Minneapolis

As I grow in my faith, I realize that my six-year journey to full faith and surrender to Jesus Christ has involved a steep learning curve. And in the six years prior to that, the learning curve that brought me to begin my faith journey was equally as steep. As someone who genuinely tries to stand for that which is right and just in the eyes of God, I truly try to discern God's message in everything. Matters of faith, matters of politics, and matters of my personal life are usually at the forefront of reflection, meditation, and prayer. This is what makes me somewhat hesitant to share my thoughts on recent events in this country. I have shared a lot of important insight into our Ministry, but I have not said much on the subject of Minneapolis. This is mostly because I do not want to ever, ever, EVER use poor messaging or poor judgment to drive people away from our ministry's mission of bringing people closer to Jesus Christ. If I do that, then I have utterly failed in my vocation.

To do this correctly, I want to start by sharing a story with you. Remember that first steep learning curve I mentioned? That was 12 years ago, in 2014, when I was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. What a different person I was then. On this early summer night, I was absolutely hammered, and I exhibited extraordinarily poor judgment. Most of the details of that night are obscured by my complete and total inebriation, but there is one thing that I do remember - the compassion shown to me by the officer who arrested me and took me into the local station. During the drive, I did recall his talk with me about "getting straight with Jesus Christ," and finding holy purpose in my life. I even remember that he was listening to Shine FM on Satellite radio. I suppose the holier elements of that night would naturally stand out.

This police officer was able to effectively carry out his duties, while offering compassion through the provision of some sage advice. I would continue on to attend AA meetings, sober up, and build the spiritual foundation for my “coming to Jesus” moment in 2020. The learning curves had to be steep because I am indeed a slow learner. Despite my rising from the ashes out of alcoholism, I have to say that there is much more to the story about this officer. I did some research (because that’s kind of what I do in this ministry), and I found that this police officer was faced with a difficult decision in the year prior to my arrest. In the summer of 2013, he had responded to a 911 dispatch regarding some pretty serious domestic abuse. When he arrived on the scene, he found a bruised and battered woman, and an unstable man wielding a knife. The man was agitated, and was repeatedly told by this officer to drop the knife, which he refused to do. As the man turned around and charged at the woman with that knife, the officer had to make as split-second decision. He opened fire, killing the knife-wielding man. Per standard protocol, he was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. And several years later the Police Department was sued by the family of this man. The case was dismissed on the grounds that there was sufficient evidence to justify the officer’s actions, and insufficient evidence to justify claims of excessive force by the family of the defendant.

So what does my story of arrest, recovery, and turning to Christ have to do with what’s going on presently in Minneapolis? And how does the officer’s actions in the previous year relate to current happenings? This will take a couple paragraphs but bear with me on this one. People in this country are hurting. I was drinking heavily because I was hurting heavily. The knife-wielding man was unstable, very likely because of the high degree of mental and physical anguish he was in, possibly from drug abuse. Our courts do their very best to determine the truth and carry out a judgment based on that truth. It’s not perfect, and the real truth is we will never know with 100% certainty what transpired with this knife-wielding man, because we weren’t there. Even if there were pictures, even if there were photos, the truth is often brittle – that is to say it is difficult to discern, and even harder to maintain and present with so much noise in the world.

And this leads us to the situation in Minneapolis. The death of Alex Pretti. The death of Renee Good. The raucous protests. The often overly excessive (but sometimes necessary) actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. Who is right, and who is wrong? The truth is that I don’t know, but my mind goes back to the officer who had enough compassion to build a foundation in Christ for me right after my arrest in 2014, but less than one year earlier had to take a life to save a life. I can’t imagine the emotional and mental rollercoaster that puts an individual on. Some people are built for it, and some people aren’t. I cannot speak specifically to what is transpiring in Minneapolis, so I cannot tell you who is right. I can however, tell you who is wrong, and it may or may not surprise you.

First and foremost, the mainstream media is wrong. There’s no news like bad news, and these individuals at CNN, MS Now, Fox News, Newsmax, and all of the other well known news networks know it. Their business model is predicated on dividing our nation, in the hopes that more negative situations will arise, and they will be able to hold up their ratings with more coverage of terrible things. The book of Proverbs tells us a little more about this:

“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.” – Proverbs 6:16-19

With regard to these corrupted media outlets, they are truly guilty of at least 5, possibly 6 of these offenses. Continuing with who is likely very, very wrong in this situation are high level officials in the Democratic and Republican parties. Much like news networks, many of them seek to sow discord, and they do this primarily for three reasons. To create the illusion of conflict to justify their positions, to score political points against opponents and gain power, and to distract this nation’s people from larger issues that may be at play. The third guilty party is in a very general sense, those who exploit situations for their own gain at the expense of those in need. Those who would supply financial resources to stoke the flames of anger and division, instead of using that money to help people who are truly in need. They are no less guilty than the politicians or the news networks.

As for me, I will remember the police officer who showed me compassion and mercy in my darkest hour. I will remember those in life who gave me a second, third, and fourth chance. I will always collect as much data and information as possible to find the truth, as is in line with the purpose of our ministry’s mission. I will pray for our state and federal officers, that they discharge their duties carefully and responsibly. I continue to pray for the families of Renee Nicole Good and Alexander Pretti, who are going through a lot right now. Sacred scripture asks us not simply to love God, but to love our neighbor as we would love ourselves. These are in fact the two greatest commandments, and we would be wise to heed them. For as cold as it is in 41 states right now, we need to turn the heat down, before that heat becomes an eternal punishment for ignoring Jesus Christ.

God Bless, and stay safe in this weather.