From Courage, 1894
By Charles Wagner

Steadfastness is the indispensable quality of every man who one day does not wish to be obliged to say: “I have wasted my life.”

A man should not incessantly change with every impression of the moment, but should remain steadfast when he has once determined upon what is right. Of what use are the flowers if they do not produce fruits, and of good ideas if they are not transmuted into deeds? We must encourage stability, habituate ourselves to remain constant, and when we are sure that we are right, must fortify ourselves against invasion. Do not let criticisms or attacks disturb you.

Nothing is so difficult as to remain faithful. At each step of the way outside influences are brought to bear upon us to make us deviate or retrograde. And if there were only difficulties from without, it would not matter so much; but there are those from within. Our dispositions vacillate. We promise one thing with the best intentions in the world; but when the time comes to keep it, everything is changed–the circumstances, men, ourselves; and what duty demands of us seems so different from what we had foreseen, that we hesitate. Those who will fulfill on a rainy day a promise which they have made on a sunny one, are few and far between.

And so we go on casting our hearts to the four winds, giving it and taking it back again, breaking with our past, separating ourselves from ourselves, so to speak. And when we look behind, we no longer recognize ourselves. We see ourselves in the days that are past as a stranger, or rather as several strangers.

There is nothing like a steadfast man, one in whom you can have confidence, one who is found at his post, who arrives punctually, and who can be trusted when you rely on him. He is worth his weight in gold. You can take your bearings from him, because he is sure to be where he ought to be, and nowhere else. The majority of individuals, on the contrary, are sure to be anywhere but where they ought to be. You have only to take them into your calculations to be deceived. Some of them are changeable from weakness of character; they cannot resist attacks, insinuations, and, above all, cannot remain faithful to a lost cause. A defeat in their eyes is a demonstration of the fact that their adversary was right and that they were wrong. When they see their side fail, instead of closing up the ranks, they go over to the enemy. These are the men who are always found on the winning side, and not in their hearts would be found the courageous device: Victrix causa diis placuit, sed victa Catoni.

A profound duplicity, a discrepancy between words and deeds, between appearance and reality, a sort of moral dilettantism which makes us according to the hour sincere or hypocritical, brave or cowardly, honest or unscrupulous–this is the disease which consumes us. What moral force can germinate and grow under these conditions? We must again become men who have only one principle, one word, one work, one love; in a word, men with a sense of duty. This is the source of power. And without this there is only the phantom of a man, the unstable sand, and hollow reed which bends beneath every breath. Be faithful; this is the changeless northern star which will guide you through the vicissitudes of life, through doubts and discouragements, and even mistakes.

I would add that indeed we do have a duty. A duty to delight in God for he is our one true Word, our sufficient Worker and our first Love.

The process by which a person has the civilian shaken out of them and the cop put in is called the field training program. A new probationer will spend four months with field training officers learning how to do the job. The FTO’s are officers within the department that have volunteered to train in these new probationers. The field training program is divided into four phases in which this probationer continues to assume more and more of the work load. Initially he will observe and study the FTO throughout the shift. By the fourth phase (also known as the Shadow Phase) the FTO will be in plain clothes and will evaluate the probationer on his ability to handle calls as if he was alone.

I went through field training 5 1/2 years ago yet I can clearly remember those days. It was a stress-inducing, mind-scrambling time in which I lost 10 pounds. Each night I would go home with a head-ache and homework. Field training is designed to teach a person to look at the streets as a cop should. The officer has to have the ability to drive a squad car 100 mph, listen to dispatch give out important information and navigate to an address. The officer has to have the ability to communicate effectively and know how to deal with all different kinds of people. It is a game of multi-tasking and communication with evolving rules.

Each night the probationer is evaluated on 10 categories of performance. These are categories critical for the successful development of a probationer to become a cop.

1. Interpersonal Relationships- Someone once said that to be a good cop you must be able to talk a dog off a meat truck without getting bit. Communication is such a big part of this job and was an area I had to develop in quickly. To see a cop work a liar over so well that he can’t remember what lie he just told is a thing of beauty. The tv show Southland has many realistic and hilarious examples of this.

2. Geography/ Orientation- For the probationer, geography isn’t just knowing where he is but knowing what street he just passed. It is about knowing what county road is coming up in the next two miles and being able to tell the difference between a township road, a municipal street and state-aid county road. Its knowing the 450 square miles of his jurisdiction better than anyone else. One of the most difficult things to do is to get a high priority, in progress call and have to pull the squad over and find directions to it. The mind must be able to recognize the difference between streets and avenues, Basswood Road and Basswood Road West and know when county road 9 changes from Oasis Road to Sunrise Road to Galaxy Avenue and finally Falcon Avenue. The mind must be able to process and retain this information while a serious load of adrenaline is being dumped into the brain.

3. Motor Vehicle Operation- Can the probationer drive fast while running license plates and talking on the radio? Multi-tasking is the big thing here and certain tasks have to be done 5,000 times before they become as simple as breathing. For example a traffic stop involves many things over the course of 20 seconds. The cop must recognize the violation, find a location to stop the car, give dispatch the location and license plate, look for movement inside the vehicle, run the license plate and process that information, and active the emergency lights; takedown lights; arrowstick and spotlight.

4. Electronic Communication- Talking on the radio to dispatch and other squads is a surprising skill to develop. One wouldn’t think it to be that difficult until the microphone is keyed up and the mind goes blank as to what to say. Many a new cop has humbly aired his newness by saying something dumb on the radio for many agencies to hear and laugh about.

5. Directed Patrol Strategies- A cop needs to know his jurisdiction and know what areas crimes are happening in. The shift is not about driving aimlessly around in circles looking for a drunk driver or speeder. A competent cop will direct his patrols based on where the problems have been. For that to happen he must pay attention to Attempt to Locates, BOLO’s, Incident Reports, and emails for extra patrol requests.

…to be continued

My story is that three decades ago my mother was facing pressure to have an abortion. I was the baby. I am forever grateful to her for not going down that deathly path, but for choosing to give me the opportunity to live life. Because of that decision I have had the ability to experience childhood, go through school, work a job, get married and start my own family.

I thought hard about this today for the first time after listening to Pastor Daniel’s sermon. I called my mom this evening and thanked her for choosing life. Tears flowed. It was a choice that was drenched in God’s grace. She was not a Christian and could have decided on having an abortion. Thirty years ago she was in a lonely, difficult point of her life. Today I have a 2 year old boy and 3 month old girl that bring her great joy. I believe her life would have gone a very different and painful route if she would have chosen an abortion. Most of all her decision brought glory to God for putting life above convenience.

This is a vivid, raw and in-your-face trailer for a video coming out in March about the persecuted church.  The Apostle Paul asked Christians not to forget his chains when he was being persecuted and we should not forget our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being beaten all the day along for daring to trust in Christ alone.

Congregations must see themselves as local launching pads for the essential task of global mission, rather than as local institutions where foreign ministry is an optional add-on.

Missions is not optional; it is essential. The church is the vehicle by which God has designed missions to happen.

Flying In The Sky

Chorus: Flying in the sky, it takes you high/ To new adventures, you never soar/ It’s very breath, God gives to you/ So you can make it, beyond the sky.

Verse: Walking in the narrow path, there are obstacles/ It can be a stepping stone or a stumbling block./ Hard pressed on every side, trials of dying to one’s self/ Becoming more like HIm, His light becoming more bright./ Being built upon the stone, is walking upon high/ Be alert in the path, the devil is there to try you./ Walk by faith not by sight, keep the focus on the hope/ God has made a way for you to escape.

Verse: In this hope I see, two people flying and twirling/ In the air God is making, the two into one./ Fashioned in God’s light, their hands in God’s hands/ Mounting up on eagles wings, God will never let you fall/

Talk: Pilgrims progress in an adventure/ Travling in deep dark valley paths./ But walking high are bright mountain roads/ A privilege that anyone is blessed to see.

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

I concur with Lewis but would take one exception. I would replace a cup of tea with a cup of good, strong coffee.

The Beatitudes all begin with “Blessed are…” They are called “beatitudes” from Latin beatus, “blessed, happy”. These short statements summarize the essence of the Sermon on the Mount.

More than a temporary or circumstantial feeling of happiness, this is a state of well-being in relationship to God that belongs to those who respond to Jesus’ ministry. The poor in spirit are those who recognize they are in need of God’s help. theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It belongs to those who confess their spiritual bankruptcy. 

The Beatitudes serve as a summary to what Jesus is about to launch into across the next three chapters. The Sermon on the Mount contains amazing teaching by Jesus that left people in awe at the end. For the one who seeks after God through these teachings; that person will find a well of happiness that no other experience can match.

The three biggest assumptions are addressed right away in the 17 minute video:

1. Civilians commonly expect “these events to defy the laws of physics.”
2. Officers are expected to “defy the limits of human performance” by having “perfect memories and perfect decision-making, when research clearly shows” that to be impossible.
3. “The judgement of police officers is often based on myths, assumptions, and personal opinions that may not necessarily be true.”

I was made aware of this video from a website called Force Science Institute. You can view the video on YouTube or watch it below.

Community: Taking your small group off life support by Brad House

Let The Nations Be Glad by John Piper

The Pastor as Scholar and The Scholar as Pastor by John Piper and D.A. Carson

Redemption by Mike Wilkerson

Money by Jamie Munson

Bloodlines by John Piper

What Is The Mission of The Church? by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert

A Praying Life by Paul Miller

Generous Justice by Tim Keller

The Pleasures of God by John Piper

Mettle by Laurence Miller