Ken Pierpont's Blog, page 81

Ugly Things in Beautiful Places

Red Jeep Journal

July 21, 2017

This week I’ve been in New York state. It’s beautiful here. They build camps in beautiful places, but it doesn’t take long to uncover the ugliness of sin just below the surface—even in beautiful Christian places.

The campers are a little more reserved here in New York than they were in Kentucky or some of the other camps where I speak. After I open my heart to them then tend to open their hearts to me. When they do open up the story is often the same.

Commonly it’s a story of the pain of having a parent who loves you, often a mother, who cannot break free of addictions. Sometimes the camper sits quietly after chapel and tells of the incarceration of their mother or dad, or they tell of a fractured home life due to drug or alcohol use. It is not uncommon at all for a camper to tell, like young Connor (not his real name) did last night, of his mother’s death due to a drug overdose.

One boy wept as he told of never meeting his father and always wondering when he looks into the face of a man on the street if it could be his father. Another tells of his mother calling one night to say goodbye. He said; “I’ll see you in the morning,” but he didn’t because after she got off the phone she took her life.

My messages are filled with stories. Campers will frequently ask; “Can I tell you my story?” Conner stood quietly on the outskirts of my conversation with another and waited his turn, then he quietly said; “Can I tell you about how I met God?”

“It was when my mom died of a drug overdose. I think she took drugs because she was so sad she couldn’t see us kids. I went to her funeral and I was looking at her in her casket. I didn’t cry but right then I knew God was telling me to follow him.”

A storm had come through earlier in the day and power-washed the camp. It brought cooler air. We sat down on a bench and talked for a while in the cool evening. He told how he stayed alternately with grandparents and other relatives. He does not see his father much. He is only thirteen and his mother is dead.

We prayed and he thanked me for listening to his story. He said; “If it helps other kids follow God you can tell my story.” Then he went off to get a snack.

Camp will end today and I may never see Conner again, but this camp will be here for him—a beautiful place where he comes every year. Here in sight of a pristine lake, kind people use Scriptures and songs and food and games and quiet conversation to show the beauty of Jesus to a young boy who has had to experience some very ugly things.

Ken Pierpont

Lamoka Lake, New York

July 21, 2017

Do You Have a Quiet Place?

You need a place to be alone with the Lord. I learned this lesson when I was just a young boy…

 

Preaching in the Finger Lakes

Red Jeep Journal

July 18, 2017

Preparation for preaching

The AuSable River facing west

The AuSable facing east

Miss Hope at Barakel

Lamoka Baptist Camp-Speaker’s Cottage

View of Lamoka Lake and the Camp for the porch of the Speaker’s Cottage

Last week our daughter Hope was with me when we passed the half-way point of the summer. She drove George the Red Jeep to and from Barakel. We left Barakel on Sunday afternoon after a rich week of ministry. We return to Barakel for Family Camp on Labor Day weekend.

South of the Zilwaulkee Bridge and just north of Birch Run on the way home we ran out of gas. We prayed and a wrecker pulled up immediately behind us and offered to return after servicing another motorist in distress. Within twenty minutes a black Jeep pulled up behind us and said; “Ken, what are you doing here? Do you need some help?”

We were over 100 miles from home and the driver of the black Jeep was our neighbor and friend Paul, who lives directly across the street from our home in Granville Cottage. The blessing of God on the ministry this summer, His provision and protection deepen our love for Him and our confidence in Him.

Camp in the Finger Lakes

Yesterday I spent most of the day on the road. By late afternoon I arrived at Lamoka Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York. The Finger Lakes are long, narrow, deep, north-south lakes in New York state south of Lake Ontario. The camp is located in the peaceful country between the two western-most of the lakes.

The speaker’s cottage where I am staying this week has three rooms and a perfect porch and sits on a hill overlooking the camp and the lake. The chapel is on the highest point of the camp facing down the lake from north to south.

I arrived in the late afternoon and had time to meet some campers and staff over dinner. The first chapel is always a time when the campers are measuring the speaker a bit. They listened well and I had time for a nice walk along the lake at sunset and an hour on the cottage porch watching the campers mingle, smelling the wood fire, and watching the afterglow out on the lake before bed.

New Roads

I will leave here on Saturday and take roads I have never taken on a seven-hundred-mile drive through New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia into eastern Kentucky. Sunday I will preach at New Prospect Baptist Church in Manchester and during the week I will speak for the pastor’s meeting at Oneida Baptist Institute.

All I Have Needed Thy Hand Has Provided

It is so encouraging every night to pillow my head with thanksgiving for what the Lord has allowed me to do this summer and realize that He has met our every need through the kind generosity of others. For those of you in the Fellowship of the Red Jeep, who pray and give and follow our ministry Lois and I and the family are deeply grateful.

Even small gifts are a great help to us. When I stop on the road and fill the gas tank or get a cup of coffee or a bite of lunch I always imagine where the money came from and my heart is full of thanksgiving to God and to you. If you would like to share we would be very grateful. Follow this link to give tax deductible gifts to our ministry.

Sweet Corn, Watermelon, and Summer Camp

Red Jeep Journal

July 7, 2017

 

Sweet Corn, Watermelon, and Summer Camp

It’s the season of watermelon and sweet corn and summer camp all over America. Have you ever thought that all over Canada and the U.S. during the summer young people gather under the preaching of the Word morning and evening–thousands upon thousands of them. After a day of swimming and horseback riding, paint-ball and high-ropes, swimming and diving, “octaball” and ping-pong, hand-crafts and snacks, good food and friends, they quiet their hearts and sing and listen to preaching prepared to help them face this beautiful but broken world and know that God is for them and not against them. Pray every day for campers all over this grand and beautiful land.

What’s Next?

This weekend I am in the area preaching on the Lord’s Day. Next week Hope America and I will be at Camp Barakel. This will be my third of four engagements this year at that “blessed place.”

Here are a couple faith-strengthening stories;

How Can I Help You?

Last week at Barakel I was preparing to speak when a got a call from Lois. She was paying the bills and needed me to handle some details. We talked for a while about financial matters and concerns, then we both agreed about how remarkable God’s provision has been since we set aside a regular church paycheck.

A text came in just as I ended the call. It was from a friend who was inquiring about how he could be a help to us. He said he wanted to help us financially. Immediately a monthly amount sprang into my mind. It was a generous amount so I set the thought aside as wishful thinking.

“How can I help financially,” he texted.

“You can share a one-time gift or a regular monthly amount,” I said, not mentioning the generous amount that had come to mind.

The next text shocked and delighted me. He wrote; “I was thinking …..” and he texted the exact generous amount that had been on my mind. In a couple days that pledge showed up in our missionary account as a monthly promise!

Another couple visited the Barakel chapel. When I checked my account early this week I saw that they had also given a generous gift to our ministry. I wish I could tell you more of the stories of God’s provision already this summer. It is remarkable and faith-building.

You can join the “Fellowship of the Red Jeep” by visiting here to be a monthly helper or give a one-time gift.

Let me tell you another story that will strengthen your faith.

Are You Willing to Die?

I had another amazing “providence-of-God” moment yesterday.

Yesterday I was out in the yard stretching the July 4th Holiday toward the end of the week. I was enjoying the cool breeze under the shade of a good leafy shade tree. I called a friend who is going through a dark trial.

I said to him; “Tom, you haven’t heard me preach for a while, why don’t I give you a little minute-message right now?”

“I’d like that,” he said.

I explained to him how according to Revelation the saints overcome Satan because of three things; the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and they were willing to die.

I explained that when we are ready to die with the praise of Christ on our lips there is no trial so dark and deep that it can defeat us. A believer who is ready for the slaughter for the glory of God is already “more than a conquerer…” in Christ. You cannot defeat him one who is willing to die.

Over and over again I emphasized; “Tom, if we are willing to die, nothing can defeat us.”

Just then a van pulled up and the son of a friend got out of the car with a package for me. I excused myself from my phone call. He handed me a package. I stood in the shade of the tree and opened the box.

In the box were two books. On the top was a book with this exact title: “Willing to Die.”

The shade under the tree in front of Granville Cottage was sacred ground yesterday afternoon when that book arrived.

I called my friend back and we both rejoiced in the encouragement that God had given to us. Before midnight I had read both books and I went to bed with a powerful assurance that God was at work even in the darkest trials we face.

Ken Pierpont

Granville Cottage

 

Here are some photos from Barakel I though you might enjoy:

I asked them to hide their high-fructose corn syrup snacks behind their backs

A Stone for a Pillow

Red Jeep Journal

June 27, 2017

A Stone for a Pillow

I’m spending the summer on the road rarely sleeping in my own wonderful bed, in my own wonderful house, next to my own wonderful Lois, next to an industrial-size roaring fan she loves that drowns out the sound of crickets on the night air.

I find myself in unusual places. I carry my Wiggy Bag—my mummy sleeping bag—with me just in case. You never really know what it will be like when I pillow my head at night. Often when I lie down at night I repeat a little phrase to myself and my heart is warmed at the thought of it. “The Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head.”

Often Jacob comes to mind and the night he had a vision of God coming and going from his life. He woke up transformed. He had a stone for a pillow that night and he was far from home, but God was there and promised always to be with him.

Am I spiritualizing to see Jacob’s pillow of stone as the dim foreshadowing of the One who would come who had nowhere to lay his head? This One whom millions would follow and for the sake of the story we travel far from home with great joy in our souls and sleep in strange beds so others will have the rest for their souls—the rest only comes from the One who had nowhere to lay His head?

Kyle and Ollie

Years ago at Camp Barakel I met Elizabeth Winzelers. She was a counselor. I called our oldest son and told him to come up to camp and meet her. Today they are married and have three adorable boys, Kyle, Oliver, and Leland. I return to Barakel to preach this week and Elizabeth will meet me in Lansing with Kyle and Oliver. They will spend the week with me at the camp where their parents met. How wonderful to look back over our lives and see the hand of our good God. He is good. Never doubt it. Even when bad things happen to you, never doubt the goodness of God.

Please Consider Helping

We are full-time speaking and writing and depend completely on the gifts of folk to the Red Jeep Journeys. You can make tax-deducible donations here. Thanks so much for helping.

Ken Pierpont

Lansing, Michigan

Waylon Wesley

Our son Daniel and his wife Katelynn have a new son!

In the Sunshine of Eternity

Years ago in Ohio I gathered a few couples in the home of a friend once a week and taught them the basic message of the Bible. I explained the gospel and on the last of the six weeks I had our hosts, Dan and Barb Donegan, tell the story of how they came to know the Lord. Kyle watched the children in the basement each week. Driving home after the last week I was disappointed that no one had come to profess faith in Christ but I was very happy to know that I had been successful at making the gospel clear. That was about nine or ten years ago.

Many years later, on the way home from speaking up north, my sister called. She and her family were in the town where I started a church and pastored for ten years. She said, “After church today a young woman came up to me and gave me a note to give to you. Since it will be a while before I see you, let me read it to you.”

The young woman, Julie Zimmerman and her husband Scott were in that Bible study years ago. Their son Zach was on my baseball team. Though they had not come to Christ at the time the seed that we planted took root and they are all walking with the Lord today. Juile wanted to express her thanks for my ministry and the kindness that Lois had shown to her mother before she died.

It takes a while for the little seeds of ministry to grow that will be gathered in in the Great Harvest of the Ages.

The Lord Jesus taught his disciples: “…One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that on which you bestowed no labor. Other men labored, and you have entered into their labor.” (John 4:37-38)

Paul said: “I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1Co 3:6-7)

Like a good farmer I refuse to be discouraged by the lack of apparent effect or disappointed by the absence of immediate results. I know the seed is very good and has life in it. And I am learning that patience is one of the most important virtues a farmer must possess.

John Piper has a way with words. He put this idea in memorable form: “The true usefulness of our (ministry) will not be known to us until each fruit on all the branches on all the tress that have sprung up from all the seeds we’ve planted has fully ripened in the sunshine of eternity.”

You never know what will grow if you plant seeds wherever you go.

Ken Pierpont

Granville Cottage

Riverview, Michigan

June 18, 2017

Things I Believe In

June 17, 2017

Red Jeep Journal

William King

The first night of camp up in the mountains of eastern Kentucky I noticed William. William was a tall boy with red hair. Not the kind of red hair that chooses you but the kind of read hair you chose. It was not auburn or rust it was red, really red. It was cut high and tight and stood up straight on top and it was red as a fire engine. He was getting a little distracted during my talk the first hight. I made a mental note to try to keep things moving and hold his attention. 

Most kids will listen if you work at it a little. Some who are determined to ignore you and every once in awhile you will find one who seems like the devil himself may have planted him just to distract others. I wondered what William’s story was and what category to put him in. I should know by now not to be too quick plug people into categories. William’s story would start to come out soon. 

After lunch the next day I found a group of boy hanging out in a group. William was among them. You couldn’t miss him. He was taller than everyone and he had that shock of red hair on the top of his head. We made small talk for a bit about basketball and breaking your angles and then William said; “I only have one ankle.” 

Kids are full of jokes but I had a hunch he was serious. I said; “William, are you serious.” He pulled up his pant leg to reveal a prosthetic leg ankle and foot. The other boys grew quiet. 

When he was four he was riding with a family member on a lawn mower. He slipped off the back of the mower and his leg went under the deck. They rushed him to the hospital. They could not save his foot and ankle and part of his leg. The doctor told them they should thank God he was alive because he lost so much blood. 

We all sat overlooking a quiet lake and line after line of blue and purple mountains out into the distance and we talked about why God would allow such a sad thing to happen to a little boy. 

Thank God for places where kids can go to process the pain that they experience in this beautiful but broken world we live in. Places with Bible answers and people who listen, good food, fun things to do and time for eternal things and ultimate questions. 

Fruitful Ministry

John Piper said; “The true usefulness of our (ministry) will not be known to us until each fruit on all the branches on all the trees that have sprung up from all the seeds we’ve planted has fully ripened in the sunshine of eternity.”

Only the Lord knows the eternal fruit from our ministry. But there were many campers who made decisions for salvation and decisions to consecrate themselves to God. Some of the campers this year reminded me that they were saved when I spoke there last year. Many professed faith in Christ this year. I wish you could have seen the mountains or heard the campers sing.  I wish you could have seen them after chapel, lifting their hands up to the Lord as a sign of their consecration to God. I wish you could have been there around the fire on Thursday night. You would have wept listening to their sweet testimonies of God’s work in their life. 

Will You Help Us?

I don’t have any time this summer to raise funds to meet our basic expenses. I am busy travelling to camps and churches to preach. Would you pray about signing up for a monthly gift of any amount? That would be a great help to us. You can donate here.

Ken Pierpont

June 17, 2017

Passing of the Peace in Tennessee

Red Jeep Journal

June 12, 2017

The Mahoneys

Friday-Sunday I was a guest of the Mahoney family in Tennessee. They hosted me in their home and treated me with great kindness. The night we arrived we had dinner around a huge table. They have ten children. (That is not a typo). I arrived just in time for salmon and broccoli, then they took me to town to a cute little place where we had frozen yogurt before showing off their town. We closed the evening with a song. One of the daughters played the piano, another a flute, and dad played the guitar. We had Bible reading and family prayer before bed. (OK I may have told a few stories).

Saturday we did the seminar and it was a delightful time. In the afternoon they drove me into the mountains and we hiked out to a beautiful place called Stone Door the view out there was worship-inducing. On the way home they stopped by a wonderful local BBQ place and we literally feasted on pulled pork and smoked wings. (How did they know BBQ is my love-language?)

I complained that there was not enough singing on Friday night so Saturday night Dad (Thomas) led the whole crew in a couple hours of singing hymns and songs that became kind of “Jewish-sounding” somewhere toward the end of the second hour and turned into joyful dancing. I watched Thomas and his children interact. Anyone could see the deep love the children had for their Dad and their Mother, Donna.

On the Lord’s Day morning Dad was up with some of the others making a wonderful breakfast. If I’ve ever had better pancakes, I don’t remember it. We smeared them with real butter and drowned them with real maple syrup. The family had me inscribe their copies of my books and then surprised me with a beautiful hard cover of Leland Ryken’s biography of J. I. Packer. (I made a mental note to post my book wish list on line more often).

Liberty Cumberland Presbyterian

Sunday I preached in their delightful church, the Liberty Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It is a beautiful read brick colonial and filled with hospitable southern people. Their worship with beautifully liturgical. I am not used to that but it was sweet to experience it. There was a time of confession early in worship. I especially loved “The Passing of the Peace.” There is something special about looking a brother or sister in the eyes and warmly blessing them with “The Peace of Christ be upon you.” They allowed me time for a full message and received it warmly.

As I sat on the platform waiting to preach a Tennessee memory came back to me that I don’t remember ever telling before. We were on a family vacation and saving money by camping out and eating from the cooler at roadside rests and parks. We came into a little Tennessee village one morning and stopped near the town square and began to lay out our breakfast on the trunk of the old Chrysler as I recall. On old gentleman saw us, noticed our out-of-state plates and opened the town hall to us and made us welcome. I asked the Tennessee people of the Liberty Church to open their hearts to me and welcome the message of the word. They did. After tears prayers and pictures the Mahoneys drove me to the edge of town and waved me off.

A Token of God’s Favor

I aimed the Red Jeep back toward Kentucky. When I glanced at the gifts I was given my heart was humble and full. I drove along the beautiful highway thanking God that He was blessing the Red Jeep Journey and the Fellowship of the Red Jeep. We are well-fed and healthy. Our bills are paid. I have gas in the Red Jeep.

In an hour and a half I drove across the border from Tennessee to Kentucky and followed a narrow well-paved, winding road that connected two major highways up over a mountain. At the peak of the mountain a deer was standing calmly by the side of the road. I stopped in the road a few feet away, rolled down my window and took her photo. It was as if she posed for me. I drove way. She never moved. No one will ever convince me that God has not poured out his grace on the Red Jeep Journey so far. Thank you to all who are a part of the Fellowship of the Red Jeep. My heart is filled with great Joy to use my little Jeep to make Christ known. I pulled into tidy grounds of the Kentucky Mountain Mission in time to preach again before a good nights rest.

Ken Pierpont

Kentucky Mountain Mission

Waylon Wesley

Our Daughter-in-law, Daniel’s wife Katelynn wrote this on her Facebook Tuesday: Waylon Wesley Pierpont was welcomed to the world 6.6.17 at 9:41am weighing 9lbs 12oz. Measuring 20.5 inches long. He’s the most beautiful big ol baby boy I’ve ever laid eyes on. I can’t believe I get to be such a precious little human beings mom, my heart is overflowing.

Waylon was born with more hair than I have right now…