Ken Pierpont's Blog, page 42
July 29, 2019
Bittersweet Farm Journal (Number 54) The Heart of Summer
Last night Hope and I went out for a drive in the countryside. It was a perfect summer evening. The countryside around Bittersweet is as beautiful as any I have ever enjoyed. The company was good. Hope is a delightful companion. We decided to check out a little place over on Clark Lake good friends talk about a lot. Lois is out of town. We agreed that if it was a good place we would return with her when she got back into town.
When we got there it was pretty full and lively so we had second thoughts about eating there. We pulled back onto the property to turn our car around and I mentioned that my friends Neil and Eddie had told me they liked the place. Just then I looked up and my friend Neil stepped out of his car. He and his wife Sharrol had the same idea at the precise same time… He flagged us down and invited us to join them. We enjoyed an evening of lively, loving conversation, convinced that it had been arranged by God in down-to-the-minute timing.
We walked out after dinner into the warm night air and watched the sun setting over the lake. I had received a call about a parishioner who was admitted to the hospital, so they volunteered to take Hope home. I drove away into the mellow summer night with a heart full.
It was two years ago tomorrow that I was called to pastor the Bethel Church. God, in His kind mercy, has given us many friends who are very dear to us. A church like Bethel is a gift from the Lord. Yesterday we had a big church dinner, on the occasion of a visit from one of our missionaries Jim and Joy Abbot. It was a great day. Bethel is flourishing-even in the heart of summer.
We have a good life here on Bittersweet Farm and with Bethel Church with many to love and many who love us. We are surrounded every day by good things and by good people.
I will dive up north into Michigan to speak at Barakel this week. This will be my twenty-first year in a row to do so. I will have two of our grand-buddies, Kyle and Oliver with me for the week. The days will be warm. The nights will be cool. Middle school students from all over the state will arrive tomorrow afternoon and for a week we will tell them the story that has changed all our lives… the story of Christ.
There will be singing, swimming, laughter, loon-calls out over the lake, boy and girls, good food, and all of it circled around the truth of Christ in Scripture. There will be preaching and conversations with counselors and prayers at bedtime and fires and camp-outs, good food, some silliness and lots of love.
I’ve finished most of the raw first draft of a new book “Between the Fires; 50 Ways to Keep the Campfire Burning All Your Life.” I will be sharing the 50 camp lessons with the campers at Barakel this week. I would appreciate prayer for God to do what only He can do.
Bittersweet Farm
July 29, 2019
July 28, 2019
Seven Ways to Strengthen Your Confidence in the Bible (Sermon) Video
Seven Ways to Strengthen Your Confidence in the Bible
Bethel Church–Jackson, Michigan
July 28, 2019 AM
Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor
Seven Ways to Strengthen Your Confidence in the Bible (Sermon) Audio
Seven Ways to Strengthen Your Confidence in the Bible
Bethel Church–Jackson, Michigan
July 28, 2019 AM
Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor
https://kenpierpont.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2019-07-28AM-Seven-Ways-to-Strengthen-Your-Confidence-in-the-Bible.mp3
July 27, 2019
I Should Be More Like Hazzy
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. Maybe I could learn from old Hazzy. He is never critical. He never complains.
He is always eager to see me. He loves spending time with me. He never monopolizes the conversation. He’s pretty easy to please with basic things like a walk, food, water, a place to perform his necessities. He’s a good listener. He never makes me eat alone. He never makes me walk alone.
When I’m quiet he is quiet, unless he thinks something dangerous is afoot. When I’m happy and excited he dances and jumps around and worms his whole little body with delight.
He is was born in mountains of eastern Kentucky. He’s from Breathitt County. I’ve had good experiences with mountain people from the mountains of eastern Kentucky.
Lois is out of town so I was tending to her flower garden. I looked up and there was Mr. Haz digging away with me, just helping out. Normally he doesn’t dig in the dirt, but he’s always eager to help out.
I imagine someday when he is gone I will realize his quiet presence in my life and his gentle dependence on me was good for my soul. He’s been in our family for over 10 years. If he ever runs off to explore he always finds his way home.
There are ways it would do me good to be more like him.
Bittersweet Farm
July 27, 2019
July 22, 2019
“Where We Goin’ Where?”
I love it when God arranges meetings. It happened to me today. I went into a restaurant for lunch. There at a table for six were five people, one of whom is from Bethel. “Hey, why didn’t you invite me to this party?” I say.
“Put up a chair,” they say.
I eagerly join them. We fall immediately into spirited conversation. They are people who know the Lord and love him. We have that in common.
After just a few minutes it was clear to all of us that God had arranged our meeting. We laughed and we cried. I encouraged them. They encouraged me. There was joy. There was fellowship. God arranges cool things.
I’ll go wherever he sends me. I trust him with my life.
I had my day all planned out. Nothing went as I planned. God had other plans and they were good.
When our youngest was small and she saw us getting ready to go somewhere she would chirp, “Where we goin’ where?”
I just want to live the rest of my life that way.
I look in my Father’s eyes. I can tell he’s getting ready to go somewhere and do something… I just want to say, “Where we going where, today Lord? Wherever you are I want to be there.”
Well, I need to turn in. I need some rest. God has plans for me tomorrow. I’m not sure what they are but I know they are good.
Bittersweet Farm
July 22, 2019
July 21, 2019
The Daystar Rises (Sermon) Audio
The Daystar Rises
Bethel Church–Jackson, MI
Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor
July 21, 2019AM
https://kenpierpont.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2019-07-21AM-The-Daystar-Rises-online-audio-converter.com-1.mp3
The Daystar Rises (Sermon) Video
The Daystar Rises
Bethel Church–Jackson, MI
Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor
July 21, 2019AM
True and Trustworthy (Sermon) Audio
True and Trustworthy
Bethel Church–Jackson, Michigan
Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor
July 14, 2019 AM
https://kenpierpont.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2019-07-14AM-True-and-Trustworthy-online-audio-converter.com_.mp3
True and Trustworthy (Sermon) Video
True and Trustworthy
Bethel Church–Jackson, Michigan
Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor
July 14, 2019 AM
July 20, 2019
Bittersweet Farm Journal (Number 53) A Cottage on the Lake
We’ve spent the week with the family up near Ludington fulfilling a dream we have had for years to spend the full week together in a cottage near Lake Michigan, thanks to the generosity of friends.
We spent hours on the beach, watched the antics our adorable grand-children, walked the shore at sunset, visited some lighthouses, enjoyed good meals together and meaningful conversation.
One evening after dinner we all drove out to a secluded stretch of Lake Michigan climbed a dune, built a fire, circled our chairs, and watched the day end. Sweeping our gaze south to north there was noting in sight but the forest and the dunes and the great indigo, blue lake and the sky. Clouds rolled in over our heads but it didn’t rain on us. As the sun set into clouds it left a golden glow in the sky—still spectacular and a memory we will hold in our hearts on winter nights and lingering cold spring days when we long to be with people we love all together in a place where the sun is shining and we can wade into the water and watch the children play.
There is a sense of great satisfaction is seeing the adults our children have become and watching some of them raise children and make their way in the world.
When the house quiets at night and I am alone with my thoughts, the deepest prayer of my heart is that the children and the grandchildren will know and love God with all their hearts for all their lives and never turn away. They love each other. They each know and love God. Though we have failed Him, He will always be faithful to us. He always has been. He always will be.
Most of all, after our week together, I’m deeply thankful for the grace of God. The older I get, the more I see, the more I thank God for His mercy and his grace poured out on our family and I say what an elderly old saint once said to me: “If you see any good in our family, it is the grace of God.”
