Saturday, March 31, 2012

Why I Evangelize

Last week I mentioned briefly why I go out and evangelize the gospel of Jesus Christ and I would like to talk more in depth about that today. In Luke Chapter 7 Jesus was in the home of a Pharisee having a meal when in walks a women of the city who came to the feet of Jesus weeping, and proceeds to clean the feet of Jesus with her tears and wiped them with her own hair, kissing His feet and anointing them with fragrant oil. The Pharisee couldn’t believe that He would allow this woman to touch Him, and begins to show the Pharisee how she had treated Him with much love, while the Pharisee had not. He then proceeds to say these words; “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little” (Luke 7:47). You see a couple of years ago God made me aware of my sin and showed me His Son who had paid the price for my sin; I repented and put my faith in Jesus Christ, I was born again, my sin was carried into death with Christ and He defeated death and arose from the grave. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). The answer to why I go out and evangelize spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ is love; I have been forgiven much, and when I say much, I mean much, so therefore I love much and that love comes from the Spirit of God who resides within me.

God has given me a love for Him that goes beyond anything that I am able to contain, and a love for other people that goes beyond myself. So it is the love of God and the love of people that causes me to evangelize the gospel of Jesus Christ. As I stated last week this is demonstrated in two verses in Mark chapter 16.

Mark 16:15 – “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” It seems that people think that it is some sort of option, this is no option it is a command and it is a command from the Lord. I call this blog (A slave of Jesus Christ) and that is because that is what I am. He bought me off the slave block of sin; He purchased me with His own blood. “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20). Jesus is no cruel owner He intends good things for me, life; I will tell you who the cruel owner is, sin is the cruel owner, if you are owned by sin he intends death for you. I love my Lord beyond words that I can even impart to you, so as I go out and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through one on one witnessing, gospel tracts, preaching, or standing on the corner with a cross, or whatever else the Lord causes me to do, I do it all for the glory of God, so that He is glorified before men.

Mark 16:16 – “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” One thing I cannot do is argue anyone into the kingdom of God. God has chosen to save men through men preaching His gospel. God has given me a love for people that goes beyond myself, I do not care if I seem foolish to some if it will bring some to the cross of Jesus Christ. The one who mocks, curses, and laughs wether they know it are not I am out there because I love them and have knowledge of something greater than myself or them. Jesus said it in John 3:17-18, “For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” I do not go out to evangelize the gospel of Jesus Christ to condemn men as some accuse us of doing; I go out to evangelize the gospel of Jesus Christ because I know that they are already condemned and I love them and do not want to see them perish. There is only one Way sins are paid for, there is only one Way to the father and that is through the God Man Jesus Christ. Jesus Said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). No one, there are no exceptions, the only way to the Father is through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone, without him they will spend all of eternity in hell.


Repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ alone and you will be saved,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Monday, March 26, 2012

Beautiful Day

I would like to share with you briefly the wonderful day that God created and gave me yesterday of which I am very thankful. I have been working nights so I don’t have many mornings awake. Yesterday I arose at 8:30am without much sleep but enough to get by, as is my habit I read my bible then spent time in prayer and was off to Sunday school and Church with my wife. In Church I heard a powerful sermon given through a guest speaker, (Kevin Kirkland) who had just done our church youth group’s DNow weekend, this man preached the law and the gospel beautifully and it was so sweet and wonderful to my ear and my heart, stirring within me the Spirit of the Lord. Also spoke of buying back children from the world.

I went home to write but what I’m writing is nowhere even close to putting on the internet yet for I need to do some more reading, the more I unpack this the more there is to unpack, it is so wonderful and amazing as God is wonderful and awesome. If you have read my blogs you will know that God has had me focusing intently on Romans Chapter three specifically a single passage in chapter 3 and now on a single word and as I’ve been going back to the original language and unpacking this it is awesome indeed and I can’t wait to share with you what God has lead me to.

So after I was done researching and studying His word I set out about 4:00 PM with my cross to do some evangelism. Why do I spend my time off work when others are relaxing out in a community that really doesn’t want me to be there, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ? Two reasons really and they can both be found in Mark 16, verses 15 & 16.

1. Jesus Christ saved me; His blood is the covering for my sins. How can I not spend my time glorifying Him? “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
2. I know that whoever believes in Him and is baptized with the Holy Spirit (born again) is saved from the wrath of God; but whoever doesn’t believe is condemned. How can I not spend my time warning men and telling them the Way of salvation in Jesus Christ; that through Repentance (changing their mind) and faith (believing) their sins are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ? “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

I stayed out with the cross at the corner of Southtown Dr. & Broadway Ave. across from Wal-Mart until about 5:20 pm then headed over to the church to meet with a group for a ministry project that I cannot disclose at this time. We all headed out together to Father Heart Ranch (a ministry of Living Alternatives).

I have to tell you this is a beautiful property with an even more beautiful ministry. There are several things happening on the property.

1. A maternity group home in which they take in young girls who are pregnant, unwed and support them through their pregnancy to carry to term and either teach them and give them the tools they need to care for the child themselves or support them in giving the child up for adoption. All done through biblical teaching and every girl is given the gospel of Jesus Christ and is lead through scripture as a disciple.
2. Group foster homes for orphaned children who are also raised and nurtured in a loving biblical environment and are brought up in a loving way and are taught the love of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

After seeing this with my own eyes I have to tell you I was completely in awe of the power of God and all that He can do in a sinful world through His children. Thank You Lord for a wonderful day!


Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Monday, March 19, 2012

Arguably the Most Important Sentence in Scripture

Arguably the most important sentence in scripture, it begins and ends with God. It is one complete and perfect thought from beginning to end. It speaks of the Father, the Son, and is Holy Spirit inspired; it is the words of God.
It holds seven key truths about God and man’s relationship to God:

1. That God is Holy
2. That man is radically depraved and worthy of all condemnation
3. That God is a Just Judge
4. That God is Love
5. That God is Merciful
6. That man is justified only by the free Grace of God through faith
7. That God is Righteous

It is good news; it is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hold it dear to my heart reflecting on it often throughout the day, and it comforts me through the night. Thank you LORD for your merciful grace upon me a sinner, worthy of all condemnation.

“For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had past over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”


Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ


Verses and Quotes: Romans 3:22-26

Saturday, March 17, 2012

The Laborers Are Few

It seems as though I will have a subject on my mind all week then when I sit down to write God gives me something else entirely different and that is the case this week. God in His glorious grace saved me a few years ago; I came to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ after spending many years as a false convert. It was as though for the first time I saw myself in the light of God’s moral law and knew who He was, who I was and what I had done; then I saw the Savior Jesus Christ in a light I had never seen Him in before, the cross of Jesus Christ meant more to me in that moment than anything in the world. I am a sinner who deserves death and hell yet God Himself paid for my sins through the shedding of His own blood. How could I go on sinning, how could I continue to live a life of sin and reject Him, I could not, He brought me to repentance and faith. From that time I knew through the reading of His word that I was no longer my own but that I was His bought at a high price, the price of the blood of God Himself.

I very quickly understood that, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” I could not and would not carry on with life as I had; I also knew as I pored over scripture that it was very evident what He expects of His disciples. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” So I knew what I was supposed to do; so now the question for me is ok Lord, how do I do that? I made a commitment to the Lord in January of 2010 that I would do just that, be a witness for the Lord. So the quest was how to do that and what was I to do? My church had no evangelism training so I began to search, through reading books and through the internet. Some I found to be very helpful and much I did not. For something that in scripture was of utmost importance to Christ; there seemed to be very little information about in the Christian community. Most of what I found had me witnessing to people with a message that caused me to be a false convert. (Say this prayer and ask Jesus into your heart.) I knew that was wrong because I knew scripture and scripture says that a man is saved by repenting and believing in the only begotten Son of God Jesus Christ. One of the ways God used to get the gospel to my ears was through the movie by Sherwood Pictures “Fire Proof” starring Kirk Cameron, in fact it was while watching this movie while home alone and hearing the gospel message in the movie I realized my sin before God and shortly after would come to repentance and faith. I had heard that Kirk Cameron was involved in ministry so I looked him up on the internet and found a TV program called, “The Way of the Master” Starring Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort. These two men would talk about the moral law and the gospel then go out on the streets and witness to people using the law of God to bring the knowledge of sin and then share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. I knew when I saw this that what they were doing was biblical, I went to the parent ministry Living Waters and bought and read a couple of books written by Ray Comfort called “The Way of the Master” and “Hells best kept secret”; also listened to the sermons by Ray Comfort “Hells Best kept Secret” and “True and False Conversion”.

So I set out that next year (2010) to be a witness for Christ, I bought Trillion Dollar bill gospel tracts from living waters and began passing those out, also in June of that year began writing this blog, by the end of that year I began to make my own tracts on my computer but it got to be that I was handing out so many tracts that I had to then go to a print shop to get a larger volume made, these tracts have changed much over time. To date it is now a single verse, John 3:16 and a link to a letter. So I would pass out gospel tracts with whomever I came in contact with, also sharing the law and the gospel with some, I would even at times with much fear after praying set out to hand out large volumes of tracts at a time, a few thousand this past year. Then 2012 many of you may have read my blog “Sick of Church” in that blog I laid out how I cannot understand how we can sit in church week after week and not be out sharing the gospel as Christ commanded for us to do. In writing that letter and through prayer I set out to at least once a week do something purposeful in sharing the gospel, tracts are very good witnessing tools but are passive I can do that all the time, I needed to set out at least once a week with the sole purpose of sharing the gospel. There is a 30 minute internet TV show Monday – Friday Called “On the Box” with Ray Comfort and two other men named Tony Miano and Mark Spence. In this program they talk about evangelism and open air preaching. One of the men, Tony Miano, goes out in his community one hour each day with a wooden cross with the words “Are You Ready” on the cross beam and John 14:6 on the other side. I thought how most people in Tyler are driving so I would do the same, so I have done just that about once a week since. I have been able to talk to several people because of doing this and will keep doing it, for that purpose.

Now I have to tell you I had begun wondering if I was the only one. Hear is this command by our Lord that says, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” And as far as I could tell no one was going, it made no since to me. Sure I would see missionaries that would come into our church once a year raising funds to go off and share the gospel, and then they were gone. Also there are these guys from Living Waters ministries out in California but that seemed so distant. Well yesterday the Lord gave me a boost, I met a man that is a true witness for Jesus Christ and at the time I didn’t even know it. My wife and I went to eat on the outside patio of a local restaurant, got into our car, just before pulling away she said, “I think that man is giving that couple gospel tracts.” I didn’t know what to think at the time but thought maybe he was a Jehovah witness or a Mormon so I got out of my car and handed him a tract, got back into the car and left, handed the card he gave me to my wife and she read it to me as I drove. I said, “That’s the gospel” or at least a summary of it, but what peaked my curiosity the most was the words at the end of the tract which you almost never hear. And I quote, “His obedience to God’s Law can be yours (2 Cor. 5:21) if you repent (turn from sin) and trust in Jesus alone.” I thought to myself and probably said out loud, Wow! A true believer out sharing the gospel, I actually met one, Wow! There was a website on the bottom of the card www.WhatifTexas.com , so I asked Darlene to go to it and she read it to me and we both knew that everything that was said was right on. I also found out that this man does something that I have thought about doing often and am yet to do. Break the sound barrier, go out and preach the gospel in open air. I learned later that this brothers name is Seth Capps, I tell you what, seeing another brother in Christ sharing the gospel in a lost and dyeing world was like a breath of fresh air, and a wonderful gift from God.


Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Verses and quotes: Luke 10:2, Mark 16:15, 2 Cor. 5:17, John 3:16, John 14:6, 2 Cor. 5:21

Saturday, March 10, 2012

“What is man that You are mindful of him”

The Psalmist wrote many years ago, “What is man that You are mindful of him”. I am so thankful for a loving God who is mindful of this man. Sometimes I am just overwhelmed with the love of God, then other times I’m crushed by the magnitude of sin that I have committed in my life time against a perfect and Holy God. While at the same time loathing myself because of my sins I have peace because there is no condemnation for my sins. I know that I don’t deserve it and yet He has saved me; and the way He has saved me completely humbles me and brings me to my knees. Think about this, God became a man; Holy God became a man and dwelt among us. Why would He do that? People often times consider themselves better than other people because of race, economics, or education to be better than another person; and I have to admit this sinful man has done the same as well. Yet Holy God who is so far above any of us we can’t even begin to imagine “made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” Seriously a Man, just like us, then the bible tells us that He never sinned, that goes beyond comprehension. Since God has given me a new heart, taking out my heart of stone and giving me a heart of flesh just a few years ago, my eyes have been open to what sin is. Jesus was obedient to the Father from the moment of His birth to His death. For us it is not that we have sinned in the past, we have sinned every moment of our lives. How you say, have you worshiped God with everything He deserves every moment of everyday? The bible tells us that He did this out of love. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” I’m telling you it completely overloads my mind. The first man Adam sinned and the world was condemned, the sin gene was passed from Adam into every single human being that has ever lived. The world is condemned, done for, over and out. But God loves us, so He took our punishment Himself which is death, dying alone total separation from God. Jesus and the Father had been in constant communication continues contact for all of eternity, yet right there on the cross God the Father forsook Him. Most of us have experienced the pain of the loss of a love one and I am telling you even that cannot compare with the loss Jesus felt when the Father forsook Him. And the prophet Isaiah tells us, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him”, LORD: here in the Hebrew is translated Yahweh. Oh the pain, complete and total pain the LORD felt and He did it out of love. God does not need us, He has no need of us, I have heard people say God created us because He was lonely, God is not lonely. God has the perfect relationship, a perfect union; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A union we cannot even begin to imagine. God created us for His glory; God loved us because He is love. I don’t think I will ever get over this, Thank You LORD.


Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ


Quotes and References: Psalm 8:4, John 1:14, Philippians 2:7, Romans 5:8, Isaiah 53:10

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Propitiation

Over the past few weeks I have been meditating and writing about the awesome wonders of the gospel as presented in Romans chapter 3. I have written about the fact that God is good and we are not; and the answer to this dilemma being the cross of Jesus Christ. I have written about the fact that God is just and God is merciful; two contrasting truths with the biggest question being, if God is Just how can He be merciful, the answer to how God can be just and merciful at the same time being the cross of Jesus Christ. Now I would like to talk about what happened on that cross, how a man is made righteous before God. Now as I attempt to do this I will use an analogy to describe this most awesome and powerful truth. While analogies can be useful they are not exact and there is no way of fully explaining this incredible truth. What I would like to talk about today is propitiation. This word is found in all the literal translations of scripture in Romans 3:25 and it is the reason God can forgive you of your sins and you can now commune with God. It goes like this “whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith” (Romans 3:25).

Propitiation is a legal term and is most appropriate in the gospel because the gospel is a legal proceeding. Let’s say that there is a man who is a criminal, He has gone before the Judge and has been found guilty of his crime, now the penalty for his crime is 100 million dollars or life in prison. Now the man does not have 100 million dollars and has no way of ever earning that much money. The judge tells the bailiff of the court to cuff him and hall him off to jail, and just before he does a man walks into the court and asks the judge on the bench if he could address the court. The judge grants him permission to address the court. The man says, “All though he does not know me, I have known this man all of his life, and I love him; I do not want him to spend his life in prison. I am a man of great wealth and if it would please the court, I would like to give the money for his fine.” The judge says, “If the man will accept your gift, the court will consider his fine paid in full, if he does not accept he will go to jail for life.” That is propitiation, the man had nothing by which to pay his fine, and someone else comes in and pays his fine. The court accepts the gift as his debt being paid in full, provided the man accepts it, if he does not accept the gift he still goes to jail. That is what Romans 3:25 is all about; God set forth God the Son (Jesus) as propitiation. Jesus gave himself as propitiation; He died on the cross for your sins. God accepts the blood of Christ as being payment in full for your sins by faith. If you believe in God the Son (Jesus Christ), God accepts His blood as being payment in full for your sins. If you do not believe in Jesus Christ the penalty for sin still applies. What is the penalty for sin, “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), being cast out of the kingdom of God into outer darkness (ref Matthew 8:12) “lake of fire” (Revelations 20:14), “hell” (Luke 12:5). So how can a man escape, how can a man be saved?


Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ