Faith...we all practice it everyday.

When you are a Chaplain in an organization like the police, you quickly realize that not everyone welcomes you with open arms. There are many reasons for that but mostly it is because there is limited understanding of what you bring. Considering most cops do not consider themselves "religious", is a good starting point for this discussion.

I personally dislike the term "religious" because Jesus had nothing good to say about the religious leaders of his day. That may come as a surprise to many of you. In fact, many of those religious leaders had a hand in getting Jesus crucified.

True Christianity has very little to do with rituals, buildings and denominations. Those are all manmade efforts to somehow express their beliefs but have no significance in actually connecting with God. That connection is only possible through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It's in the Bible if you aren't sure where I get that from.

Faith. Many people consider faith in God as a non-starter. How can you believe in someone or something that you have never seen? How can you trust when you don't even know the person you are supposed to be trusting? Those are legitimate questions.

What if I told you that each of us practice faith pretty well every day of our lives? In fact, you could use the exact same objections listed above for each time you practice faith. Let me give you just a few examples.

When you prepare to fly on a plane, you have no idea who serviced your plane. You have no idea who the pilots are. Yet you are about to fly at 35,000 feet for several hours. How about going into a restaurant and ordering a nice steak where you do not know the chef or the quality of the meat you are about to eat. Then there is a very simple example of sitting on a chair that you have never sat on before. Most would never check it out before sitting on it. These are examples of faith. You are trusting that all these people and things are safe even though you have no proof of it.

I have been a Christian for 51 years and my testimony (like in a courtroom) is that God is someone I can trust. The important aspect of this trusting is not about all the good times. The trust kicks in when things seem hopeless or when there are no answers. The old saying from WW1 comes to mind: "There are no atheists in foxholes".

I have police friends and police chaplains in Ukraine right now who are putting this to the test. I know of one who was captured by Russian troops in Mariupol when they were ordered to surrender by their President. I have not heard from him in a few weeks but I am trusting God to be very close to him right now.

In the past 2 weeks, I have given counsel or stood with those who have lost someone to 3 different suicides. Most don't understand how an individual can be hurting so much that the only answer is taking their own lives. The Bible tells us in Matthew 11:28: Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.


                                          
 Photo taken at Kiev Airport as I was leaving in 2019


Chaplain

Hillar Alkok

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