Kenneth Bacon

I know a godly man named Kenny Bacon

Kenny loved so many things in this life.

He loved to fish.

He loved his church.

He loved his family.

He loved his wife.

Most importantly he loved Jesus.

Kenny was involved in many different areas of service.

He was a deacon at this church.

He went on missions trips.

He loved going to the Boys Ranch down in Eufaula.

He and Mrs. Bessie even went to church camp to work with the teenagers on several occasions.

He loved to sing and play his harmonica.

Many fellowships were pleasantly interrupted by Kenny Bacon.

He would pull out his harmonica and everyone would stop to listen.

Kenny would walk in the door for church every Sunday with a smile.

He was always active in the singing.

As a pastor, I miss preaching to him, because he was always encouraging with a strong aaaamen!

Bro. Kenny wasn’t always so interested in spiritual things.

The early days of Bro. Kenny’s life were hard.

He experienced things that most of us will never experience.

Before he met Jesus, Bro. Kenny was a different man.

Many of you know that Bro. Kenny was a WWII veteran.

He fought in the Pacific theatre of the war for 19 months.

Due to his age he was unable to join when the war started.

Once he turned 17, in 1943, he lied about his age and joined the army.

He was in the 184th infantry serving in Korea when the war ended.

When he came home, he brought many vices with him.

He married his wife Bessie shortly after returning home.

Together their lives were fully immersed in what the world had to offer.

Smoking, drinking, partying and fighting.

According to Mrs. Bessie they were headed down a bad path and they were going fast.

But then something happened that reminds me of a passage in the Bible.

There was another man that was heading down a similar road of rebellion to God.

His name was Saul.

Acts 9:1–8 KJV 1900

1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

Saul was stopped dead in his tracks by an encounter with Jesus Christ.

Jesus asks Saul in this passage “why persecutest thou me?”

He then says to Saul “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”

Jesus is questioning Saul’s rebellion and He is pointing out the self-inflicted pain that He is causing Himself.

Jesus came to seek and to save.

He is humanity’s hero, not their villain.

Saul lived his life as if Jesus was a bad guy to be defeated.

Until He saw Jesus on that road and realized that he was on the wrong side.

Paul received Jesus as His Savior that day on the side of the road.

He realized that Jesus death had provided for Him to be forgiven of his sins.

There was nothing Saul could do to earn God’s favor but Jesus had made it possible for Him to have it anyway.

Having reconciled with Jesus, Paul’s whole life changed.

We don’t have time to go into all of it.

We can see the start of the change immediately.

Saul asks Jesus, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

As I was writing this I kept typing Paul instead of Saul.

Those of you that know the Bible know that soon after this Saulos Paulos ceases to be referred to by his first name but by his middle name Paul.

That’s how we remember him.

By the change that Jesus made in him that was so much more than just his name.

I didn’t know the old Kenny.

I didn’t know the drinker and the fighter.

I only knew the singer and the servant.

I do know that the same Jesus that changed Paul changed Kenneth.

It happened almost as abruptly.

I love the story of how Mrs. Bessie was invited to a revival meeting at the Baptist Tabernacle.

She went and on her first night she got saved.

She then began inviting her husband to come to church with her.

The next time there was a revival, Mrs. Bessie was getting the kids ready to go to the service when she saw Kenneth getting ready too.

She asked him what he was doing and he told her that he was going to church too.

Bro. Kenny told me that he knew he needed to be saved, he knew he needed his life to change.

So he went that night and accepted Jesus as his savior.

Just like his wife had.

Just like Paul had.

Jesus immediately began to change the lives of Kenneth and Bessie Bacon.

He wants to do the same for you today.

Kenny and Bessie give me confidence that God will do the work in me that He did in them.

He can change your life as well.

Revelation 21:4 tells us that Kenny is in that place where “4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

Those are some great changes for the Christian to look forward to.

Change for the believer doesn’t just happen in heaven; it starts here on earth.

Just look at them, and you’ll know it’s true.