Ken Pierpont's Blog, page 143
December 5, 2012
A Little Christmas Music
When Hope was about seven I recorded her singing a little Christmas greeting. I like to re-post it at Christmas. We mean it every year. Merry Christmas
Or download this mp3 Merry Christmas

December 3, 2012
A Scowling Witness at Christmastime
Corner of Eureka and Telegraph. Last Saturday before Christmas. Shoppers bustling. Festive excitement in the air. Busy sidewalks. Heavy traffic. Starbucks is selling Ginger Bread Lattes, Egg Nog Coffees and Peppermint Mochas. There’s line wrapping around the Holiday Ham Store. Shoppers are rushing about in mittens and scarves with their treasures. It’s cold.
A man is standing on the corner where the traffic comes to a stop. He is holding up a Santa doll. He has a sign–”Santa is Satan.” He is scowling at everyone in general. He’s shouting at the traffic. His breath forms a little fog cloud in front of his face. He’s demanding repentance of the shoppers.
“If you tell your children there is a Santa, you are a liar. Hell is for liars. Consider your ways. Repent.”
Watching him my impulse is to roll down the window and encourage him to repent for confusing people about the gospel out there in front of Taco Bell.
A Right Way and a Wrong Way
If we were to compare doctrinal statements, I’m sure they would be similar. It wouldn’t surprise me if the fellow is a fellow Baptist. I’m all for witnessing in public. I admire his courage. I’m not against street-preaching. Open-air public proclamation of the gospel has a rich and honorable history. Jesus did it. Paul and the apostles did it. Faithful preachers down through human history have done it. My hero Charles Spurgeon did it and taught other to do it.
I have a friend, Brian Harmon (pictured above) who is a missionary with a group called “Open-Air Campaigners.” He goes where the people are. He preaches in parks and public places. Though he has opposition and sometimes heckling, his manner is kind and loving. He doesn’t use hateful placards. He doesn’t pelt people with “gospel rocks.”
When I was a student at Moody fellow students had an active Street-Preaching outreach. They were creative and engaging, but they did not verbally abuse and attack the public. They were ernest, but they joyfully proclaimed the gospel as the good news it is.
Google-up some videos of Ray Comfort’s faithful public ministry. He is often able to draw people into sincerely considering the truth of the Gospel with a series of pointed questions. In Greg Laurie’s biography Lost Boy, he tells of how, before he knew the Lord, he would listen to the open-air preachers from out at the edge of the crowd. This was in California during the Jesus Movement. He would gather their pamphlets and take them home and read them in his room. Eventually he came to faith. He now conducts evangelistic meetings with thousands in attendance in public stadiums.
It’s Christmas. That’s Good News!
All that said, I don’t think Jesus would do what the good man with the bad attitude on the corner was doing that last weekend before Christmas.
Don’t kid yourself, Heaven and Hell are Life-and-death matters. Nothing is more serious or sobering, but still folks, keep in mind–the gospel is good news. It’s Christmas folks. This is a happy time. It’s a time for carols and feasts and giving and reunions and love. It’s a Christian time. People go to church, they give gifts. They sing songs about Jesus. Don’t scare them off. Introduce them to the One they are singing about. Be a witness. Be a public witness and when you do, please, be a smiling witness.
Joy is evidence to the world that God can fully satisfy the human heart.
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
December 4, 2012

November 26, 2012
The Christmas Squeeze
Christmas pressures have a way of bringing out the real you. Have you noticed?
I’m at the mall Christmas shopping. I’m waiting at the curb. A car pulls up. A dear, sweet, old, grandmother-type opens the door and gets out. Her husband is dropping her off so she won’t have to walk far.
What happens next I will never be able to get out of my mind. If I had this scene on YouTube it would go viral. She puts her purse over her shoulder and closes the door. Her husband sees a parking place open up close-by. He is checking his rear-view mirror to see if he can dart over there. He does not look back at his wife, but he hears the door close and assumes it is safe to drive away. He guns his engine to be sure he gets the coveted parking spot before anyone else can. His haste will cost him.
What he does not see is that when the door closes his wife’s purse strap is caught in the door. She has the purse securely over her shoulder. When he races away she is spun around and thrown to the ground. I run out to help her to her feet, but see refuses my hand, ignores me. She scrambles to her feet and begins to vomit out vile profanity. I back away to a safe distance.
He parks the car. She stalks over and gets in. He sits at the wheel staring silently forward. I walk out to my car and drive back carefully to pick up my family. When I pass the car I can still hear her using her bar-room vocabulary on him.
She looked for all the world like a sweet little old lady… until she opened her mouth. Then everyone within a city block knew that her heart was as foul as a sewer.
Jesus said a good person out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things but an evil person out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things. I want my heart to be a treasure of good things–even when I skin my knee–at Christmas.
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
November 26, 2012

November 19, 2012
What Should I Do With the Rest of My Life?
Last week I conducted a funeral for a young lady who was only 28 years old. Her name was April. When she died unexpectedly at home she was five months pregnant.
She was buried in a cemetery within a short walk of our neighborhood. The morning of the graveside service was sunny. I conducted the service in a small chapel and dismissed the family inviting them to a dinner at the church. They were reluctant to leave. They stood around under a tree talking. The workers stood out of sight and shuffled their feet and smoked politely waiting for the family to return to their cars. Finally someone said, “Can we watch the burial?”
All the guests walked across the cemetery to the grave and waited until April’s body was lowered into the ground. On that walk I looked at gravestones. I calculated the life-spans of those whose bodies were buried there. My mind was filled with sober thoughts about how many more years of life I will have to live. Of course I’d like to live a healthy life and die preaching at 100. If that happens then I’ve only lived a little more than half my life. Reading the gravestones, though, that seems unlikely. I didn’t see any who lived to be 100. Most of them lived into their 70′s.
With deep solemnity I began to wonder what I could accomplish for Christ and His kingdom, if I only have twenty years to live. What will I do with the next twenty years of my life, should God allow me to live two more decades?
Dark Temptation
Sometimes I wrestle with a dark temptation to arrange a life of ease for myself. I am tempted to placate and pacify the people around me so that my life is easy and predictable. Sometimes I am tempted to gather familiar and cherished things and people around me and create a little kingdom with me at the center. I’m tempted to make easy choices, to prioritize comfort, and to create a soft, comfortable routine for myself. I’m tempted to find a green pasture and “nibble around the edges” of ministry.
What Is Expected of Pastors
I’ve been a pastor all my adult life and most of my adolescence. My Grandfather and Dad and two brothers and a son are pastors. I’ve read pastors and listened to pastors and spent time with pastors for years. I have a pretty good sense of what many expect from pastors. Pastors are often considered professional “nice guys” who are skilled at keeping people happy, talking in holy abstractions, and staying out of the way when people are grappling with the raw realities of living. We are pressured to confine our role to conducting ceremonies, dispensing platitudes, delivering harmless homilies and then stepping out of the way while people wrestle with the blood, sweat, tears, toil, grief, guilt and shame of life. We are often shouldered to the margins of life. We’re not always sure where to stand, what to say, and what to do with our hands. We are pressured to contribute valiantly to the general inertia of the church. To protect our modest livelihoods we are expected to see to it that people get what they expect.
When the apostles visited a town it was common for a revival and a riot to break out simultaneously. They often had to flee for their lives to the next town to keep from being martyred. Occasionally people would follow them to the next town to finish the job. They laid down their lives and changed the world. We modern pastors are trained to sip tea and speak in harmless abstractions. The early apostles were men who moved continents for God. When they spoke people’s hearts were stabbed. They grabbed people by the throat with their preaching and demanded change of Kings and peasants. We are expected to feed people their milk, powder their bottoms, change their diapers and tuck them in for a nap — anything to keep them from fussing.
Something is Stirring
If you have read this far you can tell that lately I’ve had a stirring deep in my soul. I have a strong sense of resistance in my heart when people who love me and care about me warn me to live cautiously and to move slowly and to be careful not to expect too much too fast. I’ve spent too much of my life following the “move slowly” model. That’s a good motto for people who are paving the road to hell for millions. Life is short and millions will go to hell if things don’t change and soon. I’ve spent much of my life trying to keep people happy who are unwilling to change things that really should be changed. I’m not sure that is what God wants me to do with the rest of my life. I’m sure that’s not what Jesus did with his short life.
I want to live the rest of my life boldly. I want to accomplish things that matter and things that last, not just maintain the status-quo and prostitute the Christian ministry for my own comfort. I want to inspire hundreds of people to live boldly and join Christ on his mission. I want to challenge them to do what needs to be done. I want to inspire them to give what needs to be given. I want to motivate them to go where they need to go. I want to convince them to change what needs to be changed, to pursue the mission of Jesus.
I want to make disciples and win souls and challenge others to join me. I want to live on a mission right here in one of the greatest mission-fields on earth. I want to resist the spirit of the age and call people to repentance. I want to train people to start Jesus groups and Jesus clusters every day everywhere I go. I want to use the time I have to do the work of God. I pastor a church of 600 members. The church is named Evangel — Good News. I want to help the 600 members of Evangel to live up to their name.
For whatever years I have left I want to follow the advice of the great Baptist missionary William Carey, who said; “Attempt great things for God. Expect great things from God.”
Ken Pierpont
November 19, 2012
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan

What Would Happen?
Yesterday was “Thanksgiving Sunday” at Evangel. It was a wonderful day. The music was beautiful and Heidi, Austin and wee Keira Lee (our granddaughter) were with us. It was easy to be thankful. I am filled with thanksgiving, but I am also deeply burdened about our nation and the state of the church in America.
I’ve been listening to fascinating talks on the history of revival by the late J. Edwin Orr. http://www.jedwinorr.com/audio.htm I’m longing for genuine revival to touch my heart, my family, our church and this once-great nation. Yesterday I challenged the people of Evangel and my own heart for follow the advice of Evan Roberts that contributed to the great Welsh Revival.
-Confess all known sin.
-Put away any doubtful habit.
-Obey the Spirit immediately.
-Openly confess Christ
I want to challenge the Stonebridge readers to do the same. What would happen in your heart, your home, your church, this great nation if we followed that simple, biblical advice?

November 12, 2012
America Needs Revival
Lately my heart has been heavy over how America is turning away from the God who made her great. She has set aside the Book of God. She has disregarded the law of God. She is unconcerned about the favor of God. She has squandered the blessing of God. She has lost her fear of God. She is fascinated with play and bored with prayer. She has banished Him from the courts and the schools and the public square.
She wants to ignore God but demand his protection and provision and prosperity. I tremble to think of what the America of my children and grandchildren will be like. I pray He will strengthen them to be among the remnant of those who are faithful to God. I pray that by the mercy of God he will send a revival and they will have experience of seeing a nation turn back to God.
When my heart is heavy for America and for the American church I pray and read old things written by people who experienced revival first hand. I watch old interviews and videos by preachers like Leanord Ravenhill. Recently I read this from one of his messages:
I remember a series of meetings we had in Wales in 1949. After three days a lady, Mrs. Lewis, said to me, “Brother Ravenhill, this is the nearest thing to the Welsh revival that we’ve had.” That was forty years after the Welsh revival. “Mrs. Lewis, what’s the point of identification?” “Because we walk up the hill now as we walked then.” And she explained, “Last night, the night before, the night before that,” she said “it wasn’t until we got to the cross roads and bid each other ‘good night,’ that we realized that nobody had said a word. We were so awed with the majesty and the presence of God.”
Tonight I pray that once again the children of America will go to sleep listening to the mummer of their parents prayers in the next room. I pray that God will fill the churches of America again with people young and old earnestly seeking God. I pray that we will enjoy the experience of walking home silently awed by the presence and the majesty of God. Silent with conviction. Hungry for God.
Ken Pierpont
November 12, 2012
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan

November 8, 2012
Ruth Graham’s Gravestone
Grey November is upon us today but the sun is warming the earth and the thought of Thanksgiving just two weeks from today warms my soul. In the Downriver we’ve had some frost and in Granville Cottage a fire burns every evening. Dan turns 21 today. He is at college in Grand Rapids. Kyle and Heidi have started families of their own, but the house is still full of people and life and love every night. I hope your life is filled with love and peace and joy and warmth, too. Maybe today’s story will help contribute to that.
I was speaking at camp a couple summers ago and I told a story about Ruth Graham, the wife of world-famous evangelist, Billy Graham. For effect I withheld the name Billy Graham until the last line. The students really didn’t seem all that impressed with my story. In the lunch line a bit later I discovered why. A young camper came up to me with lines in his forehead and said, “Now who IS Billy Graham?” Most of the campers that week had been born since the year 2000, so few of them knew who Billy Graham is.
Billy is now over 90. His wife Ruth died in 2007. She was a dynamic Christian. She accomplished a great deal and wrote beautiful books and poems from her log home in the mountains of North Carolina. She personally planned and supervised the construction of her mountain home and had it built from local stone and logs. She named it Little Piney Cove. Everyone who knew her agreed she was a remarkable woman. Billy would frequently say she was a much greater Christian than he.
He has written a wonderfully biographical book called Nearing Home. In the book he tells about what Ruth chose to have written on her tombstone. Her grave stone is simple and rough. None of her accomplishments are listed there. The epitaph is from a road sign she once saw. It simply reads “end of construction–thank you for your patience.”
You may have noticed, people can often be quirky and irritating, even Christians, even the best of us. The people that you love the most will test your patience, bush your buttons and get under your skin. Today, when you are tempted to be impatient with people imagine a sign hanging around their neck. “Under Construction.”
The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to a small Jesus group in Macedonia, in the City of Thessalonica. Closing the letter he penned these simple words, “…we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the unruly, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with all…” (1 Thess. 5:14)
Remember, you are under construction too. Thank you for your patience.
Ken Pierpont
November 8, 2012
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan

Press the Issue
Date: November 4, 2012 AM
Title: Press the Issue
Speaker: Ken Pierpont
Series: Matthew’s Gospel
Text: Matthew 21:28-32

October 27, 2012
Jesus is Hungry, Do You Care?
Date: October 21, 2012 AM
Title: Jesus is Hungry. Do You Care?
Speaker: Ken Pierpont
Series: Matthew’s Gospel
Text: Matthew 21:18-27
Place: Evangel Baptist Church–Taylor, Michigan

What Makes Jesus Angry?
Date: October 14, 2012 AM
Title: What Makes Jesus Angry?
Text: Matthew 21:12-17
Series: Matthew’s Gospel, The Stories and Teachings of Jesus Christ
Speaker: Ken Pierpont
