Kind of an interesting week and an interesting day; God is so very gracious to me and has shown me so very much I am humbled. Earlier this week I wrote a letter that I will be using in witnessing for Him, the letter can be found at www.biggestquestion.blogspot.com . God has shown me something in compiling this letter that has just left me without words, all though my wife would disagree, she thinks I haven’t been able to stop talking about it, but in reality I haven’t been able to come up with words even to explain it all and still can’t, even though I will try. The biggest question is; how can God be just and merciful both? The bible tells us that God is Holy and just, but the Bible also tells us that God is merciful and love. God is described in scripture as being a judge, if He were to let guilty law breakers go free He would not be just nor would He be Holy or righteous, but God is Holy and righteous (morally perfect). Now if God punishes the guilty He is just but not merciful. The bibles says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Can you appreciate the contrast here? The bible tells us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). So you can take anyone of us, before God, we are all guilty sinners; now what we have earned for our sin is death, being cast out of the kingdom of heaven into outer darkness (hell); but the gift of God is eternal life. How can this be? How can God give eternal life to the guilty and be righteous?
Justice and mercy in juxtaposition to one another is as dark is too light, as hot is too cold, as day is too night, and as north is too south. I could continue with these contrasting analogies but I think you see my point, they are polar opposites. You can’t be hot and cold at the same time; you are either fully one or the other or neither, but not both. And you can’t be just and merciful at the same time; you are either one or the other or neither. Now God is just and God is merciful, how can this be? I’m beginning to think that the most powerful scripture in the entire Bible is found in Romans chapter 3. While the Bible is full of absolutely amazing and wonderful things throughout all of scripture, given to us by God through His Holy Spirit, you can look at multiple text on how a man is saved through faith in Jesus Christ but the explanation of this question and the reason God did it is explained in Romans 3:23-26 and it is absolutely beautiful and amazing, every time I think about this I have to just glory in God, it is so amazing and it is the Gospel.
Now the wages for sin is death, so for God to serve Justice someone has to die and be cast into outer darkness (hell); but God is also merciful. God in his righteousness and glory made a Way so that He could be just and merciful at the same time and only God could do this, because only God meets the righteous requirements of His law. God became a Man and in the body of a Man took upon Himself the just wages of sin; He died on a cross at the hand of the Romans, God the Father turned His back on His only begotten Son Jesus Christ and He died, and He was buried. He paid a price that we cannot pay and then three days later defeated death and arose from the grave. He offers us as a free gift the eternal life that only He deserved, that we receive by faith in Jesus Christ. God paid in full our fine and while it was once a fearful thing that God is just, now it is wonderful that God is just. Why is this wonderful? Because our crimes have been paid for in full and being that God is just, you legally cannot be held accountable for those crimes ever again. Yes you can and will remember your past sins and regret them. In fact Ezekiel 36:31 tells us that God will cause us to remember our past sins and loathe ourselves because of them. But, for all who have repented and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ there is no fear of punishment! Why did God do this? Romans 3:26 tells us why, “to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” All I can say to that is Wow, what an Awesome God!
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
Monday, February 27, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Dear Friend
Dear Friend;
Do you fear God? The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). What would you say if I told you that the reason you should fear the Lord is because He is good? In fact, not only is that the reason to fear the Lord, but it is the most terrifying thing in scripture. You may ask what is so terrifying about that, you probably take comfort in the Goodness of God. We all know certain people, because of some of the things they do, we consider them to be a good man or woman. That is our problem; we have a twisted way of defining who is good, we simply compare ourselves to other people. You see God doesn’t just do good things; God is good, He has no comparisons! All that is good comes from God; anything outside of God is evil. God is good! Why is it so terrifying that God is good? Because we are not! “No one is good but One, that is God” (Mark 10:18). Just take a look around this world and you will know that something is terribly wrong, it is us, we break the laws of God every day; we all do, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Since God is good what is evil cannot dwell with He who is good. Some people get angry and I have heard some question the goodness of God asking in a statement format. “If God is good how can he send people to hell?” Well my friends, people go to hell because God is good, and we are not. So let us define evil; evil is the absence of God (all that is good). So what do you have in the absence of God? Absolute evil, hell is the absence of God, the absence of good, “outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12). It is terrifying to know that God is good, because we are not. He who is good cannot dwell with the wicked, because God is good He cannot commune with the wicked, He who is good cannot call the wicked to Himself.
“He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 17:15). The biggest question in scripture is if God is a good and just judge, how does He show mercy to the wicked? If God showed mercy to the wicked He would be neither good nor just, and if He is just then He is not merciful; but scripture tells us that God is just, and God is merciful. How can He be both? That is why I cannot stop talking about Jesus Christ; the answer is in the cross of Jesus Christ. “God is love” (1John 4:8), so He became a Man, “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). He lived a life without sinning and went to the cross at the command of God the Father and took upon Himself the sins of all mankind, He bore it all, the full wrath of God for sin, the full measure to satisfy God’s anger against sin. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God the Father, treated His only begotten Son Jesus Christ who never sinned, as if He had committed all of our sins, “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23); and offers us as a free gift eternal life with God the Father that Jesus alone deserved. He was dead and buried then three days later arose from the grave defeating death proving who He is; Jesus could do this because He is God. How do you except this free gift of everlasting life in Jesus Christ; through repentance and Faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
Repent, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved!
Mike Peek
Do you fear God? The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). What would you say if I told you that the reason you should fear the Lord is because He is good? In fact, not only is that the reason to fear the Lord, but it is the most terrifying thing in scripture. You may ask what is so terrifying about that, you probably take comfort in the Goodness of God. We all know certain people, because of some of the things they do, we consider them to be a good man or woman. That is our problem; we have a twisted way of defining who is good, we simply compare ourselves to other people. You see God doesn’t just do good things; God is good, He has no comparisons! All that is good comes from God; anything outside of God is evil. God is good! Why is it so terrifying that God is good? Because we are not! “No one is good but One, that is God” (Mark 10:18). Just take a look around this world and you will know that something is terribly wrong, it is us, we break the laws of God every day; we all do, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Since God is good what is evil cannot dwell with He who is good. Some people get angry and I have heard some question the goodness of God asking in a statement format. “If God is good how can he send people to hell?” Well my friends, people go to hell because God is good, and we are not. So let us define evil; evil is the absence of God (all that is good). So what do you have in the absence of God? Absolute evil, hell is the absence of God, the absence of good, “outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12). It is terrifying to know that God is good, because we are not. He who is good cannot dwell with the wicked, because God is good He cannot commune with the wicked, He who is good cannot call the wicked to Himself.
“He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 17:15). The biggest question in scripture is if God is a good and just judge, how does He show mercy to the wicked? If God showed mercy to the wicked He would be neither good nor just, and if He is just then He is not merciful; but scripture tells us that God is just, and God is merciful. How can He be both? That is why I cannot stop talking about Jesus Christ; the answer is in the cross of Jesus Christ. “God is love” (1John 4:8), so He became a Man, “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). He lived a life without sinning and went to the cross at the command of God the Father and took upon Himself the sins of all mankind, He bore it all, the full wrath of God for sin, the full measure to satisfy God’s anger against sin. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God the Father, treated His only begotten Son Jesus Christ who never sinned, as if He had committed all of our sins, “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23); and offers us as a free gift eternal life with God the Father that Jesus alone deserved. He was dead and buried then three days later arose from the grave defeating death proving who He is; Jesus could do this because He is God. How do you except this free gift of everlasting life in Jesus Christ; through repentance and Faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
Repent, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved!
Mike Peek
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Step Outside of your Comfort Zone
This past week I have been meditating and thinking about repentance and I find myself at this time thinking about fear. I guess fear has been on my mind considering that it has come up now. Yesterday a friend said to me, “Satan hates you”, and that really made me think about some things. I have been doing something over the past three weeks that most would consider to be odd. I have gone out once a week and found a corner of a busy intersection of our community and stood there with a wooden cross; with the words (John 3:16) printed on the cross beam.
I had noticed that in our community there are signs everywhere and several held up by people. You see the homeless man with a card board sign that says “Will work for Food”. You see signs from businesses, some examples I’ve seen are furniture stores advertising sales, cash loan stores and restaurants all advertising for their business. A few weeks back in a worship service at church we were singing a song called; “I surrender all to you”, the lyrics for this song are very graphic and had a profound effect on me. What I see in church today is bothersome, it has become in many aspects a people oriented business. You have consumers enter the building, they are shuttled from Sunday school to the sanctuary where they sing some songs listen to the preacher then at the end of the service pay for their consumption with what we call tithes, then go about their lives and do it again next week. I’m no church reformer and will never try to be, but on a personal level this just does not seem right, it is not what I read in scripture. You go back in time 100 years or more and take someone who knows nothing about the way we do church today and have them read the scriptures, then fast forward them to the year 2012, do you think that what we do in church today would have ever entered his imagination based solely on scripture? I am no church reformer nor will I ever try to be, what I am is a believer in Jesus Christ and I desire to honor him.
So I set out three weeks ago under much fear, with no support from anyone and in fact my friends and family that I talked to about it didn’t want me to do it; but not one person could come up with a scriptural bases for not doing it; the only reasons they could come up with was the embarrassment factor, and all of scripture was telling me to do it. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47), “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). So we are to Go and we are to begin right where we are in our own community and spread out from there.
So I asked myself where are the most people in Tyler, TX found at? And the answer I got was in their cars. All people in this community can be found at one time or another in their car. Who comes into our churches? Most of the time believers, the majority of unbelievers are outside of the church. Since standing on the corner I have seen much. I have seen believers who will smile and wave, to these the cross has given encouragement for their commute home. I have had a few people yell something out in mockery, in mockery or not, the cross had an effect on them and the message written on the cross did as well. I have seen Muslims in their traditional dress having seen a believer holding on to the message of the cross, I have seen peoples from many facets of society and all have seen the cross and the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Yes three weeks ago when I started this I was extremely fearful, I had no man at my side but I had the Spirit of God carrying me all the way. Each time I have done this I have done so after much prayer and calling out to God for strength. I am so weak and He is so strong. Paul said; “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). So I encourage you today not to fear; God is on our side, step outside of your comfort zone and declare to the world, that there is salvation and that salvation comes through repentance and faith in the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ!
A slave of Jesus Christ,
Mike Peek
I had noticed that in our community there are signs everywhere and several held up by people. You see the homeless man with a card board sign that says “Will work for Food”. You see signs from businesses, some examples I’ve seen are furniture stores advertising sales, cash loan stores and restaurants all advertising for their business. A few weeks back in a worship service at church we were singing a song called; “I surrender all to you”, the lyrics for this song are very graphic and had a profound effect on me. What I see in church today is bothersome, it has become in many aspects a people oriented business. You have consumers enter the building, they are shuttled from Sunday school to the sanctuary where they sing some songs listen to the preacher then at the end of the service pay for their consumption with what we call tithes, then go about their lives and do it again next week. I’m no church reformer and will never try to be, but on a personal level this just does not seem right, it is not what I read in scripture. You go back in time 100 years or more and take someone who knows nothing about the way we do church today and have them read the scriptures, then fast forward them to the year 2012, do you think that what we do in church today would have ever entered his imagination based solely on scripture? I am no church reformer nor will I ever try to be, what I am is a believer in Jesus Christ and I desire to honor him.
So I set out three weeks ago under much fear, with no support from anyone and in fact my friends and family that I talked to about it didn’t want me to do it; but not one person could come up with a scriptural bases for not doing it; the only reasons they could come up with was the embarrassment factor, and all of scripture was telling me to do it. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47), “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). So we are to Go and we are to begin right where we are in our own community and spread out from there.
So I asked myself where are the most people in Tyler, TX found at? And the answer I got was in their cars. All people in this community can be found at one time or another in their car. Who comes into our churches? Most of the time believers, the majority of unbelievers are outside of the church. Since standing on the corner I have seen much. I have seen believers who will smile and wave, to these the cross has given encouragement for their commute home. I have had a few people yell something out in mockery, in mockery or not, the cross had an effect on them and the message written on the cross did as well. I have seen Muslims in their traditional dress having seen a believer holding on to the message of the cross, I have seen peoples from many facets of society and all have seen the cross and the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Yes three weeks ago when I started this I was extremely fearful, I had no man at my side but I had the Spirit of God carrying me all the way. Each time I have done this I have done so after much prayer and calling out to God for strength. I am so weak and He is so strong. Paul said; “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). So I encourage you today not to fear; God is on our side, step outside of your comfort zone and declare to the world, that there is salvation and that salvation comes through repentance and faith in the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ!
A slave of Jesus Christ,
Mike Peek
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Why I Write this Blog
I love to talk about Jesus, He is everything to me. Each week I write down some of the things that God gives me because I can’t hold them in, I have to tell. Why do I go to church; to talk about Jesus? Why do I get together with Christian brothers; to talk about Jesus? One of the things that frustrate me the most is to get together with Christian brothers and talk about everything else but Jesus. Writing this blog has given me an avenue for doing just that; talk about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and I am so thankful to Him for that privilege. The gospel of Jesus Christ is so incredible and so vast that we could go on for days exploring it and never exhaust all; we will never fully understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. I heard something this past week that has had an incredible impact on me and has given me so many answers and caused many more questions. Psalm 111:10 & Proverbs 9:10 both say, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Wisdom is accumulated knowledge and the bible tells us that this begins with “fear of the Lord”. Why should we fear the Lord? Well the answer to that question just may surprise you. Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). This brings up another question in addition to the first. Why should we fear God and why hell? Again the answer may surprise you.
What would you say if I told you the reason you should fear the Lord is because He is Good? You probably think I have lost my mind about now but bear with me. In fact not only is that the reason to fear the Lord but it is the most terrifying thing in scripture. You may ask what is so terrifying about that, you probably take comfort in the Goodness of God. We all know certain people because of some of the things they do we may consider them to be a good man or woman. That is our problem, we have such a twisted way of defining what good is. You see God doesn’t just do good things; God literally is Good! All that is good comes from God anything outside of God is evil. God is Good! Why is it so terrifying that God is Good? Because we are not! That’s right; it is absolutely terrifying that God is Good because we are not. Since God is Good what is evil cannot dwell with He who is Good. Some people get angry and I have heard some question the goodness of God asking in a statement format. “If God is good how can he send people to hell?” Well my friends’ people go to hell because God is Good and we are not. The definition of Good is God; just some of the attributes of God we find in scripture are that God is righteous, God is Holy, God is just, God is merciful; all of which can be summed up in God is Good. So let us define evil; evil is the absence of God (all that is Good). So what do you have in the absence of God? Hell! Hell is the absence of God, the absence of Good. It is terrifying to know that God is Good, because we are not. He who is Good cannot dwell with the wicked, because God is Good He cannot commune with the wicked, He who is Good cannot call the wicked to Himself.
Proverbs 17:15 says, “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.” So if God is Good how can He allow the wicked in His presence, if God is just how does He justify the wicked. That is why I cannot stop talking about Jesus Christ, which is why I would like to tell the world about Him. Jesus bore our iniquities, all of our sin was taken upon Jesus Christ on the cross, and He bore it all, the full wrath of God for sin, the full measure to satisfy God’s anger for sin. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God the Father treated His only begotten Son who never sinned as if He had sinned and treats us who have sinned as if we never sinned, “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). He could do this because He is Himself God, He could die and when He was ready take His life up again as He did three days later rising from the dead defeating death proving to the world who He is. Jesus is our scapegoat, He took our place in death and we are offered as a free gift His place in life, if you are willing to except it. How do you except this free gift of everlasting life in Jesus Christ? Through repentance and Faith, Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). So Repent and put your trust alone in Jesus Christ, following Him.
Repent and trust alone in Jesus Christ,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
What would you say if I told you the reason you should fear the Lord is because He is Good? You probably think I have lost my mind about now but bear with me. In fact not only is that the reason to fear the Lord but it is the most terrifying thing in scripture. You may ask what is so terrifying about that, you probably take comfort in the Goodness of God. We all know certain people because of some of the things they do we may consider them to be a good man or woman. That is our problem, we have such a twisted way of defining what good is. You see God doesn’t just do good things; God literally is Good! All that is good comes from God anything outside of God is evil. God is Good! Why is it so terrifying that God is Good? Because we are not! That’s right; it is absolutely terrifying that God is Good because we are not. Since God is Good what is evil cannot dwell with He who is Good. Some people get angry and I have heard some question the goodness of God asking in a statement format. “If God is good how can he send people to hell?” Well my friends’ people go to hell because God is Good and we are not. The definition of Good is God; just some of the attributes of God we find in scripture are that God is righteous, God is Holy, God is just, God is merciful; all of which can be summed up in God is Good. So let us define evil; evil is the absence of God (all that is Good). So what do you have in the absence of God? Hell! Hell is the absence of God, the absence of Good. It is terrifying to know that God is Good, because we are not. He who is Good cannot dwell with the wicked, because God is Good He cannot commune with the wicked, He who is Good cannot call the wicked to Himself.
Proverbs 17:15 says, “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.” So if God is Good how can He allow the wicked in His presence, if God is just how does He justify the wicked. That is why I cannot stop talking about Jesus Christ, which is why I would like to tell the world about Him. Jesus bore our iniquities, all of our sin was taken upon Jesus Christ on the cross, and He bore it all, the full wrath of God for sin, the full measure to satisfy God’s anger for sin. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God the Father treated His only begotten Son who never sinned as if He had sinned and treats us who have sinned as if we never sinned, “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). He could do this because He is Himself God, He could die and when He was ready take His life up again as He did three days later rising from the dead defeating death proving to the world who He is. Jesus is our scapegoat, He took our place in death and we are offered as a free gift His place in life, if you are willing to except it. How do you except this free gift of everlasting life in Jesus Christ? Through repentance and Faith, Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). So Repent and put your trust alone in Jesus Christ, following Him.
Repent and trust alone in Jesus Christ,
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Food for the Believer
I would like to write to you today about “The Gospel According to John” Chapter 4:26-42, with the main focus being, the Lord willing, on verse 34. Jesus had just declared to the Samaritan woman at the well that He is the Messiah (Christ), and He did so at the exact moment that His disciples walked up, so that all would have heard. The woman runs off leaving her water bucket and goes into the city telling all the men in the city, “Come see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (Verse 29) While she was gone, and before the Samaritans came out to Him his disciples began to eat, for the text tells us earlier that they had gone into the city to by food. But Jesus was not eating and this bothered His disciples so they tried urging Him to eat. “But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat of which you do not know.” (Verse 32) This answer caused His disciples to talk with one another, basically saying, what is He talking about I don’t see Him eating and could anyone have brought Him anything. Then the Lord tells Him what His food is and I find this to be so telling of our Lord and so incredible because in it is what He wants us to do and He is showing us what will fulfill us.
What is food? Food is nutrients for your body, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to fuel your body processes. As your body depletes these calories you become hungry and want to eat, then taking in food satisfies your hunger. “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” (Verse 34) So further He explains this to His disciples in having them see the Samaritans as being ready for harvest and having them reap the harvest for eternal life. I see Jesus sitting there while His disciples ate food completely satisfied in the conversation He just had with the Samaritan woman. While the text does not say that she was saved, her fruit was evidence of her repentance and faith. What did she do? She immediately went and told all the men of the city.
Jesus said: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” (Verse 34) Now what I would like to do is put this into context for us, here and now, the believers in Jesus Christ. So I would like to do this by asking and answering to important questions.
1. What is Jesus’ will for us? After His resurrection and before He ascended to the Father He said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) So His command to His believers is to preach the gospel, tell people about the good news, that there is salvation from sin and it comes through the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.
2. What was His work while He was with us? Jesus said, “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
So now let’s take the answers to those two questions and put them into the context of Verse 34 and relate those to us. Last week I wrote a blog called “Sick of Church”. We as believers were not meant to take up space in a church pew, sing some songs, listen to a sermon, go about our lives serving ourselves, come back the following week and do it all over again. Jesus said “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) Is it a fearful thing to go, you know it is, but it is also absolutely the most satisfying thing that you will ever do. Or should I say filling, as in a meal. The will of our Lord Jesus Christ is for us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” and His work was seeking and saving that which was lost. So our food as believers is to do His will, which is to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” and to finish His work which was seeking and saving that which was lost. The church is the locker room; it is where you go to get bandaged up after doing battle, getting encouragement from your brothers and sisters in Christ who are also out doing battle. The church is also the practice field where you receive training to go into battle. Let us all be obedient to our Lord and “Go”. Come join me in spreading the gospel to our Tyler Community, our state, our nation, and the world.
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,”
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
peekmikeb@aol.com
What is food? Food is nutrients for your body, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to fuel your body processes. As your body depletes these calories you become hungry and want to eat, then taking in food satisfies your hunger. “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” (Verse 34) So further He explains this to His disciples in having them see the Samaritans as being ready for harvest and having them reap the harvest for eternal life. I see Jesus sitting there while His disciples ate food completely satisfied in the conversation He just had with the Samaritan woman. While the text does not say that she was saved, her fruit was evidence of her repentance and faith. What did she do? She immediately went and told all the men of the city.
Jesus said: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” (Verse 34) Now what I would like to do is put this into context for us, here and now, the believers in Jesus Christ. So I would like to do this by asking and answering to important questions.
1. What is Jesus’ will for us? After His resurrection and before He ascended to the Father He said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) So His command to His believers is to preach the gospel, tell people about the good news, that there is salvation from sin and it comes through the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.
2. What was His work while He was with us? Jesus said, “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
So now let’s take the answers to those two questions and put them into the context of Verse 34 and relate those to us. Last week I wrote a blog called “Sick of Church”. We as believers were not meant to take up space in a church pew, sing some songs, listen to a sermon, go about our lives serving ourselves, come back the following week and do it all over again. Jesus said “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) Is it a fearful thing to go, you know it is, but it is also absolutely the most satisfying thing that you will ever do. Or should I say filling, as in a meal. The will of our Lord Jesus Christ is for us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” and His work was seeking and saving that which was lost. So our food as believers is to do His will, which is to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” and to finish His work which was seeking and saving that which was lost. The church is the locker room; it is where you go to get bandaged up after doing battle, getting encouragement from your brothers and sisters in Christ who are also out doing battle. The church is also the practice field where you receive training to go into battle. Let us all be obedient to our Lord and “Go”. Come join me in spreading the gospel to our Tyler Community, our state, our nation, and the world.
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,”
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
peekmikeb@aol.com
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sick of Church
I had intended today to write about “The Gospel According to John” chapter 4:23-42, God willing I will do so at a later date. I guess I still am in away because that entire text is about sharing Jesus, and that is what has occupied my thoughts today. Do you ever sit in church and just think something is wrong, I mean really wrong. My pastor, I love him and by no means wish to degrade his work nor my church, but sometimes I hear a sermon and just think, that could only be preached here; in the richest country the world has ever known, in one of the safest most prosperous communities in our state. We sing songs in church and do you ever listen to the words of the songs we sing? One of the songs we sang in worship today was, “I surrender all to you”, and here are the Lyrics to that song:
I'm giving you my heart, and all that is within
I lay it all down for the sake of you my King
I'm giving you my dreams, I'm laying down my rights
I'm giving up my pride for the promise of new life
And I surrender all to you, all to you
And I surrender all to you, all to you
I'm singing You this song, I'm waiting at the cross
And all the world holds dear, I count it all as loss
For the sake of knowing You for the glory of Your name
To know the lasting joy, even sharing in Your pain
I don’t know about you, but when I was singing that song I wanted to ask; do we really? I mean really read those words, they’re graphic and here we are singing them as if we are surrendering all. The last few weeks I have listened to a sermon series on fear and every week I have left church thinking, something is wrong, this just does not seem right. Before leaving for church this morning I read a facebook post by Shawn Hole, he is an evangelist and missionary. He and a team had gone on a mission trip to Nepal to evangelize the gospel. While preaching they were attacked; stoned, beaten with boards and fists, narrowly escaping. They feared that they would be hunted down and worried about the pictures that had been taken at the scene and questioned wether or not they should leave the country and return home. So what did they do? They did what Peter and John did in Acts chapter 4 after being captured and beaten in the temple. They prayed to God for boldness and went out and continued to preach the gospel and have been doing so for one week now since they were stoned. Reading this you would think that this was something that happened in the book of Acts but it is not; it occurred this past week.
So we sit in our churches singing “I Surrender all to you” while others really are surrendering all to Him; preaching the gospel, getting stoned, then praying for more boldness, then going out doing it again. Something is just not right with this. We listen to a sermon series on fear in which the true context of scripture was written to people going through what these men in Nepal were going through just last week. So what am I saying? I’m saying that I’m growing weary of this. I’m saying I am sick of church, I love the church (the believers in Jesus Christ) but I’m sick of doing church instead of doing what Jesus told us to do. Jesus said: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). So why isn’t anyone going? We sing “I surrender all to you” and can’t even do what He says, most of us don’t even share the gospel with our neighbors, most of us have lost people right in our neighborhood and we don’t talk to them. That is the real fear we need to deal with, not all of these life fears. A question popped into my mind while showering this morning after having read this man’s facebook post. Do you fear death, and if so do you have faith if you fear death? Why is the answer important? Because we are not saved by keeping the law, we are not saved by good works, we are not saved by walking down a church aisle, and we are not saved by saying a prayer asking Jesus into your heart; I find no example of anyone being saved by any of these in scripture. But what I do find, repeatedly, is that we are saved by one Way, faith in Jesus “by His blood, through faith” (Romans 3:25). It is not a onetime thing you do; faith is for a lifetime and yes whoever God has saved, is saved for life, they are eternal. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Jesus said “Go” so let’s “Go”! Going out in obedience to our Lord spreading His gospel to a lost and dying world does not earn righteousness, only faith in Jesus Christ does that. So why do men like these risk life and limb to spread the gospel? Why did the early believers in Acts risk life and limb to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ?
1. Faith: every one of these people know that their life is not their own, their lives belong to Jesus Christ. These men know that they had a debt they couldn’t pay, they were slaves to sin, and Jesus bought them out of slavery to sin and paid their debt with His own blood. They owe Him everything, He gave His life for them; He is their Lord and savior.
2. Hope: Their hope is in the fact that they have been given eternal life. “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6)
3. Love: they know that every single person that dies without coming to faith in Jesus Christ will be in Hell and that it is through believers in Jesus that God has chosen to deliver His good news to the world of salvation in Jesus Christ.
I have grown weary with church as usual, I don’t even know what this is going to look like but I can tell you one thing; I will be praying to my Lord for boldness, praying for direction and seeking direction, I will be praying for opportunities and seeking opportunities; I will be following Him in obedience and I will be sharing the gospel with a lost and dying world; wether that means preaching, handing out gospel tracts, one-on-one witnessing, or even reading the Word of God to people. I welcome any and all that are willing to join me, especially my church family at Central Baptist Tyler, TX. This world as we know it is passing away right before our eyes, 153,000 people die every day, the majority of which do not know the Lord and will spend eternity in Hell.
If you will join me comment on this post or email me at peekmikeb@aol.com let’s join hands and share the gospel with our Tyler TX community, our state, our country, and the world. I am calling for anyone willing to surrender all. If you know of a group of people already doing this please let me know, I would love to get in contact with them.
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven” (Romans 4:7)
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
peekmikeb@aol.com
I'm giving you my heart, and all that is within
I lay it all down for the sake of you my King
I'm giving you my dreams, I'm laying down my rights
I'm giving up my pride for the promise of new life
And I surrender all to you, all to you
And I surrender all to you, all to you
I'm singing You this song, I'm waiting at the cross
And all the world holds dear, I count it all as loss
For the sake of knowing You for the glory of Your name
To know the lasting joy, even sharing in Your pain
I don’t know about you, but when I was singing that song I wanted to ask; do we really? I mean really read those words, they’re graphic and here we are singing them as if we are surrendering all. The last few weeks I have listened to a sermon series on fear and every week I have left church thinking, something is wrong, this just does not seem right. Before leaving for church this morning I read a facebook post by Shawn Hole, he is an evangelist and missionary. He and a team had gone on a mission trip to Nepal to evangelize the gospel. While preaching they were attacked; stoned, beaten with boards and fists, narrowly escaping. They feared that they would be hunted down and worried about the pictures that had been taken at the scene and questioned wether or not they should leave the country and return home. So what did they do? They did what Peter and John did in Acts chapter 4 after being captured and beaten in the temple. They prayed to God for boldness and went out and continued to preach the gospel and have been doing so for one week now since they were stoned. Reading this you would think that this was something that happened in the book of Acts but it is not; it occurred this past week.
So we sit in our churches singing “I Surrender all to you” while others really are surrendering all to Him; preaching the gospel, getting stoned, then praying for more boldness, then going out doing it again. Something is just not right with this. We listen to a sermon series on fear in which the true context of scripture was written to people going through what these men in Nepal were going through just last week. So what am I saying? I’m saying that I’m growing weary of this. I’m saying I am sick of church, I love the church (the believers in Jesus Christ) but I’m sick of doing church instead of doing what Jesus told us to do. Jesus said: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). So why isn’t anyone going? We sing “I surrender all to you” and can’t even do what He says, most of us don’t even share the gospel with our neighbors, most of us have lost people right in our neighborhood and we don’t talk to them. That is the real fear we need to deal with, not all of these life fears. A question popped into my mind while showering this morning after having read this man’s facebook post. Do you fear death, and if so do you have faith if you fear death? Why is the answer important? Because we are not saved by keeping the law, we are not saved by good works, we are not saved by walking down a church aisle, and we are not saved by saying a prayer asking Jesus into your heart; I find no example of anyone being saved by any of these in scripture. But what I do find, repeatedly, is that we are saved by one Way, faith in Jesus “by His blood, through faith” (Romans 3:25). It is not a onetime thing you do; faith is for a lifetime and yes whoever God has saved, is saved for life, they are eternal. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Jesus said “Go” so let’s “Go”! Going out in obedience to our Lord spreading His gospel to a lost and dying world does not earn righteousness, only faith in Jesus Christ does that. So why do men like these risk life and limb to spread the gospel? Why did the early believers in Acts risk life and limb to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ?
1. Faith: every one of these people know that their life is not their own, their lives belong to Jesus Christ. These men know that they had a debt they couldn’t pay, they were slaves to sin, and Jesus bought them out of slavery to sin and paid their debt with His own blood. They owe Him everything, He gave His life for them; He is their Lord and savior.
2. Hope: Their hope is in the fact that they have been given eternal life. “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6)
3. Love: they know that every single person that dies without coming to faith in Jesus Christ will be in Hell and that it is through believers in Jesus that God has chosen to deliver His good news to the world of salvation in Jesus Christ.
I have grown weary with church as usual, I don’t even know what this is going to look like but I can tell you one thing; I will be praying to my Lord for boldness, praying for direction and seeking direction, I will be praying for opportunities and seeking opportunities; I will be following Him in obedience and I will be sharing the gospel with a lost and dying world; wether that means preaching, handing out gospel tracts, one-on-one witnessing, or even reading the Word of God to people. I welcome any and all that are willing to join me, especially my church family at Central Baptist Tyler, TX. This world as we know it is passing away right before our eyes, 153,000 people die every day, the majority of which do not know the Lord and will spend eternity in Hell.
If you will join me comment on this post or email me at peekmikeb@aol.com let’s join hands and share the gospel with our Tyler TX community, our state, our country, and the world. I am calling for anyone willing to surrender all. If you know of a group of people already doing this please let me know, I would love to get in contact with them.
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven” (Romans 4:7)
Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ
peekmikeb@aol.com
Monday, January 23, 2012
A Letter to a Friend
Dear Friend,
I am writing this letter to you because even though we may have never met I love and care about you. I hope you will bear with me and take the time to read this letter. The things I have to say are important; in fact nothing is more important. I don’t know your back ground but I surmise that at some point in time you have heard the word sin. What is sin? It is a term that many religious people use and many of them do not understand the term themselves. The bible gives us the definition of what sin is; “Sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). Sin is living life as if there were no God, no one to whom you are accountable to, or as if He has no knowledge of, or cares what you do. All societies, all cultures, all governments have a set of laws that the citizens of that society are expected to live by. You break the laws of the land and you can expect to be imprisoned and or fined. What happens to a society when you take away government? You have anarchy, people living as if there were no government and no law that they are accountable to, as long as the government remains in place most people obey the laws, but take away the government because of a natural disaster or civil war, the society falls into chaos; people taking whatever they want and doing whatever they want to do. Just as our society has laws and an authority, God the creator of all things has given us a Holy law, a Holy set of scripts by which we are to live life. And each of us knows these laws because He has written them on the heart of everyone. You know that it is wrong to lie, steal, kill, and commit adultery but it goes much deeper than that. God is spirit He sees your thought life, He sees hatred as murder (1 John 3:15) and lust as adultery; Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28) That is just a few of God’s Commandments, His moral law that He has written on your heart and holds you accountable to.
As I told you at the beginning of this letter that “Sin is Lawlessness”, living life as if there were no God. As in society we have to face the judge if we break the laws of the land, God is a good judge and one day every single human being will have to face Him and give an account of their life to Him. The bible tells us that God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31). Jesus said when He returns, He will reward each according to their works (Matthew 16:27). My question to you is do you really want Him to reward you according to your works? I know I don’t! At some point we all die, our bodies will cease to function. The bible tells us, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27). Every single one of us will come before God in Judgment, and He will do what good judges do, He will find all law breakers guilty. He is not going to judge you for the good things you have done but for the bad. In society you can be good your entire life, then rob a bank and you are going to jail, no question about it, the good things you did won’t matter. God’s justice is perfect and His judgment is perfect. The punishment for breaking God’s law is death; not the death of your body but the death of your soul, the bible tells us about a second death, the death of your soul, eternal torment and total separation from God, “all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelations 21:8).
Now God does not want that for you, God loves you and is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 2:9). God’s perfect justice demands punishment and the punishment for breaking God’s law is death but He loves you and does not want that for you, in fact He wants you to be with Him forever. So He did something incredible and do you know what that is? God became flesh; He became a man, flesh and blood just like us, and yet at the same time was fully God, His name was Jesus. He did something that no man has ever done before or since, Jesus never sinned, He lived His life without breaking the Commandments of God even once. Then He willingly laid down His life in our place, He was beaten, He was pierced, and hung on a cross, a very brutal and torturous way to die. He bled and died on that cross for your sins, for your lawlessness; the bible tells us that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission” (forgiveness of sins) (Hebrews 9:22). Then Jesus was buried in a tomb and then He did something that only God could do, three days later He arose from the grave and defeated death. He was seen by His apostles (His selected twelve followers) and then by over five hundred at once before He ascended to heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) He then said before ascending, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), “and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). That is the reason I have written you this letter, there is forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ for all who repent and put their faith alone in Jesus, His death on the cross was payment for your sins. Repentance is a change of heart, salvation is a free gift given by God to all who repent and put their faith in His only begotten son Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Religion can’t save you, following a bunch of rules to try and earn favor with God can’t save you, and if you remain in your sins you will die in your sins. There is salvation from sin through faith in Jesus Christ alone; He has paid the price for all of your sins on the cross.
So you might ask; what do I do? Go to God in prayer, call out to Him, He will hear you, confess your sins to Him and forsake them, except His free gift of everlasting life through faith in Jesus Christ. If you do that you will be born again, God will give you His spirit as a guarantee of your salvation, He will give you a new heart, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). All who are saved in Jesus Christ truly are born again, God no longer sees your sin when He looks at you, He sees Jesus, your sins are truly forgiven, they are no more, and they died with Christ. If you have accepted the gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ, get to know Him. Find a bible and start reading, I suggest to begin with the gospel according to John. Also find a group of followers of Jesus Christ and meet with them regularly. This new life in Christ will not be easy, so you need the support of other believers to help you along the Way. I leave you with the words of Jesus that He spoke to His followers before going to the cross, His words comfort me daily. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven.” (Romans 4:7)
I Hope God blesses you,
Mike Peek
I am writing this letter to you because even though we may have never met I love and care about you. I hope you will bear with me and take the time to read this letter. The things I have to say are important; in fact nothing is more important. I don’t know your back ground but I surmise that at some point in time you have heard the word sin. What is sin? It is a term that many religious people use and many of them do not understand the term themselves. The bible gives us the definition of what sin is; “Sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). Sin is living life as if there were no God, no one to whom you are accountable to, or as if He has no knowledge of, or cares what you do. All societies, all cultures, all governments have a set of laws that the citizens of that society are expected to live by. You break the laws of the land and you can expect to be imprisoned and or fined. What happens to a society when you take away government? You have anarchy, people living as if there were no government and no law that they are accountable to, as long as the government remains in place most people obey the laws, but take away the government because of a natural disaster or civil war, the society falls into chaos; people taking whatever they want and doing whatever they want to do. Just as our society has laws and an authority, God the creator of all things has given us a Holy law, a Holy set of scripts by which we are to live life. And each of us knows these laws because He has written them on the heart of everyone. You know that it is wrong to lie, steal, kill, and commit adultery but it goes much deeper than that. God is spirit He sees your thought life, He sees hatred as murder (1 John 3:15) and lust as adultery; Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28) That is just a few of God’s Commandments, His moral law that He has written on your heart and holds you accountable to.
As I told you at the beginning of this letter that “Sin is Lawlessness”, living life as if there were no God. As in society we have to face the judge if we break the laws of the land, God is a good judge and one day every single human being will have to face Him and give an account of their life to Him. The bible tells us that God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31). Jesus said when He returns, He will reward each according to their works (Matthew 16:27). My question to you is do you really want Him to reward you according to your works? I know I don’t! At some point we all die, our bodies will cease to function. The bible tells us, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27). Every single one of us will come before God in Judgment, and He will do what good judges do, He will find all law breakers guilty. He is not going to judge you for the good things you have done but for the bad. In society you can be good your entire life, then rob a bank and you are going to jail, no question about it, the good things you did won’t matter. God’s justice is perfect and His judgment is perfect. The punishment for breaking God’s law is death; not the death of your body but the death of your soul, the bible tells us about a second death, the death of your soul, eternal torment and total separation from God, “all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelations 21:8).
Now God does not want that for you, God loves you and is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 2:9). God’s perfect justice demands punishment and the punishment for breaking God’s law is death but He loves you and does not want that for you, in fact He wants you to be with Him forever. So He did something incredible and do you know what that is? God became flesh; He became a man, flesh and blood just like us, and yet at the same time was fully God, His name was Jesus. He did something that no man has ever done before or since, Jesus never sinned, He lived His life without breaking the Commandments of God even once. Then He willingly laid down His life in our place, He was beaten, He was pierced, and hung on a cross, a very brutal and torturous way to die. He bled and died on that cross for your sins, for your lawlessness; the bible tells us that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission” (forgiveness of sins) (Hebrews 9:22). Then Jesus was buried in a tomb and then He did something that only God could do, three days later He arose from the grave and defeated death. He was seen by His apostles (His selected twelve followers) and then by over five hundred at once before He ascended to heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) He then said before ascending, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), “and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). That is the reason I have written you this letter, there is forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ for all who repent and put their faith alone in Jesus, His death on the cross was payment for your sins. Repentance is a change of heart, salvation is a free gift given by God to all who repent and put their faith in His only begotten son Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Religion can’t save you, following a bunch of rules to try and earn favor with God can’t save you, and if you remain in your sins you will die in your sins. There is salvation from sin through faith in Jesus Christ alone; He has paid the price for all of your sins on the cross.
So you might ask; what do I do? Go to God in prayer, call out to Him, He will hear you, confess your sins to Him and forsake them, except His free gift of everlasting life through faith in Jesus Christ. If you do that you will be born again, God will give you His spirit as a guarantee of your salvation, He will give you a new heart, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). All who are saved in Jesus Christ truly are born again, God no longer sees your sin when He looks at you, He sees Jesus, your sins are truly forgiven, they are no more, and they died with Christ. If you have accepted the gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ, get to know Him. Find a bible and start reading, I suggest to begin with the gospel according to John. Also find a group of followers of Jesus Christ and meet with them regularly. This new life in Christ will not be easy, so you need the support of other believers to help you along the Way. I leave you with the words of Jesus that He spoke to His followers before going to the cross, His words comfort me daily. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven.” (Romans 4:7)
I Hope God blesses you,
Mike Peek
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