Whose Authority Do We Obey When The State And God Collide

What if the growth you can’t see today becomes the shelter you’ll need tomorrow? We start with Jesus’ parables of the scattered seed and the mustard plant to show how quiet, steady faith takes root long before results are obvious. Then the lake turns rough. As the storm crashes over the boat, fear shouts louder than trust—until a word stills the wind. That moment reframes our own crises: when panic rises, what holds authority over our hearts?

From the shoreline we step into the hills of the Gerasenes, where a man beyond all restraint meets mercy and becomes a messenger to his own towns. His story challenges our priorities: will we protect comfort and profit, or make room for a transformed life? We weave in the wisdom of Psalms and Proverbs to underline the stakes of moral education, the beauty of a good name, and the steady hope of walking God’s path when shortcuts tempt.

We also turn to the home. A reading from 1 Peter calls husbands and wives to honor, courage, and quiet strength that outlasts trends. We speak candidly about the gap between what churches teach and how we live, and why repentance at the kitchen table restores credibility in the public square. History sharpens the lesson through the 1925 Sofia church bombing and Churchill’s warning about totalizing ideologies, contrasted with the valor of Medal of Honor seaman Andrew Bryan, who stayed under fire until everyone else was safe.

To ground it all, we reflect on Jonathan Mayhew’s teaching that civil authority is real yet limited, answerable to God’s higher law. When the state and conscience collide, fidelity to God anchors freedom without sliding into chaos. Through Scripture, story, and prayer, we invite you to plant small seeds, stand steady in storms, and tell the truth about what grace has done in your life.

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Transcript

Scripture Reading And Missing Person Note

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Psalm 37, verses 37 through 40. Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace. But the rebellious will be destroyed. They have no future. The Lord rescues the godly, he is their fortress in times of trouble. The Lord helps them, rescuing them from the wicked. He saves them, and they find shelter in him. Lesbia Milleth Ramirez Guerra, March 31st, 2025, reported missing on that date, I believe, Waldorf, Maryland. Twenty-three-year-old woman whose body was found buried in a forested area outside Washington, D.C. Murdered by her boyfriend, Casey Robinson Alexa Barrera Rosa, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, whose uncle was later charged as an accessory. Hey folks, this is Jesse Cote 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, giving me a little bit of your time. I hope you're getting to listen to it along with someone else. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others 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. 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 through the merit of your Son Jesus Christ, through his life and death and resurrection. Thank you, Jesus, that you were willing to come, Lord. Help us to follow your commands. Help us, Father, to love you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, to love our neighbors as ourselves. Forgive us when we fail. Forgive us when we go our own way. Forgive us our greed and our selfishness, our pride, our arrogance, our judgment of others, rash words and actions. Gossip, slander, lust, covetousness, procrastination. Forgive us our cowardice and our unbelief. Please watch over those listening to the podcast here across America or around the world, wherever they're listening. Please be with them and their families, Father. Guide them, bless them, surround them with your angels. Be with those who are injured, those who are ill. Comfort them. Be with those who are heartbroken, who have lost loved ones or are in troubled marriages or who have broken relationships with parents or siblings or children. Be with those who feel alone and abandoned, who are abused. Help us, Father, to care for the widow and the orphan, the poor and the needy. Help us to protect those who can't protect themselves. Help us to turn back to you, Father, and your Son Jesus Christ as a nation. To be more concerned about whether we're following your roles and responsibilities, whether we're on your side than our own priorities. Be with our military and our law enforcement, our firefighters, EMS, keep them safe, please. Protect them. Surround them with your angels. Bring them home safe to their families. Be with their families as well. Protect us, Father, from those who do evil. Defend us from those who look to do wrong. Be with our leaders in the pulpit and in the state. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. And guide my words here, Father. Your son's name we pray. Amen. Marriage verse for today, 1 Peter 3, 1 through 7. Wives, likewise, submit to your own husbands. Do this so that even if some of them refuse to believe the word, they may be one without a word by their wives' way of life. After all, they will have observed the reverent and holy manner of your lives. Don't try and make yourselves beautiful on the outside with stylish hair or by wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes. Instead, make yourselves beautiful on the inside in your hearts, with the enduring quality of a gentle, peaceful spirit. This type of beauty is very precious in God's eyes. For it was in this way that holy women who trusted in God used to make themselves beautiful, accepting the authority of their own husbands. For example, Sarah accepted Abraham's authority when she called him master. You have become her children when you do good and don't respond to threats with fear. Husbands likewise submit by living with your wife in ways that honor her, knowing that she is the weaker partner. Honor her all the more, as she is also a co-heir of the gracious care of life. Do this so that your prayers won't be hindered. You really want to see, folks, the problems inside the church today. Look at the scriptures that we read every day on marriage and then compare that to the actions that you see in marriages inside the church. And before we go judging anybody outside the church about their relationships, physical or otherwise, we ought to be looking really long and hard inside the church at our own marriages. Um, because we're not doing things right. And all you have to do is look at the brokenness and dysfunction inside the church. We're not even remotely, just this one couple paragraphs we're not following. Scripture today, we are going to start with Mark 4.26 through 520. Jesus also said, The kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground, night and day, while he's asleep or awake. The seeds sprout and grow. But he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First, a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come. Jesus said, How can I describe the kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of all garden plants. It grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade. Jesus used many similar stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand. In fact, in his public ministry, he never taught without using parables. But afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them. As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, Let's cross to the other side of the lake. So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind, although other boats followed. But soon a fierce storm came up, high waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, Teacher, don't you care that we are going to drown? When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Silence, be still. Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? The disciples were absolutely terrified. Who is this man? They asked each other. Even the wind and waves obey him. That little part of scripture is always so comforting to me for two reasons. One, just the fact that Christ can control nature, right? But even more importantly, that the disciples who had been with him still had so little faith. And when I doubt my own faith, when I'm worried about doubts, fears, that's a comfort. Even they right beside Jesus still had problems with faith. Maybe that'll encourage you some too. So they arrived at the other side of the lake in the region of the Garasenes. When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles, as he often was, he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him. With a shriek he screamed, Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, son of the most high God? In the name of God I beg you don't torture me. For Jesus had already said to the spirit, Come out of the man, you evil spirit. Then Jesus demanded, What is your name? And he replied, My name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man. Then the evil spirits begged him again and again not to send them to some distant place. There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby. Send us into those pigs, the spirits begged. Let us enter them. So Jesus gave them permission. The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd of about two thousand pigs plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs. And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. But Jesus said, No, go home to your family and tell everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been. So the man started off to visit the ten towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed at what he told them. I wonder how often, folks, I struggle with this. How often am I ready to tell people what Christ has done for me? Do I think about it enough, focus on it enough, meditate on it enough, to be able to articulate to somebody else when they ask me, What has Christ done to you for you in your life? I need to work on that. Psalm 37, verses 30 through 40. The godly offer good counsel. They teach right from wrong. They have made God's law their own, so they will never slip from his path. Just these two verses alone, right here, folks, it they illuminate the false idea of values neutral education. There's no such thing as values neutral. We're either raising our children as a nation toward Christ or toward the devil. It's one or the other. We're either teaching them right from wrong, or we're pretending that right and wrong don't exist, which is the same thing as teaching them wrong. The wicked wait and ambush for the godly, looking for an excuse to kill them. But the Lord will not let the wicked succeed or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial. Put your hope in the Lord, travel steadily along his path. He will honor you by giving you the land. You will see the wicked destroyed. I have seen the wicked and ruthless people flourishing like a tree in its native soil. But when I looked again they were gone. Though I searched for them I could not find them. Look for those, look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace. But the rebellious will be destroyed. They have no future. The Lord rescues the godly, he is their fortress in times of trouble. The Lord helps them. Rescuing them from the wicked, he saves them, and they find shelter in him. Proverbs ten verses six through seven. The godly are showered with blessings. The words of the wicked conceal violent intentions. We have happy memories of the godly, but the name of the wicked person rots away. There's a lot in that last little bit, folks. Suffice to say, it's much better to leave those who follow you a good name, right? I moved the books this time, this episode. If this is the second book in the countryside series, if you get a chance, if you're looking for a middle grade fantasy kind of along Narnia, and this was the first book, Narnia, The Hobbit, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter. I'm not claiming that it's as good as those, folks, but if you enjoy the genre, I think you'll enjoy those at least a little bit. And if you uh if you like them, if you leave a review somewhere online, those those reviews help a great deal, especially the five-star reviews. Same thing with the podcast as far as reviews go, if you feel like you're getting something out of it. And if you if you are, if you have five or ten dollars a month that you could donate, there's a link in the show notes, both for the books and the podcast. And I would be very grateful for that. That helps immensely. April 16th, 1925. Sofia Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Communist Party acting on orders from the Commandant Cominter, if I said that right, uh, they detonated a bomb, time bomb on the roof of Saint Nadalia Church. There was a funeral going on for a general that had been killed, and the blast collapsed the dome onto thousands of mourners, uh, including leaders, state, military, and regular citizens. Killed 213 people, including clergy, women, and children. Injured more than 500 others. Uh, the communists claimed responsibility. They held it as landing a blow against fascist monarchy, right? It's important to remember here, though. I'm going to read Winston Churchill's quotes that we've read before on this podcast. This is out of his book, The Gathering Storm, that he wrote on World War II. And there's two quotes that we have forgotten today. One is fascism was the shadow or ugly child of communism, right? So fascism itself came from communism. As fascism sprang from communism, so Nazism developed from fascism. We've allowed the left in particular today to make this narrative that fascism and Nazism are far right politically. Correct? But they're not. Leftism, socialism, communism, Nazism, fascism. That's all left-wing. They're all just different shades of the same evil. I think that's a paraphrase of a quote by Anne Rand. And they go hand in glove with Islam, folks. And this is just another example, even though it was 100 years ago. Communism's still communism. Just like Islam is still Islam, right? All of those things. Medal of Honor for today, Andrew Brynn, also known as Andrew Bryan, rank seaman, U.S. Civil War, USS Mississippi, U.S. Navy, March 14, 1863, Port Hudson, Louisiana. Served on board the USS Mississippi during her abandonment and firing in the engagement at Port Hudson, 14 March 1863. Remaining under enemy fire for two and one-half hours, Brenn remained on board the grounded vessel until all the abandoning crew had landed. After asking to be assigned some duty, he was finally ordered to save himself and to leave the Mississippi, which had been deliberately fired to prevent her falling into rebel hands. Accredited to New York, New York, not awarded posthumously, presented June 27, 1864, received while serving aboard the USS Hollyhawk. Born 1829 in Scotland, died June 2nd, 1886, Sabine Pass, Louisiana. There's another little bit here. His real birthplace appears to have been Norway, and the true spelling of his name was Bryan, not Bren. All of his military records show Norway as a place of birth and the spelling of Brian, with the exception of one surviving muster role for the USS Mississippi. Following his Navy service, he became a U.S. citizen, served as a keeper for several lighthouses along the Gulf of Mexico. Last station was Sabine Pass Lighthouse in Louisiana, where he died of an unknown illness while on duty. He was most likely buried in a local cemetery, but the area was hit with a strong hurricane in late 1886 and the records were lost. Again, folks, totally different type of immigrant than what we see today rampaging across the country. We're going to go back into Mayhew's sermon on unlimited submission and non-resistance to higher powers, right? He's given a sermon on Romans 13, and this was very influential for a number of our founding fathers leading into the revolution. This was 1750, so about twenty twenty-five plus years. We're just going to read a little bit more today. There is indeed one passage in the New Testament where it may seem at first view that an unlimited submission to civil rulers is enjoined. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, to every ordinance of man. However, this expression is no stronger than that before taken notice of with relation to the duty of wives. So let the wives be subject to their own husbands in everything. But the true solution of this difficulty, if it be one, is this by every ordinance of man is not meant every command of the civil magistrate without exception, but every order of magistrates appointed by man, whether superior or inferior. For so the apostle explains himself in the very next words, whether it be to the king as supreme, or to governors, as unto them that are sent, etc. And there's a little footnote here talking about literally every human institution or appointment by which manner of expression the apostle plainly imitates that rulers derive their authority immediately, not from God, but from men. This was obviously a big problem with a lot of kings that claimed that their authority came directly from God as opposed to men. But in the United States, our argument was that the power came from men. They still had to rule in fear of God, right? But what it was saying is they didn't have some divine appointment so that they were perceived as gods themselves or as perfect, right? But although the apostle had not subjoined any such explanation, the reason of the thing itself would have obliged us to limit the expression, every ordinance of man, to such human ordinances and commands as are not inconsistent with the ordinances and commands of God, the supreme lawgiver, or with any other higher and antecedent obligations. Right? So if the civil authorities give us commands that go against God, we have a responsibility to follow God's commands before those. They always, God's commands always supersede those, right? That's another little example of why multiculturalism doesn't work, because then you start to input false gods and false teaching imposters, right? As uh Justice Kent, I think. Yeah. I may have that wrong. I gotta go look that up. But anyway, the only way this works is as a Christian nation with those principles of Christ at the foundation, those unchanging principles, right? Anytime the principles, the civil authority principles goes again go against those, we have a duty and responsibility to follow God and not the state. 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 marriages if you're married. God bless your families. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world listening. God bless America. We'll talk to y'all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.