Ken Pierpont's Blog, page 46
May 12, 2019
Jesus People III (Sermon) Video
Jesus People (Matthew 5:38-48)
Bethel Church–Jackson, Michigan
Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor
May 12, 2019 AM
Jesus People III (Sermon) Audio
Jesus People (Matthew 5:38-48)
Bethel Church–Jackson, Michigan
Ken Pierpont, Lead Pastor
May 12, 2019 AM
https://kenpierpont.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Jesus-People-III-online-audio-converter.com_.mp3
May 10, 2019
Who Really Cares?
It is a question that lies just below the level of conscious thought for most of us most of the time. Who really cares? Plenty of people act like they care, to sell us something or to get something from us or to get us to do something, but the question remains, “Who really cares?”
We can ask this question of the people closest to us in the world, as painful as that is. The answer to the question “Who really cares” is often, “not many.” That’s the harsh reality.
Some people step into the room and everything about them says, “Here I am!” You notice them, even if you don’t admire them or particularly like them.
Others come into the room saying “There you are!” These people are hard not to like.
Another way to say the same thing would be; You tend to like people who like you, not just people who want you to like them.
The question hangs in your heart, “Does this personal really care about me? Do they love me?”
The holy ambition of every member of the Church of Jesus Christ should be to communicate with genuine clarity, sincere love. Our words and prayers and actions should say sweet and clear; “Among these people I am loved for who I am.”
The Apostle Peter wrote to the church; “Love one another with a pure heart fervently.” He wrote of “…sincere love of the brethren…” No program or curriculum can accomplish that, only living, breathing human beings filled with the Spirit of God.
Once an old Sunday school teacher who had influenced hundreds of boys for Christ over the years was interviewed. So many men had followed Christ because of his influence, someone looked him up and asked him the secret of his success. He looked thoughtfully away and said, “Well, I’m really not sure.” Then, after a long pause, he said. “I really did love those boys.” Maybe that was the answer… The secret of his influence was the sincerity of his love.
May Bethel always be a place where people really do care. How rare and how wonderful it that? That can of love is rare and it’s wonderful, it’s almost irresistible.
May 8, 2019
Alistair Begg and the Basics Conference for Pastors
1. Fellowship
I’m here at the Basics Conference for pastor conducted by Parkside Church in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, where Alistair Begg is the pastor. I’m with Pastor Leo Cumings, my brother-in-law Jim, a nephew, Zach, and my younger brothers Kevin and Nathan.
There are about 1,500 men who are “in the trenches of ministry” in close proximity for part of three days. The fellowship in the gospel among these men is sweet. It is enriching to be among men, many who have served faithfully in the cause of Christ for years.
It is a powerful experience to sing with hundreds upon hundreds of men. The music is a part of the fellowship and it is a part of the influence of the conference. The songs are chosen with pastoral thought and care to enforce the rich biblical teaching in the conference. The worship leaders are skilled and devoted brothers and sisters. The audio and video and state-of-the-art.
Of course, there is a bookstore, well-stocked with books carefully chosen for their faithfulness to truth. All of them discounted 30%. A pastor’s joy.
2. Food
The food is healthy and plentiful. It is served within two hundred yards of where the sessions are held around round tables perfect for conversation. Healthy snacks are included in the price of the conference. At this conference a man can eat right and he can eat well.
3. Value
The conference is affordable. One reasonable price includes all sessions and all food, three meals a day including a Chik-fil-a meal in a bag to take on the road after the last session on Wednesday. That is a nice touch.
4. Humor
Alistair Begg is a bright, humorous fellow. He is obviously a man of intensity, strong conviction, and I suspect, strong opinion, but his humor runs just below the surface of the conference bursting into plain view with delightful regularity.
5. A Local Church
It is heartening to spend a few days on the property of a flourishing local church and be served by people who are united in purpose and heart. You can feel it in the air. You can see it on the faces of the people eagerly and joyfully serving.
6. Theological Faithfulness without Sectarian Crankiness
The conference always reinforces my convictions about Scripture, preaching, the importance of theological fidelity without going beyond the Scripture or descending into sectarian pettiness. This is strengthening to my soul. I am charged with faithfulness to Christ and to his Word. This conference strongly reinforces that.
7. Basics without Trendy Gimmicks
Some conferences can get you into trouble with your local church. At the conference you pick up the latest ecclesiastical gimmick and you take it home and push it upon your people. Often these are trendy gimmicks that have little scriptural basis… The Basics Conference is basics, the preaching of the Word, the fellowship of the saints, meaningful prayer and corporate singing. These are things that travel will. If a pastor takes them home to his church it will be good for the church and likely strengthen his influence for good upon his people.
Thank you Parkside Church.
Thank you Pastor Alistair Begg.
Thank you, Lord for the sweet privilege of such an enriching conference.
Chagrin Falls, Ohio
May 8, 2019
May 5, 2019
Bittersweet Farm Journal (Number 43) Why Do You Call Me Lord?
The sky was clear and it was warm out on Bittersweet this weekend. We are in the greening of the year and the birds are returning. We have been visited by a bluebird and a brilliant oriole. His song is a welcome sound. Here in the Mitten we have been waiting a long time to feel the sun on our necks. The sensation is blissful.
Yesterday I was tinkering around with George the Red Jeep and was delighted by a visit from Mark Haavisto. Mark holds a special place in my heart. He was the chairman of the pulpit committee that invited me to Bethel. He rode his bike out our way. We sat on the evening porch and talked. He’s a Michigan man and partial to Vernors, but we treated him to an Ale-8 so now he is more culturally rounded. I love Mark and I love conversation with people who love the Lord so his visit was a highlight of my day. Mark said; “I don’t normally cry, but when I read Finding Bittersweet, it was hard to put down and it made me cry.”
While we were chatting on the porch, Dave Reeverts from Bethel pulled up. He was on the way home from a tractor show in Jonesville hauling a Ford 2-N, modified with gray and blue paint complete with a V8 engine. He came by to sharpen my mower blades. Our son-in-law Dale and Hope’s special friend Tim helped me get the snow blade off and the mower deck on. I spent some time with my little trailer picking up windfall branches and mowed. Now the back acre looks like a golf course.
Our Men’s Breakfast was Saturday morning. The breakfast was hardy; buttered pancakes, sausage, juice and coffee, scrambled eggs and plenty for everyone. We pushed back our plates and fell into conversation about what it means to walk in the Spirit. The men leaned into the lively give-and-take. Time passed quickly. We broke up the meeting with reluctance. We all had a sense of the presence of the Lord. A few lingered in rich conversation for most of another hour. We welcomed new members again at Bethel this morning. It’s thrilling to be a part of such a flourishing church.
This week I will take in the Basics Conference at Parkside Church in the Cleveland, Ohio area with Pastor Leo Cumings, my bother-in-law Jim Evans, my brother Kevin and his son Zach, and our youngest brother Nathan. I’m looking forward to the music and preaching and the refreshment of spending time with brothers who are devoted to God. I believe in the communion of the saints. I love the church. That is why the church must act like Jesus when it comes to this important issue:
Abused Women in the Church
This week a young lady told me that she was searching for a pastor who would support women who had been abused. She came upon an article I wrote; “When the Church You Love Hurts the Women You Love.” She came to Bethel and now she is a part of the Bethel family. She told me
the sad story of an old friend who had been sexually abused. Her friend reported the abuse, but the leaders refused to believe her. In despair she took her life. Her abuser has still not been held to account for what he did and continues as a religious worker with access to young people.
I’ve personally experienced the shock and betrayal of churches and pastors who turn their back on abused women. I’ve seen leaders, looking directly at the photos of the physical abuse, refuse to act to protect the abused woman. I’ve seen them rebuke the woman for coming to the deacons to seek their understanding and protection. I’ve seen a highly esteemed pastor back away from his promise to help an abused wife because he did not want to get his hands dirty with it. He did not want to be charged with mishandling a case of marital abuse. Presented with evidence of the husband’s abuse and dishonesty he still refused to help the woman. A few months later the abused woman was dismissed from the church membership. She is now a single mother living in great hardship. The churches and pastor who mistreated her, the people who plotted to deprive her of means to support her children, have guilt on their hands before God.
Jesus protected women. He cared about what abuse and abandonment would do to a woman. He did not want women and their children exposed to harm and danger. Those who preach in the name of Jesus should protect women. Those who say they follow Jesus should protect the weak and vulnerable the way Jesus did.
In the Sermon on the Mount he said; “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
If you have harmed or abused a person, if you are a leader who has refused to listen or beleive or protect an abused woman and allowed her to be exposed to danger and hardship, if you have turned your back on the little children who suffer because their mother has been plunged into hardship, Jesus does not want your gift, your song, your religious observance. He wants your obedience. He wants your repentance. He wants you to go back to the person who has something against you and make it right.
He once said; “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and you don’t do the things that I say?” (Luke 6:46)
Bittersweet Farm
May 5, 2019
April 29, 2019
Jesus People I (Audio)
Jesus People I
Bethel Church–Jackson, MI
Ken Pierpont
April 28, 2019
https://kenpierpont.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Jesus-People-I.mp3
Jesus People I (Video)
Jesus People I
Bethel Church–Jackson, MI
Ken Pierpont
April 28, 2019
Bittersweet Farm Journal (Number 42) Pine Cone Cottage
Good Morning from out on Bittersweet Farm;
Last spring Lois and I were invited to Pine Cone Cottage on Swains lake, the cozy home of Ken and Gigi Wyatt. Ken is a retired newspaperman who is one of our elders at Bethel Church. When we arrived I smiled to see Gigi had prepared shepherds pie for the occasion. We talked for a few hours, but it seemed a few minutes.
Their table overlooks the lake. We finished eating and leaned back and talked of common interests. Soon Ken and I discovered that we had both read and loved Sheldon Vanauken’s A Severe Mercy. I had read and re-read the book for years. Vanauken would often carry on correspondence with people using postcards with small print. Ken got up and walked over to his shelf and pulled the book down. In it was a small postcard from VanAuken written in 1978, a personal note, hand written by Vanauken.
This morning Ken sent me a picture of his original copy of the book and the postcard from Sheldon Vanauken.
A significant part of the book is a love story between Vanauken (Van) and Jean Davis (Davy). Together they study at Oxford and it is there they find Christ. Van corresponds and later regularly meets with C. S. Lewis. It makes fascinating reading.
In his youth Vanauken turned away from Christianity, but as a young naval officer standing on the bridge of a ship in the Pacific one night contemplating the path of moonlight on the ocean and later, walking at evening and hearing the bells of Oxford, he feels a tug on his heart to reconsider.
“I suspected that all the yearnings for I knew not what that I had ever felt—when autumn leaves were burning in the twilight, when wild geese flew crying overhead, when I looked up at bare branches against the stars, when spring arrived on an April morning—were in truth yearnings for him. For God. I yearned towards him.”
Vanauken begins to read Lewis and others and he is surrounded by bright, magnetic, Christian friends. I love how he describes this in A Severe Mercy:
“These were our first friends, close friends. More to the point, perhaps all five were keen, deeply committed Christians. But we liked them so much that we forgave them for it. We begin, hardly knowing we were doing it, to revise our opinions, not of Christianity but of Christians. Our fundamental assumption, which we had been pleased to regard as an intelligent insight, had been that Christians were necessarily stuffy, hidebound, or stupid—people to keep one’s distance from. We had kept our distance so successfully, indeed, that we didn’t know anything about Christians. Now that assumption had soundlessly collapsed. The sheer quality of the Christians we met at Oxford shattered our stereotype, and thenceforward a reference in a book or conversation to someone’s being a Christian called up an entirely new image. Moreover the astonishing fact sank home our own contemporaries could be at once highly intelligent civilized witty fun to be with and Christian.”
I like to think of Bethel Church as such a people and as such a place. I like to think that when people encounter Bethel it is a challenge to their stereotypes of Christians. I like to think that when people come to Bethel, when they encounter Bethel people out in their places of living and business and work, they find people who are genuine in following Jesus. Imagine a people like that. Imagine a place like that.
Ken Pierpont
April 29, 2019
Here is my talk Sunday at Bethel Church, the first message in the Jesus People Series:
April 27, 2019
April 23, 2019
Things Impossible to Forget
Some things are impossible to forget. I learned one such lesson 20 years ago and it is seared indelibly into my memory.
He was on an Easter Sunday afternoon. I was hurriedly preparing to return to preach in the Sunday evening service. I wanted something to eat—something with a bit of protein—and noticed there were some hard-boiled eggs on the counter left over from the morning Easter festivities.
I peeled two or three of the eggs, put a bit of salt on them, then I got to thinking they might be tastier if I warmed them up in the microwave. I popped them in a bowl and warmed them up for a few seconds in the microwave.
I pulled the eggs out of the microwave. They looked great and that’s when things got really memorable. I put a little extra dash of salt on one and bit into it. That is when it exploded in my mouth burning my tongue and creating an unforgettable Easter memory.
So just this: Jesus is alive. Boil eggs. Color eggs. Hide eggs. Decorate eggs. Eat hard-boiled eggs, just don’t warm them up in a microwave and bite into them. That will create a memory you won’t be able to forget, even if you want to.
Happy Easter;
Ken
