Left over ham bone, ham and 15 ‘dry’ bean mix along with onions, peppers, celery, garlic, herbs and spices simmering on the stove makes for a great smell coming into the house.

Tastes, great.  Thought about some corn bread, but we have some of Carla’s great homemade rolls to eat with it.

We have so many people who want to blame the police for most of their ills.  Some in society are condoning and in some instances encourage acts of violence against the police. 

Police officers have always faced the fact that some day they may be attacked with lethal force, they may have to die in the line of duty.  It isn’t something they dwell on, it is just an accepted fact.

They know when they put a uniform on their badge is a target for criminals of all ages.  While there are some officers that tarnish that badge the vast majority wear it with pride and desire to truly serve their community.

At any given time, throughout America, there are around 100,000 officers patrolling our city and county streets and neighborhoods.  One hundred thousand, how many complaints against a police officer are generate on any given day, week or even year? 

Not many, the percentage cannot even be calculated it is so small.

In addition there are thousands of State Police officers patrolling our highways and freeways.

It took years to put those officers on the road.  Very few people can qualify to be a police officer.  The selection process is demanding and very thorough.

Filling a vacancy in a department could take 6 months to a year depending on the number of initially qualified candidates.

Then it takes another year of academy and in house training to teach them the law, train them in the use of the laws, policies and procedures, the use of their equipment, train them in dealing with people of all ages, ‘races,’ (I hate that term, we are ALL of one race, HUMAN, the difference is the skin tone) personalities, life like training in situations where the officer’s life can be placed in danger, etc.

Out of a hundred applicants, a department is fortunate if they can get one or two officers to put on the road.  And once there, after the initial training, they have anywhere from a year to two and sometimes more of probationary status where they can be discharged for anything.

Administrators learned a long time ago that people can keep up a façade only for a few months, time and experiences will tell if they aren’t who they appear to be, thus the long probationary periods.

Why am I telling you all of this?  For every officer that is killed, injured or says “enough is enough it isn’t worth risking my life and my family’s future” and resigns, it is going to take that long to replace him/her.  AND that is just the start, the new officer isn’t seasoned and is going to take years to be a veteran, knowing what to do in almost any situation.

And the list of qualified applicants is diminishing, fewer people want to face that kind of risk when they can make more money, better hours and benefits and not put their life or family at risk doing something else.

So what is going to end up happening?  Who is going to be there to stop neighbors from escalating violent words to violent actions?

Who is going to be there to protect those that cannot protect themselves?  Who is going to go into emotion laden family disturbances and calm things down?

Counselors, social workers only deal with the aftermath, when it is safer.  They don’t go into those charged situations, it is much too dangerous.

I could go on, but hopefully people get the picture, if we continue making police the targets, if we continue rationalizing criminal behavior, they we are going to turn into a state of anarchy.

There are those that think we should just declare martial law, already, putting people untrained in the day to day requirements of working out solutions with people, on point.  What do you think is going to happen then?

What I believe we need to do, as a country, as citizens is prosecute to the fullest those that are rioting and looting, there are dozens of witnesses and many cameras documenting these crimes – and they need to be turned over to law enforcement and the criminals identified.

The prosecutors should be using every law they can to prosecute those that participate in these violent criminal conduct.

Victims need to be fully compensated for their losses and not have to depend on insurance policies to cover them – that will soon stop or the cost will be too high to continue.

If we continue as we are now, there won’t be enough police to cover a shift, let alone offering 24 hour protection.  

I’ll get off my soap box now, I realize that most of you agree with what I am saying, but I had to get if off my chest, again.

Job 1:7 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

There are so many television programs and movies that glorify what satan stands for, or minimizes who God is and His commandments, that we are losing out to satan and he loves it.

The more the media makes satan look like just another person, misunderstood and aggrieved from God’s depiction of him, the more people become entrapped in those lies and the harder it is for them to understand sin and forgiveness from God.

Satan never stops, he never gets tired.  If he can get people to think he isn’t dangerous, why that is great.  If he can get Christians to give up, stop witnessing, stop living for God, that is a medal on his chest.

The Bible declares the dangers of satan; he warns us to be o the look out.  He tells us of his desires and methods.

And unfortunately we just don’t accept that fact.  We let our guard down and he attacks us.  He know where we are vulnerable and if we don’t continually watch out, asking God for His help he will wound us there.

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

⁹ Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

He has changed one iota from his time in the garden, through the thousands of years to today’s times.  He will use every possible means at his disposal to defeat God through His people.

While we know, in the end, it will not work.  We don’t know when the ‘end’ is and until Christ comes back we have to be the soldiers here on earth to resist and help others to resist satan’s plans.

God know we cannot do this alone, so He has given us the tools and ability – through His Word and the Holy Spirit – to stand stedfast in the faith.

Ephesians 6:10-12 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Whether we want to or not, we are in a war.  We made a choice to be in God’s army when we accepted Christ.

The world follows satan. 

There is no middle ground, no matter how people try to find one.

We are either with God, or we are with satan.

We have to rededicate our life to Christ daily if we want to keep from being a soldier who has fallen by the wayside and is no longer fit for duty.

Lord, help me to be mindful that YOU are my General and my allegiance must always be to you.

Later, Art (-: