Warrior's Code: Leave NONE Behind!

Dear Brothers & Sisters:

While many of us will be working during the holiday, I just wanted to wish everyone a blessed and safe Memorial Day weekend. If I was still in NM I would likely be with my old SID team making a plethora of arrests and dealing with mass alcohol-induced madness at Elephant Butte! Regardless, my hope is that you will set some time aside to honor and remember all who have served in the Armed Forces, both living and dead (“All gave some, some gave all:” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzXxWTpC1CM). In many areas it is also traditional to honor law enforcement personnel on Memorial Day and that is certainly my take as well.

Regardless, I honor your service and count myself blessed to serve with and for you. I will be making my annual pilgrimage to Ft. Logan National Cemetery on Monday. It caused me to wonder how many of those interred knew Christ. Accordingly, and with Memorial Day in mind, I am again encouraging my fellow Believers to be BOLD in sharing the Gospel so that we can be TRUE to our military and law enforcement ethos that we do not leave our own behind. Folks, unless a warrior knows Christ as Savior he will NOT be with us in Heaven and there is only one other destination aside from that. If we won’t leave a brother or sister behind in this life why would we not go out of our way to be sure they are with us with Christ in the next?!! That said, check out this piece from a pastor who, some doctinal issues aside, beautifully illuminates the “left behind” concept: http://www.fbcrichmond.org/sermons/3-2-08sermon.htm.

This is also a time to honor my own father, a retired USAF CMSgt. with 30 years of service which included 2 tours in Viet Nam, an array of other hazardous duty assignments, being one of the last Americans to leave Iwo Jima when we gave it back to the Japanese in 1968, injuries that cause him pain to this day, and so much more… Now this proud warrior has colon cancer and will face surgery at 0730 hours Central Time tomorrow (Friday) morning: we covet your prayers for both him and my mother (they will be married 52 years this November). As he will eventually read this, I'm taking the opportunity to say, “Thank you for your service, Dad – I love you!” I personally think that old Texan is too ornery for cancer to survive in his body and as such I’m looking forward to spending time with him at the gun range in a month or so. Yes, I shared Christ with both my parents and both know Him as Savior. In fact, my Dad recommitted his life to Lord just two days ago as he prepared for this new battle.

MEETING UPDATES:

As reported previously, we will not have a formal meeting this week as a number of us will be in training at a church safety seminar in Monument on Saturday (see last week’s newsletter and/or our website for details). Our next fellowship meeting will be Thursday, May 28th at 6:30 PM. Pass it on to others!

MESSAGE RECAP:

Last week we fittingly concluded our latest look at the warrior (cop) mindset at it relates to our Christian faith. To recap for those who missed it, the Bible is replete with examples of the “warrior spirit” as it relates to our walk as Christians. From a duty perspective, we can look at it as follows:

(1) Be prepared/anticipate the threat (Ezekiel 38:7, Ephesians 6:10-18).

(2) “Train like you fight and fight like you train.” We train for use-of-force encounters so that we will react appropriately when the time comes. Studying the Bible and training for spiritual combat is no different than what we go through as peace officers. Without that training we will not react properly in crisis situations. We must train as if our lives depend on it BOTH spiritually and physically. This is a major reason that this ministry exists and why it so important for LEOs to be in fellowship with other like-minded Believers.

(3) Never quit! (Philippians 3:12-15, Ephesians 6:14-18).

(4) Build confidence through training and fitness (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

(5) Fight with speed, tactical surprise and ferocity of action (1 Samuel 15:3, 18; Joshua 4:13; Exodus 21:12-15, 22:19; Numbers 31:2; Revelation 19:11-21; Ecclesiastes 3:8; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:17; Philippians 4:6-7).

Bottom line? We believe that God gave us a "calling" to this “brotherhood of the sword” -- this profession of service and protection to others -- and that it is His will that we “be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:9) in the face of evil and the “sons of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3, John 17:12) that walk this earth. As such, we need to train and prepare accordingly. We were born for battle – the greatest battle history has ever known – the battle between good and evil. As Col. Grossman says, we must be the SHEEPDOGS God called us to be. So who are we? The Christian servant-warrior’s answer is “I am a mighty man (or woman) of God and I am here to go forth and resist evil wherever it is found!”

REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE:

Colorado Division of Securities Chief Investigator and Chuck Reinhardt’s grandson, Jack Reinhardt, has autism. On May 30, 2009, Chuck will be participating in Walk Now for Autism to raise money for medical research to eradicate this terrible disease. Chuck is asking CSIA members to consider making a small monetary donation to assist efforts to fund much needed medical research. Chuck writes,

“Thank you for your consideration to support our endeavors to change the life of every family that hears the diagnosis, ‘Your child has autism.’ To make a donation, please follow the link below to my donation page:

http://www.kintera.org/faf/search/searchParticipants.asp?ievent=288668&lis=0&kntae288668=EB1CBE3AFE034080A266F21F510137B6

When the new page opens, please type my first (Charles) and last (Reinhardt) name, click on the search button below my name. On the page that appears please click on my name as the walker’s name and my donation page will open. Your choices are then your own.

Thank you to everyone."

This is a worthy cause worth considering.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

(1) As stipulated above, please ask our loving Father to be with my father on Friday as he goes into surgery.

(2) Are you truly in God’s will? Our prayer should be that God will “chisel” us into the men and women that HE wants us to be. All else is folly! Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXut0HxncvY (I also have it as a new link).

Let’s "walk the walk" and not just "talk the talk!" Stay safe and watch your brother’s six!