Deputy Mike Hoenig was little more than two months short of his thirty-third birthday when a gunman took his life at 1:15 A.M. on the morning of October 30, 1997. Mike had stopped a bicyclist to investigate the man's suspicious behavior. Before he could get out of his unit, though, gunshots rang out in the quiet residential neighborhood, and within seconds, Mike lay dying on the street. Despite the heroic efforts of fellow sheriff's deputies, Mike succumbed to his wounds.

When Mike decided to follow that bicyclist he had no way of knowing what would come of his decision. He was just doing what all good cops do when they come across something that just doesn't look right. What he couldn't know at the time was that his decision to stop the bicyclist would cost him his life. Or would it? In the accompanying poem, "A Demon Killed A Deputy Tonight," James Johnson echoed so many of our feelings of frustration when we lose a partner in the line of duty. But the demon could only go so far. He could kill Mike's body, hut he could not kill his soul.
 
Like many police officers, Mike had purchased a life insurance policy. He wanted to ensure that his family would be taken care of in the event of his untimely death. To be sure, Mike knew that no amount of money could replace his beloved son. But he loved his family enough that he wanted to be sure their needs were met. Mike also had life insurance of another kind, one that money could not buy. Mike had Eternal Life Insurance.

There are many who believe in a hereafter, that life continues in some sense beyond what we can see and feel in our present state. Mike was one of those. And about three years before his death, he was introduced to Jesus Christ. Mike learned that nearly two thousand years ago, Jesus came to earth to demonstrate His love for mankind by dying on the cross for our sins. In so doing, Jesus paid the premiums for everyone who would take advantage of the Eternal Life Insurance policy He so generously offered. Mike also learned that if he would believe in Jesus and accept His substitutionary death on the cross in his place, he would insure his own eternal life.

As tragic as it sounds, Mike had to die so that his family could receive the benefits of his life insurance policy. In the same way, Jesus Christ had to die so that we could receive the benefits of His Eternal Life Insurance policy.

Those of us who are willing to be honest with ourselves will have to admit that we have often thought of what we would do with an inheritance left to us by some distant uncle. Imagine instead, though, what an inheritance in heaven will be like. In a place where the streets are paved with gold, we can only dream of what awaits those who go there. The Bible says that the benefits left to us by Jesus Christ are incomprehensible. In his letter to the church at Corinth, Saint Paul wrote, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." If heaven is so awesome that mortal man cannot even fathom what it is like, it must be a very special place. It has to be a place where all of our wishes will come true, or where all that is true will be our wish.

At Mike's funeral service, one of his friends described him as an avid fisherman. "Mike had three hobbies," he told the audience, "fishing, fishing, and fly fishing." As a consummate fisherman, it seems inevitable that he would one day be hooked by Jesus Christ, the greatest Fisherman who ever lived. Will there be fishing in heaven? I don't know, but since that service, I have thought of Mike Hoenig often, and each time I have seen him with a fishing pole in his hands and a smile on his face. The Bible talks about heaven as a place of rest, and for many, fishing represents the ultimate form of rest and relaxation. If that is so, then Mike is doing some serious fishing today.

If you don't know where you will spend eternity and would like to have the benefit of the same Eternal Life Insurance policy that Mike had, you can do so by praying the following prayer: "Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner. I have tried to live my life without you, but I no longer want to live that way. I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and that you arose on the third day. I acknowledge that you are the only way to eternal life. Lord, forgive me of my sins. Come into my life and make me into the person you want me to be. Amen."

If you prayed that prayer to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and would like more information about growing in your relationship with Him, please call or write to us at the following address:

Peace Officers for Christ International
P.O. Box 625
Westminster, CA 92684-0625
Phone/Fax (714) 897-5522
E-mail: pofc@xc.org

The following poem was written by James Johnson, one of the deputies who tried so hard to revive Mike as he lay in the street.

A Demon Killed A Deputy Tonight

A demon killed a deputy tonight
and bloodied the badge that he wore.
He was shot in front of those he protected
as several watched in horror.

They watched from their windows
and they watched from the street.
They watched as the demon
took Mike's last heartbeat.

The demon's lawyer will stand up in court
and demand the demon was right.
But where was the court on that dark lonely street
when Mike could no longer fight?

He patrolled the dangerous streets of that city,
the streets that most would not walk.
He lay on his back on those same very streets,
but Mike could no longer talk.

Kneeling beside him, we tried to revive
a heartbeat, or maybe a breath.
His body never reacted, it never came back.
Mike had been lost to death.

I pleaded to God to give me more strength
and let me see Mike alive.
Mike , I prayed for you then with all of my heart,
as I will for the rest of my life.