Archives for August 2010

I love the idea of having 24-hour road service. There are five women in our home and I don’t want any of them ever to be stranded on a dark and lonely stretch of road. I don’t want my sons stranded either. Dan was on the way to church the other day and the Jeep died—just stopped running. He had barely rolled to a stop when Steve Massengill, one of the men of our church—rolled up in his pick-up and offered roadside assistance. Sunday night he offered to help me get the battery on the charger. Monday morning he picked me up and helped me get the Jeep to the shop for repair.

It’s been that way all my life. I have been “broken down” in more ways than one and it seems that God always arranges someone to be there to help me. He may one day choose to allow me to be alone and without help and I will not charge Him with unfaithfulness, but it warms me to think how many times He has sent the right person at the right time in the right place and equipped him with just the right skill or experience to help me with what I need.

A few years ago I was talking with a friend who had an old van and a large family and had returned from a long trip. He had had some mechanical difficulty. He was able to do the repair himself by the roadside, but if he had needed a tow there would not have been enough room in the truck for his large family.

“Do you have AAA roadside assistance?” I asked.

“No, can’t afford it.”

I said, “I tell you what. If you ever get into the situation again, keep your number in my wallet and call me. I will do whatever I can to help you. You consider me your 24-hour roadside assistance. I will do whatever needs to be done to get help to you. You can count on me.”

My friend looked me in the eye and said; “Pastor, the same goes for you. If you are ever broken down with your family and you need help and you don’t know what to do, you keep my number with you and call me. I will do the same for you. You can count on me.”

This he spoke with gravity and deep sincerity, looking me directly in the eyes and then he extended his hand and gave me a firm handshake. There was a wordless fraternity between us that day. It’s nice to have someone that you can call on when you are trouble. It’s even nicer to be the kind of person others can call on when they are in trouble.

You may even be the answer to someone’s prayer that way.

Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
August 24, 2010

This summer God has been doing something in my heart. I spent most of five weeks of the summer with teens. Neighborhood Gospel Outreach and Cola Wars week was toward the beginning of the summer. Teen Bash, VBS, and Commmunity Celebration week was later in the summer. I spoke to Sr. High teens for a week at Lake Ann. I led a missions trip of 9th and 10th graders for a week to northern Michgian, and last week I spoke to Sr. High teens for a week at Camp Barakel.

During these times I taught the word of God and told the stories of God and the stories of God’s work in my life. Then, each day, I took time to listen to lots of kids tell me their stories. I would eat with the kids or I would tell them, “If you want to talk look me up this afternoon. I will have my toes in the water and we can sit on the dock and I will give you the talking stick.” Two of my daughters, Holly and Hannah spent the summer counseling at camp and they told me some of the stories of their campers. Two of my sons work with youth and they frequently tell me the stories of the teens they work with. There is one great word—one great theme that hangs over almost all of these conversations. It seems to be a main subject in almost every story: Hurt. All kids have hurts. Most kids have deep hurts. Many have devastating on-going hurt in their lives.

Last week, on Saturday night, Dan and Wes and I drove back home from Barakel into the early hours of the morning on quiet roads. Usually I would listen to a good podcast or some edifying music. Sometimes, after a week at camp I will put the songs of the week on my iPod and re-live the sweetness of worship that we experienced during the week. But Saturday night as the boys slept and the miles passed a deep burden and a clear vision formed in my heart. I could not stop seeing the faces of the young people or hearing their voices. I could not stop thinking about the Downriver—the area where we live and work—my mission field. I thought about the thousands of young people who live in a ten or fifteen-mile circle of our church, their hurts and their need for Christ.

I believe that no one gets through life without hurts. Even the greats of the Bible, who were loved of God, hurt. You can read this in the laments of the Bible. The book of Lamentations chapter three through verse 20 is a good example of this. When life hurts God has not abandoned his people. He is still faithful. When bad things are happening to those who love God, He is always up to something God. He is faithful. You can see this in Lamentations 3:21-17. Even when things are hard his mercies are new every morning. Sometimes his mercies are severe, but they are mercies form God and he is in control. When we think of this we can have hope. His compassion never fails.

When life hurts, God is there and He is faithful—he’s doing something… but will your hurts push you away from Him or into his arms. Will you get closer to God or farther away when hurt comes into your life? Will you trust God to compensate you for your hurt with a dynamic spirit or with rewards in heaven or will you be buried in bitterness and anger.

This is the message I would like to get to the thousands of young people who live within the sound of the “voice” of Evangel. When a child or a teen is drowning in hurt someone who is on solid footing needs to be there to throw them a life-preserver. When they are staggering in the dark someone needs to give them an arm to lean on and lead them out of danger. I want to lead our church in doing what needs to be done to help families. May of them are single-parent families. Thousands of them are suffocating in shame and guilt because of past failures. They don’t see any way out. Satan has conspired to bury them in guilt and shame and confuse them about the gospel. They see the church as an organization devoted to adding to their burden of guilt, not ultimately removing their guiltiness forever.

God has stirred my heart and inspired my heart to find broken hearts and introduce them to the One who can give them a new heart.

Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
August 18, 2010

I injured my ankle badly early this summer. Last summer I was training for a marathon. My long runs were up to seventeen miles. This summer I have not run a step. For weeks it was difficult or impossible to walk. In the morning I have an appointment to run at sunrise in the Lower Huron Park. I’m looking forward to getting some cool morning air in my lungs. …OK. Now I’m back from my run. The drive over to the Lower Huron Park was beautiful this morning. A full moon was setting the blue sky in the west. It pulled my praise trigger. I met Jim at his invitation. He often runs with me on his iPod, he said, and wanted to invite me to run with him live. It was different, though, because he is young and fast and I am neither, so he did most of the talking and I added a few breathless grunts here and there. It was great to get out. All is well and I’m back on my way. Thanks, Jim.