My heart has been breaking for a long time for our country...for all her people. Violence of authorities. Violence against authorities. Violence against churches. Violence against individuals. Violence against women. Violence against children. Violence in schools. Violence in the workplace. Violence in neighborhoods. Violence between spouses. Violence in politics. Violence in social media posts. Violence in words. Violence in deeds. Violence! Violence! Violence!

I woke to read the news of yet another shooting. A white guy shooting up a country music festival in Las Vegas. The worst mass shooting in the modern US with at least 58 people dead and more than 500 injured. My heart has shattered!

Brothers and sisters! My tears aren't because I'm a white guy who wears Wranglers and listens to country music. My tears are from a heart that sees no color, ethnicity, or cultural differences. They are from a heart that only sees a beautiful image within each person; each uniquely created in God's image.

Our fight is not with each other! Not with an individual, or different group of people. It is with the forces of darkness at work in this land! Ephesians 6

These are all the fruit of sin. The fruit of darkness. They keep us from seeing or hearing the truth in each other. We can't hear, because we don't listen. We don't see, because we don't look.

Don't we know that the best fruit grows in the light?

As I broke down in tears, this morning. This old hymn, "'Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus", became the cry of my heart. Without choosing to trust in Jesus, there is no hope.