Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well wherever you all are and whatever part of the day you're in. Sure to 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. 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, 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 sin through the merit of your son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for your word and the ability to read it without fear of persecution. Please be with those who don't have that. Freedom. And help us to do all we can to help them, to help those around the world who are being persecuted for the name of your son Jesus Christ. And help us to help those here in America who are being persecuted for following your son Jesus Christ. Forgive us our lack of gratitude for those who have come before us and suffered so much to give us the liberties that we enjoy, including reading your word and worshiping you and your son Jesus Christ as we see fit according to your word and not according to the dictates of the state or the church. Be with our leaders. Be with those listen to the podcast, Father, bless them, bless their marriages. Surround us with your angels, protect us from evil of any kind. Help us to love you with all that we are, to love our neighbors as ourselves. And be with those who are hurting, Father. Those who are homeless, cold, hungry, thirsty, help us to care for them with actions and not just words. And God, my words here, Father, please. Your son's name we pray. Amen. How have you spent your last 24 hours, folks? Are you pleased with it? If you had a spreadsheet, a Excel spreadsheet, or a notebook with all the different categories listed. God, spouse, kids, parents, friends, social media, phone, TV, sports, workouts, hobbies. Maybe like a pie chart. And it showed you how much you spent on each category. Would you be pleased with that? And if not, what are you gonna do about it? If you are pleased with it, great. If you're pleased with it, does it line up with what God's pleased with? Right, that would probably be the follow-on question. If you're not pleased with it, how are you gonna change that today? What can you do today? What small step can you take? For example, if it's if it's reading the Bible and praying, find five minutes to do that. If it's making your spouse a priority, same thing. Find something that you can do today to show them that they're a priority. The only caveat there, of course, being it has to actually be something that makes them feel like a priority. It can't be something that would make you feel like a priority, because that doesn't work. Right? It has to be something that makes them know that they're a priority. Marriage verse for today, verses one Peter three, verses one through seven. In the same way you wives be submissive to your own husbands, so that if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be one without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chast and respectful behavior. Your adornment must not be merely external, braiding the hair and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. For in this way in former times the holy women also who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear. You husbands in the same way live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman, and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered. It's really not gray, folks, when we look at our roles and responsibilities as a husband or a wife. Bible verses today first Peter two, eleven, verses three through seven again. Okay, well, we're gonna read this twice today. Sorry about that. Dear friends, I warn you, as temporary residents and foreigners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls, be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then, even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. For the Lord's sake, submit to all human authority, whether the king as head of state or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong, and to honor those who do right. It is God's will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. For you are free, yet you are God's slaves, so don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king. You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you, not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong, but if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good even if it means suffering just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross, so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you were healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away, but now you have turned to your shepherd, the guardian of your souls. In the same way you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then even if some refuse to obey the good news, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives. Don't be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands. For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do. In the same way you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. Treat her as you should, so your prayers will not be hindered. Psalm one nineteen verses forty nine through sixty four. Remember your promise to me, it is my only hope. Your promise revives me. It comforts me in all my troubles. The proud hold me in utter contempt, but I do not turn away from your instructions. I meditate on your age old regulations, O Lord, they comfort me. I become furious with the wicked because they reject your instructions. Your decrees have been the theme of my songs wherever I have lived. I reflect at night on who you are, O Lord, therefore I obey your instructions. This is how I spend my life obeying your commandments. Lord, you are mine. I promise to obey your words. With all my heart I want your blessings. Be merciful as you promised. I ponder the direction of my life, and I turned to follow your laws. I will hurry without delay to obey your commands. Evil people try to drag me into sin, but I am firmly anchored to your instructions. I rise at midnight to thank you for your regulations. I am a friend to anyone who fears you, anyone who obeys your commandments. O Lord, your unfailing love fills the earth. Teach me your decrees. When the godly succeed, I sorry, Proverbs twenty eight verses twelve through thirteen. When the godly succeed, everyone is glad. When the wicked take charge, people go into hiding. People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. When the wicked take charge, people go into hiding. That's going to come back later in the podcast. There's a ton here that's good, folks, in 1 Peter 2 and 3. Temporary residents and foreigners, right? You're looking at verse 11. To keep away from worldly desires, Jesus tells us to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, not here on earth. And part of that has to be that we have to realize that we're just passing through here. This is not our permanent home. This is not our last home. We're just passing through on the way to heaven with God and Jesus Christ. The other, though, I think, and I'll leave it here for today, because there's a lot more out of Peter. But Psalm 119, verses 49 and 50. Remember your promise to me, it is my only hope. Your promise revives me, it comforts me in all my troubles. God raised him from the dead. And that should be, God can't lie. He promises that if we acknowledge Christ as his son, acknowledge, confess that he rose from the dead, right? That God raised him from the dead, that we have eternal life. And that ought to be a great hope for us, folks. That ought to be a comfort in all of our troubles and afflictions is that we have eternal life. And one day we're going to get to be in heaven with God instead of in this earthly, temporal body. And we're not going to have any more injuries if you're injured, any more illness, if you're if you're sick, any more heartache, if you're brokenhearted. Whatever it is, folks, whatever thorn in your flesh, cross that you're carrying, there's going to come a day where you don't have to anymore. And I hope that gives you as much encouragement and hope as it does me. Arnold last name. Bjorland. Bjorland? Not sure about the last name, folks. First Lieutenant World War II, hundred and forty second Infantry Regiment, thirty sixth Infantry Division, U.S. Army. Medal of Honor Action Date, September thirteenth, nineteen forty-three. Altavilla, Italy. For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty and action with the enemy near Altavilla, Italy, thirteenth, september nineteen forty three. When his company attacked a German position on Hill four hundred twenty four, the first platoon led by first Lieutenant Borklund, moved forward on the right flank to the slope of the hill where it was pinned down by a heavy concentration of machine gun and rifle fire. Ordering his men to give covering fire, with only three hand grenades he crept and crawled forward to a German machine gun position located on a terrace along the forward slope. Approaching within a few yards of the position, and while continuously exposed to enemy fire, he hurled one grenade into the nest, destroyed the gun, and killed three Germans. Discovering a second machine gun twenty yards to the right on a higher terrace, he moved under intense enemy fire to a point within a few yards and threw a second grenade into this position, destroying it and killing two more Germans. The first platoon was then able to advance 150 yards further up the slope to the crest of the hill, but was again stopped by the fire from a heavy enemy mortar on the reverse slope. First Lieutenant Borkland located the mortar and worked his way under little cover to within ten yards of its position and threw his third grenade, destroying the mortar, killing two of the Germans and forcing the remaining three to flee. His actions permitted the platoon to take its objective. Accredited to Seattle King County, Washington, not awarded posthumously. Presented august thirtieth, nineteen forty four at the White House Oval Office by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Born april fourteenth, nineteen eighteen, Clinton, Island County, Washington, died november twenty eighth, nineteen seventy nine, Vancouver, Washington. Buried Williamette National Cemetery Zero Tech three hundred four six Portland, Oregon, United States. Arnold Lorkland BJ O R K L U N D'As. And you have to not only remember this man, but the women, the family members that we're willing to give him to, right? Wife, mother, sisters, father, brothers. But it's also sad because we don't know any of these names today, hardly. And yet we know so well so many of the professional athletes, singers, songwriters, actors, actresses that care so little about the country with a lukewarm attitude or even antagonistic toward it. All right, so we're gonna start on something and we'll see. We're not gonna get very far. This is a article, Lawlessness as a Choice, by Miranda Devine, who's a columnist for the New York Post, and I just wanted to run through, we'll see, maybe spend a day or two on it. I don't know. It's again there's a lot to it. Uh one of the first is she's talking about Jasmine Crockett, who's a Texas Democrats congresswoman, uh, her conclusion that just because someone has committed a crime, it doesn't make them a criminal. And she said, I can see how this logic would have a wide range of uses for politicians. Just because somebody told a lie doesn't make them a liar. Just because somebody took a bribe, it doesn't make them corrupt. Right? You if you can change and make all the evils not evil, uh, you can do whatever you want. And and part of the problem here, what's the job of the government? There's two jobs: external defense, internal justice, above all else. Well, if you're gonna negate internal justice, that's pretty much treason, right? You go back and you remember Benghazi, although that was external, President Obama and Secretary Clinton abandoned four Americans, including one of our ambassadors, to die. Then they lied about it, then they pretended it didn't matter anyway, right? And so uh stumbled across a quote from Noel Webster doing research for this podcast. If I can find the quote real quick. This is out of his 1832 dictionary. Treason is the highest crime of a civil nature of which a man can be guilty. It goes on to describe treason. In general, it's the offense of attempting to overthrow the government of a state to which the offender owes allegiance, or of betraying the state into the hands of a foreign power. In monarchies, the killing of a king or the attempt to take his life is treason. In England to imagine or compass the death of the king, or of the prince, or of the queen consort, or of the heir apparent, or the crown is high treason, as are many other offenses created by statute. In the United States, treason is confined to the actual levying of war against the United States or in adhering to their enemies giving them aid and comfort. If you're trying to undermine, right, you go back to this comment by Crockett, uh just because someone has committed a crime, it doesn't make them a criminal. You're undermining the government, the foundation of our nation. And when you really look, and we'll talk about this some more over the next couple days, you look at the actions of the left, followers of the left, followers of Islam, and you you see, and they go hand in hand, and we're going to talk about that, this steady, consistent effort to undermine the foundations of our nation. That sounds pretty well like it fits the definition of trees in there from Noah Webster. If you're looking for a family-friendly middle-grade read, I would humbly recommend Countryside if you get a chance to check it out. If you enjoy it, if you would leave a recommend uh review, I would appreciate that. And if you feel like you're getting something out of the podcast and you can leave three or four or five bucks a month, uh I would appreciate that. There's a donation page on the Buzz Sprout website for the podcast. I'd be grateful, very grateful for both of those, either of those. 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 you 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. We'll talk to you all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.