Ken Pierpont's Blog, page 19
July 13, 2022
6. Your Life Is In His Hands (Daniel 6:1-28) Audio
6. Your Life is In His Hands (Daniel 6:1-28) Video
Bethel Church | Jackson, Michigan
July 10, 2022 AM
Pastor Ken Pierpont
An Unopened Gift
Much of your joy in life depends on how you approach it. Some people see every day as a trial to endure. Some see each day as mundane chore. But did you ever look at a day as an unopened gift from the Lord?
That is the best way to approach a day. You don’t know what’s inside. You do know that whatever happens to a child of God passes through the providential care of a loving Heavenly Father who knows just what you need. He can take the darkest trial and bring unspeakable good from it. (Read the Bible and you see this in every book).
Some days he has arranged a test or trial to strengthen us or deepen our faith. Sometimes it is an opportunity to bring glory to God. Almost every day he arranges a thousand delights for those who a spiritually sensitive enough to notice them.
So look around a little today and tear into the day like a beautifully wrapped gift. You never know what you might find inside.
July 12, 2022
Don’t Soften the Warnings, Soften Your Heart
I was reading in Daniel 6:24 today and thinking about the terrible judgment people will face who do not know God and submit to God. They will suffer. Their wives will suffer. Their children will suffer. Those who reject God do suffer and they will suffer. The innocent suffer because of the sins of others around them…
John wrote: ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16–17, ESV)
This is so plain. Either you believe and have eternal life, or you reject Jesus and perish (die and suffer judgment).
All around us people are bleeding out. They are perishing, dying and going off to face the judgment of God.
We who are Christians and pastors have a tendency to soften the warnings of judgment, because we are afraid of offending people, but we should, instead soften our hearts and be afraid of offending God!
Don’t soften the warnings of Judgment.
—Soften your heart!
Don’t be afraid of offending people…
—Be afraid of offending God!
People all around us are perishing. God help us rescue the perishing.
Who are you praying for? Who are you loving? Who are you inviting? Who are you engaging in gospel conversation?
July 6, 2022
Do You Care Enough to Befriend People Far From God?
I read this story this evening from pastor John Van Pay. He is the pastor and founder of Gateway Christian Fellowship in San Antonio, Texas. It broke my heart and stirred my soul…
“I met Val when we were both picking up our daughters from school and discovered we had common ground in a love for mountain biking. We struck up a friendship and shared rides together. A few months after meeting him, he told me he couldn’t ride with me anymore. A nurse practitioner at a local hospital, Val had a brain tumor. When he told me, I said; “Hey Val, do you mind if I pray with you. He said; “I’d rather you not.” He told me if he ever made a decision to follow Christ I would be the first to know.
I visited Val in the hospital while he was having a CT scan. During the scan, he had a brain seizure and never recovered. A couple of days after his death, his wife, Debra, asked me to officiate his funeral because I was the only minister they knew. She handed me a stack of journals he wrote in. The second to last entry disclosed his confession of faith in a metaphor of a ship coming back to harbor. I shared Val’s story at the funeral.
Debra invited everyone who came to the funeral to our church. 41 people excepted her invitation. 18 of those friends gave their lives to Jesus at our grand opening service on February 10, 2008. They had Val cremated and his wife gave me a vial of ashes in a necklace. Sometimes I wear it as a reminder to everyone in this community needs to know Christ and life is way too short. From the start, our church wanted to pursue people just like Jesus pursued us.”
God help us to build relationships with hundreds of people who are still far from God.
Camp Barakel | Fairview, Michigan
July 6, 2022
July 4, 2022
5. The King’s Declaration of Dependance Upon God. (Daniel 4:1-37) Audio
5. The King’s Declaration of Dependance Upon God. (Daniel 4:1-37)
Bethel Church | Jackson, Michigan
July 3, 2022 AM
Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor
5. The King’s Declaration of Dependance Upon God. (Daniel. 4:1-37) Video
5. The King’s Declaration of Dependance Upon God. (Daniel 4:1-37) Video
Bethel Church | Jackson, Michigan
July 3, 2022 AM
Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor
July 1, 2022
4. But If Not (Daniel 3) Audio
4. But If Not (Daniel 3)
Bethel Church | Jackson, Michigan
Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor
June 24, 2022 AM
June 29, 2022
Serenipity
My friend Neil Veydt stops into my study today fresh with the definition of serendipity on his tongue, a word which I assumed to mean a concurrence of one or more good things at the same time. I was close…
Neal taught me (and Siri verified it) serendipity is: “The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.”
Then I realized why I have never really used the word. I don’t believe in chance. I am deeply and warmly convinced of the sovereignty of God and his providential arrangement of all things. So that might look like serendipity to you, but there is no “chance” involved.
My heart rests in the truth that God is in control.
Bittersweet Farm
June 29, 2022
June 28, 2022
4. But If Not (Daniel 3) Video
4. But If Not (Daniel 3)
Bethel Church | Jackson, Michigan
Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor
June 24, 2022 AM
June 9, 2022
Bittersweet Farm Journal | June 6, 2022 | Hold the High Ground
[Sunday Evening, June 5, 2022] I’m sitting by the open window. The night is cool and the room is dark except for the small light on my desk and the glow of the monitor. The sun set on a perfect Lord’s Day an hour ago. Hope and Tim came to Bethel and shared diner with us and visited most of the day out on Bittersweet. We drove to our little spot in Horton for ice cream, telling stories and enjoying the fecund beauty of the countryside in early June. My heart is quiet as the room right now. A good day has come to a close and I’m grateful to God.
This morning I started a new series of messages at Bethel: Daniel the Prophet. The series will last at least the summer and may continue into the fall. I am eager to immerse myself in the powerful stories and fascinating prophecies of Daniel all summer long. There was a good spirit at Bethel today. I’m blessed to serve a warm-hearted, loving congregation. It was five years ago that I first met with the pulpit team and I like to say it was love at first sight. They are sincere in following Jesus and seem to love the teaching of God’s Word.
[Thursday Evening, June 9, 2022] This morning leaving for church I saw a Mom Turkey and a half dozen poults. They were wandering across the farm. This evening I was out on the porch and they made their way back in the evening cool. I got a picture. It is pretty far away because I could not imagine the difficulty of trying to raise six young at a time. I love this place. The light fled and day came to an end on Bittersweet. Tomorrow is my study day. I look forward to it all week.
Somebody Needs to Hold the High Ground
Lois has fallen into an endearing habit of late. She works at an antique shop and dresses every day in a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. The tee-shirt always has a message written on it. Usually a positive affirmation of some kind.
“Glass Half-Full”
“In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”
“Life is Good.”
“Have a Blessed Day.”
Stuff like that. I love them. I like to think of myself as a very positive guy. I like to think of myself as a “glass half-full,” “Life is Good,” “Don’t Worry. Be Happy,” kind of guy, but Lois has the shirts.
Yesterday started sunny but turned wet. I got home and made dinner then joined Lois to watch the news. Outside the living room windows it was dreary and wet. Gray clouds moved ominously across the sky. My spirit lagged. I said, “Wow, dreary evening.”
Lois said, “It’s cozy, don’t you think?”
There we are. My “glass half full” girl pulls me from the pit of despair. Here is a pro tip: Try to be sure only one of you gets down at the same time. Somebody needs to hold the high ground to pull the other out when he falls into a pit of despair.
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. –Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIV
Bittersweet Farm
June 2022
