Alter Call

If you are a fan of Christian literature, you will recognize the names C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. You probably know that Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia and Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings. You may not know that both men were professors and close friends at Oxford University in 1931. It was September of that year when Lewis converted to Christianity. He wrote that Tolkien and Professor Hugo Dyson, “were the immediate human causes of my conversion.” Tolkien and Dyson planted the seeds on a late night walks on the Oxford campus. Lewis would accept Christ as his Lord and Savior during a motorcycle ride to a zoo! (The Question of God, Dr. Armond M Nicholi, Jr., 2002, pages 91-92)  

An alter call does not have to be during an evangelism meeting, after Sunday service or at church summer camp. The alter call can be anywhere. I have had the privilege of being the “immediate human cause” of praying with people to accept Christ in my living room, the weight room of a police department, in front of a court house and even in a police car. The key is to be ready to ask and pray when the Holy Spirit prompts your heart to speak. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6 to put on the full armor of God. This includes, “your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”(v. 15) Readiness means you are trained to act.

On one particular day, the date escapes me, I was working as a day watch patrol officer and got assigned a reserve officer partner. Chris was a good guy and I could trust him to make good decisions as a backup officer. We would work together for 10 hours. Day watch was not particularly busy and we had some time to chat as we drove around out beat. The conversation turned to faith, imagine that! We got around to talking about the doctrine of creation in between a drunk in public arrest, writing speeding tickets and car burglary investigations. It turned out that what held Chris back from accepting Christ as his Lord and Savior was evolution versus creationism.

“I believe in God,” he told me, “I just believe he created the world through evolution.”

“So the only thing holding you back from becoming a Christian is that you want to believe God created the world through evolution?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Ok, I will agree with you that God created the world through evolution. The key is that God created the world. Do you want to pray to accept Jesus?”

“Ok.”

I pulled the car to the curb and Chris became a Christian.

We all have opportunities to be the immediate human cause of someone’s conversion.  The alter call might be on a motorcycle ride to the zoo, on the way to jail with a drunk in public arrest or anywhere the Spirit moves a lost soul to respond to the free gift of salvation. You don’t have to be an Oxford professor or a police officer. You can ask for the world, they can say yes!

JDLR

There are cops that always seem to be in the right place at the right time. Over time, I learned that it was more about reading people and acting on hunches. The secret: JDLR. Just don’t look right.

Police text books might define it as reasonable suspicion. Not enough to detain or arrest someone, but enough to ask a question or two. My rule, “You can ask for the world, people can say no.”

One of my better JDLR moments happened when I was sitting in an auto repair shop and saw two guys walking up the sidewalk across the street from the business. One man was carrying a shoe box size container in his right hand. He glanced to where I parked my police car and quickly switched the item to his left hand and tried to hide the box using his body. JDLR

I was able to make it across the street and stand on the curb ahead of the men. As they approached I said, “Hey guys, how’s it going?” Without hesitation, the man holding the box handed it to me and said, “It’s not mine, I just found it!” He gave me a brand new ratchet set, still in the box, sealed in shrink wrap.

I started asking a few more questions and the men told me they “found” the tool set next to a dumpster in a nearby parking lot. A block away was a Pep Boys auto parts store. I had the dispatch center call the manager and ask him to walk over to me. He took a look at the ratchet set and told me it was stolen from his business. Now the only way I would be able to arrest these guys for stealing was to get a confession. How to do it?

I asked the store manager, “Do you have a security camera system?”

“Nope.”

“Do you sell video tapes?” (That would be a DVD for those that don’t know about video tape.)

“Yes.”

“Can you do me a favor and bring back a video tape out of the packaging?”

“Sure.”

The manager went back to the store and I interviewed the suspects. I told them that the manager was going to get the security video tape. (This would be the one with nothing on it.)

“Well you have the video tape so there is no reason to lie,” one guy says, “We stole it.”

Two IN CUSTODY!!! Good cops are not just at the right place at the right time, good cops “see” things differently and take action when they do.

Living your faith out daily is like that. There are JDLR moments every day where God calls us to action. We can “see” when people are struggling. It might be a tone of voice, a subtle change in body language or even a feeling you get that something “Just Don’t Look Right.” The key is to act. You can ask for the world, people might say yes.

“Hey, are you all right?”

“Can I buy you something to eat?”

“Can I pray for you?”

You will be amazed at how open people are to respond.

Matthew 25: 35-40, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

The Director

A few months ago, I was invited to meet the Director of the FBI. It turned out that I was the only second in command participating and I found myself in the company of police chiefs, district attorneys and department heads. I wore my best suit, white dress shirt and conservative tie. I arrived at the meeting and was ushered into a small conference room that had 15 or so chairs around a table with additional seating along the wall. I took a chair against the wall near what I thought was the back of the room with a group of FBI agents. 

Minutes later, the Director walked through the door nearest to my seat. So much for staying out of the way! We sat down and the Director asked for everyone to introduce themselves, the agency they represented and what FBI National Academy class they attended. He started with the people sitting at the conference table and then moved to those of us sitting along the walls. Looking in my direction where I sat with other FBI agents he said, “I already know all of you,” and passed me over!

HEY!!! I got left out! Here I was all ready to tell the Director of the FBI who I was and he skipped me! My ego was hurt for a moment and I realized that I was, after all, part of a small group that got to spend time with the top law enforcement officer in the United States. He would likely not remember me anyway after he left the room.

The briefing lasted for about 40 minutes and when it ended, an aide to the Director asked if he had time to take photographs. The Director said yes and people began lining up. I waited in line and stepped up for my turn. I extended my hand and the next thing I know, the Director takes a firm grip and pulled me in close. He looked at me and said, “Don’t you work for me?” The Director thought I was an agent stepping in for a picture at a time intended for police chiefs.

“No Sir, my name is Michael Aspland and I am a Deputy Chief with the City of Monterey Police Department.”

The Director looked intently at me for a moment still grasping my hand and said, “I’m sorry. I thought you were one of mine.” Well how about that! I was mistaken for an FBI agent by the Director himself.

The experience got me thinking about my relationship with God. God knows me by name! His Son died on the cross for my sin! His Spirit dwells with me always! The same is true for you! Consider these versus that give us confidence that God will always know us by name, care for us and will dwell with us forever.

Psalm 55:22 “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”

Matthew 10:29-31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

Luke 11:9-10   “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

John 10:14-15 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Revelations 2:17 “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.”