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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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Well we're home from our mission outreach during
Police Week 2016 in Washington, DC and Virginia and I'm blessed to report that God did amazing things: the lost were led to repentance and a saving faith in Christ; the hurting were encouraged; the Gospel was shared; seeds were planted. That I came home exhausted is something of an understatement but it was such a blessing to be a part of such a special team and be used by God to come alongside our own. Thanks again for your prayers and support! I posted Brother
Jim Bontrager's excellent recap of our mission in last week's newsletter (in case you missed it):
"Are you Deceived?".
With our Police Week outreach still fresh in mind, the Lord has pressed me to share a study on another passage of Scripture found on the National Law Enforcement Memorial in DC:
"The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are as bold as a lion." (Proverbs 28:1). What does this proverb mean and is it about us as LEOs? Scroll down and find out!
Finally, we're "on" for our next
FCPO-Denver fellowship and Bible study at
Calvary Aurora this Thursday starting at 7 PM in the High School Room. I will of course recap the message for our national and international audience in next week's newsletter -- stay tuned.
Let's stay safe on the street while remaining radically
bold in Christ!
MC
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RESOURCES & MORE
In place of our regular list of resources, this week I'm led to share a short but powerful testimony from fellow police chaplain/law enforcement ministry leader
Jim Bontrager. Just 13 minutes -- you'll be blessed (and please share with others):
FCPO Testimonies -- Jim Bontrager
PRAYER REQUESTS
(1) In an all-too-common story, another LEO has rejected the Lord and left his wife and children for another woman. Please pray for restoration and, if necessary, a breaking in order to get this officer's attention. A big part of what we do in ministry is supporting law enforcement marriages and this is just the latest tragic story (and one that is being wickedly repeated by officers all over the country).
(2) Pray for the
Baltimore Six as their trials continue. Folks, this could be any of us. Praise God, Officer Edward Nero was rightly found "not guilty" yesterday. Five more to go (not including their IA investigations).
(3) Pray that the seeds God planted through us during our FCPO mission outreach in DC and VA during Police Week 2016 will take root.
UPCOMING EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
(1) Fellow LEO/Chaplain Sgt. John Castrodale is leading a new law enforcement fellowship (and pending new FCPO chapter) in the north Denver-Metro area. The
Shield of Faith Law Enforcement Ministry
meets every 1st and 3rd Tuesday at Faith Bible Chapel, Rm. 258 (West Campus),
6250 Wright St., Arvada CO 80004. Contact John at
johnc@shieldoffaith.blue and go to the Shield of Faith website for more.
(2)
Sheepdog Seminars
is coming to a location near you
!
Go to
Sheepdog Safety Seminars
and click on the "
Seminar Schedule
" button. This is great training for cops, military and civilian sheepdogs alike. Moreover, Jimmy Meeks is partnering with us (FCPO) in a number of chapter locations, including here in Colorado this June. See FCPO and Sheepdog Safety Training for more! Our prayer is that we will have many "Divine appointments" to share the Gospel with a captive audience while also building their sheepdog/servant-warrior ethos.
Have a prayer request or announcement you would like included here?
Email me and I'll do what I can to post it!
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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.
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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. Our own FCPO 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!
Our NEXT fellowship MEETING is set for this Thursday, May 26th. Join us!
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LAW ENFORCEMENT BIBLE STUDY
Cops "Bold as Lions"
Proverbs 28:1
The
National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, DC is adorned with a number of Bible passages and trying to shed a solid, biblical exegesis on those has been an ongoing part of our ministry outreach to our own. Accordingly, God has pressed me to share a short study on another of these passages: "
The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are as bold as a lion." (
Proverbs 28:1)
So what and who is this passage about? About us as cops? Let's break it down together:
The first thing we must do is reveal God's defintion of "
the righteous" in this passage. Inasmuch as scripture explains and interprets scripture, let's first look to
Psalm 32:1-2
in which David says, "
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man against whom the Lord does not impute iniquity!
" Then towards the end of the psalm (verses 10-11), David tells us what sort of person this is: those (and ONLY those) whose sins are forgiven and whose transgressions are not counted: "
He who trusts in the Lord, loving kindness shall surround him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous ones and shout for joy all you upright in heart
." (added emphasis mine)
Dictionaries define righteousness as "behavior that is morally justifiable or right." Such behavior is characterized by accepted standards of morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness. In contrast, the Bible's standard of human righteousness is God's own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word.
The bad news is that true and perfect righteousness is not possible for man to attain on his own; the standard is simply too high. The good news is that true righteousness is possible for mankind, but only through the cleansing of sin by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the life of the genuine believer. We have no ability to achieve righteousness in and of ourselves. But Christians possess the righteousness of Christ, because "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). On the cross, Jesus exchanged our sin for His perfect righteousness so that we can one day stand before God and He will see not our sin, but the holy righteousness of the Lord Jesus.
So with this in mind, what then
does the scripture mean when it says that the righteous are as bold as a lion?
The boldness of a believer has nothing to do with physical strength or appearance but everything to do with knowing your spiritual position and authority.
When you give your life to Jesus Christ, your physical appearance will not change much, but your spiritual position will change radically in that you'll go from being uncovered and separated from God, to being covered by the blood of the Lamb and into a wonderful, intimate personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The righteousness that will make you
as bold as a lion has nothing to do with your own good works, though it will produce good works.
The righteous are as bold as a lion because through faith, the Lion of Judah becomes our righteousness.
Allow Jesus to declare you righteous because you've placed your trust in Him! Being found in Christ, we become "
more than conquerors" (
Romans 8:37; 1 John 5:4 -5). "
The righteous in Christ, are as bold as a lion!"
To conclude, this passage on our wall in DC
can be about us who serve in law enforcement but ONLY if we are doing so in a right relationship with God in Christ. Is that you?
A
gain, serving in our God-ordained profession or being a "good person" by the world's standards will not save you or make you the bold servant-warrior of Proverbs 28:1. On the contrary, Jesus says we MUST be
born again
in Him in order to be saved (no "other" way) and then (and only then) can we serve with righteous boldness to that the wicked will flee in terror (Romans 13:4).
Still not convinced (or convicted)? Consider the following irrefutable
evidence
:
(a) Think you're already "good enough" to "deserve" heaven? Take the "
Good Person Test" and see how you do.
(c)
Cops and Salvation (a powerful message from police Commander
Travis Yates of Ten-Four Ministries and
Law Officer Magazine -- and one of the speakers at this year's RISE Christian Police Conference)
More questions? Need prayer? Please
reach out
!
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