I say some hard things sometimes, but always out of love and concern. By a friend of mine, Thurmond Duke

I have mentioned some concerns lately. The concern deepens daily. In the last few weeks I have had more than a few conversations with what I call grassroots Americans. Can't call many of them Christians, but they are "loyal" "patriotic" Americans, and many are angry. Really angry. I have heard people talked about and described from TX to MN as if I were lstening to KKK members. This thug culture has people at the end of their patience and tolerance. And they"religion of peace" is the other source of the anger. Disgust with politics and politicians is simply normal. And they ASSUMED because I am from the South (American by birth, Southern by the grace of God) that I would immediately agree with them.

So they get real surprised when I tell them one has to separate wheat from chaff, corn from the shucks, and not just brand a group because of the actions of some of them. I tell them that I have many brothers and sisters in Christ who happened to be born with black skin that I love dearly, and that I will, if needed, defend them with my skills and my life. To attack them is to attack me. We are family in Jesus.

In St Louis a couple of weeks ago, the tension was palpable. People were polite and courteous, but you could feel the undercurrent of tension. It was a drain on my spirit, and grievous to me. At one point, I held the door for a lady who had three kids or so and a lot of packages. I was wearing my cross outside my shirt. You could see hers, too. She thanked me, and you could feel the pins and needles around her feet. So I said to her, "...of course I held the door for you sister. Believers must stand shoulder to shoulder these days and BE the love of the Lord Jesus Christ to a watching world. They have to see the love of Christ in us and the love we have for each other." You should have seen her smile, and felt the relief rolling from her. Her response? "Praise you Jesus for a man who will live for you in times like these." And she blessed me real good.

But there is a danger that some spark is going to ignite something. I can feel it. It's real and it's there.

The other danger is Syria. The only time those people (Islamists in general) aren't thinking about killing Israelis and killing us is when they are at each other's throats. Seems like those folks just have to be angry enough at someone to kill or they aren't happy. But whatever we do will be wrong. There are no good options. Evil in power, and a worse evil that wants to be in power. Syria borders just about everyone there but Iran. That powderkeg could ignite WWIII. If we go to far, and they call on Russia for help, God help us all, because Putin thinks Beloved Leader is a weak pathetic milquetoast, he has zero respect for him, and he ain't afraid of us. If that happens, and the oil gets real disrupted, China could assert its national interests are threatened. See the dominoes all lined up?

Nothing good can come of this. Nothing. God help us, because neither Beloved Leader nor anyone else in DC seems to have any recognition of the import of Ezekiel 38 and 39 here. They should. Papa, please raise up a leader who loves You, believes in You, and prays to You in Spirit and in truth. Bring him forth now, Lord, because we need him desperately. If not, protect us from the mayhem to come.