Last night as evening fell, I found myself in the country enjoying a mellow and comely summer evening. I aimed my chair toward a far-away tree line in the west and read under a huge walnut tree while Lois took photos of our new grand-niece, Bailey Hope. Her big brothers, Riley and Wyatt (do these people have a way with names or what?) played with Hope nearby. I’m sure pictures of wee Bailey will surface within a few days at www.loispierpont.com.
Just as evening fell into the trees and …

Last night I checked the mail and it is official. All my requirements for my Master’s Degree from Moody Graduate School are now complete. I started six years ago almost to the day.

I used to own a bank, but I lost it. Actually, it was taken away from me. My Dad took it. My aunt gave it to me. It was a Christmas present. She made it herself. It was a green Cocker Spaniel bank. It was sort of a kosher-version of the classical piggy-bank. It was ceramic. It sat right on my dresser and I kept my allowance in it. Every week I put a couple nickels in it. I …

I stumbled across this little piece on my hard-drive today looking for something else. It interested me. Maybe it will interest you, too. About a year ago I preached in the church where my little brother is the pastor. Here is how I introduced the message:

I have a pastor friend who is hurting. After years of pastoring the same church he was betrayed by a near associate and the church he spent his entire ministry building split leaving him devastated. Within a few months he had a major physical set-back. I spoke with him on Christmas Eve. He is a wounded man.

I have a tradition. I write a Christmas story for my family every year. I read it on Christmas Eve or on Christmas night. Tonight (Christmas 2005) after everything else was over we all sat down and I read the story for this year.
After the story we had pumpkin pie. It was a beautiful day. I have included the story here, Brad’s Christmas Prayer. I hope you like it. The next post is last year’s story, Highland Park
Brad’s Christmas Prayer
Brad …

There is such joy in giving. I had just a taste of it when I was young.
When I was about fourteen years old I made fifteen dollars a week delivering the Dayton Journal Herald Monday through Saturday morning. In my neighborhood was a small store with bikes and toys and hardware called Western Auto. I was browsing in the store one day about a month before Christmas and my eyes fell on something I had always wanted myself when I was younger. It was …

Tomorrow is Hannah’s birthday. Here is a poem I wrote when see was born:
Our snow-enshrouded home was nestled
neath God’s providential care
Anticipating the arrival
of a special package there.
Then as if dispatched from heaven
borne on angel-wings
A parcel came to rest among
our festive fashionings
What a priceless little bundle
of life and dreams and love
Came into our home last Christmas
like a present from above.
Yuletide night my eyes were misty
if I must tell the truth
For the Christmas gift from heaven
of our precious Hannah Ruth.
Kenneth L. Pierpont
December 1989

I worked security last night. I could tell on the monitors it was snowing through the night. When I finished my shift I went to sleep for a few hours. When I woke Lois was excited because the snow was falling. She announced that it was the perfect day to get our tree. I agreed.
LOIS’ PHOTOS: To see some of her photos of the day you can visit her site. This picture was taken on the little tree farm we have patronized for …

I am convinced that John Piper is a gift to the church for our day. Often when I observe the apostasy and coldness of the church, the compromise and worldliness… my heart aches, but when I read men like John Piper and see that there are many who long for their faithful treatment of the Word, my heart is alive with hope again. Thank God for Piper. I say read him and read those he reads and let God do a deeper work in your soul. …