#173: When God Makes You Live Your Sermon

What happens when God gives you a word to live by — and then immediately gives you an opportunity to prove it? This week on Pastors Unfiltered, Brandon was supposed to be somewhere in Europe on vacation. Instead, he’s back in the studio after a passport application issue caused him and Di to miss their flight and put months of carefully planned travel in jeopardy. The timing couldn’t have been more ironic. Just days earlier, Brandon felt God give him his word for 2027: endurance. He had already written it into an upcoming sermon, bought a watch engraved with the word, and begun studying what it means to keep moving forward through disappointment, adversity and setbacks. Then came the test. Tony and Brandon talk about Romans 5, suffering and endurance, what it means for pastors to actually live what they preach, disappointment, ministry burnout, slowing down without losing your drive, and the tension between making your life count and knowing when to rest. Plus, they discuss pastors criticizing other pastors online, whether pastors should cuss from the stage, podcast drama, Pastor Appreciation Month and why encouragement matters more than most people realize. 00:00 Welcome to Pastors Unfiltered 01:02 The Podcast Is Growing 02:08 Podcast Drama 04:30 Pastors Criticizing Pastors Online 08:01 Should Pastors Cuss? 09:21 Why Brandon Isn’t in Europe 11:18 Planning the Perfect Vacation 15:07 Preparing for Vacation as a Pastor 19:20 Everything Was Going Perfectly 20:12 The Problem at the Airport 21:23 We Missed Our Flight 23:05 How Much Money Did We Lose? 23:56 Brandon’s Word for 2027 25:12 Why “Endurance”? 27:47 Suffering Produces Endurance 29:19 God Tested It Two Days Later 30:50 The Dream That Changed Everything 31:32 We Found the Mistake 33:08 The Application Gets Approved 34:04 Suffering, Character & Hope 34:27 When God Makes You Live Your Sermon 35:38 What Counts as Suffering? 37:04 Learning to Endure Disappointment 38:15 Don’t Let Setbacks Stop Your Purpose 39:09 How Long Can You Keep Pushing? 40:32 Making Your Life Count 42:05 “You Need to Slow Down” 42:53 Hard Work vs. Burnout 45:00 Was This a Test From God? 46:26 Keep Moving Forward 46:58 Pastor Appreciation Month 48:39 Honor Your Pastor 49:08 Closing Thoughts