What Goes Around

I was riding with an officer named Bill several years ago. Late into the second shift, he was called to the report of a burglary. Sure enough, bad guys had broken into a repair shop and stolen tools. The witness said they fled along a set of railroad tracks behind the shop.

Bill radioed for Brian and his partner Merlin. Well, Merlin wasn’t exactly a partner. Merlin was a huge Rottweiler. He picked up the trail and led us along the tracks, then across a small creek and up a steep hill.

The hill was every bit of 30 feet (this was in West Virginia) and wooded. I dropped back and let the officers and Merlin get well ahead of me. If someone jumped up from under a rock or out from behind a tree, I didn’t want to be in the middle of it, in the dark on a steep hill.

Merlin lost the track in about the middle of the hill. Brian began to call-out: “Police Department. Show yourselves now or I will release the dog.” I didn’t like that. He shouted again, louder. I liked it less.

Merlin was a good dog – while he was on his leash. Off the leash, Merlin was unpredictable. Unpredictable and mean. I was far enough behind the officers that, if the dog circled around and came from behind me, he might assume I was a bad guy and bite me where my mamma used to swat me.

Brian did not release the dog. Turned out he did not trust him either.

We didn’t get the bad guys that night. The officers later learned from informants that they slipped into the nearby apartment of a friend. They were eventually arrested.

But there is a reminder here. An undisciplined life is much like an undisciplined dog. There may come a time that it will come from behind and bite you.

The Apostle Paul teaches us in 2 Timothy 1:7

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

911 Hang-Out

I did 5 hours of training for new Fort Wayne Police Dept. Chaplains today. We talked about being safe while riding with an officer, responding to a crisis and making a death notification.

I told stories. But they were not very happy stories. At one point, as I told about responding to the scene where an SUV turned over and the driver was partially ejected, one of our youngest Chaplains leaned back in his chair, threw up his hands and said, “Whoa.”

But law enforcement Chaplaincy is not all trouble and heartache.

I was riding with officer Mike Perisak in Haltom City, Texas several years ago. Officers there and in Fort Wayne respond to every 911 call. Even when people dial 911 and just hang-up.

We responded to a 911 hang-up and a young man answered the door. Mike asked, “What’s going on?” The young man said nothing. Mike said, “We’re coming in.” The young man said, “No, you’re not,” and started to close the door.

Mike pushed against the door and entered the apartment. Yes, that would have been illegal, but Mike saw roaches. Not bugs, but the ends of marijuana cigarettes on a coffee table. Enough to give him cause to enter the residence.

Here is the back story: Four young men were hanging-out smoking a little weed. The resident stepped into the bathroom. One of his friends decided to leave, but before he did, he dialed 911 and hung-up.

His host was given a ticket that cost him over $100 in fines for possession of paraphernalia.

With friends like that …

Buford and Me

In my last blog I wrote about going to Gulfport, Mississippi to minister to Gulfport Police officers as a Chaplain following Hurricane Katrina. I told about meeting Officer Aaron Fore and Buford.

While I was on patrol with Aaron, he was dispatched to retrieve a stolen car. The report was that a black Chevrolet Suburban had been taken from a dealership. The SUV contained a GPS device that pinpointed its location.

We went to the address, spotted the Suburban and parked four houses away and waited for backup. The backup was one other officer.

Things had been hairy for nearly three weeks at this point. Aaron and his co-workers had been dealing with looters and armed robbers at an incredible rate. He would have liked to have more backup. All he had was me.

When we got out of the car, Aaron opened the trunk and took out Buford. (You may see a photo of Aaron and Buford in my last blog.) He showed me the switch to change between a single shot and a burst of three shots for each pull of the trigger on the .223 caliber H&K MP5. He set it to a single shot.

Then he handed me the assault rifle. I have shot rifles, shotguns and handguns. This was my first assault rifle. I held it the way I had seen Aaron hold it. It felt good. It felt awkward. Still, awkward was better than standing there in the street with my hands in my pockets.

Aaron told me to stay with the car, but be ready to back him up if anything happened.

Nothing happened.

The vehicle had been legitimately purchased the day before. The owner produced the paperwork. Evidently, in all the confusion following the storm, someone forgot to remove the GPS device.

It was disappointing to have to put the rifle back in the trunk.

I have experienced many such situations, as a Chaplain, as a minister, as a son, as a husband, and as a man. Feeling good and feeling awkward at the same time. Ready for something to happen. Hoping nothing will happen. Disappointed when nothing happened.

The Apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 5:5 that “hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

When we hope in our power, our strength, our cunning or in someone else, we will so often be disappointed. When we hope in God, the God who “poured out his love into our hearts” we are not disappointed.

Buford

In my last blog, I promised to tell some stories.

Because I am a member of the International Conference of Police Chaplains and am included on their disaster response team, I was invited to go to Gulfport following Hurricane Katrina to work with police officers there. One of the officers I had the opportunity to get acquainted with was Aaron Fore.

In Aaron I saw a very sharp contrast in responses. Although the wind topped 100 miles an hour, it was the 35 foot tall wall of water that did most of the damage in Gulfport. Aaron told me that at his house the water was 29 feet deep. There were 13 feet of water on top of his house. He and his wife lost everything.

Aaron worked long shifts every day for weeks. In the days immediately following the hurricane, he and his fellow officers worked bravely to stop looters.

Dealing with looters, in the aftermath of a hurricane, when there is no electrical power, is not simple. Aaron told me he began carrying the H&K MP5 assault rifle the department issued him every time he got out of his car. He found he got a lot more respect when Buford was with him.

He told me the story about naming his rifle. He said he was spending a lot more time with his rifle than he was with his wife, so he thought it ought to have a name. He chose the name in honor of the Sheriff in the movie Walking Tall. Buford T. Pusser got respect and so did his automatic rifle.

Several Gulfport officers told me they encountered people coming out of a Wal-Mart with food and diapers they had not paid for because although the store was not locked, there was no power and the registers did not work. The officers did not prevent those people from taking what they really needed to survive.

However, from the same store, they encountered people with shopping carts loaded with televisions, DVD players, cameras and other electronics. Those people went to jail.

In my next blog, I’ll tell about the report of a stolen car Aaron and I responded to.

Telling Stories

Donna and I participated in the International Conference of Police Chaplains annual training seminar last week. It was one of the best I have attended.

One of the reasons I enjoyed it so much was that I was a presenter. I was invited to lead a 2 day seminar titled Pastoral Crisis Intervention. I love to teach, I am enthralled with the topic and I am invigorated by law enforcement Chaplains.

The material was developed by and I was trained by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF.) The experts in Psychotraumatology (a word coined by Dr. George Everly) present the basic principles. ICISF has worked for decades with people coping with the symptoms of stress caused by trauma.

This particular material welds together psychological principles and the unique ministry we bring as pastors.

What I bring to the training are my stories.

Stories have a remarkable power.

The principles assembled from the research, data, surveys and studies are foundational. But they don’t mean much in their raw form. People attending the training want to know this stuff really works.

In 24 years of pastoral ministry and 10 years of law enforcement Chaplain experience, I have put these principles to work. When someone teaches me, I appreciate the benefit of his practical experience.

I always hear good response to stories. More importantly, my most influential mentor is a story teller. Jesus tells phenomenal stories.

Please continue to visit my blog. I’ll tell some stories.

The Vice-President

I am always proud of Donna. That was especially true as she stood on stage before nearly 800 people to be sworn-in as the vice-president of the International Conference of Police Chaplains Auxiliary last week in Indianapolis.

There are nearly 3,000 members in the International Conference of Police Chaplains (ICPC). Almost 500 Chaplains attended the Annual Training Seminar last week. More than 70 attended the Auxiliary activities.

Donna’s sweet disposition and genuine concern for others made her both a natural and popular choice for VP.

The Auxiliary provides very significant ministry to the spouses of the Chaplains. These spouses are often left with half-eaten meals, interrupted plans and an empty place in the bed in the middle of the night as their “other half” races off to the scene of someone else’s tragedy.

To encourage and strengthen one another, they have daily devotions, workshops and fun outings at the Annual Training Seminar.

Through the ICPC Auxiliary, Donna has found another way to exercise her very special ministry.

Working Together

My wife, Donna, and I just returned from the International Conference of Police Chaplains annual training seminar. I have forged very good friends with several people at this training over the past several years.

When we arrived in Indianapolis, I hugged my friend Dan, who is Lutheran. I hugged my friend Colin, who is Jewish. I hugged my friend Rickey, who is Baptist. And I hugged my friend Wesley, who is – well he is Wesley.

There were male and female Chaplains there from six countries – USA, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Kenya and Jamaica.

For four and a half days we set aside our gender, race, theological and all other differences to work together to help each other meet the emotional and spiritual needs of law enforcement officers.

Two weeks before, I was in Louisville for the North American Christian Convention. For four days we talked about one issue that keeps followers of Jesus Christ from working together. People who don’t use musical instruments in worship won’t work with people who do. People who do use musical instruments in worship won’t work with people who don’t.

I came away from the two conferences baffled. How is it that some followers of Jesus can overcome huge obstacles in order to provide ministry? How is it that other followers of Jesus cannot overcome minor disagreements to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to a dying world? Why do we grumble that we can’t work with someone who worships with a guitar or his hands raised or blue carpet in the church building?

I know it doesn’t sound profound and probably isn’t original, but maybe if we hugged. If we opened our clenched fists to shake hands; if we open our crossed arms to embrace; if we set aside our rhetoric to talk to each other we might discover we can work together.

A Ray of Sunshine

I was making some neighborly talk with a married couple today about the weather. I asked if they were out to enjoy the sunshine today. It was a gorgeous day. Warm but not hot. A gentle breeze blowing.

She had been outdoors with some small children playing in the fresh air. She asked if I had been outside. I gleefully admitted that I had been.

I was less gleeful about where I was while soaking up the rays.

There was no traffic on the residential street where we were standing. And several of us knew each other. But there wasn’t much time to chat; not even about the weather.

A 27 year old man lay dead in a vacant lot just a few yards. Our city’s 12^th homicide of the year took the breeze out of our sail.

I have told a family member of the death of a loved one more than 50 times. It is one of the roles of a Police Chaplain. It isn’t easy. It is emotionally and physically draining.

Yet, there is a ray of sunshine to it. I was able to offer some comfort to some people who were in terrible distress. I offered more than the police officer with me could. He had some information about times and places. And that helps.

I was in a position to offer some quiet words, a hug and a prayer. Perhaps that ministry was even a ray of sunshine to some people in a very dark place.

A Ray of Sunshine

I was making some neighborly talk with a married couple today about the weather. I asked if they were out to enjoy the sunshine today. It was a gorgeous day. Warm but not hot. A gentle breeze blowing.

She had been outdoors with some small children playing in the fresh air. She asked if I had been outside. I gleefully admitted that I had been.

I was less gleeful about where I was while soaking up the rays.

There was no traffic on the residential street where we were standing. And several of us knew each other. But there wasn’t much time to chat; not even about the weather.

A 27 year old man lay dead in a vacant lot just a few yards. Our city’s 12^th homicide of the year took the breeze out of our sail.

I have told a family member of the death of a loved one more than 50 times. It is one of the roles of a Police Chaplain. It isn’t easy. It is emotionally and physically draining.

Yet, there is a ray of sunshine to it. I was able to offer some comfort to some people who were in terrible distress. I offered more than the police officer with me could. He had some information about times and places. And that helps.

I was in a position to offer some quiet words, a hug and a prayer. Perhaps that ministry was even a ray of sunshine to some people in a very dark place.

A Day in the Sun

Shortly before 2:30 last Sunday afternoon, a car pulled out in front of a motorcycle on St. Joe Center Road. An otherwise warm summer afternoon turned tragic.

As of this writing, the motorcycle rider is in critical condition.

Shortly after arriving at the scene, I was directed to the young woman who was driving the car. I spoke to her for a few moments and offered a little comfort and some encouragement.

The majority of the time I invested at the scene was with officers. The girl had family to support her and my ministry is primarily to officers. We chatted and I met some people for the first time.

Then I performed what might have been my most significant ministry of the day. On a Sunday, after teaching and preaching, after having people hug me and tell me the sermon was stirring, my most significant ministry might have been to walk to a Walgreens and buy a dozen bottles of water.

The officers who were interviewing witnesses, directing traffic and taking photos of the aftermath were very grateful to get the water.

I am taking the statement of Jesus a little out of context to apply it here, but I could not help but remember what the Savior said:

“If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42)