The Stumbling Block Series

THE STUMBLING BLOCK

OPENING: COPS SHOT A GATOR…WELL SORT OF

Concrete evidence! Police shoot dangerous looking alligator, only to find it's a lawn ornament

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Created 9:27 PM on 2nd June 2011

They don't get many alligators in the suburbs of land-locked Kansas City, but if and when they do the local police like to think they can handle it.

Officers responding to a rare sighting in the suburb of Independence, Missouri, left nothing to chance.

Seeing the alligator's head lurking menacingly in the weeds leading down to a pond they fired off one shot with perfect precision.

Head of the beast: The alligator that police fired at is a life-sized lawn ornament

Noting that the beast hadn't moved, they fired again.

When they saw the bullet bounce off the gator's head they realised that they were tackling a concrete lawn ornament.

A Independence police spokesman said, in defence of the officers, it was growing dark when the incident occurred.

The drama began when a neighbour who had not spotted the fake gator before called 911 to report that his children spotted the monster while they were playing in some nearby woods.

Realistic: The alligator in Rick Sheridan's back yard that caused all the commotion

Police consulted with a conservation agent, who told them to kill the gator if they felt it posed a danger.

Police spokesman Tom Gentry said three officers went to the scene, with one officer firing twice.

Mr Gentry said: 'It didn't move. They inched up closer and closer and discovered it was a mock-up of a real alligator made to look like it was real.'

Easy mistake to make: Lurking in the weeds, a giant lawn ornament

He added that it was partially submerged in the weeds, which didn't help matters.

Rick Sheridan, the property owner, told police that the gator was meant to keep people off his lawn, Mr Gentry said.

Officers told him a no-trespassing sign would have been wiser.

'Now he'll have to patch up his alligator,' Gentry added.

Conservation agent Derek Cole said the department has received calls in the past about alligators that had been set free in populated areas, so there was no reason to believe the Saturday sighting wasn't valid.

'The department doesn't get involved in something like that,' Mr Cole said.

'They asked if they could go ahead and dispatch it if it was a danger, and I said there's a kill shot on alligators, a small kill shot on the head. I said if they can get a shot like that, go ahead.'

The drama mirrors an incident in the UK last month, when reports of a white tiger in a field prompted a police alert.

A cricket match was interrupted, golfers were escorted from a course in the area following the sighting at Hedge End in Hampshire, BBC News reported.

Police drafted in zoo staff with tranquilizer guns, and a police helicopter from another county was also brought in to investigate.

However, a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman told the BBC that it became 'obvious it was a stuffed life-size toy' when the downdraft from the chopper just blew it over.

TRANSITION: The point is, the police officers had the best intentions, but they just screwed up. Yeah now, when you are a Christian living in a wealthy society, a lot of times we do exactly the same thing: and our mistakes become a stumbling block. So let’s look at stumbling blocks and then some other aspects present in Corinth.

POINT: WE DO THINGS CAUSE IT MAKES SENSE, EVEN IF IT’S WRONG

Let’s have a serious discussion about some things that we do, even if it’s wrong…

BIBLE VERSE: 1 Corinthians 1:5-11

5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.

ISSUE #1: MODESTY

STUMBLING BLOCK LESSON:

As a student pastor, I am constantly looking at studies, stats, and charts in order to see what Christ is doing and what people are thinking. I came upon a study completed by a group called the “Rebelution” that I found to be absolutely amazing. The folks working overtime at therebelution.com have burned the midnight oil by interviewing thousands of men on what clothing styles they feel to me modest or immodest. Would you like to take a look at the results? I thought you would. Out of the hundreds of questions, here are just 12: