The American Soul
The American Soul
Saints & Soldiers: Medal of Honor Stories
Jesse Cope explores the inseparable connection between Christian faith and American patriotism, challenging listeners to evaluate whether their daily actions provide enough evidence of their devotion to both Christ and country. Through scripture readings, historical perspectives, and contemporary applications, we discover how authentic faith must be lived out consistently in both personal conduct and civic engagement.
• Making time for God daily through prayer, scripture reading, and continuous spiritual awareness
• Examining whether our actions would provide "enough evidence to convict us" of being Christians
• Learning from Kobe Bryant's perspective on persistence regardless of success or failure
• Understanding salvation comes only through Christ, not through laws or religious affiliations
• Honoring Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Ted Belcher who sacrificed his life in Vietnam
• Reflecting on Abigail Adams' assertion that patriotism cannot exist without religious foundation
• Celebrating new guidelines protecting religious expression for federal employees
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.
The American Soul Podcast
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Hi 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, giving me a little bit of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. We'll try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast and tell others about it, thank you so much, 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, need them and want them.
Speaker 1: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, all your many blessings that you bestow upon us, both as individuals and as a nation. Thank you for time to spend with you, father. Thank you for time to record this podcast. Thank you for the people that listen to it With you, father. Thank you for time to record this podcast. Thank you for the people that listen to it. Be with them, be with their families. Guide us all, father, closer to you and your Son. Surround us with your angels, protect us from evil of any kind and bring us home to you and your Son, jesus Christ and your timing. Watch over our leaders. Help us to elect men who rule in fear of you. Help us to take that responsibility seriously and to execute it well. Help us to practice virtue, to practice the principles of your son Jesus Christ, and to encourage that in others. To love you with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength. To love our neighbors as ourselves. To care for the widow and the orphan, the poor and the needy. Forgive us when we fail to follow. Forgive us our greed and our pride, our lust, our cowardice and our unbelief. Help us to overcome them all we do believe. Be with those who are going through heartache right now, father, whether it's the loss of a loved one or broken marriage or anything else in between. Comfort them, draw near to them, Father. Help us to comfort them as well. God, my word's here, father, please, in your son's name, we pray, amen. 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, to listen to him? Are you praying continuously? Do you have God on your mind and his will for you, for your life, continuously. Are you seeking to do that, king? To do that Do we claim?
Speaker 1:If we claim that God and Jesus Christ are our top priority, if somebody was observing our life from the outside, looking in, would there be enough evidence to convict us Right? If somebody accused us of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us Based on an old Marine Corps recruiting poster? I think I saw somewhere. I don't even remember anymore, but it was. You know, if somebody accused you of being a Marine, would there be enough evidence to convict you? And the same thing a loving spouse, a loving spouse. If somebody accused you of being a loving spouse at the end of each day, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
Speaker 1:I saw an interview with Kobe Bryant recently, a while back, and he talked about. A reporter asked him about failure and I'm going to paraphrase probably horribly his response. But basically he said I don't really like the word failure. He said you fail, you succeed, it doesn't really matter, you just keep trying to do the very best you can do each day. Because, he said, you know, if we play a game and we win one night, that's great, but we've still got to get up and do it all over again the next day. And if we play a game one night and we lose, that sucks, but we've still got to get up and do it all over again the next day, and that really I think ought to be our attitude, folks, as far as following God and Jesus Christ and loving our spouse, win or lose each day. You're always trying to win, you're always working to win, but either way you've got to get up. We've got to get up and do it all over again the next day with absolute dedication and all our best energy and efforts each day. Sometimes you're going to fail, sometimes you're going to succeed. If you really want to be great at either one, you've got to start to work toward where you succeed more often.
Speaker 1:Galatians, chapter 2, verse 17, through chapter 3, verse 9. But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not. Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law. I already tore down, for when I tried to keep the law it condemned me. So I died to the law, I stopped trying to meet all its requirements so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless, for if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.
Speaker 1:O foolish Galatians, who has cast an evil spell on you? Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ's death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. Let me ask you this one question Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not. You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be After starting your new lives in the Spirit? Why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? I ask you again does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not. It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.
Speaker 1:In the same way, abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. What's more, the scripture looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said All nations will be blessed through you. So all who put their faith in Christ share in the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. Psalm 60, verses 1-12 A psalm of David, useful for teaching regarding the time David fought Aram-Maneum and Aram-Maniim, I can't say that.
Speaker 1:And Aram-Zobah and Job returned and killed 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. You have rejected us, o God, and broken our defenses. You have been angry with us. Now restore us to your favor. You have shaken our land and split it open, steal the cracks, the land to tremble. You have been very hard on us, making us drink wine that sent us reeling. But you have raised a banner for those who fear you, a rallying point in the face of attack. Now rescue your beloved people. Answer and save us by your power.
Speaker 1:God has promised this by his holiness. I will divide up Shechem with joy. I will measure out the valley of Sukkoth. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh too. Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors, and Judah, my scepter, will produce my kings. But Moab, my washbasin, will become my servant. But Moab, my wash basin, will become my servant, and I will wipe my feet on Edom and shout in triumph over Philistia. Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will bring me victory over Edom? Have you rejected us, o God? Will you no longer march with our armies? O, please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless. With God's help, we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes. Proverbs 23, 15 through 16. My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice. Everything in me will celebrate when you speak what is right.
Speaker 1:There's some great stuff, folks, in Galatians that we read today. There's no way we can justify ourselves by the law. There's no way we can justify ourselves by doing what's right. The only way we can get into heaven, the only way we have salvation and eternal life is through Christ. That's it. There's no other way. There's no denomination that can guarantee you salvation because you're a member of their denomination. There's no way to get in through Joseph or Mary or the disciples or the thief on the cross. The only way. There's no way to get in because you follow some particular priest or pope or cardinal or bishop or pastor. The only way is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and there's a lot in Psalm and some good reading, if you get a chance and go back and look it up. Medal of Honor for today.
Speaker 1:Ted Belcher, sergeant Vietnam War, charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, us Army. November 19, 1966, clay Trang, republic of Vietnam, Distinguishing himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity. At the risk of his life, sergeant Belcher's unit was engaged in a search-and-destroy mission with Company B, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry, the Battalion Reconnaissance Platoon and a Special Forces Company of Civilian Irregular Defense Group personnel and a Special Forces Company of Civilian Irregular Defense Group personnel. As a squad leader of the 2nd Platoon of Company C, sergeant Belcher was leading his men when they encountered a bunker complex. The reconnaissance platoon, located a few hundred meters northwest of Charlie Company, received a heavy volume of fire from well-camouflaged snipers as the 2nd Platoon moved forward to assist the unit under attack.
Speaker 1:Sergeant Belcher and his squad advanced only a short distance through the dense jungle terrain, met heavy and accurate automatic weapons and sniper fire. Sergeant Belcher and his squad were momentarily stopped by the deadly volume of enemy fire. He quickly gave the order to return fire and resume the advance toward the enemy. As he quickly gave the order to return fire and resume the advance toward the enemy, as he moved up with his men, a hand grenade landed in the midst of the sergeant's squad. Instantly realizing the immediate danger to his men, sergeant Belcher, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, lunged forward covering the grenade with his body, absorbing the grenade blast. At the cost of his life, he saved his comrades from becoming casualties.
Speaker 1:Sergeant Belcher's profound concern for his fellow soldiers at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest tradition of the US Army and reflect credit upon himself and the armed forces of his country and the armed forces of his country Accredited to Huntington Cable County, west Virginia. Awarded posthumously, presented December 6, 1968, at the Pentagon by Secretary of the Army Stanley R Resort to his family, born July 21, 1924, ackleville-logan County, west Virginia, united States, died November 19, 1966, republic of Vietnam. Buried Greenwood Cemetery, bmh Soldiers Field, zanesville, ohio, united States. I have to wonder if he was born in 1924, if he was also in World War II in the 40s before he was in Vietnam in the 60s. Ted Belcher Just another name, folks, to add to our list.
Speaker 1:Abigail Adams, november 5th 1775, writing to her friend Mercy Warren a patriot without religion, in my estimation, is as great a paradox as an honest man without the fear of God. Is it possible that he whom no moral obligations bind can have any real good will towards men? Can he be a patriot who, by an openly vicious conduct, is undermining the very bonds of society? The scriptures tell us righteousness exalted a nation. We've read this in a bunch of different ways over the years, folks, but if you really love a nation, then you love their founding principles. The founding principles of the United States are the general principles of Jesus Christ. It's impossible to be a true patriot, to truly love America, and you see that in this commentary by Abigail Adams writing to Mercy Warren, writing to Mercy Warren, you also. You see this comment here about openly vicious conduct is undermining the very bonds of society. Those people that attack Christianity are attacking the very bonds that hold our society, our nation, together, and that's not the only of our great leaders and founding fathers and mothers that have made that comment as well.
Speaker 1:I wanted to read you one more little thing today and then we'll move on. It's an article out of the Epoch Times. The title is New Guidelines Allow Federal Workers to Express Religious Belief at Workplace. It's by Aldegra Fredley, if I said that right, and I just wanted to read three sentences out of it. The Office of Personnel Management, opm, issued a memo on July 28th aimed at protecting religious expression among federal workers, allowing them to display religious items and discuss religion in the workplace. Another sentence the memo outlines forms of permissible religious expression by federal workers in the workplace, such as displaying Bibles, crosses, crucifixes and mezuzahs on desks and within designated workspaces. It states that federal employees should be able to engage in conversations about religious topics, including encouraging co-workers to participate in religious expression of faith and attempting to persuade others of the correctness of their own religious views, so long as such efforts are not harassing in nature.
Speaker 1:Are we trying to spread? That's good news that we're pushing back against this nonsense of separation of church and state books. But two things, two comments and I'll leave you all alone for the day One. Everson v Board of Education from 1947 has to be overturned. Our founders never intended separation of God, the Father, jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. They never intended us to separate Christianity out of our government. And if you go back and you really look at history, you see that clearly. The second thing is what are we doing, you and I, each day to share the gospel of Jesus Christ? We ought to ask ourselves that each day. 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. Listen, we'll talk to y'all again a little soon, folks Looking forward to it.