Ken Pierpont's Blog, page 158

Quiet Service

It's early and I have a full day starting with an early hospital call, meetings, people who need a visit from their pastor, two messages and a Sunday School lesson to prepare for, counseling and a dinner meeting all ahead of me today. I wanted to get an issue of the Stonebridge Newsletter out to you before my creativity was crushed with business.

Toward Prayer Meeting time last night the wind blew hard. Even the stubborn, now-yellow leaves in the Red Maple in the backyard were yielding their grip and blowing down. In the November sky the moon was full next to a bright star whose name I don't know. Still it's a beautiful time of the year. Our Heidi and her Austin live west of us across Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. We stay in close contact with them. She is going to have our first granddaughter in February, Lord willing. She says it's snowing there, so it won't be long and we will all feel the grip of winter tightening. For now we lie in bed in the night and hear the wind outside and the comforting sound of the gurgling furnace keeping Granville Cottage warm and we thank God for his goodness. It's nice to have a warm place to live and people to share it with you.

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Quiet Service

by Ken Pierpont

Sometimes we are blessed over and over again by the quiet service of quiet people who love us and love the Lord. My brother Kevin is such a quiet servant. He and his wife Carolyn raise their eight delightful children in what we call the North Country. He is a pastor. His church is in Higgins Lake. Higgins Lake might be one of Michigan's best kept secrets.

The State Park on the north edge of Higgins Lake has a beautiful camp-ground and a beach like none I have ever seen anywhere. You can sit under a tree and watch the water or wade out two or three hundred yards in crystal-clear water before it gets up to your chin. (I would wait until next summer before I try this).

Kevin and Carolyn have been there almost a decade serving the church faithfully. I never visit them without driving away with a glad, humble heart to see the beauty and order of a Christian home.

Without Kevin there would be no Stonebridge Newsletter. There would be no www.kenpierpont.com. Without Kevin other websites and ministries would be missing or tended-to my someone else. He has been my tech-support, encourager, friend and confidant for years. My admiration and gratefulness for him grows continually. I will hear him giving almost 24-hour over-the-phone tech-support to Lois or Holly or one of the family. He never seems put-off helping us untie our knots and post our pictures and thoughts.

I was thinking of him this morning while I was writing because of something he is doing now that I hope he continues. On his blog he is posting "North Country Notes" from time to time. They are good reading. I wanted to send you his way and, though he really doesn't thrive on public attention. I wanted to use my "cyber-voice" to thank him for quietly serving me and bringing honor to our Savior, the Lord Jesus.

Carolyn is a home-schooling mother of eight who walks and blogs and takes posts photos actively. You can visit her here.

Kevin's North-Country notes and messages can be read and listened-to here.

Thank God for his quiet servants. If you are one of them, thank God for you.

Little is much when God is in it

Labor not for wealth or fame

There's a crown and you can win it

If you run in Jesus' name

Ken Pierpont

Granville Cottage

Riverview, Michigan

November 10, 2011

Would You Do This?

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The most beautiful month of the year in Michigan has come and gone. Last night, I arrived home late from meetings at church to discover a gallon of sweet apple cider and a peck of Honey Crisp apples on the table. A gift from a friend. A Michigan apple is the signature of autumn. I like to say:

An apple is miracle, a marvel, and a wonder of God's creative power.

In the three or four minutes it takes to eat an apple you have experienced:

The patience of winter snows

the promise of springtime blossoms,

the product of warm summer days,

and a piece of autumn in the palm of your hand.

Today we have a fresh, new month ahead of us. This month we will celebrate Thanksgiving and, in December, Our Lord's Birth. It's a wonderful way to end the year. I hope it's been a good year for you and yours. It's been a very hard year for many, especially in these parts. If we use the whole month of November for Thanksgiving and the whole month of December to especially worship and adore Christ we will have a good start on a new year. The key is to do our best to keep it simple and sacred.

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What Does the Bible Mean to You?

by Ken Pierpont

My friend Bill is a Gideon. We was on the campus of the University of Michigan giving out New Testaments one winter day. He and his friend were bundled up against the cold waiting for student to pour out of a large lecture hall. Some students were warming their hands by a burn barrel.

Gideon Testaments are nice Bibles. They have a durable cover. They are bound well. They include not only the New Testament, but the Psalms and Proverbs. They also have a page of helps, so you know were to look in the Bible for help. Each Gideon Testament includes a clear explanation of the gospel…. how to be saved.

Most of the students eagerly accepted a Testament, some politely refused or just nodded and walked on. One young man took a copy of the Testament, walked over to the burn barrel and dropped it in. Bill was unable to talk to him or try to unravel why a young man would react with such hostility to the gift of a Bible.

When Bill told me the story I felt a pang of pain in my soul and sadness for the young man. The Bible is a fascinating book breathed from the heart of God full of warnings, direction, wisdom, and the way of eternal salvation.

I know you would never burn the Bible but, I had to think; How precious is the Bible to me? Is the Bible precious to you? Do you cherish it? Do you value it? Do you read it, study it, memorize it and mediate on it?

Ken Pierpont

Granville Cottage

Riverview, Michigan

November 1, 2011

Unfinished Dreams

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This weekend Lois and I flew to Texas for a wedding. I officiated and Lois photographed the whole beautiful affair. It was a Christ-honoring wedding held at a lovely country estate about an hour outside of Houston. We stayed in a huge house set back almost a mile from the road. I had some time on the porch to drink in the wonderful quietness before the flourish of wedding activity began.

The couple, Jorge and Alisa were young people we met on a missions trip to Mexico. Alisa is from Texas, Jorge is from Guadalajara, Mexico. It was a beautiful, outdoor wedding. I believe that Christ was honored in the ceremony. The reception was held on the property in a horse barn converted into a reception hall. The moon was near full. The days were clear and warm with sun. The nights were cool and fresh. The mornings were glorious. I drank in the quiet. The sky was wide to both horizons and with stunning views of sunset and sunrise. It was a bit of a reunion with many who deeply love the Lord.

UNFINISHED DREAMS

Just outside the Red River Gorge, a few miles from where Lois was born in Kentucky, is a beautiful home built on a hillside. It was obviously the house of someone's dreams. The house is girdled by a wide, covered porch. It is capped by a roof of green metal. When I drive by I always imagine myself on the porch in a rocker watching the sunrise burn the mist out of the valley. In my imagination I always have a steaming cup of coffee in hand and the smell of bacon hangs in the air.

But the house has never been finished. It's never been occupied. I'm not sure why. Maybe the ones who dreamed of living there on that hillside together had a financial reversal or lost their job. Maybe someone died. Sadly in cases like this they say it's often the marriage that died. A family is left with the broken pieces of their lives and an unfinished dream.

The place always reminds me that it takes more than a beautiful house to make a home.

Friday night as the sun set in the Texas countryside two families gathered together to rehearse for a wedding. I told them the story of the house. I reminded them that a wedding is important but a beautiful wedding does not guarantee a good marriage. A beautiful house does not mean there will ever really be a home there.

Only Christ the Redeemer can make a house into a home. Only the indwelling Spirit of holiness can cause two sinners to turn a wedding into a marriage.

Your wedding may not have been an affair spread out on a country estate, but if God smiles on it, it will last and be blessed. You may live in a very humble place, but if the Spirit dwells there with you and you are guided by his still small voice in your soul, you will experience the benediction of God.

This weekend after I finished performing the wedding I watched the reception through the lens of a camera. I cried through the father-daughter dance. It made me want to go home and be with my girls. I have to prepare myself for three of those dances. As the reception ended the the bouquet was thrown to the young maidens. The couple said their tearful goodbyes then the groom swept the bride up into his arms and put her in his car. Off they drove winding out the lane toward the road. A full moon shined down on them.

I held my bride close and kissed her and I remembered the autumn night three decades ago that I finally had her all to myself. I remembered the joy of driving away together for the first time as a married couple. I remembered our first meal together at the Bob Evans in Lima. I remembered the little apartment in the Ohio countryside where we started our lives together. Our simple wedding didn't fill the church. Our reception was a humble thing in the basement of a humble church. But it was the beginning of thirty-two years of marriage, eight children and three decades of ministry.

I watched the taillights of the truck go out of sight and breathed out a prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of Christian marriage. All glory to God.

Ken Pierpont

Granville Cottage

Riverview, Michigan

October 17, 2011

Do You Care?

Do you long to influence people for Jesus Christ? Do you love God, the law of God and the gospel? Do you love this country? Are you concerned for what we are becoming? Do you have a deep inner desire for revival? You will want to take about a half-hour to watch this movie. Share it with others.

Wedding Songs

Classic re-post from 2009

Heidi wanted the family to sing at her wedding. I modified this song for her and we sang it as she and Austin stood together at the altar just before they exchanged their vows.

Download: Heidi and Austin

In September of 1979 Lois and I drove away to begin our lives together. That was thirty years, eight children and two grandsons ago. Driving this same road earlier this month I was thinking about Austin and Heidi. In a few weeks they would drive away together. I wrote a song for them. My brother Nathan created a sound track for it and Kyle, Holly, and I sang it for them while they were lighting the unity candle at the wedding. The next day they drove away to their new home together. It was a beautiful day, clear, cool, sunny. I was happy for them with tears on my face. Hope you like the song.

Download: On Their Way Together

I Love to Watch the Harvest

In this message I try to express the burning burden of my heart for Evangel.

Message: I Love to Watch the Harvest

Series: Matthew's Gospel

Text: Matthew 9:35-38

Place: Evangel Baptist Church–Taylor, Michigan

Speaker: Pastor Kenneth L. Pierpont

Praying for Our Children

Not pictured is Heidi's husband, Austin Hancock. This was taken before they were married. They are now expecting a daughter in February. More pictures to come.

Lois and I have eight children and a growing number of grandchildren. I used to read books on prayer. Now that we have eight children I don't need to read books on prayer as much. We have so much to pray about.

Here is a helpful blog post and book recommendation (the Kindle edition is less than a dollar!)

Do You Long to Be Used of God?

Title: Do You Long to Be Used of God?

Series: Communion Message

Text: 2 Tim. 2:21

Place: Evangel Baptist Church–Taylor, Michigan

Speaker: Pastor Kenneth L. Pierpont

Blind Behold and Mute Speak

Title: Blind Behold and Mute Speak

Series: Matthew's Gospel

Text: Matthew 9:27-34

Place: Evangel Baptist Church–Taylor, Michigan

Speaker: Pastor Kenneth L. Pierpont

Pastor to Be Executed

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Pray for Christians in Iran and in the Muslim countries of the Middle-east. Pastor Yousef Nadarchani has been imprisoned for his faith and he maybe executed unless he renounces his faith. He wants to train his children as Christians and because he was converted from Islam, he is being pressured to renounce his faith. Let's follow his story and pray for he and his family.

Take a minute to read this article from Mission Network News.