I FELL IN LOVE WITH A MAN TODAY...

I couldn’t help it. Honestly, I couldn’t. Sometimes you just meet someone, and they have that special way about them. They just sweep you off your feet.

Such was the case with Brian, who recently attended one of our Sheepdog Seminars.

Brian spent over 10 years serving as a police officer. The combination of the stress of the job, and having responded to a mass shooting a few years back, along with several other factors, finally took a toll on him. In his search for relief, he turned to the bottle.

He is by no means the first cop I have known to do that. I met tons of police officers in my career that were on a journey for peace who, in their travels, chose the bottle. I remember Larry from the earlier part of my career. When he got off work every morning at 0700, he was stone drunk by 0800. He found it to be the only way he could deal with the stuff of life.

But Brian…he’s different…

Most cops I know who find themselves in emotional turmoil do absolutely nothing to help make a positive change. I long ago lost count of the number of officers who, going through a difficult time in their marriage, blamed their spouse - and everybody else. As a matter of fact, as I sit here and think about it, I simply cannot recall one time I ever heard a police officer tell me: “This is my fault.”

And, of course, it’s not just the cops who live in this state of denial. In my 35 years as an officer, I responded to thousands of disturbances: domestic, neighborhood disputes, and so forth. I’ve sat in living rooms, stood in front yards, listening to the complaints. And there was a certain attitude that was always present: denial. None of the parties involved were ever willing to shoulder the blame.

The husband blamed his wife, the wife blamed her husband, the parents blamed the kids, the neighbor blamed the other neighbor. I can count on one hand the number of times I saw someone “break down” and confess: “This is my fault!”

And then I met Brian. Let me tell you what this man did…

Brian finally saw the light. This man (I’ll have to pause for a moment and dry my eyes)… this man, instead of blaming his parents, or his fellow officers, or anyone else in the world, blamed himself for his choices.

But he didn’t stop there.

Desperate to find relief, he sought out a place that could help him. And he found one. However, it was a place (a treatment center) that would cost him thousands of dollars. But he had no money. He had no insurance. He had no one to turn to that could foot the bill (the treatment he found would cost over $30,000).

So, what do you think he did…?

I’ll tell you what he did: He… sold … his … house …

Yep. He sold his house. Can you believe that? He sold his house, took the money from the sale, and applied it toward his recovery.

Yes – you read that right. This man sold everything he owned, so he could be … FREE…

I don’t know that I’ve ever met someone like him. No wonder I’m “in love.”

“Jimmy,” you may think, “is it that big of a deal?”

Yes, it is. Why? Because people like Brian are few and far between. 

I know tons of people who need help. Some of them are at death’s door. Addicts slip into their grave every hour. And sadly, so many of them – the vast majority of them – do not realize how bad their problem is. They think they’ll improve with time – but they won’t. Some of them will spend the entirety of their life enslaved to their bottle or hooked on their pills.

Brian told me he had to recover. If he didn’t, he knew he would die.

So, he chose to live.

Did you know that such contrition is a turn-on with God? Yep, it just flat makes Him happy. When you realize what a mess you’ve made of your life, and turn and confess it, God looks favorably on you.

Check out this verse in Isaiah 66:2 –

“…I will look to the one who has no pride and is broken in spirit…”

Pride will keep you in denial. It will send you to an early grave. If you can swallow your pride, however, and realize that you are B-R-O-K-E-N…you can be helped.

You are broken. You may drive a fancy car, live in a mansion, have a ton of cash in the bank, yet, you can still be broken.

And if you can admit to this, you can be helped. You can be like Brian.

Gee. I sure do love Brian…

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UPCOMING SHEEPDOG SEMINARS:

  • Ft Worth, Texas - next Saturday, June 30. Colonel Grossman will be there along with Stephen Willeford. Stephen is the man who shot the killer at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas last November. This is the church where 26 worshipers were gunned won during the morning worship service. You don't want to miss his story. Click here for more info and to register.