Welcome to the defender podcast, a resource to help mobilize and equip the body of Christ to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children Services, and I'm your host, Herbie Newell.

Hey there. Welcome back to the Defender Podcast. Today is August 21, 2024. This is Rick Morton, and we have a great episode lined up for you today on the defender podcast. Back in June, I had the opportunity at the Southern Baptist Convention to sit down with, with a couple of friends, Pastor Matt Lawson, who's the executive pastor, and Pastor Rick Young, who is the family pastor at the First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia.

And for those of you that are Southern Baptists, you know First Baptist Church Woodstock and the great church that they are and the way that they influence their community for the gospel, but also lead out in other churches, thinking about how we carry the gospel into our communities. And so, on today's podcast, we're gonna have a conversation with the 2 of them and we're gonna be spotlighting Families Count. 1 of Lifeline Children's Services' really impactful ministries. Families Count is a 6 week biblically based parenting class that helps parents be restored, and to preserve their families. With the support from churches like First Baptist Woodstock, this ministry helps to equip parents to rebuild their lives and create a stable faith filled home for their children.

Just want to let you know, if you want your church to be able to get involved or to learn more, you can find out about Families Count by going to lifelinechild.org/families count or you can check out the show notes of our show. But really excited about this conversation and just hear all that the Lord's doing in the lives of vulnerable families. And primarily, the way that God's using the local church at First Baptist Church Woodstock to engage these hurting and at risk families with the gospel. And what we're seeing is, Jesus is changing the the hearts and lives of moms and dads whose whose kids are, are vulnerable. Many of whom are in foster care.

And creating the circumstance where kids are able to go home to families, not just that have better circumstances, but ultimately families that have been changed from the inside out, and are being built on the foundation of Jesus Christ because of what the folks at First Baptist Woodstock are doing, the way the Lord's using them to be an intentional gospel witness and an intentional discipleship presence in the lives of these families. And so I look forward to you joining me, joining us for this interview. It was fun to be able to sit down with these 2 guys. Their love for the Lord is just infectious, and we had a great conversation. And so here it is.

I'm Rick Morton, and we're here at the Lifeline booth. We're recording another episode of the Defender Podcast, and I've got an opportunity to sit down with Rick and Matt from, First Baptist Church Woodstock. And so guys, maybe, maybe the way 4 c has started just, if you'll introduce yourself a little bit, tell us a little bit about what you do, and and, I was catching up on the get getting the the lay of the land here and and just the relationship that you guys have together, serving together at First Baptist Woodstock.

So I'm Rick Young. I'm the family pastor at First Baptist Woodstock. I was the, middle school pastor for 17 years, so a little bit touched in the head just because of middle school ministry for so long.

So did did you ever use the title ministry to the showering optional? Is that,

That's right. No. I forced everyone. They had to they had to do that. But, yes, that's that's the ministry there for middle school.

But, man, love being the the family pastor there and just investing in the families. I've been there for a year back in this position here.

That's fantastic.

So

That's awesome. And, Matt?

Yes. So I am the executive pastor at Woodstock. I've been back two and a half years. Rick and I served in student ministry together. I was the high school pastor.

Rick was the middle school pastor. Had a ton of fun together for 9 years. Probably too much fun, but it's good to to to to work together, serve together, and, we we just love each other. And so it's like a brother, long lost brother.

Well, it's it's pretty, you know, pretty neat to to be able to sit here and talk a little bit about, you know, what is really a historic church in our convention. First Baptist Woodstock is, has been synonymous with, you know, with so much work in Southern Baptist life. And I think, you know, the contributions to Sunday School Ministry and Sunday School Evangelism and things like that, that have, you know, that have have been a part of the the the life of of your church. But but I but I don't know that as many people know about the the connection to and and the work that you guys are doing in the lives of vulnerable children and vulnerable families. And and and it's and there's and there's a lot, right?

There are there are quite a few things that are happening. And so really just, I think I want to talk a little bit about just kind of the general reasons why we do this, and and some, you know, some things about about why why your church is engaged the way you're engaged. But then I want to get in a little bit to some specifics about some things that you are doing, including, your involvement with Families Count and and with a ministry that that involves birth parents that, that that you're seeking to to work with that have found themselves in the child welfare system. But but first off, maybe I think the the big why. Why is it that that First Baptist Woodstock has has invested the time and resources that you have into into ministering to vulnerable people in your community, particularly vulnerable children and vulnerable families?

Yeah. So our our ministry to to vulnerable children and foster and adoptive families goes back about 15 years. We started in 2009, birthed out of the passion of our former pastor and several of our staff members, rooted in a theological conviction about the gospel, about caring for the vulnerable. And, it's it's been an incredible, incredible ministry and an incredible journey that, you're right, not many people know about when they think of Woodstock. But certainly, the people at First Baptist Woodstock know about it and support it literally on a weekly basis.

And so, you know, that it was birthed out of a theological conviction, rooted in the gospel, the belief that humanity is barreling towards a new Eden. Yep. And in the meantime, foster care and adoption, and supporting and encouraging both kids and families is one of the ways that Woodstock is able to experience now the redemption and renewal of all things that will eventually come. Yep. And so it's, it's a beautiful picture of the gospel.

It goes along with you guys, verse James 1 127.

Yep.

Where, man, god calls us. James says in there, man, we're to take care of the orphans and the widows. And, man, as pastor Matt said, man, it's out of the conviction that, you know, we as the church should be helping the vulnerable and sharing the gospel with them. And as pastor Matt said, in 2009, we just felt like, okay. If we're gonna do that, we gotta take this step forward, and we gotta show the way and show our community that, man, we're in this with them.

And so, you know, as he said, ever since then, man, we've been had the opportunity to to help 450 foster care children

Yeah.

With families and stuff. So it's been amazing to see all that God has done and to see how he's allowed us to share the gospel within our own community by stepping out and doing this.

And I and I love that. I love the you know, there there are a couple of things that you guys said that I I just wanna, like, I wanna delve into a little bit more. And so, Matt, you you talked about the the New Eden. Right? And and I think one of the things that sometimes we don't really talk about enough in as we're thinking about orphan care ministry is that that a big part of the responsibility that we've been given is to point to the Kingdom in ways that that talk about the ultimate reality, the ultimate fulfillment of the Kingdom.

And that when we're caring for orphan and vulnerable children in the ways that God's called us to do, we're testifying to the fact that we believe that there's going to be a day when there aren't any more orphans and there isn't the kind of brokenness that that brings that anymore. And part of that reality and part of keeping that before our people pastorally, is also to keep our eye on the ball of the gospel being at the center of what we do. Right? Sure. Because because we can we can lose sometimes ourselves in the middle of all this, and we can lose our our message and our center point, and and and become captivated with the fact that there are just so many needs around us that our job is to meet needs.

Yeah.

And and so I'm I'm just curious, like, one of the things that that is about your church that I know is is that you guys are about the gospel. Like like you keep gospel ministry and gospel proclamation at the forefront of everything that you do. So in the midst of the commitment that you've made to orphan care, what are some of the things you've done to make sure that the gospel stays at the center of whatever whatever you do? That we're that we're living out the Great Commission and the Great Commandment in, you know, in in the things that you're doing to care for orphan and vulnerable children.

Yeah. It's it's important for us to be centered on what we believe God has given to every church on the planet. Yeah. That is the great commission. We believe every church in the world, regardless of where they are, where they exist, has the same mission.

We say it like this, we exist to help people find and follow Jesus. We literally repeat that every single Sunday in every single service that we host. And so we're centered on that mission. And, and the great commandment is simply the opportunity to fulfill that mission. And, and so, you know, when we look scripturally, the only the the 4 chapters in scripture where we see this beautiful picture of Eden and perfection, Genesis 1 and 2, Revelation 21 and 22, and Revelation 21, Jesus says, behold I am making all things new.

Yeah.

There's so much brokenness in the world, but it seems so obvious and evident when we look at broken families. And it seems like when the family is broken, there's a playground for the enemy That's right. To thrive in stealing, killing, and destroying. And so while we won't see the full picture of redemption and restoration until the end of the story, supporting foster care adoption, allowing the gospel to have its place in those environments allows us to get a glimpse, a beautiful glimpse, by the way, of the restoration of all things. And so we're solidly focused on the gospel.

Otherwise, anybody could do what we do.

That's right.

Anybody could do what we do. That's right.

Because because it's not it's not about those it's not about those things we do, but it's about the power and authority in which we do those things and and why we do it. And and I think, you know, I I've said and and all of us being former youth pastors, there's, you know, we always try to break it down in a way that it's easily understood. But, you know, in in the Old Testament, when when God was calling Israel to to care for orphans, it was, you know, I've said that was like the mighty Casey moment, right? That was like God point over the fence and

say,

hey, look, like, look what I'm about to do. Yeah. And and and and and you doing what you're doing is pointing to the reality that I'm gonna do something that you can't do. And that only I can do to heal your sin problem. But now the moment is that we as the church, when we're when we're fulfilling James 127, we're now pointing over the fence and saying like there's a day when when Jesus is gonna come back, and there's gonna be a new heaven and a new earth, and there's gonna be a restoration, and he's gonna he's gonna completely accomplish all that he's accomplished.

And I and I think sometimes in in orphan care circles, we get so we get so captivated and preoccupied by the the nuts and bolts of what we're doing and and the nitty gritty of the hardness of the work that that we we don't come up out of that sometimes to to see that and do that, but but that's the reality. Right?

Yeah. Absolutely. That is you know, and Rick, what I love too is this, is that foster care, you know, the gospel, yeah, is the center of what we should be doing, but foster care helps us to put hands and feet to that.

That's right.

That we can go do that. And then not only do we love on those kids, but we love on the families.

That's right.

Matter of fact, you guys are helping us as we, you know, help minister to the families. So our goal is that we want not just the children, but the whole family

Right.

To receive the gospel. So, you know, we feel like it puts hands and feet to what we're trying to do Right. To for our community in that aspect.

And so Rick, let's get into that a little bit because because I think, you know, one of the realities that we that we realize along the way is that, you know, maybe if we're looking 10 years in the rearview mirror in the way that the way that we as as local churches were delving into the foster care system, the sum total of our efforts were generally focused on kids. And that's kinda obvious, right? Like that's a I mean, that's we're just taking James 127 really literally, right?

Yeah, that's right.

We're we're, you know, we're we're we're honing in on kids, and we're and we're bringing we're pastoring them, we're shepherding them, we're, you know, we're we're providing that safety for them. But I think there there were a lot of us that along the way just really began to question that work and began to say, okay, if we're if we're sending kids back to homes that are untransformed and are not different, fundamentally, then all the safety and protection that we're providing for them when they're in temporary care, like, that just gets all undone again Yeah. When when they go back home and they go to a home that's, you know, that's still chaos. And and fundamentally, we haven't really done anything eternally if they go back to a home where, you know, where their home hasn't been changed by by the gospel. And so and so what do, you know, what do we do about that?

Yeah. You know, how are we going how are we going how are we gonna get in that? And and so I'll tell real quick the story, and and folks that listen to our podcast regularly have heard it before, but Tracy Newell that was on our team really, you know, the Lord really just captivated her heart about that. And and so as she began to pray, one of the things the Lord just revealed to her, she just started going to people in child welfare and asking the question and saying, okay, like, what's what's wrong? What's broken?

What's and one of the things she heard over and over and over again was just this, you know, people kept talking about these parenting classes and and really with a lot of disdain. And and it was like, we don't even believe these things can, like, work. So we're teaching, we're trying to teach parents how to be parents, but none of the none of the systems we're using are helping at all.

Yeah.

And and we really don't think this but but like it's it's an annoyance that we have to keep sending these parents to parenting classes, but it's a waste of time. They don't finish them. Nobody benefits from them. They're, like, we we hate to do it. And so she started asking.

She's annoying a little bit, so she just started asking some questions. I love Tracy. She's dear sister. And so but but, like, she's, you know, that little bit like, why? Why?

You know? And and so she began to ask why? And why was, well, you know, like, the curriculum's not very good. And she's like, well, gosh, churches do. They teach people all the time and do it well.

And then it was like, well people people have a hard time getting to the classes. They don't have transportation. It was like, well shoot, we do transportation in the church all the time, move people around, you know, get kids back and forth to camp and all kinds of things, and and and we do that fine. And then it was it was like, well, well, you know, like these families can't get from one place to another 13 times in a row to do anything. And and she kinda laughed, and she was like, well, church fixed that a long time ago.

We we quit doing 13 week series of anything, so we're, you know, like, we know how to do that. And then it was right, and then it and then it was and then it was it was and so it was, you know, it was child care, and it was it was question after question. And what what kept coming back was, well, the church is great at that. The church is great at that. And and so it was like, well, why don't we why don't we just take a shot at this?

Why don't we write a biblical based gospel centered curriculum that puts that answers those questions, but really positions at risk families to be in a place where where they can complete these things. But more than that, where we take people and we just draw them close. And I think, you know, Rick, what I'm winding up to is the is the there's the point in all this that. You know part of part of James 127 is that we have to go to them. Yes.

They don't they don't come to us because because of the vulnerability. But but what we've realized with parents is that that ironically, the easiest way to go to them is to create a reason for them to come to us.

Yes. Yes.

And so that's kind of what Families Count is. It's a reason for for for parents that are that are involved in the child welfare system, either because their kids have been removed from their home or they're in danger of being removed from their home, that they're being invited to to your church to be a part of a parenting class where where there's a an environment for them to be surrounded. Yes. So, man, talk about families count and and and, like, how that's really manifest itself at First Baptist Woodstock and and what maybe some of the things that the Lord's doing through through that engagement in your community. Yeah.

And I love pastor Matt speaking to this too, but, you know, I I love how pastor Matt said that, you know, the family is not strong, man. The enemy is going to attack and and just disperse it. You know? And the family count ministry that you guys are helping us with, you know, Rick, we we just here's what we realized, and pastor Mac is speaking to this. You know, we realized that we we needed something like this.

We were helping families, and, man, we were ministering to families, and but we needed something like this to help our families. As a family pastor, what I realized is here is I'm not just a family pastor to the people that attend our church. It's to our community.

That's right.

And so, man, we wanna be able to help those families. So we we have just recently started it with you guys. But, man, we've had an amazing interest from our church and also from the people within our community that work in the, if you would say, the the DCS and other places like that because they see what you're talking about. Okay? And so not only have we started it, but God's opened the doors for us to make a bigger impact, not just with those families Yep.

But with the people, with the organizations within our communities.

That's right.

I mean, am I missing anything?

No. You're you're you're great. And and, Rick, you brought up a great point when you said, you know, the system is already hosting parenting classes, and so many of them don't finish, and it's so ineffective. And that's the reason why we have to feast from the gospel That's

right.

As the centerpiece of everything we do That's right. In ministry. Because what we know is as we feast from the gospel as the centerpiece of everything we do, there's something different we offer

That's right.

Than the system can offer. It's not just a parenting class. It's the power of the spirit of the living God who can change a mom's life, a dad's life, a family's life, a child's life. And so one of the things that we learned in the process from you guys is that, a lot of these parents will come to classes very uninterested Right. Just fulfilling it.

You know, it's just a checkbox to put it mildly.

That's that's right. That's a good way of saying it.

It's just a checkbox. Right? I gotta get it

done. Right.

I gotta get it done to get

my kids back. And but by the end, and by the power of the spirit of the living God, it's not just a class. It's not just content. It can be life changing. Sure.

Yeah.

And that's the beautiful thing that we love about Families Count in that we can see families restored. Not through some secular method, not some through through some secular program, through some program in the system, but by the power of the spirit of the living God. We believe that he can restore families, and he can restore hearts.

He he can, and he does.

Yes.

And and we're and we're having the opportunity regularly to to get to see that sort of transformation now before I proceed in it. And I think, you know, we've got a it's not secret. I was about to say it was a secret goal, but it's not a secret goal. Like, we we but we harbor we harbor a more private goal, which is we just believe that the church can transform child welfare system in America. Yes.

Yes. But but not for the sake of transforming child welfare. Right. Right? Like the the the thing is, and and it's and you know and the joke is, right, like we invented it.

Long before the State was doing it, it was it was the Church's responsibility. Yes. It's also our fault

that

it's in the hands of the state. You're right. But we there are ways and there are mechanisms for for churches and to to get involved in meaningful ways by by finding the failure points and and meeting

them. Absolutely. Yeah.

Because of just what you said, Matt, which is that that when we step into those failure points, we don't step in as one more human being or one more collection of people to provide to provide a man centered answer, we step in as the ambassadors of Christ given the Ministry of Reconciliation and we step in with the power of the gospel in those circumstances. And so what I love about your church, about the 450 kids that have been adopted out of foster care, about the things in Families Count, about all the things that you're doing is that that that the sum total of that is we are we are pressing into bringing the gospel into places where where transformation is needed. And and we're just like, as I've said to government officials a lot of times in these conversations, hey, we're just bringing the only thing we've got.

Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And we should. I mean, we're the church.

We're we're we're the mechanism that God uses to spread the gospel, and we should be doing that. You know? And here's what I love about Lifeline and what God's allowing us to do too, Rick, is that some churches I've heard some churches say, well, you know, we don't have the resources or but really any church can do this. Yeah. Like you said, you find you find in your community where there's an open door to where you can do that in any church.

That's right.

And with the resources that you guys provide, any church can do this.

You know? I'm gonna tell you I'm gonna tell you a little secret, and and I say this, you know, now that we're now that we're old friends and and we, you know, but but but the the reality is that that working with a church like First Baptist Woodstock, for us, we find sometimes harder than working with a church with with, you know, a 100 people or 200 people or or whatever. Totally.

And I think and and that and

that's not to say it's been an it's been an incredible experience working with you guys, and I and I wanna I wanna tell you that. But I think sometimes it's really challenging when a church is complex and there's

Right. There are

a lot of moving parts and a lot of people to to really be able to bring all the pieces together that are necessary to be able to do something like Families Count or Heritage Builders that we do with kids that are aging out of the foster care system.

Which we have a great passion for as well, Rick.

Those kind of things. And so there there are all these, you know, programmatic answers, but in a church where it's a little easier to get all the functions together because because all those people people are in small proximity to each other. And so, frankly, whenever whenever we see a church that's, you know, that's as big and complex as y'all are that are pulling this off, we want to look at little churches and small churches and go, hey, look, if they can do it, you guys sure can.

Yeah. Well we all need each other, and this is true. We're better together.

We all.

Yeah.

We're better together.

Yeah.

It really is. So even even in the large churches like ours, you know, you would think, well they've got it together, they've got, you know, the gift mix in the church, the resources, the finances. But the reality is, we need you, as a kingdom partner, to fulfill the mission that God has given us in the city of Woodstock. We wanna be the first call when Cherokee County calls us, and there's 400 foster kids in our system right now as we speak. And quite honestly, we're not meeting all of those needs.

Yeah.

And so there are lots of other churches in our community, in your community, communities represented at this convention that, that need the help of Lifeline to fulfill the mission that God's given us.

So as, maybe as we close-up, you guys are, I mean, you're engaged in this in in a multitude of different ways, in in ministering to families, ministering to to kids and CPS workers and all kinds of people in the system. For those for those folks that are out there that are that are listening to us, that are saying, hey, I'm, like, I'm in this too, what would you say to encourage them today and and just to help maybe put a little wind in their sails about what it is that God has has called them and given them an opportunity to do?

Yeah. I would say this, and pastor Matt can go then, is that, man, stay the course because there are gonna be some ups and downs. We we have a family in our church that that they, they just had a down because they had a a child went back to a a a difficult situation. You know, the body? And so but what what I loved about watching this family that was fostering is that, man, they were here's what they said.

They literally said this, we're thrilled for the time we had with them, and we shared the gospel with them.

Yeah.

And so I would say this, man. Just stay the course. Stay the course because the good's always gonna outweigh the bad.

That's right.

Okay? It just is. But just stay the course because God will do things. It just may take some time. It may take some time to work.

Man, when we first started 2 1,009, it's not like just everything was good and the doors were open and, you know, we were, we were perfect, man. We, we stumbled, we, we crawled, we, we walked and, and so man, and we're still learning. And so man just stay the course, but I'm telling you, it's just worth it to see the families that have come through that are now part of our church. And then we can look back now and go, man, god god worked there. So, man, just stay the course.

That's it. That's awesome.

Yeah. I I would I would say the same thing. I would also say, you know, sometimes when things are hard, it's easy to give up. And when things are hard, it's easy to throw in the towel. And I would say it's just a part of the process.

And and and the ups and the downs that our families experience, I'll tell you what's worth it, is when we look across an a congregation on a Sunday morning, and we see the Paula Walkers, we see the, you know, the Bellicone family, we see we see these families who have made a commitment, and we see kids who are different from when they started. We see families who have said yes to Jesus. Yes. And he's not only changing lives of biological parents and and and kids in the foster, he's changing the the kids in those families.

Yep.

And he's changing the moms and the the foster and it's it's it's all worth it. Yeah. It really is all worth it. All worth it.

You

know? We're not there yet, but we're barreling towards that new Eden rate.

Well, I think that's, you know, that's the beauty of all this, right, that, like, none of us are all there yet. And and and we're but yet, God uses us because because he because he wants to, and and we get to. And and in the midst of our difficulty and our failures and our stumbles and our messes and all that sort of stuff, that God God still God still uses us to accomplish his purposes, you know, for his pleasure and and and I think, just thankful to First Baptist Woodstock and and for the the the way that you continue to, be a light for the gospel in your community, the way that you show the way for other churches, and and just for the way that you guys continue continue to to faithfully, live and tell the gospel into, you know, into the hard places like, the lives of, you know, vulnerable children and vulnerable families. And so thanks for being with us. Appreciate you guys.

And thank you.

Thank you for what you guys do.

Thanks for taking time out in the, Disneyland that is, the Southern Baptist Convention That's right. And, in the exhibit hall here to for us to take a little bit of time. But we, we look forward to, you know, to maybe, another opportunity down the road to just talk through some of those stories of transformation and some of those some of those things that, we can celebrate that God's doing. And so, if you're listening to us as a part of the defender podcast, as always, we're really thankful for you and, and thankful for, your partnership and your prayers. And, and and we look forward, to talking to you again very soon.

Thanks for listening to the Defender Podcast. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the Defender podcast to make it easier for more people to find. For more information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, visit us at lifelinechild.org. If you want to connect with me, please visit herbynewell.com. Follow us at lifeline on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child.

You can email us directly at info at lifelinechild.org. Beloved, will you allow god to use the gospel to you to impact the life of a child? Please contact us because we are here to defend the fatherless. We'll see you again next week for the Defender podcast.