Bittersweet Farm

This weekend Lois and I have had all or part of five days together. That is something I am not sure we have done in twenty-five years. We enjoyed our annual Directors Meeting and Valentine Banquet at IBLP Headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. It was a treat, complete with valet parking, live classical music, a five-course meal, candles, flowers, gifts in our room, and lots of great fellowship with others who serve in our ministry.

All the way from Flint to Oak Brook Lois read the biography of Oswald Chambers, “Abandoned to God.” Every few minutes she would share a passage with me.

On Sunday morning we drove south about an hour to the little village of Momence, Illinois where I preached at Calvary Baptist Church. It was delightful to minister to a local church. I am always thrilled when a pastor trusts me to preach to his people.

We met a bunch of Stonebridge Readers this weekend and even had brownies and coffee in the home of the Timus and Donna Rees family. They are on staff at Headquarters and help crank out some of the finest printed resources in the evangelical world.

This evening I will speak at a Valentine Banquet here in Oak Brook. Thursday I will speak to couples at Byron Baptist Church and then we will spend next weekend in ministry at Camp Barakel up north.

Aren’t naps just a luxury? I fell asleep in a big overstuffed chair in a bookstore once but the kids woke me up because I was drooling and they were embarrassed. Cats aren’t like that. They don’t embarrass their offspring when they nap. They are perrrfectly natural at it. Cats just close their eyes and drift off into sleep in the coziest positions and places. We used to have a cat who loved to curl up and nap on the hearthstone when the fire was burning.

One morning I came down to the living room early. I thought I was the first one up but then I noticed that Holly, then a little mite of five or six years old, had gotten up first. She was still in her yellow flannel gown her mother made her. She was curled up into a little ball like a kitten, sleeping in a patch of sunlight that was streaming through the window. The sunlight made a pattern on the floor and Holly curled up right in it.

Immediately I thought of a phrase in the book of Jude verse 21; ” – keep yourself in the love of God – ” The love of God has flowed steadily into my life, all my life, in a thousand ways. I do not have to ask God to love me. I do not have to motivate him to love me. I do not have to be good to be loved. The love of God streams into my life every day like sunlight through the window. When I abide in his love and stay in fellowship with Him, when I remember the love of God for me, then I experience the love that is always there. I’m sure that’s what Jude meant when he wrote; ” – keep yourself in the love of God – ” John was the Apostle of love, he called himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. It was John who recorded one of Jesus’ final instructions for his followers; “Abide in my love – ” (John 15:9)

When I find ways to love Jesus and when I discover new ways he loves me I am “keeping myself in the love of God.” That’s when I curl up in the love of God like a kitten on the hearth, like a little child napping in a patch of sun.

Ken Pierpont
Oak Brook, Illinois
February 13, 2006

Pastor Larry Whiteford drove a little orange Honda. Even though he was the Senior Pastor and the founder of the church, he didn’t have a special parking place for himself. He parked at the far end of the parking lot and walked in on Sunday morning. He always arrived before anyone else. He could have parked anywhere he wanted to park.

One day he explained this unusual behavior to me. “I don’t think it’s good to take that honor upon myself. There are older members that need to park close. I need the exercise and the walk gives me a chance to pray for the people that will park in those spaces and attend our services this morning.”

I admired that way of thinking.

Years later I drove up to the church where I had been called to be the Senior Pastor. There was a nice sign that read: “Sr. Pastor Parking.” Next to it were two places that said, “Associate Pastor Parking.”

In my heart I liked the idea of being honored, being considered important. Remembering Pastor Whiteford’s practice though, I immediately asked the trustees to remove the signs and replace them with “Visitor Parking” signs.

I told them I would park in the far end of the lot. I said; “I could use the exercise and while I am walking in I can pray for the people who will be attending the services.”

Walking toward the church one morning I forgot to pray for the people. Instead a dark thought came into my mind. I thought to myself, “I’m glad I’m not like those other pastors who are so eager for their own honor that they have private parking spaces.”

Pride is a subtle sin that can thrive in a religious environment like mold in the shower. It is a dragon that is very hard to slay.

“Humility comes before honor.” (Proverbs 15:33 ESV)

Ken Pierpont
Riverfront Character Inn
Flint, Michigan
February 6, 2006