October 10, 2025 • 21 mins
We pray through Scripture, confront the weight of folly, and argue that marriage should look unmistakably faithful—so faithful it seems “too clingy” to a watching world. From Song of Solomon and Melchizedek to boredom’s hidden gift and early American sources, we tie devotion to daily habits that renew homes and civic life.
• cleaving in marriage as a living witness of Christ and the Church
• practical calls to pray, read Scripture, and be still
• Song of Solomon’s pursuit and protection of love
• Melchizedek and Christ’s enduring priesthood
• Psalm 105 on provision leading to obedience
• Proverbs on the heavy cost of foolishness
• boredom as a path to reflection and renewal
• Churchill’s daily quiet as an example of mental rest
• Medal of Honor courage as a model of faithfulness
• founding-era texts tying faith to public virtue
• closing prayer and blessings for families and nations
If you are looking for a family-friendly, middle grade fantasy read, kind of along the lines of Narnia or The Hobbit, if you would check out Countryside, I would be grateful
And if you enjoyed, if you'd leave a review, I would be very grateful
And if you are getting something out of the podcast, uh, if you'd share it with other people, y'all help it to spread
And B, there's a donation page on the Buzz Sprout website associated with the podcast
If you can donate three bucks a month, five bucks a month, that would be wonderful
The American Soul Podcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Hey folks.
This is Jesse Cope, back withanother episode of the American
Soul Podcast.
Hope y'all are doing well,wherever y'all are, whatever
part of the menu you're in.
Sure to appreciate y'all joiningme, giving me a little bit of
your time.
Hopefully, y'all get to listento it with somebody else.
Hopefully, it gives us someextra tools for our toolbox.
(00:24):
And for those of y'all whocontinue to share the podcast
and tell others about it, andthose who continue to pray for
me on the podcast, thank youvery much.
Very, very grateful for yourprayers.
Father, thank you for today.
Thank you for you, Father, andyour son, Jesus Christ, and your
Holy Spirit.
Thank you for your love and yourmercy, your grace and your
(00:46):
forgiveness of sins through themerit of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Guide our steps.
Father, guide us in all that wedo.
Guide our thoughts.
Guide our words, guide ouractions.
Help us to guard our heart, toknow that everything we do
springs from it.
(01:08):
Help us to trust you, to lean onyou and not on our own
understanding.
Forgive us when we fail, Father.
Help us to accept thatforgiveness because of your Son
Jesus Christ, to know thatthat's not a burden that we have
to carry, but to also strive todo your will in all things, to
(01:35):
love you with our whole heart,mind, soul, and strength, and to
love our neighbors as ourselves.
Be with those around the worldwho are hurting, who are being
persecuted because they follow.
The name of your son JesusChrist, help us to boldly share
the gospel in any way that wecan in our sphere of influence.
(02:02):
Be with our leaders, both in thepulpit and in the state, our
pastors and priests, ourgovernors, president, vice
president, senators,representatives, mayors,
admirals, generals, judges.
(02:22):
Give them wisdom and courage anda strong faith.
Help them to rule in fear ofyou, Father.
And guide my words here, please.
And watch over those who arelistening, Father, wherever they
are, around the world, here inAmerica, be with them, be with
their families.
Guide, I'm gonna bless them.
In your son's name we pray.
(02:43):
Amen.
Have you made time for Godtoday?
Have you made time to read hisword?
Have you made time to pray, totalk to him, to listen to him?
Have you made time to be still?
And if you're married, have youmade time for your spouse?
(03:07):
Are they getting the best ofyour effort?
I I go over this the time andagain because we obviously don't
get this if you look at thestate of our marriages today.
Folks, but when we're talkingabout marriage, right, it's
supposed to be glue, it'ssupposed to be cleaving to one
another.
It's supposed to, you ought tobe too clingy, according to the
world.
(03:27):
The world ought to look at youand say, man, there's something
wrong with them.
They're too into each other.
They pay too much attention toeach other as husband and wife.
And why as Christians?
Because what's our marriagesupposed to exemplify?
It's supposed to illustrate tothe rest of the world the
relationship between Christ andthe church.
(03:51):
That is the deal.
It's not a deal, it's the deal.
If you're married.
Married verse for today.
(04:13):
A troubled knight the Shulamitebride.
I think, yes, the Shum theShulamite.
By night on my bed I sought theone I love.
I sought him, but I did not findhim.
I will rise now, I said, and goabout the city.
In the streets and in thesquares I will seek the one I
(04:33):
love.
I sought him, but I did not findhim.
The watchman who go about thecity found me.
I said, Have you seen the one Ilove?
Scarcely had I passed by themwhen I found the one I love.
I held him and would not let himgo, until I had brought him to
the house of my mother and intothe chamber of her who conceived
me.
I charge you, O daughters ofJerusalem, by the gazelles or by
(04:56):
the does of the field, do notstir up nor awaken love until it
pleases.
The coming of Solomon, theShulamite Who is this coming out
of the wilderness like pillarsof smoke, perfumed with myrrh
and frankincense?
With all the merchants' fragrantpowders.
Behold it is Solomon's couch,with sixty valiant men around
(05:18):
it.
Of the valiant of Israel, theyall hold swords, being expert in
war.
Every man has his sword on histhigh because of fear in the
night.
Of the wood of Lebanon, Solomonthe king, made himself a
palaquin.
He made its pillars of silver,its support of gold, its seed of
(05:39):
purple, its interior paved withlove.
By the daughters of Jerusalem,go forth, O daughters of Zion,
and seek King Solomon with thecrown, with which his mother
crowned him on the day of hiswedding, the day of the gladness
of his heart.
(06:12):
This Melchizedek was king of thecity of Salem, and also a priest
of God most high.
When Abraham was returning homeafter winning a great battle
against the kings, Melchizedekmet him and blessed him.
Then Abraham took a tenth of allhe had captured in battle and
gave it to Melchizedek.
(06:34):
The name Melchizedek means kingof justice, and king of Salem
means king of peace.
There is no record of his fatheror mother or any of his
ancestors, no beginning or endto his life.
He remains a priest forever,resembling the Son of God.
Consider then how great thisMelchizedek was.
(06:56):
Even Abraham, the greatpatriarch of Israel, recognized
this by giving him a tenth ofwhat he had taken in battle.
Now the law of Moses requiredthat the priests who are
descendants of Levi must collecta tithe from the rest of the
people of Israel, who are alsodescendants of Abraham.
But Melchizedek, who was not adescendant of Levi, collected a
(07:18):
tenth from Abraham, andMelchizedek placed a blessing
upon Abraham, the one who hadalready received the promises of
God, and without question theperson who has the power to give
a blessing is greater than theone who is blessed.
The priests who collect tithesare men who die.
So Melchizedek is greater thanthey are, because we are told
(07:42):
that he lives on.
In addition, we might even saythat these Levites, the ones who
collect the tithe, paid a titheto Melchizedek, when their
ancestor Abraham paid a tithe tohim.
For although Levi wasn't bornyet, the seed from which he came
was in Abraham's body whenMelchizedek collected the tithe
(08:02):
from him.
So if the priesthood of Levi onwhich the law was based could
have achieved the perfection Godintended, why did God need to
establish a different priesthoodwith a priest in the order of
Melchizedek instead of the orderof Levi and Aaron?
And if the priesthood ischanged, the law must also be
(08:23):
changed to permit it.
For the priest we are talkingabout belongs to a different
tribe, whose members have neverserved at the altar as priests.
What I mean is our Lord camefrom the tribe of Judah, and
Moses never mentioned priestscoming from that tribe.
This change has been made veryclear since a different priest
who is like Melchizedek hasappeared.
(08:45):
Jesus became a priest not bymeeting the physical requirement
of belonging to the tribe ofLevi, but by the power of a life
that cannot be destroyed.
And the psalmist pointed thisout when he prophesied, You are
a priest forever in the order ofMelchizedek.
Psalm one hundred five versesthirty seven through forty five.
(09:09):
The Lord brought his people outof Egypt loaded with silver and
gold, and not one among thetribes of Israel even stumbled.
Egypt was glad when they weregone, for they feared them
greatly.
The Lord spread a cloud abovethem as a covering, and gave
them a great fire to light thedarkness.
They asked for meat, and he sentthem quail.
(09:29):
He satisfied their hunger withmanna, bread from heaven.
He split open a rock and watergushed out to form a river
through the dry wasteland, forhe remembered his sacred promise
to his servant Abraham.
So he brought his people out ofEgypt with joy, his chosen ones
with rejoicing.
He gave his people the lands ofpagan nations, and they
(09:49):
harvested crops that others hadplanted.
All this happened so that theywould follow his decrees and
obey his instructions.
Praise the Lord.
A stone is heavy, and sand isweighty, but the resentment
caused by a fool is evenheavier.
(10:10):
There's some differenttranslations, obviously, of this
verse in Proverbs, but I can'ttell you how much you know
there's certain verses that youjust know are true, and it
strengthened your faith.
And there's a lot of those forme in Proverbs.
I I've lived some of them.
And one of them is the times inmy life when I have been
(10:32):
foolish.
And then the consequence ofwhatever that foolishness was,
man, it's heavy.
It's a burden to bear, thatfoolishness.
And it just has been everysingle time.
And I can think of a couple justspectacular examples in my life
where I have done somethingfoolish, sinful, and the weight
(10:54):
has been extremely heavy.
And then verse 45 in Psalm 105,all this happens so they would
follow his decrees and obey hisinstructions.
I wonder how often we havethings that happen in our life,
and we're so upset by them.
For whatever reason, we feelthat it's unjust or it's just
(11:16):
hard, right?
And we miss the point of Goddrawing us to himself, putting
us in a position where we'llfollow him, obey him, which is
always better for us in the end,right?
Even when it doesn't feel likeit.
Um, right, like a loving parentdisciplines their children.
(11:36):
It just kind of struck me todaywhen I was reading that.
There's an article in the recentEpic Times I talk about often by
Walker Larson, and it's calledThe Hidden Gift of Boredom.
And the subtitle is Boredom isan Opportunity for Growth,
Creativity, and Self-Discoveryfor those willing to embrace it.
(11:57):
It's a pretty lengthy article inthis newspaper.
It's a full page, and there'ssome great quotes in it.
But I think the parts thatreally struck me is him talking
about how many of us, 71% of uscheck our phones within the
first 10 minutes of our day,right?
74% of Americans feeluncomfortable leaving their cell
(12:19):
phones at home.
We have this constant in yourface ability to look at screens,
whether it's our computer, ourTV, video games, phones.
And it has taken away ourability to be bored, right?
And there's another quote inhere talking about the fact that
(12:44):
if we're constantly going, and Ican't find it right now, but
it's like a bow being pulledback under tension all the time.
Eventually it loses that abilityto be tight, right?
Like a bow and arrow you'reshooting.
And our brain is kind of likethat.
If it's just constantly going,and the only break it ever gets
(13:04):
is when we sleep, uh, we'rewe're degrading our abilities,
actually.
Anyway, if you get a chance,it's a great article talking
about our need to reflect.
And I think a lot of times wedon't like to reflect because we
don't like what we see inourselves in those moments of
boredom.
So we try and fill all our timewith distractions.
(13:27):
The other comment, and thenwe'll move on, is it reminded me
of in the Churchill biographythat I talk to y'all about every
once in a while.
It talked about the fact thatChurchill, once a day, when he
was at home in the in the 30sleading up to the war, there was
a part of each day where hewould go and sit by this little
(13:49):
pond and feed the fish.
And that's all he would do.
He would just sit there and takesome cell bread and feed these
fish and just sit there.
Nobody would talk to him.
He wasn't reading anything, hewasn't doing anything, he was
just sitting there.
And a lot of us, I think, wouldbe really bored by that.
But it let his mind, even theauthor, this biographer, it let
(14:10):
his mind kind of rejuvenate.
I think there's a lot there,folks.
If you get a chance, greatarticle by Walker Larson in the
Epic Times.
I would recommend checking itout.
Medal of Honor for today isMatthew Bickford, Corporal,
Civil War, Gulf Company, eighthMissouri Infantry, U.S.
(14:31):
Army, may twenty second,eighteen sixty three, Vicksburg,
Mississippi, gallantry in thecharge of the Volunteer Storming
Party.
Accredited to Elmwood, PeoraCounty, Illinois, not awarded
posthumously, presented augustthirty first, eighteen ninety
four, born april tenth, eighteenthirty nine, Trivolia, Peora
(14:56):
County, Illinois, died aprileighteenth, nineteen eighteen,
buried Bayview Cemetery, MH 14,20 Tac one, Bellingham,
Washington, Matthew Bickford.
All right, historical quotes.
(15:16):
Again, if you don't have a copy,I highly recommend America's
Guided Country Encyclopedia ofQuotations, Patriots Bible,
edited by Dr.
Richard Lee, and the foundersBible by the Wall Builder
Association as at least astarting point reference books.
Homeschool, just in general,they ought to be primary
(15:40):
textbooks in every school acrossthe nation.
Charter of Privileges ofPennsylvania 1701 by William
Penn Almighty God being the onlyLord of conscience, and author
as well as object of all divineknowledge, faith, and worship,
who only doth enlighten theminds and persuade and convince
(16:03):
the understandings of people.
I do hereby grant and declarethat no person or persons
inhabiting in this province orterritory, who shall confess and
acknowledge our almighty God andcreator, upholder and ruler of
the world, and profess him orthemselves obliged to live
quietly under civil government,shall be in any case molested or
(16:25):
prejudiced in his or her personor estate, and that all persons
who also profess to believe inJesus Christ as Savior of the
world shall be capable to servethis government in any capacity,
both legislatively orexecutively.
That just so illustrates whatwe've forgotten today that our
(16:46):
founders knew.
You can't force people to faith,folks.
They've got to have the abilityto make their own decision.
But if we don't have a peoplethat follow the principles of
Christ, we're going to lose ourrepublic, right?
Benjamin Rush, one of our threegreatest founders, according to
John Adams, I think, who was oursecond president, he noted that
(17:08):
the teachings of teachingchildren the Bible, the
principles of Christ, is thebest way to perpetuate our free
institutions, our Republicanform of government, which
produces liberty, right?
Republican form of governmentproduces liberty.
That's the goal.
In addition, in a Christiannation, if you're going to be a
(17:30):
leader, you have to profess andbelieve in Jesus Christ.
And we talk about that in theseoriginal state constitutions, so
many of them, right?
The requirement for faith inChrist and the commentary of so
many of our leaders.
You shouldn't have a Muslimrunning for office in New York
(17:54):
or Minnesota or anywhere else,because it it shouldn't be a
possibility for a Buddhist or aHindu or a Jew or an atheist.
You can be what you want in yourown home, but if you want to be
in the Senate or the House, orPresident or Vice President, or
(18:19):
a judge, or a governor, or amayor, or a city council member,
or any office or place of trust,you're gonna have to profess
Jesus Christ.
William Penn again, no peoplecan be truly happy, though under
(18:41):
the greatest enjoyment of civilliberties, if abridged of their
religious profession andworship.
You've got to have that ability.
One more for today, Constitutionof the State of Pennsylvania.
We the people of Pennsylvania,grateful to Almighty God for the
blessings of civil and religiousliberty and humbly invoking his
(19:01):
guidance, do ordain andestablish this Constitution.
Frame of Government, Sectionten, and each member of the
legislature, before he takes hisseat, shall make and subscribe
the following declaration.
I do believe in one God, thecreator and governor of the
universe, the rewarder of thegood and punisher of the wicked,
(19:23):
and I do acknowledge thescriptures of the Old and New
Testament to be given by divineinspiration.
When somebody tells you that wedidn't have a requirement, or we
can't have a requirement in theUnited States, in order to serve
in a public office or place oftrust, you know they don't know
(19:49):
history or they know it andthey're choosing to ignore it.
If you want to serve again, sayit just one more time for the
people in the back to make surewe're all on the same page.
In America, if you want to serveas president, vice president,
(20:10):
senator, representative,admiral, general, governor,
mayor, council member, judge,you need to be a Christian man.
(20:31):
If you are looking for afamily-friendly, middle grade
fantasy read, kind of along thelines of Narnia or The Hobbit,
if you would check outCountryside, I would be
grateful.
And if you enjoyed, if you'dleave a review, I would be very
grateful.
And if you are getting somethingout of the podcast, uh, if you'd
(20:56):
share it with other people,y'all help it to spread.
And B, there's a donation pageon the Buzz Sprout website
associated with the podcast.
If you can donate three bucks amonth, five bucks a month, that
would be wonderful.
Father, thank you for today.
(21:19):
Our Father, who art in heaven,hallowed be thy name, thy
kingdom come, thy will be doneon earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread, and forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive thosewho trespass against us, and
lead us not to temptation, butdeliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, thepower, and the glory forever and
ever.
Amen.
(21:39):
God bless y'all.
God bless your families, Godbless your marriages if you're
married, God bless America, Godbless your nation, wherever you
are around the world.
Listen, we'll talk to you allagain real soon, folks.
Looking forward to it.
Hey folks.
This is Jesse Cope, back withanother episode of the American
Soul Podcast.
Hope y'all are doing well,wherever y'all are, whatever
part of the menu you're in.
Sure to appreciate y'all joiningme, giving me a little bit of
your time.
Hopefully, y'all get to listento it with somebody else.
Hopefully, it gives us someextra tools for our toolbox.
(00:24):
And for those of y'all whocontinue to share the podcast
and tell others about it, andthose who continue to pray for
me on the podcast, thank youvery much.
Very, very grateful for yourprayers.
Father, thank you for today.
Thank you for you, Father, andyour son, Jesus Christ, and your
Holy Spirit.
Thank you for your love and yourmercy, your grace and your
(00:46):
forgiveness of sins through themerit of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Guide our steps.
Father, guide us in all that wedo.
Guide our thoughts.
Guide our words, guide ouractions.
Help us to guard our heart, toknow that everything we do
springs from it.
(01:08):
Help us to trust you, to lean onyou and not on our own
understanding.
Forgive us when we fail, Father.
Help us to accept thatforgiveness because of your Son
Jesus Christ, to know thatthat's not a burden that we have
to carry, but to also strive todo your will in all things, to
(01:35):
love you with our whole heart,mind, soul, and strength, and to
love our neighbors as ourselves.
Be with those around the worldwho are hurting, who are being
persecuted because they follow.
The name of your son JesusChrist, help us to boldly share
the gospel in any way that wecan in our sphere of influence.
(02:02):
Be with our leaders, both in thepulpit and in the state, our
pastors and priests, ourgovernors, president, vice
president, senators,representatives, mayors,
admirals, generals, judges.
(02:22):
Give them wisdom and courage anda strong faith.
Help them to rule in fear ofyou, Father.
And guide my words here, please.
And watch over those who arelistening, Father, wherever they
are, around the world, here inAmerica, be with them, be with
their families.
Guide, I'm gonna bless them.
In your son's name we pray.
(02:43):
Amen.
Have you made time for Godtoday?
Have you made time to read hisword?
Have you made time to pray, totalk to him, to listen to him?
Have you made time to be still?
And if you're married, have youmade time for your spouse?
(03:07):
Are they getting the best ofyour effort?
I I go over this the time andagain because we obviously don't
get this if you look at thestate of our marriages today.
Folks, but when we're talkingabout marriage, right, it's
supposed to be glue, it'ssupposed to be cleaving to one
another.
It's supposed to, you ought tobe too clingy, according to the
world.
(03:27):
The world ought to look at youand say, man, there's something
wrong with them.
They're too into each other.
They pay too much attention toeach other as husband and wife.
And why as Christians?
Because what's our marriagesupposed to exemplify?
It's supposed to illustrate tothe rest of the world the
relationship between Christ andthe church.
(03:51):
That is the deal.
It's not a deal, it's the deal.
If you're married.
Married verse for today.
(04:13):
A troubled knight the Shulamitebride.
I think, yes, the Shum theShulamite.
By night on my bed I sought theone I love.
I sought him, but I did not findhim.
I will rise now, I said, and goabout the city.
In the streets and in thesquares I will seek the one I
(04:33):
love.
I sought him, but I did not findhim.
The watchman who go about thecity found me.
I said, Have you seen the one Ilove?
Scarcely had I passed by themwhen I found the one I love.
I held him and would not let himgo, until I had brought him to
the house of my mother and intothe chamber of her who conceived
me.
I charge you, O daughters ofJerusalem, by the gazelles or by
(04:56):
the does of the field, do notstir up nor awaken love until it
pleases.
The coming of Solomon, theShulamite Who is this coming out
of the wilderness like pillarsof smoke, perfumed with myrrh
and frankincense?
With all the merchants' fragrantpowders.
Behold it is Solomon's couch,with sixty valiant men around
(05:18):
it.
Of the valiant of Israel, theyall hold swords, being expert in
war.
Every man has his sword on histhigh because of fear in the
night.
Of the wood of Lebanon, Solomonthe king, made himself a
palaquin.
He made its pillars of silver,its support of gold, its seed of
(05:39):
purple, its interior paved withlove.
By the daughters of Jerusalem,go forth, O daughters of Zion,
and seek King Solomon with thecrown, with which his mother
crowned him on the day of hiswedding, the day of the gladness
of his heart.
(06:12):
This Melchizedek was king of thecity of Salem, and also a priest
of God most high.
When Abraham was returning homeafter winning a great battle
against the kings, Melchizedekmet him and blessed him.
Then Abraham took a tenth of allhe had captured in battle and
gave it to Melchizedek.
(06:34):
The name Melchizedek means kingof justice, and king of Salem
means king of peace.
There is no record of his fatheror mother or any of his
ancestors, no beginning or endto his life.
He remains a priest forever,resembling the Son of God.
Consider then how great thisMelchizedek was.
(06:56):
Even Abraham, the greatpatriarch of Israel, recognized
this by giving him a tenth ofwhat he had taken in battle.
Now the law of Moses requiredthat the priests who are
descendants of Levi must collecta tithe from the rest of the
people of Israel, who are alsodescendants of Abraham.
But Melchizedek, who was not adescendant of Levi, collected a
(07:18):
tenth from Abraham, andMelchizedek placed a blessing
upon Abraham, the one who hadalready received the promises of
God, and without question theperson who has the power to give
a blessing is greater than theone who is blessed.
The priests who collect tithesare men who die.
So Melchizedek is greater thanthey are, because we are told
(07:42):
that he lives on.
In addition, we might even saythat these Levites, the ones who
collect the tithe, paid a titheto Melchizedek, when their
ancestor Abraham paid a tithe tohim.
For although Levi wasn't bornyet, the seed from which he came
was in Abraham's body whenMelchizedek collected the tithe
(08:02):
from him.
So if the priesthood of Levi onwhich the law was based could
have achieved the perfection Godintended, why did God need to
establish a different priesthoodwith a priest in the order of
Melchizedek instead of the orderof Levi and Aaron?
And if the priesthood ischanged, the law must also be
(08:23):
changed to permit it.
For the priest we are talkingabout belongs to a different
tribe, whose members have neverserved at the altar as priests.
What I mean is our Lord camefrom the tribe of Judah, and
Moses never mentioned priestscoming from that tribe.
This change has been made veryclear since a different priest
who is like Melchizedek hasappeared.
(08:45):
Jesus became a priest not bymeeting the physical requirement
of belonging to the tribe ofLevi, but by the power of a life
that cannot be destroyed.
And the psalmist pointed thisout when he prophesied, You are
a priest forever in the order ofMelchizedek.
Psalm one hundred five versesthirty seven through forty five.
(09:09):
The Lord brought his people outof Egypt loaded with silver and
gold, and not one among thetribes of Israel even stumbled.
Egypt was glad when they weregone, for they feared them
greatly.
The Lord spread a cloud abovethem as a covering, and gave
them a great fire to light thedarkness.
They asked for meat, and he sentthem quail.
(09:29):
He satisfied their hunger withmanna, bread from heaven.
He split open a rock and watergushed out to form a river
through the dry wasteland, forhe remembered his sacred promise
to his servant Abraham.
So he brought his people out ofEgypt with joy, his chosen ones
with rejoicing.
He gave his people the lands ofpagan nations, and they
(09:49):
harvested crops that others hadplanted.
All this happened so that theywould follow his decrees and
obey his instructions.
Praise the Lord.
A stone is heavy, and sand isweighty, but the resentment
caused by a fool is evenheavier.
(10:10):
There's some differenttranslations, obviously, of this
verse in Proverbs, but I can'ttell you how much you know
there's certain verses that youjust know are true, and it
strengthened your faith.
And there's a lot of those forme in Proverbs.
I I've lived some of them.
And one of them is the times inmy life when I have been
(10:32):
foolish.
And then the consequence ofwhatever that foolishness was,
man, it's heavy.
It's a burden to bear, thatfoolishness.
And it just has been everysingle time.
And I can think of a couple justspectacular examples in my life
where I have done somethingfoolish, sinful, and the weight
(10:54):
has been extremely heavy.
And then verse 45 in Psalm 105,all this happens so they would
follow his decrees and obey hisinstructions.
I wonder how often we havethings that happen in our life,
and we're so upset by them.
For whatever reason, we feelthat it's unjust or it's just
(11:16):
hard, right?
And we miss the point of Goddrawing us to himself, putting
us in a position where we'llfollow him, obey him, which is
always better for us in the end,right?
Even when it doesn't feel likeit.
Um, right, like a loving parentdisciplines their children.
(11:36):
It just kind of struck me todaywhen I was reading that.
There's an article in the recentEpic Times I talk about often by
Walker Larson, and it's calledThe Hidden Gift of Boredom.
And the subtitle is Boredom isan Opportunity for Growth,
Creativity, and Self-Discoveryfor those willing to embrace it.
(11:57):
It's a pretty lengthy article inthis newspaper.
It's a full page, and there'ssome great quotes in it.
But I think the parts thatreally struck me is him talking
about how many of us, 71% of uscheck our phones within the
first 10 minutes of our day,right?
74% of Americans feeluncomfortable leaving their cell
(12:19):
phones at home.
We have this constant in yourface ability to look at screens,
whether it's our computer, ourTV, video games, phones.
And it has taken away ourability to be bored, right?
And there's another quote inhere talking about the fact that
(12:44):
if we're constantly going, and Ican't find it right now, but
it's like a bow being pulledback under tension all the time.
Eventually it loses that abilityto be tight, right?
Like a bow and arrow you'reshooting.
And our brain is kind of likethat.
If it's just constantly going,and the only break it ever gets
(13:04):
is when we sleep, uh, we'rewe're degrading our abilities,
actually.
Anyway, if you get a chance,it's a great article talking
about our need to reflect.
And I think a lot of times wedon't like to reflect because we
don't like what we see inourselves in those moments of
boredom.
So we try and fill all our timewith distractions.
(13:27):
The other comment, and thenwe'll move on, is it reminded me
of in the Churchill biographythat I talk to y'all about every
once in a while.
It talked about the fact thatChurchill, once a day, when he
was at home in the in the 30sleading up to the war, there was
a part of each day where hewould go and sit by this little
(13:49):
pond and feed the fish.
And that's all he would do.
He would just sit there and takesome cell bread and feed these
fish and just sit there.
Nobody would talk to him.
He wasn't reading anything, hewasn't doing anything, he was
just sitting there.
And a lot of us, I think, wouldbe really bored by that.
But it let his mind, even theauthor, this biographer, it let
(14:10):
his mind kind of rejuvenate.
I think there's a lot there,folks.
If you get a chance, greatarticle by Walker Larson in the
Epic Times.
I would recommend checking itout.
Medal of Honor for today isMatthew Bickford, Corporal,
Civil War, Gulf Company, eighthMissouri Infantry, U.S.
(14:31):
Army, may twenty second,eighteen sixty three, Vicksburg,
Mississippi, gallantry in thecharge of the Volunteer Storming
Party.
Accredited to Elmwood, PeoraCounty, Illinois, not awarded
posthumously, presented augustthirty first, eighteen ninety
four, born april tenth, eighteenthirty nine, Trivolia, Peora
(14:56):
County, Illinois, died aprileighteenth, nineteen eighteen,
buried Bayview Cemetery, MH 14,20 Tac one, Bellingham,
Washington, Matthew Bickford.
All right, historical quotes.
(15:16):
Again, if you don't have a copy,I highly recommend America's
Guided Country Encyclopedia ofQuotations, Patriots Bible,
edited by Dr.
Richard Lee, and the foundersBible by the Wall Builder
Association as at least astarting point reference books.
Homeschool, just in general,they ought to be primary
(15:40):
textbooks in every school acrossthe nation.
Charter of Privileges ofPennsylvania 1701 by William
Penn Almighty God being the onlyLord of conscience, and author
as well as object of all divineknowledge, faith, and worship,
who only doth enlighten theminds and persuade and convince
(16:03):
the understandings of people.
I do hereby grant and declarethat no person or persons
inhabiting in this province orterritory, who shall confess and
acknowledge our almighty God andcreator, upholder and ruler of
the world, and profess him orthemselves obliged to live
quietly under civil government,shall be in any case molested or
(16:25):
prejudiced in his or her personor estate, and that all persons
who also profess to believe inJesus Christ as Savior of the
world shall be capable to servethis government in any capacity,
both legislatively orexecutively.
That just so illustrates whatwe've forgotten today that our
(16:46):
founders knew.
You can't force people to faith,folks.
They've got to have the abilityto make their own decision.
But if we don't have a peoplethat follow the principles of
Christ, we're going to lose ourrepublic, right?
Benjamin Rush, one of our threegreatest founders, according to
John Adams, I think, who was oursecond president, he noted that
(17:08):
the teachings of teachingchildren the Bible, the
principles of Christ, is thebest way to perpetuate our free
institutions, our Republicanform of government, which
produces liberty, right?
Republican form of governmentproduces liberty.
That's the goal.
In addition, in a Christiannation, if you're going to be a
(17:30):
leader, you have to profess andbelieve in Jesus Christ.
And we talk about that in theseoriginal state constitutions, so
many of them, right?
The requirement for faith inChrist and the commentary of so
many of our leaders.
You shouldn't have a Muslimrunning for office in New York
(17:54):
or Minnesota or anywhere else,because it it shouldn't be a
possibility for a Buddhist or aHindu or a Jew or an atheist.
You can be what you want in yourown home, but if you want to be
in the Senate or the House, orPresident or Vice President, or
(18:19):
a judge, or a governor, or amayor, or a city council member,
or any office or place of trust,you're gonna have to profess
Jesus Christ.
William Penn again, no peoplecan be truly happy, though under
(18:41):
the greatest enjoyment of civilliberties, if abridged of their
religious profession andworship.
You've got to have that ability.
One more for today, Constitutionof the State of Pennsylvania.
We the people of Pennsylvania,grateful to Almighty God for the
blessings of civil and religiousliberty and humbly invoking his
(19:01):
guidance, do ordain andestablish this Constitution.
Frame of Government, Sectionten, and each member of the
legislature, before he takes hisseat, shall make and subscribe
the following declaration.
I do believe in one God, thecreator and governor of the
universe, the rewarder of thegood and punisher of the wicked,
(19:23):
and I do acknowledge thescriptures of the Old and New
Testament to be given by divineinspiration.
When somebody tells you that wedidn't have a requirement, or we
can't have a requirement in theUnited States, in order to serve
in a public office or place oftrust, you know they don't know
(19:49):
history or they know it andthey're choosing to ignore it.
If you want to serve again, sayit just one more time for the
people in the back to make surewe're all on the same page.
In America, if you want to serveas president, vice president,
(20:10):
senator, representative,admiral, general, governor,
mayor, council member, judge,you need to be a Christian man.
(20:31):
If you are looking for afamily-friendly, middle grade
fantasy read, kind of along thelines of Narnia or The Hobbit,
if you would check outCountryside, I would be
grateful.
And if you enjoyed, if you'dleave a review, I would be very
grateful.
And if you are getting somethingout of the podcast, uh, if you'd
(20:56):
share it with other people,y'all help it to spread.
And B, there's a donation pageon the Buzz Sprout website
associated with the podcast.
If you can donate three bucks amonth, five bucks a month, that
would be wonderful.
Father, thank you for today.
(21:19):
Our Father, who art in heaven,hallowed be thy name, thy
kingdom come, thy will be doneon earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread, and forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive thosewho trespass against us, and
lead us not to temptation, butdeliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, thepower, and the glory forever and
ever.
Amen.
(21:39):
God bless y'all.
God bless your families, Godbless your marriages if you're
married, God bless America, Godbless your nation, wherever you
are around the world.
Listen, we'll talk to you allagain real soon, folks.
Looking forward to it.
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