Recorded in Caesarea, Israel, this video explores the important role Centurions played in Biblical history. Three centurions, Cornelius, Claudius Lysius, and Julius, played pivotal roles in protecting the Apostle Paul from mob violence, an assassination attempt, and plans to kill him due to being shipwrecked while he was being extradited to Rome.

Here is a brief video clip showing a spectacular view of the Capernaum synagogue where I filmed the Centurion video. According to Luke chapter 7, the Centurion built this synagogue for the local Jewish community who greatly revered him. He is a great historical example of a man under authority who was respected by the community he served…

The full video can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPQI6Yupt48

I never tire of telling the story of the Centurion chronicled in Matthew Chapter 8. It remains one of the highlights of the Police Dynamics program because it so clearly illustrates the principle of a law enforcement or government official operating “under authority.”

This video from the Police Dynamics archives was actually filmed in the very synagogue that was built by the Centurion in the village of Capernaum, Israel! I had to speak in hushed tones because there were a number of tour groups there at the same time. Apparently yellow ballcaps were in fashion that day!

About 2000 years ago, the land of Palestine was under the rule of the Roman Empire, a very powerful and at times corrupt governing authority. Within a town or village, the Roman government would appoint a representative. He was known as the Centurion. The Centurion was an army commander and served as the representative of Roman governmental authority and power. He functioned much like a Police Chief, Fire Chief, Public Safety Director, Mayor, and Magistrate all rolled into one! Although the Romans did not appreciate separation of powers quite like we do, he was clearly responsible for maintaining the law, order, health, safety, and morals of that village. (more…)

The essence of integrity is “being who you represent yourself to be.” In the conclusion of the presentation on Character-based Law Enforcement from the 2005 International Association of Character Cities Conference, I use the lesson of the Centurion from Capernaum (Matthew chapter 8) to illustrate the power of being a man (or woman) of integrity who is not only in authority, but is under authority. Many of you have heard it before, but the lesson is so central to understanding the message of Police Dynamics that it bears repeating again.

Police officers are the centurions of today. Those who enforce the law must also obey the law. Those who are in authority must also be under authority.

Here is a video clip from a presentation entitled Character-based Law Enforcement that I presented at the 2005 International Association of Character Cities Conference. In it, I trace part of the Path of Destruction that Renegade Police Officers often find themselves on. Starting with the power of the tongue and the impact of our words, we explore other predictable patterns of behavior such as immorality, divorce, domestic violence, and death by suicide as it relates to the profession of law enforcement..

The Constitution of the United States is a delegation of authority from “We, the People.” Those of you who have attended Police Dynamics training might remember the Authority Maxim – “all human authority is delegated authority.”

Viewing our founding documents in this context helps us discern what our Founders were up to. The Constitution established the structure of American government built upon its moral foundation, which can be found in the Declaration of Independence.

If you try to interpret the Constitution separate from the its moral foundation – the Declaration – you can turn and twist those words to say just about anything…

Researchers at the University of Houston attempted to determine what sources influenced the thinking of our Founders. The premise of the study was to isolate any time the Founders quoted an outside source and attempt to identify it. By doing so, they thought they could determine the major influences on the thoughts and ideas that led to the founding of our Constitutional Republic. Here’s what they found…

What did the Founders mean by separation of church and state?

In which founding document do we find that phrase: the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, or the Federalist Papers?

Did the Founding Fathers – like George Washington, John Adams, Sam Adams, and Noah Webster – really believe that there should be such a separation?

If you are relying on modern history books for these answers, the truth might surprise you. Take a quick journey with me through some of America’s amazing history, listen to what our Founders actually said about this, and then draw your own conclusions…

An accurate view of American history is pivotal to a proper understanding of governmental authority. Stop relying on what other people say the Founders said (including me) and read what the Founders actually said for yourself. It’s not hard to find this information. They wrote most of it down…!

In the next installment is this series, we will look at the source for the Founders ideas – what influenced them most…

Were the Founding Fathers, by and large, Deists or Atheists like we have been taught? Or were they something else? Explore with me the historical record as we seek to answer this question. You might be surprised to find that the majority of our Founders were evangelical Christians. Even those non-religious Founders like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin had a decidedly biblical worldview…

In the next segment in this series, we will see what our Founders meant by “separation of church and state.” So stay tuned…

When our Founding Fathers envisioned a new republic for the United States (not a democracy, incidentally), they built it upon two foundational principles:

1. that government must have a moral foundation
2. that government must be constitutionally limited

In this short segment, I use the 1892 Supreme Court ruling in The Church of the Holy Trinity v. US to illustrate that our country has a rich religious heritage and that the sense of Christian morality formed the underpinnings of our government at that time.

The Holy Trinity ruling sets the stage for the next segment in this series where I answer the question:

Were our Founders theists, diests, atheistics, … or Christians with a decidedly Biblical worldview?

So stay tuned…