I had noticed that in our community there are signs everywhere and several held up by people. You see the homeless man with a card board sign that says “Will work for Food”. You see signs from businesses, some examples I’ve seen are furniture stores advertising sales, cash loan stores and restaurants all advertising for their business. A few weeks back in a worship service at church we were singing a song called; “I surrender all to you”, the lyrics for this song are very graphic and had a profound effect on me. What I see in church today is bothersome, it has become in many aspects a people oriented business. You have consumers enter the building, they are shuttled from Sunday school to the sanctuary where they sing some songs listen to the preacher then at the end of the service pay for their consumption with what we call tithes, then go about their lives and do it again next week. I’m no church reformer and will never try to be, but on a personal level this just does not seem right, it is not what I read in scripture. You go back in time 100 years or more and take someone who knows nothing about the way we do church today and have them read the scriptures, then fast forward them to the year 2012, do you think that what we do in church today would have ever entered his imagination based solely on scripture? I am no church reformer nor will I ever try to be, what I am is a believer in Jesus Christ and I desire to honor him.
So I set out three weeks ago under much fear, with no support from anyone and in fact my friends and family that I talked to about it didn’t want me to do it; but not one person could come up with a scriptural bases for not doing it; the only reasons they could come up with was the embarrassment factor, and all of scripture was telling me to do it. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47), “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). So we are to Go and we are to begin right where we are in our own community and spread out from there.
So I asked myself where are the most people in Tyler, TX found at? And the answer I got was in their cars. All people in this community can be found at one time or another in their car. Who comes into our churches? Most of the time believers, the majority of unbelievers are outside of the church. Since standing on the corner I have seen much. I have seen believers who will smile and wave, to these the cross has given encouragement for their commute home. I have had a few people yell something out in mockery, in mockery or not, the cross had an effect on them and the message written on the cross did as well. I have seen Muslims in their traditional dress having seen a believer holding on to the message of the cross, I have seen peoples from many facets of society and all have seen the cross and the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Yes three weeks ago when I started this I was extremely fearful, I had no man at my side but I had the Spirit of God carrying me all the way. Each time I have done this I have done so after much prayer and calling out to God for strength. I am so weak and He is so strong. Paul said; “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). So I encourage you today not to fear; God is on our side, step outside of your comfort zone and declare to the world, that there is salvation and that salvation comes through repentance and faith in the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ!
A slave of Jesus Christ,
Mike Peek
