So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Your interpretation is not the word of God, your explanation is not the word of God, your paraphrase is not the word of God;  "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."

Prayer of Support for Phil Robertson and Family

A couple of years ago my brother Jeff and I were on our way to Mobile, Alabama. Our father Richard had injured himself and was on the burn ward there. My father has become very debilitated with Parkinson's, which has progressed over the past 8 years to the point were he is now, other than for brief periods, bed ridden. As the disease progressed he became weaker and weaker; at times he would injure himself, this was one of those times. He had gotten into a bath tub in a hotel in Pensacola, FL, and had turned on the hot water; he was unable to turn on the cold water, nor get out of the bath tub, nor turn off the hot water. His feet became badly burned from the near boiling water. My brother Jeff and I met up in Shreveport, LA to take the long drive together to Mobile, AL, in order transport our parents back to Texas. We knew that my father and Phil Robertson had gone to college together, so as we came into West Monroe, LA, we decided to stop by Duck Commander, it was a Sunday, so they were closed, but while we were in the parking lot Phil surprisingly came out of the building. My parents, Phil and Kay were all neighbors during college. My father the star of the basketball team, Phil the star of the football team, they knew of one another, but were not friends. We told Phil that we were on the way to Mobile to see our father, he remembered him and was very concerned about his situation. He offered us his prayers of support and wanted to know if there was anything he could do. We knew when talking to Phil that he loved God as well as his neighbor. A simple man, not at all simple in intelligence, but simple in spirit. A humble, gentle, and merciful man; without pretension or arrogance of any sort. I would like to, as Phil did for us that day, when we needed it. Offer my families prayers of support to both Phil and the entire Robertson family. May The Lord of glory, Jesus the Christ the Son of the Living God provide you all with strength of faith and character as you go through this difficult and very public trial.

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another.

“ If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘ A slave is not greater than his master. ’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘ They hated ME without A cause. ’

“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning. (John 15:12-27)

Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Lofty Towers

Many of us; myself included make the gospel so difficult that if we had heard ourselves in our unregenerate state would not have come to repentance and faith through what we preach; in many instances we wouldn’t have even understood what we were saying. This has weighed heavily on my heart and mind a lot lately. The gospel is vast and the study of the gospel can go on all of our lives, but what a person needs to know to repent is so simple that a child should be able to understand it.

I didn’t come to faith in Christ through the grand preaching of a reformational preacher; I came to the Lord while reading a book many of you probably have spoken against, but have never actually read, “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren, yes you heard me correctly. Since that time I have grown in the Lord and have seen that many things about the purpose driven church movement are wrong, but the Lord did use this book and the simple gospel message in it to bring me to repentance and faith.

Here is the scenario, I knew before reading the book as all men do; that I was created by God and had sinned against God, but I did not believe the gospel, and probably didn’t even understand it. I had heard somewhere before that Jesus was God, and had died for our sins, but inwardly I feared condemnation, and comforted myself in my sin. Here is the simple gospel message that I heard in that book, which was instrumental in bringing me to the Lord.

“The Bible promises, ‘To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.’ Will you accept God’s offer? First believe. Believe God loves you and made you for His purpose. Believe you’re not an accident. Believe you were made to last forever. Believe God has chosen you to have a relationship with Jesus, who died on the cross for you. Believe that no matter what you’ve done, God wants to forgive you. Second, receive. Receive Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior.” (The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren, chapter 7, page 58.)

Wait a minute you might say, he didn’t say repent and believe. You’ve got to say repent and believe. If you are saying that, you my friend have fallen into a methodology and not a biblical model. Take for example the Lord’s Prayer, is the Lord’s Prayer the only way you can pray or is it a model for prayer? You know the answer, it is a model prayer; the Lord used this model prayer to teach His disciples how to pray. Listen to these words; “Receive Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior." In other words capitulate, or repent. Had he said repent and believe over 11 years ago, when I read this, I would not have even known what he was talking about? I would have either had to stop reading, and look up the word in a dictionary, or continue to read and miss the entire meaning. The Lord was drawing me to Himself at that time, where I was at that moment; I would learn and come to understand more lofty terms later on, as I grew in the Lord, as a new born child in the Kingdom of God. Had the author said repent and believe it’s doubtful that I would have come to repentance and faith reading that book. Since the Lord was drawing me to Jesus at that time He would have used something else to draw me to Christ. The Lord used the words written in that book to meet me where I was at that moment.

So what am I saying? Humble yourselves and meet people where they are. The gospel is incredible, and we can spend eternities of eternities studying it and never have all knowledge of the gospel; but at the same time the gospel is so simple a child should be able to understand it. Oh you preachers of righteousness come down off your lofty towers and meet the people in the street. The gospel means good news!

In Luke chapter 18 Jesus tells a story about two men, one a Pharisee who thought of himself as righteous and the other a tax collector who did not. I find it so fitting, that story, is immediately followed by this one. “And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. But Jesus called for them, saying, "Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all." (Luke 18:15-17)


Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ


Here is a short excerpt from my stop light preaching yesterday with the cross. Preaching about the Narrow way on Broadway in Tyler Texas.

Guilty People

People with guilt will either become religious or say that they don't believe in God, becoming hostile toward God. The one who becomes religious knows that he is guilty, but hopes that his good works will out weigh the bad. The one who is hostile towards God knows that he is guilty as well, but is hoping in his Godless self-delusion.

Neither religion nor Godless self-delusion will do away with guilt. The religious man works harder and harder at his sacrifices while the one caught up in Godless self-delusion lashes out at God all the more. 

Christ Jesus demonstrated God's own love toward us by taking upon Himself the guilt of His people and dying in our place for our sins. That is good news! His people are all those who give up hope of any other means of justification and put their faith in Jesus alone. "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." No work required, and the wall of enmity has been torn down; rest from your labors in Jesus. 

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.'" (Mat 16:24) The religious man will interpret this to mean; deny yourself of the things in this life and offer up sacrifices to God, which could come in many differing forms. But what The Lord is saying here is so simple, in fact I am beginning to see this in everything that He said. Come follow Me! Change your mind from thinking that you can offer anything pleasing to God (deny yourself, take up your cross) the only thing you can do that is pleasing to God is to put your faith in Jesus alone (follow Me).

So to the religious person I say drop your sacrifice where you stand and believe in the gospel. To the man who is hostile towards God caught up in Godless self-delusion I say put down your weapon and believe in the gospel.

“ Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy- laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” ~Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30)

Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Never Tell Someone to Stop Sinning

I will never again tell someone to stop sinning; I will however explain sin, declare the condemnation for sin, and proclaim the good news, that Christ blood was poured out for the forgiveness of sins, and therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is no power in preaching behavior modification. The power of God is in the gospel, the greatest motivator to live rightly is faith. "We love, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19 NASB)

For me to say I will never again tell someone to stop sinning is scandalous to many. Just to read those words causes some to cringe. You cannot have victory over sin by stopping from sin; in fact the truth is you can’t stop sinning. The apostle John said; “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10 NASB)

So if we cannot have victory over sin by stopping from sin; how then can we have victory over sin? “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:24-25 NASB) The answer is through faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God.

The passage in Romans 7:14-25 is bothersome to many. Typically this passage will be interpreted one of two ways:

1. Paul is talking about himself prior to conversion.
2. Paul is talking about himself as a believer continuing to struggle with sin.

The two natures that Paul is speaking about here is about one thing, which is faith! Where do you put your faith? Faith in Adam, which is your flesh (yourself), is death; faith in Christ, which is to trust in Him alone, is life. You cannot have victory over sin in Adam, you cannot have victory over sin by stopping from sin; you can have victory over sin through faith in Christ alone.

When you believed in Jesus as the Christ the Son of God, and believed Jesus, that through trusting in Him alone you have eternal life, you were at that moment born again. You have a new nature; you are literally a new creature. Physically the body you have is the same, but you have a new life, a new soul. Eternal life is not an extension of the old life, the old soul that you once had, eternal life is a new soul. “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (1 Corinthians 5:16-17 NASB)

You are a new creature, you are a new born babe in Christ, and as a new born baby you are learning to walk in this newness of life which is faith. Just as new born human babies do, when learning how to walk we fall down, in fact when you first begin to learn to walk in faith we fall down a great deal; but overtime as we mature in this new life of faith we fall down less and less. Not only do we begin to walk without falling, we learn how to run, and not only to run, but to mount up with wings like eagles; remember you are a new creature in Christ “the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

“Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.” (Isaiah 40:30 NASB)

In the aforementioned passage of Romans 7:14-25 Paul uses the example of Coveting, I will keep with that in this exposition; as a new creature in Christ you are dead to sin, sin has no authority over you. The problem is for many, instead of walking by faith they are walking in the oldness of the letter of the law. Paul said; “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14)

Let’s use an exaggerated example; your neighbor drives home in a brand new McLaren 12c, and you know that the price tag on this particular vehicle is $300k. You may be tempted to covet, after all it is a very nice vehicle, and besides where did he get the money for such a car? Temptation is not sin, but what you do with that temptation to sin is a different story all together; we will look at the two ways you could respond to this temptation to covet your neighbor’s car.

1. You see this new car your neighbor has; you have this temptation to covet. You know the law that says, “You shall not covet.” You do not want to disobey the law of God that says, “You shall not covet.” You agree that the law is good, so you tell yourself “I will not covet my neighbor’s car.” But the more you tell yourself this, the more you become focused on the objects of your coveting, and before you know it, “I am doing the very thing I hate.” How did this happen? You agree with the law that it is good, you do not want to covet, but you wind up doing the very thing you hate, coveting. Pay attention here; listen to what you said to yourself, “I will not covet my neighbor’s car.” I will not, your faith is in your flesh and your own abilities to resist sin. Adam’s nature is sinful, so if you are trusting in your flesh (yourself) to resist temptation, what is the outcome going to be? Sin!

2. You see this new car your neighbor has; you have this temptation to covet. You ignore the temptation; this is so contrary to how we deal with things in the flesh; “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11 NASB) As a new creature in Christ you are dead to sin, sin has no authority over you; all your sins are done away with in Christ so ignore this temptation and turn to Christ by faith. “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” (Romans 7:6 NASB) Ignore the temptation to covet and turn to Christ by faith thinking Him for the blessings He has given you; “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NASB)

The answer to having victory over sin is not, stop sinning. The answer to having victory over sin is not we and our abilities to resist sin. The answer to having victory over sin is found in Christ Jesus alone and that my friend is what the gospel is all about, it is good news. Never tell someone to stop sinning, but instead tell them to Repent (that is to change their mind) and believe in the gospel. “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (Romans 7:24-8:1 NASB)




Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Augustinian, Huguenot, Anabaptist

Approximately 2 ½ years ago I was in a church Sunday school class and a man had filled in for the associate pastor who normally taught the class. I don’t remember the lesson or exactly what was said, but I do remember that at the end of the class I pointed out some things that the scriptures said in regards to the topic he had taught, and I remember his response, and reaction. He said to me, “That’s Calvinism”. So he then disregarded everything I had said, because what I had said in pointing out scripture was something called Calvinism. I had been labeled, and was discredited, when I didn’t even know what the label meant. All I knew was scripture, and I knew scripture very well, because I had opened up the bible 8 years prior to that day and have read it every day since.

I knew scripture very well, if you were talking about a passage of scripture I could reference to other passages that related to or stated the same. What I didn’t know was theology. In fact, I didn’t even know the term theology. There was much in this particular church that was bothering me, because it did not line up with what I had come to understand through scripture; a year later my wife and I would leave this particular congregation that we had been a part of for 9 years, and join a congregation that is the closest match in our community to the doctrines and theology I had come to understand and believe from scripture. Although I did not even know the word theology, I had a theology, and that theology had been strongly wrought in me through countless hours of reading scripture. I’ve tried to tell some of my brothers about this, but I don’t think they can really grasp that the Lord allowed me to develop my personal theology in a void, without much influence, and by scripture alone. The church I was going to at the time was based on Rick Warren’s purpose driven church, devoid of both doctrine and theology. Sermons were what you would call; three points and a poem. There was a little scripture thrown into the sermon, but the sermon was not on the scripture. In April of 2003 as a church, we were all encouraged to read the 40 days of purpose one chapter at a time for 40 days. Then once a week in a small group talk about it. My wife and I had joined the church a few months prior. Up to this point in my life I was for the most part un-churched. A prayed the suggested prayer in the text of the 40 days of purpose to except Christ as Savior, at the end of that 40 days something happened that would completely change the life God had given me, and I now know that it was the drawing of the Spirit. I decided to pick up the bible and start reading it every morning, I read through it all the way, then again, and again; I couldn’t go without reading the word. During that time the Lord was teaching me and drawing me unto Himself, it was in December of 2009 that I would come to repentance and faith; putting my faith in Christ Jesus alone as both Lord and Savior.

So I had for 6 ½ years been reading the bible every day, been granted repentance and faith, then another 1 ½ years later this man would not listen to what I had to say because it was Calvinism. So I had to find out about these things, since I had been labeled as such. So from then, until now, 2 ½ years later, I would continue to read the bible every day, but also read books on theology and church history. I’ve read Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Spurgeon; I also read about the reformation both in Europe and in England, I read about groups like the Huguenots and the Anabaptist. Now while reading these things didn’t give me a theology, I already had a theology, what it did give me were names for the things that I had already believed. It also gave me understanding as to why a man wouldn’t listen to me, and label me, when I was just telling him exactly what the scripture said.

So today I thought that I should label myself; I believe that I am a bit of an enigma. Many, as this man did would call me a Calvinist. I have studied and agree with many things that Calvin said, but I am not a Calvinist, nor am I an Armenian and I am diffidently not a Romanist. So then what am I? Good question, let’s see. With regards to the Sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, justification, and predestination; I am as Augustine, but I am not an Augustinian. With regards to scripture, I am as a Huguenot, but I am not a Huguenot. With regards to being a disciple and follower of Jesus Christ, Baptism, resisting and evil person, and community; I am as an Anabaptist, but I am not an Anabaptist. So then what am I? I am "justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith."

In conclusion; I have used my story as an example to show what can happen when your thoughts are driven by theology and doctrine verses scripture alone. What is theology? Theology is mans understanding about the things in scripture; therefore there can be both correct and incorrect theologies. Doctrines are teachings given by man to explain the things of scripture as related to his theology; therefore there can be both correct and incorrect doctrines. The problem is not theology or doctrine, understanding theology and using doctrines can be good; but this is the problem. When one becomes theology minded he has a tendency to be prejudiced, but when your thoughts are of scripture alone you tend to be more discerning.

One thing that I would like to encourage my brothers in sisters in Christ to do is read your bibles, not commentaries, or books written by men, videos, or sermons on-line, but your bibles. There is nothing wrong with study, study is good but it should never take the place of being alone with God in the scripture. Set aside a portion of your day, every day to open the word of God and just read, then pray. Ask yourselves this question; would I have come up with the ideas I currently have just reading scripture alone? Some of your ideas with regards to theology and eschatology, would they be what they are now from just reading scripture alone? Seriously, ask yourself this. Some of the things I see argued and debated amongst brothers and sisters on facebook would end, if you just stopped and asked the question. Would I have come to this conclusion or this understanding of the subject at hand if I had done nothing but read scripture? If the answer is no, stop! If nothing else I hope this has encouraged you all too just open your bibles and read, allow your hearts and minds to be renewed by the reading of God’s word.



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Love Is Hard

I wasn't where I wanted to be, nor where I thought I should be, but the Sovereign Lord had me exactly where He wanted me to be. This past week has been one of the most trying and difficult of my life. One year ago I asked my wife, and two other couples to come along with me to plead for lives, and preach the gospel outside of "The hope medical group for women" abortion mill in Shreveport, LA. One of the men decided to organize an outreach this past weekend; encouraging others to come and minister outside of this abortion mill for three straight days, also inviting speakers from around the country to this abortion mill training event.

Just about three weeks ago I learned that I would not be able to attend this event. I kept quiet about this, but inside I felt devastated. I had personally stood on the side walks around that abortion mill a great deal and had left much of my heart at that place. I had talked with many people, preached the gospel numerous times, read the Word of God aloud, I had been threatened, cursed, and much more over the past year. As hard as it is to minister at this place of death, the bond that you have with the brothers and sisters that you minister with is indescribable. So with these brothers and sisters being there and many more arriving to let the city of Shreveport, LA know that at 210 Kings Highway Babies Are murdered here. That is where I wanted to be, and where I thought I should be, but could not be. No, instead of being out saving the world my time was to be spent on more trivial matters; honoring my mother and father.

As I said; while out ministering at this abortion mill I had been called numerous things, I have been told by some who profess the name of Christ that I was unloving, as a stood on the sidewalk of an abortion mill 100 miles from my home, sometimes by myself, on my day off from work, spending my own money to get there and get home; that I should have the gall to plead with mothers, fathers, and workers of that place not to kill. These trials would not prepare me for this past week, because while all that goes on at this mill and others deeply saddens me, I can leave the mill and go home; also there are other brothers and sisters involved in this type of ministry that we can encourage and they can encourage us, not so over the things that have occurred in this life over the past week.

In this blog I will deeply expose myself and my family, but I need to tell someone because this burden is weighing so heavily upon me and my wife. I did not grow up in a Christian home. My mother decided to take us to a Methodist Church when I was in Junior High school but that was the extent of my Christian upbringing. In 2003 when the Lord drew me to Himself and I began to follow Him and read the word of God, much changed in my life, the Lord was preparing me for the things that He has me doing today. My parents had some problems in their marriage about 15 years ago and as part of the reconciliation process with one another, they began attending church together regularly. My hope is that they have repented of their sins and put their trust in Christ alone, but I do not know that for certain, so I speak to them about Him often, trying to always keep Christ in the conversation. A few years ago after my father’s retirement from the Dallas Fire Department he became ill, his illness has now progressed to a very advanced Parkinsonism. He is 90% bed ridden, he is able to get out of bed for very brief periods of time, then he has to return to bed quickly or he passes out. He has lost control of his bowels. He does not know for certain where or when he is most of the time. Everything in his conversation is mixed with both reality and fantasy so his logic is faulty and his reasoning is all but gone. Caring for him is extremely difficult, while being confused; he is probably the most prideful human being I have ever met. As a child growing up I always saw my father as being an extraordinary human being. He was both physically strong and strong in attitude. As a young man growing up, often times some neighborhood boy would bring up into conversation whose father could beat up whose. As foolish as these conversations where from boys, picture this; I’m a young boy growing up in the 1970’s in a suburban neighborhood, all these other boys fathers were pot bellied and stood 1 ½ feet below my dad. Yes my dad was a real giant of a man, 6 feet 11 inches, 270 LBS with no fat. He was in the, late 1960’s – early 1970’s a professional athlete. He was a basketball player for the Dallas Chaparrals (now called the San Antonio Spurs). After his career as a Pro Basketball player he would then become a Dallas Fireman, he just retired 8 years ago.

Here are some pics of my father that you might enjoy: The first one is dad on the cover of a game program, the second is a news paper pic of dad guarding Julius Erving (Dr. J), the third is my dad running with me in the late 1970's.


As stated previously he is a very prideful and private man, he refuses to have anyone care for him other than my mother who herself is elderly. They had been living on a place, literally out in the woods on several acres away from anyone. My mother decided that they would move to a home within the same town as my wife and I so that when she needed help, we could come over and help. This move was extremely difficult and now a week later is still not complete. My mother whom I love very much has no organization skills at all. My wife and I had instructed her on several occasions to hire a moving company that would both pack up everything they had and move it; she had told us on several occasions as we brought this up that this is what she had done. We were under the impression that on the day of the move that we were going to move her potted plants and help her unpack. I had rearranged my work schedule so that I could be off for the move, working 72 hours, 6 x 12 hour shifts so that I could be off for the move, my brother Jeff came down for the move.

The day of the move, this would be comical if it were not true. A small moving company showed up, and moved the large furniture items leaving everything else there. At the home was left virtually all their belongings, myself and my father in a wheelchair. My mother had gone to the new home. My brother would help with the move for 1 ½ days, my wife and I spent four straight days from morning until night packing up their belongings and carrying them a car load at a time to the new home. Under extreme strain I felt angry inside, my wife was angry and complaining, and I was angry that she had been put in that situation, that so much had been thrown into her lap unexpectedly. We had been told on several occasions that a complete move had been purchased so we felt let down. So on Friday, after several trips, I said something to my mother about it, how disappointed I was, how I was then in the processes of doing exactly what I had on numerous occasions been told that I would not be doing. I then would repent, spending time in prayer and decided that I would continue on with the move without complaint. My brother would leave and return to his home an hour later. This left me and my wife with the sole burden of this move. We worked until well after dark, got something to eat and went to bed. We would go to the home in separate cars to carry things the next morning. She was at the old home packing, while I would load the truck and carry to the new home. I arrived with my first load of the day at the new home, my mother complaining about how the move was going. I had decided to stay quiet and continue forward expressing my love for them no matter what was said, or how I felt about the situation.

It was then when I arrived back at the old home that I received, given the situation; the most hurtful, mean, and wicked message I had ever received from anyone. It was my brother blasting me, and attacking my faith in Christ. Calling me an unloving and hateful person; why is it that if someone doesn’t like what you are doing they attack your faith in Christ? I would later learn that my mother had talked to him over the phone and I presume now, because of her guilt, that she was complaining about us as we labored. I asked him to please not text me anymore but he did anyway so I deleted the text without reading. Here Darlene and I were all alone, just she and I to pack up and move all their belongings. With my mother complaining that we were doing it wrong, my brother calling me a hateful man and attacking my faith in Christ; all the while spending our own money on the move, renting equipment, and paying for the dump, spending countless hours laboring. This has put an emotional strain on us that is difficult to bear, then on top of it all, I went back to work with some of the most stress filled days that I have had at work in years.

So why did I right this?
1. Because Darlene, I and, my family need much prayer; this will be difficult for some time to come.
2. Because I just needed to share it in some way, it is just eating me up.
3. Because while we think our ministries are difficult, and the people on the streets are hard to love; it is nothing compared to the difficulties of loving those whom you can’t leave.


Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Doulos Christou Iesou

Originally I wrote this as a letter to my church elders to inform them of the ministry that the Lord has laid upon my heart. I have altered it somewhat for use as a blog. In this letter I give a brief history of how I became an open-air preacher and the ministry with regards to open-air preaching that the Lord is drawing me to. I ask that you pray with me as I begin this endeavor; also pray that the Lord will bring others along to join in this ministry.

My name is Mike Peek a member of your congregation. My wife Darlene and I have been attending Sylvania church since April 2012; we became members in July of that same year. Most of you except for maybe Dave Rowlett, know me fairly well, and are aware for the most part of the ministry that I have been involved in. In January 2010 the Lord put an incontrovertible burden within my heart: First to glorify the name of Jesus Christ out of thanksgiving for what he did for me, and secondly out of love and concern for my neighbor, that they might know Him and be saved from the impending wrath of God. By profession I am a cardiovascular intensive care nurse, I have no idea how many men and women I have stood over, pounding their chest in an attempt to resuscitate them as the Lord took them from their body. Death is real for me, I see death so often, and it never gets easy. So when I say the burden that the Lord has given me for the lost is high, it is very high indeed.

I began to pour over scripture and try to figure out how to share my faith in Christ with other people. I first began talking with people, even to telemarketers as they called my home. Then I began passing out gospel tracts, and intentionally heading out the door for several hours at a time to witness to people. I began to write a blog called, “A slave of Jesus Christ”, which I initially started as a witnessing tool, but this has changed with time. One day I typed in a slave of Jesus Christ into Google, to see if my blog would pop up. It didn’t, but another blog did called, “Doulos Christou Iesou”. I clicked on the blog and the first thing there was a YouTube video, in the video there was a man standing on a street corner at an intersection in the evening light with a wooden cross with these words on the cross beam, “ARE YOU READY” and the sound in the video was John MacArthur preaching a sermon that I had previously heard and had named my blog after called, “A slave of Jesus Christ”. I immediately saw this as another tool in the arsenal with regards to the burden God had given me, to glorify the name of Jesus Christ and to reach out to the lost. The man with the cross I would later meet and call both friend and brother, his name is Tony Miano, he lives in California. Tony is like me, a reformational open-air preacher. Shortly after interacting with Tony I would have this overwhelming desire to preach Christ and Him crucified out in public, I had much fear, but would not be settled until I did, and I have been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ out in the public arena ever since.

At this point I found myself in kind of a spot, I knew of these brothers in California who were out sharing their faith but didn’t know anyone in East Texas who did, and no one from the church I was a part of at the time was interested, so I felt very alone. I prayed to the Lord, asking Him to give me a partner to go out and preach with, He would answer that prayer quickly. Darlene and I had gone to dinner and were eating outside. When we had finished and were through eating Darlene noticed a man handing out gospel tracts, I would then meet Seth Capps of Carthage, TX, who was also a reformational open-air preacher and knew Tony Miano and many other men who were doing this. Seth had been involved with Sports Outreach International, the parachurch ministry that I go to the Super Bowl with each year. Ever since then, myself, Seth Capps (Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Longview), Mike Anderson (Bethel Bible in Tyler), Jason McMurray (First Baptist Lindale) have partnered together to go out and preach the gospel at events around the state and at the abortion mill in Shreveport, LA.

Now that I’ve given you a brief history, allow me to explain the reason that I am writing you. This past Wednesday, October 23, I, and Mike Anderson went out to Tyler Junior College to exalt the name of Christ and preach the gospel. As I said, we are reformational open-air preachers, meaning that we are reformed in our theology; we all believe that salvation comes by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone, and that faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. So, therefore, as reformational open-air preachers we go out into the public arena, open up the word of God, proclaim the word of God, then expound upon the text focusing a great deal on the gospel. There are people that we know about, but don’t personally know, who go to places like college campuses and call themselves preachers of the gospel. But what these men are is open theist, because of their theology their methodology is a mess. These men will hold up signs that say things like, “TURN OR BURN” and many others. They will purposefully incite anger, calling people names to draw a crowd then somewhat preach but in order to keep the crowd they have to keep calling people names. They will almost never preach the gospel, but just keep telling people to repent of their sins. I had seen on the news that a group of these men had been at Tyler Junior College the week before and had caused much trouble.

My heart was broken by this, so, therefore, I asked Mike Anderson to go with me to Tyler Junior College to exalt the name of Christ and lift Him up; we don’t need things like this, or pragmatism, but all we need to do is exalt Christ and He will draw men to Himself (John 12:32). This past Wednesday I preached Romans 3:9-28, I’ve included a sound cloud link of that message in this letter, so that you, the elders will know what it is that I am preaching, it is a long message, because it was on a large text, but I thought it was needed that day. https://soundcloud.com/mike-peek-1/justification-by-faith

We were well received by both the students, and staff of Tyler Junior College; we had a few students, who just hate the name of Christ, but for the most part we were well received and the preaching caused many gospel conversations.

Since going, my heart has been burdened for that school. What I would like to do, Lord willing is to take some of what we are doing in the church and bring that to this campus. Phillip just recently finished “The Gospel According to John”, and I would like to take that, and bring it to this campus. My plan Lord willing is to go to the campus of Tyler Junior College one day every week, and systematically preach through the gospel of John. I plan Lord willing to begin this week with John 1:1-5. It will take me through the end of the fall semester to get through the 1st chapter of John, and then pick up with chapter 2 the first week of the spring semester. I believe the Lord can use this to draw men to Himself.



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ


Note: Click on the things highlighted to take you to things that I have referenced in this blog.

Stop Preaching Extemporaneously

I recently wrote a blog titled: “Witness”. In that blog I showed who the witnesses of Christ Jesus are; His chosen apostles, not you and I. Remember, the gospel is purely the good news concerning Jesus the Christ the Son of God; His righteous life, His sacrificial death for the sins of men, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven. So when the Lord said to His disciples; “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15) He was telling them, “go tell the world about Me, go tell them what I have done.” Why is this important to understand, because we can easily get caught up in so many different things, but the gospel alone is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). We are not witnesses of any of these things; the apostles of Christ Jesus are His chosen witnesses into the world. They have left us with their witness, which is the New Testament. “You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:48)

So then what are we, the redeemed in Christ to do if we are not His witnesses? We still have the commission that was given to the entire church throughout the ages by Christ in Matthew 28:18-20; “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." We still have His chosen method of making disciples. The preaching of the gospel (Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46, 47); but we are not the witnesses of these things, it is His apostles alone who are the witnesses of the good news concerning Jesus the Christ the Son of God; His righteous life, His sacrificial death for the sins of men, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven. So, therefore, when we proclaim the gospel, we must take out anything that is not their witness. We must first proclaim the scripture as it is written, and then secondly explain the scripture exegetically, which is a critical interpretation of the text. We are not to take individual scripture out of its context, and then apply them to fit our ideas. We are to take what has been written within the context of what proceeds and follows it.

So what am I saying? Stop preaching extemporaneously! Most pastors are not guilty of this, but many of my open-air preaching brethren are. Instead of first proclaiming what has been written, which is the first hand account, and then secondly explaining what has been written by critical interpretation of the text (exegesis), they will speak what has been formed in their own minds off-the-cuff or use some credo form that was given to them by someone else, and will often spout individual verses out of context, making themselves the witness of Jesus Christ. I am guilty of this, and am currently repenting.

I know that many of you will not like what I just said, but it is true nonetheless. Preaching is not a game, it is serious stuff, and needs not be taken lightly, but taken with much care and respect for the word of God, and the authority with which God has given men to proclaim His word. Open up the scripture, read the scripture, study what has been written with much care and diligence; then and only then go preach. When you go preach; firstly open up the scripture, don’t just hold the bible in your hand as a symbol, but actually proclaim what is written on the pages, then secondly explain what has been written, within context. I recently heard a brother in Christ and fellow open-air preacher whom I respect say; “Preaching is teaching with authority” (Tony Miano). Do not take this authority lightly.

This is not to say that you can never spontaneously preach the gospel, of course you can and should; but only after you have previously put in the necessary time, of opening up the scripture, studying the scripture. Then and only then will you be prepared to firstly proclaim, and then secondly explain what has been written by those who are the witnesses of Jesus the Christ the Son of God; His righteous life, His sacrificial death for the sins of men, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven.



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Witness

What is the gospel? The gospel is purely the good news concerning Jesus the Christ the Son of God; His righteous life, His sacrificial death for the sins of men, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven. So when the Lord said to His disciples; “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15) He was telling them, “go tell the world about Me, go tell them what I have done.” Why is this important to understand, because we can easily get caught up in so many different things, but the gospel alone is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16).

I have three questions for you while keeping the gospel in mind:
1) Did you witness these things?
2) Who did witness these things?
3) Who then are the witnesses for Christ Jesus?

I'm going to teach you about something you may not have heard before, at least in this way, but it's not new, the reformers referred to it as “Sola Scriptura”. Now “Sola Scriptura” referrers to all of scripture, both the New and Old Testaments, but what I would like to talk about today is the gospel. We are the redeemed in Christ; what that means is we have been saved from the wrath of God for our sins; by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in the Jesus Christ alone. We are the redeemed in Christ, but make no mistake, brethren; you and I are not His witnesses. Yes, you heard me correctly, we are not His witnesses. The apostles chosen by Jesus Himself are His witnesses: both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. They are the ones who witnessed His righteous life, His sacrificial death for the sins of men, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven. When you and I preach the gospel in this world, we are not giving witness of the things we have seen and heard; we are simply reporting the news given to us by those who did. When you come to understand this, it will revolutionize the way you preach the gospel, and talk to people about Jesus. You will also have understanding with regards to what really should be said, and the reason why. What I have to say today is in no way exhaustive on the subject; it is just a beginning, scratching the surface on a subject that covers the entirety of the gospel accounts and Epistles. Pay close attention to the personal pronouns when you are reading both the gospel accounts and Acts; this will really bring this subject to light. I’ve included in this post four short passages of scripture as examples of this.

“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-5 NASB)

I used this passage because it is a good quick synopsis of the gospel. As you can see from the passage, Christ appeared to the apostles after His resurrection, they were witnesses of His resurrection. Paul received the news of Christ death for the sins of believers and Christ subsequent resurrection from the dead the third day, the same way all of us have; by the testimony of those who witnessed the events. Paul then passed this news along to others so that they may also believe and be saved. Paul did see the risen Savior and was sent by Him, making Him an apostle, so therefore he himself could give witness to the resurrection.

He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:7-8)

As you can see from this passage, all the personal pronouns in reference to being a witness are of the apostles, His chosen witnesses, and in the greater passage of Acts 1:1-11 the Lord’s dialog is with the apostles, His chosen witnesses. The very ones He had chosen early on during His earthly ministry to be His witnesses.

"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17: 20,21 NASB)

In this, the High Priestly Prayer Jesus is praying on behalf of the church, all those who will come to faith in Him. Take note as to how they come to faith in Him, through the word given by His chosen witnesses, His apostles.


"Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." (John 20:30, 31 NASB)

In this passage the apostle John states the purpose for his writing this account. In this passage the signs Jesus performed where done in the presence of His disciples and they were not all written down. What has been written; has been written so that you, I, and a multitude of others would believe and be saved, to fulfill the commission that the Lord gave them, to be His “witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

As I stated earlier, this is in no way exhaustive on the subject, I try to keep these blogs brief, but I hope it does bring some understanding to something you may not have considered before. Remember what the gospel is; the good news concerning Jesus the Christ the Son of God; His righteous life, His sacrificial death for the sins of men, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven. Remember that you were not a witness of these things, Jesus chosen apostles were the witness of these things. So when you share the gospel with others, weather that be one on one, or by preaching, take out of your presentation what does not belong there, and report what the apostles of Christ Jesus witnessed. Remember we can easily get caught up in so many things; we have a tendency to make the gospel about ourselves or the people of the world. Let us report what we have received from the apostles witness, worshiping our Lord by telling the world what He has done, remember; it is the gospel alone that is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16).

“So many things have to be done to attract a crowd and to keep that crowd they have attracted why is that? Is it because the Gospel no longer has power? Or is it because we deceive ourselves into thinking that we are preachers of the Gospel? Paul said the Gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone, and that is true because power is demanded.” ~Paul Washer



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Solely by the Act and Will of God

It was two weeks ago today when I last wrote anything on this blog. I enjoy writing because it is a venue by which I can impart the thoughts the Lord has given me to others. During the past two weeks since my last writing, I have gone to the Herald Society in Philadelphia, PA, and since then, I have spent the past week reflecting on my calling to go out into the world and preach the most glorious news of all. That is, the gospel of the precious Son of the Living God, Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus has come in human flesh, He lived a righteous life, fully meeting the requirements of God the Father for eternal life, willingly dying in place of men for their sins against God, He was buried, then on the third day from His death Jesus arose from the grave, demonstrating that He is the Son of God, and that the Father was fully satisfied with His sacrifice on the cross as payment in full for the sins of men; “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John1:13 NASB)

The man who has been born again has been granted eternal life by God and it is solely by the act and will of the Sovereign Triune God of Creation. It is not of blood, this to say, it does not matter what family line you come from, it does not matter who your parents are, or who your grandparents are; the Jews thought that they would be saved because of their father Abraham; they thought it was by blood, but salvation and eternal life is solely by the act and will of God. It is not of the will of the flesh; every other religious system on earth is based on the will of the flesh. Follow the rules setup by the deity and just maybe, if he determines that you have dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s then just maybe, you can enter into paradise. You cannot do enough good to please this God of creation, He is righteous, and you have sinned against him, there is not enough good works in all of creation to appease a just and Holy God for the crimes committed against His sovereignty. The process of being born again is solely by the act and will of God. It is not of the will of man; some people believe that if a man makes a decision, if he decides of his own free will to repent of his sins and follow Jesus Christ, God will give him His Spirit and he will be born again. Salvation and eternal life is not the will of man; it is solely by the act and will of the Sovereign God. The gospel call is to tell the sinner to repent (have repentance toward God for their sins), and put their faith (that is their trust) solely in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior for the forgiveness of their sins. An unregenerate, unbelieving sinner cannot of himself hear and capitulate to the gospel call, he is dead in his trespasses and sins. Oh he might have some outward sign of contrition, because he got caught in an adulterous relationship or something else. He may even put on the Lord Jesus Christ and give the Christian thing a go for a while to see what he might get out of it, but in the end he was never born again. To be born again is solely by the act and will of the sovereign God. God cleanses a man of his sins by the blood of Jesus Christ through faith alone. The Father gave His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus. Jesus lived the righteous life that we should have lived, and did not. Jesus then willing gave up His reward; we deserve death, He deserved life, He willing stepped in and took death in our place; we are then granted His righteousness before God by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ Jesus alone.

How does this saving faith in Christ happen? God the Holy Spirit takes out a man’s heart of stone and gives him a heart of flesh. The Word of God is described in Ephesians 6:17 as being the sword of the Spirit. A sword cannot penetrate a stone; if you were to take a sword and wheeled it against a granite stone it would strike the surface of the stone but not penetrate the stone. If you take that same sword and wheeled it against soft flesh, it would penetrate that flesh to the core. So the Lord cleanses a man by the blood of Christ Jesus through faith alone, he does this by taking out his heart of stone and giving him a heart of flesh, so that he can then hear the gospel, not being able to resist it’s call, the gospel penetrates to his core. The Lord then puts His Spirit within the man causing him to walk in His statues, sanctification. And the greatest revelation about all this, the reason God did this. It is for the Glory of God alone!

Ezekiel 36:22-32 is the best description of the process by which the Lord causes a man to be born again I have found in all of scripture, I’ve included it below.


Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ



"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. 23 I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord," declares the Lord God, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. 24 For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 28 You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29 Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. 30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 I am not doing this for your sake," declares the Lord God, "let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!" (Ezekiel 36:22-32 NASB)

Nothing is More Important than the Truth

Why do you not understand what I am saying? This is a very important question, and our Lord Jesus immediately follows this question up with the answer. Jesus asked the question and gave the answer to this question in John 8:43. He said, "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word." 

So they could not understand what He was saying because they could not hear His word. Now why could they not her His word? 

In John 8:44 Jesus gives the answer for this; He said, "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." 

The reason they could not here His word, is because they had murder in their heart, and therefore they could only hear lies. Jesus puts anger on equal footing with murder (see Matthew 5:22,23). 

Perhaps you are angry about something today, and cannot hear the truth. Relax, take a breath, and spend sometime in scripture alone, not to prove your point, and be right, but to truly know what is right. Do as the Bereans of Acts 17:11 did, if you hear something that bothers you, or your unsure of, or you don't understand; examine the scriptures to see if these things might be so. We cannot see things as they are and hear the truth when we are angry. Also do what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13:5 "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-unless indeed you fail the test?" Don't just pick the passages out of scripture that you like and discard what you don't like. Your faith must be grounded in the Jesus Christ of scripture alone. Truly look at these things, nothing is more important than the truth. Don't let anger keep you from understanding the truth.

Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

And I Saw a Devil

He walked as though he owned the place, he probably does. He was a man familiar with wealth and prosperity giving the appearance of one use to having his way. He walked with a steady gate as he slipped on his suit jacket over his blue shirt and yellow tie. His suit was grey and expensive, he had on brown leather shoes, and he wore glasses and had curly gray hair, approximately 56-62 years of age. He came around the corner at the back of the parking lot and walked by all the cars parked in the lot. He set his gaze upon me, staring at me as he walked. I was preaching from the gospels about our resurrected Savior, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. As he continued to walk and stare intently, I thought he might come straight up to me, but he then gave a devilish grin and snicker. He then made a left turn for the door of the abortuary, inside awaited 20 women with child. Not too long after this they would begin coming out one-by-one with the gaunt faces of someone who had been medicated, walking with an uneasy gate, obviously from discomfort.

Today was the most difficult day I have had in the nearly one year of going to plead for lives with the word of God and gospel of Jesus Christ outside of an abortuary, I was without my bride or the other brothers that often come with me. I arrived on the public sidewalk, adjacent to Kings Hwy, the road on which the abortuary is located, at 8:45 AM, the parking lot was empty but would soon fill to capacity. A sister in Christ was there whom I had never met in person, but my wife, myself, and others have grown to know her via social media. As we talked and introduced ourselves, having yet to turn our attention to the abortuary, one of the men hired by the abortuary, an off duty deputy city Marshall made a bee line toward our direction, he began to try and use his position to intimidate us, saying “You cannot stand on the sidewalk with your cross, you must keep moving.” I have a 4 ft wooden cross with a question written on the cross beam, “Are You Ready?” I replied, “You are not acting in the capacity of a city Marshall, you have been hired as a guard of this place of death, I will be staying right here. You need to repent!” He then turned and walked away.

If you have followed any of my blogs lately, you would know that when out in public I have been preaching directly from the word of God, word for word. I was doing this in the hearing of the hired escort and the two men hired as guards. I would pause and call out to the mom’s and dad’s as they arrived to have their baby torn out of the womb. As I preached the word of God a woman from across the street began to curse me with much heated anger. Telling me to shut-up with many filthy curse words flying from her mouth; I turned her direction and told her that I loved her and hoped that the Lord might grant her repentance and faith in Jesus. This was when she really began to curse. The escort who sits with a stoic face while the word of God is preached began to snicker. Car after, car after, car would arrive; very often with the occupants laughing. They would get out of their car and walk right through the door of death without even giving a second glance as we pleaded with them to have mercy on their baby.

As I left this place I was filled with much sadness and grief. I had been at a place, in the middle of a busy city in America; in which a wealthy man charged poor people money to tear their child out of their womb. I think that this is the biggest problem, unbelief; people do not want to believe that this is really happening, so they ignore it. I could find solace in no one else so I turned to the Lord, asking the question: How can anyone murder their child, and how can anyone hear the word of God and gospel of Jesus the Christ and not fall to their knees in repentance and faith? I already knew the answer, they cannot hear the word of God because they are dead in their trespasses and sins, it is the same reason that I couldn’t hear until the Lord took out my heart of stone, and gave me a heart of flesh that could be penetrated by the word of God, and gospel of Christ.

What does the Lord say about this? “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." (John 8:43-47 NASB)



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Witness

I came to the realization of something today as I was meditating on Acts 1:8.

"but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

I am not a witness for Jesus, you are not a witness for Jesus; neither our words nor our actions are a witness for Jesus. He chose His witnesses Himself, and it was not us.  His witnesses are His chosen apostles, then and now.  When He said to them, you shall be My witnesses even to the remotest part of the earth, He meant His chosen apostles, not us.  How can that be, His apostles are no longer with us? Oh but they are!  They left us a New Testament, and that New Testament alone is their witness of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God into all the world.  You and I my friend, are simply vessels to carry their witness into the remotest parts of the earth.  Think about that brethren next time you go out and proclaim the word of God, and Gospel of Jesus the Christ, the only begotten Son of the living God.  You and I are not the witness of Christ, His chosen apostles are through the words of the New Testament alone. 

Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

The Lord Longs to be Gracious

The other day I began to read a book called “The Institutes of Christian Religion” by John Calvin. In Book 1, The Knowledge of God The Creator, chapter 1, I read a statement that just struck me hard. It was one of those aha moments when you get something. My mind is always on evangelizing the gospel, therefore I related this statement to the proclamation of the gospel. The author said; "But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and reflect what kind of Being he is, and how absolute the perfection of that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to which, as a standard, we are bound to be conformed, what formerly delighted us by its false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest iniquity; what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom will disgust by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance of virtuous energy will be condemned as the most miserable impotence."

When men compare themselves to men they feel alright about themselves, they look pretty good when compared to other men. There has been a push in evangelism a few years back on using the Ten Commandments to bring the knowledge of sin. The law used correctly does have this effect, because when you are comparing your deeds to God’s perfect standard we all fall woefully short. Psalm 96:3 says; “Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.” And that is what John Calvin was saying in the quoted statement. That until a man has knowledge of his Creator he will think he is a pretty good person, and that is what the Law does, and the purpose for preaching it, to bring knowledge of the Creator God. When man sees God, when he comes to the knowledge of who the Lord is, he cannot do anything but what Moses did in (Exodus 34:8 NASB). “Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.” The Law says, this is God, this is His standard, and how absolute the perfection of that righteousness is, the Law declares the glory of God.

My pastor, Phillip Dancy of Sylvania church in Tyler, Texas, was preaching on Isaiah 30:18-26 today. While expositing this passage he read God’s Name from (Exodus 34:6-7 NASB) ; “Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."

That is our God! A man would never come up with a God like this God; who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He is just. Isaiah 30:18 says that the Lord longs to be gracious to you and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. This God of justice who will not leave the guilty unpunished longs to be gracious to you, all I can say is Wow!!! And because He is both just and gracious He crushed His only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ in our place to prove it. Wow!!! All you need do is cry out to Him in repentance and faith; “He will hear it, He will answer you.” (Isaiah 30:19 NASB) “And He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:6 NASB) Wow, Amazing!!!

So what should we do? Preach the Law to bring the knowledge of sin, declare the glory of the Lord, the Lord of Exodus 34:6-7, then preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father. Amen!!!



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Why I Reject Synergism

I am not saved because I loved God and choose Him, the truth is I hated God, I hated truth and loved sin. You might say that is a horrible thing to say, and I agree. That we should hate our creator and love sin is a horrible thing, but it is true nonetheless, and I now by the grace of God love truth and hate my sin. Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin." (John 8:34 NASB). And in Luke 16:13 when talking about serving God and Mammon, He makes the point , you cannot be slave to two masters, you will hate the one and love the other. I love God not because I choose Him. I love God because He loved me first. I am saved because it was His sovereign will to love me and draw me to His Son and it was not my own free will in anyway. How can one opine that faith is a decision, that a man makes in and of himself when the requirements for saving faith are a regenerated heart and mind; being born again, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, being baptized by the Holy Spirit of God?

Something I have been considering lately in watching, listening to, and talking to people. Ephesians 2:8, 9 says; "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." If you have trusted in Jesus alone and His gospel you are saved, that is a promise from the Sovereign God. We often talk about carnal Christians, those who profess the name of Christ but live a life not keeping with repentance. May I suggest that they have actually believed a different gospel. A gospel not proclaimed by scripture alone but a gospel proposed by modern American churchianity. Their lifestyles would suggest that they believe that Jesus died for them to sin. In other words, He died so that you can sin and get away with it, besides, Jesus said, "do not judge". 

Think about this for a moment, logically. The Son of God left heaven were He had dwelt with the Father in eternity past, humbled Himself, walked amongst wicked and sinful men who hated Him, He then aloud these same men He created to beat Him, and hang Him on a cross for all to see, and while on that cross was forsaken of by the Father He had dwelt with in eternity past, because He became sin on our behalf; and He did all this so that you can go on sinning that grace may abound? As the apostle Paul said, "May it never be".

Christ did not die for you to sin and get away with it, Christ died to save you from the wrath of God for your sin so that you might become the righteousness of God in Him. If this is you, repent and put your faith in Jesus alone, the Christ the Son of the Living God. "So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “ If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Do You Know Good?

Yesterday I wrote a note to a friend and brother, afterwords it got me to thinking. The world calls good evil and evil good. Good is not what is in your heart; ""The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9 NASB). Good is not what gives you pleasure or happy feelings; good is defined by Scripture alone. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil." (Proverbs 3:5-7 NASB). God is good and is defined through Scripture alone. Jesus said; "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3 NASB). To know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent is to know good; do you know good? Repentance is a change of mind; to call what Scripture alone calls good, and call what Scripture alone calls evil. To worship God alone, that is to embrace that which Scripture alone calls good and to abhor what Scripture alone calls evil. Do you know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent; do you know good? 

Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Righteousness Based on What?

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4 NASB).

Now that is what I call good news! Jesus Said; “You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 NASB). Why do people go to hell? Is it because they have sinned? Yes they have broken God’s law; but more than that, it is because God is righteous. If God who is righteous were to allow a man who is not righteous into heaven (God’s dwelling place) God would no longer be righteous. In order for a man to enter into God’s home (heaven), that man must be just like God, perfectly good, that is righteous.

The law of God says do not worship anything but God alone, do not create false gods and worship them, do not take His name in vain, honor the Sabbath, honor your mother and father, do not murder or even hate, do not have sex even by thought outside of marriage, do not steal, do not lie, do not covet. “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness” (Romans 10:5 NASB). In order to be righteous based on God’s law you must keep the law perfectly from conception until death, which is your entire life span in this temporal realm. “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10 NASB). Breaking God’s law even once means that we are not perfect and most of us have broken His law a multitude of times. Our heavenly Father is perfect, and therefore we cannot enter into heaven (God’s dwelling place) by the righteousness based on law. This is not good for us, because to be outside of heaven is to be outside of the presence of God, only God is good, and therefore there is nothing good outside of God; only weeping and gnashing of teeth, unimaginable pain and longing, hell.

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4 NASB). This does not mean that Christ is the end of the law all together (Romans 3:31), because the law is good; it is us that are not good. But what it does mean however is that Christ is the end of the law as far as being the way you can be counted righteous before God. Faith in Christ alone means that your righteousness is not based on your own personal righteousness, but on the righteous of another. Namely the righteousness of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God; who lived that perfect life in the flesh that we should have lived, never breaking God’s law even once. He willingly died, separated from God for our sins, because He loves us. Then after fully satisfying the wrath of God for our sins, as only a perfect sacrifice can do, God raised Him from the dead, furnishing proof to all men that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and that through faith in Him alone, we are made righteous, and can come into the presence of God in heaven. This not based on our own merit, but on Christ’s alone. Yes, this is good news, this is good news indeed!



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Scripture Alone Day 7

For the past week I have stepped out in faith, allowing scripture alone to be my voice. The Lord has graciously allowed me to memorize the first 9 chapters of John. For the past 7 days I have gone to the same street corner every evening with my 'Are You Ready' cross preaching through scripture alone from memory. Beginning and ending with passages that give a good summary of the gospel, proclaiming one chapter of John each day between these passages. My plan, Lord willing is to do this 10 days in a row, concluding with Romans 3 on day 10; expositorally preaching the gospel from Romans 3 to people who have been saturated by God's word for the previous 9 days. I have been proclaiming the Word of God each day in 3 parts:

Part 1: Proclaiming these passages of scripture together as a whole. Romans 1:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:15-16, Luke 24:46-47, Acts 17:30-31, Mark 1:15.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, " But the righteous man shall live by faith. "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,"But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, " All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. "And He said to them, " Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. "and He said to them, " Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

Part 2: One full chapter out of John on this occasion chapter 7.

Part 3: Repeating part 1.

This is an audio of yesterday evening.





Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Being Critical of the Church

I often hear many saying critical things about the church in regards to open-air preaching and abortion mill ministry. Looking back throughout this dispensation I do not see any period of time in which every believer in the church went out and preached the gospel publically. Nor do I see in the dark periods of history were everyone within the church came out in public protest of wrongs being done in the world. Throughout the history of the church the Lord has used a few individuals to accomplish His plan. When was the Lord most glorified in the battles that Israel fought? When the odds were against them and the enemy surrounded them. The Lord has blessed me, giving the ability to memorize scripture and has given me a thirst to do so, as well as a desire to publically proclaim His word; I also go to abortion mills and plead with moms and dads to have mercy on their child in the womb. None of this makes me a more holy follower of Christ than any other believer, when we fault other believers for not having the same convictions that we may have this does nothing but show our own sinful pride. You outwardly say that you’re saying these things because it is what the word of God says to do, but in reality it is pride in one’s own self that causes this. By being critical of the church for not doing the things that you are doing, you are saying, “Hey look at me, look at how great I am” without using those words.

Some of you may not understand this but there is no set of rules that we must follow to be a believer. “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” ~Romans 10:4, some may scoff at this but if you are in Christ you are not under the Laws of Moses in anyway, nor under some criteria of Christianity decided upon by men. And don’t misunderstand what I am saying; we are not without law either, but we who have repented and believed are under a much greater law, the Law of Christ. “To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.” (1 Corinthians 9:20-21) Jesus said to His disciples; “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34)

What is the one true mark of a believer? The true mark of a believer is that he bears fruit. Memorizing scripture, going to abortion mills, preaching the gospel publically, these are not fruits of the spirit; these things maybe made manifest because of the fruit bearing in a believers life, but they are not themselves fruit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:22-24) “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another.” (John 15:12-17) Ask yourself this question; Is my criticalness of the church a result of the fruit of the Spirit, namely love, or is it in reality a deed of the flesh, namely; “enmities, strife, jealousy, outburst of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying” (Galatians 5:20)? There are many in the church that have been through much and are going through much, keep this in mind; “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Love Your Littlest Neighbor

I received this letter from a dear sister in Christ today. I included it as a blog post because I know that it will bless and encourage you as much as it did me. “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." ~(Matthew 16:24-27)

Phyllis Buckman wrote:
My dear brothers and sisters, especially Mike Peek, Seth Capps, and others who have ministered at the Shreveport abortion mill, Hope Medical Group for Women. I have a tale to tell.

Today was a trial for me. I had really hoped to join others at the abortuary this morning for my second go at standing at the gates of hell pleading for babies’ lives. Having learned that you, Mike Peek, were not going to be able to make it due to your father's accident and that Seth would not be able to be there either, nor anyone else, I had somewhat decided that it would not be feasible for me to drive there, for I did not have the confidence I felt I needed to reach out on my own. I wrestled with this a bit last night, but finally put it to rest as I went to sleep to the sound of thunder. In my prayers, I told God I would do whatever he wanted me to do, but that he would have to let me know what that was. Then I went to sleep. I awoke around six to the sound of rain and a bit more thunder and took that as a sign that I should just stay home. So I went back to sleep. At seven I could sleep no more and got up to begin my day. As I drank my coffee and read my Bible, checked my email and facebook, I could feel the nagging of a little voice in my head saying ... you really need to go on and drive to Shreveport. I tried to ignore it, but couldn't. So ... around ten I headed over telling myself that if there were others there (even if it were just the Catholics) I would get out and try to do what I could; if not, I would just go on to the health food store I've found near the mill as I needed a few things from there anyway. I prayed all the way there for God to please use me in some way today, no matter how or where.

Well, I got to the mill at about 10:45. As I drove past the front I could see several women sitting on benches they have near the entrance door now, but no one on the sidewalks ... not even the Catholics. I knew that I was probably too late to reach most of those mothers who were going in to kill their babies today, so I battled with myself and drove around the block thinking I should have kicked myself into gear earlier. I drove to the street around the back of the clinic, but by then had talked myself into not stopping, turned right at the next corner and then made the block so that I could get back to Kings Hwy and turn left at the light there between the mill and the college and make my way on to the store. I was disappointed in myself. I prayed again that God find some way to use me despite myself.

As I stopped at the light I could almost not believe my eyes. Across Kings Hwy., to my left, headed up the sidewalk toward the mill was a group of people carrying signs with scripture about sin and forgiveness. One young man was carrying a large cross. My heart jumped! The light turned green, and though I was in the left turn lane, I looked in my rearview mirror and determined that I could go ahead straight across instead of turning. I did so, went down to the next street, turned right, parked and jumped out of the car and started walking quickly back to the Hwy. As I got there and looked, there was that group of people gathered in a loose circle on the sidewalk across from the mill and beginning to pray. I walked on up and listened as one of the men lead the group in prayer for the babies that were being murdered and the women who were taking their babies there to be killed.

When the prayer was over, I introduced myself to them and they were so kind and welcoming. They were not there to minister directly to the women, however. The man who had prayed is Heath Hickman who told me they do this often, walking the streets witnessing to whomever they can and stopping at points to pray. I told them that I had come to try to minister to the women entering the mill, but, since I had never done so by myself, I lacked the courage to get out of the car until I saw them walking the street. Heath wrote my first name on a yellow sticky note and nailed (yes, with a real nail) to the cross where there were many such notes. Then he gathered his group together around me and prayed a wonderful, uplifting and supportive prayer. We bid each other farewell and I then went and stood at the entrance to the mill, alone, but no longer afraid.

I had with me several "Tiny Hands" booklets, some "innocent blood" tracts and some "3 Things God Cannot Do" tracts. I decided that even though the Tiny Hands booklets are actually intended to encourage expectant mothers and the mothers I would be encountering (given the chance) would probably have already killed their babies. However, I considered this and thought that this might be just what they would need to see to bring them to repentance for what they have done. I tucked in each Tiny Hands booklet one each of the other tracts. The "innocent blood" tract is very good at reasoning why life begins at conception, and the other tract lays out the truth that 1) God cannot lie, 2) God cannot change and 3) God cannot allow sinners into heaven. I prayed that if I had the chance to hand this to anyone that they would realize their sin and turn to God for forgiveness.

I stood at the left of the entrance — which now is one-way, entering traffic only. One car turned in with a young couple. The man rolled down the window as I asked if I could gift him with this brochure. He took it, smiled and wished me a good day. I realized that they were probably coming to pick up someone and hoped they would share it with that person. A young girl came walking up behind me who had obviously been to the fast food place down the street. She stopped when I spoke to her, telling me that she was not happy about the friend whom she had accompanied there this morning, but that she could not leave because the mother of the friend had driven them. She took the booklet and tracts and promised she would show them to the friend. I prayed for her and her friend.

There is now an escort seated at the entrance and I tried several times to get him to come over and speak to me for a moment. He completely ignored me the first couple of times I spoke to him. Then finally he approached, but only to tell me that he did not want to speak to me and asked me to respect that. I told him I would, but that I would pray for him also.

I stood there for about an hour, calling out to a few women who came out, offering them the gift of the brochure. All of them ignored me except one woman who held her hand up in the "stop" position and very curtly told me to shut up. No one else driving in even opened their windows and anyone who got out of their cars was quickly approached by the "escort" who, it was plain to see, was telling them to ignore me.

I knew I only had a short while left that I could stay (tasks back home required I leave the mill before 1 p.m., so I walked on around to the back driveway where I was able to offer the package to those leaving. Though several cars left in the next hour, none took the gift.

But there were two bright notes. At the back driveway I saw one woman getting out of her car and walking toward the front of the building. I was too late to reach her, but she came out not long after holding some sort of paper in her hand. I called to her telling her I had something I would like to give her and she walked over and took it and thanked me, but didn't stop to talk. Then, just as I was getting ready to leave, a young man came walking out. I called to him and he came over. He was there with his friend "Katy." I asked if Katy was aborting her child there today and he said no, that she didn't know what she was going to do, that she would have to come back if she decided she wanted to kill the baby. We spoke about the reality that it IS a baby and that abortion is murder and he agreed. The baby is not his. I really had to leave by this time, but he was thankful for the booklet and tracts that I gave him and assured me that he would show them to Katy.

I ask brothers and sisters, that you keep Katy in your prayers.

I also thank you all for being so brave and so willing to give of your time and energies to this holy, holy ministry.. Thank you for being great role models for me. Thank you, even, for NOT being there this morning as this served as a real trial for me to see if I could follow through on my beliefs or if I would cower away. I thank God, for placing Heath Hickman with Fridaymorningmen.org on my path and stopping me from fleeing the task I needed to perform.

I love you all.

P.S. Sorry for the long-winded tale, but I just had to share. :)