The American Soul

Soul Work: Rediscovering America's Spiritual Foundation

• Jesse • Season 5 • Episode 106

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We explore what it means to truly live out our faith in everyday actions and relationships, examining whether our claimed priorities match our daily behaviors.

• If someone accused you of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
• Each person carries their own unique cross - we shouldn't assume others have it easy just because they don't share our struggles
• What matters in marriage is loving your spouse in ways meaningful to them, not just in ways that make sense to you
• Biblical guidance from 1 Corinthians 7:3-6 on meeting each other's needs in marriage
• Parents, especially mothers, have irreplaceable influence on children's faith development
• Medal of Honor tribute to Randolph Carter Berkeley for his service in Veracruz, 1914
• Historical wisdom from John Adams and William Bradford on independence and following leaders only as they follow Christ
• We should follow any person, institution, or political party only as far as they follow Christ

Check out my family-friendly middle grade book series "Countryside" - if you enjoy it, please consider leaving a review online.


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Speaker 1:

Hey folks, this is Jesse Coach, 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. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others, tell others about it. Thank you For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast.

Speaker 1:

Thank you very much, very grateful for your prayers, father. Thank you for today. Thank you for you, father, and your Son, jesus Christ, and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love, mercy, grace and forgiveness of sins through the merit of your Son, Jesus Christ. Forgive us our sins, father. Forgive us our greed and our selfishness, our pride, our arrogance, our judgment of others, our lust, covetousness, our cowardice and our unbelief. Help us to overcome them all. We do believe. Be with those who are hurting, father, those who are alone, those who are brokenhearted. Draw close to them. Help us to make sure that our priorities Are in line with yours, father. Father, those who are alone, those who are brokenhearted, draw close to them. Help us to make sure that our priorities are in line with yours, father, that our goal each day is to be on your side, because we know that your side is always the right side.

Speaker 1:

Be with those listening to the podcast, wherever they are. Comfort them. Be with their families, bless their marriages, guide those who have children in raising them to know you and your son, jesus Christ. Be with our leaders, both in the pulpit and in the state. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Help them to lead and rule in fear of you. Be with our military and our law enforcement firefighters, ems, those who go out in the night and the cold and the rain and snow. Keep them safe, protect them as they protect us. Bring them home safe to their families. Be with our educators across the nation home school, public school, private school. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith and help them to educate our children in your precepts, your commands, to teach them truth and give us virtue. Father, back in us as a people. God, my words are placed in your son's name. We pray Amen.

Speaker 1:

Have you made time for God and Jesus Christ today? If you claim that they're your top priority, do you act like it At the end of the day, at the end of each day? Would there be enough evidence if someone looked at your life from the outside in to convict you of being a christian goes back to the old marine corps recruiting poster that I've talked about before. You know, if there was somebody accused you of being a marine, would there be enough evidence to convict you? And if you're married, if somebody accused you of being a godly, loving spouse who followed scripture, would there be enough evidence at the end of each day to convict you? There's two thoughts.

Speaker 1:

One I've had for a while, kind of bouncing around, one I just saw recently on social media. The first is whatever our cross is each day, folks, we have a responsibility to pick it up and carry it and follow Jesus Christ. And that's hard. And our cross may not be often is not what somebody else's cross is, and theirs is not ours, but it would be a really good idea, a practice in humility, to make sure that we don't look at somebody else's life and assume that they have it easy just because they don't have our problems. And the second thing is there was a post from a lady that I follow online that talks a lot about marriage and relationships, and she made the comment in a roundabout way that what really pleases men and I think this is really true for both men and women is actions and attitude and, in particular, what actions and attitude are important to our spouse and not to us, right? So, for example, you can go out, you can work out as hard as you want, as long as you want, and have the best body in the entire world, right? But if that's not important to your spouse, it's not going to make any difference If you don't show them affection and attention, right? Like like another marriage account was talking about phones and tvs, if you're, if you're not, touching your spouse more often and more excitedly than you touch your tv remote or your phone, you're gonna you're going to have problems. And if we're not loving our spouse in the way that's loving to them, we're going to have problems, right?

Speaker 1:

The marriage scripture for today is 1 Corinthians 7, verses 3 through 6. The husband should meet his wife's sexual needs and the wife should do the same for her husband. The wife doesn't have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Don't refuse to meet each other's needs. Unless you both agree for a short period of time to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come back together again so that Satan might not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I'm saying this to give you permission, it's not a command. And that verse six I always throw in there because the feminism, leftism that's kind of crept into the church, reads that wrong. When you look back at commentaries before we started to have so much problem with leftism, feminism, you'll see what he's talking about. There is he's saying look, you don't have to agree for short periods of time to abstain. You can if you both agree to it, but you don't have to.

Speaker 1:

The Bible verses, the Bible verses For today. We're going to start with 2 Timothy 1, or chapter 1, verses 1-18. This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I've been sent out to tell others about the life he has promised through faith in Jesus Christ. I am writing to Timothy, my dear son. May God, the Father, and Christ Jesus, our Lord, give you grace, mercy and peace.

Speaker 1:

Timothy, I thank God for you. The God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day, I constantly remember you in my prayers. I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted, and I will be filled with joy when we are together again. I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother, lois, and your mother, eunice, and I know that same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you, for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.

Speaker 1:

So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord, and don't be ashamed of me either, even though I'm in prison for Him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the good news, for God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from the beginning of time to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the good news. And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle and a teacher of this good news. That is why I am suffering here in prison, but I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return. Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me, a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you. As you know, everyone from the province of Asia has deserted me, even phagolus and hermogenes. May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and his family, because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in chains. When he came to Rome he searched everywhere until he found me. May the Lord show him special kindness on the day of Christ's return and you know very well how helpful he was in Ephesus, psalm 90, verse 1, through 91, verse 16.

Speaker 1:

Lord, through all the generations you have been our home, before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world. From beginning to end you were God. You turn people back to dust, saying Return to dust, you mortals. For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours. You sweep people away like dreams that disappear. They are like grass that springs up in the morning. In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered. We wither beneath your anger. We are overwhelmed by your fury. You spread out our sins before you, our secret sins, and you see them all. We live our lives beneath your wrath, ending our years with a groan. You spread out our sins before you, our secret sins, and you see them all. We live our lives beneath your wrath, ending our years with a groan. Seventy years are given to us, some even live to eighty, but even the best years are filled with pain and trouble. Soon they disappear and we fly away.

Speaker 1:

Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve. Teach us to realize the brevity of life so that we may grow in wisdom. O Lord, come back to us. How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants. Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so that we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery. Replace the evil years with good. Let us, your servants, see you work again, let our children see your glory, and may the Lord, our God, show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful.

Speaker 1:

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord he alone is my refuge, my place of safety. He is my God and I trust Him, for he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with His feathers, he will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day, nor the dread disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Just open your eyes and see how the wicked are punished. If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you, no plague will come near your home, for he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands, so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras. You will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet.

Speaker 1:

The Lord says I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer. I will be with them in trouble. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer. I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.

Speaker 1:

Proverbs 26, verses 1 and 2. Honor is no more associated with fools than snow with summer or rain with harvest, like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow. Lord, help us to love you, help us to trust in your name. Help us to call on you alone and answer us in our trouble. Rescue us. The verse here 2 Timothy 1, verse 5,. I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that filled your grandmother, lois, and your mother, eunice, and I know the same faith continues strong in you. Folks, there's a lot of people out there that need to hear this today Fathers and mothers in general how much effect we have on our kids, how much we can shape their faith and their lives, and also a lot of mothers that have bought into this feminist lie over the last several decades. I wish I had the quote from Mother Teresa in front of me. It's something along the lines of if you really want to make the world a better place, go home and love your family, love your husband, first Raise your children, and there's no way to replace you as a wife and a mother, and the influence that you have there and the women that do that are a phenomenal blessing to their husbands, their children and our nation.

Speaker 1:

Medal of Honor for today is Randolph Carter Berkeley, major, highest rank Major General. Mexican Campaign, veracruz, 1st Battalion, 2nd Advanced Base Regiment, us Marine Corps, april 21, 1914, veracruz, mexico, for distinguished conduct and battle engagements of Veracruz 21-22, april 1914,. Major Berkeley was eminent and conspicuous in command of his battalion, was in the fighting of both days and exhibited courage and skill in leading his men through action. His cool judgment and courage and his skill in handling his men and encountering and overcoming the machine gun and rifle fire down Cinco de Mayo and parallel streets account for the small percentage of the losses of Marines under his command Accredited to Washington DC not awarded posthumously. Born January 9, 1875, stoughton County, virginia, died January 31, 1960, beaufort, south Carolina. Buried. Arlington National Cemetery 3, tech, 1767, tech, sh. Arlington National Cemetery 3, tech. 1767, tech, sh. Arlington, virginia. Randolph Carter Berkley Just another name, folks, we need to remember more than our pop stars or athletes and their statistics or song lyrics.

Speaker 1:

Two quotes today. First is from John Adams speaking at the Continental Congress to the delegates of the 13 colonies, july 1st 1776. Before God, I believe the hour has come. My judgment approves this measure and my whole heart is in it, all that I have and all that I am and all that I hope in this life. I am now ready here to stake upon it and I leave off as I began that live or die, survive or perish. I am for the declaration, it is my living sentiment and, by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now and independence forever. Live or die, we belong to Jesus Christ. Folks, those of us who choose to put our faith in him. Thank God for that. Help us to overcome our unbelief, father, and the sentiment there has to be the same today for more and more of us folks, as we look at the people inside the United States that support the whole bucket of isms leftism, socialism, communism, nazism, fascism and Islam. It's hard not to see the hour drawing near. It's hard not to see the hour drawing near. We're going to have to claim liberty, make a stand for liberty in our nation, and it's going to go against those people.

Speaker 1:

The second quote, folks, is one that I probably need to read more often, and it's by William Bradford, writing an account of the Reverend John Robinson. In his farewell address to the pilgrims as they left, he charged us before God and his blessed angels to follow him no further than he followed Christ, and if God should reveal anything to us by any other instrument of his, to be ready to receive it. As ever we were to receive any truth by his ministry, for he was very confident the Lord had more truth and light yet to break forth out of his holy work, for saith he, it is not possible that the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick anti-Christian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break forth at once. There's two things about this quote, folks, that are very powerful. One is the reminder that at this point Christians in Europe and Britain had just been fighting for freedom, not only from persecution by the state, but persecution by the church the Roman Catholic Church, anglican Church for wanting to follow Jesus Christ and Scripture, as opposed to church doctrine. Opposed to church doctrine. That's just the facts, folks. Whether you like that or not, whether you're Roman Catholic or Anglican or not, that is what happened and that is what these pilgrims were fleeing from was not only persecution by the state, but persecution by the church, which is just mind-boggling that anybody could claim to follow Christ and support the atrocities that were committed.

Speaker 1:

The second part of this quote that's so important is anybody that you're listening to. Any person, whether it's just a celebrity or an athlete or an entertainer or a priest or a pastor or a cardinal or a bishop or a superintendent or a pope, or a church denomination, whether it's Roman Catholic or Protestant or Orthodox, of any type. We should only follow them as long as they're following Christ. As long as they're following Christ and that's true for me too. Here, folks, anything I say, any comment that you see that you like or you appreciate or you think is right. It's why it's so important to read Scripture every day. We should only follow anyone, any political party Republican, democrat, independent, non-denominational Republican, democrat, independent, non-denominational any institution, any party, any person. We should only follow them as long as they follow Christ and no further, not one step past where they're following Christ.

Speaker 1:

If you're looking for a family-friendly middle grade series, I would humbly recommend Countryside. Give it a chance. I would appreciate it. Read a couple books there's two in the series and, if you like it, if you would leave a review online somewhere. I would greatly appreciate that too. God bless you 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 real soon. Folks looking forward to it.