Ken Pierpont's Blog, page 151

Dealing With Doubts

Date: 04/08/2012 11:00 AM

Title: Dealing with Doubts

Speaker: Ken Pierpont

Text: John 20:19-31

Charlie Franks

Sunday morning at Evangel we showed this video just before Charlie Franks baptism. It was a beautiful moment and it is what Evangel is all about. Enjoy…

Thanks so much to Chuk Pierpont for his work on the video.

What Church Should Be About

Thanks Chuk Pierpont for this project.

16:5 Conference in Rochester

Monday and Tuesday Kyle, Chuk, Wes and I took in the 16:5 Conference in Rochester, New York. WE all agreed this was one of the most helpful conferences we have ever attended. The ride home was seven hours. Our hearts were full and our minds were alive with ideas about how to lead our churches in making disciples. You will hear more about this in the near future. I keep up with their lead pastor, David Whiting here. It was good to connect with Mark Nelson, too. He is on the pastoral staff at the church.

Today I noticed someone from the GARBC office (I think it was Darrell Goemaat) got a nice picture of us while I was stuffing a banana in my face at the Conference. In spite of that, it was a happy moment. You can see that in the picture. We were chatting with Shane Miller, a staff member from Emmanuel Baptist in Toledo, Ohio.

The Story of the Weeds Among the Wheat

March 18, 2012 11:00 AM

The Story of the Weeds Among the Wheat

Speaker: Pastor Kenneth L. Pierpont

Series: Matthew's Gospel – Kingdom Stories

Matthew 13:24-43

Writing Cave

Jerry B. Jenkins is co-author of the amazingly popular Left Behind series. He is also the chairman of the board of the Moody Bible Institute. He is a prolific writer and a pretty irregular blogger, but I stumbled on an interesting blog post today. I am fascinated by the study places of pastors and the writing places of writers. I have had my study in an attic, a basement, a laundry rooms, a spare bedroom, the corner of a used bedroom, the corner of an old Grange Hall, on office in the Professional Center of Agriculture, and some of very nice studies custom-made just for me.

At the Character Inn I had an office and an inner study I called Narnia. Dan and Wes have great memories of that place. Part of their education happened there. Here at Evangel I have a beautiful place to work. I have an outer office were I can have larger meetings and classes and small committee meetings and I have an inner study with French Doors, a beautiful arched window and eleven-foot ceilings with book cases all the way to the ceilings on two walls.

But check out Jerry Jenkins' little writing "cave." Here is a photo and a link to his site.

Here is a link so you can salivate over the rest of his wonderful pictures.

Here is another

I think I could get a lot done here, what do you think?

PS note the special Moody Bible Institute rocker and chair. I think you have to be Alum of the Year to get one of these. I saw Uncle Johnny Johnson's (Holman Johnson from Barakel)>

Here is a video of one of the places where I work. Much of my writing happens in the corner of our bedroom, at the family table, or in the family room in my recliner…

Just Another Over-Sheltered Homeschool Kid

Thomas Lake is a pastor's kid who was homeschooled by his parents… and now writes riveting, prize-winning, narrative journalism for Sports Illustrated and other nationally-known publications. Here he speaks at his alma mater, Gordon College.

Sadness in the Stairwell

Lois and I discovered these ice cream bars in Israel last spring, but you can get them for about half the price right here in the Downriver.

In the fall of 1978 I started my second year of college. Always trying to find ways to fund my education I was delighted to have won a singing scholarship for the first semester of the year. My boyhood plan was to attend my Dad's alma mater on a basketball scholarship, but I'm a much better singer than I am a basketball player. My plans to attend college on a basketball scholarship never progressed beyond the "wild fantasy" stage and my Dad's alma mater was way out of my price-range.

So in the fall of 1978 I was happy to load my things into my little blue VW Beetle and head off to school early. Our singing group was preparing a tour of the West. I'd read about the West in the novels of Zane Grey and secretly dreamed about going out into the wide-open rugged and beautiful land. I day-dreamed about being the kind of hero featured in the stories, bold and good. In fact though, we lived in the suburbs and I struggled hard to hold my own when I was bullied and mocked in school. They were hard years for me that I would not wish on my worst enemy.

When I wasn't reading Zane Grey in my little room I was listening to John Denver. In my troubled adolescence I had memorized John Denver's Greatest Hits. With money from my job at the grocery I purchased a twelve-string guitar made by a nearly anonymous luthier called "Aspen," and learned to play all John Denver's Greatest Hits. I should have been very excited about a singing in Colorado, but in early September something happened that would dampen my enthusiasm for going West.

At a church picnic a saw a young lady with long brown hair and beautiful brown eyes who made me want to stay right were I was. It required all the charm I could marshall, but within a few days I was monopolizing her time. We were eating our meals together in the school Cafeteria and going out to eat on weekends in my VW. I blush to remember that sometimes I took her to a lakeside park and, accompanied by my big flat-top twelve-string, sang her my John Denver songs. I had no money so I had to be very creative.

From that September afternoon until our marriage exactly a year and a day later everything else in my life was secondary to winning that girl's heart. On Valentine's Day in 1979 I was climbing the stairs to a lecture hall. I reached a landing and looked out the window and saw something that immediately broke my heart. The street in front of the college was lined with delivery vehicles from flower shops delivering flowers to young ladies. None of them were for Lois.

I didn't have flower-money and it made me sick. Earlier in the fall Lois and I had gone to the campus post office to pick up our mail. In her box was a notification that she had a package. She was excited. I was curious. Her package was a dozen beautiful roses. Her face was flushed with excitement. I was filled with confused curiosity. The flowers were not from me. I couldn't afford such things. She opened the card and her enthusiasm turned to embarrassment. I wasn't the only one who had noticed her quiet charm and considerable beauty.

Last night I was driving home from church and remembered the sad day in the stair-well. The memory was triggered by a phone conversation with Lois. I had called home to see what was for diner and Lois hinted that she would like some ice cream. I was tired and it had been a long day. I was eager to get out of my suit and into my recliner, but then I remembered the stair-well, and the feeling of sad frustration in my stomach that day. I remembered how much I wished that day that I could do something to express my love for her. I went a little out of my way and spent a few dollars for some ice cream. It made her smile.

If you are like I am there are people all around you to love. We don't know how long that will be, but for now there are people to love all around you. Here's a bit of humble advice: You can't be everywhere. You can't do everything. For most of us our funds are limited. But while you have people around you to love, just do what you can, where you are, with what you have, right now.

Let me put that in poetic form for you so that it will stick with you:

If there's someone around who needs your love,

Do what you can

Where you are

With what you have

Right now.

Ken Pierpont

Granville Cottage

Riverview, Michigan

March 12, 2012

A Flyover of Habakkuk

Date: 03/11/2012 06:00 PM

Title: A Flyover of Habakkuk

Speaker: Ken Pierpont

Series: A Flyover of the Books of the Bible

Place: Evangel Baptist Church–Taylor, Michigan

The Parable of the Sower

Date: 03/11/2012 11:00 AM

Title: The Parable of the Sower

Speaker: Ken Pierpont

Series: Matthew's Gospel – Kingdom Stories

Text: Matthew 13:1-23

Place: Evangel Baptist Church–Taylor, Michigan