What Would You Risk For Truth And Liberty

Service isn’t soft power; it’s the backbone of real leadership. We open with Mark 10’s bracing call to be different—leaders who become servants—and then press that truth into the places that test us most: our marriages, our parenting, and our public courage. The heartbeat of the conversation is simple and sharp: love is proven by priorities, and freedom survives only where virtue has roots.

From the disciples’ scramble for status to Bartimaeus shouting for mercy while the crowd sneers, we explore how faith resists social pressure and how the world changes its tune when conviction gains attention. We talk frankly about screens that steal presence, the quiet joy and chaos of raising children, and why almost no one dies wishing they had worked more hours. Along the way, Psalm 45’s picture of order and honor challenges our confusion about roles, showing how structure can shelter joy rather than suffocate it.

We widen the lens with hard history and current events: coordinated terror in Paris, the moral rot of ideologies that sever power from truth, and a courageous publisher in Hong Kong whose sentence tries to cage a soul that refuses to bow. The throughline is not politics-for-sport; it’s the deeper question of character. Generals and founders agreed: weapons and laws matter, but victories and liberty hinge on spirit, discipline, and moral ballast. If we want a nation of the free, we need homes of the brave and churches that form conscience.

Listen to be challenged, encouraged, and re-centered on what lasts: serving before leading, loving before posting, and standing when standing is lonely. If this episode sparks something in you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review to help others find the show. What will you risk, and whom will you serve, today?

#JimmyLia #DailyScripture #MedalofHonor

Transcript

Opening Scripture On Service

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Mark ten verses forty-three through forty-five. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve others, and to give his life as a ransom for many. July fourth, twenty eighteen, in Oregon, woman was sexually assaulted while walking on Independence Day by Kevin Contreras Mendoza, an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

Host Welcome And Prayer

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

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. Sure do 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 much. Very, very grateful for your prayers. Need them and want 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 through the merit of your son Jesus Christ. Forgive us our greed, Father, our pride, our arrogance, selfishness, judgment of others, rash words and actions, our hypocrisy.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

For not forgiving and loving others, as you have forgiven and love us. Forgive us our cowardice and our unbelief. Help us to overcome them.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

We do believe. Be with those who are hurting, Father, those who are alone and brokenhearted, confused, who feel abandoned, anxious, depressed, suicidal.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Help them to feel your presence, Father. Help us to shine a little bit of light into this world. From your Son Jesus Christ, leading others to him, and therefore to you. Help us to love you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, to love our neighbors as ourselves. Help us to not confuse condoning evil with love, encouraging others to sin with love. Be with our leaders in the pulpit and in the state. Help them to rule in fear of you. Help us to choose leaders who rule in fear of you, to choose followers of your Son Jesus Christ for leaders. Help us to spread light into the rest of the world again, Father. Be with those listening to the podcast. Bless their families, their marriages, their children. Guide our steps and guide my words here, Father, please.

Marriage And Family Priorities

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Your son's name we pray. Amen. Marriage verse for today, Genesis 2, 24 and 25. This is the reason that a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife, and they become one flesh.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

The two of them were naked. The man and his wife, but they weren't embarrassed.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Nobody else on earth, folks, no other relationship does God tell you to become one flesh with besides your spouse. Do you treat them that way?

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Do you treat them as if they're one out of seven billion? Do you treat them better than you treat your phone or your TV remote or sports?

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Also, I didn't put it here, but this reminds me of God's command to be fruitful and multiply, right? In a psalm talking about how blessed is a man whose quiver is full.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

I've met a lot of people over the years that wish that they had had more children. I wish that my wife and I would have. Yeah, a little bit of frustration for sure. But so much joy and laughter. They fill your life, right? People.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Um and I wish that I had had more people tell me that as a young man, uh, and tell my wife that as a young woman. Or I wish that we had done a better job listening to the few that did tell us uh to have a bunch of children. You know, when you get to the end of your life, folks, I I've just never met a person that says, Man, I I really am disappointed I spent so much time on my spouse and my children. I wish that I had really taken more time away from them and given it to my job or my hobbies.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

I've met quite a few people that wish that they had done a much better job as a husband or wife, primarily, as a father or mother after that.

Walking Through Mark 10

SPEAKER_01 5:54

And so much of it is I saw a post today, ironically, on X talking about the fact of how much social media destroys relationships. And so much of it is just because of poor decisions that we've made, you know. Mark 10, 32 through 52. They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear. Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to him. Listen, he said, We're going up to Jerusalem where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him. But after three days he will rise again. Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. Teacher, they said, We want you to do us a favor. What is your request? he asked. They replied, When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left. But Jesus said to them, You don't know what you are asking. Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with a baptism of suffering that I must be baptized with? Oh yes, they replied. We are able. That's always struck me, I'm sure that I'm far too arrogant far too often, but I always kind of chuckle at that.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

There's no way that they really knew what they were saying at that point, right?

Bartimaeus And Public Mockery

SPEAKER_01 7:44

That they could stand equally suffering with the Son of God. Then Jesus told them, You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen. When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, You know that the rulers in this world lorded over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those unto them. But among you it will be different. How do people know we follow Christ? Because we're different than the world. We're not the same. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting beside the road. When Bartimaeus heard Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Be quiet. Many of the people yelled at him, but he only shouted louder. Son of David, have mercy on me. How many of us would ignore the judgment of the world to call out all the louder? How many of us do? How many of us ignore the judgment, the laughter, the mocking of the world to draw closer to Jesus Christ? I know that I far too often pay more attention to the world than to what God and Jesus Christ are telling me, right? When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, Tell him to come here. So they called the blind man. Cheer up, they said. Come on, he's calling you. Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. That's always been ironic to me, that little exchange right there. The people one minute telling him to be quiet, and the next minute trying to act like they were his friends, right? How much like the world is that? Everybody wants to jump on the bandwagon. Right? I've got a friend that's becoming better and better, more like a brother than a friend. And he talks about that often. The number of people in his life when he was hyper successful, that suddenly wanted to be around him, versus when he was not in the spotlight, right? What do you want me to do for you? Jesus asked. And Jesus said to him, Go, your faith has healed you. Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road. Psalm forty-five, one through seventeen. Beautiful words stir my heart, I will recite a lovely poem about the king, for my tongue is like the pen of a skillful poet. You are the most handsome of all, gracious words stream from your lips. God himself has blessed you forever. Put on your sword, O mighty warrior, you are so glorious, so majestic, in your majesty ride out to victory. Defending truth, humility, and justice, go forth to perform awe inspiring deeds. Your arrows are sharp, piercing your enemies' hearts. The nations fall beneath your feet. Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a scepter of justice, you love justice, and hate evil. Therefore, God your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else. Mere aloes and cassia perfume perfume your robes. In ivory palaces the music of strings entertains you. King's daughters are among your noble women. At your right side stands the queen wearing jewelry of the finest gold from Ophir. Listen to me, O royal daughter, take heart to what I say, forget your people and your family far away. For your royal husband delights in your beauty, honor him, for he is your lord. That's definitely not politically correct today, is it? The princess of tear will shower you with gifts, the wealthy will beg your favor. The bride, a princess, looks glorious in her golden gown, and her beautiful robe. She is led to the king, accompanied by her bridesmaids. What a joyful, enthusiastic procession as they enter the king's palace. Your sons will become kings like their father, you will make them rulers over many lands. I will bring honor to your name in every generation, therefore the nations will praise you forever and ever. What a difference it makes when we actually follow God's roles and responsibilities. Proverbs 1022. Countryside. If you are looking for a family-friendly middle grade read, you check out the countryside series, kind of along the lines of Narnia. The Hobbit, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson. This is the first book in the series, some of the reviews. This is the second book in the series. And again, some of the reviews that the book's gotten on the back. If you enjoy it, if you would leave a review, those they help immensely, especially the five-star ones. Same for the podcast. If you feel like you're getting something out of it, marriage versus scripture, medal of honor, all the other little things, history and heritage of our nation. If you have five or ten dollars a month, you can donate. Or both. November 13th, 2015, Paris, France. Series of coordinated attacks against multiple locations across the city, including uh the Bataclan Theater, the uh stadium, Stade de France, Stadium, restaurants, cafes on a Friday night. Suicide bombers and gunmen Muslims killed 130 people, 90 at the concert hall where hostages were taken and executed, injured more than 400 others, many critically from gunfire and explosions.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

It doesn't change, folks.

Psalm 45 And Order

Book Plug And Support

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Communism, socialism, leftism, Nazism, fascism, Islam. Doesn't change. Medal of Honor, winner for today, James Brophy, private Indian campaigns, Bravo Company, 8th U.S. Cavalry, U.S. Army, August 13th, 1868, Vicinity of the Black Mountains, Arizona. Bravery in Scouts and Actions Against Indians. One of those that you just know there's a lot more to the citation somewhere. Accredited to Stockton, San Joaquin County, California, not awarded posthumously, presented July 24, 1869. Born May 20th, 1846, Kilkenny, Ireland, died August 7th, 1929, Washington, D.C. Buried Soldiers Home National Cemetery, L Tag 9086, Washington, D.C. James Brophy. Another, again, compare that to so many of the immigrant stories compared to the one that we read today, right? Kevin Contreras Mendoza who sexually assaulted a woman, right? The illegal immigrant from Mexico. Not the same. Not the same. All right, we got a couple things to get through today, if we have time for both of them. So one of the sources that I use a lot is this, and you can tell I've used it over the years pretty extensively. It's kind of fallen apart. I need a new one. The American Patriots Bible by Dr. Richard Lee. It's a great source, at least to start with. You know, it'll lead you in other directions. You can go and find. Maybe it'll give you a little quote you can go look up, like we read through that uh that article from Samuel Adams over the last few podcasts, right? It has a little quote in here, but then you go and you can dig up the rest on Project Gutenberg, uh, Avalon from Yale, a lot of other sources, other books from Samuel Adams. That particular one was from the works of Samuel Adams. But there's a couple quotes I wanted to read here under a little section called Freedom's Defense. Two generals in particular, Marshall. The soldier's heart, the soldier's spirit, the soldier's soul are everything. Unless the soldier's soul sustains him, he cannot be relied upon and will fail himself, his commander, and his country in the end. General George C. Marshall. It's the ideology, folks, again and again. You know, we talk about it on the negative side often, like the fraud up in Minnesota with Somalis. It's not that they're from Somalia. It's not that, and this includes the representative, it's it's not skin color, ethnicity, it's ideology. It's Islam, it's leftism, it's the evil ideology, right? But the reverse is true. And our founders talked about this so often. If you want a strong, free republic, you've got to have virtue and morality. And the only real source of that, consistent, are the principles of Christ. Even in other religions, when you have these positive facets, all they are is a shadow or reflection of the principles of Christ, right? George S. Patton, wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

Again, virtue, morality, spirit, soul, God, Jesus Christ. This one y'all are probably very familiar with.

Terror, Ideology, And Courage

SPEAKER_01 18:30

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave, attributed to Omer Davis. At any rate, uh, those are some great ones. I wanted to go through a little article here at the end, though. This is out of the Epic Times. Great newspaper if you have a chance. Talked about it often on the podcast. Uh, this particular article is by Edward Chen. I'll give you a little clip here, and it's talking about Jeremy Leigh, Lai, if I'm saying that right, LAI, uh, who was given a 20-year sentence, which is basically a death sentence because he's an older man in Hong Kong because he refused to bow to the uh authoritarianism of communism, and they didn't like that. He ran a newspaper. Uh and I wanted just to read the last couple paragraphs in this couple sentences. Um I think we'll just his suffering becomes a lighthouse for a city in darkness. His faith becomes Hong Kong's last beacon of dignity. His life, and possibly his martyrdom, becomes a moral compass for the world. Earthly courts can imprison the body, but they cannot imprison the soul. Lie's legacy will not die behind prison walls. It will live on in every Hong Konger who remembers Stan speaks and refuses to give up hope. I think there was another little section that I wanted to read. But it's a great article if you get a chance. Check it out. Epic Times again by Edward Chin. The point really here is communist folks, it doesn't change. It's the same as it's been for the last century plus.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Even in modern day.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

You you just when you take God and Jesus Christ out of the equation as communism, socialism, leftism, Nazism, fascism, Islam as they do, you're just left with chaos and tyranny, slavery, death. And the question is, you know, this gentleman that was running this paper that refused to bow down and is going to spend the last of his years in prison.

Virtue, Founders, And Freedom’s Defense

SPEAKER_00 21:18

What are we willing to give for God and Jesus Christ?

SPEAKER_01 21:24

What are we willing to give for liberty, for freedom, for America? 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 of 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.