Homosexual Unions and the Church

Nearly every time I open up Facebook of late I see a post or shared article about homosexual unions and the church. Everyone of these fit into 1 of 2 categories; effrontery or immortality. At the beginning of this trend I read a few, but when it became obvious as to what was occurring I stopped. I have had little to say myself on the subject, because I did not know how to address the issue in love.

I know that effrontery is not the answer because effrontery is not love. Acting and speaking as if somehow we are better than the homosexual, because we are not guilty of the particular sin of homosexuality, and yet we are guilty of so many other sins. Protesting against gay pride events. Speaking out against taking pride in the sin of homosexuality all the while taking pride in ourselves.

I know that immorality is not the answer either, because immorality also is not love. Denying homosexuality as even being sin. Excepting of homosexuality as an alternative life style all the while knowing that it goes against all created order. Leading men to believe that they can keep their sin and have eternal life too while knowing that eternal life is freedom from sin.

This issue must be handled with grace and holiness. Grace is the opposite of effrontery and holiness is the opposite of immorality. The ones that are trying to be holy are not gracious in their approach and the ones who are trying to be gracious are not holy in their approach.

One of my favorite passages in all of Scripture is found in Exodus 34, because it demonstrates the glory of God. Moses was commanded by the Lord to make two stone tablets and come up early in the morning with those tablets to the top of Mt. Sinai. The Lord would then write on those tablets the words that were on the former ones (The Ten Commandments) that Moses had thrown down and destroyed. "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." (Ex 34:6-7 [NASB]). So what did Moses do having seen and heard the glory of the Lord? He made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.

God is both gracious and holy at the same time which if one really thinks about seems impossible. If God acts graciously forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin He becomes unholy; if God acts holy punishing the sinner, He is not gracious. These two sides of God's nature seem contradictory to one another. How can God be both gracious and holy at the same time? The only answer my friends is found solely in the cross of Jesus Christ. "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor 5:21 [NASB]).

The issue of homosexuality and homosexual unions that has come to dominate the minds of so many must be handled with godliness; that is both grace and holiness at the same time. How do we do that? The answer is we don't. We don't because we can't. Only God can be both gracious and holy at the same time and He does so solely through the cross of Jesus Christ. So if this issue most be handled with both grace and holiness and we are unable, do we do anything at all?

I have come to understand as of late that I can do nothing to cause someone to hate their sin. The Lord told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all nations, making disciples, teaching them His commandments, immersing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Mk 16:15 & Mt 28:19,20). He never said at anytime go and convict the world concerning sin, righteous, and judgment. He did, however, say that the Holy Spirit, the helper, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father would convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (Jn 16:7-11). If conviction is the job of the Holy Spirit then what are we to do? The only thing that we can do, and is what He gave us to do; make much of Jesus and the gospel.





A slave of Jesus Christ,
Mike Peek

Memorial Day

The summer in America is book ended by two holidays that look and act identical and yet the names are not alike; Memorial Day and Labor Day. "Memorial: created or done to honor a person who has died or to remind people of an event in which many people died." (Merriam-Webster). We in America have much to celebrate and have many holidays throughout the year to that end. 

However, Memorial Day is about death, it should be a solemn day of reflection; not a day of drinking, feasting, and picnics outdoors.  "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart." (Ecc 7:2 [NASB]). The word of God tells us that it is actually better to mourn than to feast, yet in America a day that was given to mourn has become a day of feasting. 

Why is that? Americans pretend that death does not exist. The sick and dying in America are put away were others cannot and do not see them. The only times  Americans are confronted with death and dying is when it happens to a family member, even when death happens to a love one of a friend, Americans are sheltered from it, they only hear of its happening. Prior to their death the person was sheltered away, so they did not even seem to be a real person. The only people that deal with death and the dying in America regularly are the doctors and nurses that either work with the critically ill or in hospice, there are others who see death occasionally but not regularly.  Americans truly do see death as an abnormality or abstract, something that is not suppose to occur. Whenever death enviably occurs in America most see it as a fault of healthcare. Either healthcare did something wrong or did not have the knowledge to fix what is wrong. Death is the end of every man, and the living should take it to heart. Take the time today to reflect on that. In memory of my uncle Russell who died in combat on 7/2/1966 in Vietnam.

Name:RUSSELL J PEEK

Date of Birth: 11/3/1947

Date of Casualty: 7/2/1966

Home of Record: PENSACOLA

County of Record: ESCAMBIA COUNTY

State: FL

Branch of Service: ARMY

Rank: PFC

Panel/Row: 8E, 121; his spot on the Vietnam memorial.

Jesus the Christ, the Son of God died for our sins according to the scriptures, and He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures; presenting Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to His disciples over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.  You have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  These things 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. 

A slave of Jesus Christ,

Mike Peek

TETELESTAI

I have come to an understand that much of my evangelism efforts over the past few years have been futile. Not the evangelism itself, not in my making much of Jesus and the gospel, but in my efforts to make a sin loving world hate their sin. The understanding that I have come to is this; I cannot make anyone hate their sin. In fact the gospel is repulsive to anyone who loves their sin.

The gospel call is for a man to deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Jesus (Mt 16:24). Why would anyone do that who loves their sin? The promise of the gospel is eternal life with Jesus, in His Father's house illuminated with the glory of God where there is no sin. So I ask again, why would anyone who loves his sin deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Jesus when the promise is eternal life without sin?

Therefore, I no longer seek to make men hate their sin because that is a futile endeavor, only God can do that. So why then make much of Jesus and the gospel? Because the promise of the gospel is amazing and good news indeed for the man who is in bondage and hates his sin, longing to be set free from slavery to sin.

For this reason it is called the gospel, because it is very good news indeed to the man who hates his sin. I can do nothing to make anyone hate his sin, but I can tell the one who hates his sin the good news of eternal life free from bondage to sin in Christ Jesus. I have stopped trying to preach my message. I am now solely preaching the message Jesus gave on the cross just before He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. "It is finished!" (Jn 19:30).

I am doing this by going out and publicly presenting "The Gospel According to John", An I witness account of Jesus the Christ, Son of God. Why is this gospel important for you? Because you have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and He presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs appearing to His disciples over a period of 40 days; one of whom was John. The gospel according to John is his eye witness account of the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Son of God. "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." (Jn 20:30-31).

His Commandments Are Love

"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (Jn 14:15 [NASB]). Walking in obedience to the Lord's commands is love. This statement is sandwiched between the commandment to love one another given in both chapters 13 and 15. The apostle John said, "If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also." (1Jn 4:20,21 [NASB]).

His commandments are Love!
1. Love your brother. (Jn 13:34, 15:12, & 15:17)
2. Love your neighbor. (Mt 22:39, Mk 12:31, & Lk 10:27)
3. Love your enemies. (Mt 5:44, Lk 6:27, & Lk 6:35)

We need always be mindful that we live in a sinful and fallen world, but have been redeemed for the Lord's glory. The world around us is living in wanton sin and we may even notice our brother sinning. So what are we to do when someone sins against us becoming our enemy? Are we to hate them? No, we are to love them! Tell them about the grace of God in Jesus Christ. What are we to do when we see our neighbor sinning, but not against us? Are we to ignore them? No, we are to love them! Tell them about the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

So then what do we do when we see our brother sinning whether that be against us or not? The Lord tells us in Matthew 18:15-17 to take these steps in order of progression without jumping ahead:
1. Show him his fault in private.
2. Go again but take one or two more with you.
3. Tell it to the church.
4. Break Fellowship with him.

Before going into this process we need to be very careful, always being mindful of who and what we are. I think that this is the reason the Lord said what He said in Matthew 7:1-5. Are we calling out our brothers sin for his sake or our own. Are we severing that relationship out of anger our out of love for our brother. I think that this is what it means to take the log out of our own eye so that we may then see clearly to take the log out of our brothers eye. Yes call out your brothers sin, if you love your brother you will do so; and yes if he remains unrepentant you must break fellowship, but always doing so with hope of repentance and love for your brother.




A salve of Jesus Christ,
Mike Peek

TAKE UP AND READ

Today I celebrate an anniversary. It was 12 years ago today that I began reading my Bible every morning and praying. The numbers when I look at them seem daunting; 4,383 consecutive mornings of opening up the word of God and listening to what He has to say to all who have ears to hear. 12 years times 365 days plus 3 leap year days comes out to be 4,383 days and it is all the Lord's doing alone.

God had saved me from the pleasure of sin prior to this and He was then drawing me to the Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, and at that the time I did not know or understand what was happening. I had began hating my sin and loathing myself because of it, but could do nothing to turn away from my sin. In my plight I was reading a book (I am not going to name that book) but the Lord used this to draw me to Him by the Holy Spirit. There is a story in "St. Augustine's Confessions" about his conversion. Augustine had been mulling over the things of God and was wrestling within himself how he might leave his sin and come to God. Then a child began to sing; "TAKE UP AND READ, TAKE UP AND READ." He took this as a Devine command from God to open up the Bible and read the first passage that he should come upon. He opened up and read Romans 13:14, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts."

The reason I won't name the book that I had been reading is because I now believe it to be both theologically weak and promoting of a social gospel rather than the good news about salvation from sin by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone. This book however, did have several scripture passages within it, many of which the author uses out of context, but scripture nonetheless. I believe that the Lord used this book to draw me by the Holy Spirit and was telling me from within, not audibly as with the child in Augustine's conversion, but from within, "Take up and read, take up and read". So on the morning of May 11, 2003 I took up the Bible and read, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Gn 1:1). I read it all the way through from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 and as I read I believed, therefore, I continued to read, re-read, and pray for 4,383 consecutive mornings.

I am not writing this to tell you what I have done, but what God alone has done, He saved me. I read His word daily and pray to the Lord daily because I am utterly dependent on Him, I can do nothing of myself. I cannot even take a breath unless He gives it to me to take. For this reason I cannot understand how anyone can be a follower of Jesus Christ and not be reading the Bible continually. Not commentaries about the Bible, not books written by a man, and not these devotionals that are sold in Christian book stores (Scripture verses used out of context), but the Bible itself. Don't get me wrong, I do believe that there are good books and reading commentaries to help understand historical content is good, but the main thing that a believer in Jesus Christ needs to read is the Bible, and reading the Bible daily. It is how He speaks to us and we learn from Him. So brothers and sisters do this today and everyday: "Take up and read, take up and read".


Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Salvation or Judgment

There are only two ways for a man to go; salvation or judgment. No one goes to heaven by doing good, because there is none who does good, there is not even one. You were created in the image of God; God is love, but you have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

A lawyer once asked Jesus a question, testing Him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And He said to him, " ' You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. ' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ' You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Mt 22:36-40 [NASB]).

God knitted you together in your mother's womb and gave you life. Have you loved God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind? Have you loved your neighbor as yourself, think about that, as yourself? Jesus did! "He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation." (Col 1:15 [NASB]). He loved God with all His heart, and with all His soul, and with all His mind. He loved His neighbor as Himself.

Jesus deserved eternal life with the Father God in heaven. We all deserve death for our sin, eternal separation from God in hell. But God, being rich in mercy (Ep 2:4) and abounding in lovingkindness and truth (Ex 34:6); gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (Jn 3:16).

Jesus Promised eternal life to everyone who hears, believes, and follows Him. He calls us His sheep, He speaks to us through His word and we learn from Him. He willingly laid down His own life on the cross for His sheep. He died in our place for our sins. He was crucified, dead and buried, and then on the third day He rose from the dead. Witnessed by His apostles. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, and is presently making intersession on behalf of everyone who comes to God through faith in Him.

Repent and believe in the name of the Son of God Jesus Christ. Come follow the Lord Jesus. He is the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Him (Jn 14:6).

Jesus came in human flesh for salvation. Jesus will return at a time of the Fathers choosing for judgment. "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left."(Mat 25:31-33 [NASB]). The sheep blessed of the Father will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. And the goats will be cast into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt 25:34-46), "and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Rv 20:10).