The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry Newsletter
&
Bible Study
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Fellow officers,
sheepdogs,
warriors, sp
ouses, supporters and
ALL:
Let me start by saying that, especially in these unprecedented times, we need to "be there" for one another -- please know that
I'm here for you
-- just
reach out!
With all that we're dealing with on multiple fronts, this week's Bible study could not be more important. Scroll down to
"FREEDOM"
(for us as cops but with application for all). And stay tuned for next week's special Police Week newsletter and Bible study.
And speaking of support, we're on for our next
Centurion/FCPO-Denver chapter meeting:
tonight, 6:30, via Zoom (open to all current and former LEOs and their spouses.
Email me for login info
and join us for a time of iron sharpens iron fellowship, prayer and Bible study!
Let's continue to
train
and stay in the fight with a
"front sight focus"
on Christ our Captain!
MC
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RESOURCES
PRAYER REQUESTS
(1) Please continue to pray for all those who have been put out of work or are facing layoffs (with bills to pay and families to feed) in the wake of the COVID-19 restrictions and overreach. And pray for the sick, but also pray that our elected reps will have the wisdom to open things back up sooner than later.
(2) Pray for one another as we work on the front lines of this epidemic. Many of our brethren are ill, and others have passed away after having been infected with this virus. Others are still committing suicide, dying from other medical issues or being cut down in the line of duty (why we continue to minister to our own).
Update:
Praise God, many of the C-19 deaths are now being ruled
"line of duty"
(will greatly benefit their families).
(3) Pray that God would remove this pestilence from our country and world (but always in His timing and in accordance with His will).
(4) With our annual Police Week events in DC cancelled, the pain being felt by families of those we've lost will be even greater. Please pray.
UPCOMING EVENTS
*Have a prayer request, event or announcement you would like included here? Need help/prayer?
Email me
!
I also post prayer requests on
my personal Facebook page
("friend" and message me).
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"FREEDOM!"
Police Officers are front line "freedom fighters" for liberty and against tyranny, but true freedom is found only in the ultimate Freedom Fighter.
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage"
(Galatians 5:1)
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Two main points here for us:
(1) In the United States of America, police officers are on the front lines fighting for freedom (liberty). That's right -- we are in fact God's ordained
(Romans 13:1-4)
"freedom fighters" -- America's domestic "...army of my countryman, here, in defiance of tyranny."
Now this fact may come as a "surprise" to many of those we deal with on the mean streets since we regularly and rightfully (lawful) deprive the freedoms of those whose illegal actions directly deprive others of their
"life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
But, in truth, we've all taken a solemn oath to uphold the
Constitution of the United States,
and that foundational document is all about liberty and standing for freedom from tyranny.
Moreover, our
Declaration of Independence
rightly declares that our very authority stems from and through those we serve and protect (see paragraph 2).
The bottom line is that we must NOT not take actions that violate the Constitutional rights of those we've sworn to serve and protect.
Sadly, in the midst of this pandemic, we as police officers are now being asked and even commanded by other government officials to take from the public the very rights and freedoms we've sworn to uphold. Accordingly, and before moving on to the study, let me take just a moment to implore you to stand firm on your oath. Make sure you understand the limitations on your authority. We must NOT carry out illegal orders or otherwise violate the law (and another reason why it is imperative that we have solid legal defense insurance). Blindly following illegal, unconstitutional orders violates our oath and is nothing short of immoral and unethical. That said, we now are in a time of mass confusion on the issues we hold most dear (and these issues will ultimately land before the Supreme Court). For context, see
"Are State Shutdown Orders Constitutional?"
(2) Secondly, God's Word reveals that we who have been
born again
in Christ
(John 3:1-21, 14:6)
-- Christians as God alone gets to define the term -- enjoy ultimate freedom and liberty through the ultimate Freedom Fighter. To understand this, we'll break down just one Bible (the ultimate "policy and procedure manual") verse that deals with the subject of liberty (with context, of course).
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."
(Galatians 5:1)
The fact is that Jesus -- the ultimate Freedom Fighter -- is the ONLY One who can make us truly
free.
God literally pleads with us to surrender our lives to Him, take His strength and walk in freedom. To not be entangled again with a
yoke
of bondage (slavery) to sin.
Understand also that, biblically speaking, we can't make ourselves free. Freedom is a gift of God, given to us (at great cost) and received by faith. When we struggle to free ourselves through our own strength and so-called "good" deeds, we just become more entangled again with a yoke of slavery.
First, take note of the word "therefore." Whenever we see that, it is important that we stop and ask, "What is that there for?" (meaning that God has something particularly important to say to us).
Paul made it emphatic:
the
liberty.
Today, many live in the headlong pursuit of “freedom,” which they define as doing whatever they want to do, and never denying any desire. This may be a kind of liberty, but it is not
the
liberty.
The
liberty is our freedom from the tyranny of having to earn our own way to God, the freedom from sin and guilt and condemnation, freedom from the penalty, the power and the presence of sin.
To
stand fast
means that it takes real effort to stay in this place of liberty. Someone who is legally made free in Jesus can still fall back into bondage -- to be deceived into placing themselves back into slavery (thus the need to stay armored up with the
full Armor of God).
The great evangelist D. L. Moody illustrated this point by quoting an old former slave woman in the South following the Civil War. Being a former slave, she was confused about her status and asked:
Now is I free, or been I not? When I go to my old master he says I ain’t free, and when I go to my own people they say I is, and I don’t know whether I’m free or not. Some people told me that Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation, but master says he didn’t; he didn’t have any right to.
Many Christians are confused on the same point: Jesus Christ has given them an “Emancipation Proclamation,” but their “old master” tells them they are still slaves to a legalistic, quasi-relationship with God. They live in bondage because their “old master” (the devil) has deceived them.
Yoke of bondage:
This phrase reminds us of what Peter said in
Acts 15:10
about those who would bring the Gentiles (non-Jews) under the law:
Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
The Jews themselves were not able to justify themselves before God by the law, so they shouldn’t put that heavy, burdensome yoke on the Gentiles.
Certain Jewish teachers of that day spoke of the Law of Moses as a yoke, but they used the term in a favorable light. Paul saw a legal relationship as a yoke, but as a yoke of bondage. It is related to slavery, not liberty. This yoke of bondage does nothing but
entangle
us. We try hard to pull God’s plow, but the yoke of bondage leaves us tangled, restricted, and frustrated.
Paul goes on to add additional context to this later in verse 13:
"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty."
Who are the "brethren" here? Those (and only those) who have been truly born again in Christ! And then there is the word "called" (not unlike our "calling" to serve in law enforcement). We who are
"in Christ"
are in fact CALLED to serve one another in the love of Christ!
The bottom line here? Sadly, in the midst of this pandemic, we have lost much our freedom -- our "liberty." But if (and only if) we are in fact born again in Christ, nothing can take away our freedom. Likewise, for those who choose to end this life without Jesus, the just sentence for our sin (breaking God's law) is ultimately the permanent (no parole) loss of all freedom in a very real place called hell.
Praise God, so long (but ONLY so long) as we have breath, God has given us every opportunity to be saved and set free. Does not describe you? If not, or you're not sure, it is again with a Code 3 (lights and siren) sense of urgency that I implore you to take in the links below under
"Know God?"
Then ask God to help train you up to be His "freedom fighters" in not only upholding our oaths but also sharing the ultimate freedom found only in a genuine, life-saving/life-changing personal relationship with Him through Christ.
Blessings!
_______________
KNOW GOD?
(1) Do you hold to an utterly false hope that you can "earn" or otherwise "badge" your way into heaven and escape hell because you consider yourself to be a "
good
" cop or a "good" person (the "I'm good" mess)? That you can be "good" enough without knowing Christ as Lord and Savior? That mere "belief" is enough to "save" you? That you somehow "deserve" heaven because of your so-called "good" service in law enforcement? Take the
Good Person Test
and see how you do!
(2) Jesus' first recorded words in His earthly adult ministry included,
"Repent and believe in the Good News...
" --
Mark 1:15.
To
repent
is a "180" -- a complete,
radical
change of mind and heart as it relates to our sin (as God defines it). To "believe" (
pisteuo
in the original Greek) as Jesus intends it here is to wholeheartedly trust and
surrender
your life to Him in faith in the same way we have "faith" that our body armor will do its job against the rounds it is intended to stop; that a well-maintained weapon will function properly when used in against criminals intent on destroying us or others; or that our parachute will open when it is supposed to on a combat jump (we stake our very lives on it)! For more, see
What does it mean to believe in Jesus?
(3) This same concept of "
believe
" (the saving kind) is further revealed in
John 3:1-21
where Jesus says, "
... you must be born again
." Again, note our Lord's emphasis on the word "
must
" (not "may" or "should" or even "someday"): this is ultimately the life-saving AND life-changing personal relationship (and NOT "religion") with Jesus Christ that I stress here every week (see
What does it mean to be a born again Christian
? [hint -- there is no other kind]).
(5) Need more? Then check out this powerful, short video message that also comes to us from
Travis Yates
:
Cops and Salvation
(6) Have you now said "yes" to Jesus as Lord and Savior but are wondering what to do next? The "now what" is also an important part in dealing with the issues that can lead to suicide and sin in general. Click on,
Now what?
MC
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ABOUT US
The
Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry
is
a national, FCPO-affiliated, non-denominational,
evangelical
Christian outreach to our own in law enforcement. These newsletters and profession-focused Bible studies are part of this effort and past editions can be found on our website and social media feeds. Our desire is (1) to be used of God to
WIN
the lost in our profession to a saving faith in Christ; (2) to
DISCIPLE
the Christian officer; (3)
SEND
out discipled (trained) officers to "repeat" 1 and 2; (4) to
SUPPORT
police marriages; (5) to transform our God-ordained profession by infusing it with all-in Christian officers; and (6) to
IMPACT
(reduce) police suicides and PTS with the
Cure
found in Christ Jesus alone. In keeping with these 6 points, please feel free to adapt these messages for your own individual or group use and
share
them with others.
The
Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers
(FCPO-USA)
exists to provide biblical support ("backup"), accountability and
iron sharpens iron
fellowship for Christian officers first in the U.S. and throughout the world as well. Our Denver-area FCPO chapter (
FCPO Chapter #217
) is a
Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry
affiliate. Locally, we meet approximately twice a month in the south Denver-Metro suburb of Highlands Ranch for profession-focused, sound (uncompromising) Bible study, prayer and servant-warrior fellowship (and spouses are both welcome and encouraged to attend with their LEO).
Contact me
for complete details.
The
Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry
and FCPO-Metro Denver (
Chapter 217
) are led by veteran Police Officer, Chaplain and Evangelist Michael "MC" Williams
.
MC is an active (32-years and counting) sworn police officer/investigator and sought-after instructor and speaker at churches (including the popular
Centurion Church Security Seminar
), retreats and both police and civilian training conferences and seminars around the country. Contact MC via
email
for details on how to book him for your event.
Finally, we covet your prayer and financial support for this vital ministry outreach. Reference the latter, you can give in two ways:
(1) Send a check to the address posted below.
or
(2) Go the the
FCPO giving page
and designate "
FCPO #217
" or the "Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry."
* All donations are tax-deductible.
The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry
, P.O. Box 630854, Littleton, CO 80163 |
Email Address
| (720) 371-1022 |
Website
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