Ken Pierpont's Blog, page 24

Bittersweet Farm Journal (Number 95) Excuses to be Outdoors

The Northern Tip of the Lower Peninsula

Last week I drove way up into northern Michigan to preach for a Men’s Retreat. Downstate most of the forests were bright yellow. In northern Michigan, orange seemed to be the dominant color. In that part of Michigan there are larger hills ribboned by winding roads bisecting woods and lakes and an occasional view of the Great Lake–Lake Michigan. It made for a wonderful color tour. I made a mental note not to go alone if I am invited back. The experience was too good not to share with someone.

I was a little cold when I got in so I turned up the heat a tad to drive away the chill. In the morning the worship leader (Matt Smith) asked, “Were you warm enough last night?”

I said, “Yes, I was very comfortable,” then it occured to me that the speakers quarters are a duplex. He and his family were in the other apartment and I had the thermostat in my apartment. I did a little reading while munching on my pumpkin creme pie from Mac’s, forgot to turn down the heat, crawled into bed, and fairly passed out. They were young and athletic and warm blooded, so I’m afraid they were a little warm in the night, variously opening windows and crying out to God for mercy. To his credit Matt still had a heart of praise in the morning and a great sense of humor and he led worship very well. It was wonderful to sing with the men.

The retreat was at Pleasant Valley Bible Camp. Steve and Naomi Sponable run Pleasant Valley with the help of a dedicated staff. They do a great job. The fellowship was good and the men seemed to have a hunger for the word. The retreat was well-attended. I was a little frustrated that almost everyone there stopped at an all-you-can-eat fish fry at a restaurant in Bellaire on Friday night before they got to camp. I didn’t get the memo. I believe the place no one told me about was called Toonies. I made sure to appeal to their collective conscience about it in every single session so I don’t think it will happen again. I should admit that on Saturday night they grilled up some wonderful steaks. It was harder to keep the men awake in the evening session, but worth it. I brought my books including my latest; “Between the Fires” and almost completely sold out of all five of my books by Sunday morning.

If you get a chance to go the Men’s Retreat at Pleasant Lake, go. It’s one of Michigan’s good places, where people love the Lord and his word and they love each other and feed you well. If you go on Friday night be sure to find your way to Toonies–they say it’s good. I would have no idea personally, because no one told me about it.

Excuses to Be Outdoors

In Michigan, clearing leaves is a good excuse to be out under the open sky in October. On a good day geese will flyover the farm winging their way to warmer places in a big moving “V” shape high in the sky, honking as they go. (I understand they migrate at about 3,000 feet up). You might smell the fragrance of the first wood fires of the season on a cold morning. You can watch the pageant of leaves blowing down and dancing in the ground in the wind. This year the colors have been vivid. Lady bugs were everywhere yesterday, as if they were desperately trying to find shelter ahead of the front that brought weather thirty degrees colder. I think it was close to freezing last night on Bittersweet Farm. Big Ten football returned today so I quit early to indulge in the autumn ritual of munching an apple and watching a game.

This evening we are almost exactly a week away from November. The sky is clear. A few minutes ago I walked out and looked up into the night sky. The moon is waxing, bright through branches which are starting to bare. By next Saturday night the moon will be full out over Bittersweet Farm… the Blue Moon. I hope the sky will be clear and I will catch the dark forms of geese passing across the face of the blue October moon.

“When I consider the heavens…

the work of your fingers,

the moon and stars that you have ordained…”

Bittersweet Farm

October 24, 2020

One of Everything

The other night Lois needed some things from the Dollar Store. I agreed to drive and planned to sit in the car and make a phone call while she shopped. When we got there we realized that she had come away from home without her mask.

She dispatched me to do her shopping with a list and her debit card. After an heroic search I was able to find the things she wanted and made my way to the line.

A young man with a family was stocking up on snacks. He appeared to be planning to purchase one of everything. I chuckled and asked him. “Where’s the party? You have one of everything there.”

He laughed and said, “It’s movie night at our house. I’m hungry.”

We arrived at the checkout at the same time. “You go first, he said, “I have one of everything.”

I went first but when she totaled up my purchases I realized that I had left my phone and wallet in the car and I did not know the password for Lois’s card.

“O, no. I’m sorry,” I said to the guy in line behind me with one of everything. “I don’t have my password.”

“Hey, let me pay for that. Go ahead. You don’t have to pay me back. Just pay it forward. No, please. Go ahead. I got this. It’s no big deal. Pay it forward.”

He paid. I went to the car and grabbed my wallet and paid him back with cash. “Thanks,” He said. “Have a great evening.”

I hope he had a good night. I’m sure he did. It was movie night at his house and he was a good dude… and he had one of every kind of snack in the entire store.

You have to wear a mask everywhere these days, but you don’t have to be crabby. Pick out a good movie. Grab plenty of snacks. Help out your fellow man. We’re gunna’ be OK. Oh, and when somebody does something nice for you thank them warmly and remember to pay it forward.

Bittersweet Farm

October 2020

Bittersweet Farm Journal (Number 94) Colder Soon

Greetings, Friends from out on Bittersweet Farm.

Andrea, my niece, is just a few days older than our youngest daughter Hope. She visited Bethel and we invited her to lunch.

We went for a drive out into the countryside after lunch in search of fresh apple cider, and maybe fresh donuts rolled in cinnamon sugar. Most of all it was a pretext for enjoying an autumn day—just being together.

It is the time of year that the sun sets too soon and the shortening days and the on-coming cold in this part of the world make you want to get out into the colorful countryside a flannel shirt. Fresh cider, warm sunshine, sweet donuts, and people you love—they take the edge off the dread of winter.

The first place we stopped was teaming with people. We said, “We’ll come back on a week day, when it’s not so busy.” We know a smaller place, even farther out in the country. We drove out there the back way. The cider was cold and sweet. The donuts were fresh. We probably ate too many. The conversation was lively. We took the long way home. It as good to be together. We saw Andrea off and our hearts were warm.

Saturday I drove out to South Litchfield to celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday. Jim is a year older than me. He’s the kind of guy who always wants you to stay. When I arrived and my sister saw me she ran—ran, I tell you, to the car to greet me. At our age we don’t run around a lot. It was an autumn Saturday family gathering. She put a glass of cider in my hand. When I left everyone stood and waved until my car was out of site. I took the backroads home slowly savoring every mile.

It will be colder soon but when I think of my big sister running to greet me and the whole family all standing in the yard waving goodbye it makes my heart warm.

It’s October in Michigan. Check your antifreeze, prep the storm windows, replace the furnace filter, clean your gutters, and—by all means—look around for people to love. They are everywhere you turn.

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12, ESV)

Bittersweet Farm

October 6, 2020

Eager Repentance (Sermon) Audio

Eager Repentance (Rev. 3:14-22)

Bethel Church–Jackson, Michigan

Ken Pierpont-Lead Pastor

September 27, 2020 AM

https://kenpierpont.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Eager-Repentance.mp3

Eager Repentance (Sermon) Video

Eager Repentance (Rev. 3:14-22)

Bethel Church–Jackson, Michigan

Ken Pierpont-Lead Pastor

September 27, 2020 AM

Bittersweet Farm Journal (Number 93)

It’s Autumn on Bittersweet

After every strong gust of wind walnuts thud to the ground. We have over twenty black walnut trees growing in a gentle, green swale that runs across the middle of our acres northwest to southeast. Black walnut leaves are bright yellow. They have been letting go and blowing down for a month, a continual reminder of the arrival of fall. Last week the maples began to show their color up in their tops and now the lawn is speckled with bright yellow color against the green when I look down from my loft.

Last week we visited an orchard. Lois made apple butter. I have a cup of coffee before me and I enjoyed two pieces of whole wheat toast this morning smeared with real butter and buried in home-made apple butter.

An electrician friend (you want an electrician friend) has been dropping over after work to beef up the electric service to the loft of the carriage house where I am writing right now. Now I can run lights, heat, air-conditioning and the electronic tools I like to use for my writing and I can stay cool in the hot months and warm in the cold months year-round. Kyle built the wall to enclose my writing space (with some encouragement from my son-in-law Dale). I installed the insulation and the faux ship lap on the knee walls and end walls. I need a little work on the metal roof and when that is finished I will insulate and finish the ceiling. My goal is to have that done by the end of November when the cold will start to get noticeable.

I came up to work a little on Friday night and had a surprise visit from a bat. He was a confused and frightened little critter so I opened things up and turned off the light and left him alone so he could get his bearings and find his way out to resume his every-evening duties of keeping the insect population in hand. In the morning he was gone. We welcome bats on Bittersweet but not in the loft. I love to watch their erratic flight over the north meadow on a summer night at dusk.

Every day I am in awe of God’s creation. I have never understood how a person can observe the wonders of nature and deny the existence of a Creator.

One autumn afternoon the school bus stopped on State Route 47 in a little village of Logansville, Ohio. I got off the bus with my sister and some friends. Logansville was a wide spot in the road with a church, Helen’s General Store, and Mr. Knight’s Sinclair, the Christian Church and the parsonage.

That afternoon my mother was leading the Good News Club that met every Tuesday evening. She taught us Revelation 4:11 and it has been in my heart ever since:

““Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”” (Revelation 4:11, ESV)

We memorized it in the King James… “… for your pleasure we are and were created…”

Every day I thank God that my mother and dad helped me understand the world around me in a secure, consistent Christian home with an open Bible and simple, sincere faith.

Every thing from the leaves scattered on the grass, the busy squirrels gathering walnuts for the coming winter, the patter of the rain on the roof, the angular flight of the bats, the trembling aspens in the evening sun, the fields of golden corn ready for harvest, the call of the owl in the night woods, the moonrise and sunset are all created by God who is worthy to receive glory and honor and power.

And I am a part of God’s creation. And I am subject to his sovereign purposes. And I have on the desk before me His infallible, inerrant, inspired word to guide my life.

Those are comforting thoughts with winter coming on.

Bittersweet Farm

September 28, 2020

Show and Tell

One thing I know about myself…

I was born to “show and tell”

…born to stand up and speak up

Something deep within me has always

wanted to boil over into description…

…mostly description of feelings I feel compelled to share

“Did you feel that?”

“Did you feel that like I felt that?”

“Was that funny or sad or sweet or haunting?”

“Was it painful or romantic or warm or wonderful to you too?”

“Did that make you want to stand up and put your hand over your heart?”

“Did that make you want to bury your face in your hands and sob?”

“Did that make your heart beat fast?”

Do you see it?

The Heart of a Poet

“The world of full of wonder

for those with the heart of a poet.”

God, thank you for giving me the heart of a poet. Help me never grow so used to things of beauty and wonder that I can pass by them without awe, without being humbled to prayer and worship.

Enduring Rejection (Sermon) Audio

Series: Letters to the Churches

Title: Enduring Rejection

Bethel Church | Jackson, Michigan

September 20. 2020 AM

Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor

https://kenpierpont.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Enduring-Rejection.mp3

Enduring Rejection (Sermon) Video

Series: Letters to the Churches

Title: Enduring Rejection

Bethel Church | Jackson, Michigan

September 20. 2020 AM

Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor