John and Maria discuss the devastating fires ravaging Southern California, a new report identifying Christians as the most persecuted religious group in the world, and Facebook does away with its fact checkers.

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The Church Before the Watching World : A Practical Ecclesiology by Francis Schaeffer

Segment 1 - LA Fires and Global Persecution of Christians

CNN: Los Angeles wildfires live updates

2025 Global Persecution Index

FOX: Christians increasingly persecuted worldwide as 'modern and historical factors converge'

Open Doors World Watch List

US Dept. of State: Countries of Particular Concern, Special Watch List Countries, Entities of Particular Concern

Breakpoint: No, Religious Freedom is Not “Safer Than Ever”

2025 Colson Center National Conference

Segment 2 - Facebook Exiles Fact Checkers

Meta: More Speech and Fewer Mistakes

The Free Press: How ‘The Babylon Bee’ Predicted the Vibe Shift

Babylon Bee: Guy Who Said Facebook Was Not Suppressing Free Speech Announces Facebook Will Stop Suppressing Free Speech

Segment 3 - Pixar Drops Gay Character

WORLD: Federal court strikes down Biden’s Title IX revisions

NBC: Disney removes transgender storyline from upcoming Pixar streaming series

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Become a monthly partner for the Colson Center at colsoncenter.org/monthly.

Register for the 2025 Colson Center National Conference at colsonconference.org.

How intentional laws can value life.

What Would You Say?: Assisted Suicide is Compassionate

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Find more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment at Breakpoint.org.

Cultural narrative bends toward catastrophizing life, but Christians are anchored to something better.

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Breakpoint Forum: Should Christians Get Political?

Register for the upcoming Breakpoint Forum: A New Sexual Revolution at colsoncenter.org/phoenix.

Is the growing belief in the supernatural an a la carte counterfeit?

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Register for the 2025 Colson Center National Conference at colsonconference.org.

For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment visit Breakpoint.org.

Islamism in the Muslim and Christian world.

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For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment visit Breakpoint.org.

The littlest known Christian holiday with major significance.

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Register for the 2025 Colson Center National Conference at colsonconference.org.

The New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans has us taking a closer look at Jihad and Islam. And there’s been a spike in Bible sales this year. John and Maria look for reasons why. They also discuss the life and faith of former President Jimmy Carter.

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Recommendation

Tom Holland on How Christianity Remade the World by Bari Weiss

Segment 1 - New Year's Day Terrorism

CNN: New Orleans attack news

AP: Cybertruck exploded outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel Huntington

What ISIS Really Wants by Graeme Wood

Open Doors Report

NYT Matter of Opinion Podcast: An Atheist's Case for More Christianity in Politics

BBC: Badenoch calls for national inquiry into 'rape gangs'

Segment 2 - Bible Sales Up Dramatically

FOX: Bible sales are booming, despite a decline in religiosity

Niall Ferguson on becoming a Christian

Atheism Without Reason by Sarah Haider

Tom Holland on How Christianity Remade the World by Bari Weiss

Segment 3 - Remembering Jimmy Carter

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Become a monthly partner for the Colson Center at colsoncenter.org/monthly.

Register for the 2025 Colson Center National Conference at colsonconference.org.

The simple act of speaking up can change a culture.

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For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment visit breakpoint.org.