Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 291 | If You're Broken, 'Start Where You Are' | Guest: Rashawn Copeland

Episode Date: August 21, 2020

Today, Rashawn Copeland shares his testimony of being shot and left for dead and at one point even wanting to take his own life — all to discover the grace of God. Rashawn also shares stories from his social media and prison ministry, and he brings the refreshing reminder that if you want to get right with God, "Start Where You Are."  Today's Links: https://www.rashawncopeland.me/ https://alliebethstuckey.com/book Today's Sponsor: Car Shield has affordable protection plans that can save you thousands for a covered repair including computers, GPS, electronics, and more. Visit CarShield.com and use code allie to save 10%!

Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed. You can watch

this D-Day Show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us. Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Today I'm so excited about our conversation with Rishon Copeland. He hosts a podcast called Scripture and Stories. He also is the author of a new book, Start Where You Are. His testimony is incredible. His ministry is so amazing. And you're going to love this conversation. I will just warn you, you are probably going to tear up multiple times throughout this conversation like I did because the stories that he tells are just so powerful. It's such an encouraging reminder of God's relentless love and pursuit of him. And so this is a great little break from the politics and the craziness that we've been talking about because we're

in election season. The fact of the matter is the subject of this conversation. The gospel and how God pursues his children is the only thing that ultimately and eternally matters. Yes, politics do matter because they affect people. Policies affect real flesh and blood people that God cares about. God cares about the things that happen here on earth. He cares about earthly justice. He cares about earthly right and wrong. So it is important for us to talk about that.

But at the end of the day, what God is after, what we should all be after, is the regeneration of the heart that comes by grace through faith in God. And so that is going to be the driver of this conversation today. And I'm just so excited for you guys to listen to it. Without further ado, here is Rishon Copeland. Rishan, thanks so much for joining me. Ali, I appreciate you. I still can't believe it. I'm chilling with you. Really cool. I'm excited. Yes, well, I was on your podcast first and you had to come on my podcast because you also have the book that you were talking about. So we're going to talk about your story and why you wrote this book and what this book is about and anything else that we want to get into today. But first,

will you tell everyone who may not know who you are and what you do? Awesome. Yeah. So I guess make it really short, I'm a minister who writes and a writer who preaches. And I really embrace my position as a son. I'm a follower of Christ. And I'm a father to three kids under three, which is amazing. Yeah, well, actually three kids. I'm sorry, we got one in the womb still. Oh, congratulations. Yeah, I'm super excited. Then I have a nine-year-old, blended family. I had some crazy days before I came to Christ. You know, I was acting a pool. But I'm thankful for my son that is in my blended family.

He lives right down the road, not too far from me. So I get to enjoy that. It is a challenge at time stuff. But right. Right. So you are a minister. You are a writer. And you, You just wrote a book, start where you are. What led you to write this book and what's it about? Amazing. Well, it was sort of birth, like in a prison, in a jail. Like I would work in this jail and I would be talking to everyone from NBA cheerleaders who just got that DUI after a game to guys that were facing life in prison or even death penalty.

And I would ask them about, you know, one, have they ever considered giving their life to Christ? I would try to share the gospel with them and different things like that. But there was one thing they would always say. And it was this. It was, I need to get myself together. And then I'll, you know, go to God. And I just wanted to write a book that is really, one, a gospel crush course, something that could remind people and share with them the biblical truth that you don't have to start, you know, where you pretend to be. or you don't have to start perfect. You start right where you are with God and he'll take you

where you need to be. And that's the idea behind the book. You know, people look at bad resumes as we see like Kanye West, for instance. People were shocked whenever, you know, he sort of came to Christ. And I'm not saying that, you know, he's, I don't know if he's fully a convert, but I do know is that God's mighty and powerful. He's mighty to save. And he'll meet anybody where they are regardless, irrespective of their resume. You know, yeah. So that was the heart behind it. Right.

And you experienced that yourself. Can you talk a little bit about your story and how you became a Christian? Definitely, Ali. So I started off with being rejected, one in the fourth grade by a teacher who told me to never pick up a pen and write again. And that sort of spurred on this journey that I had on trying to put. prove myself to everybody all the time. And I became a crazy, like, massive people pleaser. And I remember getting to this point, one, after being sexually abused at 11, I got to this point where I was like, I'm about to, I'm about to do whatever I can just to, you know, please myself at this point. So I said,

I'm going to prove to myself that I can live this sort of victorious life, this life that is completely satisfied just around myself. I was my own God to a certain extent. And I remember just becoming a hedonist. I indulge myself in parties and liquor, even in the short of light of football fame in high school. But I remember one day, this was a powerful pivotal moment for me. As I'm in my high school year, I was dating a young lady. And unbeknown to me, she had just broke up with a guy who was from Chicago. And this guy found out we were dating. That was the Moss Space Days.

I don't know if you remember that. Oh, I do. I do. She took him off the friends list and put me number one. And I was like, yeah. So he found out we were dating. But one night we're sitting in this park and her phone rings. And me being that prideful egotistical high school football star, future college football player.

I was prideful. and I snatch her phone and you'll find out my ego was not my amigo. I answer it. And needless to say, this guy starts talking so much trash to me. And here is what was totally unwise. I told him to meet me. I told him where we were. And that was totally, that was crazy.

So needless to say, we're hanging in the car. We're listening to this rap artist, 50 Cent, Get Rich or Not Trying in the car. and out of nowhere 10 minutes later, this van pulls in, five guys jump out of the car. I'm not talking about burgers. Yeah. They jump out of the car.

They're walking towards us. I frantically, but pridefully, get out of the car. I'm like, you know, I told her to chill, just sit there

and I'm walking towards these guys fearfully. But again, I'm that prideful eagle to go high school football player. As I'm getting towards them, my heart is beating out of my chest. My mind is everywhere.

I'm like, what is happening? And then I get about seven feet away from this guy. He reaches for his waistband. He pulls out his pistol. He waves it in the air. I turn in our run. I slip and I fall. He stands over me.

Boom. Boom. Two gunshots. Those five guys, they run off at this moment. I didn't know I was shot. You know, the adrenaline was rolling. I ran. I dove at the left side of the car because I was fearful that they were going to finish me off.

Boo, boo, boo, boo, that they were going to bust at me and finish me off, leave me dead. And as I'm laying there, I look up into the passenger side of the car, and the young girl's gone. And all of a sudden, I find myself on this cold cement, and I felt this warm blood running up my shirt. And I'm looking around, and no one's there. My coaches aren't there. My parents aren't there. My friends aren't there. My family members aren't there.

I was there all along. And for the first time ever, with my whole heart, I cried out to God, the God of the universe, the God I would hear about in high school that I knew of, but I didn't know him. And somehow, like David in the book of Psalms 40, I waited patiently on the Lord and he heard my cry. And somehow, you know, he met me where I was. He used the guy, which I call an angel, which was actually a police officer to come help me and save me from that moment, 20 minutes after leaking. and I was weaving out of consciousness. I should have died that night. I was worthy of death and even hell, but by God's mercy, he saved me that night.

Wow. That is an amazing story. So tell me about your life after that. Was it kind of a straight line from A to B where you started following Christ and you were sanctified and you were slowly on, you know, the road of sanctification? Or what was your life like after? that night? I wish I could have said that it just was rainbows and daisies after that in my walk with Christ, but it, but it wasn't. I did, by the grace of God, have someone drop off a Bible

when I was in the hospital that night losing my life. And I began to, you know, I began to lose, I began to read different passages of scriptures and things that really spoke to me. It was really simple. I started in Proverbs and it said many are the plans of a man's heart. But it's the Lord's purpose that prevails. Like it was opening my eyes to some of those little nuggets that like, yeah, I got many plans. I have many plans. But God's purpose that prevails. But here's the problem is when you don't have someone to disciple you, you know, you're going to find

yourself drifting and going with the flow, the current of the world, living a life of compromise rather than life of conviction. And I found myself living a life of compromise. I began to, yeah, just get with those guys. Psalms one tell us not to. Blesser are those who do not walk in step with the wicked, nor take the way that sinners take, are sitting the company of mockers, but blessed are those who delight in the law to Lord day and night. And I wasn't, I went the total opposite route. I began to get around athletes again when God healed me. When I was good to go, I began to get around

all the wrong people. And it was a toxic, toxic time. I began to sleep around. I tried to find, you know, different things to numb the pain rather than Christ, like weed, alcohol, women. But I wish I would have had that wisdom from Moses when he said, you know, Moses chose to share in the affliction of God's people rather than the fleeting pleasures of sin. I wish I would have known that. I wish I would have known the power of community as well instead of being a long ranger. But I didn't know. So I drifted for a long time until he got me again later.

But, whew. Yeah. Well, I can totally relate to that. And I know a lot of people listening can too that we wish from the moment that we first came to Christ, or he came to us until now that it was a straight line from A to B that we made all the right decisions and that we could just say that we have just been living in righteousness by God's grace since then. But unfortunately, for a lot of people, we're prone to wander as the hymn goes.

And God's grace is so relentless and continuing to pursue us that he doesn't say, hey, I tried to save you once and now you've disappointed me. And so I'm going to turn my back on you. But he is just so insistent in his pursuit of us. And your story reminds me of that. Can you talk about that next pivotal moment that I read about that you actually thought this wasn't someone else ending your life, but you actually thought about ending your own life, right? Later on, can you talk about that moment? And then what kind of led you to where you are now?

Yeah, for sure, for sure, Allie. And I remember, so I commissioned into the Army as an Army officer. And I realized that the 9 to 5 wasn't the route I wanted to go. and I was about to go AWOL and literally leave because comparison and discontentment drove me to L.A. where my cousin was an actor. He was in amazing movies like American Reunion, American Pie, and, you know, the lucky one was Zach Efron. I seen him out there doing his thing, and that's why I believe Paul said comparison is antithetical to wisdom. It's the opposite of being wise because comparison drove me to L.A. And at this point, I totally, you know, felt this sense like I shouldn't be here. And when I was out there, I began to, you know, become a viner. Although, you know, things were getting successful on the outside. You know, I became a hype man for Soldier Boy, a rap artist,

and I assigned to a huge talent agency out there. Well, it was based out of New York. But things were going amazing. But inside, I was miserable. My soul was dwindling away. And I remember one night, you know, as I'm wrestling between one, you know, this is how far it's sin to take you. Like, who, I was wanting to even get, I got to the point where I wanted to even look into

the porn industry. It was that bad. That's just to show you how dark things were. Right. And because I was looking for everything and it was just void. It was empty. Right. But here's the beautiful thing.

It's like God began to strip and prune and take things away from me. He took relationships like best friends. He took the girl that I was in love with that was at USC. She had the law degree. I thought she was going to be my wife. But yeah, I was cheating on her on the side with the girl that was in a porn industry. Like from a standpoint, emotionally cheating. I didn't actually physically cheat on her.

However, you know, this is where it all, like, hit the fan. When she walked out, when the boys walked out and I'm sitting in this house, like, empty and all along, this house in the valley, G-wagon outside. Like I said, I'm done. I give up. I give up on everything. So I walked down the hallway and I went into this, you know, where we kept the pistol. I grabbed the gun. And I tell you, it felt like an eternity walking back to my room that night.

And I got on my knees and I put this pistol in my mouth and I'm like, okay, I'm done. I'm literally shaking. I'm about to take my life. I'm about to end it all. What is the point of being in here? Nobody will know if I do it right now. And as I pull, you know, getting ready to pull the pistol and I take the gun out of my mouth, I put it back in my mouth, my phone lights up. And this is why I'm so excited about what you do, Allie, and how you invest so much time on digital online, everything all across the board, like, and bringing hope to a dark world.

It's because someone I knew that I met at Baylor University months ago, because my brother was an athlete there playing football, it was the only Christian girl I was following. She wrote a message and it said this. And it said, oh, how wide, how deep, how vast the love of God is. And nothing in all creation can separate us from this love found in Christ Jesus. And when I began reading and reading, I started weeping and weeping. For the first time, it's like the gospel of grace and love hit me head on like a semi-truck. It changed everything. And I remember thinking of two things at that moment.

And number one, if I were to shoot myself, one, I would have to endure the same pain I went through back when I was 17 if I weren't to die that night. But number two is I'm going to have to stand before this omnipotent omniscient. Yeah, all knowing, all seeing God who's infinite and wisdom and knowledge and understanding, who's loving, but he's also holy and he's a judge. Am I ready to meet my maker? And, you know, it just felt like that was the moment I had to unload my heavy soul to this God who loved me the most. And he met me there. And yeah, it was just crazy. And here's the beautiful far alley.

And I'll close out this story with this because I think it changes everything. I fell asleep that night wrestling with God like Jacob. You know, it wasn't perfect at that moment. But I did feel the presence of the Lord in the room. the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I acknowledged like the sin and brokenness and I gave it to the Lord. But here's what was amazing. I'll never forget about this. I fell asleep. Four in the morning, I wake up with this utterance, this sort of urge to look underneath the bed. And in this home, our talent agency would have people in and out of this home all the time. And are different actors,

different people who would come in an audition. And needless to say, I never really took time to look underneath the bed. So I look underneath the bed. There's a suitcase I've never seen before. I crack open the suitcase. It was a bunch of dirty, stinky clothes and stuff. But on the top, guess what book it was, Allie? I don't know. The B-I-B-L-E.

Yes, that's the book for me. Wow. I stand upon the Word of God, yes, the V-I-B-L-E. I cracked it open. I began to read it and it began to read me. And I read these rant letters. They stuck out like no other. You know, when you open up a Bible, those red letters are going to stick out.

You know, they're going to jump off the page. But I read this. The very first verse I read was this. He that wants to keep his life must lose it. But he that loses his life for my namesake shall gain it. Oh, what is it profit a man to gain the whole world, but yet lose his soul. I was like, I got to get right with God. And it changed everything.

So I literally left everything that night. felt like the prodigal son. I came to my senses, jumped on a city bus, left everything, stole the Bible. Matter of fact, the Bible is the number one stolen book in the world. I stole the Bible that night. Jumped on the bus. They took me downtown to the Greyhound Station four hours later, and I'm reading, reading the word. And I finally get back on a 20, after a 20-hour bus ride to my brother's house, after reading the Bible for like 20 hours straight. Didn't sleep. I was finally drinking from the well that never runs dry. Right.

It was over. Oh, my goodness. And then what did life look like after that? I know that that could be a long story. But to summarize, how did you get into what you do now? You are a social media minister. You really occupy a lot of your space online, but you also write. And so how did God lead you into what you are doing right now?

Beautiful. So when I got back here, oftentimes I feel like God will take us back to the place where he met us to go free more people, like sort of what he did with Moses and deliver more people. And I felt this urge after, of course, sitting at the feet of Jesus for a while, because I didn't know anything about anything when I came to the faith. It felt like, but I did trust God. And I think at that moment, he began to get men of God around me to really pour into me, get me rooted in Christ and established and steadfast. I built my spirit up to where it's steadfast.

And, you know, I can grow in this faith walk because it ain't no cake walk. And finally, I got to this point where he sent me, he launched me into a prison ministry. And I just started where I was and shared Jesus the best I could with spoken words. I would be in pods with like 40 people, you know, sharing one, the gospel, but also sharing spoken word poetry because it was just my talent coming out of the industry, you know, and I'll do that the best I can. We would be in pods with like 40 guys, and it's not the best smell in place. You know, it's also stinks a lot, the drunk tanks and all that.

But what was awesome about it, Allie, is that he later just started sort of tearing away at the insecurity that I had of writing because my teacher told me to never pick up a pen and write again. She said, my writing was weak. I held on that to that all the way until I came to Christ. I hated books and it's crazy. Only the goodness and love of God can have me writing a book now. I'm like, what?

Yeah. Like crazy. Right? But a lot like you, Ali, he just crushed me under the weight of my sin. And then he gave me an opportunity to share online. He built up my courage to start opening up my mouth online. And it began to reach people. and here we are today, and I'm so grateful that he used online to get to me, like social media.

Yeah. Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort.

We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they live. even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us. Okay, we will get right back into the conversation with Rishon, but I got to tell you guys about my sponsor today, Car Shield.

So computer systems and cars are the new normal from electronically controlled transmissions. missions to touchscreen displays to dozens of sensors, but you can't fix any of these new features yourself. So when something breaks, which it always does with these kinds of things, it could cost a fortune. And now is not the time for expensive repairs. With everything that's going on right now, your family, like a lot of other families, might be in a financial bind. The last thing you want to do is to fix the computer system in your car. And that is why Car Shield exists. Car Shield has affordable protection plans that can save you thousands for a covered repair, including computers, GPS, electronics, and more. The people at CarShield understand payment flexibility is an absolute

must. Monthly plans can be customized to your needs with race as low as $99 a month. No long-term contracts or commitments, which is just a huge relief. You don't have to worry about that. CarShield gives you options. Others won't. You get to choose your favorite mechanic or dealership to do the work, and CarShield takes care of the rest. They also offer complimentary 24. seven roadside assistance and a rental car while yours is being fixed. Car Shield has helped over one million customers. So you can look at that number and realize there are a lot of people who trust this company. So drive with confidence knowing you got coverage from America's number one auto protection company for as low as just $99 a month. You can protect yourself from surprises and

save thousands of dollars for a covered repair. Call 800 car, 6,000. That's 800. Car 6,000 and mention code Allie, A-L-L-I-E, or visit CarShield.com and use code Alley to save 10%. That's carshield.com code Alley, a deductible may apply. Okay, back to our conversation. What are some of the benefits and the challenges to having a ministry that is predominantly online? I know you do a lot of in-person ministry as well. But with social media, able to access people that you probably wouldn't typically access, but are there also some challenges just because online can be so toxic? How do you wade through the craziness and the noise and to point people to truth when there are so many lies that are swirling on the

internet? So good. And I think we spoke about this a little bit, even when you came on my podcast as is one, I'm not going to be liked by everyone. Like my savior wasn't even liked by everyone. So I got to be ready for whatever comes in my way. But there are a few things. There's a few things that I keep in mind every time I'm online. I serve an audience of one. And, you know, I need to be careful with trying to compete with the glory of God.

But I also need to get off this, you know, sort of desire because it all. my whole life I've been fighting for applause. So I need to, one, protect my, or not protect myself or make it feel like I need to protect myself from critique of people, but also not be in this place where I need to fight for applause. Right. Because that's not what I'm called to do. I'm called to lay the truth out there and let it land where it lands. And also, you know, just bring the light of the glory of the gospel into this dark world because

it needs Jesus. And I want to be the best vessel I can, but I'm still learning along the way every single day because, yeah, it's just crazy. It is toxic. It is crazy. We were talking, you know, before we actually started speaking on air about some of the cultural movements that are going on right now, the political movements. And we're not going to get too political, you know, in this conversation. But you brought up to me the whole kind of defund the police movement. and you have experience in the justice world.

Can you just kind of give me, if you want to, a little bit of commentary on what you think about these worldly movements of so-called justice that are calling for things like defunding the police? I love that, Ellie. So I know this is a very sensitive topic. I do want to trail lightly because I'm not an expert in this area, but I have experienced. I've experienced so much, you know, in a topic.

I mean, there's beautiful sides of everything. There's good and bad, ugly, and indifferent everywhere. And I've been to the place where, you know, one, I was left out, laid out dead, leaking with my life, you know, on the verge of being done at the hands of a young black man. But it wasn't all his fault. It was my pride. It was also my sort of mindset, oppression mentality. oppression mentality. My mindset was in the gutter.

And I don't agree. I don't agree personally with defunding the police, especially with the rise of the crime that we see across America, because it was a police that saved me. And if we defund the police and, you know, we sort of take away the taxpayers right for safety and protection, what sense does that make? And that's my hope is that,

We would really think through this. And you know, you look in the black community, my, you know, community, even my neighbor, his brother was shot down and killed by a black man in the car next to him. And most of the black man in circles with have been victims of black crimes. And I believe in, you know, someone can be a product of their own environment. And when I'm thinking about the concern of this, you know, the black crime, I think about 90% of black victims. are killed by black assailants, you know, for the most part.

And shouldn't we be talking a little bit more about what's happening in our own communities? And that's my, that's my own perspective because everyone who's sort of broke into my house, you know, pistol with my brother, hit me with a bat, sent me to the hospital, was my own brother, or, you know, my brother, you know, the dude that was across the street from me. So my prayer is that, man, we would really, approach this as biblically what justice looks like, but also, you know, bringing peace, like, in a biblical way. Like, I don't know.

It's just tough. It's absurd to even think about defunding the police thought. Right. Now, it's important that we reimagine public safety. I believe it's so important to reimagine public safety, but to defund the police is crazy. Yeah. And ultimately, what these communities need is the same as what all communities need. and that is not taking away the police, which honestly doing so actually disproportionately affects

victims and potential victims, the people who are powerless. And that is not to the definition of biblical justice. Now, you and I, of course, agree that police officers, that everyone has to be held accountable for when they use too much force, when things are unjust, of course. But to your point, and of course, I agree with it. trying to look at faulty solutions to real problems doesn't work. And ultimately, what you and I both know is that this community, like all communities, they need heart change. They need the gospel. Yes, there's structural issues there. I mean, the promotion of the family is important. The promotion

of work and discipline, that's important for every single community and every single family. But ultimately, there's a heart regeneration that is needed for all individuals, no matter what our background is. and that is what you do. So you might not be a cultural or political commentator, but you are speaking into culture and politics and the need for all of this when you are sharing the gospel, especially in places like prisons where you went. Do you have, sorry if I'm putting you on the spot,

do you have a story, even just one story, maybe you share one in your book that you can tease for us, a story of you sharing the gospel with someone who like yourself at one point was just so down on, himself ready to, just ready to die, feeling like their life was purposeless. Maybe they were in prison or maybe they were in just an adverse circumstance. And you shared the gospel. God saved them and they turned their life around. Can you give us an encouraging story of that? Well, we got plenty. It's so hard to choose from. But I know, I know. I have one that sticks out.

Yeah, like a candle on top of a, I know, I'm just like, check this out. Allie, like I'll never forget this one day I was hanging out getting ready to start my shift it was a terrible day it felt like because it was just already so much outward like things going on outside of my workspace and I was just now getting ready to start a shift so I was not looking forward to being there but it's so amazing how God works like so I'm starting off my shift downstairs in the basement I have to go up to disciplinary segregation to start my shift and anyone who knows about this was a disciplinary segregation is that that's not really the most calm place. It's not the coolest place to be. And it's on top of the jail. It's basically the jail within the jail. And as I'm walking into the

pot, you know, the pot gets rowdy, guys get crazy. We got all kinds of inmates from all different walks of life with different, you know, crimes they've committed. But I go sell by sell, just encouraging some of the folks while working, you know, doing little gospel, little letters and putting them underneath their cells, I finally get to cell 12. And in this cell, the inmate I was a little bit familiar with, but, you know, not so.

He sent me over to the middle of the pot. He liked cope. He said cope, and that's my last name, Copeland. But he said, go over into the middle of the pot, to that table, and go grab that book for me. I walk over to grab this. book for him. And as I'm walking back to give him this book, which was the Quran, I slide the Quran inside of his little cubby where they feed him. And he throws, unbeknown to me, to my surprise,

he throws urine on me. P. I can't make that up. He throws, yeah, pee on me. And it was hot. It was stinky. It was nasty. I was frustrated, agitated, boy, I was going to go off on him. However, somehow, by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit caught me down. And as I began, you know, to hurry up and walk out the pod, I was doing it, you know, natural as possible, so it wouldn't look too weird. But everyone was laughing at me. It was so embarrassing. I clicked the button.

I walk out and I hurry up, go downstairs and I throw my clothes off, my uniform. And I basically said to the commander, I quit. I quit because he's seen, they seen it on camera. I give up, I quit, I'm out of here. And I get out to the car and I jump in the car and I'm about to pill out. And he's trying to work something out with me. But I drive out of the jail, the gates, and I drive up one to one light away from the jail. And I felt the gentle urge of the Holy Spirit to turn around to go back.

And I was like, no, I'm not going back. What do you mean go back? I'm not going back. And, you know, of course, God won. I turned back around. I drive the car back. I park. And I just felt, you know, the Lord told me to go upstairs.

And, you know, I carried my, you know, I went upstairs. And I finally get to the pod where he was. I walk in. They're laughing at me again. They're laughing at me. And then I'm walking closer to a cell. I'm getting ready to go just address this guy. And some reason I had this, you know, by the grace of God, I had this sense like,

this is where the defining moment is. You know, a lot of times we feel like we'll be celebrated when we do the right thing and the right moment. But what happens when, you know, you respond, you know, in these moments? And like I was thinking through a lot. So I finally get to a cell and I was just like, you know, Jesus loves you so much, bro. And I want to share with you what he did for you. And I just laid out the gospel to him how Jesus died on the cross for him, for him, for

me for our sins, even for what you did to me today. And he not only died on the cross for us, but he rose again on the third day with all power in his hand. And I began to, you know, share with a little bit more. We began to talk about his story. But needless to say, I walked away about three minutes later. I'm about to walk out. And he was like, cope, cope, come back, come back. and I walked back over there and tears were streaming down his face. And he basically said, you know, when I was in the fourth grade, my mom walked out on me, you know, because my dad was killed. And I went into the foster care.

But ever since then, I've been in like 15 homes the first few years, like first until I got out of high school. And I was just blown away by his story. But needless to say, he never was able to hear, you know, the gospel before. and he gave his life to Christ. Wow. And yeah, he's waiting on you, bro. And, like, I traded out that Quran for the book of John. And we began to work through the book of John together.

And I spent the rest of the night with him. And he ended up going off preaching. He's leading an amazing church on the south side of Oklahoma City now. Oh, my goodness. So God met him. Yeah, yeah. So it was amazing. Amazing.

There are so many times in this conversation. And I've been just holding back. here is just because God is so good, his grace is so relentless and how he worked through you to then work through other people is so amazing. I just know this is going to be incredibly encouraging. There's a lot of people that I think are looking around at the world right now and they see a lot of hopelessness. They see a lot of despair. And some people might be wondering who have lost jobs, who have lost family members, who are destitute, who maybe are in the same place that you were, that some of the people that you've ministered to have been, and they're going

to hear this conversation, and they're going to remember that no matter what it looks like outside our window, no matter what the circumstances, God has not abandoned you. He has not forgotten about you. If you're still alive, he has not given up on you. And I'm just so encouraged. I'm so encouraged by how God has worked through you. And just the joy that you exude, I, you know, think about that verse that the joy of the Lord is our strength. And that I think is more important than ever for us to remember when the rest of the world doesn't see any reason to rejoice. We see every reason to rejoice as Christians. So can you please tell everyone where they can find you, where they can find your podcast, and where they can find your book

in what day your book comes out. Amazing. So yeah, you can find me at Rishon Copeland. Any platform or scriptures and stories podcast. And my book is available everywhere on September 1st. But it's up for pre-order now. So yeah, September 1st. Thank you, Allie. I've had a great time with you. A few people I respect more than you. So I just want you to know that. Very few. So well, that means, that means so much to me. And I'm just so grateful for you and your ministry as well. And thank you. If y'all are watching on YouTube, he's holding up my book right now. I can't wait until I can hold up your book. I'm so excited for people to read it. And I know exactly what it feels like, too, to get that book out. And also how awesome, just a story of redemption from that fourth grade

teacher so, you know, crazily telling you that you should never pick up a pen again to God using the very ability that you were told that you didn't have to share your story and the stories of others to proclaim the gospel. It reminds me of 1st Corinthians 1 that God uses the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are. He uses the things that are unexpected in the world that are unbelieved in in the world, the people that are unbelieved in or who are viewed as not good enough. He uses those for his glory. It's the weak and the far off that he uses, not the perfect and the independent. So I'm just so thankful that we are both examples. We are definitely both examples of God's just relentless redemption. So thank you so much. Thank you so much for sharing your story.

I'm so excited for your book. Start where you are. I want everyone to get it. Everyone subscribe to Scriptures and Stories Podcast. Awesome encouraging podcast. Follow Rashan on Twitter, all that good stuff. Is there anything else that you would like to leave people with? I just want to say, I love your story.

If that counselor was not there to interject, come on, where will we be? Where will we be? Amen, sister. He just meets us in those darkest moments, doesn't he? And when you least expect it, he shakes us by the shoulders. and he doesn't have to do that. Those moments that cause pain, too, when you realize your sin, when you realize how far you've gone, that hurts.

But it is like, you know, faithful are the wounds of a friend, right? I mean, how thankful are we for those wounds that God causes us and uses to allow us to repent? So praise God. I'm going to be praising God all day because of our conversation. So thank you so much. Okay, guys, I hope that you enjoyed that conversation as much as, just so encouraging. I want to remind you guys, you're not enough and that's okay escaping the toxic culture of self-love. My first book is available anywhere you get your books. You can go to

Ali Beth Stucky.com slash book. We go through five cultural myths that young women especially are believing today from their teenage years and beyond. A lot of people ask me, is there something in it that I can get out of it if I'm a man? And yes, certainly now the pink cover probably gives away who the target audience is. But we break down all of these myths that are really prevalent from among males and females. But I think they're particularly popular among young women like you're perfect the way you are. You can't love other people until you love yourself. You determine your own truth.

All of these empty platitudes that sound really good, but actually place a burden on us that we just are not responsible or even able to bear. We talk about the importance of working hard for the sake of working hard. We talk about where truth comes from and how that determines our worldview. That includes our view of politics and justice and culture and social issues. We talk about cancel culture. We talk about the importance of if you can getting married and having kids, taking on responsibilities that might be hard but give the fulfillment that we are trying and failing to find inside of ourselves.

So this is not a book that is encouraging us to revel in our inadequacies and our insecurities. it is realizing that God made us not enough, he made us finite, he made us dependent, he made us to need him not only for our salvation, but also for our strength, for our sanctification, for a satisfaction, all the things that, again, we are trying and failing to find inside of ourselves. The theme is that the self can't be both the problem and the solution. And the fact of the matter is, according to every study that I've seen, the two youngest generations in this country, millennials and Generation Z, are miserable. report higher rates of loneliness, higher rates of purposelessness, higher rates of depression,

anxiety, and suicide. And a lot of that is because we have been removed from the institutions like church and like family, like community that have not only made this country great, but also have helped human beings thrive. We have embraced this hyper individualized life that is filled with instant gratification and constant superficial comparison and constant self-focused that is not making us happier. So this is going back to the principles, the institutions, the values, and the biblical truths that God has created us to need for our own fulfillment. And so if this sounds like a book that could be interesting to you, you can get it on the audible, you can get it on Kindle. It's available on Amazon. Alliebethsuckie.com

slash book should be available at your local public library or bookstore as well. If you are a woman, make sure that you join women's book club with Allie Stucky. We are starting the discussion this weekend with videos by me and questions by me that you can only get if you join Women's Book Club with Allie Stucky. Make sure that you fill out all of the security questions as well. So I can know that you're a real person. You're not just a troll. Okay, that's all I have for you today.

I will be back here on Monday. Hey, this is Steve Dase. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand. that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news

of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for

commentary grounded in conviction, and unwilling to lie to you about where we are, or where we're headed, you can watch this T-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us.