Centurion Ministry Christmas Newsletter

Fellow Sheepdogs:

I trust that this week’s newsletter finds you anticipating the celebration of what we call “Christmas.” Accordingly, I shared a special Christmas message at last week’s Centurion Ministry/FCPO-Denver “cop church” fellowship. The recap is posted below – I encourage you to read it, pray about it, and respond accordingly.

I’ve posted the latest PRAYER REQUESTS, announcements, local meeting schedules and more here on our website (next post below). Please take the time to join us in praying for our own (in the last week alone we’ve lost another seven officers – one a day – and there is a fellow warrior fighting for his life in Minnesota). Don’t forget that we are NOT meeting tonight (12/22) but will be back for our final 2011 fellowship on December 29th.

This is also the time of year that I humbly ask that you consider a year-end gift to both this ministry and to the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers. Info on how to donate to The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry can be found here on our website (scroll down left side) while details on joining or giving to the FCPO can be found at www.FCPO.org. With that..


Message RECAP: A Cop’s Christmas

My goal for this year’s Christmas study was (is) to focus your attention on the fact that the real message of Christ’s birth has very little in common with our modern celebration. That said, there is in fact a “warm and fuzzy” component along with the very serious nature of Christ’s ultimate “call for service” here on Earth.

Our text for the “warm and fuzzy” side is Matthew 1:18-23. The passage includes the name “Immanuel” which in the Hebrew consists of two words -- ‘El, meaning 'God' and ʻImmānū, meaning 'with us’ (or ‘came to us’ in some usages). The TRUE MESSAGE of Christmas is God with us! This is indeed part of the message that this sin-sick world needs to hear – God is with us! It is also a message that we in law enforcement must cling to – God IS with us.

But then there is the other side – a proverbial “the rest of the story.” Continue in Matthew 2:1-18 with the underlying context of Jeremiah 31. Here we see an incredibly wicked and paranoid king -- Herod “the Great” -- sending out his secret “police” with an illegal order to savagely murder every “innocent” male child born in the Bethlehem region during the previous two years. No warrants, no court of appeal, no stay of execution, no announcement of any kind. Imagine those officers going home to their own wives and kids and hearing, “What did you do today, Honey?”

Amidst the joy of Christ’s coming is the reality that He came into a very wicked world under the most humblest of circumstances to carry out the ultimate “mission from God.” In the fullness of time and in accordance with the Father’s perfect will, the Christ-child would stand as a grown man before Herod’s son, Herod Antipas, before horrendously shedding His own innocent blood to save both the children who were murdered after His human birth and YOU today. Again, Matthew 1:21 tells us that Jesus came to “save His people from their sins” by dying as an innocent sacrifice on the cross (“Christmas tree”) of Calvary.

Yes, the birth of our Lord was and is a joyous occasion but it was the birth of the Savior that would later result in cops being sent out to slaughter innocent children and officers who would ultimately torture and nail our innocent Lord to a “tree” (cross) thirty-plus years later. This is the reality of “a cop’s Christmas.”

Many of us will say that we are NOT the same kind of cops – that we are “good” – better and more “righteous” than our predecessors. Really? Not by God’s standard! I again strongly encourage you to take the “Good Person Test” found on our Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers website (www.fcpo.org/christian.html). How did you do?

Folks we must understand that we are no less guilty before our Lord than those wicked officers who slew innocent children two years after His human birth or those who nailed Him to the cross. Again I implore you – turn (repent) FROM your sin and TO the only One who can save you. Like the command we give on a felony stop, “Do it NOW!” as tomorrow may very well be too late. There are no second chances for those who perish in this life without the assurance that comes from a right relationship with God in Christ and we most assuredly will not be able to “badge” our way into Heaven. I want to spend eternity with my fellow warriors with our true King. Please – I beg you – turn to Him today!

Finally, for that person – that officer – who claims to have made a confession of faith but is living a life without any real evidence of a changed, sanctified life, please set aside an hour to watch the following powerful message from Pastor Paul Washer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuabITeO4l8. Consider carefully where you stand!

___________________________

A great many of us will in fact be working over the Christmas holiday – separated from our loved ones for a time to answer God’s call on us to “protect and serve.” Let me encourage you to answer that call as true Christian warriors by going out of your way to do your duty with Christmas in your hearts and on your lips. Speaking of, and in the spirit of the season, check out this special piece of God-inspired fiction written by law enforcement spouse, author and speaker Kristi Neace that reveals Christmas from an officer’s perspective: http://www.kristineace.com/2011/12/walking-the-bethlehem-beat-2/

I’ll close this week’s “Cop’s Christmas” Newsletter with the following from Dr. Michael Youseff in a devotional he entitled, The Reason We Say "Merry Christmas!"


Today, there are professing Christians who believe that being a good person is the path to salvation. They do not feel like they need salvation because their sins are nominal. It is enough that they attend church and have never committed "major" sins. They are perishing as they believe a lie.

The Bible says that every one of the six billion people living today was born with sin. This sin was passed along to us genetically from Adam and Eve--the root of a sin system that exists in every person. Like Adam and Eve, we want to do things our way. We want to stay in charge of our lives while paying God lip service. We justify our sin and minimize its consequences. We hide from God and others in our shame. Instead of confessing our sin and turning to a loving God for deliverance, we cling to the bitter roots of the poisonous fruit of sin and we perish in that sin.

God sent His Son Jesus to deliver us from all our sins. God knows we cannot do this through our own works or devices. We can only be made perfect and whole through faith in the finished work of our sinless Savior, Jesus Christ.

At Christmas, we celebrate the Savior's birth. The perfect, sinless Son of God came from heaven, lived the most difficult of lives, and died on the cross. He shed His blood and rose again on the third day to prove His power over death and sin.

We say, "Merry Christmas" because we know that our sins--past, present, and future--are all forgiven when we come to Jesus Christ. His birth, death, and resurrection have brought us peace with God as His plan of redemption has shown goodwill toward men. It is a gift we celebrate, not just at Christmas, but every day of our lives.

Prayer: Father, thank You that every time I say the words, "Merry Christmas," I am reminded of what You did for me and for Your gift to the world. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Merry CHRISTmas indeed, my brothers and sisters!