said to Mary, ‘with God He creates what He pleases. When God decrees a matter He only says Be and it is.’

It was this knowledge that also became a turning point in my life as I began to look for myself in the guidance God had given me. Jesus says in the Koran, I heal the leprous the Blind see and the dead are raised (Sura 3:48).

Previously I had been taught that God appeared in the person of a man, even in Islam, so I knew that the Bible was telling me that God came in the person of Christ, the Messiah. As a result of this, I spent over thirteen months studying the Bible daily.

Afterward, God led me to fast for what I thought would be a few days, but I was unable to come off of it for forty-three days, and the knowledge I was acquiring completely wiped out my appetite. I lost weight to the point that people thought I was going to die but little did they know that they were absolutely right…because I was dying from the old me to a new me that came forth, and a new mind was in the process of being fashioned in me by God.

On the forty-third day, as I was seeking God in prayer, I began to speak in an unknown tongue (language), and as tears rolled down my face, God filled me with His Holy Spirit. It was then that I began writing a letter to my spiritual head minister Louis Farrakhan informing him I was resigning from Islam. Six days afterward, the minister refused my resignation. However, I had been on a Journey, and there was absolutely no return.

Approximately three weeks later, while flipping through the channels on the TV, I ran across a message by Bishop T. D. Jakes, who had recently moved his ministry called The Potter’s House to Dallas, Texas. He preached from Jeremiah 18:2-6 (KJV) that says,

Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

Supernaturally I heard a voice that said, Cannot I do to you as the potter did to the clay, oh Jeremiah Cummings?

Obedient to the voice of the Lord, in July 1997, I made my way to the Potter’s House. I was encouraged from hearing that message in Jeremiah 18, and I recall hearing in my soul the command to go down to the Potter’s House, and so I went, not knowing that I would be recognized by Bishop Jakes and hear him say from the pulpit, Jeremiah Cummings is here with us tonight. I would like to have all my ministers come forward and Jeremiah Cummings to come forth, and we will pray for him and lay hands on him tonight.

As I walked up, Bishop Jakes was standing in front of me as I was surrounded by his ministers and as the bishop anointed me with oil. With the laying on of all these hands, I felt something when Bishop Jakes said, From the crown of your head to the soul of your feet, no weapon formed against you shall prosper. From that moment on, I blanked out and heard nothing else. It was twenty-two years later, in 2019, that I again heard a voice that sounded like the late Bishop William C. Abney who baptized me in 2005 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, telling me to go back to the Potter’s House and see Bishop Jakes again because that’s where it all started. Afterward, I returned and visited Bishop Jakes and was well received by him.

Everything I have been through during the last twenty-two years was canceled and fell dead because, as Isaiah 10:27(b) (KJV) says, And the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. God knew the end from the beginning of my calling and that I would need this anointing from the Potter’s House in 1997 to rescue me from the enemies of His will.

Amazingly, now everything I had to go through finally made sense! I am blessed to be hearing the bishop again daily on television and YouTube,