The Memorial Ceremony of CHP Officer Andre Moye (and my brief analysis of the two sermons)

I find no joy in writing this brief analysis. But police officers funerals are particularly important to me. Mainly because most lawmen would never darken the doors of a church, except for a funeral. Moreover, police funerals will bring in anywhere from 4,000 to 12,000 officers in attendance from all over the nation, and sometimes the world. Consequently by God’s providence, the preacher will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to preach the glorious Gospel to a large, mostly unchurched captive audience that would not have been there otherwise.

In the below video I watched ten persons speak before the main speakers. They represented Officer Andre Moye’s colleagues from work, family members, and friends. It was amazing to hear each one speak, they all spoke very well, and tears came to my eyes as well.

An interesting observation was that after hearing all ten speak, not one of them mentioned officer Moye having a saving faith in the Lord Jesus.

But my purpose of watching this video was to see how the Pastor preached to this large sea of officers. The itinerary ended up including two Pastors. They were Pastor Greg Laurie, and Pastor McGuiness (unknown spelling).

Though Laurie did quote some wonderful verses and passages, still the Glorious Gospel was not declared. There was no mention of those in attendance being sinners and needing to be saved from their sins. There was no mention of God’s judgement, wrath, and the consequences of an eternal place known as hell. The place known as hell was absent. Though he did say, “Jesus died on the Cross,” he failed to articulate why, and for whom (His elect). There was nothing about Christ’s atonement.

Laurie kept mentioning God’s “comfort” several times over and over. I can understand the importance of giving much comfort to the family during one on one counseling. But to make this large, unknown audience comfortable on their way to hell was not good. To add insult to injury, Laurie quoted Romans 13, giving the impression that they all had a good standing with God, as he declared to them “all of you…” are “ministers.” Civil authorities are referred to as “ministers” of God in that passage. But it should never be invoked without warning them that if they are not born-again (saved), they are still children of wrath, sons of perdition, enemies of Christ, and that the wrath of God abides on them.

Instead, I believe this crowd left feeling good about themselves (or comfortable) rather than in need of a Savior. Even knowing that the previous ten speakers (ten witnesses) never mentioned anything about faith, Laurie declared “Andre’s in heaven right now!” And it’s my impression that Laurie did not know Moye.

Then Pastor McGinnis (unknown spelling) was called to the pulpit to give the “official eulogy.” It appeared that he did know officer Moye well. And for whatever reason McGinnis mentioned recently being present at a “NAACP” service with Moye. That was unnecessarily divisive. Pastor McGinnis did not preach the Gospel either. Similarly to Laurie, he too preached a universal message of “comfort.” He told this large audience that God “already prepared a place for us.” He stated, “The Spirit of God is here, here to comfort us, He’s giving us comfort. That comforter would live in us, and be with us, making intercession for us!” He also told the thousands in attendance, “We will see him (Moye) again.”

Fact is, if officer Moye was born-again, yes he would be in heaven, but only those born-again will see him again. And if Moye was not saved, he will go to hell, and only those not saved will see him again. These truths were not preached at this funeral. They are rarely preached at other funerals. Truth is every officer present at this funeral are in need of salvation just as bad as the shooter who killed officer Moye (and who shot the other officers). It seems that often times, pastors preach everyone into heaven at funerals. I believe it’s safe to say they were lied to.

I realize it’s not easy preaching at funerals like this. And while preaching in the streets, I too fail, and sometimes I even fall on my own sword. But in the streets we preach in an uncontrolled, unpredictable, unrehearsed, and sometimes even dangerous work environment. On the contrary these pastors preached in a safe environment, where by God’s sovereign grace, God sent them there, and put them there. There is no excuse for ‘not’ preaching and teaching the whole counsel of God.

Lastly, I usually distribute Gospel tracts at police funerals; I regret not attending this one. If you’re a Lawman (or a citizen), to learn more about salvation, and your need to be saved from your sin, please read my Gospel tract here. There you will learn about Gods Law, and His Good News for some.

You may have put your boots on this morning, but a mortician may remove them tonight. Are you ready to meet your Maker?