The American Soul
The American Soul
Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, There Is Liberty
As Americans grapple with deep national divisions, the wisdom in President Ronald Reagan's second inaugural address offers a profound roadmap for cultural renewal. In this thought-provoking episode, I explore how Reagan's vision of "one people under God" isn't merely political rhetoric, but represents the very foundation of American exceptionalism and liberty.
What makes a marriage thrive? Drawing from an unlikely source—our canine companions—I unpack how the enthusiastic, wholehearted way dogs greet their owners provides a powerful template for how we might approach our marriages and our relationship with God. This simple shift in perspective challenges us to examine whether we're bringing our full presence and joy to our most important relationships.
The episode delves into Scripture's practical wisdom from 2 Thessalonians about work ethic, confronting sin with love, and persevering through difficulty. These biblical principles directly connect to Reagan's economic vision of fair taxation and job creation—not as ends in themselves, but as means to enable Americans "to be heroes who heal our sick, feed the hungry, protect peace among nations, and leave this world a better place."
Recent revelations about trillions in untracked government spending underscore Reagan's warnings about a "bloated federal establishment." This corruption flows directly from abandoning the Christian principles upon which America was founded. From Washington kissing the Bible at his inauguration to Wilson declaring "America was born a Christian nation," our historical record clearly shows that America's experiment with liberty cannot succeed without its spiritual foundation.
The divide in our nation today isn't merely political—it's spiritual. We face a choice between embracing the "unchanging principles of God and Jesus Christ" that birthed American liberty or surrendering to ideologies fundamentally opposed to human flourishing. What's needed isn't political compromise but spiritual awakening. How might you participate in renewing America's soul through faith, family, and community?
The American Soul Podcast
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Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. I sure do appreciate y'all joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and attention. A little piece of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. Hopefully it'll give us all some extra tools for our toolbox, as we used to say in the Marine Corps, and hopefully it will draw us all a little bit closer to God and Jesus Christ. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast and to tell others about it, thank you so much, very, very grateful for that. For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you Very, very grateful for your prayers. Desire them, need them For sure, for sure need them. So thank y'all. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, father, and your Son, jesus Christ. Thank you for your love, mercy, your grace and your forgiveness. Jesus Christ, thank you for your love, mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins. Thank you for sunny days. Thank you for rain on the crops. Thank you for all our farmers and ranchers who do so much hard work, and our fishers. Thank you for our fishers of men. Thank you for those who go out and spread your word around the world, who evangelize. Thank you for our priests and our pastors, those who truly serve you and your son, jesus Christ. Be with those who are listening to the podcast today, father, wherever they are, across the nation, around the world. Thank you for them. Be with their families. Surround them with your angels. Protect them from evil of any kind. Guide our thoughts, father, guide our words and our actions. Be with those who are sick. Be with those who are injured. Be with those who are injured, comfort them. Surround them with your angels. Be with those who are going into surgery. Give them your peace. Take away any fears and anxieties that they have. Help us to trust in you, father, in all situations. And, father, please be with those around the world who are suffering for the name of your son, jesus christ. Help us, father, to help them in whatever way we can, and give us all the grace that we need from you, father, to survive whatever of our own affliction we're going through, because we serve you and your Son, jesus Christ. Please and God my words here Father, your son's name. We ask and pray amen.
Speaker 1:So I'm going to try and get into I think we will for sure Reagan's President Reagan's second inaugural address. I'm going to talk about a few things, but before that my brain I've got so many different things going left and right. One I need to work on. Praising God, telling him thank you I'm assuming a lot of us do. Praising God telling him thank you I'm assuming a lot of us do.
Speaker 1:I was looking out of the window the other day and saw one of our cats curled up in the sun in this little trailer that we use to move stuff around from time to time. And I wonder how many times we I know I don't do it enough folks stop and thank God for what we view as those little things like that, just that moment of peace, the animals in our lives, the people far far, infinitely more important in our lives that works, or the air conditioning in our house that works, or just a sunny day, or clouds in the sky that look like bunny rabbits that we, you know, and my brain's kind of running all over the place today, folks, you know, but that cloud thing I go back to the analogy we need to be a lot more like dogs in our marriages. You remember when you first got married how excited you were to spend time and you can really use this analogy with God, more importantly, and with our children, less importantly than our spouse, but still important. You know, when you go outside, if you're an owner of dogs and cats and we have both and I like both I always have for different reasons, but you know, dogs always make you feel like you are the center of their universe. Cats make you feel like like you ought to be grateful that they're, that they're gracing you with their presence, right, you with their presence right. And we need to be a lot more like. In my experience, dogs are, which is when we see our spouse folks.
Speaker 1:Do we light up, are we happy to be around them? Do we want to do whatever they want to do together, just because they want to do it? If they want to go for a walk, we want to go, man. If they want to cook dinner together, man, we want to do it. It doesn't matter what it is, we're excited about it. Could be grilled cheese, could be a five-course meal, right. If our spouse wants to have sex, right, we're excited about it, we want to do it. If they want to sit on the porch and talk or sit in the chair in the living room and talk, man, we're excited, we want to do it and we want to listen. We don't want to just like hear what they're saying and offer solution or just immediately get through the conversation. We want to participate, we want to listen, we want to hear, we want to be there for them and whatever they want to do each day, because they're excited about it and we're excited about it. Excited about it.
Speaker 1:And before you tell me that you don't have time or that that's too much of a burden or that that phase wears off, I want you to think about this. Think real carefully about what you're saying. You're in effect saying that an animal, a brute animal, a dog has the ability to be more excited about being around pretty much any random person. Don't get mad at me, dog lovers, about your personal relationship with your dog, but that dog could have developed that relationship with somebody else. You're basically saying that you, as a human being, created, designed an image of God don't have the ability to do what a brute animal does with your spouse of one in seven billion. You might really think about that for a long, hard time. Have you made time for God today? Have you made time to read his word? Have you made time to pray? Have you made time to really seek his will?
Speaker 1:I was listening to a sermon from a pastor recently and he was talking about I think I talked briefly about it, it was part of the sermon on the school of hard knocks and I think I've talked a little bit about it but he was talking specifically about Moses and how Moses kind of got things out of order when he was in Egypt before he ran away. If you know the story of Moses, he ended up murdering an Egyptian, which is a great comfort to those of us who have done some really dark things, which pretty much all of us have almost at one point or another, and that God can still use us, god still loves us, god still wants us, there's still forgiveness and reconciliation with God possible Doesn't mean we're not going to have to pay the consequences. Right, moses ran away for like another 40 years or something and hid because he murdered. And then this pastor was just kind of inferring and he was talking about the fact that Moses there was a real possibility that Moses knew that he was this important person for his people, for the Hebrews, for the Israelites, but he didn't want to wait on God's timing. He wanted to do it his way. He wanted to do it now and he had his own agenda and it kind of got everything screwed up and the pastor was saying how often do we do that? How often do we want things done on our timetable? And we have all of our wants and desires in sight and we can even do a pretty good job, especially as Christians, of kind of covering up our real motivation and twisting it to make it pretend or seem like we're really doing what God wants us to do, but really, at the end of the day, we're just doing what we want to do and trying to convince God that that's what he wants us to do. Right, I'm man, I'm, I wrote the textbook on that.
Speaker 1:Folks, there are a few things in my life and they were big things that I can think of right now off the top of my head that turned out extremely, horrifically poor, because I tried to force something in my time, something in a couple cases that I'm pretty sure God never wanted me to do in the first place, period, and I tried to make it seem like I was doing it within God's will, but really all I was doing is I was trying to force God to do things my way on my timetable to give me the results that I wanted. And and in two of the biggest cases I can tell you, folks, I didn't have to run off and hide in the desert like Moses did, but it might've been better if I had. Might've been better if I had. Might have been better if I had A couple little things Housekeeping. These thoughts just kind of popped in my head the last few days.
Speaker 1:Folks, if your spouse is the one having to do all the work, if they're the one who always has to bring up faith, to bring up marriage, to bring up your relationship, there's something deeply wrong on your side. Bring up your relationship. There's something deeply wrong on your side. I can't tell you how many times over the years I've seen sometimes in really close friends, sometimes just in acquaintances but these one-sided relationships. If your spouse simply stopped working on trying to develop your relationship together right Spiritually, emotionally, physically, whatever it is, maybe just one of those, maybe two out of three, maybe all three components and everything stopped working right. If they stopped working and everything in that aspect stopped working, that tells you that you're not working. The analogy right. It's like the analogy of two people rowing in a boat. The analogy right. It's like the analogy of two people rowing in a boat. If only one person is pulling the boat, it's just going around in circles. It's not getting anywhere. You're not making any progress, you're just spinning around in a circle.
Speaker 1:I can't overemphasize this. How destructive that is to a marriage to have only one person working on it and how heartbreaking that is to the other person. And maybe you have seen this in your life. I've got a particular example of a young man that I met years ago. How absolutely destructive that is and heartbreaking that is. And if you're in that situation, if you're the only one working and you have been for weeks or months or years or even decades, folks, I offer you up God and Jesus Christ as the only real hope I can give you of any comfort. I I know it's heartbreaking. I know you probably don't see the point. I know that that it's hard because a lot of people you don't see that fight right.
Speaker 1:If somebody has an illness or a disease, you can see that struggle. There's a physical manifestation of that struggle. If somebody is an alcoholic, right, you can see that struggle. There's a physical manifestation. If somebody is a drug addict, you can see that struggle. If you're in a marriage where there's physical violence, again you can see that struggle. There is a physical manifestation of that struggle. But if you're in one of those relationships where it's just heartbreaking, not because somebody cheated, not because somebody's a drug addict, not because somebody's alcoholic, not because somebody's whatever else, that's physical, right, that's a heartbreaking experience that a lot of people in the world they don't know you're going through it.
Speaker 1:You can't see it unless it's a really good friend. You know, unless you know that person, you can tell like you're really good friends. Sometimes you can just look at them and be like hey, man, what's? You know what's going on. I can just tell you're down, right. I've got a good friend of mine. He called me on this a great friend, a friend I consider a brother, and he caught me on this months and months ago and he just kind of walked up. He was like, dude, what's wrong? I was like nothing. He was like man, it's written all over your face and there was something wrong.
Speaker 1:But for a lot of people, folks, you just don't see it, and so I offer you up if you're in that situation, god and Jesus Christ, you know, the Bible tells us, god tells us he's close to the brokenhearted, he's near to those who are crushed in spirit. Go to him, turn to him, read his word every day, pray. It's not going to fix the situation, folks. I'm not trying to tell you it will, it might, and praise God if it does. But it might not. But it'll give you peace that you can't get anywhere else. It'll give you comfort when you start to look at eternity and God and Jesus Christ, that you cannot get anywhere else, that I can guarantee you. And if you're one of those people that is, the lukewarm, indifferent spouse man, I would really urge you to work on that immediately with all of your effort. Above everything else is priority number one and everything else is like priority number 1000 after that, because you got to remember that your spouse is only human and there is a breaking point for humans we're not Jesus Christ, we're not God. And if you treat your spouse indifferently for long enough, there's going to come a point where they walk away or something breaks. And either way, man, that's not good, that's nasty, it gets ugly, but again, god and Jesus Christ. What a great hope. Even when we don't feel like it, folks, even when we doubt it, even when we don't see it, what a great hope for eternity I can't help but share with you.
Speaker 1:If you've seen the Chronicles of Narnia, if you've read them, the movie, there's a great scene where one of the characters finally makes it up this wave of water. You really have to read the book maybe to get this. But and and we never see heaven, the sense of heaven in narnia in this particular book, I I think it's, uh, the voyage of the dawn sea treader. For those of y'all who are narnia fans geeks as I myself have been off and on throughout my life and and this, this character reepicheep, is the is the character name. He's a mouse right and this mouse has served Jesus Christ faithfully his whole life. Valiant warrior, even though he's a mouse right. Wonderful story if you get a chance to read it, and you have it, and he gets to see heaven and we just get to see his expression, especially in the movie.
Speaker 1:I felt like they did a really good job with this and the joy that's there, the happiness is just overwhelming folks and I don't know what heaven's going to look like. I have no idea. That's the great thing, but it's going to be beyond anything I can imagine. Right, this post, this scripture, came from my pastor today. Imagine, right, this post, this scripture, came from my pastor today. And it man, it just fits so well. Right, if I can get there Now, to him, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. To him be the glory it's out of Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 20 and 21. Immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine. What a great hope. All right, I got one more piece Actually, I'll tell you what we'll do the Bible reading for today. And then I got one more little piece of house cleaning.
Speaker 1:I want to talk to you about Second Thessalonians, 3.
Speaker 1:Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you, and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men, for not all have faith, but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
Speaker 1:We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received, for you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you. Nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, could we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship. We kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have a right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat either.
Speaker 1:For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all but acting like busybodies. Now, such persons we command and exhort, in the Lord Jesus Christ, to work in a quiet fashion and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. Now may the Lord of peace himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all. I, paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter. This is the way I write the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through with you all.
Speaker 1:Verse two and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men, for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. Two things the biggest thing the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. I think I need to hear that pretty much every day, right when I start to have doubts, when I start to feel weak, like I'm not going to make it. I'm not going to make it on my own, but God is faithful, he's going to keep my soul safe, he's going to strengthen me and protect me from the evil one until the day I get to him, and that's true of all of you who have put your faith in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:And if you haven't put your faith in Jesus Christ, can I encourage you to do anything more than that today? Acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Confess that with your lips. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by God, that he's the son of God, who died for your sins on the cross, Repent of your sins, ask God for forgiveness and claim Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Everybody's going to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior one day. One way or the other. Every single person, every knee, will bow every tongue. Confess how much better to do it now, when we have the choice, with the hope of eternal life, than to do it then, when we're forced to, with the hopelessness of eternity in hell, with the hopelessness of eternity in hell, for not all men have faith. I think we need to remember that folks, not all men are good, not all men strive to serve God and Jesus Christ. Not all men have faith. I think we just need to remember that. May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. Love of God and steadfastness of Christ. I need that Right. I'm assuming some of y'all do too.
Speaker 1:Verse 6. Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. And that goes along with verse 14. If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. How many churches teach this today? How many churches teach that if a brother or sister has gone astray, that we're supposed to not associate with them at all? So we put them to shame, not because we regard them as an enemy, but because we love them and want to admonish them, want to correct them from their wrong path.
Speaker 1:How many of us would be willing to accept that admonishment? That'd be a pretty hard pill for me to swallow, god's grace. I hope that I would. I hope that I do when people come at me and tell me that I'm doing something wrong in my life. But how many of us quit associating with a brother or a sister that's purposefully not obeying God's scripture, who's leading an unruly life, who's leading a life that goes directly against scripture? I can't help but think of a conversation that I had with a dear woman years ago to me and I may have mentioned this before on the podcast, if I have forgive me for those of y'all who have been here for a while, but we were talking about they had a friend whose son was getting quote unquote married to another man and they felt like they really needed to go in order. They didn't agree with it. They said I don't agree with it, it's, but I need to go to be loving. You don't see that anywhere in scripture that Jesus was loving by encouraging sin.
Speaker 1:And you hear this right scripture, verse six again keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to tradition, leading an unruly life, going against scripture. Feminism, abortion, lgbtq lifestyles those all fit the bill. How many of us refuse to associate with a brother or sister who's leading one of those lifestyles in order for you to go back? What was the purpose back down here in 14? Do not associate with him so that he will be put to shame. And how many churches teach that? Not in a judgmental way, folks, not in a pointing finger ha ha, you're so bad and I'm not. Judgmental way, folks, not in a pointing finger, haha, you're so bad and I'm not but in a way that will help them. Don't associate with them so that it's a shame to them, so that they turn back to God and away from that unruly lifestyle. That goes against scripture, verse 10, for even when we were with you, we used to give you this order If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat either.
Speaker 1:A lot of people out there like to pretend that Christianity is a foundation for socialism or communism. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Never once in scripture will you ever see Jesus Christ pointing a spear at somebody's throat, saying Give money to the poor or I'm going to take everything you have. Give money to the poor or I'm going to come in and arrest you. I'm going to throw you in jail. Give money to the poor or I'm going to stab you with a spear. Never once. You won't find that anywhere in scripture.
Speaker 1:In fact, jesus Christ tells a parable, and one of the stories he specifically says in this parable don't I have a right to do with what is my own welfare is not being loving and kind. Stealing money from some people to give quote, unquote give to others, hey, you're not giving it because it's not yours to give. You're stealing from somebody else. If you vote for welfare to give, to quote, unquote, to pretend that you're being benevolent, right, right, that's welfare. That has nothing to do with Christianity. Again, this verse, verse 10. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat either. You're not willing to work, you don't get to eat. If you're willing to work, you get to eat.
Speaker 1:Christianity, compassion to the poor, is giving from ourselves. Jesus Christ gave from himself. We have a scriptural command to care for the widow and the orphan, the poor and the needy From the blessings that God has given us. Not to reach into our neighbor's pocket, into their bank account, take something out, so that we're not even. There's no pain for us involved, there's no tension, there's no effort. When we steal from like vote in a voting booth to steal from somebody else to give, that's you're not giving, you're just helping. You're just helping. You're just being a thief, honestly A thief that then pretends to have been benevolent. The last one. We'll move on, verse 13. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. I know I struggle with that. I'm assuming some of y'all do too. Sometimes it just doesn't seem worth it and you really don't want to and it's just hard, and yet God tells us not to grow weary of doing good. Another reason again to read scripture each day, to pray each day. One last bit of housekeeping and we're going to get a Reagan second inaugural address.
Speaker 1:There's an article out of the I think the last Epoch Times, the one from March 12th to the 18th. It is on page A13, the opinion section. It's titled Harder Than we Thought, it's by Jeffrey A Tucker and if you get a chance to read it, I would highly recommend it. If you don't take the Epoch Times, I highly recommend it if you have the money to. It's an opinion piece, but there's some meat to it it talks about. For example, in the second paragraph, musk explained more about the early problem Dodge had discovered in the US Treasury. The outgoing payment systems had not been monitored, audited or even looked at by an elected official or outside appointee. Since 1945 or possibly earlier, there were nearly $5 trillion in payments flying out without any tag linking to congressional authorization or a source of authority. And the article goes on. And you're going to get really mad by the end of the article.
Speaker 1:I can almost guarantee you the two things that really struck me. One, three things really. One we have no idea how big the evil and the corruption in our own government has been for a long time. It's just astounding what's been going on. And it is evil folks, because they're stealing money, they're doing some really nefarious things with it, they being the people that are elected officials, that are supposed to work for us, we the people and they haven't been. And it's not just kind of annoying, it's not just kind of wrong, it's evil. There's evil things being supported by the money and it's just wrong in the fact that you're taking money from American citizens and some of these people. They don't even have any clue. And it's not just the Democrats or just the Republicans folks, it's been both for so long.
Speaker 1:And whichever side you're on, whichever side you think is good, they've been involved too, and that ought to really bother you. That ought to really bother you that even the people that you think are up there really standing up for the people, because they know folks, especially the ones that have been around the block a few times and been around for a while they have known what a mess this has been for a long time. They were the ones that are elected. Why is it taking someone that wasn't elected from outside to come in and even just highlight this problem and start to try and fix it? It ought to make you furious that they're taking money out of your bank account away from your children and grandchildren. If you're a husband working for a wife away from your wife, right. If you're a wife working away from your children and grandchildren, they're taking that money away and they don't even know what they're using it for.
Speaker 1:The second thing that this made me think is folks, if you're not praying for Elon Musk and his team, you really ought to be, and if you can't stand Elon Musk and you really don't know why, or you think you know why because he's bringing accountability to our government. I don't know Elon Musk. I'm not telling you he's a great guy, I'm not telling you he's a horrible guy, but the fact that he's bringing some light to this corruption. You know it's making people mad. You can see it by the number of Tesla vehicles. It's a joke that I even have to say this on the podcast the number of Tesla vehicles that people are lighting on fire, that tells you how mad they are, how scared they are about the fact that their money might stop coming in.
Speaker 1:And the last thing, folks, that I would reiterate yet again that this article reminded me of, is this is a spiritual battle. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It's against the darkness, the dark spiritual powers in this world. You need to remember that the core value of leftism is antichrist evil, that the core value of leftism is antichrist evil, the core value including socialism, communism and also Islam. That is the core value. That is why this is so nasty and ugly.
Speaker 1:President Ronald Reagan, monday, january 21st 1985, about 40 years ago. Give or take Right, right. I think that's right. We're just going to read through some sections. Maybe spend a day or two here. When the first president, george Washington, placed his hand upon the Bible, he stood less than a single day's journey by horseback from raw, untamed wilderness. There were four million Americans in a union of 13 states. Today, we have 60 times as many in a union of 50 states. We have lighted the world with our inventions, gone to the aid of mankind Wherever in the world there was a cry for help, journeyed to the moon and safely returned. So much has changed and yet we stand together as we did two centuries ago. I think probably the country did stand together a little bit more in the 80s.
Speaker 1:We're very divided now, folks, and we're divided based primarily on people that understand that the real divide in America is the difference between people who understand that they are sinners, that they fall short and that they need help, and those that don't. But a secondary divide in there is the people that understand that America was founded on those unchanging principles of God and Jesus Christ and those who don't. And those two groups probably don't overlap perfectly. But that's it. That's the divide, and it is stark today and there's no coexistence between those two sides possible folks. One side or the other is going to have to give way.
Speaker 1:President George Washington placed his hand upon the Bible. He also kissed the Bible, and yet we're supposed to believe that our founders wanted complete separation, not of church and state, not that they wanted to separate the state from any particular denomination, but that they wanted God and Jesus Christ completely away from the state. That makes zero logical sense. Folks, we don't teach logic, apparently, in our schools anymore. A lot of us don't have that capability and we need it. Schools anymore. A lot of us don't have that capability and we need it because that that, if you had this is ludicrous.
Speaker 1:If you had a sport where, before every game, the coaches and the umpires kissed the book where all the rules were for that sport and then they proceeded to play a game where they completely ignored and actually did the opposite of what was in that book of rules, everybody would think something was really strange, right? Or maybe if you could go back in time and find the people that created the sport and see that they put their hand and swore some kind of oath to that book, or the creator of that book of rules, and then later on tried to convince the people that they didn't want anything to do with that book of rules in the game, I mean it doesn't make any sense, right? It's hard to even follow. It makes so little sense. And yet all of our presidents we talk about this so often, right? Our presidents have placed their hand on different parts of the Bible when they've taken oath of office, our oath in the military ends. So help me, god, and not random God, not deist God, not Allah, not Buddha, not Hindu gods, right God, the Father, jesus Christ, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the only true God. That is what our country was founded on. Don't ever buy into the lie of separation of God and state.
Speaker 1:By 1980, we knew it was time to renew our faith, to strive with all our strength toward the ultimate individual freedom consistent with an orderly society. So that that freedom consistent with an orderly society. In my mind that's just a different way of phrasing liberty. We don't want mob rule, democracy, freedom where anybody gets to do anything anytime, any way they want. That's, that's freedom, right, liberty, right is having freedom so long as it doesn't hurt those around us. And this part. By 1980, we knew it was time to renew our faith. They did, maybe for just a little bit. There, folks, kind of like after 9-11, you saw the churches fill for a month or two and then people went back to their own way. They wanted to go back to quote-unquote, normal. Normal is what got us here.
Speaker 1:We desperately, desperately need a great awakening, and yes, after the first great awakening, even though it took a few decades, was the Revolutionary War. And after the second great awakening, even though it took a few decades, was the Civil War. And after this great awakening, there's a real good chance that there will be another, a third civil war in America, folks. That there will be another, a third civil war in America, folks. But the alternative is the absolute, horrific murder of hundreds of millions, like you have seen, by socialism, communism, leftism and Islam in the 20th century, and with Islam even long before that. Those are your options Door A, door B Socialism, communism, leftism. That goes hand in glove with Islam Murder, slaughter, rape, pillage, plunder. Right, that's option one.
Speaker 1:Option two God and Jesus Christ and liberty. There's no middle ground, folks, if people are selling you that middle ground, there is no middle ground. If there was, there would have been another country created around the world that spread the light of liberty, right You're talking about. Go back to the first little paragraph there where he talks about we lighted the world with our inventions gone to the aid of mankind. Right, but we lighted the world. I would not argue with our inventions, but that sentence, that phrase struck me because what did? We light the world with A city on the hill. Right, reagan used that phrase and as others have too before him, a city shining on the hill because we spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:If a country could do it without God and Jesus Christ, they would have, but they didn't. Because you can't, liberty and the principles, the unchanging principles, of God and Jesus Christ go together. That's why God tells us in the New Testament right, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Let history say of us, these were golden years, when the American Revolution was reborn, when freedom gained new life, when America reached for her best. The American Revolution, when he means reborn. Right, if something's going to be reborn, you've got to have the principles that created it. Yeah, I mean, if you're going to have something go through a rebirth, you've got to go back to what it was born as Right. So, what it was born as right, what were the principles upon which our nation was founded?
Speaker 1:John Adams, second president, the general principles upon which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. Right, andrew Jackson, the book, that book, sir, the Bible, right, that book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests. Woodrow Wilson, 28th president, the Bible is the one supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life, the nature of God and spiritual nature and needs of men. It is the only guide of life which really leads to the spirit and the way of peace and salvation. America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture. Which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture, and one more that seems poignant here, if I can find it quickly and y'all will be patient with me by Judge Nathaniel Freeman.
Speaker 1:There it is 1802, judge Nathaniel Freeman charging the Massachusetts grand juries the laws of the Christian system, as embraced by the Bible, must be respected as of high authority in all our courts and it cannot be thought improper for the officers of such government to acknowledge their obligation to be governed by its rule. Our government, originating in the voluntary compact of a people who, in that very instrument, profess the Christian religion, it may be considered not as a republic Rome was a pagan but a Christian republic. Foundation is the principles of Christ, though Reagan, in his second inaugural address, wants history to say of us that these were golden years, when the American Revolution was reborn, when freedom gained new life, when America reached its best. We need a great awakening spiritually. We need to turn back to God and Jesus Christ. Our country cannot be correctly governed by menists or Hindus or atheists or Satanists or communists or socialists or anyone else that rejects Jewish, that rejects the principles of Jesus Christ. It can't be correctly governed by women. It has to be correctly governed by men who rule in fear of God and those principles of Jesus Christ, because those are the principles which formed our nation. Well, with heart and hand, let us stand as one today, one people under God, determined that our future shall be worthy of our past. As we do, we must not repeat the well-intentioned errors of our past, of our past. We must never again abuse the trust of working men and women by sending their earnings on a futile chase after the spiraling demands of a bloated federal establishment. You elected us in 1980 to end this prescription for disaster and I don't believe you re-elected us in 1984 to reverse course. One people under God. There is only one God the Father of Jesus Christ, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the triune God. America cannot function correctly if we're not one nation under God, even those who don't choose Jesus Christ as their Savior. If we don't follow in action the principles of Christ, we cannot have liberty, we cannot have America Again. We need a great awakening, desperately in this nation.
Speaker 1:The second part of this I highlighted just because it goes back to what we talked about from the article out of the epic times today just the, the amount of money and waste, folks, that's been going on for decades. If you've been paying any attention for a while, as some of y'all have some of y'all that are older and wiser than me you you've known this, but you just haven't really seen the depth of the, the corruption, the depravity, almost, if you will. It's astounding how much of our money, the money of hardworking men and women, men and women struggling to put food on the table for their children, for their children, month after month, men and women that need every dime to pay for the electricity that runs their house, right, and really it doesn't even matter if they need it or not. Folks, they earned it, it is theirs. It's not the government's, it's not mine, as a fellow citizen of America, to vote how to spend that, how to give that money away to other people, because I feel like they need it.
Speaker 1:There's a huge difference, huge, huge difference. No-transcript. We must simplify our tax system, make it more fair and bring the rates down for all who work and earn. We must think anew and move with a new boldness so every American who seeks work can find work, so the least among us shall have an equal chance to achieve the greatest things, to be heroes who heal our sick, feed the hungry, protect peace among the nations and leave this world a better place.
Speaker 1:Two things, the one less important than the second. The first place Two things the one less important than the second. The first the first is there's no reasonable argument today against the fair or the flat tax system. Anybody that tells you that there is is automatically showing their hand to you. They're telling you that they don't really want fairness. They don't really want equality with taxation. They want some people to be taxed harder than others and I'm not talking about a total dollar value, I'm talking about the percentage folks. They want some people not to have to pay taxes and other people to carry the burden right If a person stands against a fair tax or a flat tax. That's what they're telling you that they want different standards and different weights, just like we have in the public education system today, right, where some people take the test as is as written by the teacher and other people. Other students get calculators, or they get longer time or they get special assistance. They get somebody to read it to them, and we're not helping those people folks, we're not being loving or kind to those kids and we're not being loving or kind to people when we take money from others to give to them or take it right, and then we allow people that don't put any money in at all not that they put in less, but don't put any money into the federal treasury that they take more out, that it's a net take for them as opposed to give, and they still get to vote with equality on how to spend it. Right? How do you have two people and one gives the money and one doesn't and their vote both counts the same? You can make the same argument about how do you have two people one who has to sign up for the draft to go off to war and one who doesn't, and they get to vote equally on deciding when those people go to war.
Speaker 1:The second part of this quote from Reagan, though, in his second inaugural address from 85, which is much more poignant is, he said why do we want to fix this system? Why do we want to bring the rates down, the tax rates down, and make them equal for all who work and earn? Why do we want to make sure that any American that wants to find work has the ability? He says because we want to give all an equal chance of achieving the greatest things. What are the greatest things? He lists them here To be heroes whose heal are sick. Feed the hungry, protect peace among the nations and leave this world a better place. Jesus Christ told us the two guiding the greatest commandments love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty right, visit those in prison, visit the sick. That sounds like a pretty similar list to what Reagan just said.
Speaker 1:So, yet again, folks, what are the founding principles of our nation, the principles of Christ? And if, for those of us who love this country, for those of us who believe in America, here in our own nation and around the world, because there's a lot of people really hoping that we, not to put it too bluntly, but unscrew ourselves here in America, pull our heads out of the sand and figure out what we're doing. There's a lot of people around the world praying for that, folks. That ought to give you a little bit of humility if you're an American citizen listening to this podcast right now. But if we're able to do that, if God gives us an extension, it isn't for us to get fat and lazy and sit on our hands. It isn't for us to say look at all this that I've stored up for myself. Now I'm going to take it easy, I'm going to sit back and relax. It is, without a doubt, to try and save lost souls, to feed the hungry, to care for the needy, to give water to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick, to visit those in prison, to save lost souls, to bring peace around the world.
Speaker 1:That is why Reagan said we needed to make jobs available for Americans. We needed to make taxation fair. That is why, if God gives us an extension, that's the purpose, folks. It's not to buy new cars, it's not to build a bigger house. It's not to buy more land house. It's not to buy more land. It's not to put more money in our savings account. There's nothing wrong with those things in and of themselves, folks, but they can't be the goal, they can't be the primary impetus. God bless y'all. God bless your families. God bless your marriage if you're married. God bless y'all. God bless your families. God bless your marriage if you're married. God bless America for those of y'all that live here. God bless your nation around the world. Wherever you are listening, we'll talk to y'all again real soon. Folks looking forward to it.