If We Want Mercy, We Must Turn Back

Amos doesn’t let us hide behind polished religion. I open with a blunt command that cuts through excuses: hate evil, love what is good, and turn our courts into true halls of justice. From there, I connect ancient warnings to the real problems that show up in modern life, including a grim reminder of Operation Sanctuary in Newcastle and what sexual exploitation looks like when the vulnerable get treated as disposable. If you care about justice, accountability, and protecting kids, this one presses on the question we avoid: what do we tolerate because it costs too much to confront?

I also turn toward the home with Proverbs 31, reading the “wife of noble character” as a call to faithfulness, service, and fear of the Lord, and a reminder to honor what is truly valuable instead of chasing charm and appearances. That leads into a longer reading from Amos that targets hypocrisy, bribery, and oppression, plus God’s rejection of loud worship that never becomes righteous living.

To ground it all, I share a Medal of Honor story that shows courage in its purest form: Marine PFC Bruce Wayne Carter in Vietnam. I then close with Alexis de Tocqueville on why religion in America matters for freedom, and why a republic depends on moral restraint as much as laws. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review if the show helps you think and live more clearly.

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SPEAKER_00 0:03

Amos

Amos Sets The Moral Standard

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Chapter five verse fifteen Hate evil and love what is good Turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven's armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people.

Newcastle Exploitation Case In Brief

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Operation Sanctuary related Operation Shelter Northumbria police's major investigation into sexual exploitation of girls and women in Newcastle upon Tyne. If I said that right, probably didn't. 2011-2014 Newcastle, especially the west end of the city. Victims were lured to sessions at flats and other addresses where they were given alcohol and drugs before being sexually assaulted or raped. More than twenty women and girls, some as young as fourteen gave evidence at trials, but police identified around 108 potential victims and hundreds more under Operation Sanctuary. Seventeen men and one woman were convicted.

When Ideology Excuses Violence

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Interesting thing there, folks, the women, you know, one of the things that the unit that I was attached to started to see. After we had been there for a while were uh female suicide bombers. And it's important to note that because if if there were really such a thing as a moderate follower of Islam, you would expect to see that in the women. You would expect to see some, you know, leniency, whatever, etc. But you don't. You don't see these calls against the violence that Islam perpetrates. In fact, a lot of times you see the women encouraging it, uh certainly the men too, but it there just simply is no such thing as a moderate follower. There's followers of Islam that are good followers, there's followers that are bad followers, and that changes the action a little bit. And there's followers that are open, explicit about their support of rape, slavery, violence. And then there's followers that are complicit by omission. And if if that weren't the case, then you would just see overwhelming calls from within the Muslim community against these atrocities, but you don't. You just don't see that. Same thing with the left and communism.

Welcome Prayer And Gratitude

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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, 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 know you have other things vying for your attention, so thank you. For those of y'all that continue to share the podcast with others, leave reviews, thank you very much. For those of y'all that have checked out the Countryside Book Series and left reviews there for the first or second book, thank you very much. And for those of y'all who continue to pray for me and my family and writing, podcasting, etc., thank you. Very, very grateful for your prayers. Father,

A Prayer For Leaders And Nation

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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. Thank you for salvation and eternal life. Thank you for food to eat, water to drink, clothes to wear, healthy body, cars that run, AC, family and friends. Thank you for the blessings of the people that are listening. Whatever they are, Father. Forgive us our lack of gratitude. Forgive us when we complain more than we thank you. Forgive us when we refuse to care for the poor and the needy, the widow and the orphan when we when we don't love you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength when we don't love our neighbors as ourselves. Help us to do all those things. Keep us on the narrow path all the way home to you. Help us to save others by leading them to you and your son Jesus Christ, Father. Be with our leaders in the pulpit and in the state, pastors, priests, president, vice president, admirals, generals, senators, representatives, judges, governors. Help us to turn back to you as a nation, Father, and your son Jesus Christ, to openly acknowledge you and your son Jesus Christ as a nation publicly. Be with those listening. Again, Father God and bless them. Surround him with your angels. And God, my words here, please. In your son's name we pray. Amen.

Proverbs 31 And A Noble Wife

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Marriage verses for today, going back to Proverbs chapter 31, 10 through 12, and 27 through 30. A wife of noble character who can find, she is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. 27 through 30. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idols. Her children arise and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeing. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. There is no greater blessing in this life for a husband than a wife of noble character. Nothing even comes close outside of our relationship with God and Jesus Christ. And when you hear somebody trying to use Proverbs 31 as an excuse for women to go abandon their husbands and their children in the home, take a look at it. Go back and read it yourself. See how focused the Proverbs 31 woman is on serving God first and foremost, but then her husband next. And then children at home after that, right? But again, especially husbands, if you have a wife who follows her God-given roles and responsibilities, make sure that she knows that you know. Right. Like it says here 27 and 30 again, right? Her children arise and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her.

Amos On Justice And Repentance

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So I'm gonna jump into the Old Testament again. Um, my reading led me to Amos. We're gonna read four and five, and I'm really not gonna offer any other commentary, folks, besides this. Hear America today in the commentary of Amos. Talking about Israel in the Old Testament. Listen to me, you fat cows living in Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, and who are always calling to your husbands, bring us another drink. The sovereign Lord has sworn this by his holiness. The time will come when you will be led away with hooks in your noses, every last one of you will be dragged away. Like a fish on a hook, you will be led out through the ruins of the wall, you will be thrown from your fortresses, says the Lord. Go ahead and offer sacrifices to the idols of Bethel. Keep on disobeying at Gilgal, offer sacrifices each morning and bring your tithes every three days. Present your bread made with yeast as an offering of thanksgiving, and then give your extra voluntary offerings so you can brag about it everywhere. This is the kind of thing you Israelites love to do, says the Sovereign Lord. I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town, but still you would not return to me, says the Lord. I kept rain from falling when your crops needed it the most. I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another. Rain fell on one field while another field withered away. People staggered from town to town looking for water, but there was never enough. But still you would not return to me, says the Lord. I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees, but still you would not return to me, says the Lord. I sent plagues on you like I sent plagues, like the plagues I sent on Egypt long ago. I killed your young men in war and led all your horses away. The stench of death filled the air, but still you would not return to me, says the Lord. I destroyed some of your cities as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Those of you who survived were like charred sticks pulled from a fire, but still you would not return to me, says the Lord. Therefore I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced. Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel, for the Lord is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind. He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth. The Lord God of heaven's armies is his name. Listen, you people of Israel, listen to this funeral song I am singing. The virgin Israel has fallen, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on the ground with no one to help her up. The sovereign Lord says, When a city sends a thousand men to battle, only a hundred will return. When a town sends a hundred, only ten will come back alive. Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel, Come back to me and live. Don't worship at the pagan altars of Bethel, Bethel. Don't go to the shrines at Gilgal or Bersheba. For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile, and the people of Bethel will be reduced to nothing. Come back to the Lord and live. Otherwise he will roar through Israel like a fire, devouring you completely. Your gods in Bethel won't be able to quench the flames. You twist justice, making it a bitter pill for the oppressed. You treat the righteous like dirt. It is the Lord who created the stars, the Pleiades and Orion. He turns darkness into morning and day into night. He draws up water from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land. The Lord is his name. With blinding speed and power he destroys the strong, crushing all their defenses. How you hate honest judges, how you despise people who tell the truth. You trample the poor, stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent. Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses you will never live in them, though you plant lush vineyards you will never drink wine from them. For I know the vast number of your sins and the depth of your rebellions. You oppress good people by taking bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. So those who are smart keep their mouths shut, for it is an evil time. Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live, then the Lord God of Heaven's armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed. Hate evil and love what is good. Turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven's armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people. Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven's armies, says. There will be crying in all the public squares and mourning in every street call for the farmers to weep with you and summon professional mourners to wail. There will be wailing in every vineyard, for I will destroy them all, says the Lord. What sorrow awaits you who say, If only the day of the Lord were here, you have no idea what you're wishing for. That day will bring darkness, not light. In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion only to meet a bear. Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against the wall in his house, and he's bitten by a snake. Yes, the day of the Lord will be dark and hopeless without a ray or of joy or hope. I hate all your show and pretense, the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise. I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living. Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness to Israel? No. You served your pagan gods, Suckath your king god, and Chiwan, your star god, the images you made for yourselves, so I will send you into exile to a land east of Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of heaven's armies. Again, I would just ask you to think about when you're listening to that today in America. Medal

Support The Podcast And Books

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of Honor. Oh, if you're looking for a family-friendly middle grade read, if you would check out the Countryside series, uh there's two books in the series. It's kind of like the Narnia, the Narnia, uh Chronicles of Narnia, Hobbit, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, um, Fablehaven, that kind of stuff. If you enjoy it, if you'd leave a review for the first and second book. Uh same thing with the podcast. If you feel like you're getting something out of it, if you'd leave a review online somewhere. And then uh if you have five or ten dollars a month you can donate, that helps the podcast and the writing. So thank you for any or all of those. Medal

Medal Of Honor Bruce Wayne Carter

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of Honor for today, Bruce Wayne Carter, private first class, Vietnam War Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division Reinforced, U.S. Marine Corps, August 7th, 1969, Kwang Tribe, Province, Republic of Vietnam. For conspicuous gallantry and intrapidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a grenadier with Hotel Company in connection with combat operations against the enemy. PFC Carter's unit was maneuvering against the enemy during Operation Idaho Canyon and came under a heavy volume of fire from a numerically superior hostile force. The lead element soon became separated from the main body of the squad by a brush fire. PFC Carter and his fellow Marines were pinned down by vicious crossfire when, with complete disregard for his safety, he stood in full view of the North Vietnamese Army soldiers to deliver a devastating volume of fire at their position. The accuracy and aggressiveness of his attack caused several enemy casualties and forced the remainder of the soldiers to retreat from the immediate area. Shouting directions to the Marines around him, PFC Carter then commenced leading them from the path of the rapidly approaching brushfire when he observed a hostile grenade land between him and his companions, fully aware of the probable consequences of his action, but determined to protect the men following him. He unhesitatingly threw himself over the grenade, absorbing the full effects of its detonation with his body. P.F.C. Carter's indomitable courage, inspiring initiative, and selfless devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country. Agnew, born May 7, 1950. New York, died August 7, 1969, Republic of Vietnam. Buried Arlington National Cemetery. Reinterned, reinterred from Vista Memorial Gardens, Florida, to Arlington, Virginia, United States. Bruce Wayne Carter.

Tocqueville On Faith And Freedom

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We're going to turn back for just a minute or two here at the end to Alexis de Tobeville, read a couple more quotes out of his Democracy in America. Religion in America must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country. For if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it. Indeed, it is in this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief. I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion, for who can search the human heart. But I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of Republican institutions. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or a party. But it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society. Alexis de Tocqueville, right, if you don't remember, is a French historian, statesman, philosopher that came in the eighteen thirties with a friend of his, Gustave de Beaumont, and they toured America. And then he wrote this work, Democracy in America. If we don't have almost universally a population of all classes of society that understand the importance of religion, Christianity, not all religions, right? Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, they do more damage than good. And then, of course, atheism, secularism, which is really a religion in itself, too, to the state, those all do more damage than good. Talking about faith, Christianity, that is indispensable to the maintenance of our Republican institutions. And the people that hate America, they know that, folks. At least a good enough chunk of them to lead the others down the merry path. There is no hope without God and Jesus Christ in America. And we have a great hope with God and Jesus Christ in America. We'll read one more. The sex denominations that exist in the United States are innumerable. They all differ in respect to the worship which is due to the Creator, but they all agree in respect to the duties which are due from man to man. Each sect adores the deity in its own particular peculiar manner, but all sex denominations preach the same moral law in the name of God. Moreover, all the denominations of the United States are comprised within a great unity of Christianity, and Christian morality is everywhere the same. That's the key, folks. That's the deal. The First Amendment was never written to entertain false religions like Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism. That's just a lie that we've been taught over the last century. The First Amendment was written specifically so that all Christian denominations had equal footing in the United States. Christian. Give

Final Prayer And Blessing

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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 and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless you all. God bless your families, your marriages, your nation, wherever you are around the world listening. God bless America. We'll talk to you all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.