The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry: On Cops and Marriage: The Rob Parks Story (TCLEM Newsletter for Week of March 25, 2012)

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

On Cops and Marriage: The Rob Parks Story (TCLEM Newsletter for Week of March 25, 2012)

Veteran Denver PD Officer Rob Parks was our special guest speaker at last Thursday's Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry/FCPO-Denver "Cop Church" fellowship at Calvary South Denver in Littleton.

In the RECAP below, I've attempted to summarize Rob's presentation for all our readers throughout the country in the hope that you will prayerfully use/adapt these biblical principles to your own lives and devotions. We'll have Rob back again in the near future for "Part 2!"

As previously announced in last week's newsletter and here on our website (see schedules on left side), the is NO MEETING this Thursday (we typically take off the last Thursday of the month -- especially if we've got 5 of them in a given month)! That said, we'll be back at on Thursday, April 5th, at Calvary South Denver in Littleton. Stay tuned for more (next week's newsletter) and by all means read on for the RECAP, news and other announcements on the national level.

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Living a Life Worthy of a Cop's Calling

A number of recent events involving my fellow officers both here at home and across the country has served as a Holy Spirit-inspired prompt to share a brief devotion/reminder about both who we are in Christ (if we know Him as Lord and Savior) and as his ordained ministers for good and a terror against evil (Romans 13:1-4). Fellow servant-warriors, God has CALLED us to life a life worthy of the calling (Ephesians 4:1-6) both on and off duty. Are you leading others astray or into sin by your example? Are you leading others to Christ? Are you glorifying God in your work or are you a ROD ("retired on duty")? Are you spending time in fellowship with other believers ("church," Centurion Ministry and/or FCPO/POFCI fellowship)? Do you allow yourself to be held accountable by your brothers and sisters in Christ? Are you daily spending time in His Word (the Bible) and in prayer? Are you striving to be the godly father and husband our Lord has called/commanded you to be?

Rest assured, God is calling us to train like warriors and athletes in seeking/growing in our relationship (not religion) with Him (click on 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 for more on this).

My friends with the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry have an outstanding short study on the concept of living a life worthy of the calling that I highly recommend. Click on LIVE WORTHY OF YOUR CALLING and ask our loving Lord to help you do just that.

Retired LAPD officer and fellow Bible teacher Bill Rhetts has produced a great short video (under 4 minutes) that serves as an excellent great conclusion to this concept: When Christians Help Others to Sin.

Finally, if you have not yet made a decision for Christ (what it means to become a "Christian" -- a follower of "The Way"), let me again encourage you to do so today -- NOW -- as tomorrow is promised to no one and there are NO SECOND CHANCES if you pass away without being in a right-relationship with God in Christ. How? Go to the left side of this website and scroll down to the links under How Can I Be Saved (aka True "Officer Safety"). Feel free to contact me if you need help in making this all-important life-changing/life-saving eternal choice.
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Message RECAP: On Cops and Marriage -- The Officer Rob Parks Story

Denver PD Officer Rob Parks is an eleven-year veteran who not only understands God's call on his life in law enforcement but also has a heart for biblical marriages. Last Thursday Rob shared with us what I've called "Part 1" of what we hope to be a series on law enforcement marriage and family issues.

Rob shared part of his powerful testimony (certainly not always a "boy scout") and rightly pointed out that God is calling husbands to evangelize their wives and to take a stand against the "police culture" that makes it "cool" to "slam" our spouses in front of our fellow officers (marriage is often de-valued or not valued at all in the law enforcement culture). Rob added, "How we talk about our spouses at work and in front of the kids has a direct impact on our marriages." He also asked the questions, "How do you talk ABOUT your spouse?" and "How do you talk TO your spouse?"

Rob talked about the importance of "debriefing" with our spouses during which we can identify spiritual attacks on our marriages and prayerfully develop a biblical, tactical defense and response to those attacks (rest assured, the enemy -- Satan -- will do everything in his power to undermine biblical marriage).

Rob concluded his presentation with this statement and question: "As cops we are willing to take a bullet for our spouses but are we willing to LIVE for them?"

Officer Parks shared the following passages from God's Word that I strongly recommend you study and apply to your marriages:

On taming (controlling) the tongue:
James 3
Proverbs 18:21
Proverbs 12:18
Proverbs 18:6
Proverbs 21:23

Finally -- on sacrificially loving and serving one another: Ephesians 5:21-33.

Next week I'll post some additional points from Rob's presentation dealing with marital communication -- stay tuned!

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News, Prayer Requests & Announcements...

...are posted here on our website and updated regularly. This newsletter has also be re-posted on our Facebook pages (don't forget to "LIKE" and share with us there -- see the FB links on the left side of this website). That said, here are just a few more pressing announcements and a great short video from Ron Moore about praying for your friends and family who either don't know Christ as Savior and Lord or who do are in a backslidden state.

(1) Sgt. John Baker Golf Classic (A Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers national charity event)

(2) Cops Fighting Cancer Benefit

(3) How to Pray for your Unsaved Loved Ones

(4) TRUTH (formerly "Tuesday Night Dialogue") Retreat, April 13-15 in Estes Park, CO. The remaining slots are filling rapidly. EMAIL me ASAP if you're interested in attending this life-changing event held in one of America's most beautiful places. Diana and I serve in this powerful ministry and can't recommend it enough!

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Time to once again go "10-8" and Run to the Battle. Let's continue to stay battle focused and fully engaged in "the fight" while at the same time always training hard and exercising solid offficer safety in the field.

As always, feel free to CONTACT me if I can be of service.

Det. Sgt. & Chaplain M.C. Williams
Director, The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry
Vice President, Fellowship of Christiain Peace Officers - USA

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.