LOVE & Order - God's Sheriff!

This is Andy Thomas from the Masculine Journey Podcast, where we discover what it means to be a wholehearted man. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. I'm sitting with the sheriff. That's right.

A lawman. This is really happening, friends. We just finished Wednesday in the Word. It may be a little loud because there's a bunch of guys praying with each other and fellowshipping and awesome ministry in China there.

A guy just got back from Ghana I just talked to and what they're dealing with. But amidst all the chaos and the excitement, there's a sheriff who loves Jesus. Sheriff Richie Simmons. Is it possible to be a sheriff and love the Lord Jesus at the same time? How do you explain that? Is that an oxymoron?

It's very easy. I'm so thankful that God got my attention young in life and the things that I did before, He's using them now. I became a Christian at 17 and up to that point, I wanted to be a law enforcement officer, but I was doing everything in my power to give it back to Satan and not become the thing that God had created me to do at birth or before birth.

I got into drinking in the seventh grade, so I used what was bad once I became a Christian. Now we do a program called Tame. It's in the middle school in the seventh grade.

It's something very new that we brought on, but God put this in my heart. And then He gave the resources to make this happen and people are taking word of it and I think it's going to pass across the nation. Now where do you sheriff? Sheriff Richie Simmons, what part? You're in North Carolina, right? I am in Davison County, central North Carolina as you can get. One of the biggest counties land-wise, land mass-wise in the whole state I believe, right? It's a big swath of land.

It's pretty good size. We're about tenth in population for the state as well, so we're close to Forsyth, Winston-Salem, Guilford County, Greensboro, High Point, and Charlotte. So we're a very busy county. And you're really on the front lines not just of law enforcement, not just of dealing with the criminal element and things like that, but you're also, as a believer in Christ, how do you bring your faith into that with you? A lot of folks that listen to this show on our podcast, our Truth Network listeners, our affiliates all over the country that carry the program, we're so grateful for them.

A lot of law enforcement out driving around, catching the show, looking for some encouragement. And maybe you're struggling with the same thing like, here I am, a man of God, a servant of the Lord, but I'm also a public servant and a servant leader. And personally, I don't know how you can be out here without a faith in God doing what we do because, I mean, it is a dangerous profession anymore and getting worse. And as people, you know, as the media says that people hate us, which I don't believe that, but my faith is what gets me through the day. I mean, we meet depression just like anybody else. We have pain just like anybody else. And only through God can we get through these moments like anybody else. Yeah, you see unfolding on TV, you see a lot of awful rioting and cities being burned and people throwing bricks. And I see those law enforcement guys that they're standing there trying to like hold a shield, trying to protect someone's home or someone's business.

And I just I don't know what goes through your mind and how can how do you even survive as a law enforcement person right now? I tell you, I mean, if I didn't come to the Lord in his word first thing I get out of bed, that's what we do. And in a time of prayer and in family, I'm very fortunate. All my family, my kids, my wife are also believers. So so, you know, when I can get to my cocoon of the home, God really just pumps us and recharges my batteries each day.

Take us day to day. I mean, maybe maybe a tough situation. You don't have to name names or get in any kind of legalities or anything, but take us into maybe like a tough situation that you go into or you've been into where you had to trust the Lord as a believer. You got your your sheriff hat, you got your Christian hat.

But you're as you said, it was funny. I was asking you, how do we describe you? And someone said, he's a sheriff for God.

I kind of like that. But tell us, maybe give us an example for our listeners who are really trying to flesh out the Christian life and honor Christ. The average day is no average day, but you just put your faith in him every day. I mean, we've been in so many tough, tough situations in a year or nine months. We've had the covid. We've had all these demonstrations and stuff like this.

Every day is a challenge. But we've also had, you know, some officer involved situations, some shootings, one in particular. A man had a 50B served on. We had to move him out of his house because he's very dangerous. He he had an acre, 14 foot fence with Constantine wire that he locked himself in every day. We brought him out of that situation. His wife was in it. One day he shows up, cuts the lock off when she calls us in. It was about it was about 10 o'clock in the morning when she rang out a call 911 that he was coming in. He puts his own lock and chain around the fence so no one can get in. And he's got an AK 47 and loads of ammunition and starts up after her ended up one of one of my deputies took around.

We were in about a 20 minute shootout. This is things that God gets you through. And for these guys to go back out and do it day in and day out for for the great pay that law enforcement gets. It's a really a thankless job. And it's really tough because you guys, you know, there's just but there's also I hear this said a lot. There's also like in any profession, there's there's bad law enforcement, too, I guess.

And you're trying to but you're trying to show that you can honor God and do it right. Yeah. And that's what kills me. There is in any profession I can name one percent. And that's bad.

Doesn't deserve probably the next breath they get. But they you know, but they're bad and they shouldn't be in law enforcement or anything. But I hate it when people group us all in that one percent.

I spoke to a pastor and they said, we're talking about the about up in Minnesota with Mr. Floyd. And I said, you know, that one percent shouldn't do what they do. But I remember back one percent of the of the priesthood that were molesting children.

And I said, I'll accept our one percent, but it's not all of us in that group. Just like it's not for the pastors of the one percent, you know, just because one percent was molesting children doesn't mean all pastors are like that law enforcement. OK, that's this is Sheriff Ritchie Simmons. He's the sheriff of Davidson County.

And it's honor. I don't know that I've ever interviewed a sheriff before on this program, but I'm interviewing one now. And I tell you, I feel real safe right now in this interview. He's with us and he loves Jesus.

What's your challenge to everyone out there? Honestly, we talk about a lot about prayer and the power of prayer. In fact, we just talked with Wednesday in the word.

That's why it's so noisy, by the way. We're in a restaurant called Dario. We just finished a midweek Wednesday in the word time in the word where a bunch of messed up guys go through the Bible together. And we talked about the power of prayer, how prayer change your life. Can you talk real quick about the importance of prayer and how specifically all of our listeners? I'm all I'm going to aim everybody listening to pray for you, Sheriff Simmons, and then I want you to tell us how we can pray for you and for everybody and how important that is. And that's what's really crazy is the prayer warriors that I have that contact me.

I've got one sitting right beside me here, and he contacts me every day with with the morning sword and probably everybody here. I get his Bible verses every morning right on my phone. It's a text. It's really awesome because it's really a text from God.

It's God's word. Oh, my word. And, you know, and I get it about four thirty in the morning. Some days he wakes me up with it, you know, but but it does it matters when I know that these people are out here. I've got a team, Nathan. I knew that was one thing I wanted because I was had a fear of changing, of becoming prideful with the position I got. So so I when I was running, I had this team, Nathan, that will call me out and they can they can come in.

My secretary doesn't announce them. They walk right in and can stand outside my door and see what how I'm talking to Team Nathan. So some men you put in your life, you said, I want you to hold me accountable, like the prophet Nathan, who went and confronted David.

I mean, he went to the most powerful man in the world, the king, David. And so you're saying you have a Team Nathan that does it. That's pretty cool.

I've never heard of that. I do. And I'd like to say I had the wisdom to want to have that team. But God showed me I needed that team when I was running for the office. And, you know, there's things that that are offered. You could get in so much trouble because of the power, absolute power corrupts.

Absolutely. And and one of my best lines, one of my favorite lines. And I tell other sheriffs, I tell other politicians, I tell others because it's so easy to get corrupt when you think you are all that, because in the end, I'm flesh and blood, just like anybody else. I'm in here because God put me here.

All right. Well, pray for the sheriff. Pray for your sheriff, your local sheriff, and pray the best way to support your local sheriff.

I can picture that sign all growing up on the Andy Griffith Show. Support your local sheriff is to pray for him and pray for their families, pray for their faith, pray God will keep them humble. Pray for them for safety. I mean, you're taking gunshot.

You got people you got people high on stuff that, you know, it may take more than two of you to get someone cuffed in. And but you're also you also are trying to win souls in what you're doing. So thank you. God bless you for serving, for being a servant leader and a public servant. And our prayers are with you, Sheriff Simmons. Well, thank you for what you do and for such a wonderful prayer meeting this morning. That was really, really good because I'm in that need and fixed every day. All of us do. Amen. This is the Truth Network.