Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth with the Colson Center on Johnstone Street. After his amazing victory on Mount Carmel against the prophets of Baal, Elijah fell into deep depression. Not only had he seen God work in a miraculous way, he had proven before all of Israel who really was the one true God. And yet, he immediately questioned whether God could protect him from Jezebel, and falsely believed he was the only true prophet left in the land. Here's what he said, quote, I've been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away.
End quote.
Well, there's much to learn in this story, both about the vulnerabilities of humans and the kindness of God. For example, I absolutely love that the author of 1 Kings includes the detail that God sent an angel to Elijah first just to help him sleep and cook him food. Also, by informing Elijah that there were 7,000 people in Israel who had not bowed in knee to Baal, God reminded him. that he was still very much at work in the world. And that God primarily works through His people.
And God has His people everywhere. Today, too. Often He uses unlikely candidates to be courageous voices of truth. And the upcoming film Truth Rising tells the stories of five courageous voices in this civilizational moment. As a young teenager, Chloe Cole was so completely lost and deceived about who she was, she underwent a double masectomy attempting to be male.
Well, God worked in her life to reveal what was true about who he is and who she is. And now, having detransitioned, she advocates for the truth that humans are made in God's image, male and female. She's a powerful voice pushing back against this very real darkness. The story of Seth Dylan and the Babylon Bee is basically the story of the last decade. First, the popular and funny satirical site was canceled from one of the most powerful channels of influence on the planet just for saying what is true.
Committed, as Alexander Soltenitson put it, to live not by lies, Dillon refused to take any shortcuts around the truth. But God was at work, and how that story turned out ended up shocking everyone. My friend Katie Faust was a pastor's wife in the Northwest who had an anonymous blog. where she spoke truth about an ideology that subjects children to the whims of adult desire. But then Katy was outed by someone who threatened her and her entire church community.
God used that incident to make Katie one of the leading champions in the world. for the rights and well-being of children. And then there's Jack Phillips. Courage is not typically a required qualification of Baker's, but it was for him. One afternoon Jack took a stand when he was asked to design a cake with a message that was not true.
And that stand led to 13 years of attacks by the state of Colorado and eventually one of the most consequential First Amendment wins of our lifetime. Again, Jack's story is a story of God at work. Perhaps best known among the five stories told in Truth Rising is of Ayan Hirsi Ali. whose faith journey took her from Islam to atheism to Christ. An activist, political leader, and author, Ianne has now found what she was always looking for and believes deeply that God has put her as a truth teller in this crucial cultural moment.
So that's exactly what she's doing. These five stories of courage are fully told in the upcoming Truth Rising documentary. What's obvious in each is that God is at work through his people as much today as he was on Mount Carmel through Elijah. And that means we are not alone. We've been called to this time in this place.
Don't miss the global streaming premiere of Truth Rising on September the 5th. Visit truthrising.com slash Colson to learn more and sign up for updates. That's truthrising.com slash Colson. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast.
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