Taking Safety Measures Against the Enemy

Yesterday afternoon, I and other greeters at my church attended a Mandatory Greeter Safety Environment Training. I wasn't sure what that meant until I heard the explanation by the City of Dallas' Police Department's Commander of Strategic Forces, who is a member of our church and is the Coordinator of our church's Safety Ministry. I never knew we had a "Safety Ministry" but I soon learned what that meant.

He spoke to us about the safety measures that the church has been taking for months now and is amping up the Safety Ministry another notch by equipping those of us who are greeters to play a significant role in being vigilant in our Greeters' Ministry to help keep our church and its members safe against enemies.

With compassion, He told us the Police Department receives over 800K "911" calls in a year from people who carry heavy burdens from society, relationships, family, schools, and workplaces. Figuratively, he said, "Everyone carries a backpack full of heavy bricks that represent their struggles and burdens and it is up to us to help lighten their loads. Those of you who are 'Greeters' can do some incredible things with a smile, a 'hello', a 'welcome'. Those simple expressions may be the best thing that has happened to them in a long time. We really do want everyone to be in the church where they will find healing and help,"

He went on to describe our new role, not only as burden-lifters in our warm and welcoming expressions of love to those who enter the church but also to be "assessors", not judging or profiling, but since mental illness has become such a critical public health issue, we need to keep our eyes open for questionable demeanor or someone who is displaying a deep sense of pain, depression or is very emotional.

Now we will be asked to carry a walkie-talkie and if we question someone's demeanor, wearing an out-of-season trench coat, has a disheveled appearance, has signs of mental illness or is carrying a bag or backpack, we should alert our "Safety Ministry" team members who will simply get sets of eyes on them to watch their behavior. We all need to have "situational awareness".

1 Peter 5:8 says: "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."

Initially, I was taken back by the mere notion that anyone would come to a church and pose a threat of any kind to those who are innocently worshipping God, but then, I remembered the schools and churches where indescribable harm came to innocent people The enemy of our souls is a thief and he came to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10) and now, not only in the physical and natural realm do we need to be prepared and vigilant against his tactics, we need to continue to shore up any little chinks and holes in our armor. We need "Safety Ministry" teams in the physical realm and in the spirit realm. Perhaps we need to set up a "Safety Ministry" in our homes and pray these scriptures as our greatest shield of defense:

~ "The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?"
Psalm 27:1
~ "But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one." 2 Thessalonians 3:3
~ "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1
~ "You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance." Psalm 32:7
~ "In peace, I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8

Please, God! Take This Baggage!

BAGGAGE: past experiences that are regarded as burdens, cares and weights (i.e., emotional baggage).

I made it home from Tulsa in time to quickly change clothes and head to my church for our annual 3-night Lenten Mission where we intentionally set aside the time to dive deeper and lean in closer to God. It’s about going to a place of introspection and renewing our hearts to purposely enter into a deeper relationship with our Lord. It’s as though we’re at the doctor’s office and he’s using his stethoscope to check our heart beat and condition. Then he gives us the “prescription” for healing our heart.

Last night’s message focus was on our relationship with Jesus Christ who is our Face of Freedom. He sets us FREE which implies that we have been BOUND by stuff. We’ve become stuck in our issues and clutter and all that BAGGAGE in our lives. Jesus gets us because He came to earth to be one of us and experienced what we experience. Hebrews 4:15 “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses since He had the same temptations we do, though He never once gave way to them and sinned.” We experience temptation, rejection, betrayal, disappointment, discouragement AND, so did Jesus. Jesus came to give us freedom. Freedom from anything that holds us bound: bad attitudes, addictions, fears, guilt, despair unforgiveness, anxiety, worry. All of that “stuff” is BAGGAGE that Jesus came to free us from. It’s time to ask God to free us of baggage that our soul cannot afford to lug around anymore. Jesus came to give us abundant life but we can’t live in that abundance as long as we don’t let go of the stuff.

Once we are willing to let go of all that BAGGAGE that we’ve carried far too long, Jesus will free us of the weight of so much baggage. We did that in a symbolic way last night as we wrote on an index card the names of the BAGGAGE that was weighing us down and then, where four tall crosses were at the front of the sanctuary with a basket beside them, we processed forward and gave those cards that contained our “BAGGAGE” to Jesus -- once and for all. All that “baggage” will be burned so there's no need to ever take it back on.

Now that we’re free of all the stuff – we can be FREE to give our full attention to Jesus – to make Him the Savior and Lord of our life. This question was asked “Where is God in your life on a scale? Is He #1 or #3 or #8? When we were dating our wife or husband, we couldn’t think about anything or anyone except them. We couldn’t help ourselves. We thought about them and even talked about them incessantly. That’s how our relationship with Jesus should be. What if we incessantly thought about Him, talked about Him and talked to Him, the more in love with Him we will become. When we’re that much in love with the Lover of our Souls – the cares of this world (the BAGGAGE) will no longer weigh us down and have us bound. I’m ready for that FREEDOM. How about you?