Real Jesus Much Better Wordsmith than St. Louis Reenactor

I first came across Neal Thompson back in 2008 when he showed up at a meeting in Meacham Park the day after resident Charles "Cookie" Thornton went on a rampage, killing six people at Kirkwood's City Hall.

A hundred or so people were gathered inside a community center trying to make sense of the bloodshed. For some, Thornton's action was a direct result of racial slights. For others, it was a senseless act of cowardice. And while the two sides yelled and cried, there seemed to be one point on which everyone in the room agreed: The Jesus-looking-dude who'd forced his way to the front of the room was a definite distraction.

Church members at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Des Peres apparently thought the same thing Sunday when they refused to allow Thompson into their sanctuary.

In the 22 years that he has outfitted himself in a long white robe and wooden staff, Thompson tells KTVI Fox 2 that last Sunday was only the second time he's been kicked out of a house of worship. "It ain't right," he says.

Turns out that Thompson also created waves this summer in Sikeston, where police confronted him during a video interview with an excited local preacher. Check out the video of that interview below. Yeah, dude may look like Jesus but he sure doesn't sound like him.



Sayeth Thompson:
"I don't have to say much or do much. They can see where I'm coming from by the image I protay, pertay -- err whatever the word is. When they see me they think of Jesus Christ because I look like Jesus Christ....I'm not a Bible scholar, or a good speaker on words, I just have to say and do what God puts in my heart. What I don't have or don't know, that's God's business. I'm satisfied with God and he's satisfied with me."

P.S. Just before the cops arrive, Thompson suggests that the U.S. be separated -- with non-believers living east of the Mississippi River and believers on the west.