Explosive Motvation...Grenades!

The room has one window of smoked glass. The only real light is a florescent bulb hanging overhead. On the wall are some maps of homicides that have taken place in the nations 7th largest city. Around the cheap conference table are leather chairs given to the city by a large business who redecorated their offices. There were some soda cans on the table dripping condensation onto particle board top. The three pizza boxes from 25th and B were almost empty. A detective stuck his finger into the box to get a last taste of the goat cheese and spinach topping. We were there to debrief an informant who just completed a hairy mission.

The day prior the CI was sent into to buy some weapons. The case agent spotted counter surveillance and put it out over the air. The surveillance units spotted eight separate counter surveillance crooks. A detective covertly took photos for later identification. It can be tough to hide a 500mm zoom lens that is the size of an arm. The sergeant calls out to the team, “Heads up. S-1and 2 approaching the UC vehicle. React team are you ready?” React team leader, affirm. They sat in the van fully suited up with heavy weaponry and body armor, sweating like a pig. Air conditioning is only so useful.

As the CI and UC sat talking, a man walked up to the car. He wore a jacket even though it was a warm and sunny day. He opened up his coat, looked at the pair and said, “Don’t ever (*&%$#) mess with us,” displaying a belt of military hand grenades. He did not know it but a police officer trained a rifle at the back of his head. If he reached for his belt he wouldn’t have had time to pull the pin. A bullet traveling faster than the speed of sound would have pierced his skull, ending his pathetic Narco life.

So, Chucky boy are they motivated and are they willing to pull the pin? No pun intended. The agent wiped his face with a napkin to get off the excess tomato sauce. “Well, these are the guys who have been enforcers for the drug cartels south of the border. Some have fallen out of favor and can’t go back; others are entrepreneurs looking for a new market (plaza). They are willing to kill for it. They have watched their friends die and realize that is a probability for them as well. The way they ensure they are going to live is by fear. The cartels adopt names and have Narco Corridos written about them. The MTV style videso build their reputation and expose their exploits and murders. They are not afraid of the police or the justice system. They think they can beat you tactically and in the courts. Google el Taliban…he is one of them.” Warning: Graphic violence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZZ_PGnWR48&NR=1
“A man is dangerous when he has nothing to loose and has the potential of becoming a multi-millionaire…”

I was reading Matthew 11 last week and came across a verse that peeked my curiosity. “From the days of John the Baptist until now, (about 2 ½ years) the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. (NIV) The word “force” is translated violent by others. As I pondered the passage and read commentaries about it, I saw the parallel. Certainly you can not access the Kingdom of Heaven through violence. It is clear that it was a high level of motivation. They saw the value and would not be denied. They were “people with nothing to loose and everything to gain.”

High motivation causes us to do radical things, like John the Baptizer and Jesus the Savior. The religious establishment called John crazy because he was so strict. (read the passage) Then came Jesus who hung out with Narco’s and prostitutes for the purpose of bringing them into the Kingdom. They called him a glutton and drunkard. Neither was true, they were just motivated, motivated to build God’s Kingdom. One soul at a time. Not for personal gain but to please the Creator.

So what are you motivated to do? Advance through the ranks? Make millions? Compete at the highest levels of sports? Build the Kingdom of God? What are you willing to do for it?

The question is, are we going to man up (sorry ladies) or rest in our comfort of middle class America…God wants us to man up and forcefully build his kingdom even if that means taking the risk of traveling to Kenya.

A Diner of Bullets and Bombs

On the beach in Del Mar is an expensive restaurant filled with the upper crust of society. Movie stars, politicians, Captains of industry and drug cartel members eat there. The houses surrounding the eatery are worth between 12 and 50 million. The sun is setting while kids play in the sand and surfers tear it up on a wave. Four people playing two man volleyball. One of them just dove for a ball, rolling in the warm sand which is now sticking to his sweaty skin. While high society is sipping their Dirty Martini’s and swigging a Mojito, at the table next to them three men talked about committing a kidnapping. They are Mexican drug cartel.

As part of a case we needed plan a take down. One of our guys posing as a drug cartel member met with cartel members who make a living off of drug rips and kidnappings. These crooks stole millions of dollars, hundreds of pounds of cocaine, kidnapped people at the direction of the cartels and sold all kinds of weapons. Rarely if ever do these crimes get reported to the police. How exactly does one explain to the police your boyfriend got kidnapped because he cheated the cartel out of $ 500K? How do you call the cops and say these guys broke into my house in the middle of the day with assault rifles and took 30 pounds of methamphetamine. By the way they broke up a brick and spread it around the house. If the police respond the victim is going to jail.

In the restaurant the three sat talking while several patrons knew exactly what was going on. At a table close by was a couple casually eating diner. Under the table was a cache of weapons. They were UC security. At the bar were two additional people, also armed. They were counter surveillance for the crooks. Behind them was another under cover cop watching their every move. They would have had no chance of survival if they pulled out guns. In the lifeguard tower was a detective with a video camera. With him was a react team of detectives with assault rifles. In the sand watching the sunset was the sergeant and another detective calling the movements of the operation. Two other teams were positioned around powerhouse park. “Waiter can I have another Martini? Thank you!” A clueless banker sunk deeper into the events unfolding around him, clueless as to what to do in the event of a shootout. Diving over the cement wall into the sand never crossed his mind. How to launder $100,000 for a shady friend was.

The statements have been altered:
Crook: I’ll do anything you want. I want to do business with you.
UC: I know where a shipment of dope is coming and I want you to rip it.
Crook: It could get messy. If they don’t do what we want, we will kill them.
UC: I expect them to be armed. No one sits on that kind of dope unarmed.
Crook: That’s okay, this is our job. We do this all the time.
UC: I may want these guys taken to Mexico. (This is a one way trip.)
Crook: We bring zip ties and duck tape.
UC: Good, we’ll hook up next week for the details. But we will have to move fast.
Crook to a waiter walking by: Can I get some fudge cake for desert? Certainly.

As I listened to the conversation it dawned on me why this worked. It also made me realize why I could not do something like that. The UC spoke with knowledge and authority. He was believable. The UC was comfortable in his skin and the skin he was portraying. He knew what to say and how to say it. He spoke as though he had the backing of the SDPD. He did. He spoke as though he had the cartel behind him. The crook was mesmerized.

Jesus talked to the crowds at the sermon on the mount. They were mesmerized. He told them things they had never heard before. He pushed them to new levels of spirituality. He called them on their sin. They listened. He talked about legalism. They were convicted. He talked about a new way of thinking that went beyond just the Jewish people…they accepted it. Matthew 7:28 sums it up well. “…the crowds were amazed at his teachings because he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law.” Jesus spoke with power because he knew the mind of God the father.

You and I can tell when someone is trying to sell us snake oil. They don’t believe it themselves. They push it too softly or come on too strong and over sell like a bad Billy Mays infomercial. I don’t want to be a Billy Mays commercial for Christ. I want my life to be organic, fresh and powerful because I understand and obey God. That is the basis of our power, Christ! Matthew 5-7 is a great place to start searching for the mind of Christ and the basis of our power.

D (CIU), R (CIU), S (Gangs), M (ATF) and J (ATF) are my heroes. They know why. I can’t go into a lot of detail yet (soon) but they have pulled off one of the biggest cases in the history of the SDPD. Not in terms of numbers of arrests, but in terms of importance to the safety and welfare of San Diego and California. The restaurant was a small piece of the case.

Over the next few weeks you will get more of this case.


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Al Shabaab Beheads Christians in Somalia

The United States has exported Al Shabaab terrorist from our major cities to fight in Somalia. For sometime we have discussed helping our borthers and sisters in other countries. Now is the perfect time. Lets find a way as American christians to share our wealth and resources with people undergoing a sever trial. Radical Islam exports terror and we as believers can export peace and support.

"On August 4, a junior [al Shabaab] militant notified all the families of the victims that the four Christians had been beheaded for apostasy. He described the Christians as promoters of 'fitna,' a Muslim term for religious discord. The militant, who called himself 'Seiful Islam' ('the Sword of Islam'), told the families that the bodies will not be given to them 'as Somalia does not have cemeteries for infidels.'"

One eyewitness account said, 'All the four apostates were given an opportunity to return to Islam to be released but they all declined the generous offer.'"Earlier this year, seven other Somalis were beheaded, along with two sons of a village church leader. According to Compass Direct News, a California-based organization that also reports on incidents of persecution:-- The seven Somalis were publicly beheaded July 10 in the town of Bladoa for being deemed "Christians" and "spies" by al Shabaab (which means "the Youth" in Arabic).-- The two sons of a church leader were beheaded Feb. 21. Their father, Musa Mohammed Yusuf, 55, formerly led an underground church in the village of Yonday. He and his wife and a third son subsequently took refuge in Kenya.Somalia's Christians comprise less than 1 percent of the African nation's 9.8 million people. After the seven beheadings, the Associated Press noted, "Punishments such as stoning, amputations and beheadings are historically rare in Somalia, which traditionally practices moderate Sufi Islam. But a more extremist form of jihadi Salafist Islam with its roots in Saudi Arabia has taken root during the chaotic warfare of recent years, strengthened by a recent influx of hundreds of foreign fighters."

Testing Your Metal

Have you noticed there are those who talk a good game but can’t back it up?

A Muslim man from the Middle East rants about blowing up military bases. He is drunk at the time and visiting a strip club. Terrorist or smack talker? Part of Al Qaida or a man who does not know his alcohol limits? Too early to tell.

Criminal talks about how many “rips” and kidnappings he has done. He looks like a chubby boy you could knock out with one punch. Cartel guy or is he living in fantasy world? Cartel.

An officer documents in a report he/she is an 11550 (under the influence of dope) expert and can “spot someone under the influence from100 yards away. I have made more than 1500 arrests for 11550 over the past three years.” Psychotic or a great cop? Psychotic

A guy clams to be a born again Christian. Reads Christian books, goes to church faithfully, has daily devotions, tithes heavily, prays without ceasing. Solid guy or is he playing the smack talking game of Christian in Name Only? Smack talker. Walked out on his family and turned on the faith.

Policing is the same. There are cops who go 10-8, grab a cup of coffee and a news paper, sit in the turn lane at Torrey Pines State Beach for an hour. Working. He complains when a radio call interrupts his breakfast. He is a cop in name only. Others hit the 10-8 button as they are making their first contact. They spend the day hunting criminals. Looking for arrests and taking care of calls.

A detective gets his share of “paper.” He reads the incoming reports and looks for ways to yellow sheet them. (close them) Some don’t even bother to investigate. Just stuff them in a drawer. When colleagues find a “source” to solve the crime spree, she tells him, “I don’t feel comfortable interviewing this guy.” It was too close to closing time.

Another detective comes in on Saturday to interview a 19 year old girl who is part of a white supremacist group moving heavy weight meth across the border, one condom load at a time. The detective turns the girl and discovers a wealth of information about “safe” jobs, Mafia and more. Sandy (detective) climbed out of the water, put away her surf board (waves epic) to sacrifice and come in for the interview. It enhance one homicide and possibly solved another. One is a detective and the other a paper pusher.

Can you tell who the real cops are? How do you know? They passed the test. See not everyone who dawns a uniform is a cop. Yes, they are trained and get paid as cops, but they are not really cops. They are cops in name only.

The Apostle Paul has a few things to say about this. LISTEN to him: “Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless of course if you fail the test.” 2 Cor 13:5

The question I pose to you is what is this test of the faith Paul talks about? How do you know if you are a believer and follower of Christ? So in this “Christian” nation where you go to church and grew up in a Bible believing family, are you truly a follower of Christ? Or are you a Christian in Name only?

Feel free to share you thoughts on how to test your faith.


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