Totally stealing this picture from my wife, @elroi.artistry Today I'm not just crying out for humanity because of reasons that appeal or provoke things similar to my own personal interests. It's not just because my brothers and sisters in Christ are being slaughtered, beheaded, raped, kidnapped, tortured and mass murdered Nazi style in countries in the Middle East and around the world. I'm not just crying out because I have a daughter the same age as little Aylan, the Syrian boy refugee who washed up on the shores of Turkey who drowned while his family fled for their lives heading for Canada. Of course I'm concerned for all these lives; police officers and news reporters being gunned down for racial reasons (but somehow still not worthwhile for the media to call these hate crimes). American citizens left in foreign prisons while our own president signs peace treaties with these countries and never makes a bargain for his own people's lives. Marines gunned down by a religious lunatic, not considered terrorism. So many people suffering just for being black, white, Christian, Muslim.... you name it. There may be religious and racial footings leading to renegade hatred that is found behind so many of these acts, but our job is not to just point the finger. There is not yet enough hatred from one people group to another to cause such severe battle lines that all people are drawn up for war. Not yet; however the more we focus on these differences, the closer we come to that state of war. For those who are already suffering, and for those who care to see the tragedy, the one who is most effective is the one who closes their mouth, stops pointing their finger, and raises their hand in volunteer. Maybe the most we can do is just talk, let others know there is an open mindset to take and another shoulder to stand next to. Pray. Always pray. For those who hate there is only hate. But for those who love there is endless hope and encouragement. I'm a middle-class, white, heterosexually-married, American, Christian male; none of that matters. None of us define anything by who we are, only by what we do. (Continued......

Totally stealing this picture from my wife, @elroi.artistry Today I'm not just crying out for humanity because of reasons that appeal or provoke things similar to my own personal interests. It's not just because my brothers and sisters in Christ are being slaughtered, beheaded, raped, kidnapped, tortured and mass murdered Nazi style in countries in the Middle East and around the world. I'm not just crying out because I have a daughter the same age as little Aylan, the Syrian boy refugee who washed up on the shores of Turkey who drowned while his family fled for their lives heading for Canada. Of course I'm concerned for all these lives; police officers and news reporters being gunned down for racial reasons (but somehow still not worthwhile for the media to call these hate crimes). American citizens left in foreign prisons while our own president signs peace treaties with these countries and never makes a bargain for his own people's lives. Marines gunned down by a religious lunatic, not considered terrorism. So many people suffering just for being black, white, Christian, Muslim.... you name it. There may be religious and racial footings leading to renegade hatred that is found behind so many of these acts, but our job is not to just point the finger. There is not yet enough hatred from one people group to another to cause such severe battle lines that all people are drawn up for war. Not yet; however the more we focus on these differences, the closer we come to that state of war. For those who are already suffering, and for those who care to see the tragedy, the one who is most effective is the one who closes their mouth, stops pointing their finger, and raises their hand in volunteer. Maybe the most we can do is just talk, let others know there is an open mindset to take and another shoulder to stand next to. Pray. Always pray. For those who hate there is only hate. But for those who love there is endless hope and encouragement. I'm a middle-class, white, heterosexually-married, American, Christian male; none of that matters. None of us define anything by who we are, only by what we do. (Continued......