A Biblical Approach to Law Enforcement Leadership

Dear Servant-Warriors:

What an incredibly busy summer I’m having – and no free days (or nights for that matter) in sight. Thankfully, our heavenly Captain has the helm. That said, here is this week’s newsletter…

Right off, don’t forget (for our locals/visitors), there is NO MEETING tonight as a number of us will be providing protective services for the Joel Rosenberg presentation at Calvary South Denver in Littleton. In addition to being an award-winning/best-selling author, Joel is also a “must-see” speaker. His presentation tonight supports his parents’ ministry – Ministry Architecture. See http://www.calvarycsd.org/, http://www.ministryarchitecture.com/, and/or http://www.joelrosenberg.com/ for more. Hope to see you there.

Speaking of meetings and services, a number of those who attend our weekly "cop church" services (aka "meetings") have also begun attending Calvary South Denver's unique Tuesday Night Dialogue -- aka "TND" (the "dialogue" is with God). Our own Matt Wallenburg has been exceedingly faithful in dragging along a young ICE Agent (Lee) to our meetings for over a year now and to TND of late. Lee is a deep thinker and something of a skeptic who firmly resisted coming to Christ. Well, Tuesday night Lee finally said "yes" to Jesus!!! Praise God Almighty!! I'll have more on this in next week's newsletter...but please join me in welcoming Lee into the fold. The entire host of Heaven is in celebration!

Our next local meeting will be August 5th. Make sure to also check the updated July 27th post on our website – http://www.thecenturionlawenforcementministry.org/ -- for the latest prayer requests, late-breaking announcements, and meeting schedule. Check back frequently!

MESSAGE RECAP:

Last week I taught our latest lesson in Christian leadership as it applies to our lives as a whole and to the law enforcement profession in particular. The focus of our discussion was the concept of biblical servant-leadership and how that concept applies to the law enforcement profession. In truth, God’s word (the Bible) contains a veritable treasure trove of applicable leadership principles.

So how is biblical leadership different from the world’s standard? The primary difference lies with the word “servant.” Jesus urged his followers to be servants first. He said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28; see also Matthew 23:11-12 and Mark 10:42-45)

Jesus washed the feet of his disciples as an example of the way in which we are to serve each other (John 13: 12-15). God also tells us in Philippians 2:1-7, "Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the spirit, any affection or mercy, complete my joy and be of the same mind, by having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one purpose. Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity each of you should in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave1 by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death-even the death of the cross!" (The NET Bible.)

Secondly, it is important to point out that Christian servant-leadership is not based on any inherent or acquired authority. Rather, Christian leaders must see themselves as mere instruments of Christ and doing all in His name (Matthew 16: 18-19, 18:18-20, 28:18-20; John 20:21-23).

So what does it mean to act in the name of Christ? Clearly, only when we act according the “mind of Christ” do we act with His authority. However, we must also remember that this authority is NOT about power or position but rather about a life modeled after that of Jesus Christ, Who lived for the express purpose of serving others.

How does one fully adopt this kind of radically different leadership philosophy? The answer is that we must embrace a thoroughly biblical, Christian worldview. What is that? Greg Laurie provides a very succinct answer when he said, “So what is a Christian worldview? Simply put, there is a living God, and He has revealed himself in Scripture. Therefore as Christians, we believe that we can find absolute truth from the Bible, regardless of what is politically correct, regardless of what we feel is right or not right. We base our beliefs on what the Bible teaches. That is what it means to have a Christian worldview.”

Ergo, that very same worldview must be applied to the manner in which we serve (lead) in law enforcement, and the only way we can effectively do that is by KNOWING the Author of the Book on which our worldview is based. How can we “know” Him? By turning from our sin and trusting Christ as Savior and Lord of our lives. It is ONLY though that personal relationship and the study of His word that we can have the “mind of Christ.”

The negative morale issues in our profession are less about what we deal with on the street than they are about the internal stresses we deal with from within due to poor leadership. Let’s seek to radically change our God-ordained profession from within by being the radical servant-leaders He has called us to be. By doing so, we'll also draw other unbelievers and "fence-riders" into the fold.

ANNOUNCEMENTS!

As always, the latest prayer requests, meeting schedules and announcements are posted on the website. Check back frequently.

-- The 1st Annual Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry BBQ is set for August 14th at our place in Highlands Ranch. Contact me via email for further or – better yet – attend our next (Aug. 5th) meeting for complete details.

-- I had the honor of giving the closing prayer in Fairplay last Sunday morning during the “Cowboy Church” service that is a big part of our annual Burro Days celebration – in full uniform and (praise God) no one trying to prevent me from praying in Jesus Name! I’ll have more on this and Singer (TX) Pastor Jack Blease in next week’s newsletter.

-- Our brother Chris Dewey continues to amaze (or more correctly, it is our Lord who amazes)! See the July 27th update on our website for further.

-- Tonia Harris, the widow of slain Sandoval County (NM) Sgt. Joe Harris, will be attending Calvary South Denver this Sunday! I’ll fill you in on our meeting next week. The pic of Joe standing in front of one of the lions at the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, DC is posted on our website (scroll down). It has been just over one year since Joe was shot and killed in the line of duty while working an assignment in the mountains east of Albuquerque. Please keep Tonia and their family in prayer.

-- Pray for me as I do yet another wedding this Saturday morning.

-- The 2010 Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers (FCPO) National Conference is set for September 10-12 in Gulfport, MS. See http://www.fcpo.org/ for details, cool video, and more. I’m scheduled to attend and hope you will consider joining us as well.

-- Ten-Four Ministry’s Capt. Travis Yates (Tulsa PD) has a new radio show called “Centurion Radio” and Travis has asked me to be his guest on August 13th. See http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ten-four-ministries for more -- and stay tuned for further next week.

-- Let’s keep our brothers and sisters in Arizona and NC in prayer – see http://www.odmp.org/ and http://www.policelink.com/ for the latest “Officer Down” news.

More in next week’s newsletter and on the website – STAY TUNED!!

National Day of Prayer & National Police Week Preview

Greetings Fellow Servant-Warriors:

First off (for our locals and visitors), we’re “on” for this week’s profession-relevant Bible study (see schedule below). Inasmuch as this Thursday is the National Day of Prayer (we’ll honour our Lord in prayer regardless of the flawed lower court ruling and related issues), I’ll be teaching a message that directly applies to us in law enforcement and we’ll have a special time of prayer for both our profession and our country. Invite a colleague and join us for a powerful evening of warrior-fellowship and the sharing of God’s word.

One area of discussion will be whether or not we (law enforcement) are “at war” given the current issues we face as a profession. Check out this secular article on the subject: http://www.policeone.com/active-shooter/articles/1971738-Are-Americas-officers-at-war/.

To recap last week’s study, our own Dep. Art Briles shared a message that contrasted portions of the Miranda advisal with our walk as Christian officers (especially as it relates to the “power of the tongue”). The scriptural context was derived primarily from Psalms and Proverbs. Take the time to study the following and see if you can discover how they relate to the Miranda rights:

(1) Keeping silent: Psalm 34:16-17; Psalm 56:8-13; Proverbs 2:1-9

(2) Anything you say can and will be used against you… (What you say and what comes out of your mouth can either bring life or death): Psalm 10:1-11; 12:3; 34:13; 37:30; Proverbs 10:31; 12:19; 18:21.


Updated MEETING SCHEDULE:

-- Thursday, May 6, 2010: special “National Day of Prayer” meeting and Bible study. Calvary South Denver (www.CalvaryCSD.org for directions), Room #6, 1900 hours.

-- Thursday, May 13, 2010 -- same time/place: Retired DPD officer, chaplain and pastor Manny Hays will be our guest speaker.

-- Thursday, May 20, 2010 -- same time/place. OMG expert and veteran officer Jim Wattles (of History Channel’s Gangland fame) will be our guest speaker.

-- Thursday, May 27, 2010 – same time/place.


NATIONAL POLICE/National Law Enforcement Memorial WEEK Preview:

As most of you should be aware, National Police Week 2010 (http://www.nationalpoliceweek.com/) is set for May 9-15. I had hoped to be in DC for some of the events at the Memorial but it will have to wait another year as I’ll be spending much of that time in the hospital recovering from a long-overdue procedure to correct my decrepit hip caused by way too many years of “wrestling with God” (see Genesis 32:24-32) and a plethora of athletic and profession-related “abuse.”

Speaking of NPW: Law Enforcement United Team NM (6 riders) leaves for the long ride this Thurs. at 6:05 AM. The long ride (800 miles) will begin on Sat from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick Georgia and will end in Chesapeake VA on May 8th. The rest of the team (2 riders) will meet us on the 8th and we will all ride the remaining 250 miles to DC starting on the 10th to arrive on the 12th meeting Tonia Harris (see below) and Ally for the Law Enforcement Memorial Week events! You can follow our progress and view pics at our Facebook page linked below. Please pray for us those we ride with and the families of fallen officers who we will be ministering to along the way. Thanks you all who gave to make this fundraising ride possible and all who have helped us train. See
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Law-Enforcement-United-Team-NM/270864113563

Also out just in time for NPW: New FCPO Video! Check it out (great job) -- http://blutube.policeone.com/Media/5668-Fellowship-of-Christian-Peace-Officers/.

And finally this from a colleague in Great Britain: Minister-turned-police officer (for Christian officers, part of our ministry should in fact be our work) -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebE4XVDOxgM.


PRAYER REQUESTS:

(1) Praise Report! Little Tayler Ellison (5 y.o. daughter of Englewood PD Officer Shane Ellison) had a very clean MRI and continues to be cancer free! Keep the Ellison family in prayer as they are expecting a new addition in about 13 weeks.

(2) Officers Down: Let’s be in prayer for our Detroit PD colleagues who were wounded in the shooting yesterday morning (1 dead, 4 wounded) as well as the family of our brother who “gave all.” See http://connect.lawofficer.com/forum/topics/detroit-officer-killed-4.
It has been a vicious last few days for us in general. See http://www.odmp.org/ for the latest – pray for the families and colleagues of our fallen brethren.

(3) FBI agent John Wills asks that we be in prayer for his 4 y.o. granddaughter who is experiencing unexplained seizures and passed out the other day. Pray for healing and for the doctors who are treating her.

(4) Pray for me reference my upcoming surgery (May 12th).

(5) On the subject of poor leadership “at the top,” I’ve been in contact with friends of Tonia Harris, widow of Sandoval County S.O. Deputy Joe Harris who was killed in the LOD last year. The following is just one example of poor leadership in that hurting agency. Please keep Tonia and the men/women of the SCSO in your prayers and for a repentant change to godly servant-leadership from Sheriff Trujillo. http://www.koat.com/news/23130579/detail.html.
My many contacts there tell me that this is just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to issues with that agency. Appalling. I've posted a photo of Joe at that National Police Memorial in DC on our website.

(6) Please be in prayer for our colleagues in Arizona as they deal with the fallout of that state’s righteous decision to begin enforcing the immigration laws already on the books at the federal level. Pray also for the full recovery of Pinal County S.O. Deputy Louie Puroll who was reportedly shot by illegal aliens during a traffic contact last Friday.

(7) Finally, please be in prayer for a colleague in NM who recently suffered a minor heart attack. Our brother covets our prayers as he makes some much-needed lifestyle changes.

Let’s lead (serve) biblically! Stay safe and vigilant, my brother and sisters.