Twilight

I took this picture a few days ago when leaving work.  I just love the evening at twilight; you know, that moment when the sun sets and day turns into night.  The sky is still blue and filled with light, but things on the ground become dusky and obscured.  This always causes me to look up, because that's where the light is.  This time period in the cycle of a day is brief.  The light soon departs and the world is consumed by darkness.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus said, "For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.  While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light." (Jn 12:35-36).

This past week while ministering at Tyler Junior College I did so with a broken heart.  I have a special intimacy with the Lord as He is portrayed in John's Gospel.  This week on campus, I recited the first three chapters of the Gospel According to John in open-air.  It appeared while doing so, that no one cared.  I am use to this behavior in open-air preaching, but for some reason on this occasion my heart was broken over it.  Perhaps it is the intimacy that I have with the Lord in these passages.

Here is the deal; I love the Lord Jesus Christ and all I want is for you to know Him like I do.  That is the reason that I am proclaiming Him.  If you know Jesus, you will know God, because Jesus and the Father are One. 

This amazing God who gave us all life is both love and truth.  We have all sinned and fallen short of His glory, but because He is love He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (Jn 3:16).



In Christ alone,

Mike Peek

Salvation from the wrath of God that we all deserve for our sin is a gift, by His grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

Rejoicing and Scoffing

When I am preaching the Gospel, the good news about eternal life given to us by the grace of God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ alone, we are often met by three types of people.  The three types are those who ignore us (this is the majority), those who rejoice at the preaching of the Gospel, and those who scoff at the preaching of the Gospel.

Something has changed in recent weeks on the campus of Tyler Junior College.  While the majority continue to ignore us, the numbers of those rejoicing and scoffing have both increased.  Those who scoff have become more vociferous. 

I like to preach once each hour, from 10-15 minutes to the hour, because this is the time that the students are moving about changing classes.  During the interim we pass out Gospels According to John and talk with the students who have the period off.

This past Wednesday when I was preaching from 10:45AM-11:00AM two students were simultaneously opposing the preaching of the Gospel.  I didn't know this at the time until I would later speak with Jason McMurray on the telephone.  There was a man talking with Jason at the same time that a young lady came up to me scoffing.  There is no reason to go into detail, but as the case is the majority of time she had judged what I was doing to be unloving.

I am not the stereo typical street preacher; I do not hold up signs, nor call anyone names, I just solely talk about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I am also not a topical preacher, nor do I explain scripture.  While I do think that there is a place for each of these.  I have only one topic; it is the Lord Jesus Christ, and my style is to proclaim Him through scripture alone.

I do this for a number of reasons:

1. I am not ashamed of the Gospel (Rom 1:16).
2. I believe that the righteous man shall live by faith (Rom 1:17).
3. I believe that Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ (Rom 10:17).
4. I believe that the sheep hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He knows them, and they follow Him; and He gives eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of His hand. (Jn 10:27).
5. I believe that it drives out the scoffer (Pr 22:10).

I do not like to argue with anyone.  I have found that when someone comes up to me scoffing; when they find out that I am reciting scripture alone it closes there mouth and they go away.  

 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Or you will also be like him.
 Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
That he not be wise in his own eyes. (Pr 26:4-5 [NASB])

I think that this is the intent of the proverb.  The scoffer and the fool both go away, but I know that they go away thinking about the exchange.  And I hope when they go away that they consider that I did not retaliate with argumentation, but that I am seeking to follow the One whom I proclaim; the Son of God Jesus Christ.

Lord willing I will spend the remaining seven weeks of this semester going through all of the Gospel According to John.  Preaching 1 chapter at a time beginning at 10-15 minutes to the hour, 3 chapters each outing.  I have been able to hand out about 50 Gospels According to John each outing, about 450 thus far this semester.  I ask anyone willing to pray for this effort; that the sheep hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and follow Him.

In Christ alone,

Mike Peek

Salvation from the wrath of God that we all deserve for our sin is a gift, by His grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. 

A Liar and A Fool

Wednesday mornings I have set aside to purposefully go out into the world and share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  What do I mean by share the gospel?  I tell people the good news about Jesus Christ; who He is, what He has done on behalf of His sheep, what He is presently doing on behalf of His sheep, and what He will do; as witnessed and testified to by His apostles in the New Testament.  Since the end of August I and another brother, Jason McMurray of First Baptist Lindale have spent every Wednesday morning until noon on the Campus of Tyler Junior College.  We purpose to do so Lord willing until the end of the fall semester.

This past Wednesday was quite a bit different than the previous weeks.  We found ourselves in many deep conversations and even under attack a few times, which had not happened during the semester previously.  The day itself began strange, even before arriving on campus.

I like to go running every morning when I get a chance.  My normal daily run is about five miles.  While out on a run I like to talk to God and think about His word.  This past Wednesday morning while yet early a car was headed towards me and slowing.  I have seen this many times before, I run on the back roads around Lake Tyler so often someone is lost and looking for directions.

The car had two men in it wearing shirt sleeves and ties.  The driver had a pamphlet in his hand and said; "Can we give you a gospel tract?"   I thought "This is strange!" I am 4 miles into a 5 mile run, thinking about what I am about to preach and a car pulls up beside me and the driver asks can he give me a gospel tract.  So I stop and ask, "Who are you with?"  The man then answered, "We are Jehovah witnesses!"  So I thought briefly as to how I should react to this unexpected meeting.  Being aware of their cult's delusion I elected not to get in a discussion with these men; I was after all on a back road not yet done running and I had somewhere else that I needed to be.  So I followed the advice of scripture and simply said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (Jn 1:1).  I then continued on my run.  Proverbs 26:4-5 says,

"Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Or you will also be like him.
Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
That he not be wise in his own eyes."

As I continued to run I was now thinking about this meeting and a thought entered my mind.  What the man had said; "We are Jehovah witnesses!" was an out right lie.  In order to be a witness of someone you must first have seen them.  Well had these men seen Jehovah?  I think not, John 1:18 says,

"No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him."

And Jehovah Himself previously said to Moses,

 "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" (Ex 33:20).

There is but One witness of the Father and it is the Son of God Jesus Christ.  For He alone can say,

"I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father." (Jn 8:38).

And we Christians should not say that we are witnesses for Jesus Christ.  There are two witnesses for Jesus Christ and they are not us.  Jesus said to His apostles,

"When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning." (Jn 15:26-27).

This is the reason that I like to talk about Jesus using scripture alone and by handing out Gospels of John.  Almost everything that I say is either scripture quoted or scripture summarized.  Jesus is the Father's witness; the apostles and the Holy Spirit are Jesus' witnesses.

"What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.  These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete." (1 Jn 1:1-4).

Three Hundred and One

Over 5 years ago on June 19, 2010, I wrote my first blog post titled; "Jesus the Fulfillment of God's Law".   Since then the Lord has allowed me to write 300 post, this will be my 301st post to "A Slave of Jesus Christ".  I do not know who or if anyone reads what the Lord has given me to write, but I have determined to write on this blog once a week.  I do hope that you get something out of my thoughts and reflections as I follow my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I am not a Theologian in the academic since, but I read and memorize the scriptures daily.  I am not a preacher in the since of a defined pulpit inside of an inner-sanctuary of respected persons who sit and listen to what I have to say about the Lord Jesus Christ.  I am an open-air preacher (street preacher), and even in that since I am not a very good one.  I do not like to debate or argue with people; if you listen to what the Lord has given me to say, glory be to God, and if you do not listen the Lord continues in His glory.

I started doing this in January of 2012 after reading a post about some men who had been stoned in the country of Nepal for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Then singing the song "I Surrender All to You" in church.  The Lord used this to convict me to go and tell people about Him.  The next day I wrote a blog called "Sick of Church" .  Don't let the title full you, because it is diffidently not anti-church.  In fact it is pro-church.  What I was sick of was saying that I was a follower of Jesus Christ and not actually dying to self and following Him.


 My ministry of late has been to go to Tyler Junior College and spend 2-3 hours on campus one day a week talking with the students about Jesus Christ; who He is, what He has promised, what He has done, what He is presently doing, and what He will do.  A wonderful brother in Christ by the name of Jason McMurray from First Baptist Lindale, TX, has been joining me there on Wednesday mornings.  My church home is Sylvania Church in Tyler, TX.  I could not be doing this alone!

I like to begin by preaching the message that is linked on this page; "Who is Jesus?", then over the next 2 hours recite chapters out of the Gospel of John, pass out Gospels of John, and talk with students about the Lord.  It has truly been a wonderful time serving the Lord and loving my neighbor.  I hope that the Lord allows me to continue in this ministry for many years to come.  As the apostle Paul said, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Gal 1:21 [NASB])


In Christ alone,
Mike Peek

Salvation from the wrath of God that we all deserve for our sin is a gift, by His grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

Anathema

Using the word anathema or accursed is very harsh indeed!  The apostle Paul said in his letter to the Galatians;

"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!  As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!" (Gal 1:8-9).

Do you understand what he was saying?  He was saying that if anyone teaches a gospel contrary to what he (Paul) preached consider that man to be accursed.  I say teaching, because that is exactly what preaching is.  Preaching is teaching with authority.

The Roman Catholic church declared during the council of Trent, convened December 13, 1545 to December 14, 1563 many Anathemas  (www.thecounciloftrent.com).  I see this same judgmental attitude in much of the church today.  We are all in our flesh sinners.  Christianity is a revealed religion.  We have the Holy text, the Scriptures, inspired by the Holy Spirit and written by the hand of man.  The scriptures can be read by men, because they were written by men.  But they must be spiritually revealed, because they are Holy Spirit inspired.

So what happens?  One man studying scripture has something revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, and two other men read the same text in the flesh having two other differing views.  So which of the three views is correct?  Well, the one revealed by the Holy Spirit is the correct view since the text was after all Holy Spirit inspired.  So the three men disagree; then declare each other heretics, be it by word or thought.

I do not think that this was the apostle's intent regarding his letter to the Galatians.  Every time Paul says something to this effect, it is always in regards to false teachers.  However, I do not see him saying these same things about men and women who have been under false teachers.

Do I believe that the Roman Catholic church is preaching what Paul preached?  No, I do not, therefore, I do not direct people to the Roman Catholic Church.  On the other hand I am not going to declare the Roman Catholic people accursed.  Nor anyone else for that matter.  I do not have that right, nor does anyone else.  Judgment is God's alone!

I believe that Paul preached that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  That justification is not a result of works, it is the gift of God, by His grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.  Where then is boosting?  It is excluded. (Romans & Ephesians).

I am not going to argue with someone about there particular beliefs, and I am not going to direct people to teachers who are preaching something different than what Paul preached. So what do I do?  My ministry is a public ministry.  I go into the highways and byways of the world preaching Jesus Christ; Him crucified for our sins and risen from the dead.  I talk with a lot of people about the Lord.  

Jesus said; "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Mt 5:16).

Just tell the truth in love, that is all we can do!  Always remember what love is and what love is not.

"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,  does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,  does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (1 Cor 13:4-7).

 In Christ alone,

Mike Peek

Salvation from the wrath of God that we all deserve for our sin is a gift, by His grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. 

The Indicative and the Imperative

This is one of my favorite videos on YouTube.  It is a video of SalvationbyGrace.org by Pastor Jim McClarty.  Understanding the indicative and the imperative truly opens up scripture.  If you get this concept then you will understand; "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (Jn 14:15 NASB).

In Christ alone,

Mike Peek

www.aslaveofjesuschrist.com

Salvation from the wrath of God that we all deserve for our sin is a gift, by His grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

I am Convinced

Many years before Jesus was born; Moses asked the Lord to show him His glory (Ex 33:18).  And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” (Ex 33:19-20). 

Then later, on top of Mount Sinai; "The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship" (Ex 34:6-8).

"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they." (Heb 1:1-4).

I believe that Jesus is the Word the Lord spoke to Moses on top of Mount Sinai become flesh.  In fact, I am convinced of it. 

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." (Jn 1:14-18).

In Christ alone,

Mike Peek

Salvation from the wrath of God that we all deserve for our sin is a gift, by His grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.