Pentagon officials said on Thursday that the Army officer convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting would be executed in public, a practice that ended in the United States nearly a century ago and is most commonly carried out in a handful of countries, including Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan. (Story here)

We have returned to bloodlust. We have accepted the level of vengeance found in the worst of nations on this planet.

The leaders of this action to publicly execute a man claim faith in Jesus Christ. These are not the actions of those whose ultimate allegiance should be to the Kingdom of God.

We have become a nation that has no room for the immigrant, a thirst for public executions, a hunger for public displays of might that brings humiliation to the “defeated,” and all of it led by many proclaiming Christian faith.

This is not the Kingdom of God.

IN OTHER AREAS…

My part of the world is about to get hit with Hurricane Isaias. It should happen Friday night/Saturday. It’s the first major hurricane we’ve dealt with since TWO came around in 2020.

MLB had one of the best playoff series in years last year. Without any particular team interesting me, I saw teams push themselves to the limits and I was staying up late watching extra inning games with teams I didn’t know anything about. The World Series pushed the limits of the Blue Jays and the Dodgers. It was amazing baseball. This year is showing more of the same. Great matchups and now Cleveland taking the White Sox to the final game of the Division Series.

I do love this game.

And after the World Series is over, MLB will do what it famously does: ruin it. There will be a lockout and tough negotiations may very well keep baseball from starting on time next season. Owners are wanting to be hard-nosed. The players’ union is ready to rumble. BUT ONE PROPOSAL makes sense: reduce the number of games in the season. With all the wrestling that will happen over salary caps, I really hope they get serious with a smaller game schedule. (If there are salary caps, I would love to see a team minimum payroll as well. Make small market teams actually spend money and quit crying “poverty.” If the owners want a ceiling, make a floor along with it.)

Hopefully, Hurricane Isaias will come through with less damage than predicted, we won’t be without power (for too long), and I hope to get back to writing my book next week.