Do You Know? Dr. Mark Peters

Photos by Kelly Sue Photography

After talking with Dr. Mark Peters for just a few minutes, it becomes obvious he is a man of deep convictions. Self-described as a scumbag/sinner/dentist/believer, Mark is passionate about his work, more passionate about people, and even more on fire for the Lord. His zeal is both convicting and contagious.

Mark, along with his wife Keyea and their two children, have been longtime residents of Conroe, where he has also maintained a private dental practice since 1982. Mark sees—and helps—many people who come through his dental practice. And while he isn’t pushy, he does look for opportunities to share his faith. “I love people,” Mark says. “I have a passion for people, and I see a lot of people hurting. I think the Lord has me in the perfect profession. We are all ministers in one form or fashion! I’ve actually had people come to, and receive Christ in my office.”

Through his faith journey, Mark has also been called to become a Christian author and now has two books published: Which Way Is Up? (From Amongst All This Chaos!) and Christian Family Meltdown! Are All Men Idiots? A third book is currently in the works.

Tell me about your history as a Christian.

I came to Christ as an adult; it was at a Dallas Holm concert when I was 28 years old. Before that, I would have said that I was Christian, but I didn’t know His word well enough to really know what I believed about our Savior. That’s what got me started on Bible study. Since then, I’ve been active in Bible Study Fellowship for 26 years, but I spend private time in prayer and personal Bible study every single day. Keyea and I attend West Conroe Baptist, where I teach a “couple’s” Bible class.

Did you always want to become a writer? How did you come to write your first book, Which Way Is Up? (From Amongst All This Chaos!)

I knew I wanted to be a dentist since the eighth grade, but I never thought of myself as a writer. It was never something I thought of myself doing.

Excerpt from “Which Way Is Up?”…

The way this book came about was interesting, to say the least. I truly believe the Lord put it on my heart to write this as He woke me up from a nap on a flight to Chicago and told me to write down the title…Once I had written it down, the next thing I “heard” from Him was: THIS IS THE TITLE – NOW WRITE THE BOOK!

If you had told me twenty years ago that I was going to write a book, I would have told you that you were crazy! Especially a book on each of our walks of faith!

I am far from perfect; I’m a knucklehead sinner. It never ceases to amaze me how sometimes God helps me to feel that maybe He’s accomplishing something through me, and then how quickly I can revert to my sinful ways.  I feel like these books were written in spite of me—I had no want to when it came to being a writer. I truly feel the Lord did this through using even a sinner like me to enable me to see that He has a job and purpose for every one of us who believe in Him.

Who was your intended audience for your first book?

I think this book can reach a broad spectrum of people. Those that are very strong in their faith, they will read the book and get a refresher. Those Christians with a lukewarm faith, I think it will help them to examine their life and examine their relationship with Jesus Christ. I hope that the book will help each and every one that reads it to draw closer to Jesus. I have had non-believers actually come to faith in Christ through reading the first book as well.

As a Christian, why should I read these books?

You know as well as I do that there are a lot of people in church that are lost. Satan is so deceitful, he does not put up a sign and say, ‘This road leads to hell.’ He puts up a sign that says, ‘This way leads to Heaven.’ I’ve heard so many people make the comment that they are going to be in heaven because after all, “I’m a good person!” If that is what they truly believe, then they have bought into one of Satan’s biggest lies! None of us will earn our way into heaven!

These books will challenge you and convict you to spend time each day focused on reading the Bible and spending time in prayer. If you do this, the Holy Spirit—not the books—will transform you. He is there for all of us. These books are for people who want a closer walk with Christ.

A big focus in your book is quiet time with God; how important is that?

We spend so much extraneous time doing literally meaningless stuff, seeking happiness in all the wrong places, while the true joy and happiness that comes from being in relationship with our Savior is right before our noses.  What happens is, there are missed opportunities to help people spend eternity in Heaven rather than spend eternity in hell right before our eyes each and every day.

From reading the Bible to spending time in prayer, as Christians, we should be immersed in Christ; and seeking Him continually throughout life. Sanctification is a process, holiness is a destination.

Your second book, Christian Family Meltdown, Are All Men Idiots? Tell me about that title.

Excerpt from “Christian Family MELTDOWN!”…

On our way home from dinner with the kids one night, I was stopped at a traffic light…and just busted out laughing. Keyea asked, “What’s so funny?”

I said, “Look at that bumper sticker on the car in front of us.” She took a look, broke out into a laugh, and said,”I want one of those! Where can I get one?”

I’ll let you in on the joke. The bumper sticker said: “All Men Are Idiots – And I Married Their King!”

So, are all men idiots? Well, that seems to be how men are portrayed on commercials, sitcoms, and in the media in general. The more I thought about it—there was a message on that bumper sticker—and a prevalent one. Our society, culture, and environment have, in many ways, enabled and pressed men into the dubious role of abdicating their responsibility of being the spiritual leaders of their families.

Who did you have in mind as your audience when writing this book?

The book focuses mainly on men and their role in a family, but it is for women as well. I hear such heartache from families—grandparents raising grandkids, kids in blended and single-parent families, kids having kids, and the like. The whole concept of family has gotten more and more complex in this crazy and sinful world we live in! What this book is about is the breakdown of the family and how the family unit is broken. It speaks to how so many of us claim our faith in Christ, but yet so few… well, we talk the talk, but we don’t walk the walk of a true faith in Jesus Christ – and I’m at the head of the line! This book is very convicting and will help you to evaluate if you’re spending time in relationship with our Savior, and how this can impact your family. Praying with focus—not in our car or while we exercise, but on our knees focusing on nothing but our prayer and relationship with our Savior—that is what these books are about.

B U S Y, can be used as an acronym–Being Under Satan’s Yoke. Everyone is so busy that we have not made time to spend in relationship with our Savior or even spend time in His Word. People just don’t make that time, so it’s difficult to grow our walk of faith.

In both your books, you make the point that busyness is a problem in a Christian’s world. How do you handle that in your own life?

Jesus Christ came as a humble servant. He stooped down to serve us—the God of the universe came to humble himself, even to death on a cross, as Philippians 2 tells us, and we don’t have the time to spend 15 minutes with Him? Give me a break. I started spending 10 minutes each morning by setting my alarm 10 minutes earlier, and He gave me the discipline to stick with it, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, these past 31 years. The Lord has helped that time to grow each morning as well. Jesus brought humility back to our pride-filled world. Satan is the one who brought the pride in, because he wanted to be like God. There is a time in preparation, then there is a time of fulfillment. We spend no time in preparation; some of us are running around doing a lot of busy work for our church, but we don’t see the real impact of Him using us to further His kingdom by helping others to come to faith in Christ.

Your 3rd BOOK, If You Die Today! Where Will You Be Tomorrow? is currently being written. What is it about?

It talks about how people who are not Christians do not fear the consequences of their sin. Where is everyone going to spend eternity? That is what is really important! If you think about it, all of us are eternal beings, and we are all going to spend eternity in one of two places. We could actually be the instruments the Lord uses to help others around us to spend that eternity in heaven!

Of these three books, the first book is about the individual in the fallen and sinful world we live in, the second book addresses the family unit and the legacy we each leave, but this third book…it brings it right down to just the individual and their personal relationship with our Lord.

As well, please know that I have three prayers for you who are reading these books, and I pray these pretty much every day:

• That you would be drawn into a relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior or to a closer relationship with Him – because that is the most important decision for all of us.
• That you would be drawn into His Holy Word . . . the Bible – because so many Christians don’t spend any time in it.
• That through these first two and prayer – you would be filled with the Holy Spirit and enabled more readily to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with those that He sends across your path.

Do you know what motivates me? When it is all said and done, I just want to hear those words, “Well done good and faithful servant.” That’s what I long to hear from my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Get more information about Dr. Mark Peters’ practice and books at www.markpetersdds.com