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| FCPO Newsletter and Bible Study |
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The "thin blue line" covered by the blood of Christ. |
With so much going on during the Christmas season (sorry, I don't say "happy holidays"), I am going to be especially brief but will do so with some strong encouragement to take in the special Christmas Bible study and devotional I've written for this most special of holidays: scroll down to "
A Cop's Christmas" (and so important that we understand that "Christmas" does not end after December 25th but is rather meant to be a life-long/life-changing event).
As always, take a couple of minutes to review the 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.
Whether or not you were on duty over Christmas and/or will be serving during the upcoming New Year's Eve crime fest, be safe out there and get home to your families. Diana and I wish you and yours a most joyous CHRISTmas season and a blessed New Year!
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RESOURCES
(2) Got questions about Christmas? Seeking to have a wholly biblical resource library (everything Christmas) for this season? Check out
Questions About Christmas from our friends at
God Questions Ministries.
PRAYER REQUESTS
(1) Again, let's be in prayer for those law enforcement families who spent Christmas without their loved ones due to a line of duty death (LODD) or suicide. Speaking of, pray for the family and colleagues of California Highway Patrol Officer
Andrew Camilleri who was killed in the LOD on Christmas Eve.
(2) The New Years "drunk fest" (and here in Colorado -- stoned fest <sigh>) is upon us. Pray for those of us who will be working over the New Years holiday weekend (myself included).
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).
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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 (including teaching our well-received Centurion Church Security Seminar), retreats (including marriage retreats with my bride Diana) 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.
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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 metro Denver chapter -- FCPO #217((FCPO-Aurora), a Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry affiliate -- meets most 2nd and 4th Thursdays at Calvary Aurora (High School Room at the top of the stairs) starting at 7 PM for
Bible study, prayer and servant-warrior (as in "iron sharpens iron") fellowship. Spouses are both welcome and encouraged to attend with their LEO.
With the Christmas and New Year holidays in mind (everyone being pretty much overwhelmed), we will not be meeting for our regular fellowship on December 28th. Our next regular "cop church" meeting is therefore set for Thursday, January 11th.
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 Christmas"
Christmas is ultimately a police style "call for service" that begins at the manger and ends at the cross.
The focus for Christians each year is typically on the "babe in the manger" as described in the second chapter of Luke and and the first and second chapters of Matthew.
Yet Christmas, to have true meaning, cannot be separated from the
cross
. The angel said at the birth of Jesus, "
He will save His people from their sins
" (
Matthew 1:21
). Jesus Himself -- speaking just before His death on the cross -- said, "
For this cause was I born
" (
John 18:37
). He was the only person in history who was born with the specific purpose of dying for others (a God-dispatched "call for service" in fulfillment of some 300 Old Testament prophesies that, taken as a whole, provide indisputable, mathematical
evidence
that the Christ story is true beyond any shadow of a doubt).
Folks, the context of Scripture (God's Word) reveals that the purpose of the manger was realized in the horrors of the cross, and "cops" had a disturbing hand in all of it. Disturbing? Consider this written by William Smith in World Magazine back in 1992:
Why aren't people disturbed by Christmas? One reason is our tendency to sanitize the birth narratives. We romanticize the story of Mary and Joseph rather than deal with the painful dilemma they faced when the Lord chose Mary to be the virgin who would conceive her child by the power of the Holy Spirit. We beautify the birth scene, not coming to terms with the stench of the stable, the poverty of the parents, the hostility of Herod. Don't miss my point. There is something truly comforting and warming about the Christmas story, but it comes from understanding the reality, not from denying it.
Most of us have not come to terms with the baby in the manger. We sing, "Glory to the newborn King." But do we truly recognize that the baby lying in the manger is appointed by God to be the King, to be either the Savior or Judge of all people? He is a most threatening person.
Malachi foresaw his coming and said, "But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap." As long as we can keep him in the manger, and feel the sentimental feelings we have for babies, Jesus doesn't disturb us. But once we understand that his coming means for every one of us either salvation or condemnation, he disturbs us deeply.
What should be just as disturbing is the awful work Christ had to do to accomplish the salvation of his people. Yet his very name, Jesus, testifies to us of that work.
The baby's destiny from the moment of his conception was the cross in the place of sinners. When I look into the manger, I come away shaken as I realize again that he was born to pay the unbearable penalty for my sins...
Christmas is disturbing.
The disturbing truth is this: from the moment of Jesus' conception, the cross loomed before Him, and "cops" -- the law enforcement of His day -- had a disturbing hand in all of it. Let's quickly break this down
biblically:
(1) Jesus is ultimately the greatest "cop" (a servant-warrior) in all of history. Where's that in the Bible? One of the
titles given to describe Jesus long before his birth was "Mighty God" (Isaiah 9:6). It looks beautiful on a Christmas card alongside "Wonderful Counselor" and "Prince of Peace" (the ultimate peacemaker and peacekeeper) but it's more than a nice title.
This is a term heretofore only used for God the Father but is now applied to the coming King (God the Son). This phrase also points us to the war (battle) between good and evil. The word "mighty" in the Hebrew can be translated into "warrior" (who is fighting against the forces of darkness on behalf of His people). Is this not what we do as modern day police officers and combat military personnel fighting against terror and evil? In fact, Exodus 15:3 drives this home: "The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is His name." Jesus, the ultimate peace officer, was born to us in a manger (a feeding trough for animals) on a police-esque "call for service" that ends not only on the cross (Jesus paying the price for our sin) but also in Satan's ultimate defeat (Revelation 20:7-10).
(2) While we who serve in law enforcement have this incredible role model in Christ Jesus, there is also another disturbing side. Sometime after Jesus' birth (between 50 days and a year or more), Herod sent his secret police out to murder every male child up to two years of age in an effort to take out Jesus in the process (the "Slaughter of the Innocents" as described in Matthew 2:16-18). Can you imagine coming home after your shift with the knowledge that you were responsible for the death of many innocent children (on pain of your own torture and death should you fail)?
(3) At Jesus' six trials before His death, it was the "cops" of His day who falsely arrested and abused/tortured (excessive force) Him. [see "The Trials of Jesus"]
(4) Finally, it was the Roman "Feds" who nailed Jesus to the cross, witnessed His death (with the Centurion [and the LEOs with him] seeing the overwhelming EVIDENCE before them, exclaimed, "Surely this is the Son of God!") and were present for His miraculous resurrection three days later!
Disturbing? You bet! So what is the application for us here today? Despite the fact that ours is a
God-ordained profession
, unless we are first being born again (saved and transformed) in Christ, our so-called "good" service and "good" deeds amount to nothing more than "filthy rags" in the eyes of a wholly righteous and just God.
Folks, here's the truth of Christmas as summed up wonderfully in
John 3:16 -- out of love for us, God the Father sent His only Son into the world to pay the price for OUR (yours and mine) sin, including the sin of those officers who killed innocent kids and then falsely arrested, tortured and executed a truly innocent man!
But perhaps you'll argue that those officers were just following orders. Or that their actions are not representative of us today -- that you're a "good person" or a "good cop" who "deserves" to go to heaven because of your "good deeds" and sacrifices stemming from your "righteous" service in law enforcement or the military. If so, let me lovingly encourage you to take God's
Good Person Test
and see how you do.
Well? If you took the test honestly, you'll understand that unless you are first born again in Christ you can NEVER be "good" enough to "badge" or way into heaven (or out of hell).
So does that describe you? Hopefully, this discussion of the true meaning of Christmas and the role we played in it has impacted you to make a decision today. Please consider the following:
Finally, if you have in fact turned in faith to Christ as your Lord and Savior, you may be asking, Now what?
Much to ponder as we roll into 2018!
Questions? Please
contact me
!
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