Can Those That Commit Suicide Go To Heaven?

2010 Book of the Year: The Kingdom Leadership Institute Manual

Each year our ministry chooses a book that has had the most impact on us. Previous winners have included "Family Driven Faith" by Voddie Baucham and "Adopted For Life" by Russell Moore.

This years selection is a lesser known title but that does not diminish its importance. The Kingdom Leadership Institute Manual, by Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas, is a powerful, Gospel Centered book.

Here is how William J. Federer described it:

"Life is not a playground. It is a war zonea clash of worldviews competing for the souls of men and the destiny of nations. Fundamentally, the crisis of our time is one of leadership. The KLI Manual: Raising Up Leaders a Time Like This Demands is a spiritual field manual designed to train Christian leaders who will not shrink back in the day of battle. Are you concerned for this generation, adrift on a sea of turmoil with no purpose, vision, or sense of destiny? Do you yearn for God to replace their apathy, lethargy, and indifference with courage, vision, and a clarion call to vital service for King Jesus? The KLI Manual: Raising Up Leaders a Time Like This Demands will give you hope for a godly future. 'Rusty Thomas's passionate voice cries in the wilderness of America. His message carries a clarion call that challenges our young to advance the Christian faith and the liberty it secures for our nation."

We interviewed Rev. Thomas last week. You can listen to that passionate interview here.

We also want to give a copy of our 2010 Book of the Year away. Please make a comment on this post. We will select someone to send the book to on February 22, 2011.

You can always order the book and help support Rev. Thomas here.

Tactical Vest Giveaway

We recently outfitted the North Alabama Emergency Response Team with tactical vests. For additional information you can visit www.vestforlife.com.

Racine Police Participate in AOG Project

By now, you are likely familiar with one of our outreach projects, The Armor of God Project. As of February 3, 2011, this project has given away 1733 ballistic vests for free to law enforcement.

Our ministry and specifically those involved generally receive very positive feedback for the work involved but I want to take this time to be very clear about who gets the credit & glory.

Several individuals including one church (Calvary Baptist Church) donates each month to help us run this project which is almost all costs associated with the shipping of donations of vests and to the shipping of vests to individuals. It is through the generosity of them and the departments that give us vests that the credit should go to.

Those departments range from very small to large and this week we received one of our nicest donations from the Racine (Wisconsin) Police Department.



As you can see, the vests we received from Racine are still in their original boxes and most of them were new or like new. It was an incredible gesture by an agency that wants to help others.



It takes more than the agency and the financial donors. It takes someone in the agency that sees the need and has the passion to make it happen. For Racine P.D., it was Lt. Kurt Maurer who communicated with me several times and did an excellent job of preparing the vests for shipment. Two weeks ago, Officer Amy Taft, from Elmira P.D. (New York) not only sent us over 80 vests but also raised the money to ship them to us. It is just simply incredible to be a part of.

Now for the glory part. All of the glory goes to Jesus Christ. He and He alone is responsible for this project continuing and all of the glory goes to Him. Thank you Lord, for letting our small ministry to be a part of something so special.

Free Webinar: March 2, 2011

A few months back we began a training outreach called Warrior Missions. Our team of instructors would go to various locations, including overseas to train officers and present the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We have been looking for additional methods to use our vision in this outreach and we believe training webinars could be very beneficial. Through our relationship with Law Officer Magazine, Travis Yates (Director of Ten-Four Ministries) was asked to conduct a Webinar on March 2, 2011. This could be a model for many more to come. Please consider attending.

Drive to Survive: Training, Mindset & Policies that Enhance Safety

When: Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 2:00 PM (PST)

Register Here

Topic: Capt. Travis Yates, Law Officer’s 2008 Trainer of the Year, will examine the culture of law enforcement that allows—and sometimes even encourages—officers to drive beyond the threshold of what’s reasonable. He will then walk attendees through simple steps that will enhance the safety consciousness of their departments, including departmental policy. He will also review the importance of emphasizing not only skills but cognitive aspects in driver training, so officers will drive to survive.

Are You Amazed?

Dream On (For Eternity)

While this is an impressive video produced by ESPN, I couldn't help but think of the irony much of it displays. Many at the beginning of the video are now deceased. In their life, they achieved some of the greatest feats known to the sports world but the second they died, none of that mattered.

That day is coming for all of us (Hebrews 9:27) and when it does it won't matter if we were the greatest athlete or the best cop in an agency. It will only matter if you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. Do you know Him? I urge you to pursue that with the same vigor and energy the athletes in this video pursued their vocation.

Repent For The Glory of God

This type of music is not my favorite but I love the lyrics. You can download all of their music for free here.

11 Shot in 24 Hours: A Time To Evaluate

By now, many of you have heard of the unspeakable tragedy that law enforcement encountered in a 24 hour period this week. I want to put details to each one of these tragedies and give you an opportunity to pray for those involved and their families.

2 Kitsap County Deputies shot in Washington
Gunman opens fire in Detroit Precint, shooting four officers
Shooting leaves Oregon Officer Critical
Two St. Petersburg Officers Killed & U.S. Marshall injured
Indianapolis Officer Shot In Face. Expected To Die.


"I have never seen anything like it" stated Craig Floyd of the National Law Enforcement Memorial. There have been several well known writers explain the last 24hours and what we need to do as a profession to prevent this in the future.

Dave Smith says that we must develop a "Conspiracy of Safety" and Floyd stated that "we must do everything in our power to stop these senseless and heinous crimes against our law enforcement personnel."

I agree with all of that. It is absolutely true. We have lost 14 officers since January 1, 2011 and that trend must be stopped but as a Christian there is something much more pressing to consider.

A Christian Officer's Response
As a Christian Peace Officer, there should certainly be an effort to prevent line of duty deaths. We should be vigilant, safe and protect those around us but there is a much more pressing issue. One that makes the tragedy's between Sunday and Monday of this week seem like it never happened.

What are we doing to reach those around us with the Gospel?
If the first month of 2011 does not wake us up to the reality that death could be any minute, I'm not sure anything will. We must take an urgent approach to proclaiming the Gospel to those in our profession. Nothing else matters...period. You can spend days upon days of training to protect yourself and your co-workers in Officer Safety (and you should do that) but if you never have an effort to protect those around you in regards to "eternity", your efforts in the "here and now" are nothing more than a cruel, temporary effort to a path full of destruction and death (Matthew 7:13) to those around you.

Your efforts now will no doubt be seen as commendable but if you are a Christian and you are not faithfuilly proclaiming the Gospel to the same people you are trying to make safe than you are not only unfaithful...you are keeping the greatest survival secret ever given to man to yourself.

Why Aren't We Witnessing?
I think there is a pretty straightforward answer to this. Jesus tells us that if the world hates you, it hated Him first (John 15). We are told in 2 Timothy 3:12 that "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." If we are faithful in telling others about Christ (Matthew 28) than it will be uncomfortable. Trials and even persecution will come. You see, when we choose not too witness because it is not comfortable or we are afraid of the very words of Jesus Christ, we are loving the world more than we love Jesus. Jesus had something to say about that as well.

My good friend and Director of the Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry, Sgt. M.C. Williams, found out exactly how unpopular speaking about Christ and salvation was. Recently following a line of duty death, he questioned whether the dead officer knew the Lord and he was squarely blasted for doing so. Keep in mind, he did not do this in a disrespectful fashion or in an unloving manner. He simply proclaimed the truths of salvation and that it had nothing to do with someone's profession. The words of Jesus were true that day for M.C. and if you proclaim truths, rest assured they will be true for you but you must understand the alternative.

Nobody spoke more about hell in the New Testament than Jesus did. He used words like “outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12) and “gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13) and “torment” (Luke 16:23) and unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43) and eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46). It is, in His mind, eternal, conscious, and horrible. That makes the deaths of the nearly 19,000 officers killed in the line of duty throughout U.S. history, seem like nothing.

If you believe what Jesus said (and if you are saved, you believe every word), than that makes any consequences of sharing your faith seem like nothing.

The Struggle
Don't get me wrong. I don't write this as someone that proclaims the Gospel every chance I should. I don't and I mourn for the times I have not been obedient but let's not let the fact that we haven't done it in the past be an excuse to not do it in the future.

The good news is that there is information available today like no other time in history. There are resources for you like no other Christian Officer has ever had the opportunity to use. I realize you may not be able to personally speak to every officer around you but there are a wide range of things you can do to overcome that.

Resources
Let me encourage you to study and ensure that your Gospel Presentation is Biblical. I recommend The Gospel & Personal Evangelism (Mark Dever), Hells Best Kept Secret (Ray Comfort)and the School of Biblical Evangelism. Here is a resource that will be sent to you for free.

To specifically target law enforcement, our ministry has some excellent resources. I was able to give out a copy of Take Up The Shield to every peace officer in my agency and many others around the country have done the same. We offer this book at a 50% discount if you order 80. We also offer a Challenge Coin that proclaims the Gospel and if you want to utilize technology, send those around you a link to this Gospel Presentation and ask them what they think.

Maybe you are concerned that you can't share your faith at work. Then join Facebook, ask those around you to "friend" you and then proclaim the Gospel on your Facebook account or send all of them an e-mail when you are off duty. Or let our ministry witness to them. Send us an e-mail at: "Cross (AT) tenfourministries.org" with the address of the officer and we will send them a Gospel Tract along with a free Cross medal. Do the words of Jesus come true when we do that? Absolutely but it's ok because we are fully aware of the alternative to our heroes in uniform.

Servant Leadership on Centurion Radio

Our recent episode on Servant Leadership with Detective/Chaplain M.C. Williams has ben our most listened to episode since we began the Centurion Radio. Listen below to find out why.

AOG Vest Giveaway

Earlier this month we had the honor to give out 17 ballistic vests in Oklahoma. Here is the message that we were able to give to each officer in attendance. As of today, 1694 vests have been given away and the need remains great.

Is "Accept & Believe" Jesus Enough For Salvation?

2010 Line of Duty Deaths

Below, Ten-Four Ministry Board Member Dan Ward discusses the trend of traffic related deaths on NPR Radio.

A Merry Christmas

Challenge Coins Are Back

We just received a new order of our Challenge Coins. They are our most popular outreach tool and we wanted to give you a chance to get these before Christmas. If you use the below payment option, we will provide free shipping. Each coin is $10 and also contains a Gospel Tract. An order of 5 coins or more brings additional discounts. Order before Tuesday, December 21st, to guarantee Christmas delivery.

Quantity

1 Coin $10.00 2 Coins $20.00 3 Coins $30.00 4 Coins $40.00 5 Coins $45.00 6 Coins $50.00 7 Coins $55.00 8 Coins $60.00 9 Coins $65.00 10 Coins $70.00

Can We Trust The Bible?

Tactical Vests & The Gospel

God continues to bless us with the Armor of God Project and today was no exception. We travelled to Stillwater (OK) and met officers from an area agency that were in need of vests.

Upon issuing the vests, we had the opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Officers.

Take Up The Shield: Special Offer

We have decided to offer a set number of cases of our most popular book, Take Up The Shield for the lowest price ever.

When you purchase 80 books, you will get them at $5 each and free shipping. This is a great opportunity to give this wonderful book to your co-workers, friends and family. Order now for Christmas delivery. Shipping could take up to 14 days.

The Lakewood Ambush: One Year Later

On November 29, 2009, four Lakewood (WA) Officers were tragically killed in a coffee house. The pain is still very real for so many and the incident still impacts law enforcement across the country.

In the Providence of God, Louisiana Deputy Jason Johnson found himself at the funeral of the officers. He agreed to write an exclusive article detailing his experience here.

Deputy Johnson was featured on Centurion Radio to discuss the incident and how his agency supported his travel. You can listen to that episode here.



I was personally impacted by the tragedy. I became restless that evening and was unable to sleep. I recorded this audio discussing the incident.

Student Shows Appreciation to Police by Preaching

Marilyn Ee, a CSUN international student, has watched many cop shows, one of the earliest being “World’s Wildest Police Videos.”

Ee has had an interest in cops since she was 8 years old, she said. She doesn’t want to become a cop, she wants to minister to cops, she said.

Ee, who is a 23-year-old Christian from Malaysia, said that in March 2009, she met someone who was involved in a ministry for cops.

“When I found out about this ministry, I realized I could do something with this interest instead of just being interested and watch cop shows all day,” Ee said.

It’s the American cops that do good stuff, she said. They save lives, respond to accident scenes, and catch the bad guys. You don’t hear about the cops in Europe, the cops in Russia or in Malaysia, Ee added.

When Ee spots an officer who is not busy, not at an accident scene or is not pulling someone over, she tries to talk with that officer, she said.

“I try my best to muster up the courage to actually walk up to them, say hi, thank them for their services and basically appreciate them,” she said.

Each person has their own method for approaching officers. The friend that introduced her to the cop ministry is a more fatherly individual, Ee said.

“I can’t exactly follow his (friend’s) way,” Ee said. “I don’t have the same personality. I’m not the same age, so I’m going to have to find a different technique.”

When it comes to striking up a conversation with an officer, Ee said they’re really happy when someone comes up to them and is not swearing at them, yelling at them, or coming to them with a problem.

Ee added it is as simple as going right up to them and saying thank you for their services.

If she remembers or feels it is appropriate, she will offer the officers a book called “Take Up The Shield” by Tony Miano. Miano, who is a street cop, compares the uniform to the spiritual armor of God, as described in the Bible, she said.

“I’m not trying to convert anyone per say,” Ee said. “But I feel the book is good. It’s a blessing to me. I just want to bless them with it.”

One of Ee’s favorite parts about the ministry is how she constantly runs into the same officers one semester after another.

“It feels like I have a friendship with the people I admire,” Ee said.

Some people do not admire the police department because of some corrupted officers that do illegal deeds under the badge, Ee said.

“But, they’re still human,” Ee said. “Every other person does the things that they do. I am just as upset over brutality cases as I am appreciative of their services to the community.”

Ee said the police department does the same work as the fire department does (except in putting out fires).

“They save lives,” Ee said. “They respond to scenes. They’re taking rapists and killers off the streets. I think they deserve more appreciation than we give them.”

With concerns to expanding the ministry for cops, Ee said that she doesn’t know yet. She said there has to be more than what she’s currently doing.

“I mainly search for them to minister to them, but I would love to be a service to them and I do pray for them,” Ee said.

by: Rima Bek, Daily Sundial, Original Date: September 21, 2010
Photo credit: Rima Bek
Original Article