The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry: Welcome to 2010!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Welcome to 2010!

Fellow Sheepdogs:

Welcome to 2010! I know that for many of us 2009 was a very tough year indeed. While adversity is both a part of life and definitely a part of God’s “training regimen” for His own, my hope and prayer is that 2010 will be a better year for all of us as we eagerly await our Lord’s return (see http://www.gotquestions.org/difference-Rapture-Second-Coming.html) and all that comes with it. That said, we must continue to -- as my friend and pastor Sam Park likes to say (paraphrasing 2 Tim. 4:7) “stay the course and finish strong,” both in terms of own walk with Christ and sharing Him with others.

MEETING SCHEDULE for locals and visitors:

We’re “ON” for our first meeting of 2010 this Thursday (01/07/10) at Calvary South Denver, 9052 Ken Caryl Avenue, Littleton. Start time is 1900 and we’ll meet in Classroom #7 (past the café and turn right into the children’s ministry area) unless the Multi-Purpose room is free. Don’t forget to invite your spouses and law enforcement colleagues!

This week’s study will center on what is means to “a Christian” (and a Christian cop in particular). Are you a true believer or just a “make believer?” Are you sure? You can be! Join us Thursday for THE answer!

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS:

-- The Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers (FCPO) website has been updated and more changes are forthcoming. Go to http://www.fcpo.org/ or click on the FCPO link right here on our website. One of our 2010 ministry goals is to see us become a FCPO chapter. Keep us in your prayers as we begin this endeavor.

-- Speaking of FCPO, retired Exec. Director Grant Wolf is in the process of obtaining 365 stories for a forthcoming book. Would you like to share your law enforcement testimony with others in a published format? Here is an example of what Grant is seeking:

While working midnights as a Detective on the North Side of Chicago. My partner and I were parked in a dark parking lot when a Cadillac pulled up. Two guys got out, and broke into a car and within 20-seconds had it started and they were driving away. We followed, asking for back up. We pulled in front of and to the side of the stolen car. I managed to grab one of the offenders who had jumped out. Then I heard my partner yelling. The driver of the stolen car had jumped out, leaving the car running and in gear, pinning my partner against the front passenger door. I was able to get the car in reverse and my partner fell to the ground writhing in pain. I yelled a prayer out loud and asked the Lord for mercy. Miraculously my partner got up and was able to walk. He was back to work after one day off. What an attestation of God’s Power and Grace!

This is a once-in-a-lifetime project and your contributions have the potential to truly bless other officers while at the same time providing a great testimony to the civilian population. Please contact Grant at police_stories@yahoo.com for more details.

-- We have just chartered a brand new Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) chapter in the Denver/Front Range area. FOP Lodge #100 is primarily for CO officers serving in agencies that are not already represented. Please contact Troy Cooper at tcooper8899@msn.com for details.

-- TRAINING! Those looking for another source of outstanding low-cost law enforcement training in Colorado should check out the Central Mountain Training Foundation at http://www.cmtftraining.com/.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-- Mahnomen (MN) County Deputy Chris Dewey will be heading back to Minnesota later this month and his wife Emily is seeking an appropriate facility there as Chris will need ongoing rehab. Please be in prayer about that while at the same time asking God to give them strength, healing and recovery. Emily needs your prayers as well as caring for her husband and the stress of his impending move is very draining on her. I visited and prayed with them just after Christmas and Emily's commitment to her warrior husband is awe-inspiring. Follow their progress and lend your support via their CaringBridge site: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chrisdewey.

-- Englewood (CO) PD Officer Shane Ellison’s 5 y.o. daughter needs your continued prayer as she battles brain cancer. Follow Tayler’s progress at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/taylerellison/mystory (viewing password is “taylerellison”).

-- Pray for Ft. Hood PD Sgt. Kim Munley as she prepares for major surgery. See http://sgtmunley.blogspot.com/2009/12/december-23-2009-great-news.html.

-- Fellow Colorado State Criminal Investigator Jimmy Wattles (of Gangland fame) writes, “I just learned that a retired Colorado State investigator is going through quite a battle with Mantel Cell Lymphoma. After numerous chemo treatments, he is now out of state enduring a stem cell treatment to rebuild destroyed bone marrow. This man is a believer and knows the power of prayer!” Please keep this brother in prayer.

-- I've received additional prayer requests for wounded Chicago PD Ofc. Densey Cole. Lots of folks both worried and (praise God) paying attention.

-- Finally, we’ve already lost three officers this new year (I include the court officer who was killed in Vegas today: http://policelink.monster.com/news/articles/130103-court-officer-killed-in-courthouse-shooting-video). See also http://www.odmp.org/. Pray for these officers' families and for the recovery of the wounded U.S. Deputy Marshal.

May God keep us all safely in His care. Stay vigilant!

Our Core Verses

COPS -- God's ministers for good and a terror against evil. We do not bear the sword in vain.

(Paraphrase...for full text, see the Bible in Romans 13:1-4)

Psalm 82:3-4

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Isaiah 1:17

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.ressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.he widow.

Colorado Law Enforcement Ministry Meeting Schedules

The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry (FCPO-Denver)

On the local front (meaning Colorado Front Range) we typically meet for iron sharpens iron fellowship and Bible study every 2nd and 4th Tuesday evening of each month at Calvary Castle Rock. Email me for details at thecenturionministry@gmail.com or give me a shout at 720-371-1022

Men of Courage Law Enforcement Ministry

Buena Vista (CO) PD Sgt. Dean Morgan is leading a law enforcement fellowship/Bible study in Chaffee County and the surrounding area. Contact Dean at interceptor@policeone.com for more info.

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TCLEM Mission Statement

The mission of The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry (TCLEM), is to educate law enforcement officers (police, deputies, troopers, investigators, parole/probation, corrections, military, etc.) about God's unique call on their lives as outlined in God's word (Bible) and to lead officers and their families to a saving knowledge of and close personal relationship with our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. Through same, we also seek to positively impact our profession by raising up Christian servant-leaders and reduce our historically high rates of divorce, alcoholism, depression, suicide and related issues.

Law enforcement is a God-ordained ministry of service and protection for our society as outlined in the Bible in Romans 13. Inasmuch as our very authority as peace officers is given to us by God, TCLEM seeks to affirm our calling as servant-warriors ("sheepdogs") and leaders while at the same time developing the our spiritual, family and personal lives through Bible study, peer fellowship, and group accountability along with active involvement in a solid Christ-centered/Bible-based church. We also seek to infuse our profession with godly leaders who will in fact LEAD (serve) from a biblical world view.

What We Believe (Statement of Faith)

(1) WE BELIEVE the only true basis of Christian fellowship is Christ's sacrificial agape love, which is greater than any secondary differences we possess, and without which we have no right to claim ourselves Christians.

(2) WE BELIEVE in all the fundamental doctrines of orthodox evangelical Christianity as detailed in God's word (Bible).

(3) WE BELIEVE the sixty-six books of the Bible (i.e. Old and New Testament) comprise the totality of Holy Scripture and is inerrant in the original text, and remains God-breathed/God-inspired and infallible in all its substance, and therefore, it is the supreme and final authority in faith, theology, and life. 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 119:11, 89, 105.

(4) WE BELIEVE that our Lord has called us to share the Word of God in such a way that its message can be applied to an individual's life and, in particular as it relates to our service in the God-ordained calling of law enforcement. We also believe that it is the responsibility and privilege of every Christian to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and to seek to make growing disciples. Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8.

(5) WE BELIEVE there is only One true, eternally existent God. He exists in three co-equal persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The triune God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and is worthy of worship and obedience. Deut. 6:4-5; Genesis 1:31, Luke 3:21-22; Matthew 28:18-20, Rev. 4:11.

(6) WE BELIEVE in one God who is Creator of heaven and earth, Spirit, personal, transcendent, sovereign, life, love, truth, almighty, simple (i.e. one without parts), timelessly eternal, unchangeable, wise, just, holy, relational, dynamic and infallible in all things.

(7) WE BELIEVE that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, possessing two distinct natures which are co-joined in one person, that He was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless and miraculous life, provided for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious substitutionary death on the Cross, was bodily resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, physically ascended back to the right hand of God the Father in heaven, and lives to make intercession for us. After Jesus ascended to Heaven, He poured out His Holy Spirit on the believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His command to preach the gospel to the entire world, an obligation shared by all believers today. John 1:1-3,14; Matthew 1:18-25; Philippians 2:5-9; Colossians 1:15; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Acts 1:11.

(8) WE BELIEVE that all people are by nature separated from God and responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered as a gift by the Lord Jesus Christ to all based on His grace alone. When a person sincerely repents of their sin and enters into a life-saving/life-changing personal relationsship (not "religion") with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, they are immediately born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit, all their sins are forgiven, and they become a child of God -- changed, and destined to spend eternity with Him. John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-10; 2 Corinthians 5:21.

(9) WE BELIEVE in all the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures, and that they are valid for today, and should be exercised within scriptural guidelines, seeking to exercise them in love that the whole Body of Christ might be edified. John 14:16-19; 16:7-15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 8:9,11; Titus 3:5.

(10) WE BELIEVE in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, and we believe that the physical second coming of Christ with His saints to rule on the earth will be personal, premillennial, and visible. This motivates us to holy living, heart-felt worship, committed service, diligent study of God's Word, regular fellowship, and participation in the two ordinances the Lord gave the church - adult baptism by immersion and Holy Communion. Revelation 3:10, Thessalonians 5:9.

(11) WE BELIEVE there is a real personal devil of great evil, cunning, and power, who seeks to tempt, kill, steal, and destroy, yet his power is limited by God to only what God permits him to do; that the devil has been defeated positionally at the cross of Christ, and will be defeated practically at Christ's glorious second coming which will ultimately eventuate in the quarantine and punishment of the Satan (aka the Devil, Beast, and False Prophet, etc.) in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone where they will be tormented day and night forever (what has been traditionally called "Hell"). Luke 10:18; Matthew 4:10; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11, etc.

(12) WE BELIEVE that our Lord is clear that there is ONLY ONE WAY to Christ and that is through a life-changing personal relationship with the Risen Savior. Jesus told his disciples, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). He did not merely point the way to God. He himself claimed to be the only way to the Father and the source of eternal truth and life. The way to God is through personal faith in Jesus Christ. Intellectual acceptance of Christ is not enough. You must come to him determined to turn from what displeases him, with a total trust in Christ's saving power for you.

Are you ready to receive Christ today? If so, scroll up towards the top of this page to the links under How Can I be Saved (AKA True "Officer Safety"). Please feel free to contact me if you need help in this area -- it would be my honour to lead you "home" to Christ!

If you sincerely put your faith in Christ, God promises not only to forgive you, but also to receive you into his family. It's the greatest discovery you will ever make!

Donate to the Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry

We do accept donations to support our ministry and outreach, including but not limited to leading officers to Christ, support for wounded officers; "officer down" outreach; chaplain and counseling services; speaking engagements; website expenses; ministry apparel, etc. Donations can be made out to The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry and mailed to

P.O. Box 630854
Littleton, CO 80163

That said, support your church first...and then donate if the Holy Spirit inspires you to do so. Thanks in advance for your support.