The American Soul
The American Soul
The American Soul: Finding Light in the Darkness
The spiritual foundations of America stand at a crossroads. In this deeply reflective episode, Jesse Cope tackles the challenging question of what truly lies at the heart of American liberty—and whether we can preserve it without returning to our Christian roots.
Jesse begins with a soul-searching examination of personal priorities. "Have you made time for God today?" he asks, before extending this question to our relationships: "If you're married, do you act like it? Does your spouse know it?" These probing questions set the tone for an episode that consistently challenges listeners to align their professed beliefs with their daily actions.
Drawing from William Manchester's biography of Winston Churchill, Jesse explores how propaganda tactics have been employed throughout history to manipulate public perception. He draws unsettling parallels between Nazi Germany's misinformation campaigns and modern cultural battles over education, gender ideology, and parental rights. These historical lessons serve as a warning about what happens when societies drift from their moral anchors.
The heart of the episode centers on George Washington's prayer journal—a powerful historical document that reveals America's first president as a man deeply committed to Christian faith and principles. Washington's humble prayers, seeking divine guidance in both personal conduct and national leadership, directly challenge contemporary narratives that suggest America's founders intended to create a secular nation. "There's no way they looked for this kind of guidance from God and Jesus Christ and then wanted to create a country where God had no role," Jesse observes.
Through an examination of Matthew 4, Jesse confronts the many forms of modern idolatry that compete for our allegiance—from careers and entertainment to social media and materialism. His candid self-reflection creates space for listeners to honestly assess their own spiritual priorities.
Ready to reconnect with America's spiritual heritage? Listen now and discover how the prayers of Washington might still guide our nation through today's challenges. Then share this episode with someone struggling to see the connection between faith and liberty in our increasingly divided culture.
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 effort, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. Hopefully I will give us all some extra tools for our toolbox, as we used to say in the Marine Corps. Hopefully I will help us all, even if just a little bit, draw closer to God and Jesus Christ. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast and tell others about it, thank you so much. For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you so much, incredibly grateful for your prayers, need them. And for those of y'all who are new to the podcast, thank you for coming. I'm glad that you're here. Hope you enjoy it. Thank you for coming. I'm glad that you're here. Hope you enjoy it. Hope you come back. So thank you all.
Speaker 1:Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for you, father, and your Son, jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love, mercy, grace and forgiveness, for all the many blessings you bestow upon us as individuals and as a nation. Forgive us our sin. Forgive us our greed and our selfishness, our pride, arrogance, judgment of others, rash words and actions, our cowardice and our unbelief. Help us to overcome them. We do believe.
Speaker 1:Thank you for the people that are listening to the podcast, the people that share it. Father, please be with them and their families. God, I bless them. Surround them with your angels. Protect them from evil of any kind. Help them to help those that have less. Help us all. Help those that have less than we do. Be with our leaders around the nation, in the pulpit and the state. Be with their families, their wives, their children. Bring them all home safe to you. Be with our military and our law enforcement, our firefighters. Keep them safe. Bring them home safe to their families. Help us to do your will each day, father, to follow the commands of your Son, jesus Christ, to love you with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves and God. My word to you Father, please, in your Son's name, we pray. Words there, father, please, In your son's name, we pray. Have you made time for God today? Have you made time to read his word? Have you made time to pray, to talk to him. Is he the top of your priority list? Is he at the bottom? Is he in the middle? What do you say he is? Do your actions line up with your words? And if you're married, do you act like it? Does your spouse know it? Do they go to bed each night knowing that they are your top priority every day, second only to God and Jesus Christ? Or do they wonder? Or, sadly, do they know that they're not Right?
Speaker 1:Our relationship, if we're married, is supposed to exemplify that of Christ, and the church does it. If people looked at us, would they see evidence in our marriage of that relationship? Especially folks, our kids. Right, I stole this from somebody, can't even remember who. I've heard it multiple times, though. So maybe a few people. But our kids are going to grow up, folks, either wanting a marriage like ours or not wanting a marriage like ours, and that's not only true of your kids, but that's true of their friends. Or, if you don't have any children, that's true of just kids in general that see you. They're going to either grow up wanting a marriage like the one they see in yours or not.
Speaker 1:So a couple little things out of this Churchill biography that we've talked about in the past. So this is out of Manchester's this is the second volume which is so great out of his trilogy because it talks about the 30s leading up to World War II and kind of gives you a window. Gives you a great window into what was going on, not just in Churchill's life but in the British nation as a whole. And one of the ways the left has been so successful here in America over the last 80 years or so is propaganda. Right, the way that they frame things. You see it today, the idea that we could even remotely pretend that men were women or women are men, I mean it's so absurd, it's laughable. And yet the left has done a pretty good job of convincing a lot of people. Now, hopefully, the tide is kind of starting to turn, but there's so much damage that's been done you hear some of these stories from some of these kids that have transitioned and the pain, the scarring, both physical and mental, is so bad and a lot of it is irreversible. The physical part you can't. You can't turn it back, you can't turn it back.
Speaker 1:And so in World War II just some examples. This was right before the start of the war and the Germans were operating the way that they had been operating. It had worked for them. They didn't see any reason not to, and so they would send Nazi stormtroopers into Poland and they would cause all these atrocities. But the papers that the German people were reading wouldn't say that. It would say the opposite. Right, and Manchester put some examples of some of these headlines in Germany Warsaw threatens bombardment of Danzig. Unbelievable agitation of the Polish arch. Madness Answer to Poland, the runner amok against peace and right in Europe. This playing with fire going too far. Three German passenger planes shot at by the Poles In corridor, many German farmhouses in flames, complete chaos in Poland. German families flee, polish soldiers push to the edge of German border right. And all of this was actually the reverse of what was really going on. Germany had been mobilized for a while, a couple weeks maybe and Poland actually wasn't, sadly, on the advice of Britain, because they didn't want to upset the Reich. They didn't want to make Germany give Germany any excuse for coming and attacking them.
Speaker 1:This, this, the way that the Nazis and socialists, fascists, communists, islam. You see these same tactics over and over again today, folks, and you still see them tactics over and over again today, folks, and you still see them. And you just almost have to assume that anytime you hear something from a leftist organization, it's got to be suspect off the bat. And again, one of the reasons that it's so important to read our Bible each day discernment, to pray each day, talk to God, ask him for discernment. And it's one of the reasons it's so imperative that we take back the education of our children, because that's one of the ways that the left has really come in and done so much damage is if they can convince children of X, y or Z right, then they can control the future of the nation. You see that with separation of God and state. You see that with a lot of this transgender stuff, lgbtq stuff. You can see the current court cases, right, uh, like the the president's push against harvard, for example at dei, or the court cases that are coming up about parents being allowed which is it's just ludicrous right Parents being allowed to determine the education of their children. So if parents don't want their children seeing basically soft porn or pornography in the schools, lgbtq, right, we're having to fight just for parents to be able to keep their children from seeing that stuff.
Speaker 1:All of this goes back to the bottom line that we talk about so often on the podcast, which is the fact that our nation was founded on the principles of Jesus Christ, the fact that liberty can only exist where the Spirit of God is. This is true in Western civilization in general, but it's especially true in America. True in Western civilization in general, but it's especially true in America. If we don't have those principles of Christ, if we don't look to the Bible for those teachings and have that as the foundation not only of our private individual lives, folks, but as our public, our institutions, military education, law enforcement courts, we're not going to survive. You can't.
Speaker 1:I've got one more I want to read here. This is a quote from Duff Cooper from July, I think, of 1939. Lack of decision is the worst fault from which a policy can suffer. So soon as a decision has been taken, no time should be lost in announcing it. It is of the first importance that we should know our own minds. It is of almost equal importance that the world should make no mistake about our intentions. And Manchester, in this book on alone, put this quote around the Anglo-Polish Treaty of Mutual Assistance, which was announced in London and Warsaw the last Friday in August and it was super clear. But Chamberlain, the prime minister, he had no intention of acting with it.
Speaker 1:But that's the way that you have to deal with the left, with Islam, with communists, socialists, fascists. You have to be extremely clear in what you're going to do, just like the bully folks on the school play art. It's the same analogy. It works for kids. If you're going to draw a line in the dirt, you have to make sure that you're willing to hold that line and you have to be very clear about what that line is. And offering concessions it simply doesn't work. It's never worked and it's not going to work Every time you bend to the whims of any of those ideologies. They're going to demand more Peaceful coexistence is just, it's a pipe dream. It's always been an illusion with those ideologies and we've been foolish to go along with it and I think I'll move on from there. We're going to get back into Matthew. I think. What are we in we're in Matthew, chapter 4, I hope I think. What are we in we're in Matthew, chapter 4, I hope I think. Let's see If I can get there. Yeah, matthew, chapter 4.
Speaker 1:The temptation of Jesus. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit, into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he then became hungry and the tempter came and said to him If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But he answered and said to him If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But he answered and said it is written man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Then the devil took him into the holy city and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written he will command his angels concerning you and on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him. On the other hand, it is written you shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test. On the other hand, it is written if you fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him Go, satan, for it is written you shall worship the Lord, your God, and serve him only. Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and began to minister to him. Jesus begins his ministry Now.
Speaker 1:When Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, he withdrew into Galilee and, leaving Nazareth, he came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet. The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, galilee of the Gentiles. The people who were sitting in a darkness saw a great light, and those who were sitting in the land of shadow and death, upon them a light dawned. From that time, jesus began to preach and say Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the first disciples. Now, as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen, and he said to them follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately, they left their nets and followed him, going on from there. He saw two brothers, james, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in the boat with Zebedee, their father mending their nets and he called them Immediately. They left the boat and their father and followed him.
Speaker 1:Ministry in Galilee. Jesus was going throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. The news about him spread throughout all Syria and they brought to him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains demonics, epileptics, paralytics and he healed them. Large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan. All right, so go back up here. All right, so go back up here.
Speaker 1:The exchange between Jesus and the devil while he was at the end of his fasting. There's a lot there. I'm sure a lot of people that are a lot wiser than me could give you a lot more out of it, but verse 10,. Then Jesus said to him go, satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord, your God, and serve him. Only, how many of us today worship other things besides God and Jesus Christ? Right, because Jesus Christ is fully God, fully man and fully God. How many of us, through our own actions, regardless of what we think are our words, how many of us worship food? How many of us worship sports? How many of us worship social media? How many of us worship entertaining or entertainment? How many of us worship drugs or alcohol feeling good? How many of us worship drugs or alcohol feeling good? How many of us worship working out? How many of us worship education? How many of us worship our jobs, our careers? How many of us worship sex? Hopefully I've managed to step on everybody's toes by this point. I certainly have stepped on my own.
Speaker 1:The point, if it's not obvious, is how many of us put things up on a pedestal before God and Jesus Christ. And if I miss something right, if there's something else in your life, be honest enough with yourself to acknowledge that. Maybe it's a person, maybe it's Mary or Joseph or one of the apostles, or maybe it's a pope or a priest or pastor or a rock star or athlete professional athlete, or entertainer or singer or a politician that you put up on this pedestal. But anything, folks, anything at all that we put before God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is wrong, and I know that's something. There's certain things in my life that I definitely need to work on and check my motives and ask God to show me. Hey, god, where am I doing something that's right that you want me to do, and where am I really going astray?
Speaker 1:Verse 16,. The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light. And those who were sitting in the land of shadow, in the land and shadow of death, upon them a light dawned Verse 17,. From that time, jesus began to preach and say repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Speaker 1:How many of us really repent of our sins? How many times when I get caught, am I really sorry for what I did before God or am I just sorry that I got caught? You know, if we, for example, if we treat our spouse indifferently, don't really care whether they're around or not, and somebody calls us out on it, or Jesus, god convicts us, the Holy Spirit convicts us in our heart, are we really repentant of having sinned before God or are we just sorry that somebody noticed? Are we really truly sorry that we've hurt our spouse or are we just sorry that somebody saw it and we might actually have to change now and that's going to be a pain? And then, when we actually change, are we just changing enough to get through the moment?
Speaker 1:Right, you've all seen and if you're a kid, you know this firsthand because you've seen it among your peers but we see it in adults too. But you've all seen kids that do just enough to give off the perception of being a good kid when they're in front of adults teachers, coaches, right, people in the community, people at your church they do just enough yes, sir, no, sir, yes, ma'am, no, ma'am Kind of stuff to put off the perception of being a good kid, a good boy, a good girl. But they're not really and they don't have any desire to be, they just have the desire to be seen as that. I've had the privilege of being around kids a lot, young men and women, depending on the age, anywhere from early twenties, teens, all the way down and one of the examples that I'll pass on to you is is the number of times I have seen a really good kid, whether it's a boy or a girl, and they'll be dating someone who's not really a good kid, but they want to be with this person because it gives this perception off to everybody that they're good too, just like by association, right. But all they really want is a perception. They don't really want to change their actions, they don't want to become a good boy or girl, they just want that perception. And how many of us are like that? We just want the perception of being good.
Speaker 1:We don't really care about the work that's involved. We don't really want to do any work, and if we do any work, it's only going to be the bare minimum. We're not really sorry, we're not repentant. We're certainly not looking toward the kingdom of heaven, right, and then the previous one, darkness folks. We're certainly not looking toward the kingdom of heaven, right, and then the previous one, darkness folks.
Speaker 1:I'm going to throw my friend who works in a jail into the bus again. He's a good man as far as men go. Yeah, I know Jesus Christ said no, men are good. So I'm not talking from a godly point of view, I'm talking from an earthly point of view. If you met him and knew him, you would think, man, this guy, he really he's a pretty good guy. He walks the walk and we have talked often and I have mentioned to him that he may well be the only Bible that a lot of these kids see, that a lot of these kids see he may well be the only good male figure that a lot of these young boys and girls have seen in their life.
Speaker 1:Folks, you may not think that you have influence, but you do. Every time you check out in a grocery store, somebody's watching you. Every time you get gas at the pump, somebody's watching you. Every time you interact with people at church, at the end of church or at your school, when you're there at a football game or a basketball game or a volleyball game or whatever else, somebody is watching. Are you a light to those people that are in darkness, that are struggling, or are you just more of the darkness? Are you even worse because you're supposed to be a light? If you're a Christian, if you claim, if you profess to follow Christ, and these people that are in darkness are desperately looking for something different? Are you that light? Are you showing them that light of Jesus Christ, or are you making it worse because you're supposed to to, and then all they see is just darkness reflected in you too? You have the ability to show others the light of Jesus Christ kindness, patience, courage, loyalty, truth, honor, integrity. You have the ability of loving your neighbors yourself, loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. You have the ability to be this light to people who are in darkness and you may be the only light that they get to see. You don't know. Are you acting like that? There's a lot of other great stuff, I think.
Speaker 1:The other thing I'll leave you with real quick is just it always amazes me the story of when Jesus calls his first disciples and he said to them follow me, I'll make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed him Talking about the sons of Zebedee. Immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. Do we follow Jesus Christ immediately? Are we concerned about being fishers of men most of all, or are we concerned about money or sex, or cars or land or whatever else it is? What are we most concerned about gaining in this life? Are we acting like we are behind enemy lines and our job is to get as many people as we can onto the helo, onto the helicopter and get out, to load as many people as we can into the back of that seven ton or five ton or Humvee and get out? Is that our thinking, is that our mentality? And are we willing to immediately follow Jesus Christ when he calls to us? Because I got to tell you, folks, I'm not.
Speaker 1:Often I make a lot of excuses. I've said that before. I think I would be a lot more like Moses than like these disciples. At the beginning I come up with all sorts of excuses. Well, I don't really want to do that. That's not part of my plan. God See, I have this plan and I need you to execute this plan for me. I need your help. I'm not really worried about your plan, god, and what you need from me. This is what I need from you, and if you're not willing to give me that, god, then I don't know if I can really get on board with this. How many of us are concerned about saving souls and immediately doing what God and Jesus Christ calls? I'm telling you, folks, I need to work on that. So, all right, we'll move on.
Speaker 1:George Washington Daily Sacrifice. This is out of his prayer journal. This is Tuesday morning Again, remember, folks, just kind of keep in the back of your head. This is just another example of the deep faith, deep and abiding faith that this founding generation had, that's representative of so many, and and the lunacy of thinking that these men and women would have this strong faith and then want to build this new country that completely rejected God and Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:O Lord, our God most mighty and merciful Father, I, thine unworthy creature and servant, do once more approach thy presence, though not worthy to appear before thee because of my natural corruptions and the many sins and transgressions which I have committed against thy divine majesty. Yet I beseech thee, for the sake of him in whom thou art well pleased, the Lord Jesus Christ, to admit me to render the deserved thanks and praises for thy manifold mercies extended toward me for the quiet rest and repose of the past night, for food, raminant health, peace, liberty and the hopes of a better life through the merit of thy dear Son's bitter passion. And, o kind Father, continue thy mercy and favor to me this day and ever hereafter. Prosper all my lawful undertakings. Let me have all my directions from thy Holy Spirit and success from thy bountiful hand. Let the bright beams of thy light so shine into my heart and enlighten my mind in understanding thy blessed word that I may be enabled to perform thy will in all things and effectually resist all temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil. Preserve and defend our rulers in church and state. Bless the people of this land. Be a father to the fatherless, a comforter to the comfortless, a deliverer to the kindred and families. Be our guide this day and forever, through Jesus Christ, in whose blessed form of prayer I conclude my weak petitions. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Speaker 1:So I didn't do this and I'm going to see if I can. So this particular book, this copy of Washington's Prayer Journal that I'm reading from, this copy of Washington's Prayer Journal that I'm reading from, is from the University of Virginia, the Byrd Library, virginia History and Literature, founded in memory of Alfred H Byrd, 1887. I don't know if that's the actual Washington prayers, washington, no, here we go. This is by Herbert Burke, rector of all saints church, norristown and minister in charge of the Washington Memorial chapel, valley forge, member of the historical society of Pennsylvania, published for the benefit of the Washington Washington Memorial chapel, norristown, pennsylvania, 1907. So that is where this is coming from, just so you know All right. So Tuesday morning prayers from George Washington, from our founding father, the father of our nation.
Speaker 1:O Lord, our God, most mighty and merciful Father, by thine unworthy creature and servant, do once more approach thy presence. How many of us truly think of ourselves as unworthy creatures and servants? I think I mentioned this the other day. I think of myself as a pretty decent scout, pretty decent bloke most of the time, right, pretty decent guy. I think probably a lot of us do.
Speaker 1:We forget, though. I forget that I'm coming into the presence of a perfect God, and the only way that I get to do that is because of Jesus Christ, who was fully man and fully God, who lived a perfect life. He's the only one that ever did. I mean just how hard that must have been. I can't even. I don't know, and Washington says that here. He says you know, look, I'm not worthy to appear before you because of my own natural tendencies, natural corruptions, the many sins and transgressions which I've committed against you, god. But I'm asking, for the sake of him who you are well pleased with, the Jesus Christ, to admit me, to admit me to render the deserved thanks and praises for thy manifold mercies extended toward me for quiet rest, for sleep the past night, for food, for clothing, health, peace, liberty and the hopes of a better life again, to the merit of thy dear son's bitter passion, right, the merit of thy dear son's bitter passion, right.
Speaker 1:Washington's making clear that he knows the only reason he gets to come to God is Jesus Christ, and he's grateful for all the blessings that God has given him, including liberty and the hope of a better life. To the merit of his son, jesus Christ. All the hope we have built up for eternity is through Jesus Christ, folks, and any hope of liberty that we have is tied up in Jesus Christ. There's no other hope there outside of God and Jesus Christ. He continues on. Continue thy mercy and favor to me this day and ever hereafter. Prosper all my lawful undertakings.
Speaker 1:How many of us get into things without asking God and then we ask him to make him successful, into things without asking God and then we ask him to make him successful? Or how many of us get into things and we don't, even we don't ask God's opinion at all, right About whether he wants us to or not. We just go ahead and do it and we expect him to make him successful, and then he doesn't, and then we get all irritated. But we didn't talk to him to begin with Business venture, marriage, buying a house or a car, whatever it is. We didn't talk to him at all. We did it. We end up getting in trouble and then we went out of it, but we didn't talk to him in the first place.
Speaker 1:I have examples, folks, in my own life, some small, some pretty huge. It has never worked out well and it's a long road, folks. Once you get in there, you know there's a proverb that talks about it. It's one of those verses that I can 100% identify with. I guarantee you it's true. And it says don't make vows rashly and then only afterward think about the cost. It just it doesn't work out well.
Speaker 1:But so Washington here asking him to profit prosper, all my lawful undertakings, the thing that are, things that are right and I don't I don't think he means here just literally that are okay According to the law of the country, of the state at that time. Maybe he does, but either way, to me I read it as not only what's legal, but what you want, father, as he says after this let me have all my directions from thy Holy Spirit and success from thy bountiful hand. You know that kind of echoes the Declaration of Independence and turning toward providence and so many of the proclamations that we read each year in November talking about the guiding hand of God. That's where our blessings come from, folks. That's where our success comes from. That's where everything that we've been given comes from God. Do we thank him? Are we grateful for all the things like Washington, listed here we've talked about earlier Food, peace, health, water, clothes to wear? Do we ask for direction from the Holy Spirit? Do we ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit or do we want to go our own way and kind of force God and the Holy Spirit to go along with us? Let the bright beams of thy light so shine into my heart and enlighten my mind in understanding thy blessed word that I may be enabled to perform thy will in all things and effectually resist all temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil. I just like how he wrote the bright beams of thy light shine into my heart and our heart is like a reflection, folks, that's what others around us see. Are we showing them that light of God? Are we reflecting the light of God in Jesus Christ? Enlighten my mind in understanding thy blessed word.
Speaker 1:Read the Bible each day, folks, again and again, are we? It's so important, not least of which is to resist the temptations of the devil in the world. What we take in is what our character becomes. Folks, if we're taken in trash all the time, that's what our character is going to become. You can't sit there and watch movies, listen to music, read books, roll social media and have it be the things of the devil in the world and then expect to produce righteousness and goodness and be a light to those around you. It's just, it's not logical. You can't sit there and eat a bag of Cheetos and a box of Oreos every day, for every meal, and expect that your body's going to be in great shape. And it's the same with our soul. It's the same with everything, folks. You know this, we talk about it all the time. It's the same with your marriage. It's the same with everything, folks. You know this, we talk about it all the time. It's the same with your marriage. You can't put junk in, you can't put a little bit of effort in or negativity in and fights and a lukewarm attitude and expect this great marriage out. It doesn't work and expect this great marriage out. It doesn't work.
Speaker 1:Preserve and defend our rulers in church and state. They were concerned About the faith, the state of the church as a whole, universal, small c, catholic. They were concerned about the relationship of the people with god and those who led them. You know washington, he said this multiple times now bless the people of this land to be a father to the fatherless, a comforter to the comfortless, a deliverer to the captives and a physician to the fatherless. The comforter to the comfortless, a deliverer to the captives and a physician to the sick. It's just, there's no way to read this and think that Washington and these other founding fathers who had such a strong faith and wanted, you know, he says, be our guide this day and forever, through Jesus Christ. There's no way they looked for this kind of guidance from God and Jesus Christ and then wanted to create a country where God had no role. Makes absolutely no sense, folks. Makes absolutely no sense, folks.
Speaker 1:Tuesday evening, most gracious God and Heavenly Father, we cannot cease but must cry unto thee for mercy, because my sins cry against me, for justice. How shall I address myself unto thee? I must, with the publican, stand and admire at thy great goodness, tender mercy and long-suffering towards me, and that thou hast kept me the past day from being consumed and brought to naught. O Lord, what is man or the son of man that thou regardest him? The more days pass over my head, the more sins and iniquities I heap up against thee. If I should cast up the account of my good deeds done this day, how few and small they would be. Should cast up the account of my good deeds done this day, how few and small they would be. But if I should reckon my miscarriages, surely they would be many and great.
Speaker 1:O blessed Father, let thy Son's blood wash me from all impurities and cleanse me from the stains of sin that are upon me. Give me grace to lay hold upon his merits. That they may be my reconciliation and atonement unto thee, that I may know that my sins are forgiven by his death and passion. Embrace me in the arms of thy mercy, vouchsafe, to receive me into thy bosom of thy love. Shadow me with thy wings that I may safely rest under thy protection this night, and so into thy hands I commend myself. Commend myself both soul and body, in the name of thy Son, jesus Christ. Beseeching thee when this life shall end. I may take my everlasting rest with thee and thy heavenly kingdom. Bless all in authority over us. Be merciful to all those afflicted with any cross or calamity. Bless all my friends. Forgive my enemies and accept of my thanksgiving this evening for all the mercies and favors afforded me. Hear and graciously answer these, my requests and whatever else thou seest needful grant us For the sake of Jesus Christ, in whose blessed name and words I continue to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Speaker 1:Why don't we read these? I can't help ask this question again and again, folks, why don't we read these to our children and schools across the nation? It's obviously very important to George Washington. You can just hear by the way that he's writing how important this relationship with God is. He's the father of our nation. He's not perfect. You can tell that from his own writings here. He admits freely begs for mercy from God. Writings here he admits freely begs for mercy from god. Why don't we teach this? How many kids would be well served as an example of how to pray by this. Of course you can just take that one step further and say how much it would help students just to simply read the Bible each year, each day.
Speaker 1:Most gracious God and Heavenly Father, we cannot cease, but must cry unto thee for mercy because my sins cry against me for justice, but must cry unto thee for mercy because my sins cry against me for justice. Folks, I think a lot of us inside the church today focus too much on mercy and not the justice part. We make God out to be this all-merciful God and we completely ignore the justice part. If he's not a just God then we don't need his mercy. And if we desperately need his mercy then we've got to understand and accept that he is a just God. And again, I'm not a theologian, I'm not a pastor or priest, but I think, folks here, that really sums up what we have kind of failed to understand today inside the church for a while is that we can have eternal forgiveness for our sins and still have earthly consequences for our actions. Eternal forgiveness for our sins doesn't wipe away the earthly consequences for our actions. Doesn't wipe away the earthly consequences for our actions. If you're going to have mercy, you have to understand that there has to be justice. And if you're going to have justice you need to be merciful.
Speaker 1:Benjamin Franklin, again right, talking about how he had to explain the passages in the Bible overseas, in Britain and France, but not here in America. How much of the Bible is written into this prayer? On Tuesday evening by George Washington, this next one. How shall I address myself unto thee? Tuesday evening by George Washington, this next one. How shall I address myself unto thee? I must, for the publican, stand and admire at thy great goodness tender mercy and long suffering. So he's talking about the tax collector that Jesus was talking about. The tax collector came in and beat his breast and stood far off and wouldn't even look up and ask God, oh God, have mercy on me, a sinner, while the Pharisee was standing right next to him talking about God thank you that I'm such a good guy, that I'm so great that I do all these wonderful things right. And God asked his disciples who went home, justified the tax collector, the humble man, the penitent man. And Washington here is saying I've got to stand with the public and I've got to stand with the tax collector and admire thy great goodness and tender mercy and long-suffering.
Speaker 1:And then the next I think the next is out of Psalms oh Lord, what is man, or the son of man that thou regardest him? Right, that's part. The more days pass over my head, the more sins and iniquities I heap up against thee. One of the Psalms I can't remember where talks about the fact that my iniquities pile up over my head, or something like that. How many of us understand or feel this? As Washington, if I should cast up the account of my good deeds done this day, how few and small they would be. But if I should reckon my miscarriages, surely they would be many and great.
Speaker 1:It's just that attitude of being humble, of not thinking better of ourselves than we do of others, which I have a tendency, sadly, over the years, have had to do. Duty is ours, results are God's. Keep your head down, live a quiet life, do what God tells you to and let him worry about all the praise and honor and results. And do we chase after the praise of God or of men, folks we're supposed to chase after the praise of God. I need to work on that too. Oh blessed Father, let thy son's blood wash me from all impurities and cleanse me from the stains of sin that are upon me. Give me grace to lay hold upon his merits that they may be my reconciliation and atonement unto thee, that I may know my sins are forgiven by his death and passion.
Speaker 1:It's nothing that Washington's doing, folks. He's saying everything goes back to Jesus Christ and he prays that later that I may safely rest under thy protection this night, so that thy hands I commend myself, both soul and in the name of Thy Son, jesus Christ, beseeching Thee, when this life shall end, I may take my everlasting rest with Thee and Thy heavenly kingdom. Help me to just do your will today, father. Help me to do your will, whatever that is, and bring me home to you and your Son. Help me to do your will, whatever that is, and bring me home to you and your son because of his merits, because of his blood that washed my sins away. That's the father of our nation. That's what we ought to be teaching our children as a nation.
Speaker 1:Not Islam, not Judaism, not Hinduism, not Buddhism, not Mother Nature-ism, not Satanism, not communism, not socialism, nazism or fascism. God and Jesus Christ, the general principles, not a particular denomination folks, not the Methodist doctrine or or Baptist, or Roman Catholic or Orthodox, the general principles of Christ laid out in the Bible. The Bible, as Fisher Ames said, should be the primary text in our schools. God bless y'all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages. God bless your marriages. God bless America. God bless your nation. Wherever you are around the world, listening, folks, we'll talk to you all again real soon, looking forward to it.