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An outreach of the Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry and the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers
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DENVER-AREA News, Announcements & FCPO Chapter Meeting Info
The Colorado-Area law enforcement Ministry meeting schedules
and related events are posted on our website (left side/scroll down) and are updated regularly.
The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry (FCPO-Denver) usually meets twice a month at
Calvary Aurora (2nd and 4th Thursdays) starting at 7 PM. We also meet at our home in Highlands Ranch for monthly special events (usually the 1st Thursday of the month). This week's meeting is set for Thursday, March 27th in the big Agape Room (downstairs just past the bookstore). .
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Contact Info:
EMAIL
Phone:
(720) 371-1022
Want to help?
Tax-deductible donations (checks should be make-out to
TCLEM or
FCPO-Denver) to support this vital outreach can be mailed to my attention at:
The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry
P.O. Box 630854
Littleton, CO 80163
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Well brothers and sisters, sometimes "the plan" does not come together in our own timing or in the way we thought it would. Case in point, my planned surgery set for tomorrow has been postponed to a yet TBD date. Thanks for your prayers which I continue to covet as I deal with a good deal of physical pain (I'm gimpy but functional). That said, the issue of pain -- both physical and emotional -- is the subject of this week's Bible study. Have you been dealing with pain of some kind (trauma, grief, loss, PTSD, etc.)? If not, "life" and simply living in the shadow of original sin means that dealing with "pain" in one form or another is a certainty. Accordingly, scroll down to learn how God would have you view this issue (and for our local folks, this will be the subject of our discussion this Thursday at Calvary Aurora starting at 7 in the big Agape room).
Secondly, don't forget to check out the following prayer requests and announcements (and then PASS-ON this newsletter/Bible study to others on your email lists).
Stay safe on the street but bold in Christ!
MC
Michael "MC" Williams
Police Lieutenant, Investigator and Chaplain
Prayer Requests
(1) One of the things we do as a ministry is to come alongside wounded officers from all over the world who come here to Craig Hospital to rehab from LOD injuries. Two of those officers will be headed home this week but they desperately need our continued prayer: Federal Officer Mike Solano and Corrales (NM) PD Officer Jeremy Romero.
(2) While we lose 150 or more officers a year in the LOD, we are also averaging at least one suicide each day along with more than 50,000 injuries a year (many career-ending). I have posted suicide prevention/intervention resources on our website and of course we need to be on our knees in prayer for those serving in our God-ordained but hurting and lost profession. Let's have a Code-3 sense of urgency in sharing Christ with our own!
Announcements
(1) The next Sheepdog Church Safety Seminar with Officer Jimmy Meeks, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, Carl Chinn, Greg Love and others is set for this week ( March 28-29) in Weatherford, Texas. See Sheepdog Church Safety Seminars for registration info and much more.
(2) 13th Annual FCPO Memorial Golf Classic, April 4, 2014 in Chattanooga, TN. Click on FCPO Golf for more. .
(4) Breaching the Barricade Conference & National Peace Officer Appreciation Day, October 3-4, 2014, Elkhart, IN. Contact Jim Bontrager at [email protected] for more info.
(5) The 2014 Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers - USA National Conference will be held October 17-19 in Chattanooga, TN. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details on the FCPO website.
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This Week's Resources
(1) Outstanding Bible teaching and worship music, 24-7, worldwide on your laptop, PC, or smart phone (and of course here all along the Front Range on your FM radio dial): GraceFM. Saturate yourself in the Word.
(2) Going through tough times? Tragedy? Go to
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Law Enforcement
Bible Study/Devotional
A Cop's Pain
Serving in law enforcement (and life in general, for that matter) means dealing with PAIN: the pain of losing a brother servant-warrior or a loved one, the hurting folks we deal with daily, families torn apart through divorce, the physical and emotional pain that is endemic in our God-ordained profession, etc. If we are in fact God's "ministers for good and a terror against evil" (the paraphrase of Romans 13:1-4 that adorns our ministry t-shirts and other gear), why does He allow us to suffer? Christian or not, it's a question that comes up repeatedly during times of pain, grief and tragedy. In times of distress and trauma, does our suffering matter to God? Does He he care that we are in pain?
It has been said that suffering is a mystery that we will never fully understand this side of eternity. However, God provides us with a wealth of truth and comfort through His wholly inerrant and sufficient word, the Bible:
(1) Our pain can bring us into a higher level of intimacy with God (Job 42:5). Job, while in the midst of unspeakable suffering, said, "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." It has been said that intimacy with God is often borne in the "furnace of affliction." In fact, it is often in times of suffering that we will experience God in a the most profound of ways.
(2) God will use our pain and suffering to train and equip us to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). Our pain will give us a higher level of compassion and empathy for others who are hurting and enables us to minister (the Greek translation of minister" in our core passage is literally "servant") more effectively. Moreover, the phrase "misery loves company" is a truism inasmuch as those who are suffering want to be ministered (served) by others who have/are suffering as well. Those who are dealing with pain are generally the most effective comforters.
(3) Pain refines us. God tells us in Isaiah 48:10 that "...I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." The meaning of this verse makes it clear that pain and suffering have a way of bringing our strengths and weaknesses to the surface. When the dross (impurities) comes to the surface in God's refining process, He will skim it off in order to purify and transform us to be the true servant-leaders He has called us to be.
(4) Pain and suffering produces growth and maturity ( James 1:2-4). When we turn toward God in our pain, He can use our suffering to mature our faith.
(5) God can use our pain to conform us into His image (Romans 8:28-29). We may be tempted to limit these verses to say that God will bring good out of everything. While He can and does redeem pain in our lives, this passage also speaks of being conformed to God's image through our pain and suffering. By way of but one example, God used the horrendous pain and suffering of a line of duty accident to transform Colorado State Patrol Trooper Scott Hinshaw to accomplish tremendous things for His Kingdom (including but by no means limited to Scotty's salvation and ultimately that of the young man who injured Scott and took the life of a fellow trooper: Scott forgave the offender and led him to Christ)! Beyond that, Scott's ongoing, "God-powered" accomplishments in the midst of his pain (he has had to suffer through numerous surgeries) are an incredible testimony through which many others have come to salvation or have been otherwise transformed and enriched.
Finally, remember that Jesus understands our pain because He suffered unspeakable pain and suffering on our behalf (I encourage everyone to see The Passion of the Christ this coming Easter season). In Psalm 22:1 we read the same words that Christ uttered in His agony on the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?" It is through our Savior's pain that we have the hope and promise of an eternal, pain-free future with Him in Heaven (see "What is Salvation" and the links under "KNOW GOD (AKA TRUE "OFFICER SAFETY")?" on the left side of our website).
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness [pain]" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
MC
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National News, Prayer Requests, Denver-Area Meeting Schedules & Announcements...
...are posted and updated regularly on our website. A link to this newsletter/devotional will also be re-posted on both our website and Facebook pages (don't forget to "LIKE" and share with us there). Check back frequently and please let me know if you have a news item, prayer request or message that you would like for me to consider for this newsletter or our website.
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As always, feel free to CONTACT me if you need prayer, counsel, etc. Finally, don't forget to pass-on these newsletters to others on your contact lists (as stated before, just forwarding this to others is a great way to share Christ in accordance with The Great Commission).
Stay safe on the street but radically bold in Christ!
MC
Police Lieutenant & Chaplain M.C. Williams
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