66 | The True and Only Name with Special Guests: Elliott & Emily Yancey | Part 2

What happens when the story doesn’t get easier - but God is still just as present? 

In Part 2 of this powerful conversation, Elliott and Emily Yancey share the rest of their adoption journey with Jojo - walking through the tension, the unknowns, and the moments that tested everything they thought they could handle. But through it all, one truth remained: their calling wasn’t to control the outcome… it was to live out the gospel right in front of them. And what a story it was, and continues to be! 

We also step into another deeply impactful chapter - the closing of First Baptist Church Forest Park in Atlanta. What could have been a story marked by loss instead became a testimony of faith, obedience, and trusting God when the path forward isn’t clear. 

This episode is a reminder that God’s faithfulness isn’t dependent on our circumstances. Whether you’re facing uncertainty, walking through a difficult season, or simply trying to follow Jesus in the everyday moments - this conversation will encourage you to keep going.

If Part 1 resonated with you, this is the conclusion you’ve been waiting for.

Thank you Elliott & Emily!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Welcome to Sermons on the Side. I'm Brad. And I'm Richard. And life can move pretty fast. So we're here to slow down, dig deep, and find the story hidden in everyday moments.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

With years spent in ministry, friendship, and navigating real life together, we're all about blending humor, honesty, and faith into conversations that meet you right where you are.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

So whether you're brand new or you're back for more, we are so glad you are here.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

So relaxed, listen in, and let's discover meaning together.

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In the ordinary, the messy, and everything in between.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Sermons on the side. Finding meaning in the everyday.

SPEAKER_03 0:45

Yeah, I I brought something. Oh, bring it. Come on. Oh boy. I put a little effort in. Oh. Some would call it a um a labor of love. It's a labor of. You know what I'm talking about? Labor! What's the coolest kind of thing? That would be the uh top five worst Christmas songs ever.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

He's not a fan. Which by the way was that song. He does that.

SPEAKER_03 1:12

By the way, that was um episode 47.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

You know who loves that song? Pete Goodstone. Welcome everybody. That's right. Part two of our incredible conversation with Elliot and Emily Yankee got it on deck.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

I know it feels like it's been a month. I've been because I've been waiting for this.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

I've been waiting for this Elliot and Heath just taking place. I am loving this whole first of all, we've gotta establish a team Elliot and a Team Heath. We're just drawing a line in the middle of the stand to go. From now on, we need our listeners to pick a side. Team Elliot or Team Heath. I thought that was a perfect intro. I mean, just the that is okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

The rivalry has been established, and Elliot laid just threw that gauntlet down in last week's episode. He picked it up.

SPEAKER_02 2:47

Heath did. He said, I will not be outdone.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

And so I need, listen, all of y'all who are listening in on this, I'm telling you, get the to the sermons on the side Facebook page. And you will get to see Heath's response to Elliot challenging him on who gets most mentions, who's the the the favored fan. And I'm telling you, the rivalry really was burst. And you gotta look. He's he created these AI generated photos of him and Elliot. And uh so it's a it's a feud. And it is. And and so you know what? We're here for it. We're I want more feud.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

Yes. Bring me all bring me all of the feud.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

I will I will take that that they are both very good natured about it, but it we are having so much fun.

SPEAKER_02 3:39

That's so awesome. The best part is they literally have never met, don't know each other, except through the podcast. And it's just it's awesome. Anyway, speaking of not knowing each other, I know uh for a fact that there's lots of families that have joined us just in the last week to to listen to this incredible foster and adoption story. And so whether you're here in the Columbus Tri-Valley area and uh and listening in, or whether you're a friend or relative of the Yancy's, uh, or whether you just stumbled upon us and you're new in the last couple of weeks or so, welcome. We're so glad that you're here. Indeed. It's an incredible part two. We also have some really, really cool guests and and episodes lined up for the rest of May. So that's right. We'd love for you to stick around, but we're very, very glad that you're here today.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Exactly. And and uh when we left the story uh that Elliot and Emily were telling us, they were at a very critical point. And it was kind of a dark time or a very uncertain point in the fostering process. And it looked for all the world like Jojo was not gonna stay in the in the Yancey home. That's right. And it was uh it was a very sad, very heavy time.

SPEAKER_02 4:51

Yeah, and the and that last story that we we sort of left off on kind of a major cliffhanger. Yeah, it was. If you haven't listened to it yet, pause this episode and go listen to episode uh to part one. Glad you're back. But the but the uh the the story that we left off, Elliot was sharing, they had just gone down to the beach for a family vacation. That's right, and uh, and he had made his way out into the water and um and was just having a really vulnerable, real moment uh with the Lord. It was raw.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Yeah, I mean just true, raw emotion.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

And as he described it, he was just he was crying out, he was yelling out. I know I've been there before, and I think a lot of our listeners can recall a time where we were just so broken and and so before God that sometimes it comes out as as crying out, as just yelling. And I remember he said, God, you put us here, and only you can make a way out. And a way out that God made. So here is part two of Elliot and Emily Yancey's story.

SPEAKER_03 5:59

Yeah, we were at the the beach as a family one time, um, in the middle of all this chaos, and um I was alone out in the waves, you know, and I remember shaking my fist at the sky saying, You I'm here because of you. You put me in this, and now you're wrecking my family over this. That's the relationship I have with God. I don't know how y'all works out, but um, so anyway, you can read the rest of Psalm 40 on your own, but I just have it marked in my Bible as Jojo's Psalm. Um it it ends with, You are my helper and my savior. Oh my God, do not delay. Yeah, so there we are. Um so obviously, addiction is part of the story, and and we don't want to do anything to share Ashley's story or throw her under the bus. We love Ashley, we still love Ashley, and she's she's still part of the story, and we we've kept an open door. Um but when you're dealing in an addiction world, and and you guys talk about your your road to recovery a lot, when you're in the throes of addiction, one thing you don't do is accept responsibility.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

That's true.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

Okay, it's always everybody else's fault, or some circumstance, or just there's you're always deflecting. So there were several paths to the adoption piece for us, just in the way the system works. There were there were you could kind of map out some ways to get there. But the one thing that was never gonna happen was she was never going to just give up her rights because there's a huge difference mentally and emotionally in the state took my baby versus I gave up my baby.

SPEAKER_05 7:43

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 7:43

So for those three months, you know, you're you're you're thinking through, trying to anticipate, and you just I'm not even considering that as an option because that's never gonna happen. Well, on a Monday night, Emily and I are sitting at the kitchen table getting ready to go teach a Bible study that we taught for a long time. Um, it's just a regular old Monday night, and my phone pings. And it's Ashley. And we have a picture of this text that actually scrolls in some of the favorite pictures on the digital picture board around the house. And it says this it says, I signed the papers today. Sorry I haven't responded. It was a hard decision because the selfish part of me wants my baby boy, and the other part knows he is in a great place, and that is all he knows. I know y'all love him like your own, and he will be safe and very well taken care of. Thank you so much for everything and kiss my baby for me. She had just walked out of the defax office and signed over. All right. The one thing that I knew was never gonna happen. God, you are my helper and my savior. Oh my god, do not delay. When God moves, there is no delay. And so this text, again, it it kind of it's it's an open conversation in our home. We have a photo, you know, a screenshot of it, and and it it scrolls, you know, and so Jojo sees it and and talks about it regularly. And Emily points out a couple of pretty important things on that text that as a mom just make her feel good.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

I think that she chose this and she was choosing what was best for her for her baby. Um and so I love to be able to say she didn't leave you, she didn't abandon, you know, she chose what she knew was best. And there was one time we were at, we had gone over to see her at some point, and she made the comment, you know, a good mom makes sure their baby's safe, doesn't she? Like she said this just to me. I was like, Yeah, and um and she I could tell like at that point she was already thinking, I want to do what's best for them, and so we're able to confidently tell Jojo that she loves you and she always has wanted the very best for you, and she made that choice for you.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

So we're sitting looking at a screenshot of that text uh here as we record. It's a straight up miracle. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Yeah, oh it is.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

That moment that's only God could do that that that was the impossible scenario.

SPEAKER_03 10:30

I mean, that there was just no way.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

I was about to say, just even listening, whether or not our listeners are a part of a foster adoption story or not. I think we can all relate with Lord, I'm faced with two decisions, and they both are horrible. Uh help me discern between the two, but in reality, God answering, God moving, God making a way is him creating a third. One that was never really ever on the table, and really one that can only be explained by the power of God. Oh yeah, that is it.

SPEAKER_03 11:09

And so at that point, everything legally from that point was really just a process and a technicality. Now it still took about a year and a half to go through the rest of the process. Wow, okay. Um, but the tension was gone, yeah, yeah, and there was immediate payoff for all the relational investment we had done because we had always been safe harbor, and we continue to be safe harbor, and and and we still love Ashley. We we saw her just you know a few months ago or so. We ran into her, and JoJo was there and they spoke to each other, and they, you know, and and so she made the the the right decision for him because she loves him, but she knew it was the right decision because we had clearly communicated that we love her. Um and so at that point, man, it was like a thousand pounds lifted off your shoulder, and man, you're you're just rolling through the legal process.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

Yeah, yeah. So tell us about the conclusion of this legal process, because I'm telling you what, this is this is pretty remarkable.

unknown 12:14

I love it.

SPEAKER_03 12:14

Yeah, so we're there on adoption day. We call it gotcha day. So um the poor kid uh you know has a Christmas birthday basically, December 26th. Right. And so it just gets lost in the chaos. So we we try to make a big deal about gotcha day because it comes in July. Oh, July, July. July 9th. Thank you, thank you, July 9th. Yes, so yeah, I'm a good dad. Yes, you are. Yes. Um, so we're gathered at court. I mean, at that point, that there's no ifs, ands, or buts. I mean, it's gonna happen. You're there for those documents to be signed, but they had to be signed by a judge. And so we got the whole family there. I mean, we're all dressed up. We got a photographer. I mean, we're like, we you know, you do it for the grams, baby. That's what we're gonna do for. So um so we go back in the judge's chamber and he puts the robe on, and he's very official. Uh the judge was um Chris Edwards, man. The guy was so cool. He was awesome. You're you're you he sits behind his desk, all his credentials are on the wall, the whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

Just oozes authority. Just everything.

SPEAKER_03 13:14

Yeah, I mean, the power to do the things. Like you don't get invited into the judge's chambers. You know, that's those are private legal lawyer kind of, and here we are, you know, with a photographer. That's wild. Um, and so he's got he was, you know, addressed to us was really I mean, he you could tell this is probably the best part of his day because the rest of his day's sending everybody to jail. Um in fact, we go out after and take a family photo in front of the actual bench in the courtroom, and we turn around to stand in front of the bench and face the people waiting for court that day, and we realize we're the only people having fun today.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

We're the only people smiling and everybody staring at us.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

Because he's like superior court, so this is like for real stuff, you know. Nobody's having a good day but us. We're having a great time. Um, so we're back in the chambers, and he he he he opens the document to sign it, pulls out the pen, you know, and he looks at Jojo and says, Hey buddy, you want to come up here and sit with me? And so we have a picture, y'all can do whatever you want with it. Um, puts Jojo in his lap. Jojo's three at this point, three years old. Two and a half, two and a half, rounds up to three. So we're both right. Marriage, marriage. That's good. That's good stuff. That's right. But I'm also wrong. Um, so so Jojo's sitting in his lap, and he's he says, 'You want to sit with me while I sign it?' And he he just gets up there. He doesn't know. He's three years old. Yeah. And he says, Hey buddy, you want to sign it too? And so he hands him this pen, the, the, you know, the ball, the calligraphy pen, you know, uh fountain pen. That's the word I'm looking for. And I mean, big fancy stuff. Pen probably costs more than my car. You know, people are into pens, right? And he just starts scribbling all over the page. And then the judge asks Cooper if he wants to come up and sign it too. Cooper is how old at this point? I don't want to say it wrong.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

We also don't do math in public.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

I'm a math teacher, though. That's he's five. He's five. He's five.

SPEAKER_03 15:15

He's he's about to turn seven. Yeah. So anyway, little kids. So so Cooper, we have a picture of them both signing this document. And and by signing it, I mean completely ruining it, you know, just scribbled all over it. And the judge, I love it. He goes, the government hates when I do this. It's an admittance that he's done it before. Yeah, do it again. Do it again. Yeah, I love this guy. So, so I'm just sitting in that in the chambers and I'm just blown away at the picture of the gospel. I don't even know if he meant to do that. But God, our father, is moving and working, he has all the authority, all of the background. He is the judge, his word is what becomes reality, right? And and so why would he invite us to participate? Because really, all we bring to the table is pretty much just scribbling all over the page, seemingly messing it all up. Yes, yeah. We're doing something awesome, right?

SPEAKER_01 16:21

Look at me.

SPEAKER_03 16:22

Yeah, God, I've got this ministry, God, I did this thing, and aren't you so grateful to have me on your team? And we're just sitting in his lap scribbling. Oh man. And so the two boys bring nothing to the table, but yet they're invited to participate. And and the judge loaned them his authority. Ooh, come on, right? And and and oh my god, used his authority through them. And and and I mean, it was just this sitting in his lap like dad, right? And they're just comfortable and late. They don't even know they're in a judge's chambers and the people are going to jail later today, right? It's it was just so comfortable. And so that moment is just etched in my mind of that's the picture of our relationship with God because of what Jesus did for us. We get to sit in God the Father in Daddy's lap and feel like we're contributing in some way, but it's really him doing all of it.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Oh, and I love oh, thank you, thank you for that. That's very good. Good stuff. You you you showed us a you showed us a copy or a photo of the actual wording of the adoption agreement, and there is so much biblical truth in that document. I was I was amazed by that.

SPEAKER_03 17:46

I I was too. So what happened in the chambers? You know, the judge signs it, you stick it in an envelope and go about your day. We go out in the courtroom and take happy pictures in front of front of a room full of miserable people. Um it was an awkward. It was fantastic. It was my favorite part of the day. Um, so we get home later, and I just I just want to like read this thing. You know, it's much illegal mumbo jumbo. I'm just gonna see what it says. It's only two pages. And so it starts out with some boilerplate stuff, you know, dates and times and whereas's and herefores and whatever. But toward the bottom it says that it further appears from the pleadings and the evidence seduced in these proceedings that the adoption prayed for is in the best interest of the child. Prayed for, prayed. P-R-A-Y-E-D. That's a legal term. I had no idea. Yeah, it's a legal term, and we were so attuned to it that we looked it up on the way to this podcast to make sure we knew exactly what we did. So, to the Googles, what did it say in the pray for apartment?

SPEAKER_00 18:50

It talked about it's requesting action.

SPEAKER_03 18:53

It's a legal term that means to formally request action from the judge who has the authority.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

Wow. Dude, that gives me chills.

SPEAKER_03 19:04

Your Bible might use the word petition. Yeah. It's a legal term. Wow. So the adoption prayed for, in other words, we have been requesting action for quite some time, as you well know, according to Psalm 40, is in the best interest of the child because God is sovereign and God is good. Now, therefore, the court concludes as a matter of law, it is hereby ordered and adjudicated, the above-named minor child be permanently adopted by Elliot Yancey and Emily Yancey. And that said child be and is hereby declared to be capable of inheriting the estate of said Elliot Yancey and Emily Yancey. I don't know about you, but adopted into sonship, heir of the father, co-heir with Christ. I don't know if you've read these verses before. That's it. Oh, it goes on. Come on. It is further ordered that the name of the said child after the adoption shall be granted Joseph Walter Yancey. Now he was always called Joseph, but he had a different middle and last name. But his name was changed formally. And that the place of birth on the birth certificate of said child shall be Spaulding County, Georgia. He was born in Henry County. The place his name was changed, and the place of his birth was changed.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

Come on, stop it.

SPEAKER_03 20:43

And tell me your salvation story. Yes. Where your name is changed and the place of your birth is changed, and you're adopted into the family as a matter of law and able to inherit the estate or the kingdom. These are all legal terms. It is further ordered that a new birth certificate shall be issued for said child, showing that Elliot Yancey and Emily Yancey are the sole, exclusive, and lawful parents of the minor child. And that the true and only name of said minor child is Joseph Walter Yancey. To me, it's revelation when the books are brought out, the Lamb's Book of Life and the books.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

We always talk about our name being recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life. This is a courtroom scene, though. So what if it's more than just a name? What if it's a legal document that says, oh no. It has been prayed to the king for this, right? That his name was changed, his place of birth. Was changed. His one and only true name is He is able to inherit from the King because he is the King. And it says it right here in this document.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

Oh my God. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

That could have been out of like Fourth John or something like that. I mean, that is that is might not be red letter, but it's orange letter in my Bible. You know what I mean? But no, seriously, dude, that I mean, that just sells itself from like a gospel parallel story to this. I mean, that's unbelievable.

SPEAKER_03 22:35

It's unreal. So that's a document that my kids scribbled all over.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

And that makes it even better.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

It doesn't it? It does. Oh, it just does. Y'all, this story is so packed with gospel uh pictures and terminology and and the really the thumbprint of God all over all over your story, your family's story for Jojo and Cooper and and your and their children and their children. Boy, God's hand. I thank you so much for sharing this. Blown away.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

It's so incredible.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

Okay, so Elliot, I want to bring our listeners into a little bit behind the scenes. Uh and it is it's related to one of the memorable episodes that we had back during uh last year. It was the the episode called Fourth and 25 Prayers. And what I want to let our listeners in on is that the backstory to that episode was a conversation that Elliot and I had on the phone. Yes, it was. We were talking, I was on vacation.

SPEAKER_04 23:48

Yes, you were.

SPEAKER_02 23:50

We're laughing because before we went on air, we joked about how often Richard and his beautiful wife Rhonda uh go on vacation. And so you couldn't even still if Richard works more than two full weeks, we add him to the prayer list.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

I feel I've been misrepresented. Nope.

SPEAKER_04 24:15

Accurately represented.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

But anyway, we were we were on vacation. I remember I was on vacation because uh during that vacation I was dealing with a kidney stone. Oh, that's right. So it was I'm sorry. It was during this uh day and a half period that between you know excruciating pain. Do you feel sorry for me now?

SPEAKER_04 24:35

No, no, because the kidney stone was a remnant from your previous vacation that just thought of it.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

Anyway, I feel like I've lost the thread of the story now. Fourth and twenty five, fourth and twenty fair. Okay, fourth and twenty-five prayers. We're having a conversation, and the conversation we were having was we were talking on the phone about a very difficult time that you guys were having uh and going through, as Elliot uh at the time was pastor of Forest Park Baptist Church. And uh it was just a a really hard season for that church, and you were trying to find wisdom and and you were praying some desperate prayers, and so we had this conversation about the the football player throwing the you know the the lateral behind him hoping for the best, and we just found ourselves uh coining that phrase that this is a fourth and twenty-five kind of situation. Anyway, as that uh that conversation led to a cool episode, but what I would like to ask if you could give us an overview of that journey and how it recently had came to that journey came to a close. And that is another really interesting story in your life.

SPEAKER_03 25:53

Yeah, so long story short, and and recognizing this is a podcast meant to be encouraging on a Thursday afternoon. Um it's not a pastor's podcast, we'll keep it short. Um I was I was the pastor of a 152-year-old church on Main Street USA. I mean, uh a legacy church, um, church with a lot of rich history, uh a stalwart in the community, a lot of things, uh, lots of positive um in its history, but um we actually ended up closing that church on December 21st of 2025 of last year. Um we kind of saw some of that coming, um, just just in the history of the church and some of the circumstances. We we had really sort of predicted that our finances would run out in in about four to five years, and we had predicted that back, you know, 2022-ish. Um and so we had been trying all kinds of stuff to get it turned around, and and the church was rallying together and and um you know doing all the right things that we could think of, and and and really trying to be obedient to God. And it was just hard because you know, the as the money ran out, it was like the the sand falling out of the hourglass. Um and you're trying to shepherd people through this, and and you could feel the tension, and and you you had some joys when things would work, and you saw some growth, and you had you know disappointments when things didn't go so well, or you know, what it's just all of it, right? In any any church has all of it going on. Um and so at that season that that Richard's talking about, um a few things had happened that were out of our control that just the the body blows were stacking up on us, yeah. You know, um so so if if you're in a church and you're leading or whatever, uh and your event stinks and it crashes and burns because you didn't plan, then that's on you. But sometimes there's things that happen that are totally out of your control, and this just kept happening to us. We're in the 11th hour, like it just gets blown up, and we're like, oh my, we've been working on this for months, and we're ready and we're prepared, and something would happen that just made it crash and burn. You're going, God, I'm down here working for you, you know. Same thing back with the foster care story. It's it's hey man, you got me into this. I'm I'm you know, we're on the same team, right? Because it feels like sometimes we're not on the same team. Um, and so we just had taken several of those hits, and Richard was so faithful to just come alongside, not with answers or platitudes or whatever, but he was just there. Um, and so we would call each other all the time. Uh we had lunch a few times. Um, and actually on the very last service, he he made the two-hour trip up to church that Sunday morning and surprised me by being at that service. And uh that was one of the few times in my life where somebody had been present just to support me. He had no other connection to that situation or that church at all, other than just to be there for me. And so that was so meaningful and so impactful. And I and I learned the value of that ministry of presence and and and the effort that it took to to drive up there and be there. And um, yeah, I just I've told you before, but I just want to say thank you. Um but a few months before that, man, we were just in the midst of all this mess, and I was just kind of pouring my heart out to Richard, and he goes, Man, that sounds kind of like this football play. Um it was Mississippi State and Arkansas. Oh miss. Oh miss. Oh miss. I'm sorry, you've made me a closeted Mississippi State fan. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:44

Um you know, it's just influence, godly influence on everybody's life.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Mississippi State fans are in the closet. This last season started out pretty good.

SPEAKER_04 29:54

It was it was fun for a while.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

My wife's in the corner just mad at y'all.

SPEAKER_03 30:02

No, you your enthusiasm is infectious. And so I was I was keeping up with Mississippi State. So, anyway, but the Arkansas Ole Miss. Um, you can go back to the episode and listen to it. But they're at 4th and 25 into the game, and there's no hope. They're doomed. It's all over. Uh, guys running down the field with a ball, gets completely obliterated, and as he goes down, just throws the ball in the air, just hoping somebody's gonna pick it up, something crazy is gonna happen. And it did. Somebody picked it up, something crazy happened, and they made the first down, and the storm goes on. And so, as Richard says, that sounds like kind of where you are. Like you are going down hard, and you're not a good pastor. And what you said, what I heard, two different things. So I mean, it's just we're just in this desperate moment, and and so in in talking with him, yeah. I said, Man, I just I just put this on my heart, and I'm just it seems crazy, but I'm just laying it out there. And so we started teaching through Joel one and two. Um, and and in Joel, there's this army of locusts coming toward the city, and locusts are devastating, and it's literally like the clock ticking. They they they move about a hundred yards a day as they get closer and closer and closer. So you could count it out. Um, and Richard reminded me of a famous old worship song where they uh they it was really popular, but they didn't actually read the story. And so, what was that song?

SPEAKER_01 31:28

I forget it was uh Blow the Trumpet in Zion. Blow the Trumpet in Zion, you know, warning about this uh God's army, but it was actually God's judgment on the God's army is the locusts that are coming to get you, so it's a funny song.

SPEAKER_03 31:41

You can look it up. Um and so we talked through Joel 1 and 2. We called the church to a fast, and basically we were just saying, God, if you don't do something amazing, we're we're done. We're so done. Um, and so he's like, Man, I want to encourage you to do that. He said, I just feel like this is your you know, fourth and 25 moment. Um, I actually shared that with my elders, and I uh uh put a picture of that guy throwing the football up, and you know, I said, All right, boys, Joel on two, here we go. You know. Um so that kind of became a little thing with us. Um, and so we did, man, we we we prayed and fasted. I I literally cried out before the Lord in front of the congregation on a Sunday. Um, and we gathered for what Joel calls a somber meeting or a serious meeting as we got together and and just prayed and fasted and cried, you know, cried out to God. And and honestly, very little came out of that. We had this one phrase that was brought to us through a young lady in the church, through through God laid it on her heart, that was out of Romans 4, that Abraham was fully convinced. Okay, so we'll be fully convinced. But where that leaves you is still in the waiting. Okay, we did the crying out, asking you to move, and now he's just saying, be fully convinced, and we're still in the same spot on Monday. Okay. So that was August-ish. The week before Thanksgiving, we were doing some work around the building. It's an old building, old church, old building. You you know the story. You probably go to one of those churches. And we were we were doing some electrical work and we found significant electrical problems that were fire hazards and had been fire hazards for a long time. So, like how that place didn't burn down 10 years ago is a miracle from God. But again, in God's timing, he does things. Um upon investigating, the the cost of those repairs would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe more, way more than we had. And and again, we've been already overspending for a long time, and and money was time. And with that discovery, time was out. Money was it didn't matter what it cost at that point because we didn't have it. So we told the church, and we said, okay, we don't really have a choice here, we've got to close. Um and in the midst of grieving, who do you want to be with? You want to be with your church family, especially during the holidays. And so we kept meeting Thanksgiving to that Sunday before Christmas, knowing that that would be the last Sunday. Our last Sunday will be December 21st. Um, there's so many details in this, I'm I'm going through it. But God was just all over it. And in that time, God united the church, He comforted us, He allowed us time to be together. Um by the time we got to the that last Sunday, we were ready. If you've ever been a part of a Baptist church, um, you know, you do votes on all the stuff. And and a unanimous vote in a Baptist church is always a miracle. Okay. Right. But we had a unanimous vote without conflict to close the church. Wow.

unknown 35:12

That's a big deal.

SPEAKER_03 35:13

That's that's that's rare. That's well, that's a miracle. I mean, that's a Romans 4 moment. It is, yeah, it is. So, I mean, that's where we God was just shepherding us and guiding us, leading us. Um and so ultimately we close the church. So, what does that have to do with foster care and adoption? Well, my wife, who's a lot smarter than me, she pointed this out.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

You know, no contradiction from my I mean it's a it's very clear. I mean, anybody can say that. Nobody wants to debate as my weak attempt to take a shot, uh, tease somebody else around the table.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

I guess we'll just move on. Okay. No, you were very smart.

SPEAKER_03 35:55

But she pointed out the contrast between those two events and the outcome of those events.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Yes. So with foster care and adoption, we prayed and we prayed and we prayed. Um and we our heart was to adopt JoJo, and and that miracle happened, and God granted that. And um it was wonderful. And we and God's goodness, he mentioned that, but that's what he taught me through that. It's like he is good, even in the the really hard days. That that word just kept coming up songs and verses and all the things. So um, but then with the church, we prayed and we prayed and we prayed for the miracle, and it didn't end like we really believed it. I I feel like we really believed that God was gonna just bring revival and just totally turn turn everything around, and um, but it didn't end like we thought it would. But he's still good, and we and we were still okay. Even that was the thing that we thought that's the worst thing that could happen. And then it happened, and we were still okay. So a lot to work through, but still okay. But there's a lot of loading.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

Yeah, there yeah, that really is. There's a lot of meat on that bone of like God's goodness is not dependent upon the outcome of what we pray for. Yeah. And you talk and you talk about going back to the at the very beginning of this when you were met with that friction point of holy cow, this is gonna look really different than what I envisioned. And your commitment to those principles of essentially I'm going to live out the gospel as God has called me to do it, and I'm gonna trust him with the results. That is what God has called us to do. And we got to see the beautiful part of the Lord sort of honoring that request as it relates to Jojo, but then we saw the opposite of that as it relates to the request for the church. And yet God is still good.

SPEAKER_03 37:58

So so here's an uh application for your listeners I I think it's a little bit of a dangerous game to evaluate your faith or your obedience based on the circumstances or the outcome of a situation. Right, come on, right? Because there there's just as from a human perspective, there's just as many failures in the Bible as there are as there are successes and victories. Yeah, it's a good point. Okay. So you say, okay, we close the church, and that that's like, man, that's really sad ending. But it's not. Here's how God does it. We were in the mindset that our God is the 11th hour God. If you just hold on and you just, you know, you keep digging, we had about two years worth of money left, you just keep going, and our backs are against the Red Sea, and he's gonna do this miracle, and the seas are gonna part, and something's gonna happen, and all the problems will be solved, and we'll roll off into the sunset, right? And everything's gonna be great into some bright, shiny new future. That's not what he did. When when when the electrical stuff was found, um the decision to close was pretty immediate, but we still got like two years worth of money in the bank. Okay. So now you have time, because money is time, you have time to go through that closing process well. So I'm still on staff and I'm shepherding our people as they go and find new churches. And we've actually been to different churches with them and we're helping, you know, in communication because I'm still employed, so I don't have to panic and go, oh no, how am I gonna feed my family this week? Because God shut it down quote unquote early. We're able to go through the contents of the church and and distribute those resources out to different ministries and churches and whatever so that so that the kingdom continues. In fact, this podcast is a beneficiary of some of that, right? We were able to provide some equipment because y'all are proclaiming the gospel and your audience is growing and God's gonna continue to move on. Equipment that we haven't used in a while. We had for COVID, and it's been kind of sitting in a cake, you know. But now, okay, we're gonna be able to use that. Um, we're gonna sell the property, and by the time we have that, we're gonna have significant cash resources all in a lump, some account. And we're not trying to continue our church on, we're sending our people out into other churches, and so what do you do with all that money? We get to invest in the kingdom, and so that was the whole point of our last service was it wasn't a funeral, it was a commissioning service. Oh wow, yeah, and and that's cool. So that's not a path that any of us could have predicted or any of us would have thought of. And there's pastors out there right now that are in this situation, and I'm just telling you what God did at our church, not telling you what you should do at yours. But because we ended it quote unquote early, we saw immediate benefit and blessing where even in the midst of the sadness and the tragedy that it wasn't the outcome that we wanted, everybody's able to understand and get their heads wrapped around and participate in growing the kingdom. So as one church closes, the kingdom grows. It's like unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01 41:12

I've never seen anything like it. And uh, even to be at that final service and Elliot's final message, the text and the and the sermon that he gave he brought was about Jesus as the good shepherd and the trust we have that he's brought the church, he's shepherded the church all throughout its history, including the closing of it. Yeah. And and and just hearing that, and then also knowing what you just described of being able to, in a healthy way, send the people, you know, so like like planting seeds of the of families in other churches.

SPEAKER_03 41:51

Oh, listen, because we've been through challenges, we're sending some rock star church members in some other churches. I hear you, I hear you, brother. These people ain't pew warmers, man. They are workers and they have been through some stuff, but everybody running. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:06

So it just it's just a really remarkable thing. And thank you all for sharing that and and sharing the truth that we all really needed to hear. That there are gonna there are gonna be times where our desperate prayers are answered in a way that seems like a good outcome to us. And then there are gonna be times that our prayers are answered in a way that doesn't feel or seem like a good outcome. And uh, but God is good over it all, and even those outcomes that we wouldn't have picked, there's still goodness in them. Yeah, there's still purpose and meaning. It's good stuff, man.

SPEAKER_03 42:49

So I two two quick points to to wrap up. I know you're landing the plane on this very professionally produced podcast, and I'm ruining it. Um two take-home points that we just keep thinking about all the time. Emily and I talk about it all the time. Number one, there's nothing wasted in the kingdom of God, and I think we said that during the foster care story. But all those little confusion points, all that you know, the prayer and fasting, the the everything that we were teaching it, all that came together in this nice little package at the end, and God was always moving in that direction. Which leads me to the second point. We think about God's will like that Robert Frost point, two roads to verge in a woods, and you know, do I take the one less traveled, or if I take this one, and then I it's the wrong choice, and I'm out of God's will, and oh no, life's over, right? But the truth is, he is the good shepherd. And what does a shepherd do? He he nudges the sheep from the left and the right, sometimes in wide swaths, right? They're spread out all over the field. And he gets them and gathers them and moves them gently where he wants them to go. And so if your heart is to be obedient to the Lord and to be faithful to him and To follow him and live by these principles, you can't miss God's will. Because the Psalms say it's like a wide foothold. Like if you're rock climbing, if the the footholds are wide, and we think we're just dangling off the cliff, you know, about to fall and die. And he's going, No, no, no, no, I got you. And so I say that to my fellow Christians out there, like, just relax, man. He he died for the church, so you don't have to.

unknown 44:29

You know?

SPEAKER_03 44:30

And I say that because I almost did. Um, but now that I can see what God was doing, we always see it in the early mirror. Man, his will, we were right in the center of it, and it was wide, and we were never gonna get out of it without just an open rebellion and we can comfort it.

SPEAKER_01 44:51

That was an important statement to make there as we wrap up. Thank you, man. Thank you all for being so generous with your story. We're honored to be here, man. Oh, thank you for that. Wonderful stuff. Wonderful stuff. Hey, we're gonna wrap our interview. Uh, we normally do uh our no-huddle, we're not doing that. We actually would just like to hear from you guys about uh some of our segments.

SPEAKER_03 45:17

Yeah, I I brought something. Oh, bring it. Come on.

SPEAKER_01 45:22

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_03 45:22

I put a little effort in. Oh some would call it a um a labor of love. It's a labor of you know what I'm talking about? Labor of pain was cold, Sky. That would be the uh top five worst Christmas songs ever.

SPEAKER_01 45:39

He's not a fan. Which by the way was that song. He doesn't Elliott's not a fan.

SPEAKER_03 45:44

By the way, that was um episode 47. You know who loves that song?

SPEAKER_02 45:48

Heath Goodson.

SPEAKER_04 45:51

Well, dude, there was something wrong. My boy Heath.

SPEAKER_03 45:57

No, that segment can be found in episode 47.

unknown 46:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 46:05

Because I'm holding here a complete database of every way segment of Sermon on the Side. What? Complete with segment title, the basic contents of the segment, and my opinion about that particular segment. Um, so if you just want to like call one out, I got you. Just pick a number, any number episode uh 12. 12. We're digging deep back in the archive. Okay, that was uh stuck in Starbucks. Oh, yeah. It's a good episode. A father makes a way. Uh this was uh, I believe it is round two of Richard's Obnoxious Observations. Uh, this particular one was the culinary edition of Obnoxious Observations. Okay. Um, where Richard says uh he does not like baked potatoes because you're paying somebody to cook, I think if I remember this correctly. And they bring all that stuff to the table and expect you to suddenly be the chef and pay for it. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 47:08

There's so much you have to do. That potato gets to you, you're nowhere near.

SPEAKER_03 47:13

We've already heard it once.

SPEAKER_05 47:14

We're not listening to it again.

SPEAKER_03 47:16

Thank you. There was also some comments about corner on the cob and butter distribution, which you offered up a new technique. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 47:24

Butter on a piece of bread, a little piece of white bread, and then you put it. Thank you. Hey, never get in between a big boy and his bread and his butter.

SPEAKER_03 47:34

You've got and then and then there's one more on that because this is actually really important. This was in my top five. Um, there was a discussion about condiments on hot dogs. Ooh. And what how do you prepare your hot dog?

SPEAKER_01 47:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 47:44

And and I'm very passionate about this topic.

SPEAKER_01 47:47

Well, you must because tell us.

SPEAKER_03 47:49

Tell us. It was already like law because of the multi-platinum band Alabama, who said in their songs The Cheap Seats, we like our dogs with mustard and rally. We like our dogs with mustard and rally. You know it, Brad? Nope, you're not old enough. It's a song about Minor League Basic. I am here to be the bridge between these generations. Oh I like that. But now, if if that wasn't enough, our Pope is from Chicago. I didn't, yeah. Yeah. Which means the Chicago dog, which is mustard and relish, is basically canon at this point.

SPEAKER_01 48:30

Would you like to call another episode? Yeah, look, uh, my favorite uh favorite sports number, uh 21. 21.

SPEAKER_03 48:38

Oh, that's a uh uh an episode called Crowd Noise. Ah gladiator thing. This is uh part of the that's messed up. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:51

That's messed up.

SPEAKER_03 48:52

There it is. This particular one was um a quirk of Richards. There are many quirks of Richards. It's a long list, too, brothers. But this is uh desserts that bother me. And I think you said uh cupcakes.

SPEAKER_01 49:09

Cupcakes, of course.

SPEAKER_05 49:11

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 49:12

But is this also when I did is that where I revealed the carrot cake situation?

SPEAKER_03 49:18

Or that was that's that's in a um I do have that documented. Okay. I cannot quickly find this.

SPEAKER_01 49:25

Okay, but I'm so excited about this best. Oh my god. I don't even know.

SPEAKER_02 49:30

We're gonna have to pay money for this, dog. This is unbelievable. This is hours of work, by the way. Did you see your listen stats go up? Last week I was like, dude, I was nobody's listened to every episode twice.

SPEAKER_01 49:44

That was a man. All right, so I just love that. Oh, what's the case? So anyway, was it cupcakes? Was the the the main thing in 2011?

SPEAKER_03 49:55

Desserts that bother me, yeah. Yeah. And then I followed up with a story about the Chick-fil-A cookies, cookies, which are the absolute worst. Yeah, and children in the car.

SPEAKER_01 50:05

We went on record with your story.

SPEAKER_03 50:07

Yeah, that made the next episode, um, which was do you believe in miracles? Uh, and then you posed a question, a would you rather question for the segment there of when it's raining, would you prefer socks and shoes or to be in sandals? Ooh. Yeah. That one's tough.

SPEAKER_01 50:23

Yeah, that's a tough one. Yeah, dude. I'm so excited to have this.

SPEAKER_03 50:28

Because the only thing I hate more than wet feet is wet jeans. Ooh. Right? You hate wet jeans more than wet feet? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Once your jeans get wet, the whole day is over. Just go home. He's done as well. He's got a point.

SPEAKER_01 50:43

He's got a point. Golly. I can do this all day.

SPEAKER_04 50:45

So this is your podcast. You oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 50:48

All right, listen, we'll do one more. Okay. Uh up higher. I'll do my age, 44. 44. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm kidding. My age is actually 61.

SPEAKER_03 50:58

Curiously close to my age, but okay, whatever. 44. Um, all right. Uh, that was a while we wait. That was part of the Christmas segment, I believe. Oh. Christmas series. Yeah. Um, or no, it was coming up to uh Thanksgiving. Yeah, While We Wait is Thanksgiving. Yeah, yeah, yeah. While we wait. And then the next week was all the Thanksgiving pivot, all the interviews. Uh, the segment that week was what was Thanksgiving like as a child, and what is it now? And that was yet another mention of the now infamous carrot ring. Yes, carrot ring. Yes. Yes. Yes. Which where where are you at on Carrot Ring? I I've heard it described. I still can't imagine it. Um, it it doesn't sound like something I'd be very enthusiastic about. It's fair. So carrot cake is a no-go for you? Vegetables and dessert, no way. I mean, we were at lunch or dinner tonight. Yeah, well, they're not like at Culver's the flavor of the day was mint Oreo ice cream, which is like toothpaste in your ice cream. That's that's true. I agree.

SPEAKER_02 51:59

Yeah, but I I did hear you, I did hear you whisper something at that point after you made that joke that was like, I don't even like vegetables in my ice cream. Mint. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's great. Oh, so good.

SPEAKER_01 52:11

Elliot, uh, we don't we don't have the words. We are speechless. We are without speech. Seriously, we don't have the words to describe what that. That oh gosh. I don't either.

SPEAKER_02 52:24

I've read it looks like I finally get my husband back slaving away at this afternoon.

SPEAKER_03 52:31

Did I mention I'm unemployed?

SPEAKER_02 52:36

Dude, I just my one question is can you can you keep it up to date? Like every five episodes, just do a quick little inventory for us. I'm gonna tell you yes.

SPEAKER_04 52:46

But it may not happen. Fair play. I've got a yes on the airways.

SPEAKER_01 52:52

If we ever need data, we just we just call the IT department, uh, Mr. Mr. Elliot. I can send you the spreadsheet.

SPEAKER_02 52:59

Yes, please, yes, please. I would love that, and I'll keep it alive in your honor. Elliot, Emily, thank y'all so much. What an incredible, awesome um just journey into y'all's lives, into the life of the story of this adoption and what God did at the end of uh what was the church name? First Baptist Church, Forest Park. Forest Park. That's the name that was on my list. But um, anyways, thank y'all so much. This has been such an encouragement. Love y'all and um man, this is this is awesome.

SPEAKER_01 53:29

Thank you guys. Love ya, and uh and and I think our look, this episode, you're you it's gonna make a lot of people laugh, but it's gonna really speak strongly to our listeners, and we can't thank you enough for that.

SPEAKER_03 53:42

Our pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 53:44

Brad, talk to me, man.

SPEAKER_02 53:46

How awesome was that, dude. Can I just say, first of all, incredible story, incredible God moments. But dude, I'm so excited for this bank of segments that we can now recall. Oh my goodness, what a gift! It just is. Your move, Heath. Your move. We just we got gifts, we got gifts from Elliot. Come on, dog. Hey, right now I'm gonna be Team Elliot, though. I started this episode, Team Heath, but I'm I'm hey, I can be swayed. I can I can be bought. I'm sorry, boss.

SPEAKER_01 54:21

Oh man. Well, listen, we did come out of these two episodes, you know, this wonderful conversation with so much rich truth and so much heartfelt stuff. And we came out with this cool, fun, uh good-natured uh rivalry that has begun. I mean, Elliot literally uh texted me after Heath, you know, posted his thing and goes, I think Heath might be my best friend. Nothing. Or found a new best friend or something like that. So we just thank them so much for being here. Elliot, Emily, bless you guys.

SPEAKER_02 54:57

And thank you guys for joining us on this part one, part two story. Like I said at the beginning, we've got some incredible episodes lined up for the rest of May, and even into the beginning of June. So uh we hope you come on back here every Thursday. We drop a new episode, and uh, we'll see you here again next week on another episode of Sermons on the Sidewalk.