The American Soul
Are you tired of hearing the myth about separation of church and state? Are you tired of being told that America is not and never was a Christian nation? Do you want to have the information to stand up for the truth and fight back against this fundamental lie that’s invading our culture and education? Each week, host Jesse Cope will dive into quotes and excerpts from our great leaders and documents throughout our history showing how in President Woodrow Wilson’s words “America was born a Christian nation.” We have the truth on our side and together we can absolutely turn our nation around. Follow Jesse @jtcope4 on Twitter and @jtcopeiv on Instagram for daily doses of the truth to help fight back. Subscribe to The American Soul and share the show with someone who needs to hear it. We're on a mission to spread the truth and get our nation back on the right track — and you can help us make this possible.
The American Soul
Cleaving To What Matters Most
What if the most valuable thing you’ll touch today is the hand of your spouse—and you miss it for a highlight reel? We step back from the noise to ask where our hours go, and we make a case for restoring a sane order: God, marriage, then everything else in its rightful place. From the warmth and ache of Song of Solomon to the stark warnings of Revelation 6, we trace a thread that runs from the heart to the nation, showing how private devotion and public courage rise or fall together.
We get practical about attention—how sports and screens can quietly demote the people we love—and name small reversals that change a home’s climate: shared prayer, unhurried talk, and admiration spoken out loud. We examine recent political calls for service members to disobey under the banner of “unlawful orders,” clarifying the real duty to conscience while exposing attempts to manufacture chaos. The story widens with a tribute to Medal of Honor sailor Robert Bloom’s steady bravery under fire, and a full reading of John Adams’ 1798 proclamation urging a national day of fasting, humility, and prayer. The language is timely: repentance, unity, protection of civil and religious liberty, and the courage to hold together when the world pulls apart.
If you’re longing for a reset—deeper marriage, clearer faith, steadier citizenship—this conversation offers both grounding and next steps. Listen for the practices you can adopt tonight, the history that stiffens resolve, and the Scripture that reframes fear. If it helps you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a quick review so others can find it. What one habit will you replace this week?
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 and whatever part of the day you're in. Sure do appreciate you 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 getting to listen to it with somebody else. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast and 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 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. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace, and your forgiveness of sins. You ignore every Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for the blessings that you bestow upon us, Father, that we don't acknowledge for whatever reason, whether we don't see them as blessings or just aren't grateful or not paying attention. Forgive us our sins, Father. Forgive us our greed, our selfishness, our pride, our arrogance, judgment of others, our rash words and actions, cowardice and our unbelief help us to overcome the we do believe.
SPEAKER_01:Forgive us when we don't forgive others when we don't love others and you love and forgive us, Father.
SPEAKER_00:Guide our step. Be with those listening to the podcast today, wherever they are, Father. Here across the nation in America and around the world.
SPEAKER_01:Be with our families. Bless them. Guide them. Surround them with your angels. Bless the marriages of those who are married. Guide those who have children and raising them to know you and your son Jesus Christ. Be with our leaders. Both in the state and in a pulpit, Father, please. Help them to rule and fear of me to lead. In fear of you, man. In fear of man. Be with our military are law enforcement for firefighters. EMF. All those who go out into the cold and the rain. The snow, the sleet, the ice, the darkness. Keep them safe, please, father. Bring them home safe to their families. Keep their families safe. Protect those, especially, who are being targeted these days by martels and any other criminal organizations, Father. God, my word, sir, population here since they back. How'd you spend the last 24 hours, folks? What did you do? What did you give your time to?
SPEAKER_00:I had a couple thoughts I wanted to share with y'all. We were sitting with some friends recently and they were talking about how much they enjoyed doing stuff with each other. They the wife was actually talking about the fact that a lot of her, I think her friends kind of I don't know if they were judging her or just kind of confused, but she said, you know, my husband's my best friend, with very few exceptions. Pretty much everything I want to do, I want to do with him. And I've said this on a podcast often, but we don't make enough about cleaving to our spouse, folks, the word God used, you know, becoming one flesh. That bond is one out of seven billion. Even if you live in one of the countries where polygamy is still legal, and you you have two wives or even three, that's still two or three out of seven billion, folks. And so if we have this one out of seven billion, if we have this one spouse, it's how how well would we treat other things, anything, if it was that rare that it was one out of seven billion. And yet so often we treat our spouse indifferently, as if they're an accessory, optional. We give time to sports. You know, we'll sit. I'm guilty of this. I was talking about it the other day. You can sit and watch football on a Saturday or Sunday for hours. Spend more time in one day watching football than you spend in weeks loving your spouse or paying attention to God, reading your Bible praying. I just, that's not the way it should be, folks. That's not the way it should be. One other little note, I got this tidbit. Apparently over the last couple weeks, there has been some encouragement from some of our lawmakers to the military to disobey orders. And they're claiming, you know, under the guise of you don't have a responsibility to obey unlawful orders, which is absolutely true. You have a responsibility not to obey unlawful orders, but that's just a dog and pony show, folks. What they're really trying to get at is they're trying to do whatever they can to disrupt the other side of the political spectrum, to disrupt our nation, really, to bring chaos into our nation. It doesn't have anything to do with unlawful orders, it has to do with weakening our nation. Um, and that might just be one of those flashpoints, like the Boston Massacre. Just a little something to pay attention to if you're not. And again, if you're looking for a good newspaper to read, folks, I haven't talked about this for a while, but I would highly recommend the Epic Times. They do a pretty good job of keeping you informed on a week-to-week basis about a lot of stuff without you being sucked into that endless news cycle. Marriage verses for today, Song of Solomon V The Torment of Separation. I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey, I have drunk my wine and my milk. Eat, friends, drink, and imbibe deeply, O lovers. I was asleep, but my heart was awake. A voice, my beloved, was knocking, open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is drenched with dew, my locks with the damp of night. I have taken off my dress, how can I put it on again? I have washed my feet, how can I dirty them again? My beloved extended his hand through the opening, and my feelings were aroused for him. I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid myrrh. On the handles of the bolt, I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and had gone. My heart went out to him as he spoke. I searched for him, but I did not find him. I called him, but he did not answer me. The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me. They struck me and wounded me. The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, as to what you will tell him, for I am lovesick. What kind of beloved is your beloved, O most beautiful among women? What kind of beloved is your beloved? That thus you adjure us Admiration by the bride. My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand. His head is like gold, pure gold, his locks are like clusters of date, and black as a raven. His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk and reposed in their setting. His cheeks are like a bed of balsam, banks of sweet scented herbs, his lips are lilies dripping with myrrh, his hands are rods of gold set with beryl, his abdomen is carved ivory inlaid with sapphires, his legs are pillars of alabaster set on pedestals of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars, his mouth is full of sweetness, and he is wholly desirable.
SPEAKER_01:This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. Scripture for today. See where we're going back to Revelation two chapter six, I believe. Yeah, six, one through seventeen.
SPEAKER_00:As I watched, the lamb broke the first seal of the seven seals on the scroll. Then I heard one of the four living beings say with a voice like thunder, Come. I looked up and saw a white horse standing there. Its rider carried a bow and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and gained the victory. When the lamb broke the second sill, I heard the second living being saying, Come. Then another horse appeared, a red one. Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to take peace from the earth, and there was war and slaughter everywhere. When the lamb broke the third sill, I heard the third living being saying, Come. I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice from among the four living beings saying, A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost the day's phase, and don't waste the olive oil and wine. When the lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living being saying, Come. I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green. Its rider was named Death, and his companion was the grave. These two were given authority over one fourth of the earth to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals. When the lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony. They shouted to the Lord and said, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us? Then a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters, their fellow servants of Jesus, who were to be martyred, had joined them. I watched as the lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood. Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from a tree shaken by a strong wind. The sky was rolled up like a scroll, and all of the mountains and islands were moved from their places. Then everyone, the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person all hid themselves in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive. O praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, you who serve at night in the house of the Lord. Lift your hands toward the sanctuary and praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01:May the Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Jerusalem. I am weary, O God, I am weary and worn out, O God.
SPEAKER_00:I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense. I have not mastered human wisdom, nor do I know the Holy One. Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down? Who holds the wind in his fists? Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak? Who has created the whole wide world?
SPEAKER_01:What is his name and his son's name? Tell me if you know Medal of Honor for today.
SPEAKER_00:Robert Bloom Rank Seaman, highest rank chief boatswains mate, Spanish American War, USS Nashville, US Navy, may eleventh, eighteen ninety eight at Sanfuos, Cuba. On board the USS Nashville during the cutting of the cable, leading from Sanfuegos, Cuba, eleventh May eighteen ninety eight. Facing the heavy fire of the enemy, Bloom set an example of extraordinary bravery and coolness throughout this action. Accredited to New Jersey, not awarded posthumously. Excuse me. Presented August 16, 1899. Presented by Commander Raymond P. Rogers of the USS Nashville at the Charleston, Massachusetts Navy Yard. Born November 19, 1868, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Died September 16, 1937, Washington, D.C. Buried Arlington National Cemetery, MH6 Tac 9752 TAC SS, Arlington, Virginia. Location of Metal, Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
SPEAKER_01:Robert Bloom. Thanksgiving proclamation for today is from John Adams. I believe. A day of fasting and humiliation, not Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00:1798, by the President of the United States, the proclamation. As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God. And the national acknowledgement of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to him, but a duty whose natural influence is favorable to the promotion of that morality and piety without which social happiness cannot exist, nor the blessings of a free government be enjoyed. And as this duty at all times incumbent is so especially in seasons of difficulty or of danger, when existing or threatening calamities, the just judgments of God against prevalent iniquity are a loud call to repentance and reformation, and as the United States of America are at present placed in a hazardous and afflictive situation, by the unfriendly disposition, conduct, and demands of a foreign power, invinced by repeated refusals to receive our messengers of reconciliation and peace, by depredations on our commerce, and the infliction of injuries on very many of our fellow citizens while engaged in their lawful business on the seas. Under these considerations, it has appeared to me that the duty of imploring the mercy and benediction of heaven on our country demands at this time a special attention from its inhabitants. I have therefore thought fit to recommend, and I do hereby recommend, that Wednesday, the ninth day of May next, be observed throughout the United States as a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer. That the citizens of these states, abstaining on that day from their customary worldly occupations, offer their devout addresses to the Father of Mercies agreeably to those forms or methods which they have severally adopted as the most suitable and becoming, that all religious congregations do, with the deepest humility, acknowledge before God the manifold sins and transgressions with which we are justly chargeable as individuals and as a nation, beseeching him at the same time of his infinite grace, through the Redeemer of the world, freely to remit all our offenses, and to incline us by his Holy Spirit to that sincere repentance and reformation which may afford us reason to hope for his inestimable favor and heavenly benediction, that it be made the subject of particular and earnest supplication, that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it, that our civil and religious privileges may be preserved in violent and perpetuated to the latest generations, that our public councils and magistrates may be especially enlightened and directed at this critical period, and that American people may be united in these bonds, in those bonds of enity and mutual confidence, and inspired with that vigor and fortitude by which they have in times past been so highly distinguished, and by which they have obtained such invaluable advantages, that the health of the inhabitants of our land may be preserved, and their agriculture, commerce, fisheries, arts, and manufactures be blessed and prospered, that the principles of genuine piety and sound morality may influence the minds and govern the lives of every description of our citizens, and that the blessings of peace, freedom, and pure religion may be speedily extended to all the nations of the earth. And finally, I recommend that on the said day the duties of humiliation and prayer be accompanied by fervent thanksgiving to the bestower of every good gift, not only for his having hitherto protected and preserved the people of these United States in the independent enjoyment of their religious and civil freedom, but also for having prospered them in a wonderful progress of population, and for conferring on them many and great favors conducive to the happiness and prosperity of a nation, given under my hand the seal of the United States of America at Philadelphia this 23rd day of March in the year of our Lord 1798, and of the independence of the said states, the 22nd, by the President John Adams.
SPEAKER_01:Sounds like we could read that one pretty much right now, folks, for our nation. Really multiple days before God, humbling ourselves and asking for his guidance.
SPEAKER_00:Get a chance, be a pretty good proclamation to read through with your kids if you're teacher, educator, parent. If y'all are looking for a family-friendly middle grade read, you would check out Countryside. I would appreciate it. And if you enjoy it, if you would leave a review somewhere online, I would appreciate that as well. It helps a lot. There's two books in the series so far. The first one is The Book of the Wise, and the second one is The Tears of Adina. And if you are getting something out of the podcast and you have three or four or five dollars a month that you can donate, there's a website on the Buzz Sprout webpage for the podcast.
SPEAKER_01:And I would very much appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00:Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. 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 y'all again real soon. Looking forward to it.