Obedience -- The Centurion LE Ministry Newsletter

Fellow Servant-Warriors and Supporters:

Another crazy week – thanks so much for your prayers and support as we stay the course in what God has called us to do for both His Kingdom and our fellow officers serving in our God-ordained (Romans 13:1-7) profession. Lots to cover – read on!

Last week’s profession-relevant message centered on the biblical concept of obedience. Here’s the RECAP (as always, feel free to adapt the information posted her for your own studies


OBEDIENCE – Better than Sacrifice!

As Col. Jessup (Jack Nicholson) pointed out in A Few Good Men, “We follow orders Son. We follow orders or people die…” Thankfully, we can trust that our true Captain's orders will not the flawed one's of a Jessup.

The concept of obedience is central both to the Christian life and to us as peace officers (submission to authority, Romans 13). The Hebrew word shama means to “hear, listen and obey.” A prime passage where shama appears is I Samuel 15:22 - "To obey is better than sacrifice." The corresponding Greek word is hupakouo - "to listen under, to obey." Just but a few pertinent passages using this word/concept are:

II Cor. 10:5 -"taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ"
Heb. 5:9 - "He became to all who obey Him the source of salvation"
I Pet. 1:2 - "that you may obey Jesus Christ"
I Pet. 1:22 - "you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls"

To our Lord, obedience goes hand-in-hand with faith and is by NO MEANS "optional." The true story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 illustrates a faith that would obey. This is affirmed twice in the Scriptures. “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son” (Heb. 11:17). “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” (Jam. 2:21-22).

In James 2:14-20, 24 we are informed that a faith without works of obedience is: 1) dead, 2) imperfect, 3) no better than the devil’s faith, and 4) a contradiction to God’s word.

Further, we see that the offering of Isaac revealed a faith that obeyed with exactness ("partial obedience" is no obedience as all). Notice the exactness of God’s directions in Genesis 22:2. God specified what He wanted – a burnt offering, whom He wanted – Isaac, and where He wanted it – Mount Moriah. Clearly, Abraham obeyed with exactness!

God gave Noah exact directions as well, and Noah obeyed in kind: “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he” (Gen. 6:22). When man does not obey with exactness, serious consequences will result, as was the case with Uzzah (2 Sam. 6:6-7) and Moses on one occasion (Num. 20:8-12). Many today are trying to treat obedience like a game of horseshoes – just trying to be "close." The offering of Isaac revealed a faith that would obey without question (our call as soldiers/cops so long as those orders are just and legal based). There would have been plenty that Abraham could have questioned God about, but he didn’t -- his faith was too strong (Rom. 4:20-22) and he was responding to the perfect Commander-in-Chief. We should never put a “?” where God has put a emphatic “.” or “!”.

The offering of Isaac revealed a faith that would obey regardless of the cost. As we see from this passage, obedience can be a very costly thing indeed. Obedience cost Job everything (Job 1). Obedience cost Moses riches and esteem (Heb. 11:24-27). Obedience cost Daniel his safety (Dan. 6:10-24). Obedience cost Stephen his life (Acts 6:10-24).

There is also a cost attached to Christianity as seen in Luke 14:25-33. We must not teach or practice "discount Christianity". Rather, we must possess the attitude of David, who declared “neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24). What will obedience cost us? It may cost us our friends, family, a job, and even personal joys and habits. But regardless of the cost, it pays to be obedient unto the Lord (Mk. 10:28-31) -- the rewards are worth any cost! Note further that our obedience should be out of love for the Lord rather than obligation (Matthew 22:37).

As peace officers, obedience and exactness (attention to detail) are incredibly important to both our success and survival (and that of others). That obedience is also how we show God how much we love Him and are committed to Him. Do you have a faith that will obey, that will obey with exactness, that will obey without question, and that will obey regardless of the cost? Are you the radical Romans 14 Christian God is calling you (us) to be? On this subject Os Hillman writes, “Joshua and Caleb (both great examples of biblical “cops” – true servant-warriors) are described in Scripture as men who had a different spirit. They were two of the twelve spies sent into the Promised Land to determine if it could be taken, as God had promised it to them. The other ten gave a bad report that instilled fear in the people, which ultimately caused a rebellion. This resulted in an entire generation dying in the desert. Joshua and Caleb were the only two who were led by the Spirit of God, versus the spirit of fear. They were the only ones to enter the Promised Land from their generation."

Are you a person led by the Spirit? Romans 8:13-14 (For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God) tells us that those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God. "But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows Me wholeheartedly (radical obedience, radical faith), I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it" (Num. 14:24). Caleb was a Romans 8:14 man and warrior (cop)! The Spirit led him, he was obedient and true, and he was not led by fear.

Are you a Caleb or a David – both men after God’s own heart? If not, repent and turn to Him today. Ask the Lord to help you become men and women who serve and live obediently – and remember that it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can truly be successful in being obedient to all that God has called us to (trying to do it on our own is destined for failure).

To conclude, check out the late Keith Green’s song on the subject (right on target for us in law enforcement): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8gWDR35R8M. Obedience – that what our Lord wants from us -- let’s get to it!

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THIS WEEK’S STUDY:

Along with an ongoing sense of urgency to share the Gospel with others, God has used the the events of the the last two weeks to impress on me the many of the central reasons for which this ministry exists. Accordingly, I’ll be teaching a new lesson on the importance of fellowship, peer support and accountability entitled "As Iron Sharpens Iron." I’ll have the RECAP in next week’s newsletter – stay tuned!

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NEWS & TRAINING AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:

(1) Latest prayer requests and local (FCPO-Denver) meeting schedule has been posted here on our website (scroll down). Many of the prayer requests are urgent – please join us in praying for these needs.

(2) 10th Annual John Baker Memorial Golf Classic!
While I’m not personally a fan of golf (my friend Lt. Col. Dave Grossman has a famous saying about that activity…:), the 10th Annual John Baker Memorial Golf Classic is set for April 1st in Chattanooga, TN. This event is a great way for officers to gather, play, fellowship and raise funds for an exceedingly worthy cause. Please shoot fellow FCPO-USA Pres. Paul Lee an email at PWLee@unum.com or see our latest FCPO newsletter for details: http://www.fcpo.org/newsletters/FCPO_Winter_2011.pdf. If you can’t attend, pray that it will be a successful event.

(3) Given the events of the past 15 months in particular, the following resource sent to me by Streamwood (IL) Sgt. Dino Heckerman is spot-on. This intervention tool for first responders only is the first 24-hour, multi-state crisis hotline. Check out http://www.safecallnow.org/. I will be adding a link to our website.

(4) Speaking of Dino, check out this great You Tube testimony (obedience) that he recently put together. Dino’s church, Christ Community near Chicago, asked him to put his November 30th story from Grant Wolf’s book “Stories of Faith and Courage from Cops on the Street” on video. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm7fyjZ1dmw to see it.

(5) Don’t forget that we’re on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Centurion-Law-Enforcement-Ministry-FCPO-Denver/165229383527705. One there you can also click on my page (Mike Williams – page “owner”) – hope to see you “there.”

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LOCAL (FCPO-DENVER) NEWS:


(1) Latest meeting schedule is posted on our website (updated frequently). We will in fact be meeting tonight at 1900 hours in the High School Room at Calvary South Denver (http://www.calvarycsd.org/). See you tonight!

(2) Tuesday Night Dialogue (TND) Retreat:

As most of you should know by now, I serve at our host church’s Tuesday night service (TND) and a good many of our FCPO-Denver regulars also attend this unique weekly event (teachings are absolutely warrior-relevant – deep and intense – and Pastor Sam Park has a heart for those of us serving in law enforcement). This year’s TND retreat is right around the corner – April 8-10 in beautiful Estes Park, CO. Diana and I will be there to serve and we encourage you to bring your brides and attend as well (unaccompanied/singles are welcome as well). See http://www.calvarycsd.org/event/2011-04-08-2011-tuesday-night-dialogue-retreat/ or contact Pastor Sam for details. Of course, I also encourage you to attend TND each week…hope to see you there!


It’s nearly 2:00 AM – gotta try to get a few hours of sleep (keep me in prayer). Not including suicides (tragic and often preventable), we’ve already lost 48 officers this year – and nearly half of those in violent encounters. Let’s serve with the Lord in the “driver’s” seat and take care of one another out there!