The third practice of the five SemperVerus components is BE, which emphasizes the importance of intentionally reinforcing rectitude in yourself. It’s stated thusly:
III. Be: developing rich personal leadership character of exemplary moral and ethical quality.
In the following 3-minute video TED Talk, entrepreneur Derek Sivers presents lessons about leaders and followers he observed one day on a hillside of people:
In today’s world brimming with conflict, it’s not unusual to personally experience stress, grief, panic, even trauma.
The ministry Spiritual First Aid™ offers the free downloadable PDF resource, 14 Self-Aid Fact Sheets, which provide a quick reference overview of the following common everyday mental health challenges:
How do you handle unexpected and prolonged difficulties in your life? With frustration? Anger? Despair? Doubting God’s oversight and sovereignty in your situation?
[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of SPIRITUAL FITNESS ]
Instead, take the SemperVerus way: Stay True to what is right and Stay True to your aim, trusting God with all your heart.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Spiritual Fitness: Top 12 Acts for a Christian ]
What was scheduled to be an 8-day test flight of the Boeing Starliner capsule for US astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunni Williams turned into a 286-day test of endurance and conviction during an unexpected life-limiting stay in space aboard the International Space Station due to the capsule’s technical problems including helium leaks in its propulsion system and the failure of several reaction control system thrusters.
Wilmore, a devout Christian, leaned on his faith throughout the extended mission. He described his spiritual connection as “vital to existence,” emphasizing that knowing God was in control sustained him during the 9-month ordeal.
This is the follow-up post to the first article about how Blue Arrow Consultants trains church security teams in handling Active Violence Incidents (AVI) in their houses of worship.
SemperVerus attended the two-day, more-than-six-hour training session at a Michigan church building with that church’s security team. It consisted of two hours of classroom teaching and four hours of
live-action AVI scenario training with inert Glock blue guns and Glock 19X Gen5 Airsoft pistols and protective clothing.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Tactical Training for Individuals and Church Security Teams to Thwart Active Violence Incidents (Part 1) ]
The course instructor was Del Kostanko, police
trainer and founder of Blue Arrow Consultants, LLC, who teaches that knowing how to assess and respond to threats can lessen the need for force, reduce the chance of physical harm, and minimize liability.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Prayer for Church Security Team Members ]
Disruptions during church services and events are generally benign, without violence, and can be solved using de-escalation techniques and skills.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Gentle Response De-Escalation Training for Church Security Teams ]
But, in the rare case of an AVI, church security teams must know how best to work cohesively to appropriately and courageously stop the deadly threat. SemperVerus highly recommends Blue
Arrow Consultants to expertly train your church safety team in the best practices of SWAT methods to properly prepare for when very bad times happen.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Chart: The Spectrum of Potential Threat Personas in Self-Defense and Church Security ]
The following is merely a small sampling of the excellent lessons Del taught, along with photos of some of the physical execution of those lessons in staged scenarios: