Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; He ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father Almighty, and He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

AMEN

Would You Be Happy if

Would you be happy if
Your favorite candidate was elected
Your favorite team won the championship
Abortion and gay marriage were outlawed
There was no Islamic terrorist
Creation were taught in public schools
The neighbors mowed their lawn
The neighbor’s dog didn't bark
The pledge of allegiance started the day in schools
Everyone drove at the same speed as you
But no one knew the name of the Son of God Jesus Christ
Would you be happy if

Theology of the Pentateuch

The Theology of the Pentateuch is understood through the knowledge of the Holiness of the Creator God (Yahweh Elohim). There are two particular things in the Pentateuch that give us an idea of holiness; the first being the many appearances (theophany) recorded in the Pentateuch, and the second being the Law (regulations for worship) of Yahweh Elohim.[1] A theophany is a visible manifestation of God or a disclosure about Himself.[2] I believe that there is no greater theophany in all of scripture than the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”[3] But the second is the Lord’s declaration of His holy character to Moses, on Mount Sinai.

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."[4]

God’s Holy character is the foundation for the theology of the Pentateuch, and not only the Pentateuch, but the entire canon that is the Bible.

The cornerstone of the Lord’s holy character is that which has been translated in the NASB “lovingkindness”. “The Hebrew word חֶסֶד, variously translated kindness (JB), lovingkindness (KJV, NASB), love (NIV), or steadfast love (NRSV), has the basic meaning of unfailing love or loyalty. The Septuagint uses the Greek word ἔλεος (mercy or compassion) in translating חֶסֶד.”5 According to the NASB Exhaustive Concordance, the Hebrew word חֶסֶד is pronounced chesed[6], but the other sources used in this article pronounce the word hesed. Therefore, I will be using hesed.

Studies by F. I. Anderson and K. D. Sakenfeld have shown that hesed speaks of a favor given to someone who does not have a right to that favor, and it is given by someone who does not have to give that favor.[7] The kindness of God, lovingkindness of God, love, or steadfast love of God has the basic meaning of unfailing love or loyalty as it relates to His character trait of faithfulness; “abounding in lovingkindness and truth.”  Out of lovingkindness for His creation, and more specifically for His elect; God forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin.  But this lovingkindness of God is not arbitrary, or without cost, because His holiness demands that He by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Therefore, the ultimate cost for His lovingkindness must be borne by God alone.

The Lord told Moses, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”[8] There was nothing particularly holy about the site itself, but it was holy because God made it holy.  Therefore, holiness is defined by the presence of, or being in proximity to God. If God is not present then the thing or the man is not holy, only God is holy. It is here in Exodus 3:5 that the word holy appears for the first time in the Pentateuch[9] and this appearance of the word holy appears in close proximity to a Theophany in which God proclaims His Holy name YHWH to Moses.

Moses being sent by the Creator God to the Israelites needed the ability to tell them about Him.  So did Moses not know his name? Had Moses never heard the name Yahweh? The name had been used by the Patriarchs, therefore, it is likely that Moses had heard the name before. So when Moses said, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you. ' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name? ' What shall I say to them?"[10] It was likely that he was asking God to explain Himself to him, to describe Himself; God what are You like?[11]

“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’; and He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ' I AM has sent me to you.'"[12] He then told Moses to tell the Israelites that the God of their Fathers has sent me to you; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.[13] At this point in the narrative Moses was not yet able to understand the nature of God. It wasn’t until a covenant had been made (Exodus 20-24), followed by the covenant being broken by the Israelites (the golden calf, Exodus 32), followed by God forgiving the iniquity, transgressions, and sins of the Israelites that Moses was then able to understand hesed.  It was then that Yahweh honored his request, "I pray You, show me Your glory!"[14]

This Hebrew word חֶסֶד (hesed) which we have previously shown to speak of a favor given to someone who does not have a right to that favor, and it is given by someone who does not have to give that favor; is the cornerstone for the theology of the Pentateuch. All of Yahweh’s dealings with man from The Garden of Eden to the Israelites being on the verge of entering The Land of Canaan is rooted in the Holiness of God as revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai.

 “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.’”[15] Moses reaction to this revelation, “Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.”[16] This is the same reaction that anyone should have when they come to understand the holy unfailing, or loyal yet righteous love of our Creator God.

We see the holy, unfailing, or loyal yet righteous love of God exhibited through the many covenants throughout the Pentateuch. It is in a covenant with his elect (chosen) that we see and understand fully the Theology of the Pentateuch. There are many covenants in the Pentateuch, but for this article we will look at four of them; Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, and Mosaic. Each of these covenants builds upon the previous covenant to reveal more of the holy, unfailing or loyal, yet righteous love of God until we get to the Mosaic covenant and the Law.

But before going to the Mosaic covenant and the Law, let us first look at the covenants in Genesis. In the beginning there was a covenant between God and man, but unlike the covenants that would later come it was a covenant of death. Man already had life, "but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."[17] After Adam and his wife Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God would have been just in killing them, but instead He made garments of skin for Adam and his wife.[18] The protoevangelium in Genesis 3:15 alludes to a future covenant of hope.[19]

The Noahic covenant was a promise of life for Noah, his family, and all the living things that he brought on the ark.[20] It was not just a covenant with man alone, but with nature.[21] The covenant with Noah was an ancestral covenant, because it applied to all of Noah’s descendants as well as the animals on the ark. The postdiluvian Noahic covenant begins with the offering of animal sacrifices after the flood.[22] God gave the sign of the rainbow as a grace after the flood to help man remember, when you see a rainbow you are to remember God’s promise that no future storm would destroy the whole earth by flood.[23]

The Abrahamic covenant brought a new level to the covenant between God and man (national). It is through a nation (Israel), and an ancestor of Abraham (Jesus), that God would ultimately establish a new covenant with His elect that is universal in purpose.[24] “Now the Lord said to Abram,

Go forth from your country,

And from your relatives

And from your father's house,

To the land which I will show you;

And I will make you a great nation,

And I will bless you,

And make your name great;

And so you shall be a blessing;

And I will bless those who bless you,

And the one who curses you I will curse.

And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.[25]

This covenant is promised again after Abram has doubts, and it is ratified with an animal sacrifice of a three-year-old heifer, goat, ram, turtle dove, pigeon, and Abram cuts the animals in two excluding the birds and divides them.  Abram sees a theophany in which the Lord passes through them with a flaming sword.[26] Then later the Lord changed Abram to Abraham and gave him the covenant sign of circumcision.[27]

Of all the people in the world God choose Israel. Moses said, “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”[28]

W. MacDonald said, “God had chosen Israel to be a people who were separated to Himself. He did not want them to be like the other nations. He did not…chose them because of their superior numbers (they were the fewest of all people). He chose them simply because He loved them, and He wanted them to obey Him in all things.”[29]

Yahweh spoke to Israel through Moses saying, “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”[30] God made a covenant with Israel to make them His own possession and gave them the covenantal Law (The Ten Commandments) to make them priests and a holy nation. Both the Decalogue (The Ten Commandments) and the Levitical Law were given for the purpose of making unholy people look, and act like holy people who love God with all their heart, mind, and soul; and love their neighbor as themselves.

As the apostle Paul said in his first letter to Timothy, “But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.”[31] The Israelites were a stiff necked and obstinate people. “The Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.”[32]

The Lord God (Yahweh Elohim) continued to demonstrate His Sovereign, unfailing, or loyal yet righteous love (חֶסֶד hesed) for His chosen people, Israel, for 40 years of wondering in the desert. He neither left them nor forsake them, He brought them as promised; a nation ready to enter the promised land of their position. In conclusion; the sovereign, unfailing, or loyal yet righteous love (חֶסֶד hesed) for the chosen people of the Lord God (Yahweh Elohim) is the Theology of the Pentateuch.

  

---

[1] T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Holy (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 420.

[2] T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Theophany (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 859.

[3] John 1:14 (NASB).

[4] Exodus 34:6-7 (NASB).

[5] J. Carl Laney, “BIBLIOTHECA SACRA 158” God’s Self-Revelation in Exodus 34:6-8 (Dallas Theological Seminary, January-March 2001), 46-47.

[6] 6. NASB Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible, h2617a (The Lockman Foundation, 1977), 1521.

[7] 7. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 850.

[8] 8. Exodus 3:5 (NASB).

[9] William MacDonald, “Believer’s Bible Commentary” Exodus (Dallas, TX: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 91

[10] Exodus 3:13 (NASB).

[11] Warren W. Wiersbe, “The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: the complete Old Testament” Exodus (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007), 150-151.

[12] Exodus 3:14 (NASB).

[13] Exodus 3:15 (NASB).

[14] Exodus 33:18 (NASB).

[15] Exodus 34:6-7 (NASB).

[16] Exodus 34:8 (NASB).

[17] Genesis 3:5 (NASB).

[18] Genesis 3:21 (NASB).

[19] T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Genesis (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 354.

[20] Genesis 6:18-20 (NASB).

[21] Warren W. Wiersbe, “The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: the complete Old Testament” Genesis (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007), 47.

[22] T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Covenant (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 140.

[23] Warren W. Wiersbe, “The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: the complete Old Testament” Genesis (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007), 47.

[24] T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Covenant (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 149.

[25] Genesis 12:1-3 (NASB).

[26] Genesis 15 (NASB).

[27] Genesis 17 (NASB).

[28] Deuteronomy 7:7-8 (NASB).

[29] William MacDonald, “Believer’s Bible Commentary” Deuteronomy (Dallas, TX: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 208.

[30] Exodus 19:5-6 (NASB).

[31] 1 Timothy 1:9-11 (NASB).

[32] Exodus 32:8 (NASB).

Bibliography

Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, (2003).

NASB Exaustive Concordance of the Bible. The Lockman Foundation, (1998).

The Holy Bible, Updated New American Standard Bible. The Lockman Foundation, (1995).

Warren W. Wiersbe. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: the complete Old Testament. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, (2007).

William MacDonald. Believer’s Bible Commentary. Dallas, TX: Thomas Nelson, (19

How does the idea of covenant intersect with Creation, the Flood, and Abraham?

"When we ask the question, 'How does the cosmos work?' We seek an answer that discusses physical laws and structures. In our worldview, function is a consequence of structure, and a discussion of creation therefore must, of course, direct itself to the making of things. In contrast, when Israelites asked, 'How does the cosmos work?' They were on a totally different wavelength, because in the ancient worldview function was a consequence of purpose.”¹

Therefore, let us not ask, “What is the structure of a covenant?”, but "What is the purpose of a covenant?".  The function of a covenant is to make a solemn commitment or guarantee of promises and/or obligations by one member of the covenantal party or both.² There is much discussion, but little agreement on a covenant at creation.³ So, in the beginning, was there a covenant between God and man? Man was already given life, so there was no need for God to promise life to man. But since a covenant is a promise, I would say that a covenant existed in the beginning between God and man.  The covenantal promise was death, "but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."⁴ The protoevangelium in Genesis 3:15 alludes to a future hope.⁵  

The Noahic covenant was a promise of life for Noah, his family, and all the living things that he brought on the ark.⁶ The covenant with Noah was a ancestral covenant, because it applied to all of Noah’s descendants as well as the animals on the ark. After the Fall God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife.⁷ This also alludes to a future covenant ratified with the offering of a sacrifice. The postdiluvian Noahic covenant begins with the offering of animal sacrifices after the flood.⁸

While the Adamic promise of death spread to all men and alludes to a future hope (universal), and the Noahic covenant was to his descendants (ancestral); the Abrahamic covenant brought a new level to the covenant between God and man (national). It is through a nation (Israel), and an ancestor of Abraham (Jesus), that God would ultimately establish a new covenant with His elect that is universal in purpose.⁹

Notes

1. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Creation (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 164.

2. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Covenant (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 139.

3. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Covenant (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 141.

4. Genesis 3:5 (NASB).

5. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Genesis (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 354.

6. Genesis 6:18-20 (NASB).

7. Genesis 3:21 (NASB).

8. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Covenant (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 140.

9. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Covenant (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 149.

Bibliography

Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, (2003).

The Holy Bible, Updated New American Standard Bible. The Lockman Foundation, ((1995).

Pentateuch Authorship

           Some people question the authorship of the Bible and more specifically the first five books of the Bible called the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch being the first five books of the revelation about God. The Bible does not give authorship to man, but to God, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”¹

            This word inspired is translated from the Greek word theopneustos; which means God-breathed.² Therefore the words of the Bible come from God, and are written by men.  There are varying theories on how this is accomplished; neo-orthodoxy, dictation theory, limited inspiration theory, and plenary verbal inspiration theory. “Plenary verbal inspiration asserts the Holy Spirit interacted with human writers to produce the Bible.”³

            It is traditionally held that the Pentateuch was authored by Moses, source criticism has noted some difficulties with the entire authorship being attributed to Moses.⁴ The Bible itself does not give authorship to any man since the Bible is written by God through man. The main theory developed as an alternative to Mosaic authorship is Documentary Hypothesis (DH), “also called the Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis after two of its most significant propenents.”⁵ The Documentary Hypothesis says that there are four sources for the Pentateuch; Yahwist (J) from the tenth to ninth century, Elohist (E) from the eight century, Priestly (P) from the sixth to fifth century, and Deuteronomy (D) from the fifth century accredited to Josiah’s reform.⁶

            There are several problems with DH.  One problem is that the main academic assumptions behind the documentary hypothesis is that the Pentateuch uses two different names for God; Yahweh and Elohim.  The assertion is that the Yahwist (J) tenth to ninth century used Yahweh, while the Elohist (E) from the eight century used Elohim. In order for this hypothesis to hold together Yahwist (J) would always have to use Yahweh and Elohist (E) would always have to use Elohim, but that is not what occurs in the text. Genesis 2:4-3:24 use both Yahweh and Elohim side by side, and other passages like Genesis 21 use both Yahweh and Elohim in the text.⁷  Scripture gives credit to God for the Scriptures, therefore let us continue in His word so that we may know the truth.

Notes

1. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NASB).

2. NASB Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible, g2315 (The Lockman Foundation, 1977), 1655.

3. Arnold and Byer, What is the Old Testament and Why Study It? 25.

4. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Source Criticism (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 798.

5. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Source Criticism (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 801.

6. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” Source Criticism (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 802.

7. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, “Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch” God, Names of (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 366.

Bibliography

Arnold, and Byer. "What Is the Old Testament and Why Study It?" n.d.

Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, (2003).

NASB Exaustive Concordance of The Bible. The Lockman Foundation, (1998).

The Holy Bible, Updated New American Standard Bible. The Lockman Foundation, (1995).

Once A Knight ...: Richard Peek: A man for many seasons

Today I am going to take a break from blogging, but would like to share with you a blog recently written about my father Richard Peek.  The blog was posted and written by Nico Van Thyn, you can click on the link to get the original post or read the copy pasted below.

In Christ alone,
Mike Peek

Once A Knight ...: Richard Peek: A man for many seasons:        One cold March day in the mid-1970s, Richard Peek was off duty from his fireman's job and went fishing with a buddy on the banks of the Trinity River in Dallas.

Richard Peek (44): A big man who could play
in the mid-1960s (photo from Louisiana Tech
sports information office)
 

      Within their sight, a boat overturned, and two men and a little boy went under the water.
      Peek had trained as a paramedic at the start of his 33-year career with the Dallas Fire Department. He saw the danger; without hesitation, he dove in the water.
      He saved one man and the boy. Unfortunately, the other man -- the boy's father -- drowned.
       Richard came home still wet and disheveled. His wife, Carole, asked what happened. "He was real quiet about it," she remembers. He said, 'I had to go in the water.' No further details.
       Three days later, Carole found out what had happened. The story had been reported in the papers and friends of the Peeks were calling.
       President Gerald Ford soon sent a letter of commendation. The Carnegie Foundation offered a financial reward. Richard refused to accept it.
       "Anything he did as a fireman or as a person, he didn't talk about himself," Carole said.
---
       We're here to write about him. We remember Richard Peek as a basketball player, the 6-foot-11, 230-pound center who played two seasons for Louisiana Tech University, the second as one of the "Triple Towers" of the 1966-67 conference championship team coached by Scotty Robertson.
       That was his senior season and he was -- my view -- the quietest, most steady player on that team and perhaps its most important player, a skilled and tough inside force.
       He was the only one of those Bulldogs to play professionally, one season with the Dallas Chaparrals.
       Beyond basketball, he was a man of many interests. He lived a full life -- as an outdoors person, an adventurer, an achiever, and particularly as a family man.
       Richard Peek died on Feb. 16, 2014, in Tyler, Texas, at age 70, after a steady, debilitating health decline -- Parkinson's and then Lewy body dementia.
       It was a tough and challenging last few years, physically and emotionally, for Carole as she had to try to move his big body when he was unable to do so on his own.
       They had moved after his Fire Department retirement and three decades of living in Garland, Texas -- east side of greater Dallas -- to a place in the country near Chandler, just outside of Tyler. That was to be nearer kids and grandkids, but the difficulty of his illness forced another move even closer, to Whitehouse.
     He and Carole -- friends since junior high days in Pensacola, Fla. -- were married for 49 years, with three children (Michael, 47; Julia Ann Cole, 45; and Jeffery, 41) and seven grandchildren. Jeffery is the tallest of the kids, at 6-7.
---
      Richard came to Louisiana Tech following two years in the University of Florida program. After sitting out a year as a transfer, practicing with the Tech team along with 6-10 Bob Watson (who became eligible a half-season earlier than Peek), it was easy for his teammates to be impressed.
      "He was a very good player, a pretty polished low-post player," said Leon Barmore, one of the guards in those years. "He had post moves that a lot of guys in that time didn't have. He'd leave guys guarding him in the post just standing there."
      Jimmy Pruett, the other starting guard: "Richard Peek was a very good player, steady, dependable. All-[conference]. Could score, defend, rebound, and was all about winning. ... Not particularly outspoken. ... He wanted to do the right thing and win."
      Tommy Gregory, a reserve forward who often teamed with Peek and had to guard him in practice: "I remember him as a hard-working player, good around the hoop and a good rebounder with a good mid-range shot. He was a tough, unselfish player."
     Peek led Tech in rebounding both of his seasons, and averaged 17.4 points a game as a junior and 14.1 the next year on a balanced team that went 20-8 overall and 11-1 in the conference (Gulf States). 
     As a senior, he was the steady center who could be dominant, but sometimes it was excitable 7-foot freshman Charlie Bishop who had the big games.
     Part of Peek's role was as a mentor to Bishop, working on moves around the basket for the inexperienced rookie.
     "Coach Robertson told Richard when he came to Tech that he hadn't coached players that big," said Carole, "so Richard was sort of an assistant. He helped devise some of the drills for the center.
     "He really loved playing for Scotty Robertson."
        He did not love playing for Norm Sloan -- "Stormin' Norman" -- at Florida. 
     Richard had starred at Pensacola's Escambia High School (later Emmitt Smith's school), and his size and ability made him a prime recruit for the Gators, who'd never had much success in the sport.
     After a year on the freshman team, he lettered on the Florida varsity as a sophomore -- a 12-10 team, 6-8 in the SEC (tied for ninth in a 12-team league). And he wasn't happy.
     Sloan was the coach and, said Carole, "Richard didn't like the players he was with. He was his own person, and there was so much mischief going on." So he looked to transfer.
     The connection to Tech was Escambia coach George Hill, who was friends with Tech first-year assistant coach Don Landry. Escambia, in Peek's years there, had played against Landry's St. Aloysius (New Orleans) teams two years in a row.
     So when Hill called Landry asking if Tech might be interested in a 6-11 center, the answer was "sure." "I knew what a good player he was," said Landry, and Robertson had Peek come to Ruston for a visit.
     "They wined and dined him at a ranch there," Carole recalled, "and he was a big hunter and fisherman. He saw that area was good for that."
     It was a fit, along with Robertson's promising program.
---
      More from his teammates:
      "Richard and I were close; we were roommates [on the road-game overnight stays]," said Barmore, the future Hall of Fame women's basketball coach. "We umpired kids' baseball games together one summer. Can you imagine a 7-foot guy squatting behind home plate?"
      "He knew how to handle the ball, and knew how to pass it," said Jon Pat Stephenson, the starting small forward in Peek's two seasons. "He could handle a lob pass than the other two [centers, Bishop and Watson]. We beat a lot of teams with those lobs."
     Barmore and Stephenson each remembered one Peek move with the ball in the low post. "He would dip his left shoulder and spin back the other way," Barmore said. "He'd leave guys guarding him just standing there."
      "He made that look easy," Stephenson said, "and he'd have a layup or a dunk." 
     Pruett: "As I recall, his points were mainly in close, certainly inside 10-12 feet, although he was not a great leaper. An excellent college player, but maybe not quite agile enough or strong enough for the NBA.
     "Kind of the classic big man of that era -- and our best big guy while he was there. I only got to play with him one year. He was definitely the key player added -- from outside our area -- in making us a championship team.
      "He was really a nice person, kind of quiet, easy to be around, although I was only around him (and his wife) at basketball-related times."     "He was a very mild guy, he was very coachable," said John Whitmore, a sophomore on the 1966-67 team. "He fit in perfectly with the guys who had been around for a couple of years, and he was a very skilled post player."
     "Richard was a great player -- strong, focused and could do it all," said Terry Ewing, a reserve forward who played one season with Peek and practiced against him two years. "He was very much a team player, but when he got the ball around the bucket he knew how to finish.
    "I got six stitches in practice when I wasn't quick enough to avoid his powerful elbow. Richard was a true gentleman who played hard but always played clean."
    Ewing recalled that he worked with Peek "one summer painting land lines around tracts of timber for Ewing Timber. The men who worked for my Dad laughed that they had never seen markings on the trees that high up. We became very close during that time and he was a special friend." 

     Gregory: "I think it was [Southwestern Louisiana's] Elvin Ivory that dunked on him one night. Next trip down the floor, Richard returned the favor with that quick spin move down low that he had.
     "... He was a great teammate and I really enjoyed playing with him. Won't ever forget seeing him folding up into his green VW bettle that he and Carole drove."
---     

Richard Peek (33) with the 1967-68 Dallas Chaparrals;
in front are Shreveport's Charles Beasley (12) and player-
coach Cliff Hagan (16); beside Peek, John Beasley (44).

     He was drafted by the NBA's Baltimore Bullets ... in the 15th round, 148th player picked in 1967. Slim chance, so he opted to try the new American Basketball Association, the new team in Dallas.
     The first Chaparrals -- forerunner to the now San Antonio Spurs -- were led by former University of Kentucky and St. Louis Hawks star Cliff Hagan (who was the player-coach) and included two players named Beasley -- Charles, from Shreveport (Fair Park) and SMU, and John, from Linden, Texas (near Texarkana) and Texas A&M.
     Peek was a reserve, averaging 4.6 points and 3.9 rebounds a game in 51 games. His averages were 5.4 and 5.3 for eight playoff games.
     But one season was it. Before the next season, he was traded to the Kentucky Colonels, then traded again. Failing to make an ABA regular-season roster, he was asked to play in Italy. He refused. 
     And while he missed the game for a while, said Carole, "his knees were so bad; he hyperextended one knee three times, and his back hurt all the time. He was real unhappy [in the pros]."
---
     His basketball career done, he looked for a new career.
Tried stockbroking, but it was a bad time -- and he didn't have that much money to invest. Tried selling insurance; didn't like it. He then went to work in a sporting goods' store, in the guns department; he had hunting expertise.
     One day a few Dallas firemen came in, and he asked about their jobs. It was intriguing, and they told him the department was hiring.
     He applied -- and one problem: He was too tall; they didn't have clothes to fit him. He offered to pay for custom-made clothes; he wanted that job.
     They hired him, and he stayed for more than three decades. "He really loved that job," Carole said. 
     But not all of it at first. Trained originally as a paramedic, "he became insensitive after a while because he saw so many bad things," his wife said. "I told him he needed to ask out of that part of it."
     His height was a plus in that his reach sometimes was a great help in putting out fires. But, as you'd expect, the danger was great, too.
     "I don't know how many times he was in the hospital with burns and injuries," Carole recalled. 
     And there was a day when a Hunt mansion in Dallas was burning, and two of the men in Richard's company died. Richard was missing and his captain was about to head to the Peek residence to tell Carole ... when he was spotted sitting under a tree, overcome by heat and smoke inhalation.
     But he was always one to stay physically fit. "He loved to be very active," Carole said. "He was not lazy."
     He was a fisherman; he was in a bass-fishing club. He was a hunter -- duck hunting, quail, deer ("but mostly he liked shooting photos outdoors," said Carole). He liked mountain climbing, backpacking, rafting, skiing -- in southern Colorado; he was a runner (and convinced Carole to run with him). He lifted weights regularly.
     He was -- picture this -- a 6-11 rugby player for the original team of the Dallas Harlequins, one of the area's first and most prestigious clubs. "He was always beat up," said Carole. "I remember the keg parties; they sang all those songs."
     To help his ailing knees, his doctor advised him to get a bicycle, so he became an avid biker for a while. And then he was a real "biker" -- a motorcycle enthusiast who, with a friend, made numerous rides from Dallas to Daytona Beach, Fla., for the annual Motorcycle Week, and then continued on to Key West, and made the return trip. That's a long haul.
     Because of his length, "custom-made" applied, too, to his bicycle and his BMW motorcycle. His son Michael now has that BMW.
     Finally, in the years out in East Texas, he had a tractor to keep him busy on their piece of land. But the good times ran out with his health issues.
     Carole Peek still lives in Whitehouse and has some treasured souvenirs: A red-white-and-blue ABA ball, a ball from Louisiana Tech, and Richard's first fireman's helmet, an old-timer made of leather. 
     "He was very grateful (for his life) and very sweet," Carole said.
      He was, as those of us at Tech then knew in those days and today, a wonderful player and a wonderful person.