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The "thin blue line" covered by the blood of Christ. |
Like many of you, I too put in my time on duty over the long Independence Day weekend. Appropriately, what we celebrated on the 4th of July is front and center in this week's profession-focused Bible study/devotional.
Speaking of these studies, last week's edition elicited some interesting responses from those who would prefer that I be more "positive" in my postings (meaning that I not preach or write about such "negative" things as sin and suffering -- <sigh>). So at the risk of being repetitive, let me be crystal clear: we will continue to teach the Word of God lovingly but
relentlessly (borrowing that word and its context from my own pastor, Sam Park) and without compromise or apology, verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter, as the
Lord leads. If a particular section of Scripture deals with sin (and its consequences) and suffering, we'll teach it accordingly. Likewise, if the text presents a lesson on forgiveness, love and joy, we'll happily present it as such. If on the cross, you can bet we'll teach on that as well (and always with a focus on our God-ordained profession, of course). Moreover, even in between our "cop church" chapter meetings and my recaps of our Bible studies there, I will continue to follow
God's direction for this ministry so long as He entrusts it to me. Please pray for us in this, but also reach out if you have questions or need biblical clarification.
Praying that we all get home safe from our shifts while being radically bold in Christ (a part of which can include
sharing these newsletters/Bible studies with others
). God bless!
MC
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SUICIDE PREVENTION AND PTSD RESOURCES
PRAYER REQUESTS
(1) A Christian cop's son (Noah Scott) has lost his fight against Leukemia but, because he knew Christ as Lord and Savior, he has gained complete healing in heaven. That said, his parents and family are now dealing with a kind of grief-based pain that only those who have endured the loss of a child can possibly fully comprehend Please pray! Team Noah.
(2) With his permission, I'm asking that we be in prayer for fellow cop (now retired), author and former FCPO board member, Mike Dye. On July 5th, Mike underwent robotic heart surgery to correct an inherited condition. Please continue to lift Mike in prayer for a successful surgery and recovery.
(3) Pastor and fellow police chaplain Jack Crans has been a huge blessing in my life and that of a great many others. On July 7th, Jack will undergo a second surgery stemming from his recent heart attack. All of us who love Jack covet your prayers for this brother.
(4) Pray for a LEO and his wife in Kansas who are going through a very difficult time in their marriage (yes, sin is at the heart of the issue). Pray for law enforcement marriages in general.
(5) Continue to pray for wounded Wichita (KS) Officer
Brian Arterburn as he rehabs here at Craig Hospital. Brian is having a rough time of it of late and needs continued prayer. Pray also for his wife (also a Wichita officer)
Claudale (wisdom, energy) as she is here with him.
(6) Pray for retired Michigan officer
Larry Napp (FCPO Chapter #207) who is dealing with some serious medical issues.
Have a prayer request or announcement you would like included here? Need prayer?
Email me
! I also post prayer requests on my Facebook page ("friend" me).
UPCOMING EVENTS
(1) The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry (FCPO-Aurora) will be participating in the Calvary Aurora First Responder Appreciation Day event on Thursday, July 20th. If you're a first responder (police, fire, etc.) and close to the Aurora metro area, please join us at Calvary Aurora between 1100-1300 (day shift) and 1500-1700 (days/swings) for free burgers, hot dogs, chips and beverages!
(2) As you know, writing and teaching on leadership (and SERVANT-leadership in particular) in law enforcement is a big part of what I do both in ministry and "on the job." Accordingly, I give strong support to Law Officer editor, friend, and fellow cop/law enforcement instructor, Travis Yates' latest seminar,
Courageous Leadership
.
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The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry
The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry
is a FCPO-affiliated, evangelical Christian outreach to our own in law enforcement. These newsletters and Bible studies are part of this effort and past editions can be found on our
website
and on social media
(
Facebook
and
Twitter
)
pages. Feel free to adapt these messages for your own individual or group use and please share them with others.
In addition, I regularly speak at churches, retreats and both law enforcement and civilian conferences and events around the country -- please shoot me an email if I can be of service to your church, agency or organization.
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Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers
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FCPO-USA exists to provide biblical support ("backup"), accountability and iron sharpens iron fellowship to Christian officers first in the U.S. and throughout the world as well. My metro Denver chapter -- FCPO #217/-((FCPO-Aurora), typically meets every 2nd and 4th Thursday at Calvary Aurora (High School Room, 7 PM) for "cop church" Bible study, prayer and servant-warrior fellowship
. Spouses are both welcome and encouraged to attend with their LEO! Our next meeting is set for next Thursday, July 13th.
Information on the other
FCPO chapters
meeting around the country (including the new chapter here in Arvada, CO) can be found on the
Chapter Locator
pages on the
FCPO-USA
website.
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God, Country and Independence Day
A biblical view of patriotism and Independence Day
As we celebrate the Independence Day holiday (I dislike calling it just a date - the "4th of July"), let us remember that the United States of America was built on a foundation of biblical principles and prayer to the God (the only God) and author of the Bible. Reference the latter (prayer), the Continental Congress, through whom God inspired to give us the Declaration of Independence in 1776, met for the first time on September 7, 1774. Their first legislative action was a motion to open with a prayer led by Pastor Jacob Duche', who opened his Bible to Psalm 35 and read (in part),
"
Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt
." (Psalm 35:1-4)
John Adams, who would go on to become our second President, wrote that the reading of the passage electrified our Founding Fathers: "I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning." Adams further noted that Duche' unexpectedly (I would say, "Holy Spirit-inspired") launched into a spontaneous and unscripted prayer that began, "Be Thou present, O God of Wisdom, and direct the counsel of this Honorable Assembly; enable them to settle all things on the best and surest foundation; that the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that Order, Harmony, and Peace may be effectually restored, and that Truth and Justice, Religion and Piety, prevail and flourish among the people. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and Our Saviour, Amen."
I have for many years contended that our nation is a miracle of God -- that there has never been a country given so much favor in the known history of the world. Yet sadly and even wickedly, we have turned away from both God and our biblical roots to the point that Isaiah 5:20 has never been more clear: "
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter
!"
"Woe" indeed! So with this in mind, and with the understanding that for me the word "patriot" is a way of life for me (including the fact that the Stars and Stripes fly 24/7 -- lighted at night, of course -- at the Williams house), it is important in this forum to add a biblical context to Independence Day and what it means for us who have been genuinely born again in Christ (to wit, "Christians").
Folks, if we are in fact Christians as God defines it, then we are ultimately citizens of Heaven first and foremost (and thus legal "aliens" here).
Now don't misunderstand me: we should and in fact MUST pray for the United States and, for those of us who are American citizens, defend it in accordance with
Romans 13:1-4
. Moreover, there is nothing wrong with our national pride and patriotism so long as it does not "trump" (now don't get all a "twitter" on me) the believer's allegiance to God.
John Piper, speaking on this subject, makes some valid points ("valid" meaning biblical) that are very much worth considering:
When we are born again, we are united to Christ, our King, and we are delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God so that now it can be said with glorious and profound reality, "...
our citizenship is in heaven" (
Philippians 3:20
).
Therefore, wherever we live on earth, whatever country, whatever tribe, whatever family or clan, we are pilgrims, sojourners, refugees, exiles in all of those. Our first identity is with the King of the universe, not any country or nationality or political party or governmental regime.
America is emphatically
not
our primary home or primary identity. That should be spoken. It should be felt and it should be precious. We should never be ashamed of identifying, first and foremost, as citizens of the kingdom of Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus Christ, therefore, is our absolute Lord. We swear absolute allegiance to him and to no one and nothing else. All other commitments are relativized. To be sure, citizens should submit to the laws of their government. Employees should submit to the rules of the employer. Wives should submit to husbands. Children should submit to parents.
But none of these commitments of submission is absolute. All of those authorities are subordinate and secondary to the authority of Christ and, therefore, all submission is qualified. Written over every commitment for the Christian is: unless Jesus commands otherwise.
Therefore, there is no unqualified allegiance to any political party, any nationality, any ethnicity, any tribal identity, or any branch of the armed service. It is all qualified. It is all secondary. It is all relative to the will of Christ. We should not say anything or do anything that looks as if that were not true.
Whenever Christians pay tribute to earthly blessings like American freedoms, which are wonderful, and the sacrifices made to have them and the people who made those sacrifices, the emphasis should be on humble thankfulness to God who is great and in his great mercy has given us what we don't deserve.
When he gave them, we didn't deserve them. We don't deserve them at this moment that we are enjoying them and, therefore, words and songs should have no triumphalist or assertive tone, especially not for any military expression, but, rather, should have a feel of humility and lowliness and dependence and thankfulness along with a suitable call to repentance and need for ongoing mercy."
With John's comments also comes this that I've oft-repeated: I love my "adopted" country, and my greatest American heroes are my military and law enforcement brethren (especially those who have paid the ultimate price to give us the freedom we celebrated on Independence Day -- the birth of the United States and the price paid in blood for the freedoms we enjoy), but the biblical context is that our worldly "heroism" and service does not grant us "citizenship" in heaven. We can't earn it or otherwise "badge" our way in. Rather, our salvation and therefore our eternal "citizenship" in heaven is based solely on what Christ did for us on the cross and whether or not we have placed your trust in Him as Lord and Savior (see "
Is salvation by faith alone or by works?").
Clearly, true freedom is ultimately found only in Christ!
So do you have that? Are you a citizen of heaven with Christ as your one true King? As we celebrate our adopted nation's birthday and the freedom we enjoy, it is again with a Code 3 (lights and siren) sense of urgency that, if your answer is "no" or "I'm not sure" (you get the gist), I plead with you to repent of your sin and cry out to God for your salvation today.
Understand that there are no "second chances" if you die in your sin (unsaved), and God alone knows when your time to "repent and believe" (Mark 1:15) -- to be born again in Christ (John 3:1-21) -- will have passed for eternity. See the following and secure your citizenship today!
(1) Jesus' first words in His earthly ministry were: "
Repent and believe in the Good News
" (
Mark 1:15
). To
repent
is a "180" -- a complete, radical change of mind and heart as it relates our sin. To
believe
as God intends it to
completely and radically surrender to Him in
faith
("believe" and "faith" have the same Greek root meaning) in the same way you have faith that your body armor will stop the rounds it is designed to stop or that a skydiver's parachute will open (we stake our lives on it)! The "Good News" of course is the Gospel of Christ. Moreover, the words repent and believe are literally two sides of the same coin in meaning and intent (see the "Are you really a Christian" link below for more). For more on this, Pastor Ed Taylor's message on repentance is excellent: What is Repentance?
(2) In
John 3:1-21, Jesus says, "...
you must be born again." Note our Lord's emphasis on
must (not "may" or "should"): this is the
life-saving/life-changing personal relationship (not "religion") with Christ that I stress so often. See
What does it mean to be a born again Christian.
Then see:
(a) Take the
Good Person Test
and see how you do (as shown in this study, you can't ever be "good" enough without Christ). Then go to...
On this
Independence Day (4th of July), my prayer is that if you know Christ as Lord and Savior, you will radically live and share the
FREEDOM we have in Him with others, and if you don't know Him, today will be the day you are truly set free. Have a safe holiday!
Need prayer or more info? Feel free to
contact me
!
MC
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