The Backbone Of A Nation

What if the strongest force in a nation isn’t fame or firepower, but ordinary people who show up every day? We open with gratitude and prayer, then follow a simple thread through work, worship, and home: consistency beats spectacle. From corporals and reservists to moms, dads, and steady employees, the quiet habit of daily duty holds far more weight than applause ever will.

We read from Song of Solomon to remember the beauty of committed love, then turn to Romans 3 to confront a hard truth we all share: no one makes it on merit alone. The law exposes our need; grace through faith in Jesus Christ answers it. That isn’t permission to coast. It’s power to try again, to obey with humility, and to measure greatness by faithfulness. We talk candidly about doubt and assurance—why uncertainty doesn’t cancel belief but can deepen it—and call out the lie that you must be “enough” before God will love you. The gospel says Jesus is enough, and that changes how we show up in everything.

We also bring in Theodore Roosevelt’s provocative claim that communities without church life tend to decay. He saw how vibrant congregations spark moral renewal and even practical revival in rural towns. That civic insight pairs with our theme: show up at church, let skipped Sundays be rare, and let your faith inform your marriage, your parenting, and your work. If you crave fewer headlines and more hope, this conversation offers grounded encouragement: practice the small, faithful steps that quietly build homes, congregations, and a nation worth handing down.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review. Tell us where you’re choosing to show up this week—we’d love to hear your story.

Transcript

Welcome And Opening Prayer

SPEAKER_00 0:02

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 in whatever part of the day you're in. I sure do appreciate you joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and attention. Little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. Hopefully, y'all are getting to listen to it with someone else. For those of you all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, to share the podcast with others, television about it, thank you so much, especially for your prayers. Very, very grateful for them. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins.

The Backbone Of America

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Through the merit of your son Jesus Christ alone. Forgive us our pride, Father. Arrogance. Judgment of others. Laziness. Procrastination. Vanity. Lust. Covetousness. Lies. Deceit. Gossip. Slander. Cowardice and our unbelief, Father. Help us to overcome them all. We do believe. Be with those who listen to the podcast. Father, thank you for them. Be with their families. Bless the marriages of those who are married. Guide those who have children and raising them to know you and your Son Jesus Christ. Help us to help our nation turn back to you, Father. Help us to help those who have less than we do. Be with our leaders. In the state. President, vice president, governors, senators, representatives, admirals, and generals. Be with the leaders in those nations around the world where people are listening as well, Father. Prime Ministers, Parliament, Secretaries. And be with our leaders in the pulpit. Our pastors, our priests, our bishops. Help them all to rule in fear of you, Father. And watch over those who are hurting and alone, Lord. And God, my word to your place. In your son's name we pray. Amen. So I'm probably gonna try and pack too much into this podcast today. Um but we're gonna give it a shot. This little bit will actually connect, I hope will, with the end the historical readings from the day. And it it really just has to do, folks, with the everyday average American.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

He said the backbone of the Marine Corps.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

There's a couple different ways you can look at it. It's your corporals, sergeants, lieutenants, your junior but junior to mid-grade, enlisted and officers. Right? The ones who show up every single day. But even more than that, it is the reservist. And I always thought that was kind of interesting.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

I asked him about it at one point because the professionals are the ones that stay their whole career.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

And this isn't to take away from them, folks.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

This isn't I don't have to tear them down to build up this other, right? Just like I would argue for the Marine Corps, as much as I enjoy picking on my brothers in the Army and the Navy and the Air Force.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

That's really in good fun. Because they do the same thing in reverse.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

I'm doing a really poor job of this, folks, but the what really builds our nation, what holds our institutions together, it's the everyday man and woman.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

The people that show up day after day after day with no fanfare, nobody's there cheering them on, but they do their job. And they do it over and over and over again. As a Christian, as a husband or a wife, as a father or a mother, as a son or daughter, brother, sister, as an employee, right?

Show Up Every Day

SPEAKER_00 6:12

You see this raid that that just happened recently down in Venezuela where they captured Maduro, and you're gonna hear all this talk about Delta Force, just like we hear all this talk about the Navy SEALs, and man, those guys are awesome. And they put in so much time and effort and work.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

And they ought to be praised.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

But that's a pretty small percentage, folks, of the population. At the end of the day, if we don't have people, and and you know what makes those men great? Even even at the height of the profession and skill, they show up every day, folks. They train every day. That's what makes them great. You want to be a great servant to Jesus Christ, show up every day. You want to be a great husband or wife, show up every day. You want to be a great father or mother, show up every day. You want to be a great American citizen, show up every day. You want to be a great marine, sailor, airman, right, soldier, show up every day. You want to be a great employee for your business, show up every day. And what do I mean by that? I know this is going longer than I intended, folks, but come in, do your job, do your duty, keep your mouth shut as much as possible.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

And your head down, and just keep moving. Those are the people in every single aspect of our nation.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

Those are the people that make us great.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

That's what is the backbone of our nation. That's what carries the burden.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

It's not the pomp and ceremony and the you know, if you've got it, it it's not the actors and the actresses and the pop singers and the professional athletes or the college athletes. Those are not the people that make our nation great. Those are not the backbone of our nation. And any of those people that are truly great, because there are some of them, folks. You know why they're great?

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Because they do their job every day. Humbly. Those are the ones that are great. Marriage verse for today.

Beyond Fame And Fanfare

Song Of Solomon Reading

Romans 3 And Grace Through Faith

SPEAKER_00 9:01

We're gonna go back into Song of Solomon, chapter two. I am the spring crocus blooming on the Sharon Plain, the lily of the valley. Young man, like a lily among thistles, is my darling among women. Young woman, like the finest apple tree in the orchard is my lover among other young men. I sit in his delightful shade and taste his delicious fruit. He escorts me to the banquet hall. It's obvious how much he loves me. Strengthen me with raisin cakes, refresh me with apples, for I am weak with love. His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me. Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the wild deer not to awaken love until the time is right. Ah, I hear my lover coming. He is leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. My lover is like a swift gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he is behind the wall, looking through the window, peering into the room. My lover said to me, Rise up, my darling, come away with me, my fair one. Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtle doves fills the air. The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grape vines are blossoming. Rise up, my darling, come away with me, my fair one. Young man, my dove is hiding behind the rocks, behind an outcrop on the cliff. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. For your voice is pleasant and your face is lovely. Catch all the foxes, those little foxes before they run, ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming. Young woman, my lover is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies. Before the dawn breezes blow, and the night shadows flee. Return to me my love like a gazelle or a young stag on the rugged mountains. I'm gonna get this all out of order with our scripture reading today, and I apologize, but I read uh a different reading recently, and it really spoke to me. I hope it will to y'all too, so I wanted to interject it in here. This is out of Romans 3, starting with verse 9. Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all. For we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin, as the scriptures say. No one is righteous, not even one. No one is truly wise, no one is seeking God. All have turned away, all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one. Their talk is foul like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies. Snake venom drips from their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them. They don't know where to find peace. They have no fear of God at all. Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned. We all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God in his grace freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People were made right with God, and they believed that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past. For he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness. For he makes himself, for he himself is fair unto us, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Can we boast then that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law, it is based on faith. So we're made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not. In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law. The faithful have vanished from the earth. Neighbors lie to each other, speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts. May the Lord cut off their flattering lips and silence their boastful tongues. They say, We will lie to our hearts content. Our lips are our own. Who can stop us? The Lord replies, I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them as they have longed for me to do. The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over. Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation, even though the wicked strut about, and evil is praised throughout the land. A foolish child is a calamity to a father. A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as a constant dripping. Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding wife. July 3, 1869, Hell Canyon, Arizona. What a place. Conspicuous gallantry and action. That's the whole citation. Washington, District of Columbia, not awarded post-humously, presented March 3rd, 1870. 1870. Born 1840, Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey, died December 7th. That date has meaning for quite a few of us. 1911. Or December the 8th for some people. Buried Arlington National Cemetery, 32162, Whiskey Sierra, Arlington, Virginia. Sanford Bradbury, Indian campaigns. You know there was a lot more that went on in order for him to get the Medal of Honor than just conspicuous gallantry in action, right? You know there's a lot in between the lines. And what a place, Hell Canyon.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Goodness gracious. So we're going to try and read two things from Theodore Roosevelt. Today we'll see how much we get.

Reflections On Truth And Society

SPEAKER_00 17:29

Both of them are from 1917. The first is an article published in October for the Ladies' Home Journal. It's titled, Shall We Do Away with the Church? I know all the excuses for not going by Theodore Rosewell. I'm just going to read a little part, folks. This is a very lengthy article that he wrote for the Lady's Home Journal. And maybe one day we'll read the whole thing. But for today, we're just going to read this whole first section. Religious formalism has been the enemy of religion from the days of the Pharisees to the days of those ultra-Sebatarian formalists who would turn the Christian Sunday into what they imagined the day was when the formalist priests of the Temple of Jerusalem revised the Mosaic law in sharp antagonism to the prophets. Nevertheless, in this actual world, a churchless community, a community where men have abandoned and scoffed at or ignored their religious needs is a community on the rapid downgrade. It is perfectly true that occasional individuals or families may have nothing to do with church or with religious practices and observances, and yet maintain the highest standard of spirituality and of ethical obligation. But this does not affect the case in the world as it is now, any more than that exceptional men and women under exceptional conditions have disregarded the marriage tie without moral harm to themselves, interferes with the larger fact that such disregard, if at all common, means the complete moral disintegration of the body politic. In the pioneer days of the West, we found it an unfailing rule that after a community had existed for a certain length of time, either church was built or else the community began to go downhill. In these communities in the eastern states, which have gone backward, it is noticeable that the retrogression has been both marked and accentuated by a rapid decline in church membership and work, the two facts being so interrelated that each stands to the other partly as a cause and partly as a fact as an effect. This has occurred not only in the quote poor white sections of the South, but in the small hamlets of the abandoned farm regions of New England and New York. As the people Grow slack and dispirited, they slip from all effective interest in church activities. And the building up of a strong country church or young men's Christian association in such a community often has an astonishing effect in putting such rural life into them, that their moral betterment stimulates a marked physical betterment in their homes and farms. But it's very lengthy, and I'm already trying to cram too much into this one podcast. But I hope that kind of ties into the original monologue here. It's the showing up every day, folks. Go to church each Sunday. Make the Sundays that you don't go the exceptions. Make the days where you don't succeed as a servant of Christ, as a husband, as a wife, as a father, as a mother. Try to lessen those days. And don't give yourself the excuse, right? Like you go back to the Bible verses talking about, well, can we just throw the law out then since we have faith? No. It's still there, folks. We still have an obligation to strive to follow God's commands, even though we know we're going to fail. The point is to get up each day, show up, keep our mouth shut and our head down, and push forward. And a lot of our problems are from over. We're just too busy, folks. We've said yes to too many things, a lot of it to trash. Entertainment, sports. You don't need those things in the modern context. There's a lot of things great with sports, folks. But we have turned sports and entertainment into little gods.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

At any rate, hopefully that ties in for you.

Medal Of Honor Note: Sanford Bradbury

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Show up each day. The other quote here, we had some more to read from this, but I'm not going to try and cram that in. This is the foreword from Theodore Roosevelt. He wrote a book called The Foes of Our Own Household. And it was also published in 1917 by George H. Doran Company. The subtitle here by Theodore Roosevelt, author of Fear God and Take Your Own Part.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

And all I want to read is the forward to you. I'm not going to do it. We'll come back to it.

Theodore Roosevelt On The Church

SPEAKER_00 22:40

The foreword's too long. Let me end with this. The reason that I read those Bible verses today is that I had somebody come up to me, talk to me about doubts and fears. And I have struggled as a Christian, as an adult with doubts and fears. Am I really saved? And there's a lot of people out there, folks, that are going to jump on this and they're going to say, oh, if you don't know, then you're not saved. That is Bravo Sierra. Because nobody knows. That's why it's called faith, folks. If you knew it wouldn't be faith. It's like trying to say you're brave when you're not scared. The only possible way a person can be brave is when they're scared. The only possible way you can have faith is when you don't know. If you know, it's not faith, folks. God and Jesus Christ are bigger than your doubts and fears. For me, I think a lot of my doubts and fears come from two things. One, I consider myself a pretty decent guy. And I think I ought to be able to work my way into heaven, I think subconsciously still, even though I know I can't. But I think that somehow works into my mind, and I think, oh man, I really got to do better today, or I'm not going to make it. Well, no, I'm never going to make it without Jesus Christ. It's impossible. I have no hope outside of Christ. The other part is the devil whispering in my ear, and perhaps yours going, You're not good enough. You're never going to be good enough. He doesn't want you. The first part is true. We're not good enough. We're never going to be good enough. That's why we need Jesus Christ. The second part is a lie. God loves us despite the fact that we're sinners. He knows we're sinners. He knew it before he sent his son. And he still sent his son to die. Imagine that, if you will, if you're a parent. You know there's this horrible person out there. Are you going to send your child to die for them?

SPEAKER_01 24:54

But God did. I hope that's encouraging.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

Go back and read Romans again. I hope that's encouraging. And the last thing I'll leave you with, because it just struck me, this particular translation, when you go back and look at it, Proverbs 19, 14, the last part of that verse. Only the Lord can give an understanding wife. Young men or young women, there is nothing I can recommend for you to do more than figure out what God tells you your roles are as a husband and wife. Search for somebody that fits those roles for you as a husband and wife, and pray and talk to God about your marriage before you get married. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, my 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 healing, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.