The American Soul
The American Soul
America's Last Best Hope: Our Rendezvous with Destiny
The way we spend our time reveals our true priorities, regardless of what we claim to value. Jesse Cope challenges listeners to examine their daily time allocation and consider what it says about their genuine priorities. Do we claim to love our children but never engage with them meaningfully? Do we profess devotion to our spouses while failing to make time for them? Most critically, do we declare faith important while avoiding prayer, Bible reading, and worship?
Our foundation must be built on Jesus Christ alone. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 3, Jesse emphasizes that everything we construct in our lives must connect back to Christ. When facing challenges in our marriages, families, churches, or communities, the solution remains consistent: return to biblical principles. Though some argue certain scriptural teachings no longer apply in modern society, this selective approach creates dangerous precedents.
The podcast explores America's historical foundation through the lens of revolutionary courage. Colonial leaders coordinated resistance to tyranny knowing their actions could be deemed treasonous. Yet they considered "life a trivial stake in competition with liberty." This profound commitment raises challenging questions for us today: What are we willing to risk for freedom and faith? Are we prepared to stand against cultural trends undermining biblical truth?
Jesse honors forgotten Medal of Honor recipients whose sacrifices deserve greater recognition than celebrities receive. He suggests that our current cultural moment represents another "rendezvous with destiny" requiring similar courage and conviction. As we face mounting challenges to liberty, our greatest hope remains turning back to God and realigning our use of time with our professed values.
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 you joining me and giving me a little bit of your time and a little piece of your day. I know that y'all have other things vying for your attention, so I appreciate you spending some of it here. For those of y'all who have been around for a while and continue to come back, I'm glad you're here. Hopefully you get to listen to it with somebody else and y'all get to enjoy it together and talk about it together. And for those of y'all that are new to the podcast, I'm very glad you're here. Hope you get something out of it and hope you come back and hope you also get to listen to it with somebody else. So, thank you and, most of all folks for those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you very much, very, very grateful for your prayers. Need them, want them and appreciate them. Father, thank you for today. Thank you very much, very, very grateful for your prayers. Need them, want them and appreciate them. Father. Thank you for today. Thank you for you, father and your Son, jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins. Thank you for all your blessings, father, the ones we admit and the ones we don't. Forgive us our sins. Forgive us our pride, our greed, our selfishness, judgment of others, rash words and actions, our lust, our hypocrisy, our cowardice and our unbelief. Help us to overcome them all. We do believe, father. Be with those who are hurting and alone around the world, who feel alone. Help them to feel your presence. Be with those who are hurting and alone around the world, who feel alone. Help them to feel your presence. Be with those who are sick, who are injured or who have illness. Comfort them, comfort their loved ones. Be with those around the world, father, that are suffering for the sake of your son Jesus Christ. Help us to comfort them in whatever way we can Nigeria, syria, china, north Korea, iran. Help us to be a light to those who are lost, showing them, even if just a little bit, father, of your Son Jesus Christ, and leading them toward him and toward you. Be with our leaders here in America and around the world. Wherever people are listening to the podcast in their country. Help us to elect men who rule in fear of you. Be with those men, be with their families. Be with our military, our law enforcement firefighters, ems. Protect them, father, keep them safe. Bring them home safe to their families. And be with our military, our law enforcement firefighters, ems. Protect them, father, keep them safe. Bring them home safe to their families. And be with our pastors, preachers, our priests. Be with their wives and their children. Bring them home to you, father, keep them safe. Bring us all home to you, please, in your timing and God, my words here, in the name of your son, jesus Christ, we ask and pray Amen.
Speaker 1:Have you made time for God today? Have you made time to read his word? Have you made time to talk to him, to listen to him, to sit there? Have you made time for your spouse? If you're married, how we spend our time folks tells the world what our priorities truly are. You know, if you claim, as a parent, that you care about your children, but you're never willing to spend time actually engaging with them not sitting in front of a TV, watching sports or movies, but actually engaging with them, talking with them, going fishing, going for a walk, playing a game, reading together and it doesn't matter what we say, you don really care about them. You can say it all you want.
Speaker 1:There was an old movie some of y'all are probably familiar with it. It had robin williams in it. It was a kind of twist on peter pan. It was called hook, I think, by disney, and at the beginning of the movie robin williams, who was Peter Pan, but in adult form, he was totally focused on his career. That's all he made time for. He missed his son's baseball games, he missed all sorts of stuff, right. And as the movie progresses he starts to change and by the end of the movie he's got his priorities in the right order. He's focused on his wife and his kids. And a lot of us we watch a movie like that and we're like I mean, I'm not like that. How could you not see that? And yet so many of us are.
Speaker 1:We claim that we love our kids, but we don't really love them. We claim that we love even more importantly, way more importantly we claim that we love our spouse, but we don't make time for them each day. Folks, just think about how you spend your time, you personally, whatever it is, while we're talking right now. How are you spending your time each day? If you're giving hours to sports and TV and social media and your phone and YouTube and all the stuff that comes with it and workouts, but you don't have time to do really whatever your spouse wants to do each day, whenever, wherever, however often eagerly, and I don't care what it is, folks, what it is is not important. Maybe it's baking a cake, maybe it's cleaning together, maybe it's sitting on the porch, maybe it's sex, maybe it's going for a drive down the road, just slowly driving and talking and listening. But we claim that we don't have time and energy and yet we give so much to junk and then we don't give it to our spouse. And if most of us, the vast majority of us are being honest, it's just selfishness. And the same is even more true with God and Jesus Christ. Oh, it's so boring. I don't want to read the Bible, I don't want to go to church, I don't want to go to youth group, I don't want to go to Wednesday night services or Saturday night services. I have other things that are more important. Really Okay. I mean, if you're willing to say that, at least you're honest.
Speaker 1:I was talking to engaging with somebody on X the other day talking about the fact that, if you weren't willing to acknowledge that, that a woman so a woman typically desires her husband to provide for and protect her. That's just part of the job description. You go to work each day. You earn a paycheck. You come home, you take care of your family. That's part of your job description. The husband on the other side side typically expects respect and physical satisfaction, and that's just part of the job description. If the first doesn't make the husband a paycheck, then the second doesn't make the wife a sex object and you can either be against both of those or for both of those, but if you're for one and not the other, then it just makes you a hypocrite at best. At best that's.
Speaker 1:The best case scenario is that you're hypocritical and this person that I was engaging with on X. They were like well, I reject both and you know what Great. At least you're honest and at least you're not a hypocrite. Now you're rejecting Scripture, but that's between you and God. But at least you're not having different standards and different measures. Pick one or the other folks and that's really similar to us and how we spend our time. If we have time for all this junk, then we have time for God and Jesus Christ and our spouse Way like abundance of time. And so either we need to say you know what God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, they're really just not that important to me, my spouse is really just not that important to me, or we need to change the way we act Because, again, otherwise, best case scenario is that we're being hypocritical.
Speaker 1:1 Corinthians 3, foundations for living. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh. As to infants in Christ I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it. As to infants in Christ, are you not walking like mere men? For when one says I am of Paul and another I am of Apollos, are you not mere men? I want to make sure I talk about this before I forget, so normally I come back. But verse three, jealousy and strife Are you not fleshly?
Speaker 1:I was in the bookstore with my kids the other day and I happened to go and kind of scan through the magazines and there was. I love magazines on architecture, gardening, landscape, farming, like any, anything really that kind of ties back into the land and I was looking at this. They had a magazine that was specifically about, I cannot remember, like Nordic Denmark, kind of Nova Scotia not Nova Scotia, norway, sweden, all that area in the northwest part of Europe, and houses, just gorgeous houses out in the middle of the country, and I saw some things in there. I was like man, that would be great, I would love to have this and that. And I caught myself and I thought man Cope, are you starting to lust after things that you don't have? Are you starting to be greedy looking at these magazines? And it made me think there's nothing wrong with looking at the magazines, folks. It's beautiful and it gives you a lot of good ideas if you're doing stuff for your house.
Speaker 1:But the problem is when we don't. We aren't grateful for what we have and we start to lust after what we don't have. And I think a lot of that comes when we don't do what God tells us to, which is to lead a quiet life and to mind our own business. There's a couple of verses that that's paraphrasing. How many times are you really pretty satisfied with your life until you see something you don't have right out and about and you're like I want that I have to have that and you, you don't have those things. You don't feel that greed and that lust when you aren't being a busybody. Basically, often Not always, but often. Anyway, that was the thought I had and that's what struck me with this verse. Now, the reason I stopped here is verse four, because I wanted to make sure I didn't forget this and come back to it.
Speaker 1:For when one says I am of Paul and another I am of Apollos, are you not mere men? Again, folks, I'm not a priest or a pastor or a theologian, but when I read that, the thing that strikes me in the modern church that I see so much of is not following one man or the other, so much it is following one denomination or the other. Well, I'm Catholic. Well, I'm Methodist. Well, I'm Baptist. Well, I'm Church of Christ. Well, I'm Lutheran. Well, I'm Greek Orthodox. Well, I'm whatever it's. When we choose a particular denomination and of course you can make the argument a particular man because of that Pope, priest, pastor, bishop, cleric, whatever else that's what I see there that's so dangerous for us today. Instead of I'm a Christian, I follow Christ.
Speaker 1:What, then, is Apollos and what is Paul? Servants, for whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. But then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but God who causes the growth. Now, he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor, for we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, god's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it, for no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Now, if any man builds on a foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident, for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with the fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved. Yet so, as through fire, do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you. If any man destroys the temple of God, god will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
Speaker 1:Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish so that he may become wise, for the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, he is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness. And again, the Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, so that they are useless. So then, let no one boast in Milan, for all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world, or life or death, things present or things to come, all things belong to you and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. So verse 11, for no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And then you look at verse 22, 23,. Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world, or life or death, all things present or things to come, all things belong to you and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. So the whole point is God and Jesus Christ. Christ is the foundation of everything and anything that we build right. It tells us we have to build on to Christ. Everything's got to go back to Jesus Christ, christ, everything's got to go back to Jesus Christ. And so anytime you see anything, particularly in the church, that doesn't go back to Jesus Christ, you know you've got problems there. Anytime you come to an issue that you're struggling with, whether it's individually or in your marriage, your family, your church, you go back to Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:What does God say, what does the Bible say? And a lot of people are going to roll their eyes at that. Folks, a lot of people are going to tell you well, that doesn't apply anymore. I've heard that argument a lot lately. Well, that's not, that's out of context Today, it doesn't, it doesn't matter anymore. If it doesn't matter this particular argument, there's a lot of others folks.
Speaker 1:But if we can pick and choose what is legitimate and what's not, then we can pick and choose any part of the Bible and say, well, society doesn't. For example, most of society today doesn't agree with Jesus Christ as the son of God. So if we're going to base, if we're going to use society as the criteria for what verses to accept and what verses not to? Because you're going to hear that from people. You're going to hear them say well, for example, the whole feminist. Well, we don't. You know, we're not like that today. We don't have that kind of society anymore. We don't have very Christian society anymore. Are we supposed to reject that Jesus Christ is the son of God just because a big chunk of society does? You get the point?
Speaker 1:And then what are we building? You know, christ tells us to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, not here on earth. Right when we think about, I'm reminded of the proverb a good man, you know, he leaves a good name to his children. What are we leaving behind? Money, fame, wealth, influence. Are we leaving behind that? We build with materials that won't get burned up. What are we leaving behind for those after we're gone? What are you leaving behind Each day when you're going through the day? What are you leaving behind? If it has to do with God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, you're leaving behind something that will withstand the fire. If it's the world, you're leaving behind something that's going to get burned up. What are we leaving behind? You know, proverbs tells us that a wise man leaves an inheritance for his children's children. So obviously, storing up something for our children and our grandchildren is not a bad thing. It's a good thing we leave an inheritance for them.
Speaker 1:But I wonder if we don't miss the point often, kind of like the saying miss the forest for the trees. Right, it's not the money necessarily, it's the fact that we took time to be concerned about our children and grandchildren. That's the important part of that. Just a thought. All right, my brain has just totally, totally gone away today, but that's okay. We're going to get into a couple of medals of honor.
Speaker 1:I think I'll just read one. This is from January 1939, state of the Union Address by FDR. Right so, going into World War II, once I prophesied that this generation of Americans had a rendezvous with destiny. That prophecy comes true To us. Much is given, more is expected. This generation will nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just A way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless. It's hard not to look at us today and also see that rendezvous with destiny. I hear a lot of people say it on X, I see, or I hear people when I, when I talk to them in person, talk about it, just something just feels like it's coming and, of course, unless you're arrogant, you really have no idea exactly what's coming.
Speaker 1:But you can look at the science, you can look at the fact, for example, that the ideologies of leftism, socialism, communism, nazism, fascism which are all just kind of different shades of the same evil folks, different paths toward evil, the idea of peacefully coexisting with any of those ideologies and maintaining liberty is impossible. It's like running up the debt right At some point the bills come due, which is literally what we're doing, by the way, as a nation running up our debt. You can't print money forever and it's never free. There's always a price. We may pay it, our children may pay it, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren may pay it, but somebody's going to pay a price. We may pay it, our children may pay it, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren may pay it, but somebody's going to pay the price. And the same thing is true with Islam, the idea of peaceful coexistence. And all you have to do is look at Britain right now, look at the UK, look at London, look at New York right now. The fact that they have elected even if a primary a Muslim and a socialist tells you just how far we've fallen. But you just, you can't have both folks, and so we're going to have to.
Speaker 1:You know FDR was quoting Lincoln here. This generation will nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. We are in America, the last best hope, just like we were in Lincoln's day. And if we lose this, can God, will God absolutely raise somebody up somewhere else? Yeah, 100%. Does that mean that we won't go back into the dark ages as a world, like when Rome fell? No, there's a real good shot at that. I think Reagan, I think, talked about that, the fact that we would go back into a thousand years of darkness.
Speaker 1:And what's the solution, folks? Regardless of whether America stands or falls, regardless of whether we as Christians go into exile like the Israelites in the Old Testament did to Babylon or not, the solution is turn to God and Jesus Christ, and not just in our public I mean our personal lives, but also in our public lives, the life of our nation. Turn back to God, Trust him. Right, john Quincy Adams. Duty is ours, results are God's. Whatever it is in your life, whether it's your personal life, your individual life, your marriage, your family, your church, your community, your school turn back to God and Jesus Christ. That's the solution. That again, here the way is plain, peaceful, generous, just a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless. The world will forever applaud and God must forever bless. God's never going to turn his back on us, on our souls, because of his son, jesus Christ. That doesn't mean that we're not going to have problems here on earth. Folks, the wealth, health and prosperity gospel is a sham. All you have to do is look at those servants in both the Old and New Testament to see that. But he will bring our soul home safely to him. Duty is ours. Results are God's.
Speaker 1:Medal of Honor, let me see. We left off, I think. Us Army 1863-65, tennessee and Georgia gallantry and various actions during the rebellion. New York City, new York, not awarded. Posthumously presented February 28, 1870. Born 1840, ireland. Died August 3, 1871. Mechanicsville, virginia, buried Cold Harbor National Cemetery ATAC 309, mechanicsville, virginia, united States. Augustus Burry Another example, folks, of an immigrant who gave so much.
Speaker 1:I don't know if this guy was a phenomenal guy in his personal life and I'm not trying to tell you that, but I'm telling you that so many of these Medal of Honor immigrants that we read about on the podcast are a completely different breed of cat than what we see today, and I could tell you that about the Marines that I served with. I remember distinctly a Marine that I served with that was from Trinidad and Tobago, who got his citizenship while he was serving in the unit that I had the privilege of commanding. I had the privilege of commanding and his excitement and joy at becoming a US citizen was overwhelming and he did it the right way. He is not, nor will he ever be, in the same category as those people who came here illegally, or I should say it the better way, I should say as those people who came here illegally. Or, I should say it the better way, I should say as those people who came here illegally who have risked the poor and the needy, the widow and the orphan, made their lives more dangerous, who have stolen resources and representation, who guaranteed did not have a harder, worse life overall than this kid and where he came from and grew up. They will never be in the same category as that young man Ever.
Speaker 1:Frank J Bart. World War I private Charlie Company, 9th Infantry, 2nd Division, us Army. October 3rd 1918, near Medet Firm, france probably said that wrong, forgive me, especially if you're listening in Paris, some of the places we have, I apologize. Private Bart, being on duty as a company runner when the advance was held up by machine gun, voluntarily picked up an automatic rifle, ran out ahead of the line and silenced a hostile machine gun nest, killing the German gunners. A hostile machine gun nest, killing the German gunners. The advance then continued and when it was again hindered shortly afterward by another machine gun nest, this courageous soldier repeated his bold exploit by putting the second machine gun out of action. Accredited to Newark, essex County, new Jersey, not awarded, posthumously Presented February 9, 1919. Chamont, france, presented by General John J Pershing, born April 15th 1883. New York, new York, united States, died March 31st 1961. Buried Flower Hill Cemetery, mh 25, text 6. North Bergen, New Jersey, united States. Frank J Bark Just a couple names, along with Augustus Berry, that we need to remember again, far more than the statistics of a professional or college athletes or the lyrics of any songwriter or the lines in the movie from any actor, actress.
Speaker 1:I was getting onto myself the other day, folks so long myself here, real quickly Before we move on. I was talking to one of my children, quickly, before we move on. I was talking to one of my children. I managed to pull the name of two actors from TV series back in the 90s at least I think maybe early 2000s, and I didn't say this to them in that moment, but in that moment I was thinking about the podcast and talking to y'all and I was wondering how many names of Civil War I mean not Civil War Medal of Honor winners though that I could remember if somebody asked me on the spot. Not very many, and even that's with us doing this podcast each day and going over these names, with us doing this podcast each day and going over these names. And yet I can pull up the name of an actor from some two-bit TV series 20, 25 years ago. And maybe y'all aren't, maybe y'all know all of these Medal of Honor winners and you don't pay any attention to TV or music or sports, and good on you. Seriously, I'm absolutely dead serious about that. But I think for a huge chunk of us we aren't so versed in these people that sacrifice so much for our country, and even more so as a Christian when we go through Fox's Book of the Martyrs, the names that we read there that have sacrificed so much throughout the history of our faith. All right, we're going to get back into this.
Speaker 1:Election sermon. Need to read the title every once in a while. The United States elevated to glory and honor. A sermon preached before His Excellency Jonathan Trumbull Esquire, lld Governor and Commander-in-Chief, and the Honorable General Assembly of the State of Connecticut convened at Hartford at the anniversary election, may 8, 1783, by Ezra Stiles, president of Yale College, new Haven, printed by Thomas and Samuel Green and all the Roman numerals there. All right, we'll get back into it.
Speaker 1:I'd rather consider the American Indians as Canaanites of the expulsion of Joshua, some of which, in Phoenician ships coasted the Mediterranean to its mouth, as appears from an inscription where they left there other oriental languages, and the historographer of the great Belisarius tells us that at Tangier he saw and read an inscription upon two marble pillars there in the ancient Phoenician, not the ten modern Punic letter. We are they who have fled from the face of Joshua the robber, the son of none. We are they who have fled from the face of Joshua the robber the son of none. Bocart and Seldon conjecture the very Punic itself.
Speaker 1:Plato, alien and Diorotus Siculus narrate voyages into the Atlantic Ocean, thirty days west from the Pillars of Hercules to the island of Atlas. This inscription, examined by Procopius, suggests that the Canaanites, in coasting along from Tangier, might soon get into the trade winds and be undesignedly wafted across the Atlantic land in the tropical regions and commence the settlements there's down at the bottom of this resources that he lists A lot of it's in Latin, I think At any rate Commence and commence the settlement of Mexico and Peru. Another branch of the Catanish expulsions might take the resolution of the ten tribes and travel north eastward to where man never dwelt. Travel north-eastward to where man never dwelt, becoming the Tychus and the Tungus-y Tartars about Amscotia and Susquehannos in the northeast of Asia. Thence, by water passing over from island to island through the northern archipelago to America, became the scattered semidons of these northern regions.
Speaker 1:It is now known that Asia is separated by water from America, as certainly appears from the barren defaults voyage around the north of Europe into the Pacific Ocean, ad 1769. Amidst all the variety of national dialects, there reigns a similitude in their language, as there is also in complexion and beardless features, from Greenland to Del Fuego and from the Antilles to Odahite, which show them to be one people. A few scattered accounts collected and combined together may lead us to two certain conclusions One, that all the American Indians are one kind of people and two, that they are the same as the people in the northeast of Asia. An Asiatic territory 3,000 miles long and 1,500 wide, above the 40th degree of latitude to the Hyperborean Ocean, contains only one million of souls settled as our Indians, as appeared from the numerations and estimates collected by M Mueller and other Russian academics, academians, in 1769. The Kariki, jakuti and Hungsti living on the eastern part of this territory next to America, are naturally almost beardless, like the Samoids in Siberia, the Austics and Kalmuks, as well as the American Indians, all these having also the same custom of plucking out the few hairs of very thin beards. They have more similar usages and few dissimilar tones than the Arabians of the Horish tribe and Jews who sprang up from Abraham, or than those that subsist among European nations who sprang from one ancestor, or those Asiatic nations which sprang from Shem.
Speaker 1:The portrait painter, mr Smibert, who accompanied Dr Berkeley, then dean of Derry and afterward bishop of Climone, from Italy to America in 1728, was employed, the Grand Duke of Tuscany while at Florence, to paint two or three Siberian tartars presented to the Duke by the Tsar of Russia this, mr Smebert, upon his landing at Nargesnet Bay, when Dr Berkeley instantly recognized the Indians here to be the same people as the Siberian Tartars whose pictures he had taken. Moravian Indians from Greenland and South America have met those in our own latitude at Bethlehem and have been clearly perceived to be the same people. The at Bethlehem and have been clearly perceived to be the same people. The Scotchdale Tartars have been carried over from Asia to America and compared with our Indians and found to be the same people. These Asiatic Tartars, from whom the American Aboriginals derived, are distinct from and far less numerous than, the Mongol and other Tartars which, for ages, under Tamerlane and other chieftains, have deluged and overran the south, southern, ancient, ancient Asiatic empires. Attending to the rational and just deductions from these and other disconnected data combined together, we may perceive that all the Americans are one people, that they came hither certainly from the northeast of Asia, probably also from the Mediterranean and, if so, that they are Canaanites, though arriving hither by different routes, canaanites, though arriving hither by different routes. The ocean current from the north of Asia might waft the beardless Samoids or Tushy from the mouth of Genesi or Obai around Nova Zembla to Greenland and thence to Labrador, many ages after the refugees from joshua might have colonized the tropical regions. Thus, providence might have ordered three divisions of the same people from different parts of the world many ages before the present accession of Japheth, or the former visitation of Madoc 1001, or the certain colonization from Norway, ad 1001, as well as the certain Christianizing of Greenland in the 9th century, not to mention the visit, of still greater antiquity, by the Phoenicians who charged the Dighton Rock and other rocks in Nargeset Bay with Punic inscriptions remaining to this day, which last I myself have repeatedly seen and taken off at large, as did Professor Seawall. He has lately transmitted a copy of his inscription to M Gebelin of the Parisian Academy of Sciences who, comparing them with the Punic paleography, judges them Punic and has interpreted them as denoting that the ancient Carthaginians once visited these distant regions.
Speaker 1:Indians are numerous in the tropical regions, not so elsewhere. Baron Lahontan of last century and Mr Carver, so lately as 1776 and 1777, traveled northwest, beyond the sources of the Mississippi. From their observations it appears that the ratio of Indian population in the very heart of the continent is similar to that on this side of the Mississippi. By an accurate enumeration made in 1766 and returned into the plantation office in London, it appeared that there were not 40,000 souls Indians from the Mississippi to the Atlantic and from Florida to the Pole. According to Mr Carver, there are about 30, and certainly not 40, indian tribes west of the Senecas and Six-Nation Confederacy and from the Mississippi and Ohio northward to Hudson's Bay and from Niagara to the Lake of the Woods. The chiefs of all these speak the Chippewa language, and perhaps all the remaining territory north of New Spain and even on this side of the northern tropic and the northwestern to Asia will not exhibit five times that number. At highest, partly by accurate numeration and partly by estimate, the Indians and the Spanish Dominions in America are considered as a million souls in New Spain and a million and a half in Peru, or two or three million souls in the whole, and perhaps this would fully comprehend those of Paraguay and the Portuguese provinces.
Speaker 1:In my opinion, great defilcation must be made from these numbers. The Aboriginals have been injudiciously estimated at 20 millions, but I believe they never exceeded 2 or 3 million souls in all North and South America since the days of Columbus. The European population so surpasses them already, that, of whatever origin they will eventually be, as the most of them have already become servants. Unto Japheth, 612,000 Indians pay tribute in Peru. We are increasing with great rapidity, and the Indians as well as the million Africans in America are decreasing as rapidly. Both left to themselves. In this way diminishing, may gradually vanish, and thus an unrighteous slavery may at length, in God's good providence, be abolished and ceased in the land of liberty. But to return, the population of this land will probably become very great and Japheth become more numerous millions in America than in Europe and Asia, and the two or three millions of the United States may equal the population of the Oriental Empires, which far surpasses that of Europe, may equal the population of the Oriental empires, which far surpasses that of Europe.
Speaker 1:There are reasons for believing that the English increase will far surpass others and that the diffusion of the United States will ultimately produce the general population of America. The northern provinces of China, spread for ages and at length deluged the southern, and with a very numerous and accumulated population, proverbs 14.28 In the multitude of people is the king's honor. Let's see how much time we've. Yeah, thought we were over. Interesting thing here, folks, as we're reading this. We were over. Interesting thing here, folks, as we're reading.
Speaker 1:This is just the fact that I go back to his comment about the condition in America being similar to that of the Israelites going into Canaan. And you remember that God told the Israelites look, I'm not giving you Canaan because the people were so great, because y'all are so great, but because the people in Canaan are so evil and do so much wrong. And it's ironic because today, with all the indigenous people's day and all the other nonsense, our children and grandchildren are growing up with the idea that the Indians, the Native Americans, in whatever region of the Americas, were this peaceful, utopic, wonderful, kind Tribes peoples. But when you go back and you actually read history, that's not the case at all. That's not to say that we didn't do some horrible things, but the idea that the indigenous people didn't do horrible things is absolutely wrong and misleading. You can read Columbus's account, like we do each year. You can go back and read some of the Westerns Louis L'Amour is a good one and you can look at some of the atrocities that the native Americans committed. You can just read history books about it. It's not hard to see that analogy.
Speaker 1:Part of the reason that we've been given so much in America perhaps is because those before us did so much evil. The problem is when we turn away from God and we're the ones that are doing the evil. And the problem is when we turn away from God and we're the ones that are doing the evil. You know, god tells us we were an olive branch grafted on right. The Gentiles, the Jews, would listen to Christ, and so he grafted us on and said well, you can be part of the family now, but if he wouldn't keep from separating the Jews, do you think he's really going to keep from separating us?
Speaker 1:When we start to think of ourselves as this unique, special people that can do whatever we want and we don't have to pay attention to God, that's when the problems really start. Folks, we have to pay attention to God. We have roles and responsibilities in our life. We have to follow the commands of God and Jesus Christ, and when we rebel against them? I was driving through a major city in the United States recently and their particular city hall had a huge flag out front at the same level with the United States flag, and it was a rainbow pride flag. That's absolutely thumbing our nose at God, rebelling against him, looking at him and going look, we don't care what you say, we're going to do whatever we want to do. Obviously that's not going to end well for us. All right, we'll move on. For today we're going to get back into chapter five of Mercy Otis Warren's History of the Rise, progress and Termination of the American Revolution.
Speaker 1:The committee had digested a plan for a general Congress from all the colonies to consult on the common safety of America, named their own delegates and, as all present, were convinced of the necessity and expediency of such a convention. They estimated the expense and provided funds for such a convention. They estimated the expense and provided funds for the liquidation, prepared letters to the other colonies enforcing the reasons for their strong confederacy and disclosed their proceedings to the House before the government party had the least suspicion of their designs. Such a remarkable coincidence of opinion, energy and zeal existed between the provinces of Virginia and Massachusetts that their measures and resolutions were often similar previous to the opportunity for conference. Thus the propriety of a general congress had been discussed and agreed upon by the Virginians before they were informed of the resolutions of Massachusetts. Some of the other colonies had contemplated the same measure without any previous consultation. Before the full disclosure of the business, they were upon, the doors of the house were locked and a vote passed that no one should be suffered to enter or retire until a final determination took place on the important questions before them. When these designs were opened, the partisans of administration then in the House were thunderstruck with measures so replete with ability and vigor and that wore such an aspect of high and dangerous consequences.
Speaker 1:This is, folks, a great example of what I do a really poor job of talking about today that we need, we need this kind of coordination, like you see here between these columns today, and maybe it's at the state level, maybe it's at county and city level, church schools, maybe it's at all levels, probably best at all levels. But we need that communication between conservative Christian primarily, first and foremost, schools, communities, parents, fire chiefs, police chiefs for towns, city boards, school boards, state representatives and senators. And again, we need to be doing everything we can. You talk about sphere of influence. You talk about sphere of influence. You know you have a sphere of influence, encouraging, first off, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ in your sphere of influence, however you can. Secondly, encouraging virtue, acting virtuous in yourself, right and encouraging encouraging others. And then, third, encouraging anybody in your local sphere, talking about increasing your local law enforcement, your local firefighters, your local EMS state militia, training them well, equipping them well, because it's just hard, folks, if we have any hope at all. There's a storm coming, there's a fight coming, coming. There's a fight coming.
Speaker 1:Peaceful coexistence, long-term, with other individuals, citizens or immigrants, legal, illegal, mass or otherwise, who support leftism, socialism, communism, nazism, fascism, right or Islam, which goes hand-in in glove with all of those? There's just. There is no peaceful coexistence there. It's like asking what we've seen played out in the Middle East, asking Israel to peacefully coexist with all of her neighbors. And she would. You know, I saw the little comment the other day that if, with the fact that Iran, israel has all these different missile defense systems, iran has none, it's not because they can't, it's because they don't need them, because Israel's not firing indiscriminately, not trying to kill their population. Right and again. If you immediately, right and again, if you immediately took the Muslims out of the equation over there, there would be peace, and if you immediately took the Jews completely out of the equation and they ceased to exist, there would not be peace. Islam would just turn toward us as a target and so this idea of peaceful coexistence, there would not be peace. Islam would just turn toward us as a target. And so this idea of peaceful coexistence that we cling to is like the British in the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s, clinging to the idea of appeasement that if they just could figure out what Hitler really wanted and they gave it to him, they would. That, he would be satisfied, he would be happy, and of course, the problem is that Hitler wanted everything right.
Speaker 1:So again, this part of this book, these committees of correspondence and this communication is huge. These transactions might have been legally styled, treasonable, but loyalty had lost its influence and power, its terrors. Firm and disinterested, intrepid and united, they stood ready to submit to the chances of war and to sacrifice their devoted lives to preserve invalidity and to transmit to posterity the inherent rights of men conferred on all by the God of nature and the privileges of Englishmen claimed by Americans from the sacred sanctions of compact. You've got to remember, when they're talking about God of nature right, we've talked about William Blackstone before, who wrote commentaries on the English law that was so influential with our founders that they're talking about God, the Father of Jesus Christ, and it was known at that time that that's exactly what they were talking about not some random deity, but particularly God, the father of Jesus Christ, the son of the Holy Spirit, laws of nature and of nature's God. Nature and of nature's God.
Speaker 1:When the measures agitated in the secret conference were laid before the House of Representatives, one of the members a devotee to all governors pretended a sudden indisposition and requested leave to withdraw. He pleaded the necessities of nature, was released from his uneasy confinement and ran immediately to Governor Gate with information of the bold and high-handed proceedings of the lower house. The governor, not less alarmed than the sycophant at these unexpected maneuvers, instantly directed the secretary to dissolve the assembly by proclamation. Finding the doors of the house closed and no prospect of admittance for him, the secretary desired the doorkeeper to acquaint the house he had a message from the governor and requested leave to deliver it. The speaker replied that it was the order of the house that no one should be permitted to enter on any pretense whatever before the business they were upon was fully completed. Agitated and embarrassed, the secretary then read on the stairs a proclamation for the immediate dissolution of the General Assembly. The main point gained the delegates for a Congress chosen, supplies for their support voted and letters to the other colonies requesting them to accord in these measures, signed by the Speaker. The members cheerfully dispersed and returned to their constituents, satisfied that, notwithstanding the precipitant dissolution of the assembly, they had done all that the circumstances of the times would admit to remedy the present and guard against future evils.
Speaker 1:This early step to promote the general interests of the colonies and lay the foundation of union and concord in all their subsequent transactions will ever reflect luster on the characters of those who conducted it with such firmness and decision. It was indeed a very critical error. Nor were those gentlemen insensible of the truth of the King of England their conduct must be styled rebellion and that death must be the inevitable consequence of defeat. Yet life was then considered a trivial stake in competition with liberty. That whole paragraph, folks. What are we willing to risk for Liberty? And because God tells us that wherever the Spirit of God is there's liberty, what are we willing to risk for Jesus Christ? Is life considered a trivial stake in competition with liberty? And Jesus Christ for us In competition with liberty and Jesus Christ for us? Are we willing to risk rebellion, death as the inevitable consequence of defeat, or imprisonment for life? Are we willing to teach our children the perfect example folks. Are we willing to go against what is so blatantly obviously evil from the Supreme Court in 1947, separation of God and state style, the separation of church and state and to teach our children the truth, the Bible, to center education around that?
Speaker 1:This quote here whoever has a standing army at command has or may have the state, that's true, but even more so is whoever has command of education. The left has known this for so long. And whether you're talking about public education, the traditional education, or where you're talking about the education that kids get from culture today Movies, books, tv, music, tiktok, youtube and China knows this. You can see the communists, the leftists know it. Even the Muslims are pretty good at propaganda, whoever controls. Look at our colleges, look at our once great colleges that are now so sad and disreputable colleges that are now so sad and disreputable. Look at the signees that control TikTok and the types of videos they send to American children that are immoral and fluff and destructive to mind and body and spirit, versus the videos that they send to their own children, which are engineering and military and patriotism and work ethic. You think that that's just a random circumstance? It's not folks.
Speaker 1:Yet life was then considered a trivial stake in competition with liberty. Those who conducted subsequent transactions with such firmness and decision. What are we willing to risk? And decision, what are we willing to risk? What do we consider important versus trivial? Is liberty important, and therefore the principles of Christ, or is life important? God bless y'all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages. God bless America. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world listening, we'll talk to y'all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages. God bless America. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world listening. We'll talk to y'all again real soon. Folks looking forward to it.