By Manny Vazquez, M.S., LMFT, Christian Counselor and Advocate for Peace Whenever Possible

Wednesday, September 2, 2026

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The Holy Scriptures clearly declare that in the last days there will be wars and rumors of war. In Matthew 24:4-8, our LORD Jesus declared:

“Then Jesus replied to them: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘“‘I am the Messiah,”’” and they will deceive many. You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these events are the beginning of birth pains.’” (from the Holman Christian Standard Bible [HCSB] version of the Word of God)

I believe the first thing that we should take note of in this exhortation by our LORD Jesus is His warning that many would come in the End Times claiming to be our Messiah. I know this to be true because I have met many people who claim to be our LORD. Go to any psychiatric hospital and see how many false Christs you meet, both men and women. It is a very common delusion among the mentally ill. But, I would say that there are many men and women who are not mentally ill, or who appear otherwise mentally healthy, who also claim that they are divine.

I firmly believe that when Messiah comes, He will have no need to publicly announce Himself. He will merely come and take over, no questions asked and without permission. No one can stop Him, and no one will be able to stand in His way, especially not the devil.

And here is the question for the ages, one that I have asked in past blogs, is the Coming Reigning Messiah the Second Coming of Jesus? Please read Revelation 19:11-16 very carefully, and if you can explain to me without a shadow of a doubt that the Person described in this passage is Jesus, then I’ll fully agree that it is Jesus. But that is a discussion for a different time, and as I said, I have posited that possibility in a previous blog.

The topic for this blog is the coming world war, which I have also spoke about in previous blogs. You may call it World War III, if you like, but there have been many conflicts since WWII that could be considered another World War. The United States has been involved in several proxy wars, including Korea, Vietnam, and several direct wars, like the War on Terror, the War Against the drug traffickers, and now the War with Iran, as well as others.

The wars have actually not ceased since our LORD Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven. We have been at war with the enemy of our souls and his minions since time began. And why is that? Because our enemy knows that his time is short; he has known this for sure since our LORD Jesus gave up His Spirit to save us on Calvary, so he lashes out and attacks God’s people mercilessly.

As I said in a previous blog, the fate of the devil and his followers was sealed with the Atoning Death of our LORD Jesus Christ on the Rugged Cross. There is now no hope for salvation for demons, but there never really was any hope, for they were committed to their cause even before Christ came. How do I know this? Because a casual reading of the Old Testament shows us that the devil and his demons were totally lost even before the Coming of our LORD Jesus.

The Holy Spirit testifies in His Scriptures that the enemy and his minions would fight a war against God’s Anointed and His People for thousands of years, before and after Christ appeared on the scene to bring us salvation. The singular goal of the enemy of our souls has been to destroy everything our LORD has created, His people, His creation, everything. That has been the goal of the enemy since time began. In his grand delusion, the devil still believes he can defeat God. I can assert with absolute certainty that the devil is a mere annoyance to our LORD, that his demonic power does not come close to rivaling the power of our Omnipotent Almighty God. Amen.

When we went to war with Iran’s leadership, I was not surprised at all. I know that well meaning people on the Left claim that President Donald Trump and Israel acted in an unprovoked way when we attacked the leadership of Iran, but that leadership has been fighting a proxy war against us and against Israel for a long time.

Since 1979, when the Shah of Iran and his Family were ousted from power by the Islamic leadership that has been in charge since then, that leadership has been fighting a propaganda war and an actual war against the U.S. and Israel. To be fair, the Shah also led a corrupt government, but the U.S. was allied with his government because they stood in opposition to the neighboring Soviet Union. As is the case in many wars that we have fought as a nation, we have been guilty of many wrongs, as well, so I am by no means giving us a free pass. However, I am speaking as a U.S. citizen who prefers that our side wins. Many on the Left have adopted a position against the U.S., and they have sided with our enemies, which makes them traitors in my book.

Leftists appear blind to the fact that the Iranian leadership has been threatening to destroy us and Israel since 1979. The Iranian islamic leadership has repeatedly called the U.S. the great satan and Israel the little satan. Through their evil allies, hamas and hezbollah, they have rained missiles down on Israel for years. The good thing is that with the help of the U.S., Israel built a defense system that destroys most of these incoming missiles, which, unfortunately, land on the Arabic people who live near the Israeli border. Then, guess who gets the blame for Palestinians and other Arab people dying due to missiles falling on them, missiles launched by hezbollah and hamas, at the behest of Iran? Of course, the Israelis and by extension the U.S. are blamed for this injustice by muslim extremists. Do you see how insidious and evil these people are? They are happy to use their own people as human shields and then turn around and blame two nations, who did not provoke the attacks, for it.

I simply do not understand why people on the Left are so allied with Iran, a nation whose leadership would have used a nuclear weapon had they been able to develop one. Many people in the U.S. do not seem to care that if Iran had developed a nuclear missile, they would have surely launched it against Jerusalem the first chance they got. The Iranian leadership said so themselves in no uncertain terms when they called for the destruction of the Jewish Nation.

In other blogs, I have talked about why Jerusalem is so hated by the world at large. In the Bible, our LORD refers to Jerusalem as Zion, and the Scriptures proclaim that the coming Messiah will rule from that Holy City. I have posited the following question many times before: if many people do not want Christ to rule in their lives, why on Earth would they not hate the place where He will rule from? It makes perfect sense to me that Zion is the most hated place on Earth. For the people of God, Zion is a Holy Place, where the throne of our KING, the Reigning Messiah, the Prince of Peace, will be, and from where He will rule and lead His Holy People. Amen.

Revelation 6:1-2 declares the following:

“Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, ‘Come!’ I looked, and there was a white horse. The horseman on it had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out as a victor to conquer.” (from the Holman Christian Standard Bible [HCSB] version of the Holy Scriptures)

I assert that this prophecy has already happened, or is currently happening. You can surmise who the rider on the white horse is on the world scene, and I would say it flies in the face of many theologians who have repeatedly stated that the U.S. does not appear anywhere in Scripture.

Revelation 6:3-4 continues:

“When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come!’ Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its horseman was empowered to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him.” (from the HCSB version of the Holy Bible)

The rider on the while horse has been given the power to take peace from the Earth, and the rider on the red horse, who is satan himself, will entice people all over the world to slaughter each other. All the anger and hatred you see coming from people, on the Left and otherwise, will boil over and people will kill each other, like never before, when the enemy of our souls inspires and tempts them to do so. The enemies of God will primarily go after the people of God, and we will have no choice but to defend ourselves. We will not go as silent little lambs. No, our LORD Jesus already did that. We will be like fierce, conquering lions, protective of our women and little ones, and we will defend our nation and our people from the psychopaths of the demon horde sent by our enemy, the rider on the red horse.

So, there you have it, the war with Iran is the beginning of a reckoning that has been brewing for centuries. It was either them or us, for they would have easily used a nuclear weapon had they gotten their evil hands on one.

One final note, some say that President Trump is building an American Empire, and that he wants to conquer the world. I assert that he has been ordered by God to do so. And I’ve said it before, I would much rather have an American Empire than an empire led by any other nation. Can you imagine our flag flying over all nations, and our freedoms all throughout the world? As a very dear friend used to say to me all the time when I asked for something at his restaurant, “Why not?” People do not realize what a breath of fresh air an American Empire would be to a hurting and dying world. We offer a peace and a stability that no other nation could offer. As much as we are hated by the world, we offer decency and an American dream that people from all over the world come here to pursue. We are God’s Nation, a nation of believers who conquer the world for God. Amen and Amen and Amen.