The American Soul

Storm Clouds, Sacred Duties, And The Courage To Turn Back

• Jesse • Season 5 • Episode 157

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What if your life had a visible “heavenly balance” and every choice raised or lowered it? We start with a blunt audit of the last 24 hours—time spent on social media, sports, and idle talk—against time invested in God, marriage, children, and true neighbor love. From there, we move through Scripture with a clear aim: recover first love and let actions carry our words. Colossians offers a family order built on mutual honor and restraint. Revelation 2 commends endurance and discernment yet warns how devotion can cool even in a faithful community. Proverbs insists that talk without action is empty and that pausing to think before speaking can change outcomes at home and in public life.

We also look to history for perspective. A terse Medal of Honor citation for Captain George Newman Bliss hints at costly courage: stepping forward without orders, paying in wounds, and enduring captivity. Then Woodrow Wilson’s 1917 Thanksgiving proclamation speaks from wartime, calling for gratitude, unity, and practical economy under God. The language of darkness returns here, not to frighten but to focus us. Storm clouds gather in every age, and the response is the same: repent, give thanks, serve, and stand together under the one true God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Across it all runs a simple test for modern life: where do your minutes go? If love is real, it will show up on your calendar and in your tone. Trade a slice of scrolling for Scripture and a real conversation. Choose first works again—prayer, truth, service—and watch affection deepen rather than fade. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs courage today, and leave a review so others can find it. Your next hour can build what lasts.

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SPEAKER_00:

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, in whatever part of the day you're in. Sure to appreciate y'all joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. Hopefully, y'all are able to listen to it with somebody else. For those of y'all that 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, thank you very much. Very, very grateful for your prayers. Need them and want them. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your Son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins. Thank you for seeking after us, Father. Even when we go astray, when we're lost over and over again.

SPEAKER_00:

Help us to do the same for others. Help us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Help us to love you with all that we are, with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength.

SPEAKER_01:

To follow the commands of your son Jesus Christ. Be with those who are anxious, who are depressed, who are scared, who are alone. Comfort them. Surround them with your angels. Protect them from evil of any kind. Be with those listening to the podcast, Father, wherever they are across the nation and around the world, bless them and their families. Guide us, Lord. Guide our thoughts and our words, our actions. Be with our farmers, ranchers, fishermen. Those who go out into our mines and our forests. Give them abundance, prosperity, success. Be with our educators across the land. Whether they're in public school or private or homeschool.

SPEAKER_00:

Give them wisdom and courage. Help them to lead our children close to you, Father.

SPEAKER_01:

To teach our children as a nation your statutes. Help us to turn back to you as a nation, Father, please. And guide my words here, please. In your son's name we pray. Amen. How'd you spend the last 24 hours, folks? What did you do?

SPEAKER_00:

How much time did you give to social media? How much time did you give to TV, to sports, entertainment? Gossip, slander?

SPEAKER_01:

How much time did you give to God? How much time did you give to your spouse? How much time did you give to your kids? To your parents? Are you giving time to things?

SPEAKER_00:

And that includes folks, that includes people that are never going to know who you are. Just because you're cheering for some particular athlete at a college sport level or professional level, right? That doesn't mean you're investing your time in a person unless you know them personally. You're just investing your time in a sport, in a TV channel, actually. Maybe a little bit the sport. But are we investing our time in things or people? Are we storing up for ourselves treasures in heaven by following Christ's commands? Or are we storing up treasures here on earth or trying to? Because one is secure and one is very insecure or unsecure. The stuff here on earth, folks, it can disappear in a heartbeat, like the proverb says, riches can make wings and fly away.

SPEAKER_01:

But the stuff we store up in heaven, right? That is forever.

SPEAKER_00:

I I said this, it's been a long time, but I think it would change a lot of the way that we act if we had an app on our phone that showed us what our what our heavenly balance was, what our eternal balance was. I'm not sure that I would like to see it. I'm afraid that there would be a deficit instead of a surplus. But I can guarantee you I would be checking that app more than any other app on my phone each day.

SPEAKER_01:

Marriage verse for today?

SPEAKER_00:

Colossians 3, verses 18 through 21. Wives, be subject to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. And then I throw in these other two folks each time just because it's so important to the functioning of the family. Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your children so that they will not lose heart.

SPEAKER_01:

Bible verses for today.

SPEAKER_00:

Revelation chapter two, verses one through seventeen. Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstems. I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don't tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first. Look how far you have fallen. Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don't repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. But this is in your favor. You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolacians, just as I do. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious, I will give fruit from the tree of life and the paradise of God. Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the first and the last, who was dead but is now alive. I know about your suffering and your poverty, but you are rich. I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. Don't be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days, but if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death. Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergama. This is the message from the one with the sharp two edged sword. I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan's city. But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. In a similar way, you have some Nicolacians among you who follow the same teaching. Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven, and I will give to each one a white stone, and on that stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it. Psalm one twenty nine verses one through eight. From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me. Let all Israel repeat this. From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never defeated me. My back is covered with cuts, as if a farmer had ploughed long furrows. But the Lord is good, he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly. May all who hate Jerusalem be turned back in shameful defeat. May they be as useless as grass on a rooftop, turning yellow when only half grown. Ignored by the harvester, despised by the binder, and may those who pass by refuse to give them this blessing. The Lord bless you. We bless you in the Lord's name. Proverbs twenty nine verses nineteen and twenty. Words alone will not discipline a servant. The words may be understood, but they are not heeded. There's more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking. Oh, Proverbs 19 and 20 right there. One and nineteen, words alone. And I know it's talking about discipline here, folks, but words alone just don't cut it. You can tell people stuff all day long, but if you don't back that up with actions, it doesn't matter. You can tell your spouse you love them until you're blue in the face, same thing with your children, same thing with your parents, but if your actions don't back it up each day, it's a lie. And then you look at verse 20 there, there's more hope for a fool than someone who speaks without thinking. There was a young lady that I played tennis with in college, and she used to say, think, speak. And she would say, you know, if we would just stop before we said something and just think, even if just for a few seconds, just five or ten seconds, and think about what we were about to say, it would make a whole lot of difference. You go back and you look at Revelation chapter two, there's all sorts of good stuff in here. But if you look at four, you don't love me or each other as you did at first. You hear people in a marriage talk about the honeymoon period so often, right? Why is it called the honeymoon period? Because you're in love, right? And everything just looks rosy and great. The older I've gotten, the more I have come to question that whole mentality. Why is it just this little period at the beginning of our marriages that's supposed to be so wonderful? It's not, folks. It's the same with our relationship with Christ. That relationship ought to get better and better and better over time, not the other way around. The more time, the more energy, the more effort we've invested into our relationship with God and Jesus Christ, our marriage, our relationship with our kids, our relationships with our parents, right? The better they ought to get. And if there's not, there's something wrong there. There's something dysfunctional. And maybe you can't fix it. Maybe it's not on you. Maybe it's on the other half of the equation, right? But what can we do? We can cling to Christ, we can follow his example above all else, and we can let God worry about everything else.

SPEAKER_01:

Right? That's our job.

SPEAKER_00:

It's really hard, folks. I'm making it sound easier than it is. Um but it's still, as John Quincy Adams says, duty is ours, results are God's. There's a lot of other really good stuff here, folks, but we're gonna we're gonna move on for today. The Medal of Honor for today, George Newman Bliss, Captain, U.S. Civil War, Charlie Company, 1st Rhode Island Cavalry, U.S. Army, September 28, 1864, Waynesboro, Virginia. While in command of the Provost Guard in the village, he saw the Union lines returning before the attack of a greatly superior force of the enemy, mustered his guard, and without orders joined in the defense and charged the enemy without support. He received three saber wounds.

SPEAKER_01:

His horse was shot, and he was taken prisoner.

SPEAKER_00:

Accredited to Pawtucket, Providence County, Rhode Island, not awarded posthumously. Presented august third, eighteen ninety-seven, born july twenty second, eighteen thirty-seven, Tiverton, Newport County, Rhode Island, died August twenty ninth, nineteen twenty-eight. Buried Lakeside Cemetery, Rumford, Rhode Island.

SPEAKER_01:

George Newman Bliss.

SPEAKER_00:

Man, you know, we get the details in the modern citations, and we get so little in these older citations, but don't you know there was a lot more to that citation about charging a greatly superior force and the saber wounds and his force being shot. Thanksgiving Day Proclamation 1917, Woodrow Wilson, by the President of the United States of America, a proclamation. It has long been the honored custom of our people to turn in the fruitful autumn of the year in praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for his many blessings and mercies to us as a nation. That custom we can follow now even in the midst of the tragedy of a world shaken by war and immeasurable disaster, in the midst of sorrow and great peril, because even amidst the darkness that has gathered about us, we can see the great blessings God has bestowed upon us. Blessings that are better than mere peace of mind and prosperity of enterprise. We have been given the opportunity to serve mankind as we once served ourselves in the great day of our declaration of independence, by taking up arms against a tyranny that threatened to master and debase men everywhere, and joining with other free peoples, and demanding for all the nations of the world what we then demanded and obtained for ourselves. In this day of the revelation of our duty, not only to defend our own rights as a nation, but to defend also the rights of free men throughout the world, there has been vouchsafed us in full and inspiring measure the resolution and spirit of united action. We have been brought to one mind and purpose. A new vigor of common counsel and common action has been revealed in us. We should especially thank God that in such circumstances, in the midst of the greatest enterprise the spirits of men have ever entered upon, we have, if we but observe a reasonable and practicable economy, abundance with which to supply the needs of those associated with us as well as our own. A new light shines about us. The great duties of a new day awaken a new and greater national spirit in us. We shall never again be divided or wonder what stuff we are made of. And while we render thanks for these things, let us pray, Almighty God, that in all humbleness of spirit we may look always to him for guidance, that we may be kept constant in the spirit and purpose of service, that by his grace our minds may be directed and our hands strengthened, and that in his good time liberty and security and peace and camaradership of a common justice may be vouchsafed all the nations of the earth. Wherefore I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Thursday, the twenty ninth day of November next, as a day of thanksgiving and prayer, and invite the people throughout the land to cease upon that day from their ordinary occupations, and in their several homes and places of worship, to render thanks to God, the great ruler of nations. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed, done in the District of Columbia this seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord 1917, and of the independence of the United States of America 142.

SPEAKER_01:

Woodrow Wilson.

SPEAKER_00:

One of the things I don't think I've talked about, but a lot of these proclamations call for it is stopping from servile labor, like stopping from our normal duties and actually focusing on God. And the other thing about this particular proclamation that struck me when we were reading it is the use of the word darkness again. I think one of the proclamations we read recently, maybe a couple have used that word. And I think you see those storm clouds gathering again today, folks. Just like before so many other conflicts, very similar to the 1760s and 1850s. But even you can make the argument the first decade of the 1900s or the 1930s for sure again. You see these storm clouds gathering. It's not if we look around and we'll pay attention, we ought to be able to recognize.

SPEAKER_01:

God.

SPEAKER_00:

God the Father of Jesus Christ, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Not Allah, not the false gods of Islam or Buddhism, Hinduism or anything else. The one true God. As a nation, folks, not just as private citizens, but as a nation. If you're looking for a family-friendly middle grade read, if you would check out Countryside, I would be grateful. There's a couple books in the series, and if you enjoy them, if you'd leave some reviews online, I would be very grateful for that. And if you're getting something out of the podcast and you feel like you have three or four or five dollars a month to donate, there is a website on the Buzz Sprout webpage for the podcast where you can set that donation up. And I would be very grateful for that as well. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, I 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 to temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever.

unknown:

Amen.

SPEAKER_00:

God bless y'all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages if you're married. God bless America. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world. Listen, folks, we'll talk to you all again real soon. Looking forward to it.