Oil And Water Faiths, And Politics

A single Bible command can expose a whole culture’s excuses: “Be fertile and multiply.” We start there, not to argue statistics, but to ask a sharper spiritual question, what happens to our faith when we treat God’s plain words like optional suggestions, and why do we do it in the first place?

We then walk through Luke 19, from the Triumphal Entry to Jesus weeping over Jerusalem and the moment he cleanses the temple. The line is unforgettable: God’s house is meant to be a house of prayer, yet it can become a den of thieves. We talk about what that looks like today, how prayer gets crowded out, and how quickly religious life can slide into noise, commerce, and self-protection instead of reverence.

From there we sit in the heaviness of Psalm 88, one of the darkest prayers in the Bible, and pair it with Proverbs 13 on hope deferred, wisdom, and the life-giving power of instruction. We also touch current headlines, social media division, and why history matters, then spotlight Medal of Honor recipient Sgt James H Burbank and close with a long excerpt from Patrick Henry on illusions of hope and the lamp of experience.

If you value Scripture-first commentary with a Christian worldview, listen now, share it with a friend, and please subscribe and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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Transcript

Cold Open And Headlines

SPEAKER_02 0:06

Then Jesus entered the temple and began to drive selling animals for sacrifices. He said to them that we asked her to a den of the RubyGarf, March 22nd, 2024, Grand Rapids Mission. 25-year-old woman was shot multiple times, killed during an argument with her boyfriend, then left along by Brandon Ortiz Vita, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who had been previously in 2020.

Welcome And Opening Prayer

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Hey folks, this is back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well. Or you all are, whatever part of the day you're in. 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 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 sins. Thank you for the trials that you have put your forms and our sides. Draw us close to you, Father. Help us try. Your son told us prune those who produce or cut them off. Prune those who do produce fruit so that they produce more fruit. Be with those listening to the podcast, surround them with your angels, protect them from evil of any kind. Guide them in all that they do. Be with our leaders in the pulpit and in the state, president, vice president, admirals, generals, senators, representatives. Be with our military and our law enforcement.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Be with their families. Surround them, bring them home safe. Guide my words here, Father, please. Your son's name we pray.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

Amen.

Genesis And The Call To Multiply

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Marriage verses for today, both out of Genesis 9, verse 1, and verse 7. God blessed knowing his sons and said to them, Be fertile, multiply, and fill the earth. As for you, be fertile and multiply, populate the earth and multiply in it. Help us to be fertile and multiply multiple places in the Bible and scripture. Are we listening to him today in the church? Are we abiding by that? And really the question maybe we ought to be asking ourselves is obviously we're not and we haven't been for decades, but why? Do we really have good reasons? Is there ever a good reason to purposefully ignore God? I certainly have found all the times in my life when I have not gone to him or knowingly turned down a path that he told me not to, it has never ended well, ever. Not one single time. And I can think of a few off the top of my head right now where it ended extremely poorly. You have to think that part of the reason that we have ignored these commands to be fruitful and multiply is just base selfishness and nothing more elaborate.

Luke 19 Triumphal Entry And Warning

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Luke 19, 28 through 48. After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. Go into that village over there, he told them. As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, Why are you untying that colt, just say the Lord needs it. So they went and found the colt just as Jesus had said. And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, Why are you untying that colt? And the disciples simply replied, The Lord needs it. So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on. As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him. When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. Blessings on the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in highest heaven. But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that. He replied, If they keep quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers. But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. How I wish today that you of all people understand wave. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls, and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you to the ground and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place because you did not recognize it when God visited you. Then Jesus entered the temple and began about the people selling animals for sacrifices. He said to them, The scriptures declare my temple will be a house of prayer, but you have turned into a den of thieves. After that he taught daily in the temple. Leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. But they could think of nothing because all the people hung on every word he said.

Cleansing The Temple And Opposition

SPEAKER_02 7:09

A song to be sung to the tune The Suffering of Affliction. A psalm of Heman the Ezreal. Now hear my prayer, listen to my cry, for my life is full of troubles, and death draws near. I'm as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left. They have left

Psalm 88 Prayer From The Pit

SPEAKER_02 7:39

me among death. I am forgotten, off from your care. You have thrown me in the lowest pit into the darkest depths, your anger weighs me down. With wave after wave you have engulfed me. You have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them. I am in a trap with no way of escape. My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I pray for your help, O Lord, I lift my hands to you for mercy. Are your wonderful deeds to the dead?

SPEAKER_01 8:13

Do the dead rise up and praise you?

SPEAKER_02 8:16

Can those in the grove declare your unfailing love and claim your faithfulness in the place of destruction? Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds? Can anyone in the land of forgiveness talk about your righteousness? O Lord, I cry out to you, I will keep on pleading day by day. O Lord, why do you reject me? Why do you turn your face from me? I have been sick and close to death since my youth. I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors. Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me, your terrors paralyzed me, they swirl around me like flood walls all day long. They have engulfed me completely. Take away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.

Proverbs On Hope And Wisdom

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Proverbs 13, 12 through 4. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. People who despise advice are asking for. Those who respect a command will seed. The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain. Those who accept it avoid the snares of death.

Countryside Books And How To Support

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Countryside, the book of Wise. If you're looking for a middle grade fantasy series, kind of like the Hobbit, Jackson, Narnia, Harry Potter, Fable Haven, if you would check out the Countryside series. There's two books in the series so far. This is part of a review from the first book in the series by Mark Asher. I like this little pocket universe world that Mr. Cope has created. It has that Narnia meets Fablehaven sort of feel to me. It's a five-star review on Amazon for the first book. If you get a chance to check it out, I would appreciate it. And if you enjoy it, if you would leave a review of the first andor second book, I would appreciate that too. Same for the podcast. If you have a chance and you still get some uh leave a review, and if you have five or ten dollars a month you can donate to help keep the podcast going, I would appreciate that a great deal too. There's links for both the book and the monthly donation set up in the show notes.

Coexistence Claims And Division Online

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October 2010, Laura Wilson, Rotherham, UK, Rotherham, UK. 17-year-old girl was stabbed to death by her boyfriend Ashtikik Ashar, a Muslim of Pakistani heritage, after she revealed their secret relationship to his family, who disapproved due to her being white and non-Muslim. So the girl tells the boy's parents, the boy's parents flip out because she's the wrong skin color and not Muslim, and he stabs her to death. And you think that we can coexist with followers of Islam and followers of the left, which always historically go hand in glove together.

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Look at all of the 20th century.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

You think, perhaps, that the assassination attempts on the president are just because the president is not a nice guy. I had a man that I respect a great deal talking to a group of us, talk about the fact that social media does so much to keep us divided.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

We need to remember that.

SPEAKER_02 13:12

It is quite literally like trying to mix oil and water together.

Medal Of Honor Spotlight

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Medal of Honor for today. James H. Burbank, Sergeant, U.S. Civil War Kelo Company, Fourth Rhode Island Infantry, U.S. Army, October 3rd, 1862, Blackwater River near Franklin, Virginia. Gallantry and action while on detached service on board the gunboat Barney. Accredited to Providence County, Rhode Island, not awarded posthumously, presented July 27, 1896, born January 5th, 1838, Holland, the Netherlands. Died February 15, 1911, Miltonville, Kansas. Buried Miltonville Cemetery, MH Miltonville, Kansas. James H. Burbank.

Patrick Henry On Facing Hard Truths

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John's Church, Richmond, before the Second Virginia Revolutionary Convention. Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth and listen to the song of the sirene till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who having eyes see not, and having ears hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my own part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last two years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the house. Is it that insiduous smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir. It will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are implements of war and subjugation, the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask, gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir. She has none. They are meant for us. They can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. We'll read some more in the next podcast or two, folks, but you can easily apply these comments to followers of the left in Islam today. Easily.

Final Blessing And Farewell

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God bless y'all. God bless your families, your marriages, your nation. God bless America. We'll talk to y'all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.