by Michael G. Mickey

 

This weekend, an email written by Ron Trowbridge, the undersheriff of Prowers County, Colorado, started sweeping some of the viral corners of the internet. It alleges that a Colorado State Police training encouraged law enforcement officials to look at Bible-believing Christians with intense skepticism.

 

From RedStatements.co, below is the full e-mail written by Trowbridge for your review:

 

From: rtrowbridge@prowerscounty.net To: forknown@hotmail.com Subject: CSP Training Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2013 10:30:22 -0600

 

On April 1, 2013 I attended training in La Junta, Colorado hosted by the Colorado State Patrol (CSP). The training was from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm and covered two topics, Sovereign Citizens, and Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. I was pretty familiar with motorcycle gangs but since we often deal with the so-called sovereign citizen groups I was interested to see what they had to say. The group consisted of police officers, deputies, and CSP troopers. There were about 20 people in attendance.

 

Trooper Joe Kluczynski taught a 2-hour section on sovereign citizens. Kluczynski spent most of his two hours focusing on how, in his view and apparently the view of Homeland Security, people turn to the sovereign citizen movement.

 

Kluczynski started off by saying there are probably some sovereign citizens in this room and gave a generalized list of those groups that have sovereign citizen views. Among those groups, Kluczynski had listed, were those who believe America was founded on godly principles, Christians who take the Bible literally, and “fundamentalists”.

 

Kluczynski did not explain what he meant by “fundamentalists” but from the context it was clear he was referring again to those who took the Bible literally or “too seriously.”

 

While Kluczynski emphasized that sovereign citizens have a right to their beliefs, he was clearly teaching that the groups he had listed should be watched by law enforcement and should be treated with caution because of their potential to assault law enforcement.

 

Kluczynski explained why he believed these groups were dangerous saying they were angry over the election of a black president. When someone in the group suggested the failing economy was probably much more to blame, Kluczynski intimated that those who are not going along with the changes in America will need to be controlled by law enforcement. Kluczynski even later questioned some of the troopers present if they were willing and prepared to confiscate “illegal” weapons if ordered to.

 

Kluczynski’s assignment with the CSP was an Analyst for the Colorado Information Analysis Center, (CIAC). CIAC is funded by Homeland Security funds and run by the CSP. Kluczynski said he gets his information from the Department of Homeland Security. Kluczynski said he was leaving the CSP at the end of that week (March 29, 2013) to begin his new career with Homeland Security. I thought he was perfect for the job.

 

Ron Trowbridge

Undersheriff

Prowers County Sheriff’s Office

 

Not only is the above shocking, Todd Starnes is currently reporting the following, in part, for Fox News:

 

A U.S. Army training instructor listed Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism as examples of religious extremism along with Al Qaeda and Hamas during a briefing with an Army Reserve unit based in Pennsylvania, Fox News has learned.

 

“We find this offensive to have Evangelical Christians and the Catholic Church to be listed among known terrorist groups,” said Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. “It is dishonorable for any U.S. military entity to allow this type of wrongheaded characterization.”

 

Let the Christian beware

 

Readers, this information is fresh, all of it having been documented since 4-1-13. That we can see this inaccurate view of bible-based Christianity has been disseminated to law enforcement in both Pennsylvania and Colorado should be shared from every church pulpit in the United States of America, not so Christians can ready themselves to assault law enforcement officers but so Christians can question their leaders as to why this is going on.

 

While it is within the right of Christians, as well as people from every other belief system and religious faith, to play a role in shaping our nation's laws and morality per the Constitution, what possible justification could there be for our government to be labeling everyone who takes the bible literally as some sort of dangerous, potentially violent extremist? I don't know, but it is noteworthy and indicative of the lateness of the hour we're living in here in the Church Age.

 

The Christian and government

 

Government has no need to fear the average bible-believing Christian based on anything written in God's Word, but there is increasing reason for the bible-believing Christian to question the intent of those in power where its treatment of Christians is concerned.

 

In Romans 13:1-7, the Christian is told to be subject to the higher powers, to pay taxes, and to honor those unto whom honor is to be bestowed based on their position of authority.

 

Jesus Himself told us, as documented in Matthew 22:21, to render unto Caesar (government) what is due to government and to render that which is due to God to God.

 

Simply put, Romans 13:1-7 and Matthew 22:21 indicate we are to obey the powers in government to the extent we can as Christians.

 

When the leadership of government fails to meet our expectations, we should know, first and foremost, that the powers in control of us aren't always chosen by God for the purpose of making the Christian's life easier.

 

Sometimes God places people into positions of power for the express purpose of executing judgment on a people or preparing a nation for judgment.

 

We may not like to admit it, but the Church hasn't exactly done a stellar job of late where repressing the wickedness of our era is concerned. Am I suggesting the Church may be due a little judgment? No, but I have to wonder where we stand with God right now as a body of believers.

 

For a long time now the Church has been coddling the political correctness movement and outright catering to it in some instances, refusing to teach sound doctrine for fear of "offending" someone.

 

Look where that has gotten us! A large percentage of Christian institutions barely look Christian from a doctrinal perspective and still we see the forces of the world, even within our own government, looking to cast a wary eye on those of us holding onto biblical truth. It's almost like they're hoping to find Christians plotting against the government from my perspective, perhaps because Satan feels he has us on the ropes.

 

Let your light shine

 

Church, I can't stress it emphatically enough. Be good citizens in these last days to the extent you can. Review the Scripture shared in this commentary and follow the examples given us by Christ and the Apostles.

 

In Christ's day, the Roman empire wasn't exactly kind to the Christian faith and yet Christ recognized Rome's authority to tax and rule. We must do the same, of course, as we have been from the foundation of our nation until now.

 

A question we should, perhaps, begin asking ourselves is what law enforcement will see if it begins looking at bible-believing Christians with "extreme skepticism."

 

If someone in the Department of Homeland Security reads this page, I hope they will note there are Christians encouraging other Christians to be good citizens, obedient unto government, faithful in paying taxes, and well-meaning toward same in thought and deed to the best of their ability. Ditto for anyone in law enforcement serving at the local or state levels who happens upon this page. Why? Because the Christian who takes the bible literally tends to take all of it literally. That being the case, there isn't a viable case to be made for Christians posing a threat to law enforcement.

 

But is there, on the other hand, cause for the bible-believing Christian to cast a wary eye at his or her government when government-sponsored teaching sessions being provided to our law enforcement communities include language indicating that law enforcement is going to need to control "those who are not going along with the changes in America?" Absolutely.

 

Increasingly, on a host of fronts, it appears our nation is on the road to oppression and tyranny. While the talking heads favorable to the current administration continue to deny it, mounting evidence suggests otherwise, the issues documented here being prima facie evidence of same.

 

May God bless and keep you all safe until His coming.