The Depravity of Man and The Power of the God

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Twenty-four years of being a cop exposed me to the evil that men do in ways I could never imagine. I witnessed firsthand how selfish choices driven by addiction, greed and rage destroyed the lives of the innocent. I did not fully understand what this meant until the day I responded to a 911 call to investigate an overdose death in Santa Barbara; and in a moment of heartbreak, I also saw how the Power of God will triumph over evil.

The death happened in a one bedroom apartment on the east side of town. I arrived at the complex and walked into what amounted to a 600 square foot living space; through the front door, down a short hall way, passing the bedroom and bath. The hallway opened to an area with the kitchen on one side and a couch and workbench on the other. The dining/living area was separated by a wood framed, cloth screen. It seemed odd that such a small area was separated by the screen. The body was lying on the floor of the living area between a couch and a workbench.

In the workbench was drug paraphernalia, syringes and other evidence that indicated sales of narcotics.  As I searched through the house, I figured out why the apartment was divided as it was. The dead man had two daughters (6 and 8) and they lived with him. They were at school when the overdose happened. The dad used the living area of the house to deal and use his dope. It was also the place that he slept. The single bedroom, bath and kitchen area were for the girls. Their room was equipped with a bunk bed, TV and VCR, children’s books, board games and all their clothes. It was like there was a studio apartment set up inside of the one bedroom space. I found out that the girls were not allowed in the living room area of the apartment to keep them “safe.”

I could not fathom why a parent would subject his daughters to such dangerous living conditions. Buyers would show up at all hours to get drugs. I imagined that at night, these little girls would not feel safe in their own home because strangers would be coming and going, preventing the girls from sleeping in safety. At least there was a lock on the bedroom door. Parents can be so overprotective.

I noticed the girls' school photos hanging on a wall. My heart stopped when I looked at the pictures. They were beautiful young ladies but did not have the appearance of healthy 2^nd and 4^th graders. They looked ill at ease. They appeared haggard, resigned to a life of uncertainty, stress and fear. Home was not a safe place for them. It was their eyes that got to me. They had puffy, dark circles under their eyes from very little sleep night after night. I had seen those eyes once before. They were my wife’s.

Early in our marriage, Margie told me stories about her growing up in a home defined entirely by alcoholism and violence. Her school pictures from kindergarten through fifth grade all had the same look: the same puffy, dark circles under her eyes and the same face of sadness. Margie talked about the drunken brawls, the police responses, the strangers in and out at all hours of the day and night. I just did not comprehend the impact of such a life on a 6 year old little girl.

I went home that night and told Margie about my day. We talked about how Margie would sleep in her clothes so she was always ready to take action. She would hide under her bed or behind and armoire so she would feel safe. Margie is quick to point out that God was with her through all of this. In fact, He told her to move to California many times during her late teens and early twenties. She listened and escaped to her promised land on the west coast. She would accept Christ and be baptized three months after she arrived in California and a few years later a life insurance salesman would knock on her door. She did not buy insurance from him, but she did marry him!  (Yes, I got the better end of the deal on this.) March 4th will mark 23 years of marriage for us and we have three beautiful daughters. We are blessed.

I pray now and then for the two little girls I met briefly in front of an elementary school. I do know that Margie is a testimony that even in the total depravity of human beings, when it appears that one little girl growing up in the 1970’s and two little girls growing up in the 1980’s would have no chance, the Power of God triumphs over evil and brings light into a dark world. 

Matthew 19:14, "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'"

Missing the Obvious - A Cop's Perspective

Matthew 13:45-46, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Jesus

“Cops don’t look up.” At least that is a rumor among thieves and drug dealers sharing tips on how to hide contraband. Concealing evidence is as much of an art as the skills to conduct a search to find it. It’s like watching a magic show; there is always a slight of hand, you just have to know where to look. There can be nothing more maddening then to know that evidence is hidden right in front of you, but you can’t figure out where it is. The Easter Bunny has nothing on a determined criminal!

One night I was part of a surveillance team watching a guy dealing drugs from the front porch of a house. We witnessed the suspect sell crack cocaine over the course of a few hours. He always went to the same corner of the porch to get to his stash of drugs prior to making a sale. Individual hits of crack cocaine are about the size of a small pearl and can be easily hidden in a small space.

After each sale, the surveillance team would call out the make, model and license plate of the buyer’s car. A police officer in a marked unit would conduct a traffic stop, arrest the buyer for possession and seize the drugs. Two hours after we began the operation, it was time to arrest the seller and find whatever stash he had left on the porch. Finding the drugs was my responsibility.

I looked everywhere and found…nothing. I looked up…zip. The third time, I was meticulous, looking in every space between the floor boards, digging in every flower pot, emptying bottles of beer and checking under the seat of a bicycle parked on the porch t…FAIL. Twenty minutes go by and my partners are calling on the radio asking for an update.

What was I missing?

Ok, deep breath…start over.

I stood in the middle of the porch and tried to look with fresh eyes. Then I saw the obvious, the bike had rims! Stuffed between the front tire and rim was a baggie holding individually wrapped “pearls” of cocaine! BINGO!

Now I am not suggesting that finding the stash of drugs is like finding the Kingdom of Heaven. I am suggesting that we can get caught up in looking so hard for something that is right in front of us. We miss the obvious. For example, I find it curious when people tell me they are Christians but don’t go to church. I ask what keeps them from plugging in to a fellowship of believers. Typical responses include: “I don’t support organized religion.” “I had a bad experience in Sunday School growing up.” “I worship God in my own way.” “I don’t have to go to church to be a true follower of Christ.” My conclusion, people get distracted by the differences of denominations, styles of worship or the "failings" of the Church and the people in it. They miss out on the blessing that comes from being part of a fellowship with the people who ARE the Kingdom of God.

We are created to be in relationships. God started with a marriage between Adam and Eve. He would create a nation through Abraham. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit arrived uniting the community of believers of all families, tribes and nations. The Kingdom of Heaven is right in front of you. God calls us to be part of it. You just have to stop looking so hard.

Matthew: 7:7-8, “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.”

Armed to the Teeth

I started 2012 off by attending a Law Enforcement Leadership Symposium at the University of San Francisco. There are very few safer places to be than with a roomful of cops. During the conference, I was looking around the room and I noticed a man sitting a few feet away with a large caliber gun strapped to his ankle. I remember thinking that the guy had to be wearing bell bottom pants to accommodate the size of the weapon.

I got curious to see how many different ways cops carried their weapons. Some officers wore uniforms with guns secured in holsters attached to equipment belts that also held handcuffs, a collapsible baton, radio and pepper spray. A few tables over was a guy wearing a shoulder holster. Many of the attendees carried a simple holster on their belts with a badge attached in front of the gun so people would know they were cops. At least a dozen had fanny packs with a Velcro secured storage area to easily access their weapon.

The reality was that anyone spending any amount of time with this group would figure out that they were in the company of cops. What if the same were true for Christians? If you were out to lunch after church with a group of believers, would the people around you know you were a follower of Christ?

In Ephesians 6:14-17, the Apostle Paul calls us to put on the full armor of God. “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

We are called to take up the sword of the Spirit, specifically the Bible. That is our weapon. If cops carry guns, we should carry Bibles. I don’t think it's necessary to lug a five pound, leather bound, 10x16, multi-translation, concordance appendices, cross referenced with maps copy of the Holy Scriptures. I think it is enough to have a pocket New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs. Something that is readily accessible if you have a few minutes in your day to read a few verses or have the opportunity to share a passage with someone you encounter.

I carry a Bible that has photos of race cars on it. In fact the title reads, “Holy Bible – Stock Car Racing Edition.” Now before you start asking how, “For God so loved the world…” is translated so a NASCAR fan can identify with it, I will tell you it is a complete NIV version with stories about various race car drivers included as separate sections. I picked it up at a book store liquidation sale for fifty cents. The coolest part is that people see the race cars and ask me what the book is about! More important than that is I have the best weapon possible for living out my faith daily. If I leave the station with my gun on my hip, my Bible is in my equipment bag.

Paul tells us to be armed to the teeth. You can be equipped to do battle with the enemy and you don’t need a badge to do it. 

Relentless Pursuit

The best part of my job is to catch the bad guy. Responding to the scene of a crime, gathering evidence, establishing probable cause and making the arrest is what being a cop is all about. One case in particular took me almost two years to make an arrest and the investigation began months before the crime actually happened. 

I was working patrol and got called to investigate a man loitering in a Santa Barbara neighborhood near the Arlington Theater. I responded and contacted a guy who, it turned out, was just released from prison. I asked if he had any tattoos and he showed me the name of a prison gang in large, block letters on his lower back. He did not commit a crime that day, but I did write down his information before I sent him on his way.

Almost a year later, around Christmas time, I was walking foot patrol on State Street near the Macys Department Store and up walks the guy. He was not hard to miss since he was wearing a bright orange t-shirt. He was pushing a stroller with a baby and was in the company of a woman. I recognized him at once and struck up a conversation. He told me that he was “doing good.” We talked for a few minutes; I told him to have a good Christmas and continued walking up the street.

Not five minutes after this "chance" meeting, a dispatcher announced over the radio that there was a shoplifting in progress at Macys. The suspect description was a white male adult, 30 years old, wearing an orange t-shirt and pushing a stroller. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!! I was three blocks away by this time, did an about face and moved quickly back toward the store, scanning the crowd as I went. The guy got away. Macys had a closed circuit camera system and I watched the guy stealing stuff left and right and hide it in the stroller. The hunt was on except for one problem. I could not remember the guys name or where I first contacted him months before.

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. The name of the prison gang tattooed on his back stayed just beyond my memory. I racked my brain trying to remember where I first met the guy. It was six months until one afternoon, without thinking about it, I remembered…the Arlington Theater!!! I raced back to the station and did a quick search of the police department records database. BINGO! Days later I had an arrest warrant signed by a judge and two months after that I got a call from a police officer in a nearby city telling me the suspect was in custody. I caught the bad guy!

Relentless pursuit does not require a red light, a siren or a badge. It requires a focus of purpose. There is an unyielding drive to achieve a goal.  God relentlessly pursues us to bring us back to Him. When we resist, He pursues us even more. When I think about relentless pursuit, I think about Jonah. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to call a city of 120,000 people to repentance. These people turned away from God and Jonah was going to be the messenger to bring them back to faith. Jonah resisted and tried to run away.

God put Jonah in time out in the belly of a fish. It took three days, but Jonah came around and cried out to the Lord, “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry…The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head…But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’” (Jonah, Chapter 2) God delivered Jonah to the shores of Nineveh on the first submarine ride. He preached repentance and the people of Nineveh returned to God.

Where is God relentlessly pursuing you? Will you yield to His call or will the Holy Spirit put out spike strips to get you to stop? God will do great things through you if you hear His voice and respond to His call. You could save a city!

Even Glaciers Move

Change is hard for people. We like things settled, things we can count on. In my role as a police executive, I am responsible to keep our business practices consistent with current technology and to adjust our policing strategies to disrupt emerging crime trends. I challenge police officers and professional staff to think beyond the tasks they perform day in and day out and make changes where necessary. I typically get this response; “But we have always done it this way!”

The foundation for change is relationships. Relationships require patience. Preparing people for change takes what I call Time and Grind. It’s the willingness to spend time together, grinding out the details. Over time, even the most stubborn person can come around. After all, even glaciers move!

Thomas Kuhn was a philosopher of science. He is credited with the phrase, “paradigm shift.” He viewed science as long periods of normality interrupted by brief periods of revolutionary discovery. Revolutionary discovery resulted in mopping up operations or “crisis science.” Some describe police work in a similar way as hours of boredom punctuated by moments of terror. It is during these significant events when change happens and glaciers move.

This cop story was at the moment that Jesus died on the cross. Specifically, it is the story about a bunch of cops assigned to oversee the crucifixion. In Jerusalem, law enforcement was the responsibility of the military. Roman soldiers were the cops and Centurions were their commanding officers. Matthew 27:50-54 tells it like this: “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, ‘Surely he was the Son of God!’”

To these soldiers, I don’t think the crucifixion alone was any big deal. Dealing with religious extremists was common for these guys. They were charged with keeping a delicate balance of peace between the Roman Empire and the ruling council of Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin. The Chief Priest was the mayor and the members of the Sanhedrin were the councilmen. Time and again, the Centurion and his men were called to put down uprisings and deal with trouble makers identified by the politicians: religious, political and sovereign.

I expect that these cops were around when John the Baptist was calling people to repentance. It is even possible that some of them carried out the order to behead John. They likely heard the stories about a guy named Jesus. They heard the rumors that he was a king preparing to lead a revolution, that he healed sick, that he fed 5,000 people from a few fish and some bread and he told people he was God. The story of Jesus played out right in front of them.

I think they took all this in stride. It was just another guy causing trouble and disrupting the way things were always done. It was just another day on the job when they scourged Jesus, beat him and forced him to carry the cross to Golgotha. But at the moment of Jesus’ death, everything changed and the glacier moved. All the evidence fell into place, the cops connected the dots and they were front and center at the moment that the power of sin was broken. 

Three days later, these same guys were probably guarding the tomb and witnessed the resurrection. Some of these cops accepted Christ as the Son of God, others took a bribe and perpetuated a lie that his body was stolen by the disciples. In the end the paradigm shifted, the world as they knew it changed forever.

The best part is that God continues to work in our lives each day. He is committed to the Time and Grind required to draw us closer to Him. He stands by us through the Significant Events of our lives and the Mopping Up Operations that follow our Moments of Terror. 

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Behind the Badge - The Commitment of Marriage

My job as a police officer required me to assist people suffering from mental illness. I witnessed firsthand the impacts of schizophrenia, depression and bi-polar disorder on patients, caregivers and families. There were times when the illness overwhelmed a person’s life to the point that there was nothing left to do but call the police for help. The most I could do was to request a crisis counselor or determine that the patient was a threat to themselves or others and commit them to a mental health facility. I chalked up what I learned to professional experience. This would all change for me in August 2001. (I share this with the permission and support of my wife, Marjorie.)

In 2001, Marjorie and I were in the middle of our twelfth year of marriage. Our three daughters were 10, 6 and 3. Like all married couples, we had our ups and downs and, on occasion, worked with a counselor to better support each other and stand by our commitment of marriage. In the months leading up to August 2001, it seemed like the strategies to communicate were no longer working. Marjorie was struggling with depression and it was more then we could manage on our own. Together we went to a psychiatrist and learned that she was suffering from Bi-polar Disorder. Bi-Polar Disorder is characterized by mood swings that fluctuate between depression and anxiety. Bi-Polar events occur when the two states happen at the same time. These times lead to the inability for the patient to think rationally.

Marjorie’s condition went undiagnosed for at least sixteen years. We suffered as a family for twelve of them. The psychiatrist told us that based in the severity of Marjorie’s condition we had already beaten the odds. It was his experience that people this sick were divorced, addicted to drugs and alcohol or worse. I told the doctor that it was by the grace of God that we made it to this point. My commitment to Marjorie, and her commitment to me, was not going to be shaken because of Bi-Polar.

Ephesians 5:25-28 became very real for me, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.”

Today, we continue to live with Bi-Polar and manage the illness together. We share our experience with college students studying to be marriage and family therapists and community groups to help them understand the impacts of mental illness. Over the years, our openness about living with this illness created more opportunities than we can count to come alongside others who are both patients and caregivers. God moves through us to help others find peace when nothing else seems to make sense. We know that God is with us even when the realities of living with a mental illness overwhelm us.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Moving Mountains

Mark 11:22-24 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
 

Faith to move mountains always seemed to me … unlikely. I would definitely be one of those that Jesus would tell, “Oh you of little faith.” Yet even in my doubt, God moved in an amazing way one night on a drive home from work.

In 1995, the Santa Barbara area had a series of rain storms like no others. The ground was so saturated that rivers were overflowing their banks sweeping homes, cars and RV’s out to sea. The worst of it happened when a mountain side gave way in the La Conchita community situated along the Highway 101 corridor between Santa Barbara and Ventura. Thousands of tons of earth buried homes and pushed others off of their foundations. The avalanche closed the freeway in both directions and the only way around the disaster was through the City of Ojai along a two lane road. A drive that normally took twenty minutes took two hours.

Working in Santa Barbara and living in Ventura meant I faced a long drive home at 3:00 in the morning after working a swing shift. I took a chance and drove to the California Highway Patrol roadblock on the north end of the freeway closure. It was raining like mad and the CHP officer let me drive through the disaster area because I was law enforcement travelling home from work. He warned me to go slow because there were boulders on the highway. So off I went at about 40 mph where I would normally drive 70. I was moving along a section where the hillside was close to the freeway and to my surprise I found myself steering to avoid a boulder that weighed 1,000 pounds. I slowed down to 20.

More attentive of my surroundings, I worked my way towards the area impacted by the slide. There was still a danger of the mountain continuing to slide and wipe out more homes. I felt compelled to pray. I asked God to hold back the mountain. I raised one of my hands toward the hillside and felt what I can only describe as the Spirit of God present with me in the car. In that moment, I did not doubt. I remembered that Jesus said with faith, I could move mountains. I wanted God to hold this one back.

I got home safely and went to bed. The next afternoon I headed back to work and drove back through the area. I remember hearing on the radio that La Conchita had experienced a second slide. I was really bummed. I prayed the night before and felt the Spirit of God move. I did not doubt. What happened?

The answer came when I drove past the slide area. The area that threatened the homes held fast. The second slide was further north and took out a grove of banana trees. And I questioned God. WWJD? He would say, “Why did you doubt, Michael? Oh you of little faith.”

What is your Mountain Story, God Story?