Kevin A. Pierpont
Higgins Lake Baptist Church
5/23/04

In August 1983, Russell Stendal was taken hostage into the jungle of Columbia, South America, by a band of guerrilla soldiers. For nearly 5 months he learned what it really means to love one’s enemies. He wrote a letter home, saying, “I am in danger only of losing my life; they are in danger of losing their souls.” Through kindness, Russell befriended his guards. One day the commander told him, “We can’t kill you face to face; we like you. So we will have to kill you in your sleep.” God enabled Russell to forgive, but for the next 10 days and nights he couldn’t sleep. A submachine gun was repeatedly thrust in his face under his mosquito net, but the guards couldn’t bring themselves to pull the trigger. On January 3, 1984, Russell was released. When he said goodbye, tears filled the eyes of some of his captors. (Our Daily Bread)

If Russell were here today I think he’d have a thing or two to teach us about loving our enemies.

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Kevin A. Pierpont
Higgins Lake Baptist Church
5/16/04

D.L. Moody once said,

“Show me a church where there is love, and I will show you a church that is a power in the community. In Chicago a few years ago a little boy attended a Sunday school I know of. When his parents moved to another part of the city the little fellow still attended the same Sunday school, although it meant a long, tiresome walk each way. A friend asked him why he went so far, and told him that there were plenty of others just as good nearer his home.

“They may be as good for others, but not for me,” was his reply.

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because they love a fellow over there,” he replied.

If only we could make the world believe that we loved them there would be fewer empty churches, and a smaller proportion of our population who never darken a church door. Let love replace duty in our church relations, and the world will soon be evangelized.” (Moody’s Anecdotes, Page 71-72)

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I had just come home with my family from a great weekend of fellowship with other believers. It had been a great time of spiritual refreshment. That’s when I got an email that contained some unwelcome news. My spirit of joy was almost completely gone. I was quickly discouraged about the news I had just received. It was Saturday night and I went to bed knowing I had to preach the next day. Even though I was completely exhausted from the long, full weekend I laid awake with a heavy heart. I prayed, asking for God’s wisdom. I also prayed for hope and peace as I was feeling quite discouraged.

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Kevin A. Pierpont
Higgins Lake Baptist Church
5/9/04

A mother put her son to bed on the eve of his fifth birthday. She was trying to communicate that birthday idea to him. “John,” she said, “this is the last night of your fourth year. Do you understand that?” John was ready to communicate with his hands. For a full year, he had shown people four fingers for his four years, and now he was ready to add a thumb. Seeing his four fingers, his mother nodded, and said: “When you go to sleep tonight, you’ll still be 4-years-old. But do you know how old you’ll be in the morning, when you wake up?” John nodded enthusiastically, added his thumb to his four little fingers and said, “Tomorrow, I’ll be a handful!”

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I was working on my to-do list and I heard Zachary tell one of the other children, “Daddy threw my blanket away.” He was right. A few days earlier I had one of the older boys take the blanket to the trash. That sounds pretty cruel but you wouldn’t think so if you had seen the tattered mess it had become. It had seen better days.

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I just had to share another photo of the beautiful tall timbers we found on our trek last week. This is part of the Huron National Forest just a few miles from where we live.

Kevin A. Pierpont
Higgins Lake Baptist Church
5/2/04

Last weekend Carolyn and I had the privilege of attending a parenting conference and it was refreshing to hear solid Biblical principles explained that help us in our role as parents. The main speaker at the conference is a former pastor and also served as the state representative for many years for churches in our fellowship in the state of Indiana. He has a great deal of Biblical counseling experience and now heads up an organization that trains pastors and lay people to counsel Biblically. He mentioned how one time when he was counseling a mother seeking guidance, she made the statement, “I love my child too much to spank him.” His reply to her was that, “someone is lying—either you aren’t telling the truth or the Bible isn’t telling the truth. He then showed her from God’s Word Proverbs 13:24.

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Some of the children and I discovered this beautiful area of tall pines on our first geocaching trek not too far from our home a couple of evenings ago. It was a beautiful summer like evening.