"Moses the Cop," the Newtown Shooting and More: The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry Newsletter

This week's newsletter and law enforcement Bible study has gone out to our subscribers but if you're not already on the email distribution list (its FREE to sign up), here it is again -- just click on  "Moses the Cop."  Since I found a few typos (I'm often up late finishing so typos will creep in -- my apologies past, present and future), I've reposted the study below.

While I mentioned it the newsletter, let's continue be in prayer for all those affected by the Newtown school shooting. Beyond that, be in prayer for the families and colleagues of our brethren have have died in the line of duty in the last year and over the last few days in particular, including but by no means limited to those of the two Topeka, Kansas officers who were slain yesterday.  This Christmas will not be a very joyous time for those who have lost loved ones in these horrific acts of evil.

With these events in mind, I am among the many believers who are convinced we are truly in the "last days" (click on APOLOGETICS and scroll down to articles under "THE END TIMES (LAST DAYS)" for more).   Are you ready?  "Last days" aside, are you sure about where YOU would spend eternity should one of these "events" come your way today?  You can and should be!  Just swing "eyes left" to the links under Know God? AKA True "Officer Safety" right here on this website. 

I"ll be teaching a truly warrior-relevant Christmas message this Thursday (12/20/12) at Calvary South Denver in Littleton.  Please join us if you're in the area but, if not, I'll of course post a full recap in next week's "Christmas Newsletter."   Stay tuned!

Let's take a moment to hug our loved ones before heading out to our next shift. 


Profession-Relevant Bible Study:  Moses the Cop -- Building a Biblical Servant Leader


Exodus 3, 4 and 18

Moses as a "cop?" Absolutely! If we define a "cop" (peace officer) as one who serves, leads, protects and enforces the law, then Moses was a perfect fit for that title and commission. That said, Moses was, like us, someone who had to be molded to the calling and mission God had given Him -- and molded He was!

From the life and ministry of Moses, God provides us with a number of fundamental principles of servant-leadership, including but not limited to:

(1) The principle of delegation. With God's help, Moses came to recognize that he had to DELEGATE before he burned out trying to do everything on his own (see Exodus 18).  This passage also reveals that Moses was willing to accept wise advice from those he trusted and respected.  Are you?

(2) The principle of stewardship, as Moses recognized that his leadership was a gift from God who empowered him to do all that our Lord asked of him.

(3) Moses practiced and modeled the principles of submission and obedience to God (Exodus 3)

Secondly, God gave Moses both a weapon and a symbol of biblical servant-leadership that we can relate to as cops: his staff (Exodus 4). Note that a shepherd would use his staff as a weapon for both personal protection and to fend off the wolves that would otherwise feast on the sheep with impunity.

On this, Os Hillman writes, "When Moses was called by God from his forty years in the desert to lead the people out of Egypt, God first changed his paradigm about his shepherd's staff which represented his work life as a shepherd. God told him He was going to perform miracles through his staff (Exodus 4:17)."

As He did in Moses' life as a shepherd, God will often "break" our "staff," or our vocation, in order to reshape and re-commission us. The purpose of the breaking is not to destroy us, but to bring us to a place of willingness to lay down our vocations so that God can use them for His purposes. The breaking prepares our heart for the new calling. God required Moses to lay down his staff in order for him to see it as something that had power.

God was instructing Moses to lay down that which represented his life and calling, so that He could transform it and raise it up for His purposes. Once Moses laid his staff down and then took it back up, a significant change took place. It was no longer his lowly shepherd's staff; it was the "staff of God."

God's staff has power. After Moses' staff became God's, it was used as the instrument of deliverance and transformation for the people of God. It delivered people out of the slavery of Egypt through one of the most dramatic miracles of all time -- the parting of the Red Sea (see Exodus 14:16). Moses' staff was used by God to transform a people from slavery to freedom and was used to demonstrate his God-given authority.

How about you? Are you willing for God to use your "staff" to bring a people out of bondage? To be an instrument of God to serve and protect not only in law enforcement but also our families, churches, etc.? Ask God to empower you to do just that...then watch and see what happens when you live and serve radically for Him.   Amen!