Bittersweet Farm

Bittersweet Farm

Current Thoughts

Happy Birthday Charlie

Filed Under: Current Thoughts

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Twenty-one years ago tonight Charles Kenneth Pierpont was born at Foote Memorial Hospital in Jackson, Michigan. He was born at exactly 10:00 p.m. and he was at home on Dogwood Drive by midnight. He’s been a great guy to have on the team. He has a great sense of humor. He is a very bright lad. He is one class from completing his bachelor’s degree.

He has devoted his life to the service of Christ. He witnesses to people every day. He would like to go west and get involved in a ministry there or even start a ministry some day. Along with pursuing his degree he has helped with the family ministry and served on staff at Camp Barakel in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan.

I can’t tell you how many times someone has come up to me and told me what a fine son Chuk is. A few times I have had people tell me they would give anything to be able to say they had a son like Chuk. I am glad to say that he is our son.

Happy Birthday, Chuk. You are a fine son.

Take a look at this

The Secret of Joy

Filed Under: Current Thoughts

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I try to be a happy man. A sad Christian is a public rebuke to his God. They say a flag flies over the castle when the king is present. The idea inspired this little chorus we used to sing; “Joy is the flag flown high from the castle of your heart when the King is in residence there.”

My mom worked hard to teach me the secret to joy when I was small. She was faithful to teach me the Bible and not just me but every kid in the neighborhood. She was devoted to gathering the children of the neighborhood into weekly clubs called Joy Clubs one afternoon a week.

In JOY CLUB we had a theme song. Here is how I remember it:

    Jesus and Others and You
    What a wonderful way to spell JOY
    Jesus and others and you
    In the life of each girl and each boy
    J is for Jesus for he has first place
    O is for others you meet day to day.
    Y is for you, in what ever you do
    Put Jesus first and spell JOY.

On Tuesday night we went strait from the school bus to the church for Joy Club. We would sing songs, and Mom or a friend would tell Bible and missionary stories with the aid of pictures and modest prizes. She awarded prizes to those who had perfect attendance and memorized their Bible verses and brought visitors. One of the prizes I labored hard for was a red and white felt beanie. It was called a “JOY Beanine” because it had the word JOY spelled out in macaroni letters. You may laugh but my mom grew up in the fifties when beanies were “cool.” The year I won mine was about 1968 and we lived in the country where people weren’t too concerned if you were a half-decade out of fashion.

Through my diligent effort I won my own JOY Beanie and ran home to look at myself in the mirror. There in macaroni letters on the front of my beanie was the word JOY reminding me of the timeless truth that the secret of joy was to love God with all my heart and to love my neighbor as myself. That was almost forty years ago. The beanie is gone but I still have the joy every day.

A kid with a beanie today would be laughed out of the neighborhood if not beaten, but the idea of joy growing from putting Jesus and others before you is timeless. I’m grateful for my mom’s efforts to spread joy around the neighborhood.

I hope you have a happy day. Remember: “Joy is evidence to the world that God can fully satisfy the human heart.”

Ken Pierpont
Brook Place
Hinsdale, Illinois
November 27, 2006

P.S. Mom says the JOY was not spelled with macaroni…. she says she can produce evidence to prove it. I yield. I think my mom’s spiritual gift is teacher, and you don’t want to challenge “teacher types” on details. You will loose every time. Nonetheless the salient details of the story are true and facts aside I will always remember my felt beanie with macaroni letters. I reserve the right to postmodern reconstructions when I deam that there is literary merit for them. 🙂

I’m Thankful

Filed Under: Current Thoughts

Its Thanksgiving morning. I got up early, brewed a pot of coffee spent some extra time reading my favorite Bible and thinking about how good the Lord has been to me.

My Alma Mater: Moody Bible Institute

From my desk at work I can look out through a beautiful arched window on the campus of the Institute in Basic Life Principles Headquarters. The building is in a park-like setting with ponds, and waterfowl, trees, a footbridge and a lighted walk. The last leaves of autumn have been blowing from the trees over the last few weeks.

On the hour hymns chime from the clock tower as young men and women stroll to lunch up the undulating walk from the main building. One of the young ladies who strides up the walk every day is my daughter Heidi. She is nineteen years old now. The sun glows off her long, blonde hair. She is not the little fat-cheeked girl she was just yesterday. My heart wells up with thanksgiving for her. Outside my door my oldest daughter works as my secretary. We have hours of fellowship together every day.

Hannah has dinner ready ready when I get home and often cookies.

Daniel and Charles drop in for a minute to talk. They are fine, strong, handsome, Christian sons. The fragrance of good food wafts up every day tugging me downstairs for lunch. Every day I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God to me. Monday I had breakfast with Wes, Tuesday with Daniel, and Wednesday with Charles. I love them, they love me, and we all love God. Hope is seven and a continual delight to my heart. She is full of lively conversation until the last hour of every day.

My cars don’t always run well, but I have blessings that will never wear out or rust or go out of style.

Last Sunday I asked the family to come and help me close my Thanksgiving message by singing:

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
Christ Our God to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

I am thankful for the beauty and variety of the seasons.

I am thankful for abundant food, abundant clothes, warmth and many luxuries almost every day of my life.

I am thankful for the people that God has put in my path through the years, especially those who have helped and supported and encouraged me, even when I didn’t deserve it.

I am thankful for those who have opposed and misunderstood because they have made me closer to God and confirmed my faith. They have stimulated God to compensate for their injuries in with gifts no one can ever take from me.

My heart is full of thanks for my wife and the eight children that God has given us. They are a continual happiness to me. They are healthy and each of them know and love the Lord.

Our oldest son has taken a wife who loves the Lord. We hope soon to have the beginning of another generation of Pierponts.

Most of all I am grateful for the forgiveness and cleansing of Jesus. “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” (Psa 32:1) The older I get the more conscious I am of the fact that I deserve to be in hell, but God in mercy has forgiven me and he is making a home in heaven for me.

I am thankful for thousands of people who, for some reason, put up with my ramblings every week – Thanks for reading what I write. I hope it tugs you godward.

What are you thankful for?

Ken Pierpont
Brook Place
Hinsdale, Illinois
Thanksgiving Day
November 23, 2006

On top of all of that the Buckeyes beat Michigan… again!

GAME DAY

Filed Under: Current Thoughts

IT IS THE DAY OF THE OHIO STATE V. MICHIGAN RIVALRY. THIS MAY BE THE BIGGEST ONE EVER. I FELT LED OF THE LORD TO SEND THIS NOTE TO MY FAMILY THIS MORNING:

You all know that since my earliest childhood I have memories of the tradition of enjoying college football with the people that I love. Well, it’s game day again and I have been thinking.

Jim Elliot once attended a great college football game. It was one of the most exciting games in college football history, a rivalry game between two great teams attended my multitudes. After the game he went back to his room, picked up his journal and wrote:

“O Jesus, Master and Center and End of all,
how long before that Glory is thine which has so long waited Thee?

Now there is no thought of Thee among men;
then there shall be thought for nothing else.

Now other men are praised;
then none shall care for any other’s merits.

Hasten, hasten, Glory of Heaven, take Thy crown, subdue Thy Kingdom, enthrall Thy creatures.”

Our Beloved Woody and Bo are now both in eternity. Some day so will I and so will you. In the deepest part of my being I pray this morning that I will be with you then in the presence of Jesus, on my face, at his feet, and I pray that I will have crowns to cast at his feet, the rewards I have gained by being a faithful steward of the opportunities that have been entrusted to me in this life. Crowns gained by giving my time and energy, my loyalty and enthusiasm, my diligence and creativity to the things of God.

Here is my game-day prayer this morning: “Lord take my life, my breath, my time, my tongue, my mind, soul, my strength, every human power and every earthly opportunity and make eternal good of them by your own work in me. I shudder to think that I would waste them on temporal things that do not last and do not matter. I pray that my precious family, my wife, my sons and daughters and all of those I love gather with me in that day when faith becomes sight. Then we will have something to cheer about.” In Jesus’ Preeminent Name and for the sake of His Kingdom, His Power, and His Glory I pray. AMEN

No matter the outcome today of the game we all have emjoyed as a family tradition for generations, my heart will be glad because my life is hid with Christ in God

All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name!
Ken Pierpont
Game Day
November 18, 2006

Read my brother Nathan’s response:

Thanks, Ken

I am at the church right now preparing to help with a funeral. One of our dear Saints preceeded us to His presence. Your reminder of Jim Elliot’s response to an “important ball game” is very fitting today and I am with you. By God’s grace, I will also be with you with all of mine in that Day when we cheer for our Great Champioin and bow before the Lord Jesus.

Thanks so much for your thoughts on GAME DAY. 🙂

Love ya, Nate

My brother Kevin sent me this:

P. S. They all love Jesus, too.

Dolly and Skippy

Filed Under: Current Thoughts

Two dogs lived on Grandpa’s farm, Dolly and Skippy. Skippy was colored like a Beagle but he had long legs and was about the size of a Golden Retriever. He was a sturdy, affable farm-dog. He lay on the porch when Grandpa was home. He followed him to the field when he was farming. When he was gone he ran rabbits and killed ground hogs. He was patient with children and he knew when to stay out of Dolly’s way.

Dolly’s name did not adequately describe her rugged character. On winter nights she would contentedly burrow down into a snow bank and “drift” off to sleep. In the morning grandpa would step out on the back porch and whistle. She would rise from her sleep, shake the snow off her coat and bound for the house.

Grandpa had a fanciful imagination and he had read all the Jack London stories. Maybe that’s why he told me that he was pretty sure she was part wolf. I believed him for a last three reasons; I was young and vulnerable, I admired my grandfather and he knew how to “put a story over,” and even a kid could tell Dolly had a wild side. She could have been a character in a Jack London story herself.

Those dogs were never in the house they didn’t have a pedigree, but they were well-fed, they were loved, and they served a purpose on the farm. They managed the ground hog population. They announced the arrival of guests and warned unwanted intruders. They added life to the place. They lived simple and happy and they both died in a contented old age right there on the modest farm where they lived their lives.

They never did a dog-show, pulled a dog-sled, or attended obedience school. They were never house-broke, they didn’t have invisible fence, they didn’t wear sweaters. They were never penned up or chained and neither of them ever wore a lead. Even without formal training they had common dog-sense. If Grandpa and Grandma left for a weekend visit or vacation they didn’t hire a kennel. Skippy and Dolly just kept and eye on things and looked after themselves. They were just garden-variety, farm dogs.

Sometimes we can just cherish a “too-high” opinion of ourselves and while we are yearning for stardom, success, fame, fortune, promotion, and notoriety we are wasting our precious life and squandering the simple joys all around us every day. I don’t know about you but I imagine myself as a “farm dog” kind of guy.

I don’t mind staying around home. I’m happy with plain food and a simple life. I like it when people take me with them on a walk but I don’t mind hanging out on the porch or curling up by the fire. I’m just a little suspicious of strangers who don’t smile or maybe smile too much. Fancy people are interesting but I think people like plain folk better. Plain like Skippy and Dolly who scouted the hills of my grandpa’s farm when I was a boy growing up.

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited.

(Rom 12:16 ESV)

Kenneth L. Pierpont
Brook Place
Hinsdale, Illinois
November 15, 2006

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