I don’t know when I have looked forward to a recording more. Other than the Christmas music, if has been five years since Fernando’s last recording.
On July 12th I will be spending an holy hour with this album in a quiet place.
A Clumsy Dance
We inherited an adorable, intelligent little Yorkie from our daughter Heidi a couple years ago. The kids named him Hazard after a little town in Eastern Kentucky, near where they first met him. Heidi married and moved away and left Hazard with us. We fell immediately and effortlessly in love with the little animal.
The enthusiasm he shows when I arrive home is one of his most endearing qualities. He celebrates my arrival like he won the seventh game of the World Series.
Last night when I came in from a youth event he was jumping and leaping and wagging and breathing fast. I made my way toward the living room where I usually rest my briefcase beside my chair.
Mid-way through the kitchen he ran under my foot. I stepped on him. He yelped. I made a quick hop to shift my weight. He darted under my foot and I stepped on him again.
In instinctive self-preservation he bit my toe. I was wearing sandals. Now we were both hurting. I rolled around on the ground for a moment holding my foot and he licked me to let me know the whole thing was a big mistake. I don’t like licking so usually I tell him and he stops, but he seemed to be trying to communicate that he meant no harm. I pet him for a while I groaned in pain hoping he would know that I would never intentionally step on him.
Have you ever noticed that in human relationships can be the same way? We are all eager to love and be loved but in our clumsiness we end up miss-stepping, growling, snapping, and groaning in pain and trying to make up. We live in a broken world. Until Jesus comes back and puts things right, even those of us who are devoted to each other are going to struggle to express our love. We are going to have painful episodes. We are going to say and do things that hurt those we love and deeply regret it later. We are going to struggle through that clumsy little dance of life and love we do.
Be careful when you walk though someone’s life. It’s easy to step on people. Be careful when people step on you. Don’t be quick to snap at them. When you do hurt or get hurt, immediately tend to the wound so that your fellowship is fully restored.
Hazard and I are OK now, I think. He sits at my feet when I write and lays on the arm of my chair some, quietly growling at squirrels, rabbits and birds in the back yard. I scratch behind his ears from time to time.
He does seem to give me a little more space when I stride through the room these days. I try to tread lightly around him and I try to be very careful where I step. If you step on people enough they will run and hide when you come home. It some cases, they won’t even be there to greet you anymore. You don’t want that.
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
June 29, 2011
Great Gas Mileage
Saturday we spend a few hours in New Buffalo. We strolled along Lake Michigan, ate at The Stray Dog, and puttered around a few shops. It was a good day. We found a little custard stand. They had a car that looked like it would get good gas mileage.
It’s Not a Real Bear
Standing in the yard across the street from Granville Cottage is a nine-foot tall bear sculpted with a chain saw. It’s pretty imposing and impressive and an interesting conversation piece.
A couple years ago our oldest son and his family came for a visit. I went out to the car to greet our grandson, little Kyle Kenneth. I got him from his car seat and started to carry him into the house.
“What’s that?” he said, looking wide-eyed at the bear in the yard.
“O, It’s just a bear,” I said.
He tightened his grip around my neck.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m tough. I’ll protect you.”
“I’m scared, grandpa.”
“It’s OK. I will protect you. He can’t hurt you. I’m here.”
“Grandpa, he’s coming to get us.”
“No. He’s not coming to get us, Kyle. He’s not a real bear. He is just a piece of wood. He can’t hurt us. He’s not a real bear.”
After that he kept a wary eye on the bear whenever we went out into the yard. In the daylight he was pretty bold, but in the dark he would stay close and cling to my neck when I put him in the car.
A few weeks ago he came to visit. I went out to get him. He’s older now—braver. He walked and I held his hand. On the way into the house he glanced over his shoulder toward the bear and said, “Hey, grandpa, that’s not a real bear. It’s not a real bear, grandpa. It’s not a real bear, grandpa, is it?”
I answered him, “No, buddy, it not a real bear.” But I don’t think he was talking to me. I think he was talking to himself. He was telling himself the truth. There must have been some inner voice lying to him and still trying to convince him that the bear was real and that he was in danger.
He was muttering the truth to himself—trying to calm his fears. “It’s not a real bear. It’s not a real bear. It’s not a real bear.”
For years well-meaning people have tried to construct schemes, initiate programs, institute religious systems, and discover “new” insights to help people in their struggles against guilt and shame and sin. Whole religious sects have sprung up promising to produce perfect families, holy lives and dynamic churches. They are fads and movements. They come and go.
Wherever God’s people get together and sing and pray and consider truth from Scripture some good things are bound to happen, but over the years I have noticed that there is no scheme or system or spiritual “secret” that is more powerful against sin and guilt, shame and self-righteousness than the gospel applied and continually applied.
We need a return to the gospel. I’m thankful for voices across our nation that are calling for a simple return to the simplicity of the gospel. I want to join them for the rest of my life and ministry. It is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation and it must not be diminished, neglected, distorted, ignored or replaced.
When voices rise up within you to condemn you or when you are tempted to rely on self-righteousness there is no way to improve on the simplicity of preaching the gospel to yourself. There are voices within you that would lie to you and drag you into error and bondage. Don’t listen to them. Speak and sing and murmur the truth to yourself. Preach the gospel to the lost. Preach the gospel to one another. Preach to gospel to your children. But most of all, preach the gospel to yourself.
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michgian
June 26, 2011
Are You A Real Christian?
Series: Matthew’s Gospel
Date: June 25, 2011 AM
Place: Evangel Baptist Church–Taylor, Michigan
Speaker: Ken Pierpont
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How to Cultivate Desire for God
Growing Season Wednesday Night Series
Message: How to Cultivate Desire for God
Date: Wednesday Evening–June 15, 2011
Place: Evangel Baptist Church–Taylor, Michigan
Speaker: Pastor Kenneth L. Pierpont
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