Bittersweet Farm

Bittersweet Farm

Write

Filed Under: Current Thoughts

Write words on paper…

Form sentences—well-crafted sentences.

Cluster them into paragraphs.

Gather the paragraphs into stories… or essays or speeches.

Weave them together and bind them into books…

…books that warm people on winter nights,

…or make good company at the lake house,

…or expose the plight and pain of the poor and oppressed…

…books that the give the common man or woman a taste of opportunity or culture or beauty…

…books that move people to noble deeds or inspire them to live in a more honorable way.

This is the way nations rise and fall.

By words thus employed, destinies are forged and people rise up from hopeless despair… and men and women find their way to God, forgiveness, meaning, mercy and hope…

…all this with the simple pen.

I Was Wrong

Filed Under: Current Thoughts

Fred Craddock tells the following story about his family. “My mother took us to church and Sunday school; my father didn’t go. He complained about Sunday dinner being later when she came home. Sometimes the preacher would call, and my father would say, “I know what the church wants. Church doesn’t care about me. Church wants another name, another pledge, another name, and another pledge. Right? Isn’t that the name of the game? Another name, another pledge.” That’s what he always said.

Sometimes we’d have a revival. Pastor would bring the evangelist and say to the evangelist, “There’s one now, sic him, get him, get him,” and my father would say the same thing. Every time, my mother in the kitchen, always nervous, in fear of flaring tempers, of somebody being hurt. And always my father said, “The church doesn’t care about me. The church wants another name and another pledge.” I guess I heard it a thousand times.

One time he didn’t say it. He was in the veteran’s hospital, and he was down to 73 pounds. They’d taken out his throat, and he said, “It’s too late.” They put in a metal tube, and X-rays burned him to pieces. I flew in to see him. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t eat. I looked around the room, potted plants and cut flowers on all the windowsills, a stack of cards twenty inches deep beside his bed. And even that tray where they put food, if you can eat, on that was a flower. And all the flowers beside the bed, every card, every blossom, were from persons or groups from the church.

He saw me read a card. He could not speak, so he took a Kleenex box and wrote on the side of it a line from Shakespeare. If he had not written this line, I would not tell you this story. He wrote: “In this harsh world, draw your breath in pain to tell my story.”

I said, “What is your story, Daddy?”

And he wrote, “I was wrong.”

 

 

Fred B. Craddock, Craddock Stories, Mike Graves and Richard F. Ward, eds., Chalice Press, 2001, p. 14.

A Holy Kiss

Filed Under: Circuit-Riding

Gary and I attended a revival meeting one night years ago in the Ohio countryside. The preacher was a man who had founded a quasi-Mennonite sect. My friend was exploring fellowship with the group. The meeting was in the top floor of a large barn converted into a chapel. It was filled with sincere, humble men seeking God who took the Bible seriously.

Most of the men there that night were bearded. My friend Gary wore a full beard. I was clean-shaven. At the end of the service Gary and I went up to greet the speaker. Because Gary was bearded, the speaker must have mistaken him for a member of the group, so instead of giving him a firm handshake, he greeted him with a holy kiss.

There are five references in the New Testament to this practice:

“Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.” (Romans 16:16, ESV)

“All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.” (1 Corinthians 16:20, ESV)

“Greet one another with a holy kiss.” (2 Corinthians 13:12, ESV)

“Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.” (1 Thessalonians 5:26, ESV)

“Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.” (1 Peter 5:14, ESV)

The Mennonite brother was serious about taking the Bible literally and I respect him for that. I don’t think we are expected to literally “greet one another with a holy kiss,” but I deeply believe that we are, in a way understood by our culture, to give a warm, sincere, pure and loving greeting to other brothers and sisters in the family of God. This may be more important that we think.

Peter said we are to “Love one another with a pure heart fervently.” People appreciate good music and helpful preaching and Bible teaching. These things are important. I’m sure a safe, convenient, comfortable building is important to a church. But deep in their souls, people crave human kindness, understanding, love. They need to experience divine love in a human form. Though we may not take this oft-repeated command literally, we should take it seriously and see to it that people who visit Bethel and those who make this their church home always receive a warm greeting and experience genuine love.

My friend Gary and I drove away from the meeting in silence for a mile or two. And then I said, “Gary, don’t worry, I’m not going to tell your wife about what happened tonight. Your secret is safe with me.”

Bittersweet Farm
February 16, 2020

Bittersweet Farm Journal (Number 74) 60 Years of Ministry

Filed Under: Bittersweet Farm

What’s Up (Written on Sunday, February 9, 2020)

This morning I left for the church about half-past-six. The sky was clear and a nearly full moon shone in the western sky. So the whole wide world as far as I could see was moon-lit and snow-covered. There is fresh snow out on Bittersweet tonight. It’s the Lord’s Day and we are warm and well. It was a good day at Bethel Church. We started a series of messages based on the letters from Jesus to the Seven Churches in Revelation. We had some new families visit this week. Our teens are returning from Barakel today. This week I attended a leadership conference at Ada Bible Church with son Kyle and Chuck and my brother Nathan. Tonight our son Daniel starts the police academy in New Mexico. He is a sheriff’s deputy. Those are some of the things that are up around here. The dear still graze in the back meadow every night and in the near north field. Turkeys stroll out of hiding occasionally. I hope you and yours are doing well.

It’s winter out on Bittersweet and it will be for a while. That is Michigan for you. We love it here and winter is a part of the Michigan we love.

(Written on Sunday, February 16, 2020)

This afternoon the sun came out and the temperatures climbed into the 40’s which was delightful. Everyone in town washed their car. I took Grenfell through the wash. It got me to thinking about the blessing Grenfell, my Toyota Camry, has been to me since I got it in June of 2017. God has supplied all we have needed. This car came to me through the diligence and generosity of our son Daniel and his wife Katelynn. They bought it new and paid the depreciation and then sold it to me for a very fair price and until I secured my pastorate they supported us every month in about the amount of the payment. Whenever I turn the key, I remember and I thank God for his kindness and for our son Daniel. Grenfell gets over 35 miles to the gallon of gas.

Mom and Dad announced their retirement from the pastorate today after over 60 years of faithful ministry. Here is what my other wrote on her Facebook page today:

“Over 60 years ago Ken and I began our ministry together in October of 1959…..at IL-Mo Christian Camp in Illinois and this morning Ken gave his notice of retirement to our dear people at South Litchfield Baptist Church here in Michigan. What a blessing and privilege it has been to serve our Lord. Jesus Never Fails! We will be moving on the 13th of March to Kalamazoo to live at The Village of Sage Grove. We would appreciate your continued prayers for us as we scale down and transition to this change in our lives.”

I grew up in their home. I watched their faithfulness. I saw and experienced God’s direction and supply all those years. They were faithful. He was faithful. He supplied all they needed all those years and used them in the lives of many, many others. Many men have gone into the ministry as a result of my parents ministry including a significant number of family members. So we do thank the Lord. In a few weeks the brothers will join together and move them out of the parsonage and into their place in Kalamazoo.

Mike Anderson wrote this in a comment on their post: “I sensed my call to the ministry under Pastor Pierpont’s ministry at Maple Avenue Christian Union Church in Newark, Ohio in the early 1990’s. I will be forever grateful for the faithful example of both of you reflecting what it means to love and follow Jesus. I am a life that was changed!”

Follow Ken Here