“Jesus plus anything” sounds spiritual, but Acts 15 calls it a burden God never asked us to carry. We walk through the Jerusalem Council and the core claim at the center of Christian faith: God saves Jews and Gentiles the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus. No special badge, no extra mediator, no denomination requirement. Just Christ, and hearts cleansed through faith.

Then the conversation turns outward to the real world with a sobering story from London: the murder of Banaz Mahamad in an honor killing after she left an abusive arranged marriage. We use that tragedy to ask uncomfortable questions about what happens when certain belief systems gain power, how communities treat women, and what justice and protection should look like when threats are reported and ignored.

We also slow down for prayer, naming anxiety, depression, fear, and persecution, and asking God to guard and strengthen those listening. From there we read Song of Solomon 3:1–4 as a “marriage verse,” noticing the woman’s pursuit of her beloved and what that suggests about biblical marriage, desire, and commitment. We close with Psalm 141, a proverb on bribery and justice, a Medal of Honor spotlight, and a striking American Christian heritage quote from Robert Winthrop: a nation will be ruled from within by moral restraint or from without by force, “either the Bible or the bayonet.”

Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What part challenged you most today?

#Bible

#ChristianNation

#RobertWinthrop

Support the show

The American Soul Podcast

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribe

Countryside Book Series

https://www.amazon.com/Countryside-Book-J-T-Cope-IV-ebook/dp/B00MPIXOB2

America's Christian Heritage Podcast

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2622483