397: Hope in Possum Trot with Bishop W.C. Martin 01:24:07

It's the way I heard it, and I'm Mike Rowe. And there's hope in possum trot, if you haven't heard. In fact, this episode is called Hope in Possum Trot because...

I mean, I think it works no matter how you say it, Chuck. There's a lot to be hopeful about if you go to Possum Trot. And if you don't go to Possum Trot, you should put your hope in Possum Trot based on recent events. Well, I would say, yeah, you want to hope that what happened at Bennett Chapel Church in Possum Trot spreads throughout the country and other churches get involved and sort of help

solve the foster care problem in this country. Shouldn't take but a minute. There are only 400,000 kids stuck in this giant, I don't even know what to call it, a miasma. Bureaucracy, maybe? Yeah, yeah. This really came to my, got on my radar during Returning the Favor four or five years ago. Did a story on the Isaiah House.

And I just was just blown away by everything, like the bureaucracy, the scope of the problem. Why is this so insanely bad? Why are so many people willing to adopt but unable to adopt through the foster care system? You know, part of the answer probably is because

People are in charge of the well-being of these kids who, in many cases, have already been abused. And the last thing you want to see them do is wind up in the wrong household or further abused or so forth and so on. But because of that, that tension, so many just go neglected. And it's just, I mean, look, if it sounds heavy, it's because it is.

And the reason we're doing an episode on this is because there's a movie that I just watched called The Sound of Hope, which you've watched, and which happily a lot of people have watched. And it just tells this incredible story of what happened when a real-life bishop, a reverend named W.C. Martin, got fired up and decided to challenge his congregation to follow his example. He and his wife Donna adopted a kid.

and then another one. And long story short, this congregation answered the call.

How many were adopted? 77 in the community. And they basically, like the social worker, you know... Susan, right? Who was helping them to adopt all these people. They ran out of kids. Yeah. They just ran out of kids. So, I mean, they kind of solved the foster care problem in a little tiny town you've never been to called Possum Trot in East Texas, a very, very poor community full of big-hearted people who just decided they were going to do something about it. So...

Angel Studios and The Daily Wire partnered and they made this movie and now it's a thing. It's worth your time. The acting's extraordinary. The story is great. And true. Yeah. So we thought it would be fun. I mean, full disclosure, the acting is so good. We reached out to some of the actors to see if they want to come on and talk about what it was like to be a part of this thing.

I looked a little deeper and it was like, wait a minute. I think the actual guy is available upon whom the entire thing is based. You're about to meet a real live Bishop named WC Martin. And he's about as original a guest as we've ever had, I think. Yeah. And as authentic. And, uh,

Full disclosure, trigger warning. You're going to hear some preaching. You're going to hear a man unfiltered talking with what's fair to say a great enthusiasm about a cause he feels compelled and led to pursue.

Yeah, and he just sees himself as a conduit getting God's word out, and he lays it on us. And the authentic word that you used before is one that really, really fits WC because, and let me just say that I could listen to him all day. I could listen to him all day. Everything that he said, I was just drinking up. I just thought he's full of wisdom or he's channeling God. Either way, there's hope in Possum Trot.

They've set the marker pretty high for a pretty serious issue. And my only regret about the conversation you're about to hear is that we couldn't include his wife, Donna, who's here with us in the studio, but we just didn't have the hardware to bring her in. But the story's as much hers as his. It originated with her, yeah. Doesn't happen without her. So it's really a story of a very happy marriage, a couple of devoted mates,

are deep, deep into their church and into their community and have done something that right now stands as a challenge, I think, to every other church and every other organized religion in this country. And like you say, he's fun to talk to. Yeah. Because no matter how you slice it, there is hope in Possum Trot right after this. Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-dum!

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why they really are the smartest way to hire. ZipRecruiter.com slash row. The smartest way to hire. Bishop, is it fair to say if the First Lady's happy, we can begin? We can begin. Excellent. Thank you so much for coming all the way from Possum Trot, East Texas, right? East Texas, yeah. What a time you're having. Yeah. I'm kind of...

I don't even know how to answer that question, but it's one of them way out there in the blue, yonder time, you know. It's one of them times that you come against so many things you don't expect, and then when you get there, you find yourself, well, I don't know if I want to do it or not. Then once you get there, you say, you know, this is all right here. It's just an up and down situation. I touch and go. So I learned to accept one day at a time. When you start a sermon, do you know how it's going to end?

Like, do you know what's going to come out of your mouth on a Sunday morning from the minute you open it? Or do you kind of take the temperature of the room and maybe call an audible along the way? How does your brain work when you're up there preaching? My brain has a direct connection in heaven.

those angels who is feeding my thoughts and mind with the word to say because a lot of time you know although I have one thing on paper a lot of time the spirit of the Lord take me clean away from this that paper and just show me on because I think the spirit of the Lord fit in

the congregation and the mindset of the people. So it's going to come in and direct my mind and my thought where the message would go, direct it and be a blessing to them to help them. There may be somebody out there who is going through a lot. Then the Lord is going to show things in the word as we stand up there that we need to classify that and show them the way out of that or how they can be helped. So I never know what the end is going to be. It's just like starting church. We know what time we're going to start, but we don't know what time we're going to end. Yeah.

Well, you know what? It's a lot like a podcast. That's right. What's the difference between a bishop, a preacher, a reverend? Is there one? In the New Testament church, that's five-fold ministry to be operated in. Mm-hmm.

Because the bishop is not in the five fold, I don't think, but the preacher and the teacher. Each function have its own platform. In other words, there are spiritual elevation in the spirit. Just like you work hard here and then you get a promotion on your job. In the church, it's the same way. God promotes us because of our work and our faithfulness. So he elevates us to different realms of his anointing. There's a realm that we have to go higher and higher and higher.

If you doing a work for God, he always got a plan that you don't know anything about that he wanna carry your truth. It kinda like some went and some were sent. When you went, you pick up your own tab, but when you are sent, God pick up the tab. So it's so amazing how this thing works out.

God always have a remnant that he's going to carry his people to an area because he said, I know the plan that I have for your life. So he already know the plan. We don't know the plan, but God knows the plan. So that's the difference in him. There's different stages in the arena and at God's arena and on his agenda that we go to. What he did in Possum Trot, it's difficult to believe, right? Like if you just read it on the page,

You say to yourself, wow, that's an amazing thing. And the first time I heard the story, I did think, boy, what a terrific movie this would make. But Hollywood's not going to make this movie. And then my buddy Chuck here said, well, you got to see this, Mike, this Sound of Hope thing. And I watched it about a week ago. And it's difficult to know where to begin with this.

But like the Bible says in the beginning, it's a pretty interesting place to start. And the fact that this miracle happened in a place like Possum Trot, I think maybe we ought to start there. Tell our listeners what Possum Trot is, why it's named Possum Trot, where all the possums got to, and if anybody's still trotting. Well, we trot every week. I don't know if it's possum that trot, not just human, but...

Possum Trot is a little old place way back off in the woods of East Texas, in the Clay Hills of Wood, Texas. Nothing but woods down there, and, of course, you know, you got families and stuff in there. And somebody would say, wonder why would God start a movement in Possum Trot? Well, there's a biblical answer for that. Mm-hmm.

In what I have learned, that God have always go to the low places. He never went to the big, the rich, and the famous. He always come to low places. For an example, look at Mary for an example. She was just a little country girl, young girl, barefoot girl.

in the country, because Jerusalem was just a little old country town. That's all it was. So he always come and start something so miraculous. Look at Moses on the backwoods. He's back there in the woods, back there as a sheep herder doing different things. And even David, for an example, you know, just a little shepherd boy. So God never reaches for the big. And I think one of the reasons is because we don't want to be like the rich young ruler and

FT went out there and gathered all his stuff, and said, "Lord, look what I done done. "I'm gonna tear all these little buns down, "and I'm gonna build me some bigger buns. "I'm gonna eat, drink, and be merry." I think God wanna go to the people that he feels that he can trust.

that he knows gonna be able to handle whatever he lay before him. Possum Tribe was a place that God came to because he feels that some way and somehow we was gonna do benevolent. We're not gonna back up. We were gonna go in head on, ready to go to work to do what God wants to do. You know, it's so amazing too. Anything God orchestrate,

There's always going to be a fight. The enemy is going to always fight against you. He's always going to find a way to make you feel like, what am I doing? This is so crazy. I ain't got nothing to do with it. He says, let somebody else do it. And this is what's in the minds of a lot of people right now. I'm not going to adopt them children, fool them children because they're too bad, they're too this and that. But in the most part, you know, if you look at it real good, all of us have been adopted.

And you can't get away from that. So I think that possible child, God, he just amazes me the way he do things. So a lot of times I say, Lord, why you come down here? I mean, we were satisfied because we don't have nothing here. We have absolutely nothing. We ain't got no family life centers. We don't have this. We don't have no playground and still don't have it. But I don't look at what we don't have. I look at what we got. We got a church and we got the love of God. And that's what makes the difference.

In the movie, the point's made pretty early on that you don't know you're poor until somebody tells you. And even then, it's just a word. It doesn't mean much of anything. And I think it was your wife who articulated that. I mean, for me, I was very lucky. I grew up middle class. At least I thought I did.

It wasn't until later that I realized that we really didn't have very much at all, but I felt very rich as a child. I saw that movie, and I saw the portrayal, and I thought, oh my goodness, those poor people. But then I thought, what am I saying? They don't know, they don't think of themselves any way other than I did. That was the first thing in the movie that I really, really loved.

And then I loved how hard it was. I loved how hard it was for your wife to deal with her mom's death. And I loved how hard it was for you to get your head around the idea that maybe you should just

adopt a child at that point, nothing was easy. And that's why I wasn't so sure about the movie at first, because I thought if they sugarcoat this, if they just make it seem like, oh, look at these nice people in this little town you never heard of, they're going to adopt 77 kids and they all live happily ever after. Baloney. It was a tough road, man. And I admire it. It was very difficult. And I feel like this.

If everything was easy, you better examine yourself. And you better examine, is God in it? Because if it's easy, that lets you know that the enemy is satisfied with it. If you got to go against the grain,

If you got to fight your way through, if you, like the Bible said, be a good soldier in the armies of God and a soldier is trained to fight. This is what we do. We train our people to fight in the spirit, not in the natural. Because these things like this, you can't do it in the natural. You got to have the power of God. You got to trust God and you got to believe God. Soldiers are also told to follow orders.

Right. Follow. Chain of command. Yeah, chain of command. You know, follow me as I follow Christ. That's what Paul tells us to do. So it was nothing simple. It was nothing sweet. I ain't going to tell nobody no lie. Them children gave me hell. And I'll tell anybody they did, you know. And because they didn't know no better. They only act the way what they know. They didn't understand and did not know.

You bring a child in your home five years old, six years old, seven years old, eight years old, their little mind has already been spread out so thin until they don't know right from wrong. They don't know what love is and what a mother and a father is. So you have to begin to transform their life. You got to reach in their little brains and pull stuff out. But every time you pull something bad out or negative out, you put something good back. And if you don't do that, that child going to grow up

Get on the street kill somebody hurt somebody gonna kill himself. So Possum chalk wasn't a place Well, the nice things war and people struggle all those family a struggle really bad But we succeeded because we wouldn't give up and the key to the whole thing you staying with the process You know, it's easy for us to talk this and

And I'm glad they did the movie like this to let people know, hey, look, it wasn't easy in the possible trial, but it was successful. Because why? They stayed with the process. The process, we want the end results of it, but we don't want to deal with the process of it. And there's going to be a process. I don't care what you do.

Man, I was laying in bed this morning. It felt so good, and it was nice and cool in the room, and I didn't want to get up. And I said, Lord, how much do I need to get up? But then I laid off a few more minutes. I don't want to get up. But to see what the process for me to get up, because I had work to do. And this is what we don't want to face, the process. We want the joy, but we don't want to go through the process. I want to ask you about the process of picking out that outfit. Yeah.

Now, did Donna play a role in this? Did she say, today, WC, I want to see you in the bib overalls, but we're going to meet Mike Rowe, so maybe you put on a blazer anyway? Or did you just say, no, I'm going to rock the blazer today, and please explain?

I got her to put on what I wanted to put on. And that was it. I mean, there wasn't no discussion. I felt like when I left Texas, I packed overalls. I said, this is what I'm going to wear. My clothes, and I'm going to wear a jacket. That's all I'm going to wear. That's it.

because I feel more comfortable with these overalls. Now don't ask me where the idea come from, 'cause my daddy was a farmer, but he never wore overalls. And I just picked up these overalls some months ago and I've been started wearing them and I've been wearing them ever since. - What kind of farms you grow up on?

We raised corn and peas and okras, tomatoes and chickens and hogs and stuff like that because in my house, we were so poor living back off in them woods. We didn't even know. I'll put it to you like this. I was 12 years old before I knew that a chicken had more than a foot and a neck. Wow.

I don't even know what that means, but that's funny. Because he never saw a breast or a thigh. It was all just necks and feet. That's all I saw. All right. I mean, I was happy to get them necks. I mean, because it was good. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? You didn't have a choice because I had nine other brothers and one sister in the house. They picked the litter, so I had to get what was left because I'm next to the baby. Wait, wait, wait. You had nine brothers, one sister. That's 11 of you all together. Yeah, uh-huh.

I mean, nine and one. Okay, I'm one of the nine. Oh, you're one of the nine. I see, 10. That's a good number. Well, it's no wonder you adopted a thousand kids. So how important was work ethic? Was that a lesson that your folks tried to instill or was it just kind of baked in to the boy you were and the man you became? It was baked in because then my daddy was not going to be in that field.

And you laying there with a fan in your hand, because we didn't have nothing else. You know, you didn't have no electric stuff like that. So we had to get out there in that field and work. And what it was doing also, in my home, you just didn't eat. You had to do something to earn your keeps.

And all of us, little boys, if we didn't, we weren't out there in the field. We was out there in some bushes somewhere picking berries and plums and selling them for whatever, you know, wrecking somebody's yard. I mean, to me, I wanted money. I love money. And I don't know where I was going to get it. I had to work for it. You know, what we used to do, Mike, you give me a dollar and I go in and get me 100 pennies, you know, and I'd be walking around shaking it in my pocket. I had money. Right?

And I was rich, and that's what I thought. But the thing of it is, it was teaching me all the time, if a man don't work, he don't eat. So it taught me then, and I've been working all of my life. I can truly say I've been working all my life. But I never stole. I'm not a drug addict. I'm not an alcoholic, none of that stuff. I can't stand that stuff. I used to try to smoke a little rabbit tobacco, but that didn't agree with me either. Rabbit tobacco?

Yeah. What's that? Well, it's a little bush you got out there in the woods out there, and you light it up. And that stuff tasted so horrible, it's unreal. I tried that, but that didn't work out too good either. So I kind of reserved myself to be what I am now. I think God had a shield and a protection because in my family, we have four preachers. Four brothers started preaching. We had a group called the Martin Brothers, and we sung all over the country. And out of that seven brothers, we had four preachers. Wait a minute.

Four preachers out of the same family? Yeah. And was it your other three brothers that sang with you? Yep. They were the preachers? They were preachers, too. Four singing preachers? Yeah, yeah. What was the group called? The Martin Brothers. What kind of song? I'm guessing... Gospel. What's the greatest gospel song ever written? Yeah.

In my opinion, I love the old hymns. Jesus keep me near the cross. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. Now that one, you can sing that one anytime because that becomes personal. Because it was grace, God's grace, that brought me out of darkness into the marvelous light. And if it had not been for grace, I wouldn't be here today and you wouldn't be here today. And what makes it so beautiful, it's so amazing grace.

God's grace is so amazing because it looks beyond our faults and it sees our needs. That's what makes it so amazing.

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please claim your free copy of their award-winning history magazine, Hallowed Ground. It's excellent. That's battlefields.org slash Mike. Battlefields.org slash Mike. Battlefields.org slash Mike. My nana, my grandmother, we had this conversation once about Amazing Grace. And she said the thing about it that amazed her was that you could take the words to Amazing Grace and

and you could put them against the song, you'll remember this song, it was the theme song of Coca-Cola. Right? ♪ I'd like to teach the world to sing ♪ Well yeah, you can take ♪ Amazing grace how sweet the sound ♪ ♪ That saved a wretch like me ♪ ♪ I once was lost and now am found ♪ But you can also go the other way, you can take the theme song of Coca-Cola

And you can put that onto Amazing Grace. So it's, I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. So a great song can be moved into a different melody. But Amazing Grace stands all by itself. It has the grabbing of what singing is all about. Because, see, when I grew up, we didn't know what music was.

So we used to walk around in the house and just sing Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound, because that was a song that if anybody would look into it, that song had so much meaning behind it. See, the word grace is an unmerited favor of God. In other words, when you start thinking about grace, when Paul told God, he said, Father, he said, I got a thorn in my flesh. And God said, I'm not going to move it. He told Jesus, I'm not going to move it.

He said, "But my grace is sufficient." Now what he was saying to Paul was, look,

Although you got that thorn in your flesh, I don't have to move that thorn out of your flesh in order for you to do my will. When you get to do my will, you've got my favor on your life to carry out my will. And all of us got some thorns. It may not be the same thing, but we all got some thorns. But we don't look at the thorn. We look at the one that's giving us the grace to carry out his will. And that's all we're here for. Now, this is the Paul on the roads of Damascus that we're talking about? That's the Paul. That's the Paul.

That's like the pebble in the shoe, right? You put a thorn in the side, a pebble in the shoe, a little something to remind yourself. That's what it was. See, that's what Paul said. You know, this was the mind poem.

And some said that Paul was blind and only the master's role. And when God, when Jesus spoke to him, they said that nobody else heard Paul. But something so amazing about that, because Paul answered, he said, who are thou, Lord? He said, I'm the one in whom thou persecute.

If you look at that, I really believe that Paul had an inkling of who Jesus was in the beginning because why would he address him as Lord? Think about it. What kind of songs did you sing? I know it was gospel songs, but was it like four-part harmony? Yeah, three-part. We had guitars, drums. Occasionally we had keyboard because my daughter went and played for some time.

So at what point do you meet your wife in this whole thing? Someone had invited us to a church in a place called East Hamilton. That's on the other side of Possum Trout. And we went down there that Sunday and we did a program down there. Then they invited us to be in a chapel. And then we came up there, but one Sunday evening...

And when she walked in the door and I saw her, in my own mind, I said, I'm going to marry her. In my own mind. I didn't tell nobody that. I had an inkling. And it had taken Loretta three years, but God brought it to pass.

I feel like that God did this and brought this to pass for such a time as this. Because see, we have short-range plans, but God got long-range plans because he knows the plan that he has for our life. So this was all part of his will and his plan for us to get married. And you know, I near will forget it. We had set the date to get married. I worked in a steel mill.

and about 80 pounds fell on my foot. That should have been cut off. But God kept it on, and it healed. And we were set to date, and I couldn't walk. I couldn't walk with no shoe on. Her daddy said that he don't need to wear no shoe. I'll come and pick him up and bring him.

But he was a little fella, you know, and I was a big guy, you know, but I don't think he was going to be able to do that. You're not getting out of it this easy. That ain't going to work that. That ain't going to get worked that. So we reset the date, and one of my brothers who was singing in the group, he was preaching at the time and pastoring. He came to Possum Tribe, and we got married in Possum Tribe. What's the difference between preaching and pastoring? A whole lot. Yeah? You can preach and go. A pastor got to stay there and deal with all the headaches and the pain.

Preach and go? Sounds like a fast food restaurant. Come on by the preach and go. Yeah, a preacher can come in there. It's like an evangelist. He'll come in and preach, and once he gets through preaching, he gone. But a pastor is there to watch over the flock.

Jeremiah said, I will give you pastors after my own heart that will feed you with knowledge and understanding. In the New Testament, they had shepherds. Them shepherds sit there all night long, watch over their sheep, protect them from danger. So the pastor is the one who ought to sound the alarm. In other words, he's the watchman on the wall. He's watching over the souls in the church and making sure that

the enemy don't slip in through a crack or come in their back door. And you know, there's one thing I'll tell you, it's amazing. Pastoral leadership, we got too many preachers in the pulpit opposed to pastors. - I was just about to say, it sounds like a pastor is a preacher with an actual job. - Yeah, he got a job, you know.

See, nowadays in this new millennium generation, preachers, well, I'm going to get me a church and I'm going to have me a great big old church. That could not be your calling. It could be your calling to be an evangelist. But you're going to step out of your calling and try to pastor, and then it's going to be hell because you're going to be doing some stuff and anybody's going to be involved in a lot of stuff. And that's not the way God wanted it to be. Everybody needs to stay in their own lane. There's a scene in the movie.

where you as portrayed by Demetrius, right? And by the way, what did you think of his performance? That's the question. What did it feel like sitting there the first time you saw you in him? Well, I think that Demetrius did an exceptionally good job. God bonded us together because we spent about two hours together. First time we met, we prayed together.

We talked. I kind of gave him me and who I was. But then again, my daughter was there because the quality they had, that was my daughter sitting on the keyboard. I wasn't there. So when he'd do something, they'd come to her and say, well, is this what your daddy do? She'd tell him, yes, I know. So he did an exceptionally good job. And it was amazing for me to sit there and look at this guy portray me. I mean, he had this serious look.

And he had this serious attack and diplomacy about himself. And to me, it was more difficult for him to play a preacher, and not only just a preacher, a pastor, not only that, but a charismatic type preacher. That too much soup in that one bowl that you got to mix up together and accept. And this guy mixed it up well and done a good job.

Too much soup in the bowl. Yeah. That is actually, it's acting advice. Too much soup in the bowl is a common mistake that I think a lot of people make.

outside of the church, you could be a teacher, you could be a steel worker. If you got too much stuff going on in your mind at the same time, at any one time, you start thinking not about what you're doing, but how you're doing. And that goes back to my first question. When you're preaching, when you're delivering a sermon,

I'm just always interested in that balance between the sentence you're in the middle of right now and trying to figure out the next one you're going to say and whether or not you even think about that. Don't even think about it because the Bible said that he will let the Spirit lead you and guide you through all things. So naturally, because God called you in that particular place,

Naturally, he's going to feed you what he wants you to say to the people. There's a lot of times that I have prepared for one thing and get in the pulpit and God change it because he want to fit.

the personality of the peoples there. He want to give them words of encouragement to let them know the way to go. So it's all about him and less about you. Before I started preaching, one of the things I'm going to say, Lord,

Let me decrease that you might increase because I want the people to get God's message and not my message. I mean, I don't even know if I can do what I do in that pool pit if God is not with me because, man, I'm all over that place. I promise you that.

i am not stable i'm not confined to the pulpit i may jump i may holler i may run i may do something anything because i want them to get to work and i'm not doing this faking i'm doing it because i feel the spirit myself so i got to do something you know to help me to kind of get myself in a place where i can it's crazy it is you know and some people say man i'm 77 years old and to see me move around in that pool people think i lost my mind when you get all the energy you get

Well, it's not me. That's not me. I mean, I got aches and bones, you know, just like anybody else. But it's not me. It's the Spirit of the Lord that's feeding my mind to feed the people. So you're singing in a group. You see her. You know you're going to marry her. You don't know when. She makes you wait three years. Eighty pounds falls on your feet. You've got to push the date. How long have you been married as of now? I think it was 49 years.

You better think real hard on this, WC. We're recording this. This is going to go down. Donna, can you confirm the 49 years? August the 19th. August 19th, 49. 49 years ago. When you decided to adopt, and I don't want to give too much of the movie away. It's your life. It's your story. But you lost your mom, Donna. And that opened up, it felt like a hole, a chasm in your life. So...

She comes to you and she explains all of this and you love her madly and you already have a daughter. And a son. And you have a son who was disabled. You've got challenges. Now you've got a sad wife. You've got a beautiful daughter. You've got a boy that takes a lot of your time. When did you decide that you would adopt? Forgive me, I've just got to ask this. Did you do it to keep your marriage going?

what you needed it to be? Did you do it for her? Or did you do it because you looked at the foster care system and it broke your heart? Did you do it because God told you you'd better do it? What was the inciting incident that made it clear to you that that was the path forward? My biggest quorum in the beginning was my son, Princeton. Every man that have a boy child, especially a first child, you do not expect for him to come out

with brain damage. And it was so bad that I really had a hard time with that. You know, because I wondered why would God give me a child like that?

But I didn't know that God was teaching me something, a little word called patient. And that little word called patient, because you have to be very, very patient. You can't take him fast because you try to take him fast, he's going to get frustrated, get mad, and you're going to be able to teach him nothing. So you have to take him real slow, you know, and he'll get it after a while. But it's going to take you some time in doing that.

So when she told me about that, that was the first thing hit my mind. What about Prince? Because we got all of this stuff going on. We got, I'm working hard. You got bills due. And then adoption was kind of like I added to. Well, one of the things I didn't know was all connected to adoption. I had no clue because in fact, I didn't even know adoption existed because

People in the black communities have always taken care of their children because if something happened to mama, they were raised by their grandmama or raised by their auntie. That's the way the cycle was. But then again, when I found out, after we got involved, then I found out, man, this thing is crazy. I think it had to be a God movement.

for me to get in. I wasn't able to go to the classes like she was because I was working all the time. And I really think it was a God movement I feel in my heart and feel strong today 100% that when God brought it together, it was all about God moving, just like what bringing a marriage together. It was a God movement because he had his purpose and reason. And see, God ain't gonna never just drop you out in the middle of nowhere. He always gonna show you, give you some little nuggets along the way to show you that something

I need to tell you this, because this is crucial. We was in a little small church. Her mother died. It was so many peoples in that church that one side of the whole church caved in. One side of it just separated from the wall. The floor separated from the wall whilst I was up preaching. Talk about a sign.

God said, "Hey, let's wrap this up, Bishop." So it was so amazing to me how this thing was. And then we had to build a church. So, you know, in the little small church, there was a woman. We did a revival, and there was a woman that come in one night. And that Friday night, she stood up to preach, and she told us, she said, "This church is going to be known all over the world."

She said, there's going to be newspaper articles. There's going to be television. There's going to be radio, magazine. She said, Bishop, you're going to write a book. And you're going to be on TV. You're going to write a book. It's going to be a movie. It's going to be this. She prophesied every single thing. And just like that woman said it, it came out. But did you believe her when she said it? Well, I was kind of, you know, twisted in between. I'm putting it like that. And we didn't know what was going on. I didn't know what was she expecting.

And some of the members said, are she kidding? Back in these woods? Who going to come back here with a camera? But see, that's what we don't know. So out of obedience, God brought this to pass. So it wasn't something that I was so enthused about. But the Lord had to let me know that this is his doing. And it's marvelous in our eyes that we just had to do what he wanted us to do. And because of the fact out of obedience. And this was years later, years later.

After we did this, when the woman came down, when the woman preached in that church that night, this was years later. We didn't know anything what God was going to do to bring this to pass, but he did. And just like she said. Wait a minute. She was preaching in the church before you adopted? Yeah, all this came before. We didn't know anything.

No, you understand what he's... I mean, that's... It's prophetic is what it is. Well, it's crazy. It's crazy. Uh-huh. I mean, with respect, it's one thing, I would think, to look around and see, okay, the bishop and his wife...

have adopted a kid, and now members of the congregation have followed their example, and now we're starting to see something kind of miraculous. So now somebody comes in and says, hey, you keep doing this, and mark my words, a film crew's going to come. That kind of tracks. You're saying she was there before all this happened. All of this happened. In the middle of... Nowhere. It happened.

And she stood there with a straight face and told these people, your congregation, that books would be written. Right. And films would be made. And the needle would move. And lives would be saved. That's what she said. Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-

On Dirty Jobs, I always made it a point to dress like the people I was working with. Didn't matter if I was with a carpet installer or a septic tank technician or a construction worker. If those guys wore a uniform, I always wore the same uniform. And you know what I learned after wearing all those uniforms? I learned that most of them are really, really, really, really, really uncomfortable.

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for 20% off your order. That's business.landsend.com slash Mike. Promo code Mike for 20% off your order. What's she doing now? She's still preaching. Any other prophecies that she saw? Well, she said that, in fact, she called me here a week ago and said, a lot of things done happened that I told you.

But she said, now there's going to be something even greater. Even after she saw the movie, she said, God's going to do something even greater with this. And what my sense is this, that God is going to use this as a catalyst to bring hundreds and thousands of children out of the system. That's what I believe when she said God's going to do something different. Because it was all done for the glory and honor of God for these children. It shouldn't be.

This like this. It shouldn't be 400,000 children in the system. Churches on every corner. If one church would adopt one child, we can end this thing. So my voice is to ring out this, to tone the bell. It's time for the church to

to turn this thing around because God did not ordain nothing else but the church. And that was done on the day of Pentecost, this first and second chapter of Acts. This is what we should be doing.

Right now and those children need a home. They need this So this woman came in and she told us all this so he a few weeks ago when we did the red carpet and Senate She said now God finna do something greater So I'm looking for the greater now and the greater is that hundreds and thousands of children finna find a home What's her name this woman? Juanita Tave

Chuck, we got to call Juanita. I got some questions about the next couple of years. I want to get to the bottom of this. I know it don't sound, how you may say it, naturally corrected, but God always got somebody. That's what a prophet does.

And in the five-fold ministry, the prophet is listed in there. What's that mean? The five-fold ministry means that God needs to have all of these particulars for the New Testament church to operate properly. And in the five-fold, this is the New Testament church. He's talking about the five-fold in the New Testament church because he wants the church to operate properly.

He got a standard for the church to operate in. And if you operate out of that standard, and a lot of people don't believe in it, but it's the word that you operate in the five-fold ministry. You know, the preachers and teachers and pastors and evangelists and the prophets. Those prophets are to come in. And what a prophet does, he prophetically tells you what is to come. That's what all them guys in there like.

Abraham, like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, you read in the Old Testament, they wasn't doing that, but just prophetically telling you what's going to come to pass. When you look at that through the lens of history, it's one thing. When you look at it on the big screen in 2024, well, it's something else altogether because now it is of our time. And that I think is

is what's so arresting about this. You know, I'm listening to you talk and I'm reminded there's a phrase I like to use a lot. It's the title of a book that was written by a Christian, a guy called Josh McDowell. And the book is called The Evidence Demands a Verdict. And you're the evidence.

It's not a thing that might have happened a long time ago. There's 77 children that were adopted who very likely otherwise would not have been in the most unlikely of towns. So...

My only point is we're living in a time where, and you do this in the movie, when the movie ends, you see those real kids. You see the real people. So we're up to our neck in evidence. But we're also up to our neck in this prophecy. And it's really odd, I think, for both of those things to happen at the same time, where Juanita's still alive. She can say, yeah, yeah, I said it. And now I can prove it. Everything I said was going to happen happened. Mm-hmm.

So that is the sound of hope. And I think even though you just kind of mentioned it, we ought to spend a couple of minutes. It's kind of grim, but I want people to understand the totality of the problem. Why the foster system, as well intended as it is, has run into such problems. And why so many kids in the system can't get placed. And why so many who do get caught in

in this turmoil and wind up on a road that doesn't lead anywhere good. You guys broke that cycle. Why is it so hard to break? And why is the problem so bad today? The foster system is broken and it needs fixing. And instead of getting a guy to write the guideline that just because he got a PhD degree does not qualify him to be able to take or handle

the problem of the children. To me, if you're going to find out what is it like and how do those children feel, call somebody who's been there, done that, got a t-shirt and a cap to prove it. You can't just sit up here and look at a situation to be able to examine the inside of it. You've got to be on the inside to know what's happening on the inside. This foster system, the way it's set up,

Sometimes I wonder how bad do they want the children adopted and I'll say this in front of anybody because nobody else hide me but God and he the one that can find me. I think that right now if we look at this system there's too many stipulations and too many things that's why people are sick of it because some people have been turned down over frivolous stuff.

There's an example that I use. I worked on a task force in Texas and it was an anointed task force. Well, we had this lady who wanted to adopt a child. Her daddy was an invalid and he was an old man in the bed and she wanted to adopt a child. But when he was 21, he jumped on a guy and beat the toilet guy, ended up with a felony on his record. Mm-hmm.

She wanted to adopt that child, and the only way she could get that child, she was taking care of her dad. The only way she could get that child, she had to take her dad out the house.

Stuff like that. We was going to try to get back in it. So I asked her, what's something that cried to me? She said, well, one thing you're going to have to know. You're going to have to know how many people are coming in your house for the rest of the year and their name. And I said, just a chicken-picking minute here. How in the blue blazer do you expect me to know who's going to be coming and knocking on my door? I said, where did the mailman come in and knock on my door? I don't know his name. You got to call Juanita. Figure out who's going to come over a year in advance.

See, so stuff like that. And people say, I've been turned down. You don't make enough money. You don't do this. You don't do that. Look, if you examine the closet, all of us got some skeletons in there.

But you're going to make it so difficult. I bet you there's been so many honest families, good families, been turned down all because they don't fit this little silly rule right here. They don't fit that rule. It's time now to do away with some of these rules. I'm not saying to put a child in the house of a drug addict or a murderer or a rapist or a serial killer. I'm not saying that. But at least look at this thing from a different eye.

That is why it is so difficult. And also, the church and state, it's been a long history. Church and state can't work together. Church and state, that's a lie. That's a lie from the pits of hell. The state of Texas and Bennett Chapel Church, we work together. Coast, I let them know. You got rules. If you made them, you can break them. You can revise them.

Sure. I've got 66 rules I can't break. 66 books in the back because I'm not the author and finisher of it. So I can't break those rules. If I do, then God will get an indictment against me and you're not going to help me sit up here going to hell over a rule that you said can't be. And God saying, do it like this, I'm going to do it the way he said. So I think that's a lot of things that we need to compromise on. We need to open up our hearts and see this thing out of a different eye and not start seeing that just...

Having this ego about it. You know, I look at this word ego edging God out. And so this ego here that people had is crazy. You can't put a child at home. The lady that we had, her name was Elizabeth, played Susan. That woman was awesome. Susan was an awesome woman of God.

Susan knew she spent time with the family. She knew that church. She came in and visited the church all the time. Susan placed the right child in the right family. And this is why we didn't have all that turnover. She knew what she was doing. I don't think that casework ought to just place a child in a home just because they said, "I did this." I think that there should be some spiritual guidance.

when they place a child in them. Instead of you just doing something just because you want to get a child, hey, that's not the right problem. You're going to end up with that child back in the system. Then the other problem of it is too, if you keep the children in the system,

When they get 18, you're going to turn them on the street. Then they can go out and kill somebody or rob a bank or they're going to do this and do the other, get on drugs and all that kind of stuff and they're going to end up back in the system. So why not open up now where the children can have an opportunity to get in a good home and have a good family and they can teach

them somehow. So when they get 18, the Bible said train them up the way they ought to be. When they get old, they won't depart from it. So let's do it right. Let's do it right. Let's stop using our ego and start using God's principle and let these children go to home. I can preach that. Amen. I think you just did. Here's the thing though. All of that

sounds like a challenge to the state to get their house in order and amend, revise, maybe rethink some of the rules that are creating roadblocks to the very destination we all want to get to. But what I'm interested in is what kind of trouble have you caused? What kind of challenge have you made to the Christian community, to other churches? Because

You, without saying it, and I bet you have already, if we can do this in possum trot, what the heck's the problem, Baltimore? What the heck's the problem, Phoenix? What's going on in Idaho Falls? What's the problem here in LA, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Tallahassee, Kalamazoo, Timbuktu, Paducah? What's your excuse? Church, right? So have you heard back

Because this was the sentence I didn't finish before, that scene in the movie when you go to the bigger church and you say, hey, we're... How about a little help? Little help. Our back's against the wall. We're struggling. We've taken in these kids. A lot of families are hurting. That's inconvenient for that church. You were a thorn in the side of that church. You were the pebble in the shoe.

Right? Mm-hmm. So what have you heard from your own community around the country? Have you inspired them or have you made them uncomfortable? I think in that sense, many, many, many, many have been inspired. Many have been uncomfortable. Many have figured that. Comfort the afflicted. Yeah. Afflict the comforted. Uh-huh. That's right. That's kind of your job. It's kind of like what...

Jesus didn't make us comfortable. He made us uncomfortable. He said, "Look, you got to love your enemy as yourself."

That is annoying, man. That is annoying. How are you going to sit up here, love somebody, and you know this guy done you some damage. You know he done slapped you and hit you upside the head when your back was turned. How are you going to love him? And this is why we can't do this in ourselves. We got to do this through the divine power of God, and we can do it. Because the scripture says I can do all things through Christ Jesus that strengthen me. So now, as far as making people uncomfortable, I think that that's when they do their best work.

Because there was times in our life during the process of this, we didn't see how we was going to make it. Yes, I got rejected by many, many people. They told me they was going to do this. When I walk away from them, they probably threw my name in the garbage can and didn't even think about it no more. Many, many of them told me they were going to do this. Didn't do anything. But you know what?

I feel that those people who missed the opportunity to be a blessing to the child, somewhere down the line, they're going to have to deal with God about that. Because number one, you always want to be in the process of what God is doing.

You want to be a piece of that. If God is doing something, I want a part of it. Let me get in the process. Let me get in the mix of it. A cog in the machine. Yeah, yeah. You know, do something. I mean, I can do a whole lot, but I can do something. And right now, since the movie came out, I think a lot of people began to take some issues on that.

And they see that, 'cause I'ma let them know, we still don't have anything down there. We've got a lot of stuff that we need down there, still a lot of need. And they began to send little money here, little money there. This will help you do such and such a thing. This will help you do that. I think they began to take initiative on saying, we saw the movie, the movie inspired us to do that. And this is the thing, if they didn't send anything, just said, I saw the movie,

In some sense, it inspired me to go and do something. I'm calling the people's help. I'm going to the state. We're going to do something here. We're going to do something there. We're going to do something there. I ask that same question. Why is the church in all of these different states? Look, you've got everything you need.

You've got the big life center. You've got 20,000 members. You've got 15 and 10,000 members. You've got a big family life center. You've got this and you've got that. Where's the church? And this is the problem. This is what God is asking today. Why is my church that ordained? And if anybody don't like it, come on down and we'll talk about it, you know. But the thing, you ain't got to answer me. You got to answer God because he wants to know.

where the church at i told you to do this james 127 pure religion is under filed that god accept that we take care of wills in the orphanage and then the only way we was able to get back to god is through adoption so where is the church if you're gonna keep pushing this off and talking about how bad they are putting on well some kind of way god got it that's why god got the indictment against the church because they're not doing what he told him to do it's no way in the world all

all these churches on all these corners preaching Jesus every Sunday and still got all these children locked in their system and this is what Jesus said. He said, I don't anoint you to go out and take care of this so why you can't do it? And by pushing this on, it's only...

vexing God to the point where something is gonna break soon. I guarantee you, I may not be in California, I might be in Placid Island, I might be six feet under, I don't know, but God is gonna break something because this is flat Rome. It don't make sense. I told some people that look, some of us in here got empty bedrooms.

and we mad and all grumpy, maybe we oughta put some children in the house and make some noise in there. You won't be so mad and grumpy all the time. You'll come out of your act and you see you got some preppers in. So all them empty bedrooms that's nice, you got a made up bed, made up pretty, and all these little ornaments, all of them, put a child in that room. Let that child feel the comfort of home. Let that child feel the comfort of love and having a mother and a father. I went to visit a little boy one day and he told me, he said, "Bishop,

He said, "Don't buy me no toys. Don't buy me no little ponies, no clothes. All I want--" Five years old. "All I want is a mother and a father, somebody that love me." That is too much for a five-year-old to ask. And then we talk about, "Ooh, they bad, they bad. Come on now, let's do the math."

I got something that was bad. I bought in the world myself that's bad. I was bad. You was bad. So why you gonna stereotype them into my how bad they are when we done done some of everything, you know? So, and some of us been really, really good. And some of us, God done saved us in the midst of our sins. Some of us out there right now saying, I was on drugs and the Lord saved me. I, I,

I was drunk and the Lord saved me. I was about to die and the Lord saved me. So we all got a testimony to see, let's stop this stuff. Let's stop looking at the problem and look at the problem solver. Let's see what we can do to solve this problem. And I guarantee you, when you get in this thing, God is going to bless you more than you ever can imagine. One of my favorite parts in the movie is when you come around, she wears you down.

Right. You listen to the Holy Spirit. Whatever happens, you got the memo and you say, okay, let's do this. And then you do the thing and then you want to do it again. But all of a sudden you go to this place where I didn't think you would go, where you say, we want the ones nobody else wants. Yeah. It's not enough.

Just to take one of the 400,000 looking for a home. No. You, WC. You got to go. What's WC stand for, by the way? WC. Come on. No William Charles? WC. It's just WC. It's got to stand for something. Come on. Wendell. Wendell Christian. Wendell Cartwright. Wilbert. Wilbert. Wilbert. Christopher. Christopher. He said Christopher. I say Cartwright. Have you guys met? No.

49 years, you're not sure what his name is? 49 years. He's not sure what his name is. WC goes in, and I guess my question is, how did you get from, all right, I'm in, to I'm all in? All the way down to Terry. You took the problem child of problem childs. How'd you get there? Terry was living in the home of a professor from Stephen F. Austin University.

and they wanted to go on a cruise. During that time, foster parents was bringing children to a home that's already was fostering. They call it respite. And they brought Terry to us. When Terry got there, she went to mewing like a cat. So I'm trying to figure out what's going on. I'm looking at this girl and I'm over my glass. What's wrong with this girl? And she said, "I'm a cat." Like that. And what I believe the reason why she was like that

The foster home that she was in, they bought Terry this huge tomcat. And this cat, she spent so much time with that cat that she started taking on the personality of that cat. And because she felt like that, she was just so in love with the cat. This is what's really crazy. Terry got there, she was kind of wild, she was. Because that's all she knew. I told her, Terry, she said, "We got ready to eat." "I'm ready to eat." I said, "What you doing here?"

I'm finna eat. I said, not here. You remember what you said? What are you? I'm a cat. So I'm going to set you a little bowl right there. And that's where I want you to eat at. And what was in the bowl? Junk food, all kinds of stuff. Gizzards and stuff. Necks and feet. Yeah, necks and feet and all that stuff. And she said, I can't eat that stuff. I said, yes, you are. That's what a cat going to eat here. And Terry Miss right there got hungry.

And when that big intestine started killing that lily and her stomach started growling, she made a decision that she didn't want to be a cat no more. And I told her, I said, look, if this is the attitude that you want, that's what you're going to eat every day. So she said, well, I don't want to be a cat no more. Well, the tomcat disappeared. We don't know why he went. I've never seen a tomcat no more. That was her cat days. It was over. It wasn't something that I had to.

go to the Guinness Book World Record to look for an answer. The answer was already there. A cat gonna eat cat food. That was the answer. And if you feel like you're a cat, that's what you gonna eat. So the only way you gonna eat decent food, so while we sitting up in there eating greens and hot water cornbread and smothered chicken and rice and gravy, you gonna be out there eating out of that little bowl. And she decided, I'd rather take this hot water cornbread and the greens and rice, opposed to eat that stuff in that bowl.

And you didn't read this in a parenting manual. No. You didn't subscribe to Adoption for Dummies or something, right? It just popped up in my mind. Because see, in the old days, the old folk used to use this word, mother wit.

Mother, where it was all, was just plain common sense. And sometimes you got to use common sense. You know, I pity the person that don't have no common knowledge. You got to have some common knowledge about things. And something is just, I mean, it's automatically. Because when you're in the will of God, he said, I'll teach you and I'll lead you and guide you through all things. So that was something he showed me. And we're doing it.

I know some of these still sound weird and crazy and all that kind of stuff, but it actually happened. The evidence demands a verdict. Yes. That's why you're here. Because it came to pass in front of our wondering eyes. Yes. It actually happened in our time. And now it sits as an example that can either inspire, intimidate, affirm, or

magnify or frighten. And you're right. You don't get to choose how the other churches are going to process this movie. You're like a pitcher who threw the ball. It's out of your hands now. What's it been like, or is it still too soon, for your congregation, for the other people in Possum Trot? What's the reaction at this point among them? They are so excited. It's unreal.

Because they actually can see something that the name Possum Trot, don't ask me how Possum Trot got there. That's my next question, by the way. I read your mind. That's what you call prophetic. You and Juanita. I have no earthly idea.

Because I wasn't born there. I was born in Louisiana, but I was raised practically in Houston, Texas. So I had no idea how Possum Trot got there. In fact, they got a book. I don't know where it's at, but there was a book about Possum Trot. But the people in Possum Trot are very happy because now they see their place, which was what you may call a little no-harm, do-nothing place.

in the spotlights that they see that their town has, how you may say, a miracle that happened in Possum Trot. And now they see the joy of it. Now, some of them still, you know, some of them still got an issue with me, but that's okay. I mean, I can deal with that. But the thing of it is, the name Possum Trot

It's put joy and a smile on their face because that's their home. A lot of people came from Possum Tribe. They done migrated all across the country, but it's a lot of folks came from Possum Tribe. We had a guy...

that works in a place in Houston called Gallery Furniture. And they had a guy named, this guy named Mattress Mac. We met with him other day. - He's amazing. - Tell me about it. - That guy after the hurricanes, right? - Mm-hmm, that's him. - Talking about the same guy, just got-- - Same guy. - All those mattresses and all those people's homes. - That's him, mm-hmm. - He's incredible. - Yeah, he's the guy. So we had dinner with him the other day. And he had adopted a child. I think and his daughter adopted or something. But anyway--

He said that he was telling this guy that was from, he didn't have any idea this guy was from Possum Trot. His name was Charlie. He said, Charlie, man, I went to see a movie and it was about Possum Creek or Possum Alley. He said, you talking about Possum Trot? He said, yeah, that's Possum. He said, I was born in Possum Trot. Now, that just shows you how mad things are. He didn't even know it. He said, man, I saw this movie. You need to go see it.

He said, "I know the people." He said, "Heard this bishop, somebody said, 'Oh, you talking about Real Martin and Donald Martin?' Yeah." He said, "I know them." He said, "Those are my kinfolk." He said, "You know how to get..." Look, I can call her right now. He called my wife on the phone right then and there. That tells how amazing Possum Trot name. And people say, "Possum Trot? What is that?"

It's a place where the power of God rest, rule, and abide because he helped escalated that place to something that will live forever. And we can just go down in history. The very first red carpet that was done in Shelby County was done with possum trough. That's saying a lot. That's history in the makings. It's amazing.

All right. I know you don't have a crystal ball, but if you did, you know, when you were looking a year or so down the road, five years, 10 years, what's your best realistic hope or guess? Maybe hope's a better word since that's the movie. It's not the sound of guessing. It's the sound of hope. What's your hope for? I hope and pray that God will take this sound of hope and place it in the heart of

every individual that they will be inspired to do something to empty this foster care crisis however God lead them I pray and hope that everybody will look at this and see Jesus for those that don't know him to see him working that he can work out anything I pray and hope that God will continue to

to tear down walls and doors, that even officials who are making the rules will have a different outlook and realize that these are not numbers. These are children that God allowed to come here. I pray and hope that God will continue to pour out his anointing, his blessing throughout this nation, that all of us will see a movement in this particular Sound of Hope to Possum Trot story.

to see that God is working some things out and just be a part of it some kind of way that it will bring joy and peace and happiness in your life that you feel so good about going through the state and say, "Look, what can I do to help? What can I do to bring a child out? Why would you need me to be inspired to be a blessing to children?"

What did Isaiah say about all this? I'm trying to remember. I met a woman years ago. We did a story with her. Had an organization called the Isaiah House. And it was, what was it, Taylor? Isaiah 117, maybe? I think it's either Isaiah 117 or 127. Something like that. Widows and orphans. And it was such a powerful thing. And she was just one woman.

and she had adopted a few and then she started working with the state. Wasn't possum trot, but it was. I'm just bringing it up because I wonder, have you heard from other people who are doing similar things? I mean, never mind inspiring people to do things they're not doing. Have you found, is there a network out there? Yes, it is. There's a lot of them. A lot of people have taken this

In fact, I was just in North Carolina last week, and it really hit me to my heart that I went upstairs up there, and there was children living in that office up there. And that really just hit me in the top of the head. I'm saying to myself, why? Why? So when I had a meeting with about 20 or 30 judges and lawyers, I asked them, why? What are you all doing to really help?

Are you all stopping it? Are you all supplying them with the needs that they need to fix this? Or are you trying to just flick your muscles and just look at it from your own personal perspective and not knowing what the Lord said? I think it was some conviction went on in there because right now I think that I got a call yesterday that said things have already begun to change. So I think that what it is...

Throughout the nation as I stand and as God give me words to say and to speak to peoples, there's going to be a massive change. I believe in this season there's going to be such a massive change in the system and the way things been done because I feel like I know there's a God movement. It's got to change because anything God handprint is on,

That's why the enemy fought us so again and again. He fought us with every possible thing he could. But every time he stood up, God went higher. Every time he tried to stop something, God went another direction.

God is not going to allow the devil to make him out of a lie because it's not his game. This is God's thing here. So I just believe that even those that it's not, they're looking at this, they're going back in their office and look, we need to change the way we do things. We need to do this and we need to do that. And they are doing it. So right now, other entities all over this country

begin to see that it work, it can work. The state see that it work, it can work if we work together because you got a child, the church over here, just utilize what you got and stop looking at what you don't have and you gonna get something done.

It is Isaiah 117. This is New King James. Learn to do good, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. Plead for the widow. Yep, that's it. So to bring it back to music for a minute, it's a variation on a theme. We're all singing the same song, or we all want to sing the same song, but there are a lot of different ways to sing it. People are coming at it from a lot of different angles. You're not alone, obviously.

But I'll tell you what, man, the movie touched me. In part because you just don't see movies like this. So just from that standpoint alone, it was great. The performances were extraordinary. Extraordinary performances. I got to tell you, both Demetrius Gross and Nikita King, I thought were amazing. The way Nikita King portrayed the loss of your mom, Donna, was...

was heartbreaking, heartbreaking. And I got to just say one thing about Demetrius Gross, and I want to ask if this part of the movie is actually true, where Donna is coming to you, and all she wants to talk about is adopting a baby, right? That's all she wants to talk about, and you had something else on your mind. And in the movie, you tend to romance your wife, and you pull out the Bible and open up and read from Psalms, a little poetry to get the wife in the mood. That's a proverb, I believe.

Proverbs, my bad. A virtuous woman where he was reading. So that part of the movie is true. Thank you. That's all I needed to know. Okay, okay, okay. Love it. Yeah, Song of Solomon. We're not going there. Yeah, that's a whole other story. What's your favorite proverb? I love Proverbs. What Solomon said, trust in the Lord and lean not

to your own understanding and He will direct your path. Trust God. Where we are and what we've done, I had to trust God when I couldn't chase God. I had to trust God when I didn't feel God. I had to trust God when I didn't know He was there. And by doing so, it kind of reminds me what David said in Psalm 23, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will feel no evil because thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. You see, the valley was where he was having his most difficult. When, you know, you're down in the valley. But David said, I'm not going to worry about this. I'm not going to trouble myself for it because I know the Lord. Whenever people as a whole in general have an inkling that the Lord is with them,

Don't worry about how you gonna get out of the valley Don't worry about how long you're gonna be in the valley because you'll be there until God get ready to bring you out But when the Lord bring you out you ain't got to worry about going there no more He gonna do something greater in your life Winston Churchill said it a little different He said when you're going through hell keep going

Don't stop. That's right. Get on through it. This is my last question for you. I know that, um, I know how important humility is in your line of work and, and,

Just in the human condition, I know how hard it is, too, to be humble, especially when good things start to happen. Yes, yes. So with all of this, with the spotlight on you guys now all the time, and a lot of people clapping you on the back and saying, attaboy, good job, prophecies are coming true, kids, how do you keep yourself from either celebrating prematurely

How do you stay grounded in a moment like this? Again, I just know you're going. I know you're going. But I just want to say that I'm asking a man wearing overalls and a sport coat at the same time. And a collar. And a collar. Right. So I know the answer is going to be a good one. But this is the part where we land the plane. OK. So take it. First of all, I had to realize that it's not me that's doing this. I'm just a vessel that the Lord is using.

for me to, in other words, for better lack of word, let my head swell up because of people. I take it, thank you, God bless you, but I know my place. And I know that if you start overlooking the one who started that, you're going to find yourself off by yourself because the Lord is going to take his hand off it. God will not allow nobody to take his glory.

The glory belongs to him. So as long as what I'm doing is glorifying God, he going to be with me. Anybody can say what they want to say. Yeah, that's what you say. That's what I know. I stand on the conviction of God's word.

And the scripture tell us, if I'm for you, I'm more than a whole world against you. So I don't worry about it. I just go head on, do what I do, love people. And look, everybody pat me on the back. Some folks looking at me out the corner of their eyes and give me all them different look and you know, man, look, that do not stop me. I go and still do what I'm going to do because they are not in charge of my life. I'm not going to stand up here and tell you

that it's easy, no it's not easy. Because if I'm gonna give love, I expect love. I don't hate people. Don't dislike them. I do what I need to do and expect for a person to do it. But to see people will take advantage of it and I have been taken advantage of. It's not because I didn't know any better, but sometimes

I let people think they're having it their way. But in the end, they got to answer to him. They got to answer to me because I'm the one they're doing wrong. They're doing to God. He said, when you do it to the least one of mine, you're doing it to him also. So they're really not doing it to me. They're doing it to him. So instead of answering to me, let them answer to God because he's going to take care of it. So I don't let that blow me up. I mean, I'm going to keep on with these overalls on and letting folks see, hey, look, I'm just a little country boy doing the best I can with what I got.

From Possum Trot. Bishop, your grace is amazing. Thank you for coming by, for spending time. When we do the sequel, because obviously there's going to be a sequel, Possum Trot, The Return, then Miss Donna, you're going to sit up here. Yeah, I'll have a mic for you, for sure. He'll be right there, minding his manners. Thank you both for coming, for doing what you've done. Is there a place where you're sending people to go who want to help, who want to be involved?

who want to somehow support this larger effort. Let me see. I have something in my pocket. That's the thing about overalls. There's so many pockets, man. Yeah, a lot of pockets. So many pockets. Yeah, but I... My father's house has many pockets. Yeah. No, that's not it. There are many overalls in my daddy's condominium. In my father's house, there are many mansions. There are many rooms. There are many mansions. Ah, gosh, I'll get it right. All right, he's just giving me a card. It says possum trot. Mm-hmm.

Let's see, there's a, what? You want me to send them to this website? Yeah. Address, P.O. Box. R. Martin. At bcministry.org. That's my email address. Email. Okay. Are you sure you want that out there? Yeah. All right. Well, if you like what you heard, folks, drop WC a line at rmartin at bcministry.org. I'm not going to give your phone number. That's a pretty good picture. Who took this picture, Donna? Hit him on the card here. Yeah.

You did that? Very talented. Folks, the movie is called The Sound of Hope. You'd be a fool not to see it. Oh, that reminds me. That's another proverb. He who troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind. Or something like that. Or something like that. It's pretty close. And the fool shall be servant to the wise at heart. You know why I say that? Why? David said, the fool hath said, there is no God.

But he is a fool. And the Bible said when you find him a fool, leave him a fool. I got one more for you. Okay. A beautiful woman without discretion or modesty is like a fine gold ring found in the snout of a pig. That's a good one. You can use it. I can use that one. I'll take that one. I'll take that one. So please.

Check out the movie, folks. Thank you for listening. See you next week. When you leave a review, which we hope that you'll do, tell us who you are. Tell us who you are. And before you go, won't you leave five lousy stars?

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