A new book telling the story of an American baker's enduring legal fight for his right to stand on his Biblical beliefs while operating his business, is out for release today.
In his book, "The Cost of My Faith: How a Decision in My Cake Shop Took Me to the Supreme Court," Jack Phillips of Colorado's Masterpiece Cakeshop detailed his experience when his religious convictions took him to the highest court of the United States, looking into the case that tackled the country's issue on freedom of speech and religion.
Phillips opened Masterpiece Cakeshop in September 1993, offering custom-made cakes. However, he never thought that his encounter with a gay couple in July 2012 would change the course of his life, leading him to become one of the most controversial witnesses of Christian faith in America today.
A gay couple went to his shop one July afternoon, requesting for a cake for their wedding but the shop owner declined, believing in the Biblical definition of marriage.
"I'll sell you birthday cakes, shower cakes, cookies, or brownies. I just don't do cakes for same-sex weddings," he told them.
"Nineteen words, approximately twenty seconds. That's all it took," Phillips remembered.
Five years later, the incident would bring the cake shop owner to the Supreme Court, challenging the Colorado Civil Rights Commission over his Christian convictions.
Six more months and he would finally win the case that has dragged him for years. In June 2018, the justices ruled 7-2, in favor of Phillips.
Going through the experience, he remembered the statement of Jesus to His disciples in Matthew 10:18-20.
"On My account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you," the verses say.
Phillips said that he "can testify" to the truth of the promise, because he also stood "before governors and kings" and each time, he felt that God has provided him with the right words to say.
Mirroring the event in the Bible when Apostle Paul had to defend his faith and share his life story before kings like Agrippa, the Colorado baker felt the same way in writing the book.
He wrote the book, which releases today, for a couple of reasons. First, he said he wanted his kids and grandchildren to know about his personal accounts on the issue. His other reason is to share "what God has done in [his] life" so that people would also trust the Lord in what He wants to do in their lives.
"You have your own talents, your own circumstances, your own opportunities to make decisions. I believe God wants to bless you, lead you, and help you with all of those things, as surely as He has for me," he added.
He revealed that his most important learning throughout the ordeal is knowing "how good God is," seeing God's mercies and feeling His comfort "in the deep places of the soul that only He can reach."
"It has been worth it. Because the thing I've learned most from all of this is who my Savior really is. I pray you'll learn that too," Phillips further stated.
"The Cost of My Faith: How a Decision in My Cake Shop Took Me to the Supreme Court" is available beginning today via Amazon. It's currently Amazon's #1 book in the LGBTQ+ Demographic Studies category due to its content which tells of Jack Phillips's fight for his freedom to bake cakes based on his Christian beliefs.
