The Centurion Law Enforcement
FCPO Newsletter and Bible Study
The "thin blue line" covered by the blood of Christ.
Fellow  Sheepdogs  & Supporters:

This week's newsletter comes to you on the two-year anniversary of the death of University of Colorado Springs Officer Garrett Swasey. Accordingly, I'm once again sharing some excepts of his last sermon (Garrett was also an elder/preacher at his church) as the foundation of this week's Bible study/devotional (scroll down to " An Officer's Last Sermon") that has powerful application for ALL of us.  

As you no doubt know by now, this Thanksgiving was a rough one for us in law enforcement (two killed in the line of duty, others injured). That said, we hope most of you had a safe/blessed Thanksgiving (even for those who worked it). Here again then is last week's Thanksgiving newsletter/Bible study if you missed it:  A Cop's Thanksgiving (powerful application not just for LEOs but also for ALL).  Don't forget that I  also re-post these newsletters on our website    and social media (Facebook and Twitter) feeds as well.  

Once again, please take the time to review the new resources prayer requests  and  event announcements  I've included for you below. Also be sure to reach out if you need prayer or counsel -- we're here to serve you.

Let's continue to stay safe on the street while being stay radically bold in Christ  

MC 




RESOURCES

(1) Some have asked for a link to the message I taught at my home church ( Truth Church Calvary) on the armor of God ( Ephesians 6:10-20). The video (I brought modern armor [well, all but the two-handed broadsword] and weapons) will be forthcoming at a later date, but here's the link to the audio: A Christian's Armor and Weapons. My hope is that you'll find solid application for your own Christian walk.

(2) Sgt. Charlie Eipper is a friend and brother-in-Christ.  His book is an excellent resource: Jesus Christ on Killing.


PRAYER REQUESTS

(1) Pray for Aurora (CO) PD Officer James Seneca as he leads Cops Fighting Cancer and prepares for our " Long Blue Line" event (I'll be there) set for December 14th (see below for details).  Much spiritual warfare as you might (and should) expect!

(2) Friends and colleagues Rick and Kristi Neace are quite ill -- let's lift them in prayer.

(3) The Thanksgiving holiday weekend was a rough one for us in law enforcement.  Please be in prayer for the families and colleagues of our brethren who were slain (see the Officer Down Memorial Page) and wounded. 

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) Aurora (CO) PD James Seneca leads Cops Fighting Cancer and will be hosting their annual "Long Blue Line" event at Children's Hospital on December 14th.  Contact him if you/your agency would like to participate, and please consider a donation as well.

(2) In addition to my own Centurion Church Security Seminars (again, contact me for details), here's the updated  Sheepdog Seminars  schedule (outstanding training for cops and sheepdog civilians alike -- especially in the area of church safety/security):  Upcoming Training Calendar . I know the speakers (including Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, Officer Jimmy Meeks and Carl Chinn) -- rock solid and you'll come away blessed!  


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 seminars around the country -- please shoot me an email if I can be of service to your church, agency or organization.  
 
Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers
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), a Centurion affiliate -- meets every 2nd and 4th Thursday at Calvary Aurora (High School Room, 7 PM) for  Bible study, prayer and servant-warrior fellowship. Spouses are both welcome and encouraged to attend with their LEO. Our next "cop church" fellowship is set for December 14th .      

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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"An Officer's Last Sermon"

The life of UCCS Officer Garrett Swasey serves as a template for us all.

Today (11/27/2017) is the two-year anniversary of the evil-filled (dare I suggest demonically influenced) rampage in Colorado Springs, Colorado during which University of Colorado-Colorado Springs PD Officer Garrett Swasey was slain. As I shared then, Garrett was not just a fellow cop, but also a fellow minister. While most law enforcement officers don't share the latter calling (ministry), Garrett's life, and the last sermon he gave at his church before he was killed, are powerful examples for us to follow (talk about a legacy...). 

The day after Garrett's death, Jordan Standridge of The Cripplegate wrote the following that I'm strongly pressed to share with you today:

Garrett Swasey was the officer killed trying to rescue people  at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs. Swasey was shot while saving people at a place he abhorred. He was an elder of a church that believed in the inerrancy of Scripture, and that abortion is evil.

Let that sink in.

A man who hated abortion and hated murder-who gave his life helping others-didn't hesitate about going to Planned Parenthood to save lives.

Garrett Swasey was also a preacher.  In his last sermon , he encourages his congregation to consider Christ and the Gospel. He seems to be a pretty humorous guy, with a low view of himself and a high view of Jesus. But one thing he said in his last sermon stuck out to me. He said he never seemed to be quoted on the things that he'd like, but he always got quoted on the things he said that he didn't like (every preacher probably knows exactly what he means by that).

Well, in honor of his heroic effort and our common love of Christ, I'd like to honor the Lord by quoting things Swasey said in his last sermon. I hope they bless you as they have me.
Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers, therefore we must not be ashamed to call each other brothers in Christ. We are not born brothers, but it is something that happened to us after birth.  We are redeemed by Christ despite our betrayal.
If we were able to be more attentive we would be able to love Christ more and be able to obey him more. 
We are part of a family. Your sin affects me and my sin affects you. Exhortation comes with the territory, it's part of being part of the family of God.
We must accurately consider our fallen state, but it's easy to be self-absorbed. When we are accurately considering our fallen condition we very quickly just become focused on that and forget about Christ and forget about the Gospel. Even in an attempt to be more attentive to it! However, we're not the object of our own faith. Christ is!

One of the challenges is that the idea of Immanuel (God with us) becomes commonplace. I think it's important for us to renew and refresh in our minds how amazing it is that God walked among us.

We were once enemies of God. To truly grasp this, we need to understand man in his natural state is opposed to God. We like to think they are neutral, no they are not neutral, and it's important also to understand that God is opposed to man because of sin. So there's this clash going on between God and man because of sin.

With God we have this mentality we don't want to change. I like my sin! I enjoy my sin! so in the midst of all of that we decide to change God!

People say, "I'm a halfway decent person!" "God's going to let everyone into heaven, because He's so loving and merciful." This really diminishes the idea of what sin is, and how it impacts our relationship with God and how opposed He is to it.

We tend to want to do our own thing - "rugged individualism." But in spiritual matters we are utterly dependent on Christ. We cannot stand before God on our own merits!

Jesus is the cornerstone, we are merely stones being added to it. Jesus is the builder of the house, and He receives more glory than the house. And if we're the house, He gets more glory than we do.

Our objective is not to bring glory to ourselves but to bring glory to God. How? By transforming our lives through the Gospel. Apart from that it can't be done, not in our own strength.

Everything we have comes from the Lord and everything we have should glorify the Lord. And everything we need is provided by God because Christ is sufficient.

Perseverance is not something that we do in order to obtain salvation; it is merely evidence of us being in the house of the Lord. So if you are not in the house of the Lord, you are not persevering. Perseverance is the evidence of us being in the house of the Lord; it is not the means of us being there. If it were, it would be works (He reads  Eph. 2:8-9 ). We aren't saved by perseverance; we are saved by grace!

Today if you hear His voice. If you hear His voice do it today. Not tomorrow, not let me sleep on it; today! Before it is too late! Today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts!
HE ENDED HIS SERMON WITH THESE INCREDIBLE WORDS
Douglas MacArthur says, "History of failure can be summed up in two words: too late." I think it speaks to the illustration I'm about to give, where the devil and his cohorts are devising plans to get people to reject the gospel. So one of them proposes, "Well, let's go to them and let's say there's no God." And silence prevailed over the group because, every devil knew that most people believe in some kind of Supreme Being. 'There are no atheists in foxholes!' Another said, "Let's tell them there's no hell, no future punishment for the wicked." That was turned down too because men obviously have consciences and know that sin has to be punished somehow. And so this gathering was about to end in failure. And there came this voice at the back of the room. "Lets tell them that there is a God, there is a hell, and that the Bible is the Word of God, but tell them there is plenty of time to decide. Let them neglect the gospel until its too late." And all hell erupted in a glee, because they knew if a man procrastinated on Christ they usually never accept Him.

There is much for us to consider today. ... We must consider the object of our consideration. What is it? Let us exhort one another to consider Christ, not as we would imagine Him but as He is written about in the Scriptures. And finally, let us not harden our hearts to the Gospel!

Let's pray: 
Lord, You are tremendously patient with us, and in that patience we can become inattentive, thinking that somehow your grace, patience and mercy is something for us to consider, as a default position where there is not judgment or punishment for sin. Lord, let us view grace as what it truly is: a costly tremendous gift that cost You everything, that we might be in relationship with You. And because of the high price of that gift, that we might make You and the Gospel the forefront of our minds as the most valuable thing we possess, as we sang this morning, "You can have all this world but give me Jesus!" Give us You! So Lord as we sing I ask that our hearts would be attentive towards You, that we would consider You and what You've done, and that we wouldn't just leave it here, but as we go about the day...that this would be the conversation that's on our lips. that this would be what we post on Facebook, that this would be at the forefront of our Bible studies, that we would read attentively recognizing what a precious gift You are! In Jesus name, Amen.
AMEN indeed. Jordan ended his post with these words that I echo again today: "Let's pray for Hope Chapel in Colorado Springs, pray for officer Swasey's beautiful family. And may we all learn from pastor Swasey, to value life knowing it is God who gives it. To be courageous in life, to have our eyes fixed on Heaven and to implore those around us to understand life is short, and that today is the day of salvation!"

Again I say, "Amen!"  TODAY is the day of salvation!  So I ask the same question Garrett did (playing his legacy forward): Do you truly know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?  Or are you one of those Garrett speaks of who believes that they can "earn" their salvation by being a "good" person or even by being a "good" cop. Understand this: Garrett is not in heaven today because of his service in law enforcement, being a preacher, or for being the good man he was.  NO!  Garrett is in heaven today because he repented (see below) of his sin and turned in faith to the ONLY One who could save him (and the only One who can save YOU).  Accordingly, consider the following:  

(1) Jesus' first words in His earthly ministry were: " Repent and believe... " ( Mark 1:15 ). To repent  is a "180" -- a complete, radical change of mind and heart as it relates your sin. To believe  as He intends it here is to  completely and radically surrender to Christ in faith  ("repent" and "believe" in 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). 

(2) The same concept of "believe" is further explained in John 3:1-21 where 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?" Now dig into the following: 

(a) Still think that you can "earn" or "deserve" heaven (or escape hell) by simply being a "good person" (or a "good cop")?  Then take the Good Person Test  and see how you do. Then go to...
(b) Are you really a Christian?   If not (or you're not really sure)... 
(c)  How can I be saved? (Cry out to Him today!)
(d)  Cops and Salvation (a powerful, short message from police Commander Travis Yates of Ten-Four Ministries and Law Officer Magazine ).
(e) Got saved?  Now what?

Finally, for those of us who, like Garrett, have a saving faith in Christ), are YOU sharing it with others as God commands (not a "suggestion) us to or just keeping it to yourself?  My hope is that you will honor Garrett's legacy and life by seeking the Holy Spirit's help in empowering you to step out boldly in faith -- to both live "all in" for God and share the hope we have in Him with others (to do otherwise is like denying backup when it is needed the most). 

Questions? Feel free to  contact me!   


MC


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