Latest / Sermons on the Side / 91 | A Highland Community Faithfulness with Special Guest: Rob Strickland

Transcript

91 | A Highland Community Faithfulness with Special Guest: Rob Strickland · Sermons on the Side

0:01
SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Sermons on the Side.
0:04
SPEAKER_02: I'm Brad.
0:04
SPEAKER_02: And I'm Richard.
0:06
SPEAKER_02: And life can move pretty fast.
0:08
SPEAKER_02: So we're here to slow down, dig deep, and find the story hidden in everyday moments.
0:14
SPEAKER_04: 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.
0:24
SPEAKER_02: So whether you're brand new or you're back for more, we are so glad you are here.
0:30
SPEAKER_04: So relaxed, listen in, and let's discover meaning together.
0:34
SPEAKER_02: In the ordinary, the messy, and everything in between.
0:38
SPEAKER_04: Sermons on the side, finding meaning in the everyday.
0:49
SPEAKER_06: And I end up thinking, man, I've got to figure out how to reconnect.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: So you were motivated.
1:01
SPEAKER_06: I was.
1:02
SPEAKER_06: I called a mutual friend of ours, and I'm on the phone with this mutual friend of ours and saying, I'm trying to reconnect with Carrie, and I don't have a way to get to know how to get a number.
1:13
SPEAKER_06: And so, you know, can you help me?
1:16
SPEAKER_06: And it's like, yeah, sure.
1:17
SPEAKER_06: I can I can definitely connect you.
1:18
SPEAKER_06: She's actually right here.
1:20
SPEAKER_06: And you can put her on the phone.
1:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:24
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
1:26
SPEAKER_02: Ladies and gentlemen, we call that confidence.
1:50
SPEAKER_04: Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Summers on the Sun Blend.
1:55
SPEAKER_04: Talk to me.
1:56
SPEAKER_04: How are you, sir?
1:57
SPEAKER_04: I'm good.
1:59
SPEAKER_04: Nah, man.
2:00
SPEAKER_04: Feeling right.
2:02
SPEAKER_04: Feeling very excited because we have a special episode.
2:05
SPEAKER_04: Rollin' out.
2:07
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
2:07
SPEAKER_02: This is episode um 91.
2:12
SPEAKER_02: But it's a special interview with our incredible friend, Mr.
2:15
SPEAKER_02: Rob Strickland, that you're about to hear.
2:16
SPEAKER_02: But just, you know, we normally do it on episode 90, but you guys listen to episode 90.
2:21
SPEAKER_02: You know what happened there.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
2:22
SPEAKER_02: So just pretend it's episode 90, but it's actually episode 91.
2:26
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, this is the payoff for riding with us.
2:31
SPEAKER_04: It feels like it's been a while since we've had an interview because we went in different directions.
2:37
SPEAKER_04: And boy, worth the wait.
2:40
SPEAKER_02: Am I right?
2:40
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, man.
2:41
SPEAKER_02: You guys are about to hear just an incredible God story from start to finish.
2:46
SPEAKER_02: Rob Strickland, pastor, educator, community leader, him and his wife Carrie, they pastor Highland Community Church, and they have since 2005, when they moved into this Highland neighborhood, answering what they describe as God's calling to serve people experiencing poverty and sharing the gospel through intentional, long-term relationships.
3:09
SPEAKER_02: And so when we hit the ground, we hit the ground running with Rob.
3:14
SPEAKER_02: And so what for yeah, one of the things that we want our listeners to be on the lookout for.
3:19
SPEAKER_02: Come on now.
3:20
SPEAKER_02: Some of these, some of these overarching themes that will emerge regardless of when they took place in in Rob's life or in him and his wife's uh marriage or ministry, there are some pretty incredible themes that emerge that culminate at the end of our conversation into a really, really cool uh for sure.
3:44
SPEAKER_04: It's gonna be amazing.
3:45
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so we want y'all to enjoy listening into this conversation with the one, the only Rob Strickland.
3:55
SPEAKER_02: All right, well, as promised, here we are.
3:57
SPEAKER_02: Richard, I am sitting not just with you anymore, but we have the long-awaited arrival of one Mr.
4:05
SPEAKER_02: Rob Strickland.
4:06
SPEAKER_02: How are you, sir?
4:07
SPEAKER_06: So glad to be here, man.
4:08
SPEAKER_06: I'm doing so well.
4:10
SPEAKER_06: Thank you for the invitation.
4:11
SPEAKER_06: I I'm sincerely humbled and look forward to just having a conversation with you guys.
4:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, dude, the the interview that was we were swimming an uphill battle, dude.
4:22
SPEAKER_02: And let me tell you, we were talking before we even went live about the traffic that I ran into even just tonight on our way here.
4:29
SPEAKER_04: Way here.
4:29
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
4:30
SPEAKER_02: But I just gotta tell you, the first time that we had this uh scheduled and everybody was uh ready for the recording to take place.
4:39
SPEAKER_04: A couple, but maybe an hour before.
4:41
SPEAKER_04: Dude, about an hour before.
4:42
SPEAKER_02: I remember it was within the hour.
4:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, within the hour, I could not find the computer.
4:48
SPEAKER_02: Um and we had just gotten home from being out of town.
4:52
SPEAKER_02: And so I'm like scrambling.
4:55
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, where's this daggum computer?
4:57
SPEAKER_02: We have to have the computer to record.
4:59
SPEAKER_02: I pull up, find my iPhone, which is you know, find all of your devices, sure, and it's pinging like somewhere in North Georgia.
5:06
SPEAKER_02: And so I call Richard in a pang.
5:08
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, dude, somebody stole my computer.
5:11
SPEAKER_02: I don't know what we're gonna do.
5:13
SPEAKER_02: Let's just call the call it, just call the, you know, and so we pull the plug on that night.
5:17
SPEAKER_02: Well, as soon as we hung up the phone, I found the computer.
5:22
SPEAKER_02: Oh, dude.
5:23
SPEAKER_06: Anyways, that is the fastest anyone's ever gotten to North Georgia.
5:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you retrieved the computer in five and a half minutes.
5:32
SPEAKER_02: Five minutes.
5:33
SPEAKER_02: Well, dude, it's so good uh to see you.
5:35
SPEAKER_02: So good that you're sitting in with us, man.
5:37
SPEAKER_02: This is gonna be a fun conversation.
5:39
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for having me.
5:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, real quick, so on the Truth Springs website, yeah, you've got a little piece of your testimony.
5:48
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
5:48
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
5:49
SPEAKER_02: And you talk about how when you and your wife first moved here in 2005, you mentioned, and we're gonna talk all about this in just a second.
5:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but that that first year of moving into this city, into this area, it just was it was difficult.
6:04
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
6:05
SPEAKER_06: Difficult in the way of we've always lived in Columbus.
6:09
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
6:10
SPEAKER_06: And even though we both, Carrie and I grew up in Columbus, we relatively speaking, grew up in storybook childhoods.
6:20
SPEAKER_06: And in essence, moving into North Highland, Brad, was such an eye-opening experience.
6:27
SPEAKER_06: It was a matter to where we had never seen such just disruptive chaotic type environments in our own city.
6:41
SPEAKER_06: We didn't expect to be there.
6:43
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, so so seeing that was really something that where we we we knew, especially myself at that time, that the Lord was with us.
6:55
SPEAKER_06: But it was doing something in our own hearts, and it was a matter to where it was through a season of deep darkness and uncertainty about how to trust the Lord with what he was entrusting unto us, living and serving honorably his name in North Highland amid such uncertain, unstable conditions in the neighborhood.
7:22
SPEAKER_06: And seeing how the Lord worked in in our lives and and just invaded the darkness uh of our outlook and our hearts and and invaded and pierced through with the light of his presence and and just conquered darkness in our hearts.
7:39
SPEAKER_06: I it is something that I will I will take with me to my grave.
7:42
SPEAKER_06: Wow.
7:43
SPEAKER_06: And and I don't know how to describe this other than just to put it out in that not for a second, even in in the most chaotic of scenes.
7:54
SPEAKER_06: Have I looked at the streets of North Highland where I live and think, oh my goodness, this is this is not not great.
8:02
SPEAKER_06: This is not where I want to be.
8:04
SPEAKER_06: This is not what I want for me.
8:06
SPEAKER_06: I it's with without being able to explain it, I uh a love that endures through uncertainty, a love that endures through unpredictable, a love that endures with with people that are are seeking to know how to do life in a way to where neighbors can trust neighbors and yet not necessarily have anything in common except a need to know the love of Christ.
8:34
SPEAKER_06: And what happens is that we've seen that need prevail in every instance over 20, 21 years of being there.
8:43
SPEAKER_06: So it's it's fascinating to see what that first year looked like living there and and the the unexpectedness of what it actually meant to enter your home and close the door and live there or the the not just the idea of it, but the actuality of it.
9:07
SPEAKER_06: And being able to say, Lord, I trust you.
9:15
SPEAKER_06: I with confidence I trust you.
9:21
SPEAKER_06: And and one who entrusts the Lord that way with every breath that they take, and and ultimately with their family.
9:36
SPEAKER_06: They live fully in the presence of the Lord and every breath the Lord gives them.
9:42
SPEAKER_06: And that's sort of how I feel all the time.
9:46
SPEAKER_06: There's a trustworthiness that the Lord has displayed that's proven faithful to me.
9:53
SPEAKER_06: I am my most frail and failure-oriented pieces of living.
10:05
SPEAKER_02: Man, that is beautiful.
10:06
SPEAKER_02: Does that answer your question?
10:07
SPEAKER_02: It does, dude.
10:08
SPEAKER_02: And I cannot wait to dive in more to this North Highland community church that you and your wife found founded, this Truth Springs Academy that has emerged a couple of years later out of that.
10:19
SPEAKER_02: But Richard, I know you've got uh just some backstory questions.
10:24
SPEAKER_04: Thank you for uh showing us that window into your story.
10:29
SPEAKER_04: But if I can, uh tell me a little bit about the backstory.
10:33
SPEAKER_04: In other words, uh were you born and raised here locally?
10:38
SPEAKER_06: Columbus, yeah.
10:39
SPEAKER_06: Oh, there you go.
10:40
SPEAKER_06: Carrie and I both were.
10:41
SPEAKER_06: Grew up at Edward Baptist Church.
10:43
SPEAKER_06: Oh, yeah.
10:43
SPEAKER_06: Carrie did as well.
10:46
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, just I I've already alluded to this a little bit, so I I won't repeat too much of that, but Carrie and I both value our family so much.
10:59
SPEAKER_06: Our our parents we just love and respect and always have.
11:04
SPEAKER_06: We we receive so much love as children.
11:08
SPEAKER_06: And and even to this day, you know, our parents are just people that we talk about every day in the best of lights.
11:18
SPEAKER_06: And so that is wonderful.
11:20
SPEAKER_06: Growing up with such loving, devoted, strong families, and then growing up at Edgewood, um, we we both look finally back on on all of that makes up our childhood to include going to church.
11:33
SPEAKER_06: And that doesn't mean it was perfect, but it it certainly means that we, you know, as you said, there's such a uh a strong community at Edgewood.
11:41
SPEAKER_06: There was, and we experienced that.
11:43
SPEAKER_06: It was a strong church family, and so grew up.
11:47
SPEAKER_04: And so that is that's truly the uh the soil of your faith journey, yeah, right there.
11:54
SPEAKER_04: Definitely uh there at Edgewood.
11:56
SPEAKER_04: And so uh you came to faith.
11:58
SPEAKER_04: Tell tell us a little bit about that.
12:00
SPEAKER_04: I mean, obviously, raised in a Christian home, going to a really solid church.
12:06
SPEAKER_04: Can you tell us uh a little bit about how young Rob began his relationship with Christ?
12:12
SPEAKER_06: Definitely.
12:13
SPEAKER_06: I growing up at Edgewood, uh, we we heard there's solid meaty preaching, and it was above my head.
12:21
SPEAKER_06: But I I remember the from being a kid that listening to the sermons.
12:26
SPEAKER_06: We didn't have children's church, we sat in and listened to the preacher.
12:29
SPEAKER_04: Uh hey, by the way, I'm gonna let you keep going, but that's a thing.
12:32
SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah.
12:33
SPEAKER_04: I'm telling you, man, there's a whole generation of us that what was kids' church, man.
12:39
SPEAKER_04: Church Sunday morning was sitting, yeah, supposedly, allegedly, sitting still in church.
12:46
SPEAKER_04: And if you didn't sit still, which I didn't always, yeah, there was a price to pay once you got back to the house.
12:54
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
12:55
SPEAKER_02: But um one of the fruits of the spirit is self-control.
12:59
SPEAKER_04: But thank you for for just that shout out to that that time when uh you're you're sitting there, and like you said, things are going over your head, but you're experiencing, yeah.
13:09
SPEAKER_04: I mean, you're right there worshiping in community with uh with your family and with a body of believers, and seeds are getting planted everywhere, are they not?
13:20
SPEAKER_06: Definitely, and and I think what I'd take away from it looking back is it was important for my parents to do that.
13:27
SPEAKER_06: It was valuable for them to sit there and listen to the Bible be preached, and it was important and valuable for me to be there in their eyes.
13:35
SPEAKER_06: So that was what became a culminating value in my own life growing up.
13:40
SPEAKER_06: And so we then, growing up at Edgewood, had the privilege of just seeing so much happen.
13:46
SPEAKER_06: I mean, good things, bad things, but there was always just a biblically centered, you know, handling of things at Edgewood.
13:52
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, that and at least in my opinion, and what I remember.
13:56
SPEAKER_06: And actually, Highland is a church plant of Edgewood.
13:59
SPEAKER_06: So this is how the bridgeway between Edgewood and Highland begins.
14:04
SPEAKER_06: So it actually began with my parents becoming a part of this missions team from Edgewood that served at Highland.
14:14
SPEAKER_06: And so when that was 96, 97.
14:19
SPEAKER_06: How old are you at that point?
14:20
SPEAKER_06: I'm when they started senior in high school.
14:23
SPEAKER_06: So I'm 17, 18.
14:24
SPEAKER_06: There you go.
14:26
SPEAKER_06: So they're helping uh serve at this church on Thursday evenings, and time goes by, and that missions team continues to take on more of a presence there, even on Sunday.
14:37
SPEAKER_06: So they're now doing Thursdays and helping on Sundays, and as the years go by and they're doing that, I it actually ended up being that I was struggling with my own life at that point, and and I had just gone through uh just a complete uh young adult like crash out to where I was coming out of what was a lifetime of baseball.
14:59
SPEAKER_06: I played at Northern up here and and actually got a scholarship and played, you know, a little bit of baseball even in college, and but I lost my scholarship due to some arm injuries.
15:09
SPEAKER_06: And so I didn't have my glove on at about 19 years old anymore.
15:14
SPEAKER_06: And I sincerely, when I took off the glove, I sort of lost my way.
15:18
SPEAKER_06: So I completely lost my way.
15:19
SPEAKER_06: It was very disorienting.
15:20
SPEAKER_06: And so I didn't really know what to do.
15:23
SPEAKER_06: I mean, you know, baseball's so structured.
15:25
SPEAKER_06: You're you're you might as well just, you know, pit your tent out on the baseball field.
15:29
SPEAKER_06: You live out there.
15:30
SPEAKER_06: So my parents, during that season of just being completely deceived and living a double life, I would go to Edgewood and just sort of put on the church clothes and look church-like and check that box and then you know, really go and worm back into darkness doing what you do in a double life.
15:47
SPEAKER_06: And a Saturday night that I had really been out and had been just you know on on the on the streets of downtown at that time and gotten gotten too drunk.
15:58
SPEAKER_06: I'd come home because I was living at home then.
16:01
SPEAKER_06: And it was Saturday night into Sunday morning that I was just so hungover and just sick.
16:08
SPEAKER_06: And I was literally embracing the the toilet.
16:11
SPEAKER_06: My mom came in and she, I mean, she literally cared for me.
16:16
SPEAKER_06: She didn't say anything, she didn't criticize me.
16:19
SPEAKER_06: And you know how how fake I was was that I got cleaned up, I went to bed, and it was Sunday morning, and I was in my room that morning putting on my church clothes and said nothing.
16:31
SPEAKER_06: Like I was just gonna go to church and pretended like nothing happened.
16:35
SPEAKER_06: And she came in and invited me to Highland.
16:37
SPEAKER_06: And when she came in and invited me to Highland, I didn't want to go because I was doing what I had been doing traditionally.
16:45
SPEAKER_06: I just decided to go though because I respect my mom and my dad.
16:50
SPEAKER_06: And so I went, and when I went in, there were there were people who had so little, but they were so just clearly joyous, and I was miserable.
17:01
SPEAKER_06: I was a miserable person.
17:02
SPEAKER_06: I had every resource and reason to be happy that I was miserable.
17:08
SPEAKER_06: And seeing people who had so little, I was just sitting there and I was just judging them silently, and I was just thinking, the problem is me.
17:20
SPEAKER_06: I'm just so jacked up.
17:23
SPEAKER_06: Here I have every available resource unto me to make myself happy, and I'm unable to do it.
17:31
SPEAKER_06: And it just revealed to me what scripture describes as sin.
17:35
SPEAKER_06: Like it's my heart is just sick with sin.
17:38
SPEAKER_06: And I didn't even wait till the mid- I I ran down in the middle of the sermon and and I repented in the middle of the sermon.
17:45
SPEAKER_06: Really?
17:45
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and I've been in island ever since.
17:47
SPEAKER_06: That was I was 21.
17:49
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I was 21 when that happened.
17:51
SPEAKER_04: Gosh, man, what a moment, what a day.
17:54
SPEAKER_04: Really, but what I'm I'm thinking about the night before.
17:58
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
18:00
SPEAKER_04: Where the way your mom approached that moment, she was and still is.
18:05
SPEAKER_04: Probably I don't know.
18:07
SPEAKER_04: That that that seems like that paved the way for even though you weren't gonna like you weren't gonna sp talk about it and you were gonna try to avoid it and and and all, but it's almost like that was the that was pregame for what God was gonna do the next morning.
18:26
SPEAKER_06: You're so right, you know, and and the further I get away from that moment, like I said, I was I was 21 uh at that time, the the more that comes into being clear what you just said, that that was that was like a pregame moment.
18:41
SPEAKER_06: Uh I don't think I've ever really thought about it that way until you just said that.
18:44
SPEAKER_06: But yeah, you're right.
18:46
SPEAKER_06: You're right.
18:46
SPEAKER_04: I think that that that is so powerful.
18:49
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so you're you're 21, you've you've had this awakening in your heart with the Lord.
18:55
SPEAKER_02: That's the only way I can describe it.
18:56
SPEAKER_02: It's a good way to put it.
18:57
SPEAKER_02: And uh so my my next question is when and when did you meet Carrie?
19:03
SPEAKER_02: How did you know that she was the one?
19:05
SPEAKER_02: And what do you want people to know about her or potentially any of your any of your kids that you now have?
19:12
SPEAKER_06: I don't know if I've ever met a person that is as wise, as smart, as devoted, as joyous as Carrie, I think.
19:30
SPEAKER_06: And I I'm a better man because of her.
19:33
SPEAKER_06: Every day, every moment I get to be with her.
19:38
SPEAKER_06: And so the way this works is that Carrie's father, who died during COVID, we lost him to COVID in 2020, was an associate pastor at Edwood and then pastor at Edwood as well for a total of 43 years.
19:56
SPEAKER_06: So we actually knew one another at Edwood.
19:58
unknown: Okay.
19:59
SPEAKER_06: And I always, you know, just you know, I found her attractive.
20:04
SPEAKER_06: And we actually went off on on a date in high school, but those were during those years to where I was living a double life, so it really did not go well.
20:11
SPEAKER_06: It was a crash and burn kind of date because of my intentions not being right.
20:16
SPEAKER_06: And so I was really, really frustrated that you know, I let it go the way that it did.
20:23
SPEAKER_06: And so years went by.
20:24
SPEAKER_06: She went to Auburn and graduated from Auburn, and I stayed here and finished it at CSU.
20:29
SPEAKER_06: And we like her later years in college and and my later years in college, because I uh, you know, as I mentioned, I took a detour for a while.
20:37
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
20:38
SPEAKER_06: We, you know, we ended up seeing one another at an Alan Levi concert years after this really bad day.
20:43
SPEAKER_02: Shout out Alan Levi, dude.
20:45
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it was a great.
20:47
SPEAKER_06: It was actually Alan Levi and Beaver Norman.
20:49
SPEAKER_06: Oh my goodness.
20:49
SPEAKER_06: I think I was at that Beaver Norman.
20:51
SPEAKER_06: I think all of the Columbia stars.
20:54
SPEAKER_06: Oh, yeah, for sure.
20:55
SPEAKER_06: Wow.
20:56
SPEAKER_02: Is he still he's up in Nashville still, but okay.
20:58
SPEAKER_02: He was I don't know him.
21:00
SPEAKER_02: Represent C Tech, baby.
21:02
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I don't know.
21:02
SPEAKER_06: I I I know Alan and I'm I think so much of him.
21:06
SPEAKER_06: But was that the concert saw Carrie now years after this crash and burn date?
21:12
SPEAKER_06: And I I end up thinking, man, I've got to figure out how to reconnect.
21:21
SPEAKER_00: So you were motivated.
21:24
SPEAKER_06: I was.
21:24
SPEAKER_06: I I called a mutual friend of ours, and I'm on the phone with this mutual friend of ours.
21:30
SPEAKER_06: I'm saying, I'm trying to reconnect with Carrie, and I don't have a way to get to know how to get her number.
21:36
SPEAKER_06: And so, you know, can you help me?
21:38
SPEAKER_06: And he's like, Yeah, sure.
21:39
SPEAKER_06: I can I can definitely connect you.
21:41
SPEAKER_06: She's actually right here.
21:43
SPEAKER_06: And he put her on the phone.
21:46
SPEAKER_01: That's exactly what he's doing.
21:49
SPEAKER_02: Ladies and gentlemen, we call that providence.
21:54
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah, it was it was a providential moment to where I grovel and say, I'm so sorry for.
22:00
SPEAKER_06: Being such a nonskull years ago.
22:03
SPEAKER_06: Could we please, could we please, you know, pick this back up and just try it again?
22:09
SPEAKER_06: And so the rest is history.
22:11
SPEAKER_06: Wow.
22:12
SPEAKER_06: Wow.
22:12
SPEAKER_06: That's a great.
22:13
SPEAKER_04: I love that story.
22:14
SPEAKER_04: That's a fantastic story.
22:16
SPEAKER_04: That is so cool.
22:17
SPEAKER_04: And so, how long have you guys been married?
22:19
SPEAKER_06: Let's see.
22:20
SPEAKER_06: Let's see.
22:21
SPEAKER_06: October is our anniversary, and we just had 22 years.
22:26
SPEAKER_06: 22.
22:26
SPEAKER_06: 22.
22:27
SPEAKER_06: Come on.
22:28
SPEAKER_06: There you go.
22:29
SPEAKER_06: 22 years.
22:30
SPEAKER_04: And uh tell us about your your children.
22:33
SPEAKER_06: Oh I have three sons.
22:36
SPEAKER_06: And awesome.
22:38
SPEAKER_06: Being a father is it is the greatest privilege outside of you know being a husband that I've ever known.
22:48
SPEAKER_06: I my my three sons are already better than I'll ever be in everything.
22:54
SPEAKER_06: They are just incredible.
22:56
SPEAKER_06: And so I have a 20-year-old who is studying business management at CSU and he works locally in a you know Golden's Foundries in the business department there.
23:06
SPEAKER_06: And he's married now.
23:08
SPEAKER_06: He is married to a daughter that Carrie and I both adore.
23:14
SPEAKER_06: And she is just so smart and so uber talented.
23:18
SPEAKER_06: And she just lights up a room.
23:22
SPEAKER_06: And then I have a 16-year-old, his name is Luke.
23:25
SPEAKER_06: My 20-year-old, his name is Noah, my daughter-in-law Emma.
23:28
SPEAKER_06: And then my 16-year-old Luke.
23:30
SPEAKER_06: He he is the one who brings our family together in humor and in funny stories.
23:37
SPEAKER_06: And he just brings out the in his own way, the flavor of our family in the best of ways.
23:44
SPEAKER_06: He brings out the best of us.
23:46
SPEAKER_02: That middle child, man.
23:48
SPEAKER_02: That phrase the best of us.
23:50
SPEAKER_02: Dude, my hand to the Lord, Lisa and I have used that same phrase for our middle sonship.
23:57
SPEAKER_02: For real.
23:57
SPEAKER_02: We said, dude, he brings out the best of us.
24:00
SPEAKER_02: That is so funny that you use that phrase.
24:02
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
24:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
24:03
SPEAKER_06: There's something there, isn't there?
24:05
SPEAKER_06: Absolutely is.
24:06
SPEAKER_06: And and then Jude, I uh his brothers would probably be mad if I said that he is the best of us.
24:14
SPEAKER_06: I mean, he's like uh the one he completes us.
24:17
SPEAKER_06: I think that that's fair to say.
24:19
SPEAKER_06: He's uh he's a good blend of Luke, my middle son.
24:22
SPEAKER_06: He's a good blend of of Noah, in that he's like a culmination of of who they are and still his own person at the best level.
24:33
SPEAKER_04: How old is uh Jude?
24:35
SPEAKER_06: Jude is 12.
24:36
SPEAKER_06: 12 years old.
24:37
SPEAKER_06: And man, he's he's just uh he's a kid the wear.
24:41
SPEAKER_06: He's he's gonna do things.
24:43
SPEAKER_06: They're all gonna do things.
24:44
SPEAKER_06: But yeah, yeah.
24:45
SPEAKER_06: I mean, in essence, I'm I'm really proud of my gods.
24:49
SPEAKER_06: We we have the best time.
24:50
SPEAKER_06: I mean, we really have the best time being together.
24:53
SPEAKER_02: Man, I'm I I love uh even just seeing the way that you're describing fatherhood and and marriage and just seeing the joy that's on your face.
25:02
SPEAKER_04: This is one of those moments.
25:03
SPEAKER_04: Oh, I wish we were a video podcast.
25:05
SPEAKER_04: It's really hard because what you're sharing is some really meaningful words.
25:09
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, but boy, it's beaming out of your face as you say those words.
25:13
SPEAKER_06: I mean, these guys, I mean, we we really we know how to do it, you know, the family thing.
25:19
SPEAKER_06: I mean such a good time.
25:21
SPEAKER_04: Such a good time.
25:22
SPEAKER_04: That is so good, good stuff.
25:24
SPEAKER_04: Well, we would like to hear a little bit more.
25:28
SPEAKER_04: Or if I could, I think it's really fascinating.
25:32
SPEAKER_04: You know, we want to hear a little bit more about Highland Community Church and uh pastoring there with you know that experience for you.
25:41
SPEAKER_04: And just have to pause.
25:42
SPEAKER_04: Funny uh funny voice text of fail almost happened today.
25:49
SPEAKER_04: So I texted Brad and I was, you know, I like to speak voice to text.
25:53
SPEAKER_04: Okay, and that has caused many problems in communication and relationships in my life.
26:00
SPEAKER_04: But so I was like just going down the list.
26:02
SPEAKER_04: I said, so you know, because we just like, hey, I'll ask this, you ask that, a little peek behind the curtain.
26:07
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, of course.
26:08
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, sure.
26:09
SPEAKER_04: Highly produced interviews.
26:12
SPEAKER_04: So, and one of the things was to ask about what's it like pastoring Highland Community Church.
26:20
SPEAKER_04: And right before I I sent, I I pressed sent, I noticed it said, How does it, what's it like pestering community church?
26:30
SPEAKER_04: Well, we don't want to know.
26:31
SPEAKER_04: I highly doubt that Rob pesters his church, right?
26:36
SPEAKER_04: So anyway, that was that was just one of those moments.
26:39
SPEAKER_04: But we would love to hear about the church, and and what I was gonna say a moment ago is how cool that in the providence that we've seen in your story multiple times, how cool is it that God was birthing this work, this connection between Highland and uh Edgewood, right at the same time that he's pursuing your heart and he's chasing you down.
27:06
SPEAKER_04: And that moment happened at a at such a low point for you that you went with your parents that Sunday morning and got it and God captured you.
27:18
SPEAKER_04: I've never even thought about it that way.
27:19
SPEAKER_04: I just love it.
27:20
SPEAKER_04: And so, you know, obviously, God had planned for you to be serving and leading in this church, but for the existence of this church to be so tied to your salvation, that isn't that powerful.
27:37
SPEAKER_04: Woo! Yeah, I get chills.
27:38
SPEAKER_06: It's that is never dawned on me until that I'm so serious.
27:42
SPEAKER_06: Like that's that's really eye-opening.
27:45
SPEAKER_06: I've never seen that.
27:46
SPEAKER_04: So cool.
27:47
SPEAKER_04: So um, can you maybe just take us into how it how it came to be that uh that you became pastor of Highland Community?
27:57
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, definitely.
28:00
SPEAKER_06: It it really began as just a team of people that I I don't want to begin to take the credit for doing by myself.
28:10
SPEAKER_06: It it is so so really so many more people than me.
28:16
SPEAKER_06: And the the way it worked was as we became a church plant of Edgewood, there was just a team of people that took on and led, and I just carried on one of the roles of many roles to do church planting.
28:29
SPEAKER_06: So the gist of it is that we just uh wanted to figure out at the beginning how to share the love of God with people.
28:42
SPEAKER_06: And we just used our skills and and in the gift sets of the people that we had, and we we continued to come together to look at ways that we could allow the gifts that the Lord has given us to be revealed in a way that shared the love of Christ with people.
28:57
SPEAKER_06: So primarily what we did was we we listened to one another and spoke less, and that gave us the chance to really know how to love one another so that we could then love other people uh in the name of Christ in a way where they could taste of the Lord's goodness.
29:15
SPEAKER_06: So and what what really began to happen was we really had such a disassociation with the church and with the neighborhood.
29:26
SPEAKER_06: And so instead of trying to get people to come into the building to do church planting, we had a gentleman named Randall Lake who was a part of this church planting team, very, very impactful and influential in my life, the life of our church, who said, Let's go out to the streets.
29:44
SPEAKER_06: And for 15 years, that's exactly what we did every Saturday.
29:48
SPEAKER_06: Chicken and Rice Ministries took place.
29:50
SPEAKER_06: And um, Randall ran that Bras familiar.
29:54
SPEAKER_02: Dude, shout out to Chicken and Rice.
29:57
SPEAKER_02: I when I was in high school, my now wife and I, we would go to Chicken and Rife on Saturdays, dude.
30:03
SPEAKER_06: And and there was nothing to it, it's what you see is what you get.
30:06
SPEAKER_02: It was awesome, dude.
30:07
SPEAKER_02: You've never seen a just a I mean, what is it?
30:14
SPEAKER_02: And I mean, you just show up and it's just you bring stacks of styrofoam like to-go boxes, and you fill them up, package them up, and you just throw them in trucks and you just drive to it was it was so awesome to be a part of that ministry for a couple of years while I was in high school.
30:31
SPEAKER_02: Um, and so, anyways, you said chicken and rice, and I freaked out over here.
30:35
SPEAKER_06: So yeah, with that, I mean it's important to know because it was I mean, that was in 06, 06 that we began to do that ministry.
30:45
SPEAKER_06: And what you need to know about that when that started is that Highland had no money and there was no plan to be able to really continue to go because we were looking to the exit ramp in 2006 of closing the church's doors because it was yeah, it was actually just being you know completely wilted.
31:05
SPEAKER_06: And so we were like, Lord, we think you might want to close this down.
31:07
SPEAKER_06: And so we with Randall and that church planting team in 05 moving toward 06.
31:12
SPEAKER_06: Randall suggested around Christmas time of 05, why don't we just start chicken and rice ministries?
31:17
SPEAKER_06: Go out to people, stop trying to get people in the building.
31:20
SPEAKER_06: And we're like, well, that's great.
31:21
SPEAKER_06: We we have no money.
31:22
SPEAKER_06: He was like, I'll pay for it.
31:23
SPEAKER_06: He paid for it out of his pocket for years, for years, yeah, yeah.
31:28
SPEAKER_06: Wow, and he he's no longer with us.
31:30
SPEAKER_06: Uh, we we actually lost him the beginning of this year, but he was a pioneer.
31:34
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and he he was a dog, he really was, and so he he got it done, and then the church was able to continue to to mature into what the Lord has done now, but it really began there with listening to one another, speaking less, and so that we learn to love one another, and then being able to think past our own church walls to get out and love neighbor in in ways that pointed them to the love of Christ.
31:59
SPEAKER_02: Man, I love that.
32:01
SPEAKER_02: And I love that dynamic of listening first to understand what the need is, so that way we can love better by going out, you know?
32:10
SPEAKER_02: And my question, Rob, is is is through that listening or or through that learning of that neighborhood, right?
32:19
SPEAKER_02: Of this neighborhood that you are now a part of, at what point in that couple of year journey of realizing, all right, maybe the Lord's not done with this church or with this ministry yet, did you realize that maybe this calling was a little bit bigger than just church planting, but also included education with Truth Springs Academy.
32:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
32:40
SPEAKER_06: So that's a two-piece answer.
32:43
SPEAKER_06: The first is to when I recognize that it was a larger, ongoing work that the Lord had in heart.
32:50
SPEAKER_06: And and really please understand, like for us, Carrie and our newly married, we're we're looking for the exit door.
33:00
SPEAKER_06: Like we're looking for Highland to close because we're ready to move on to our real life.
33:04
SPEAKER_06: I mean, sincerely, that's how we thought about it.
33:06
SPEAKER_06: That's how we felt.
33:06
SPEAKER_06: Like, yeah, I was a part of this team.
33:09
SPEAKER_06: My parents had gotten me there.
33:10
SPEAKER_06: I wanted to honor them, I wanted to close the doors of dignity.
33:12
SPEAKER_06: We got married, and how can we do that and go?
33:15
SPEAKER_06: That was that was our our heart.
33:17
SPEAKER_06: Sure.
33:18
SPEAKER_06: And so in January of 06, okay, so when that that happened in 06, we really had this opportunity where you know chicken and rice was beginning.
33:31
SPEAKER_06: And like yourself, you had church members and just other folks coming around and serving.
33:39
SPEAKER_06: And so on a Sunday morning, and this is in January 06th, uh, this is me.
33:45
SPEAKER_06: I'm not making this up, I'm not exaggerating.
33:48
SPEAKER_06: This is exactly what happened.
33:50
SPEAKER_06: I'm getting up to start the service, and I am about a minute away from doing like welcome, go through announcements as we would typically do.
34:03
SPEAKER_06: And that morning, I was gonna tell the church that we're gonna begin to look for the exit ramp and begin to close the church with dignity.
34:10
SPEAKER_06: That morning.
34:11
SPEAKER_06: And before I did, we actually had Randall who came to me and whispered in my ear, just as I was standing by the mic, that someone just brought us a check for$10,000 to keep doing chicken and rice because it was such an important part of what they're seeing in their own family because they were assisting as well.
34:30
SPEAKER_06: Oh, goodness.
34:31
SPEAKER_06: And I actually I don't think there's another word to put in here other than say, I was just haunted by the reality of God.
34:38
SPEAKER_06: It wasn't like just oh, this moment of elation.
34:41
SPEAKER_06: I was in some respects fearful of the Lord in that moment in a reverent way.
34:48
SPEAKER_06: Does that make sense?
34:49
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, as if, like, okay, this is really not about me.
34:52
SPEAKER_06: This is not about I'm caught up into something much bigger that God's doing right now.
34:57
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
34:57
SPEAKER_06: Whoa.
34:58
SPEAKER_06: So that that was that was when I realized to to the you know the two-part question you asked, when I recognize it's gonna be larger and bigger.
35:06
SPEAKER_06: And then with Truth Spring, Truth Spring, uh, to include the academy, Truth Spring has three different legs.
35:14
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
35:14
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
35:14
SPEAKER_06: You have the academy, which is what we do to provide uh an educationally rich, Christ-centered education for students who are elementary aged, all the way down to pre-K there in the neighborhood.
35:26
SPEAKER_06: And then you also have True Spring Trade School, which provides underprepared adults for the chance to develop uh their trades and get into something that would be meaningful, more career-oriented type work.
35:39
SPEAKER_06: And then you have True Spring Real Estate, which is where families have the opportunity who are low income to have affordable quality homes at their ability and budget to fund it.
35:50
SPEAKER_06: So, what what I recognized was when we were in 06, able to continue with chicken and rice, that what the Lord's agenda really was was get out there, love neighbor in honor of my name.
36:06
SPEAKER_06: So that's what we began to do.
36:08
SPEAKER_06: And then as that continued to happen, we actually ended up encountering several folks from high schools and colleges that would come and serve regularly with chicken and rice.
36:20
SPEAKER_06: And so once Truth Spring was something to where we were looking at and saying, okay, well, this is this is a reality, the way we got there, Brad, was it became very clear that the church, Highland Community Church, needed to establish as what is gospel-centered ministry, you know, good good work of just being able to do um just great commission, discipleship, yeah, and and not seep into social justice efforts.
36:49
SPEAKER_06: And in our world in North Highland, it's very easy to do that.
36:53
SPEAKER_06: It would be very easy to seep into doing social justice matters.
36:57
SPEAKER_06: So what ended up happening was Highland really worked alongside just the leadership.
37:01
SPEAKER_06: Again, this is not me, it's still leadership, and said, let's let's take and develop a nonprofit that is proactive in developing the neighborhood so that we're not continually responding to needs and then potentially becoming like this social justice center.
37:16
SPEAKER_06: Let's have the church hold to biblically rich preaching and discipleship, and let's have this nonprofit that is working to get people in the current of being able to do life and and do it in a way to where they can get on their own two feet, so to speak.
37:32
SPEAKER_06: So I'm blown away.
37:33
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, two different things took place there.
37:35
SPEAKER_06: And it was a really exciting time when that happened.
37:37
SPEAKER_06: So that was about 09 when we started having those discussions about Truth Spring, and the Lord really established it and we got things going in the years to come.
37:46
SPEAKER_04: Now, what reminded me what grade level students that Truth Springs Academy serves?
37:53
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, so we just moved into a new facility.
37:56
SPEAKER_06: Oh, and so with being able to do that, Richard, we're actually able to serve down to three-year-olds up to fifth grade, which would be you know, about 11-year-old kids.
38:06
SPEAKER_06: So those real, you know, formative years.
38:09
SPEAKER_04: Oh my goodness.
38:10
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, tell tell us what what is your specific role with Truth Springs, whether it's uh involved in all three or overseeing all three.
38:20
SPEAKER_04: What is your role?
38:20
SPEAKER_06: I've always been bivocational.
38:22
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
38:22
SPEAKER_06: And so I've always been a teacher and I've worked with Muskogee County for 17 years.
38:28
SPEAKER_06: That's actually what my degree is in, is in education.
38:30
SPEAKER_06: Gotcha.
38:31
SPEAKER_06: So worked with Muscogee County for 17 years, and and then on the side, you know, was bivocational pastor at Highland.
38:37
SPEAKER_06: So it's always been that way.
38:39
SPEAKER_06: And so my role is I'm the director of True Swing Academy.
38:43
SPEAKER_06: I oversee the actual elementary piece.
38:47
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
38:48
SPEAKER_06: So I direct that and then I pastor the church.
38:50
SPEAKER_06: So the best way to understand it is past pastor principal is really in the role.
38:55
SPEAKER_06: Highland's pastor.
38:56
SPEAKER_06: You imagine having a principal this cool?
38:59
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
38:59
SPEAKER_04: Never happened to me.
39:00
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
39:01
SPEAKER_04: I mean, come on.
39:02
SPEAKER_06: Um you said a low bar, buddy.
39:05
SPEAKER_04: That's that Mississippi education.
39:07
SPEAKER_06: Principal can just fire a fastball right about me.
39:10
SPEAKER_06: You know, is that were you from Mississippi?
39:12
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, born and raised, yeah.
39:13
SPEAKER_06: Hill State.
39:14
SPEAKER_06: It's funny that you would say that because it was an educational standpoint.
39:20
SPEAKER_06: I just read recently, recently about Mississippi and wincing over.
39:25
SPEAKER_06: You shouldn't.
39:26
SPEAKER_06: It's it's it's called the Mississippi Miracle.
39:28
SPEAKER_06: I don't know if you've heard of this.
39:30
SPEAKER_04: No.
39:30
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
39:31
SPEAKER_02: So the Mississippi State Bulldogs won a game this past weekend.
39:35
SPEAKER_02: No, they didn't.
39:35
SPEAKER_02: It's called the Mississippi.
39:38
SPEAKER_04: We scored a touchdown.
39:39
SPEAKER_04: That was the miracle.
39:40
SPEAKER_06: So anyway, it it's it's pretty fascinating from an educational standpoint.
39:43
SPEAKER_06: They up until 2024, they were 49th in the st in the in the nation with reading scores.
39:51
SPEAKER_06: And what they did up until 2024, they were they had made some changes, and they actually made a significant change in their reading scores with some of the changes they made.
40:03
SPEAKER_06: So when 2024 hit, they left the 49th piece and and they actually climbed way, way up.
40:10
SPEAKER_06: I mean, significantly up.
40:12
SPEAKER_06: I don't remember exactly to where, but I mean I went back and the reason for my interest is I was reading what they did, what what exactly was their plan, and uh I was really trying to glean from it.
40:22
SPEAKER_06: It's a really good read.
40:23
SPEAKER_06: Outstanding.
40:24
SPEAKER_06: Check it out.
40:25
SPEAKER_06: How cool is that?
40:26
SPEAKER_06: Oh yeah.
40:27
SPEAKER_04: Good stuff.
40:28
SPEAKER_04: This I I'm my heart is is just busting as I hear uh the the overarching story, uh your your personal story, the story of of Highland, and the the command to love neighbor uh and then to see what God has been doing since since that that particular Sunday where you're this close to pulling the plug or to beginning the process of shuttering the church and on that day.
41:04
SPEAKER_04: That's just God being God, isn't it?
41:07
SPEAKER_04: It is oh powerful stuff, and uh it's so exciting to know that that that happened in our in our city that God is has been doing this work and is continuing this work.
41:21
SPEAKER_04: Uh it really encourages us, and I think any of our listeners from right here in the Columbus, Georgia area will be will be very encouraged by this.
41:31
SPEAKER_06: I'm humbled by it.
41:32
SPEAKER_06: I mean, I I just that's how my heart just continues to trend.
41:36
SPEAKER_06: That I just I just want to keep my fingerprints off of it and let the glory of the Lord just be exalted.
41:44
SPEAKER_06: I just can't believe that I get to do what I get to do.
41:46
SPEAKER_06: So thankful it's awesome.
41:48
SPEAKER_04: It's just a God thing.
41:49
SPEAKER_02: I've got two final questions and then we'll turn it over to Richard for something a little bit fun here at the end.
41:54
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
41:55
SPEAKER_02: Uh number one is 21 years later, what do you what is one thing that you feel like the Lord has taught you about faithfulness that you wouldn't have otherwise learned without this journey?
42:08
SPEAKER_02: And then number two, this is a completely different question, but it is for our listeners and for our little sermons on the side world, what can we do to support, to promote, to pray for?
42:22
SPEAKER_02: What can we do to engage with your ministries?
42:25
SPEAKER_02: That's a great question.
42:28
SPEAKER_06: And 21 years, how would I in one way describe what it is to characterize faithfulness?
42:35
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
42:37
SPEAKER_06: I wanna I wanna try to do him justice here because he said it this way.
42:48
SPEAKER_06: My oldest son, he's a wordsmith, and he said about this very matter, he said this in the last couple weeks, he said that what you what you have to see about serving the Lord, and especially in the life of the church, is that you have to be consistent.
43:09
SPEAKER_06: And as you are consistent in showing up, and you are then in commitment to one another, you create a culture.
43:19
SPEAKER_06: And he he said it, and and I'll take it with me in my grave because he's exactly right.
43:26
SPEAKER_06: And I would say if there's a formula, quote unquote, for faithfulness, I would say that's it.
43:32
SPEAKER_06: Being consistent to show up, being committed to one another, and really knowing you're creating a culture that is Christ exalting in in looking at what it means to be faithful.
43:46
SPEAKER_06: Um that that that really stuck with me.
43:50
SPEAKER_06: Really stuck with me.
43:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I just I can't help but think about that story with your mom and her faithfulness.
43:58
SPEAKER_02: She was doing that.
44:00
SPEAKER_02: Seed that was planted even then, and how you're that's you're and your family, your son is approached now.
44:07
SPEAKER_02: Oh circle.
44:09
SPEAKER_06: Carrie refers to that moment as where you went from the toilet to the pulpit, you know.
44:15
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
44:15
SPEAKER_02: Yes, folks.
44:18
SPEAKER_02: That's how we found the title for this episode.
44:22
SPEAKER_06: Like I said, she's the wisest gal on that.
44:25
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
44:25
SPEAKER_02: Love it.
44:26
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
44:26
SPEAKER_02: Well, what can we do to support Rob?
44:29
SPEAKER_02: I mean, this has been such an incredible conversation.
44:31
SPEAKER_02: It's not over yet, but what can we do?
44:33
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
44:34
SPEAKER_06: Well, you know, there are so many ways.
44:37
SPEAKER_06: Um I I I would venture to say if people have time, if if they're looking for a way to do something in their golden years of retirement, volunteer at the Highland Cafe.
44:49
SPEAKER_06: Since we don't have chicken and rice any longer since we moved to the facility, um, we we we had to just see how the Lord was gonna reshapen us.
44:57
SPEAKER_06: But the Highland Cafe is what we we serve free cups of coffee and and any donated good from 8:30 to 11:30, Monday through Friday.
45:07
SPEAKER_06: And so anybody who would like to come and be a part of just literally sharing a cup of coffee in the name of Christ, please, we'd we'd love to give you more info about that.
45:15
SPEAKER_06: Second thing is we have an upcoming event that we do every year called Boxes of Love.
45:20
SPEAKER_06: And we need people to take trucks and load up boxes and help people deliver.
45:24
SPEAKER_06: What it is is that people who are in our neighborhood who also are members of our church or prisoners of our church, they who want to be able to give a gift to someone in their life, a neighbor, a family member, a coworker, but don't have the funds to do it.
45:40
SPEAKER_06: The church will actually provide a box that is a Christmas meal with household goods.
45:45
SPEAKER_06: And this person who doesn't quite have the means to give, but wants to can sign up to give a box to that person who is a part of their life.
45:53
SPEAKER_06: And so we just would love to have people who are willing to come and help pack and come and to also deliver.
46:00
SPEAKER_06: That's going to be December 19th of this year at the church.
46:03
SPEAKER_06: That's huge help, huge help for us.
46:06
SPEAKER_06: That's upcoming.
46:07
SPEAKER_06: Another way that people could be plugged in is if they like education and want the opportunity to just work with children throughout the school day.
46:16
SPEAKER_06: We offer what's called skill sessions to our volunteers who want to, you know, work uh one hour a week with a child and reading or math just for additional academic support can come and be a part of that.
46:25
SPEAKER_06: So those are the three ways that come to mind off the top of my head.
46:29
SPEAKER_04: That's that's great.
46:30
SPEAKER_04: Great opportunities.
46:32
SPEAKER_04: And I hope some of our people will hear the Lord speaking to them through that through those opportunities.
46:38
SPEAKER_04: Now, there are a couple of uh there are a couple of words that seem to have have just really bored down into my heart during this conversation.
46:48
SPEAKER_04: The faithfulness question that you asked, and and it so faithfulness, the faithfulness obviously, of God to do to weave this story phenomenally in your life and in the life of the church and in the life of Truth Springs in all three uh branches.
47:08
SPEAKER_04: So the faithfulness of God there.
47:10
SPEAKER_04: But even as you answered the question, he kept saying the word consistency and showing up and how God can take that and and really do something with it.
47:24
SPEAKER_04: But the I I want to circle back to the very beginning of your conversation with us.
47:29
SPEAKER_04: You you use the word trust an awful lot in that initial story that you were telling us about what it was like because you had noticed something on the website about your your and Carrie's story about that difficult first year.
47:46
SPEAKER_04: So you think about all the I mean, God is just encasing us with his words tonight, the words about trust, about faithfulness, about consistency.
47:59
SPEAKER_04: I I uh I'm reminded of this.
48:01
SPEAKER_04: There's this poet that my daughter loves.
48:04
SPEAKER_04: The poet's name is Mary Oliver, and she has this one poem, and I'm gonna butcher it, but the the line ends with, What will you do with this one wild and beautiful life that you've been given?
48:18
SPEAKER_06: I love that phrase.
48:19
SPEAKER_06: Are you familiar with that?
48:21
SPEAKER_06: Oddly enough, I I I believe that I am.
48:23
SPEAKER_06: I have a friend who actually talks about her poems.
48:28
SPEAKER_04: Oh, there's they're very powerful.
48:30
SPEAKER_04: I I don't know a whole lot about her, but anyway.
48:32
SPEAKER_06: I need to fact check myself before I say anything about this guy, but uh, he's a classic gent, and so pressure is it.
48:39
SPEAKER_04: But this wild and beautiful life, and and I would uh I would paraphrase uh Mary Oliver, uh apologies to her fans, but I think the prayer is Lord, what can you do with this one wild and beautiful life you've given me?
48:56
SPEAKER_04: Because this story is not about what what you have done, uh what Carrie has done.
49:03
SPEAKER_04: I hope that's come across very clearly here.
49:05
SPEAKER_04: Oh, it certainly has.
49:07
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, your heart has has definitely come across that way.
49:11
SPEAKER_04: But it is, God, what would you do with my life if I really trusted you?
49:20
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I um what he can do.
49:23
SPEAKER_06: I think you know, I I really to answer that, I mean, just to reflect upon it, maybe better said, is taking what I what I've held to the sort of the answer to that question, what would I do with this wild and beautiful life?
49:41
SPEAKER_06: We'll just use that phrase, whether it's Mary Oliver's or not.
49:43
SPEAKER_06: Okay, right.
49:45
SPEAKER_06: But it's it's said that David wrote Psalm 37 in the last laps of his life.
49:53
SPEAKER_06: And in the beginning of of that psalm, which is reflective in nature, he says four things to do.
50:02
SPEAKER_06: He says, Trust in the Lord, dwell in the land, do good, and cultivate faithfulness.
50:09
SPEAKER_06: And that's that's just pretty much the plan.
50:11
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, bro.
50:13
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's a professional circle banger over here.
50:17
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that is awesome.
50:19
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you could be big in this podcast business if you wanted to.
50:23
SPEAKER_04: No, but seriously, how beautiful is that 37.
50:26
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, that's powerful.
50:27
SPEAKER_06: I really I've held to that for sure.
50:30
SPEAKER_04: Oh, thank you.
50:31
SPEAKER_04: Well, listen, we like to end our interviews with something really obnoxious.
50:36
SPEAKER_03: Okay, go ahead.
50:37
SPEAKER_04: Um, and it's obnoxious mainly because we didn't warn you.
50:40
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
50:40
SPEAKER_04: Total secret here.
50:42
SPEAKER_04: It's what we call no huddle.
50:43
SPEAKER_03: All right.
50:44
SPEAKER_04: All right.
50:44
SPEAKER_04: Now I know you're a baseball guy, okay, but the no-huddle uh idea is I'm about to fire you a bunch of questions.
50:50
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
50:51
SPEAKER_04: And it's like you have to call audibles.
50:52
SPEAKER_04: You, you know, you don't get to huddle up, or it's just answer it quick.
50:57
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
50:57
SPEAKER_04: Does that make sense?
50:58
SPEAKER_04: Before we do that, you are a baseball guy.
51:00
SPEAKER_04: Can't believe I I let this that sit this entire conversation.
51:05
SPEAKER_04: What position or positions did you play on the diamond?
51:09
SPEAKER_06: Primarily, it's like I just pitched.
51:11
SPEAKER_06: I'm a lefty.
51:12
SPEAKER_06: Oh, so I just pitched.
51:13
SPEAKER_06: I decided to dugout otherwise.
51:15
SPEAKER_04: All right.
51:15
SPEAKER_04: What was your uh go-to pitch?
51:17
SPEAKER_06: Really, I I had a great curve ball.
51:19
SPEAKER_06: I was a knuckle curve specifically, and uh I had control of it.
51:23
SPEAKER_06: You know, if you control that, you can get some strikeouts.
51:27
SPEAKER_06: Exactly.
51:27
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
51:28
SPEAKER_04: Do you still deal with any pain or a residual uh shoulder, elbow stuff?
51:34
SPEAKER_06: Yes, so I do, but it's it's not in any way debilitating.
51:38
SPEAKER_06: As a matter of fact, I've found the opposite.
51:40
SPEAKER_06: Like if I'm working out, it minimizes the pain.
51:43
SPEAKER_06: That's what I did before I came today.
51:44
SPEAKER_04: Hey, there you go.
51:46
SPEAKER_04: My gosh.
51:47
SPEAKER_04: What's that like?
51:49
SPEAKER_04: The working out.
51:50
SPEAKER_04: Working out with no pain afterwards?
51:51
SPEAKER_04: No, just working out.
51:53
SPEAKER_04: All right, so uh thank you.
51:55
SPEAKER_04: Uh we're we're baseball guys, and uh, thank you for humoring us there.
51:59
SPEAKER_04: Okay, so again, these rapid fire questions.
52:02
SPEAKER_04: Okay, roughly half of them are meaningful questions, roughly half of them are really ridiculous.
52:09
SPEAKER_04: So we'll start by asking you what's the worst job you ever had to do?
52:16
SPEAKER_06: Worst job I ever had was working at a place called mailboxes, etc.
52:20
SPEAKER_06: And it was a packaging place, and it was a place to where I had to sell things, and I was so bad at it.
52:28
SPEAKER_06: It was one of those things to where I ended up getting fired from the job.
52:35
SPEAKER_06: So seriously, yeah.
52:36
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, what it was like this, it would be like you bring in a package, and then they would you know have you package it, and then I was supposed to sell you insurance on the package.
52:45
SPEAKER_06: Oh, yeah.
52:45
SPEAKER_06: I was so bad at that, and I actually did get let go.
52:48
SPEAKER_02: I didn't I mean anything with the title etc.
52:52
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna that's not a fun job, right there.
52:57
SPEAKER_06: That's what it was.
52:58
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, right.
52:58
SPEAKER_06: Oh, I could so bad.
53:00
SPEAKER_04: I would be the guy that wins it.
53:01
SPEAKER_04: You don't want insurance on this, right?
53:04
SPEAKER_04: You know, I'd oh man, no, I feel you.
53:06
SPEAKER_06: I mean, the folks were great.
53:07
SPEAKER_06: I I love my boss.
53:08
SPEAKER_06: He was he was a classy gent.
53:09
SPEAKER_06: I was just really bad at the job and he knew it.
53:11
SPEAKER_06: He let me go.
53:12
SPEAKER_06: He should have, he made the right call.
53:14
SPEAKER_04: Oh my goodness.
53:14
SPEAKER_04: All right, love that.
53:15
SPEAKER_04: Okay, second question is a Bible character related question.
53:20
SPEAKER_04: Okay, and the only rule to answering this question is you can't say Jesus.
53:25
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
53:25
SPEAKER_04: So we like to say it's the only situation in your whole life where Jesus is not the answer.
53:31
SPEAKER_04: All right, so is there a Bible character that you particularly resonate with?
53:37
SPEAKER_06: Ruth.
53:38
SPEAKER_04: Really?
53:39
SPEAKER_04: Okay, tell us unpack that for her, if you will.
53:42
SPEAKER_06: You can't really talk about faithfulness without talking about Ruth.
53:46
SPEAKER_06: I I like that when all the cards were down and she's got a a mother-in-law who legitimately has a reason to be bitter, she just stays in there.
53:57
SPEAKER_06: I I think she's just bad to the bone.
53:59
SPEAKER_06: She stayed.
54:01
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
54:01
SPEAKER_06: I just I just think she's gonna be able to do it.
54:02
SPEAKER_02: Hey, that's faithful, that's consistent, right?
54:04
SPEAKER_02: That's Psalm 37 right there, dude.
54:08
SPEAKER_04: That's the whole thing.
54:08
SPEAKER_04: Okay, next question.
54:10
SPEAKER_04: Rob Strickland, the world needs to know cat person or dog person?
54:14
SPEAKER_04: Dog person.
54:15
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
54:15
SPEAKER_02: Dog person.
54:16
SPEAKER_02: All right, just new.
54:18
SPEAKER_02: Three for three.
54:19
SPEAKER_04: All right, this is good.
54:19
SPEAKER_02: That was the knuckle curve.
54:20
SPEAKER_02: He served it out of the right field, baby.
54:23
SPEAKER_04: Now so in your either on your device or in your earbuds or around your home, is there a worship song that is playing on repeat right now for you?
54:35
SPEAKER_06: No, it's actually not a song as much as it's a group.
54:39
SPEAKER_06: I'm really loving anchor hymns right now.
54:41
SPEAKER_04: Anchor Hymns.
54:42
SPEAKER_04: Are you familiar with I don't think so?
54:44
SPEAKER_06: We need one of these compilation groups.
54:46
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
54:46
SPEAKER_06: And the song that they they do that's just really just it's what's just feeding my heart right now.
54:53
SPEAKER_06: It's called The Beauty of the Heart of Christ by Anchor Hymns.
54:56
SPEAKER_06: It's incredible.
54:57
SPEAKER_02: Beauty in the Heart of Christ.
54:58
SPEAKER_02: We got it.
54:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, okay.
54:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
55:00
SPEAKER_06: So talk amongst yourselves.
55:02
SPEAKER_06: I gotta write this down.
55:03
SPEAKER_06: Dog, you're calling the no huddles.
55:05
SPEAKER_06: So seriously, that that that song has meant so much to me that it's actually the the theme of our gospel of Matthew series.
55:14
SPEAKER_06: It's it's going through Matthew.
55:16
SPEAKER_06: You're currently in Matthew now?
55:17
SPEAKER_06: Yes, as a church.
55:18
SPEAKER_06: We're we're in our second year of it.
55:20
SPEAKER_04: Hey, is there a uh a way like our people do you guys post messages uh social?
55:27
SPEAKER_06: Is that hopeforhan.org is our website.
55:30
SPEAKER_06: Okay, and we have them posted through SoundCloud.
55:34
SPEAKER_06: It's nice.
55:35
SPEAKER_04: Yes, awesome.
55:36
SPEAKER_04: Okay, we'll put we'll have all that in the show notes.
55:38
SPEAKER_04: For sure.
55:38
SPEAKER_04: Okay, final question in the huddle.
55:40
SPEAKER_04: And hasn't Rob done phenomenally well?
55:43
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, man.
55:43
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you're welcome, Brad.
55:44
SPEAKER_04: Okay, so I'm gonna ask you to imagine that at some point in the future your three sons are being interviewed at the same time, I guess.
55:54
SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
55:55
SPEAKER_04: Imagine this.
55:57
SPEAKER_04: And the interviewer asks them, tell me about your dad.
56:02
SPEAKER_04: What is something that you would hope they would say?
56:06
SPEAKER_06: I would I would hope that they would say that I was there and that we had a great time doing life.
56:15
SPEAKER_06: That's what I would hope they would say.
56:18
SPEAKER_04: That's outstanding.
56:19
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I mean we it's it's been and continues to be.
56:23
SPEAKER_06: We're in the season of transition where we have older kids, so it sort of feels different, although it it feels like it's quote unquote ending.
56:30
SPEAKER_06: It's not, it's just the season is ending.
56:34
SPEAKER_06: So it it's just been such an enjoyable ride.
56:37
SPEAKER_06: And uh do it all over again and again and again.
56:40
SPEAKER_04: Ah, so good, so good.
56:41
SPEAKER_04: Thank you for answering that and all the questions and for giving us and our listeners this conversation.
56:48
SPEAKER_04: This is a gift to us, so thank you.
56:50
SPEAKER_04: You're welcome.
56:51
SPEAKER_06: Glad to do it.
56:51
SPEAKER_06: It's been an honor to be here.
56:52
SPEAKER_06: Thanks, Brad.
56:53
SPEAKER_06: Thank you for indeed.
56:56
SPEAKER_04: Seriously?
56:57
SPEAKER_04: I mean, what a what a great time.
57:01
SPEAKER_04: I'm I thank Rob and his family, but Rob, thank you for being so generous with your time.
57:07
SPEAKER_04: More importantly, so generous with his story.
57:10
SPEAKER_02: I know.
57:11
SPEAKER_02: So generous with that red truck, too.
57:12
SPEAKER_02: Good googly goo.
57:14
SPEAKER_02: I just saw him drive away, and that is a cool Tacoma.
57:17
SPEAKER_04: 2002, red Toyota Tacoma, and I'm telling you, it's it's awesome.
57:23
SPEAKER_02: This is real life coveting.
57:25
SPEAKER_02: What is this?
57:25
SPEAKER_02: What is happening right now?
57:27
SPEAKER_02: No, I'm kidding.
57:28
SPEAKER_04: It it is amazing.
57:29
SPEAKER_04: I just came away so grateful that we live in a city with a man like that and his family, and and you know, generationally, his family has been pouring into this city.
57:43
SPEAKER_04: But him, he and his wife, Carrie, in challenging times, in difficult situations, they have embraced this calling.
57:52
SPEAKER_04: And it just, oh, it does something to my heart knowing that that we got giants of the faith like that walking around in Columbus, Georgia.
58:00
unknown: Woo!
58:01
SPEAKER_02: Well, even just from what we had had a very minimal conversation about last week, about consistent showing up, being faithful.
58:10
SPEAKER_02: Those words kind of keep showing up here on Sermons on the side.
58:14
SPEAKER_02: So I don't know if we have a listener that needs to kind of hear that knock from the Lord, but hey, there is something for you, friend.
58:21
SPEAKER_02: Uh, we ser um Psalms 37.
58:25
SPEAKER_00: Uh blew me away.
58:27
SPEAKER_02: Talking about Ruth.
58:28
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there there is something here for us to really chew on and to indeed.
58:34
SPEAKER_04: And so we encourage everybody, check him out, check him out online.
58:38
SPEAKER_04: Uh all the links are in the show notes.
58:41
SPEAKER_04: Uh, you can hear even messages that they're they're doing, all that good stuff.
58:45
SPEAKER_04: So uh take a listen, take a look, and uh pray for Rob and his family as they continue to answer this amazing call and do so well at serving and loving neighbor, as as he kept saying that phrase, loving neighbor.
59:00
SPEAKER_04: And that's something we should all embrace right now.
59:04
SPEAKER_04: Thank you, Rob.
59:05
SPEAKER_04: Thank you, Brad, for just being awesome and tall and red-headed.
59:10
SPEAKER_02: And thank you, listener, for joining us today in another episode of Sermons on the Side.
59:29
SPEAKER_04: I what was that?
59:31
SPEAKER_04: What was the uh just for being tall and redheaded?
59:35
SPEAKER_02: I feel I feel attacked.
59:39
SPEAKER_05: I feel kidding me.
59:41
SPEAKER_04: Oh my goodness.
59:42
SPEAKER_02: Man, that was that really was such a cool truck.
59:46
SPEAKER_02: Indeed, bro.
59:48
SPEAKER_02: Indeed.
59:49
SPEAKER_02: That guy was that he said it was his son's 16-year-old?
59:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
59:53
SPEAKER_02: That kid's gotta be the coolest kid at school.
59:55
SPEAKER_02: Right.
59:56
SPEAKER_02: Right riding up in the 2002 Tacoma.
59:59
SPEAKER_02: Oh, are you kidding me?
1:00:00
SPEAKER_02: Are you kidding me?
1:00:01
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and it was really cool, apparently.
1:00:04
SPEAKER_04: Someone gave him swag the days.
1:00:07
SPEAKER_04: Swag the days.
1:00:09
SPEAKER_04: You know it.
1:00:10
SPEAKER_04: You know it.
1:00:11
SPEAKER_04: Luke, what the hell?