Guardianship And Grace

Grief has a way of sharpening the soul. We begin with a hard headline and turn to Psalm 31, letting the words “you care about the anguish of my soul” frame a conversation about trust, purpose, and the kind of courage that holds when the world feels unsteady. From that posture, we ask what obedience looks like at home, at work, and in the public square—where our choices echo far beyond our own lives.

We sit with Ephesians 5 to recover the shape of covenant love. Husbands are called to a self-giving pattern that mirrors Christ’s sacrifice; wives are called to a respect that nurtures unity. The image of a rowboat makes it practical: when both row in rhythm, families move forward; when we pull against each other, exhaustion sets in. Then Matthew 25 pulls us further. The bridesmaids teach readiness you cannot borrow, and the talents demand stewardship of the gifts you actually have. Readiness looks like prayer and repentance; stewardship looks like faithful risk and daily work for the good.

Wisdom literature steadies the compass. Psalm 31 gives language for fear and hope. Proverbs 8 reminds us that wisdom calls in plain words at the crossroads. We honor George Breeman’s quiet heroism aboard the USS Kearsarge and then turn to President James Garfield’s warning that Congress reflects the people. If we tolerate corruption, we get corruption; if we demand integrity, we get courage. Culture follows what we celebrate, fund, and excuse. That puts responsibility back where it belongs—on our choices, our time, our votes, and our daily habits.

If this resonates, share it with a friend, leave a review, and consider supporting the show so we can keep building a space for Scripture-shaped courage. Subscribe for more conversations that strengthen your home, clarify your thinking, and call you to use your gifts with purpose. What’s the one talent you’ll put to work this week?

#JamesGarfield #Congress #DailyScripture

Chapters

• 0:00 Opening Scripture And Tragic News
• 0:40 Welcome And Prayer
• 3:00 Ephesians On Marriage Roles
• 6:05 Parables Of Readiness And Stewardship
• 11:00 Psalms And Proverbs On Trust And Wisdom
• 13:10 Medal Of Honor Spotlight
• 14:40 Garfield On Congress And Civic Duty
• 19:20 Cultural Leadership And Personal Responsibility
• 20:45 Books, Support, And Closing Prayer

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:02

Psalm thirty-one, verse seven. I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul. On August 5th, 2023, Rachel Moran, who was a mother of five, was raped and murdered while jogging on the Maw and Paw Trail by Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador. Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well. I appreciate you joining me, giving me a little bit of your time. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast and tell others about it, thank you for those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast. Thank you very much. Very, 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 all your many blessings. Forgive us our sins, surround us with your angels, protect us from evil of any kind. Thank you for those who listen to the podcast. Please be with them, be with their families. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Bless the marriages of those who are married. Guide those who have children to raise them. To know you and your Son Jesus Christ. Forgive us when we fail, Father. Forgive us our greed, our selfishness, pride, arrogance, judgment of others, rash words and actions, our cowardice, our unbelief, our gossip and slander, our lust, our covetousness, our procrastination, our laziness, our lack of gratitude. Help us to overcome them all. We do believe. Be with the families of those who have been lost, father. Innocent citizens, law enforcement, military, firefighters, EMS, children. Comfort them. Help us to comfort them as we're able. Be with our leaders in the pulpit and in the state. From the president and vice president on down, our pastors, our priests. Help us to do your will in all things, Father. Guide our nation back to you. Help us to humble ourselves before you. To love mercy, to act justly. And please guide my words here, Father. Your son's name we pray. Amen. Marriage verse for today is out of Ephesians chapter 5, verses 22 and through uh 33. There you go. I'll get it right in a minute. We always start with 22. You'll notice some of the newer translations through 21 in there in this section on marriage, but if you look at the King James Version, the NASB, and some others that are considered pretty faithful, uh and you can see it yourself. You can go through and read that verse 21 goes with the previous section. So we'll start with verse 22 here. Wives, submit yourselves to the Lord or to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body just as Christ does the church, for we are members of his body. For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery, but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. This has gotten way out of whack in recent decades, folks, really over the last 80 years, half century for sure, kicked into high gear. If you want, as a husband, if you want a wife that respects you, submits to you, physically satisfies you, you have a responsibility to love her, nourish her, cherish her, as the Bible talks about, right? Same thing in the verse. As a wife, if you want a husband who cares for you, nurtures you, uh, is gentle with you, honors you, then you have to be a wife who respects him, submits to him, physically satisfies him. It's two sides of the same coin, folks. And it it's like a rowboat with two people in it. And as long as both people are rowing together in the same direction, you know, we can make some progress. We can make a lot of progress. But if you only have one person rowing, or if they're rowing in opposite directions, then it gets all helterskelter. The rowboat's just going in circles. Uh, you get frustrated and bitter and exhausted, and it just doesn't work. And that's that's kind of where we are across society today with men and women. Scripture. Uh for today we're going to go into Matthew 25, verse 1 through 30. Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn't take enough oil for their own lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight they were roused by the shout, Look, the bridegroom is coming. Come out and meet him. All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, Please give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out. But the others replies replied, We don't have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves. But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside calling, Lord, Lord, open the door for us. But he called back, believe me, I don't know you. So you too must keep watch, for you do not know the day or the hour of my return. Pretty good reason for us to pay attention, right, on a day-to-day basis, to look for the Lord's return, to be prepared, right, not to depend on somebody else to be prepared for us. Again, the kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last, dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more. The master was full of praise. Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together. The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more. The master said, Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling the small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together. Then the servant, that's and that's the hope, right? That's the ultimate hope, is to hear God say one day, Well done, good and faithful servant. No greater hope. Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn't plant, and gathering crops you didn't cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back. But the master replied, You wicked and lazy servant, if you knew I harvested crops I didn't plant and gathered crops I didn't cultivate, why didn't you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it. Then he ordered, Take the money from this servant and give it to the one with ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Do we use our talents well, folks? Whatever you've got, if it's strength, speed, intelligence, beauty, kindness, compassion, leadership, whatever it is, whatever talents God has given. Not the talents we wish he had given us, by the way, but the ones we really have. Are we using them to save lost souls by bringing them to God in Jesus Christ to further the kingdom, to spread the gospel? Are we storing up for ourselves treasures in heaven, not here on earth? Psalm 31, verses 1 through 8. O Lord, I have come to you for protection. Don't let me be disgraced. Save me, for you do what is right. Turn your ear to listen to me, rescue me quickly. Be my rock of protection, a fortress where I will be safe. You are my rock and my fortress, for the honor of your name. Lead me out of this danger. Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me, for I find protection in you alone. I entrust my spirit into your hand. Rescue me, Lord, for you are my faithful God. You are a faithful God. I hate those who worship worthless idols. I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles and you care about the anguish of my soul. You have not handed me over to my enemies, but have set me in a safe place. That verse seven just seemed to fit our little piece of news slash history from the beginning of the podcast today. Proverbs 8, verses 1 through 11. Listen as wisdom calls out, hear as understanding raises her voice on the hilltop along the road. She takes her stand at the crossroads. By the gates at the entrance to the town, on the road leading in, she cries aloud. I call to you, to all of you. I raise my voice to all people. You simple people, use good judgment. You foolish people, show some understanding. Listen to me, for I have important things to tell you. Everything I say is right, for I speak the truth, and detest every kind of deception. My advice is wholesome, there is nothing devious or crooked in it. My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those with knowledge. Choose my instruction rather than silver and knowledge rather than pure gold, for wisdom is far more valuable than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with it. Is it plain to all of us what's going on in the world? Do we have understanding, folks, or are we confused? Read the Bible. Every day. Pray. Every day. It's the old Horace Greeley quote, right? It's impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. And sadly, we have become not a Bible-reading people. Medal of Honor for today, George Breeman, Seaman, highest rank, chief turret captain. Interim 1899 to 1910, USS Kearsarge, U.S. Navy, April 13th, 1906, at Cape Cruise on board the USS Kearsarge, Cuba. Bremen displayed heroism in the line of his profession while serving on board the USS Kearsarge at the time of the accidental ignition of powder charges in the forward 13-inch gun turret. Accidental ignition, don't you know that got a little dicey? Accredited to New Jersey, not awarded posthumously, presented. No, it doesn't have the presentation. Born September 15, 1880, Passock County, New Jersey, died April 10th, 1937, Passock, New Jersey. Buried Arlington National Cemetery, 6-TAC-9743-TAC-SH Arlington, Virginia. George Breeman. Another name, folks, we ought to remember far more than the movie stars, actors and actresses, etc. All right, so we're going to read a little bit from a speech, I think, or an article that President James A. Garfield wrote, A Century of Congress was the title. It was published in the Atlantic Monthly in April of 1877. And we're going to just read a few excerpts from it. We have seen the close of our memorial year, during which societies, the states, and the nation have been reviewing the completed century and forecasting the character of that which has just begun. Our people have been tracing the footprints of the fathers along the many paths which united to form the great highway whereon 44 million of Americans are now marching. If we would profit by the great lessons of the centennial year, we must study thoughtfully and reverently the elements and forces that have made the Republic what it is, and which will, in a great measure, shape and direct its future. The history of liberty and union in this country, as developed by the men of 1776 and maintained by their successors, is inseparably connected with the history of the national legislature. Nor can they be separated in the future. The Union and the Congress must share the same fate. They must rise or fall together. Yeah. Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature. The most alarming feature of our situation is the fact that so many citizens of high character and solid judgment pay but little attention to the sources of political power, to the selection of those who shall make the laws. Corrupt and incompetent presidents, judges, and legislators can be removed, but when the fountains of political power are corrupted, when voters themselves become venal and elections fraudulent, there is no remedy except by awakening the public conscience and bringing to bear upon the subject the power of public opinion and the penalties of the law. If there's not penalties, folks, like for these politicians that are encouraging citizens to attack law enforcement officers, right? If there's not penalties for politicians and leaders that have gone to Epstein Island with underage girls, if there's not consequences for these politicians that are supporting other countries openly, like Somalia, as opposed to the United States, it's just going to keep happening. And it happens because we allow it. Congress must always be the exponent of the political character and culture of the people. And if the next centennial does not find us a great nation with a great and worthy Congress, it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces which are employed to select men who shall occupy the great places of trust and power. You know, at the beginning of our nation, we required the majority, the overwhelming majority of our state constitutions required elected and appointed officials to be Christian. And if you look around today at our cultural leaders, you look at awards ceremonies that happen now for professional athletes or actors, actresses, singers, and you see so many people that should be cultural leaders, that instead of leading the United States in a positive manner, promoting virtue and morality, they do the opposite. They tear the country down. You look at President Garfield's message here again from 1877, right? And you see clearly, like we we like to point fingers at the politicians. We like to point fingers at the professional and college athletes, the actors and actresses, right? Uh pop singers. And that's valid to a certain degree, but we're the ones that are giving them money, giving them time, giving them attention, voting for them. And this is not just over the last five years, folks. It's not just the last election cycle or two or three or even four. This is decades in the making. We reject God, right? We push him out of the way, and we embrace immorality. And then we act shocked when the results are what we see today. If you are looking for a family-friendly little grade read that hopefully puts a little bit more of the values of Christ in it than the world, you check out Countryside. These are the first two books. And if you enjoy them, if you would leave a review, those help immensely. And if you feel like you're getting something on the podcast, if you would leave a review of the podcast, and if you have five or ten dollars a month that you can donate to the podcast, there's links in the show notes where you can do both of those things. And I would be very, very grateful for that. 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 the stay our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your families, God bless your marriages if you're married. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world listening. God bless America. We'll talk to y'all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.