By Mike Peek

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...