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| FCPO Newsletter and Bible Study |
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The
"thin blue line
" covered by the
blood of Christ.
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With the understanding that many of us will be working over the Thanksgiving holiday, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank YOU for all you do
on the street, on the home front and in support of this ministry. Your lives matter to Diana and I! Get home safe to your loved ones.
Secondly, let's be proactive in praying for and coming alongside those families who will spend Thanksgiving without their loved ones this year. There are no words that can cover it, "but God."
Finally, just a quick heads up for my Colorado Front Range locals and visitors: Inasmuch as the 2nd Thursday of November (
11/24) falls on Thanksgiving, we will
NOT be meeting
this Thursday
unless you're one of those celebrating Thanksgiving with us (if you're on you're not on duty and not with family -- reach out and we'll find you a place at our table).
Don't forget that we're at war: let's stay safe on the street while being radically on fire for Christ.
MC
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RESOURCES
(1) FCPO Nat. Board member and Chattanooga (TN) Police Officer Jonathan Parker (
Covered Law Enforcement and
Cop Church Chattanooga) is seeking input from Christian officers in order to put together additional resources for LEOs and their families. Take a few minutes to complete and submit the
2016 Law Enforcement Family Survey.
(3) Also speaking of Law Officer, they are sponsoring a new line of supplements produced with cops in mind (with integrity -- what they say is in them is in them): Consider the
Blu Armor Safety Stack.
PRAYER REQUESTS
(1) We seek your prayers for Pastor Sam Park and team (including Diana and I) as we help plant a new church (TRUTH CHURCH Calvary) near our home here in Colorado. Please pray for The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry as well -- God is on the move!
(2) Many of us (too many) have lost loved ones, friends and family in the line of duty. That said, I'm requesting prayer for the widow and son of slain Sandoval County Sgt.
Robert Baron who was killed on
December 6, 2013. His family is close to my heart and they are hurting.
(3) Retired officer and partner in ministry
Emery Esse writes, "
Please add my sister Zena Hudson to your prayer chains. She was diagnosed today with only 30% of her lungs working. The doctor said, he hasn't seen this before going from 43 to 30% within a couple of months. She is on oxygen.
Please Pray for salvation first, and pray for God's healing hand on her please. For God's glory! Thank you for your prayers. God bless!
(4) The fallout from bad supervisors and a lack of servant-leadership is all-too-common. An officer, who will remain anonymous, is dealing with a horrendous one. Here are the tidbits: long-term battle with his boss; ostensibly unproven admin charges, kids and a sick wife at home... You get the drift. Let's pray both for this officer and his boss. Praise God, he does have some FOP protection. He writes, "I know God makes all things work together for our good, but I'm tired." Let's pray for this situation!
(5) Sgt. Kevin Bernard in Philly writes, "So I thought I was having a bad day today until I got a call from the daughter of one of my all time Police Heroes Chief inspector Joe O'Connor! The Chief was that toughest and most fearless man I've ever meet! He still is you see he has stage four prostate cancer and was put on hospice today! But is refusing to take pain killers! He has to be the only person I know bad enough to do that! I could not help but cry no one ever showed me the respect this man has on this job! PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM!!" Yes, I've asked Kevin to be sure he shares Christ with Joe.
(6) As I write this, our Chattanooga PD, fire, EMS and Dispatch personnel have been dealing with a horrific bus crash with many dead and injured. Please pray for families who will be dealing with unspeakable loss over the holiday and for the first responders (esp. the accident investigation team) dealing with the aftermath.
(7) Again, please pray for the families and colleagues of our brethren who have recently been slain in the LOD. Our losses continue at a horrific rate (subscribing to the ODMP email announcements is a good way to keep track and pray). What I do know is we're up at least 70% over last year in terms of felonious deaths! With that, remember that our prayers MUST come with a "Code 3" sense of urgency to obey God's command for us to share the hope we have in Christ with both our own and others in general (see this week's message below for more on this).
UPCOMING EVENTS
We're hoping to bring a Sheepdog Seminar to Colorado next year. Regardless, highly recommended! See the
Sheepdog Seminars Facebook page for the "411" on the upcoming seminars around the country.
Have a prayer request or announcement you would like included here?
Email me
and I'll do what I can to post it! I also post prayer requests on my Facebook page ("friend" me).
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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 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 chapter -- FCPO #217 - Denver--- generally meets every 2nd and 4th Thursday at Calvary Aurora (High School Room, 7 PM) for "cop church" Bible study, prayer and iron sharpens iron fellowship
. Spouses are both welcome and encouraged to attend with their LEO! With Thanksgiving falling on what would have otherwise been our next regular meeting in November (and therefore cancelled), our next meeting is now set for Thursday, December 8th.
Information on the other FCPO chapters meeting around the country can be found on the Chapter Locator pages on the FCPO-USA website.
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A Cop's Thanksgiving
Given the current "War on Cops" along with the ever-present a lack of servant-leadership and support both within and without our God-ordained profession (not to mention all the storms, trials, tribulations and other "last days" issues we're dealing with), many may rightly ask what we have to be thank for. Glad you asked!
In 1621, the Pilgrims celebrating the first Thanksgiving in the new world asked that same question: they lost over half their number in their first winter to disease and starvation. Yet in spite of all, they still turned to God to give thanks to Him for His many blessings. In short, they had a
heavenly mindset
instead of an earthly one. Those believers had come to a new land where they could read their Bibles, pray, worship, and raise their families in freedom -- a foundation we still celebrate nearly 400 years later.
Unlike a recent presidential
Thanksgiving Proclamation where the current POTUS completely left out God
, the Pilgrims directed their Thanksgiving to the ONLY One who can give us lasting blessings and eternal freedom. In keeping with this theme, I am again incorporating the following three points from one of Chaplain Dave Purdle's Thanksgiving messages into this one in order to help us see how we should be thankful this Thanksgiving:
(1) Our thanksgiving should be constant and for everything:
I Thessalonians 5:18 says,"
In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Thanks in prosperity, in adversity (
Habakkuk 3:17-18 -- "
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.") and in times of doubt (
Isaiah 30:21 -- "
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left").
(2) Our thanksgiving must be discerning (
Philippians 3:14 --
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called
me heavenward in Christ Jesus.)
Beyond this, consider the lessons of Psalm 9:1-2. We are given amazing promises -- gifts if you will -- when we place our trust in Jesus. Recalling these promises and blessings is a good way to maintain a thankful heart, even when facing challenges in other areas. Take note of the following for which we should be giving thanks:
(a)
Christ's incredible gift of salvation: No matter what trial we're facing, it is microscopic next to the enormity of our Lord's sacrifice on our behalf.
The cross was a huge price to pay, but the Savior willingly took our place there in order to offer us true freedom, forgiveness and eternal life.
(b) Assurance of God's love: The Lord loves and cares for us unconditionally in keeping with His very character (1 John 4:16). While the storms of life can cause us to question this, God gave us Romans 8:31-39 to assure us that nothing can separate us from His love.
(c)
Answered prayer
: If we are
born again
in Christ (
Are you?
) we have the awesome freedom and privilege of being able to talk (pray) directly to the Father about anything burdening us. God never grows tired of listening to His children and He is able to help and direct us in any situation and in the best possible way.
(d)
A personalized plan: The Lord has a perfect plan and purpose for our lives that He will accomplish if we will but trust, obey and follow Him. While no one is exempt from adversity, we can trust God to bring good from everything He permits to come our way.
Hardships, temptations, and tests will touch us all, but the Lord allows difficulty for a reason (even when we don't understand why --
Romans 8:28). Let us therefore submit ourselves to the Father,
thank Him for His wisdom, and be confident that He will accomplish His purposes in and through us.
Finally, we who serve/have served in our unique, God-ordained profession (
Romans 13:1-4) have something even more we can be thankful for -- the unique privilege of serving and protecting others so that they can enjoy in safety and freedom the abundance of blessings our Lord has given us. Let's stay the course and shout our thanks to Him for all He has done for us! Whether on duty or off on Thursday, ours in indeed
A Cop's Thanksgiving with so much to be thankful for even in a time of war.
So where are you today? With our brethren being slaughtered all over the country as I write this, it is with a
Code 3 (lights and siren) sense of urgency that I again ask the following: Where would YOU spend eternity if your "number" was called today? Are you sure? Why?
Consider the following:
More questions? Need prayer? Please
reach out
!
Have a blessed and safe Than
ksgiving!
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