By Mike Peek

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."

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 the...

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. ...

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....

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...

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 kno...

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...

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, th...

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...

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” ref...

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, b...

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)...

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 medi...

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 tim...

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 ...

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 fl...

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...

“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 righteousn...

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 s...

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 othe...

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...