A Cop's Discouragement: TCLEM/FCPO-Denver Newsletter

Fellow Sheepdogs (LEOs, combat military personnel, etc.) & Supporters:

We had a great interactive discussion at last week's Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry/FCPO-Denver Bible study and fellowship ("Cop Church") meeting on the topic of signs (A Cop's Sign -- A Biblical Perspective). The recap is posted below and, as always, I encourage you to adapt it to your own studies and devotions.

This week (tonight, Thursday, February 16th) we'll be meeting at Calvary Chapel AURORA for our once-monthly foray to "western Kansas" (just kidding...:). We start at 7:00 PM in Room 138-139 just off the cafe (downstairs entrance. The Holy Spirit's leading and recent events have provided the impetus for this week's profession-relevant message on discouragement. Does that word resonate with you? Are you feeling discouraged today or in the past? A good many of those close to me have been dealing with it on a huge scale and our profession is rife with it. Why? What does God have to say on the subject and does He provide a way (THE way) out of it?

If you're in the Denver Metro area, bring your spouse/invite a colleague and we'll tackle these questions and more together tomorrow night in Aurora. I'll of course post a detailed recap for all our followers from around the world in next week's newsletter and here on our website and on Facebook as well so please stay tuned!
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Message RECAP: A Cop's Sign ("Looking for Signs in All the Wrong Places")

LEOs are particularly big on signs - both the physical ones and those that are spiritual in nature. Our work as peace officers revolves around enforcing the traffic signs posted on the roadways we patrol ("But officer, I didn't see the sign...!") and the directional "signs" found in our statute books and policy/procedure manuals. God's inerrant Word - the Bible - is certainly both a law book and P&P manual (and so much more) in that it provides directional and warning "signs" about how we are to live our lives. Much like the street and highway signage we enforce, God's "signs" as revealed in His Word are typically not "optional" but are almost always specific. Moreover, failing to heed the warnings of God's "signs" will incur penalties and consequences in much the same way as ignoring a "STOP" sign is likely to result in repercussions (everything from a warning or a citation all the way to serious injury and death).

What about the other kind of "signs" - the spiritual ones we often seem so insistent on seeking? We'll look at two specific passages of Scripture to answer this question.

The Greek word for sign is semeion (say-mi'-on) and means an indication, especially ceremonially or supernaturally; a miracle; a wonder. In Judges 6:36-40 God reveals Gideon seeking a sign -- a testing if you will -- through a fleece (a wool-covered sheepskin): Then Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said." And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, "Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew." And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Previously (read Judges 6-8 to understand the full context), God gave clear, verbal, face-to-face direction to Gideon by promising that He would deliver His people from their oppression (oppression being the direct consequence of failing to follow God's commands - aka SIN). Despite this clear direction, Gideon still insisted on a SIGN from God. Judges 6:17 reveals, If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. While God provided an overwhelmingly clear answer, Gideon insisted on even more signs before he finally believed and did what the Lord had commanding him to do. Is this how we should respond to God's clear direction as revealed to us today in His Word?

K.L. Younger remarks, "The fleece incidents are far from a model for the discernment of God's will. Gideon's problem is his lack of willingness to trust the Lord, to take Him at his word. Thus the fleece incidents are about Gideon's unbelief and stubbornness in response to God's call. In such cases, God is not obligated to respond, and if he does, it is only by grace. Those who use this passage as a means of discerning God's will are simply misapplying Scripture."

Herbert Wolf comments, "...Gideon's method was to make purely arbitrary demands of God, and insist on immediate guidance. Such an approach can hardly be recommended for Christians today."

Our loving Father provides a number of life-lessons for us through Gideon's insistence on seeking signs:

(1) Despite our weak faith, God is incredibly loving, gracious and patient with us. Gideon knew he was treading on dangerous ground and was trying God's patience by asking for new and repeated signs. Clearly, God's instruction to us is that Gideon's insistence on signs should not serve as a model for our own behavior today.

(2) Those seeking signs are exhibiting a weak and immature faith and usually won't be convinced by the signs anyway!

As Christians, we have two powerful tools that Gideon lacked:

(1) Today we have the complete and wholly trustworthy Word of God (The Bible) which instructs us that ALL scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). In short, His Word is all we need to be "thoroughly equipped" for everything life throws at us and we do not need experiential proof (signs, voices, miracles) to verify what He has already told us to do.

(2) Unlike Gideon, EVERY true Christian has the Holy Spirit. Prior to Pentecost, believers had only the Old Testament and were directed externally by God's providential hand but now we have both His written Word (Bible) AND His indwelling presence that together provide overwhelmingly clear direction and guidance for our lives.

Example/Application:

A "Christian" officer falls for a young woman and they consider living together. The officer knows that God clearly forbids this in His Word (www.gotquestions.org/live-together.html) but he "feels" so "in love," so attracted (lust) to her that he seeks another "sign" from the Lord that will give them "special permission" to move in together or otherwise engage in pre-marital sex (ANY sex outside of marriage -- biblical marriage being between a man and a woman ONLY). Moreover, the Holy Spirit is clearly dealing with the officer's conscience on this issue(s). Inasmuch as God has graciously given the Christian both His Word and His Spirit, should the officer still expect a sign to verify what God has already told him to do? Would the officer believe the sign anyway? In fact, he might even continue to sinfully seek additional signs until he somehow obtains the answer he wants! Rest assured that any "answer" or "feeling" received outside of God's inerrant Word as revealed in the Bible will NOT be from Him regardless of how "good" or "right" it might FEEL at the time! Rather, the Bible serves as a billboard-size "DANGER AHEAD" sign for that kind of bogus "answer."

Again, is seeking this kind of sign a valid and spiritually-acceptable method of determining God's will? Was Gideon right to keep asking for signs and may we do the same today? Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 12:38-42 ("The Sign of Jonah") that just the opposite is true and that "A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah" (Matthew 16:4). Similarly, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 22-23, Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, while John tells us in John 12:37, Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.

Again, today we have the whole canon of Scripture to teach and guide us. It reveals that instead of seeking signs, God is calling us to daily spend time with Him (Bible study, prayer), to trust Him, and to be obedient and faithful to His Word. Finally, God has already lovingly given us the ultimate "Sign" in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. Turn (repent) today from your sin and accept the ultimate "Sign" as your true Lord and Savior.

See also:
http://www.gotquestions.org/signs-and-wonders.html
http://www.gotquestions.org/prayer-fleece.html
http://www.gotquestions.org/counterfeit-miracles.html

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News, Announcements & Links

(1) Next Week's Study (Feb. 23rd): A Life of Valor -- a study I based loosely on the new film Act of Valor (from God's persective, of course). Please join us at Calvary South Denver in Littleton starting at 7 PM. More in next week's newsletter!

(2) OFFICER NEEDS ASSISTANCE! Fairplay (CO) PD Chief Dave Gottschalk forwarded the following short video link to me concerning PTSD, suicide and other related issues we are facing today in our profession. Take a few minutes to check it out at http://vimeo.com/26689571 (Code 9, Officer Needs Assistance!).

(2) I've posted the latest PRAYER REQUESTS, announcements, local meeting schedules, new links and resources, and more here on our website. Check back frequently!

Well this should be more than enough for you to digest this week. Please let me know what you think of the new format as well as your thoughts, input and ideas about how we can best encourage and support you in your walk as Christian servant-warriors, spouses and parents.

Finally, for that person who has yet to make a decision for Christ, let me again encourage you to come to Him today. How? Scroll down the left side of this website to the section marked True "Officer Safety" (How Can I Be Saved?), and check out the links there. Again, we will never be "good enough" to "earn" or otherwise "badge" our way into Heaven. Rather, it is ONLY through being in right relationship with God in Christ that we will find true peace and joy in this life and the assurance of an eternal and glorious future with Him in the next. Don't delay -- tomorrow may very well be too late and there are NO second chances once this life ends.

Be safe but BOLD in Christ!

Det. Sgt. and Chaplain M.C. Williams
National Board VP, Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers
Director, The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry