The Peeler’s are fine. This recent Hail storm in Dallas really did a number on one of our cars and to our newly purchased house. It’s been a helpful reminder that it’s only just stuff.
It may be a pain to deal with, but at the end of the day it’s just life. Some days you just have to take care of business…
This is a message I present at the 1105 worship service at Highland Park Presbyterian Church for the first week of advent. The series is called Missional Advent. The encouragement behind the series is to allow the Christmas season to push us to think about how to BE the church everywhere we go.
As we prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts this season, let’s be honest and real with the people around us. Share our stories. Listen more than we talk. Be present with our neighbors. Love one another.
I pray that you will hear the voice of God in all that you do today.
Blessings,
Keith
This season of life has really allowed us to see God’s provision in very tangible ways. As many of you know, we’ve been in the process of discerning (with our ministry board) whether or not we should purchase the home we’ve been renting for the past year. As we collectively decided that we should move forward to purchase the house, we planned a Photographic Art Show & House Fundraiser to help us raise the funds needed for the down payment. Many of you were there and it was an incredible night! 
We felt your support through direct donations toward the house fund, through the “purchasing” of my photo art, and through the amazing conversations we had all night long. We were able to gather so many of our local supporters through this event and it truly showed us that God is with us. Your support through prayers, presence, financial gifts, and your encouraging words are fueling us to continue the work that we have started.
Luke 14:27-29
27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,
As God started us on this journey almost two years ago, we didn’t really know what it would look like. As we have done our best to take up our cross and follow Christ, we have seen God move in mighty ways in our lives and the lives of those around us. For us, the tower we need to build is the purchasing of the house that we are utilizing for ministry. This home has been the perfect location for us to serve our neighborhood.
As we lay this foundation for ministry it comes at a personal cost to us as we daily use the house for others, and it comes at a physical cost financially. We do not want to see this project start well and end poorly. We are laying a foundation for the future of our ministry here. We are committed.
The event we hosted last Wednesday was a great success! We were able to raise the monthly funds needed to help with the mortgage payment AND we have pretty much covered the amount that is needed for the down payment…but it’s not over yet! We still need your support to make sure that as we build our foundation it will be a secure one.
Every penny of the support we are currently raising is focused toward securing this property for ministry.
We want to say thank you to all that have donated their time, energy, talents, finances, and especially prayers that made our event so meaningful. If you would still like to help us secure our foundation, please consider financially supporting this special project.
You may support this project by sending a check to:
Highland Park Presbyterian Church
3821 University Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75205
Please write “Peeler DGO” in the memo section of your check.
Thank you once again! We are incredibly excited to see that God’s hand is directly intervening to provide for all of our needs. We count it a joy and a privilege to serve Christ with you.
Blessings,
Keith & Megan Peeler
Recently I got to prepare a message to give at the 1105 service of Highland Park Presbyterian church. The message is located on their website and is available at the link below if you would like to hear it!
Blessings, kp
Some friends of ours at a local media company did a video about our ministry. I think they did an amazing job technically, and in telling our story well. We hope that our life continues to reflect the life of Christ in all that we do. We want the world around us to find the freedom that we now have as we live our lives for the sake of building the Kingdom of God.
Megan and I are growing at a very rapid rate right now. We are learning more about what it means when Christ said he came to “set the captives free”. Most of my experience (at least my perceived experience) growing up was a whole lot more about behavior modification than it was focused on setting me free to follow Jesus with my entire life. The power of the Gospel is at work in our lives in new and transforming ways.
As I read more scripture and look through the Old Testament and New Testament I see this imagery more and more. The Israelites, the leper, Mary Magdalene, and so many more…
The growth that we are seeing is based in healing and deliverance ministry. Through bible study, practical teaching from Dr. Charles Kraft, and encouragement from our mission agency, we have begun a deep plunge into this area of ministry. I’ve been watching things happen in my life over the last 15 years in regards to supernatural events and prayers…but there hasn’t been (until now) a solid Orthodox Christian understanding of what it all means.
I’ve realized that my own apprehension about the supernatural has kept me from engaging it in a biblical way. So here’s what happening…
God is showing up in power through healing prayer. Since coming home from my conference in California I’ve had several “inner healing” prayer sessions with people. Here is what I’m finding…most people are afraid of being known and therefore have a very direct fear of actually being healed. This is understandable. Often the pain of our past makes us hesitant to revisit these memories. However, as I have watched people go through this healing prayer they are being set free to become all that they are created for. The power of Christ heals all wounds and sets us FREE. This freedom is a total freedom…not a partial one.
As I’ve prayed with my friends (including Megan) I have seen people find healing in their past for things they didn’t even realize were still affecting them. In some of these cases demonization has occurred. Christians cannot be possessed or oppressed by demonic forces; it is true though that people can become demonized…the original language says “to have a demon”. This can happen through trauma, family brokenness, sexual brokenness, death, violence, or other significant life experiences. In many of the cases where we’ve prayed for inner healing we’ve seen people set free from these demonic forces.
People that we have prayed with are finding freedom through inner healing prayer and by casting out demons if they are present. This is totally and completely the power of God at work. It has nothing to do with who we are; and everything to do with God. A year ago I would have said that this was crazy, but today I am actually seeing it happen.
Many of you who read this may be apprehensive about what I’m saying. I understand that and would love to talk with you more if you are interested.
If you’d like Megan and I to pray with you, or if you’d like to talk more about what we are learning please get in touch! We’d love to share more and encourage you.
Blessings,
Keith
Megan and I both connect with people pretty naturally. We love talking to people of all kinds and we love to share our life and family with others. In light of this, it has been a real pleasure for us to get to know our CRM family more and more. If you are following our journey, you’ll know that we got to meet a great number of this new family by going to Malaysia for the World Wide Conference last summer. We noticed that many of the CRM people were just as crazy as we were…we felt right at home.
Last week Megan and I attended “First Things”. It’s the new staff orientation basically.
Once again we were amazed at the people that we met. All so different, but such similar hearts! We met a woman who works with gang bangers in San Francisco, two women who live and minister in an area of Miami that is filled with Carribean immigrants, a man who works to help retool and revitalize dying churches in Atlanta, and a husband and wife that have 9 kids!!!
We’ve just realized how blessed we are to love what we do and WHO we do it with. Our family at CRM has really shown us what it means to ask hard questions, push to new levels of intimacy with God, to find a deeper understanding of the POWER of God, to really connect with each other… We are extremely thankful that we feel EMPOWERED.
I hate to sound like an advertisement…but it really is true for us. We’ve found incredible resources, incredible people, and incredible training through CRM. For those of you who prayerfully and financially support our mission work, you can rest assured that the agency you are supporting is giving us far more than we could have hoped for.
So obviously it’s been way too long since we’ve updated our life here. So much has happened, where do I begin.
The neighborhood
Our new life in Junius Heights is amazing. We live in a place where neighbors want to connect. It’s a great mix of people with a lot of diversity. We love the fact that so many people walk their dogs here. It’s a great way to meet people and get connected.
Halloween Party
We had a killer party on Saturday night before Halloween. We met several of our neighbors that we’ve never seen before and they were great. A graphic designer, a photographer for the Dallas Morning news, a woman who apparently bakes like none other, and a couple that stayed over until 2:30am just hanging out. I went a little over the top (big surprise) by getting a smoke machine, taking down the ceiling fan to put up a disco ball, hiring a DJ, and filling the house with music with a serious sound system. It was great. We had a ton of fun and started to great new relationships.
Halloween Night
The evening was amazing. I had no idea so many people would come by. We put up a 10 foot screen with a sound system and project to turn our front yard into an outdoor movie theater. We handed out over 300 bags of popcorn, 350 cups of water and lemonade to thirsty trick-or-treaters, and probably about 100 pounds of candy. I was so surprised by how many people actually stopped and watch It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown on our front lawn.
Our life
Our life is about seeing the Kingdom of God revealed to everyone around us. So many people are turned off by what they think they know about Christians. We are trying to live our lives here as an example of how Christ walked on the earth. We want to see our relationships grow in every area, we want to learn more about how to love our neighbors, we want to serve our community, and we want our lives to be transformed by our relationship with God. We saw God in so many conversations and relationships over Halloween. Not because we had some kind of theological conversation, but because we expressed love and felt loved by our neighbors and friends.
The life of a disciple of Jesus Christ is beautiful and messy. It is beautiful because we have been set free from all of the junk that entangles our lives…it is messy because we still have so much to learn about how to be all that God has created us to be. I want to do that in the context of community. I want to be with people that are not like me. I want to see God move in all of my relationships.
God is in the process of transforming the world. I see it happening one conversation at a time. My commitment is to keep having those conversations. Transformation happens in me daily… I want my neighbors to know that I love them for who they are. I want them to know me for who I am. As we throw more parties and engage more life on the front porch, we see God at work in everyone around us. I’m so thankful that we serve a God who loves to throw parties when people come home.
Megan and I’s life is about coming home. We are constantly being stretched by God and being reminded of how He called us home and how we’ve been set free. I’m so thankful that we get to be a part of helping others find their way home too.
Blessings, Keith
Keith and I have been in our new house for over two months. I’m amazed at how quickly it’s already feeling like home! We absolutely love the front porch and have worked so hard on making it a place that people want to come and sit and just be! I don’t think we do enough of that in our busy and hectic lives. I know I struggle with slowing down even long enough to write this blog. Keith and I are finding a new way of living life together and with our community. We are becoming more intentional and purposeful with every conversation that we have. It’s changing the way I think and causing me to be more thoughtful on how to engage those around me.
Beer, Wagons, and Birthdays
I have never really stopped to think about new and creative ways to meet my neighbors. I guess I just thought that I would want to be around friends that were similar to me and that I had something in common with. Trying to find similar people to me here in our new neighborhood might be tricky….It’s so diverse and ecclectic! I had a friend tell me a story about how she creatively got to know her neighbors: She got a wheelbarrow full of beer on her birthday and went to the end of the block. She knocked on all her neighbors doors and asked them to sing her happy birthday in exchange for a beer. They then had to join her bday parade and continue down the street knocking on all the neighbors doors. When it was all said and done she had over 20 people partying on her special day!! I’m intrigued by ideas like this and want to be more creative and open to new ways to get connected to those around us.
Kids, Dogs, Movies, and Community
One thing we realized right away here in East Dallas was the number of people walking dogs everyday. Keith said that it would be a key component of how we could reach out to our neighbors. It’s been amazing to see how many people we get to meet just by walking our dogs with intentionality. You’d be amazed at how they open the door just to meet the people around you!
Another thing we want to do is host a movie night on our front lawn! Even if our neighbors don’t come over right away…it will definitely get their attention! So why do we want so desperately to be involved in our community? I feel like no matter who you are or what you believe, being part of something is innate and something that we all desire. We all want to feel loved and cared for and have someone to go to in a time of need. But how do you get to that level of friendship? I think the answer is through time and determination and NO alterior motive…..TIME Is a big one in our rat-race lifestyles…it’s hard to give myself permission to just BE. Our purpose is clear…we want our lives to reflect the way Jesus lived. He spent time with people and loved them. We love people and we hope that we can be like Jesus…radical, fun, powerful, compassionate, giving, merciful, redeeming, creative, healing, and intentional about where He spent His time…
So my challenge to both you and I is how are you engaging those around you and how are you living a purposeful life in your immediate community. Do you know your neighbors? Do you want to know your neighbors? Get creative and bold and start knocking! What can you be doing to serve those in your immediate community. Please share any creative and fun ideas that you have b/c I’m wanting to do them here in my neighborhood too!
Love,
Megan
Keith and I learned many things at the CRM World Wide Conference. We have both been pushed and stretched. For me, I’m gaining a worldwide perspective on how God has given HIS people HIS power to go out in this world and share His goodness and love. At the conference there were people from all over the world.
One night there were over 25 languages spoken during the scripture reading. To hear God’s word spoken in so many languages opened up my eyes. I realized in that moment how narrow my worldwide perspective of how powerful God’s word was in my life. It moved me to tears to know that all these people, over 350, were in a room worshipping a God that they wanted others to know about.
It was so empowering and exciting to talk with others who have that apostolic call on their life to sale everything and become the church for HIS people. The first night there I prayed that the Lord would give me a new boldness and confidence to walk in to this new ministry sharing my heart more willingly. I tend to hold back and let Keith do the talking and preaching, and the Lord is telling me to step up and share because He wants and needs to use me.
My week at the conference was one of empowerment, but it was also one of cleansing and healing. I had a sweet friend pray over me one morning and it brought so much cleansing. I didn’t realize that I was still holding on to some fears:
I realized in that moment that if I trust the Lord, and I know that what I’m doing is HIS call on my life, what do I have to fear? He really is in CONTROL and the details are going to work out for HIS GLORY. So I walked away from this conference free and healed of my baggage. Not all of it of course, but I do have a better understanding of the Lord’s call on my life. His Spirit is in me and because of that, I have been given authority, power, and an anointing to share all that He is teaching me.
John 3:5-8 says: 5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[a] gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[b] must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
This scripture says that EVERYONE in Christ is born of the spirit and His Spirit is like the wind, uncontrollable and unpredictable. I want to move in His spirit and be spontaneous and ready to minister to those around me so I am praying for MORE opportunities, MORE boldness, and MORE willingness to share His love with others, even if I do end up looking like a CRAZY PEELER…it will be for HIS glory!!!
