Where Do We Go From Here? | Bible Answers to Cultural Questions

Ep 05a | The Weight of the Call: What Pastors Carry That People Never See

• The Calvary Church - Eaton • Season 1 • Episode 5

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Most people see a pastor for an hour or two each week. They hear the sermon, shake a hand, and head home. But what they don't see are the prayers, burdens, spiritual battles, difficult decisions, and responsibility that come with caring for souls.

In Episode 05a, The Weight of the Call: What Pastors Carry That People Never See, Robb and Pastor Bill have an honest conversation about the realities of pastoral ministry. From the changing landscape of ministry over the last decade to the unseen pressures that spiritual leaders carry, this episode pulls back the curtain on what happens beyond the pulpit.

Whether you're a pastor, ministry leader, church member, or someone trying to better understand the role of spiritual leadership, this conversation offers insight into the weight, responsibility, and privilege of answering God's call.

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🎙️ Hosted by Pastor Bill Puckett & Robb Brown
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Opening

Robb

Most people see a pastor for about sixty to ninety minutes a week, standing behind a pulpit, steady, composed, and strong. But what they don't see is the weight carried long after the service ends. The late-night phone calls, the broken situations that don't have easy answers, the moments where they're pouring out when they feel empty themselves. They're expected to lead, to guide, to stand firm in a world that's shifting faster than ever before. And if we're being honest, the last ten years haven't just been hard. They've stretched pastors in ways most people will never fully understand. So the question is, what is it really like to carry that kind of responsibility? And what does that mean for the church today? Today, we're stepping into a conversation that most people never hear. Not just what pastors preach, but what they carry.

Bill

Lord Jesus. Father, we're so thankful, Lord, that you have given us this evening-

Robb

Thank you

Bill

Lord, to continue to do your work in the kingdom, to continue, Lord, to use this ministry in every available way to be a blessing, to be a help, God, to edify the body. And Jesus, we just pray that your presence, God, would be here with us tonight. Lord, that you would lead this, lead our conversations, our thoughts in whatever way we can, Lord, to serve others, to be a blessing to the kingdom, and to glorify your name. Almighty God, we give you the glory and the honor in everything that we do. Let the name of Jesus be high and lifted up. We love you. We thank you, Lord, and we do ask this in the wonderful and matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Robb

Amen. You're listening to Where Do We Go From Here? I'm Robb Brown, joined with Pastor Bill Puckett. this is where apostolic faith meets real life. Uh, well, I gotta tell you this and then we'll, we'll jump in, but, um, Wednesday night when you looked at your watch and seen seven minutes and, and, and you went to the prayer room, I noticed, and I seen what time it was, and I can tell you, I immediately felt the presence of God. Like, I felt like that's such an amazing thing that you would look at your watch and see that we're short on time, but know that that's, that's time well spent. Um, and yeah, it's nice to meet and greet and, you know, shake hands and everything, and you could've, you could've spent that time. But, um, when I seen you duck in there and I looked at the clock, I was like, "Oh, wow. That's an amazing example, actually." So I appreciate that. thank you brother. Um, and I'm not just here to tell you good words to your... make you feel good or nothing. Like I honestly, I did. I felt the presence of God as you walked in that door- Thank you, Jesus and I was like, "Wow."

Ministry Then vs Now

Robb

So Pastor, when you look at ministry today compared to 10 years ago, what's the biggest difference you feel?

Bill

Hmm.

Robb

And can I just state out loud, 10 years ago was 2016.

Bill

Yeah, 2016. The continued shrinking attention span that we have-

Robb

Hmm

Bill

in our culture, has bled its way into the church. I, I think when God gives a, a preacher a word to preach, you get up there and you preach it. And sometimes you have notes, sometimes you finish the notes, sometimes you, go way off your notes. Sometimes you have four pages of notes and you get to the end of page three and you all of a sudden realize the Holy Ghost is ready. Like- people's faith is high, God's ready to move, throw your notes out the window. You're done. but I think perhaps one of the biggest mistakes we could make would be Shortchanging the message to try to meet the attention spans of the culture.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

taking a message where God has plenty to say for 45 minutes and figuring out a way to shave that down to 20 just to appease the culture. I, I don't, I don't think you, you do that. Um- People that are desperately hungry don't go to a buffet and s- and only make one trip-

Robb

Right

Bill

to the buffet. Um, they'll eat and eat and eat until they're satisfied if they're really hungry. If a person is desperately thirsty, they'll drink and drink and drink until they're satiated, right? And so, you know, Jesus said, "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." I want people to come in this sanctuary on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, and I want them to be hungry. Um, Jesus said to Peter, "Peter, do you love me?" He said, "Of course I love you." "Peter, do you love me?" "Lord, I, I love you." You know, "Peter, do you love me?" "Uh, yeah, you know I love you." And each time, you know, he said, "Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep." And so that's, that's the responsibility when you come in on Wednesday nights or you come in on Sunday mornings, is to, to feed the flock of God. Um, so I think it's that reduced attention span is a, is a, um, is a challenge. I think the other challenge is... I feel, I feel to some degree That if we're not careful, we will lose the fear of God.

Robb

Hmm.

Bill

And I- when I say fear, I mean reverence. Of

Robb

course.

Bill

Reverence for his holiness, reverence for his majesty. Um, we see that in churches already today, and I'm, I'm not gonna pull any punches here because quite frankly, Brother Robb, we're, we're too late in the game. Um, we're too close to Jesus coming back for us to just be sugarcoating things. Um, but there's a lot of churches today that masquerade as churches. the Bible describes them as, you know, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. and they don't reverence the holiness or the majesty of Jesus, and it's reflected. It's reflected... I find it disturbing When a pastor will wear a tuxedo to a formal event, but will wear cargo shorts and a T-shirt-

Robb

Hmm

Bill

and preach from the pulpit in the house of the Almighty God.

Robb

That's

Bill

pretty good point. I, I, I think there's something wrong with that.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

I'll wear my best to go to this formal dinner of people I don't even know

Robb

Right

Bill

but I, I'll just wear whatever, wear my, my jeans with the holes in and my ball cap on backwards, whatever, you know? But, but there's also a flip side to that. I'm seeing people come into this church, and I think maybe a lot of it has to do with the fact that Brother Robb, we don't pull any punches here. We love people. but we love them enough to preach the word of God straight. No compromise. and if that doesn't fit their theology, I'm sorry, but the truth is the truth.

Robb

That's right.

Bill

and so we have seen it, and I think in the long run, there's gonna be people that'll come And They'll snack a little, they'll pick a little off the buffet- and then they'll go on. And that's, that's sad, but it is what it is. And then you're gonna have people that are gonna come here, like we've seen-

Robb

Mm-hmm

Bill

and they're gonna say, "Oh, my goodness. I've, I've tried six, seven, eight other churches, and I have never felt what I feel in here."

Robb

Right.

Bill

And they're sucked in-

Robb

Yeah

Bill

because what they had been hungering for, they didn't know what it was.

Robb

Right.

Bill

What they were thirsting for. "I'm thirsty. I don't know what I'm thirsty for. I have this hole in my spirit, in my heart. I'm hungry, but I don't know what I'm hungry for." But people come in here, and all of a sudden, whether they realize it consciously or not, they say, "This is it."

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Because the presence of their Creator dwells amongst- Yeah us, you know? And, and, and all of a sudden they're like, whether they realize it or not, "I'm, I'm coming in there every week. I'm getting fed. I'm hungry. I'm thirsty." Yeah. "And God, I'm getting fed either the sincere milk-

Robb

Mm-hmm

Bill

or I'm getting fed the strong meat."

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

You know? And, uh, so I think, portion of Christianity that is falling away, that is losing reverence, losing the fear of God. But I also think that, maybe this is why Jesus said the, the last will be first and the first will be last. Because there's people coming into the church right now that maybe you've known them or they're just blowing you away because you're like, "Whoa, I didn't see that coming." "I never expected this person to just fully give themselves to this." Yeah. They're falling in love with the presence of God. They stand in these, in these services, and they weep, and they cry in the presence- Right of his holiness, and they're being transformed. And one of the greatest rewards of being a pastor is being very attentive and watchful For fruit.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Seeing people grow is Amazing. But yeah, I, I guess a very long answer to that question. People are looking for something real. Yeah. And Brother Robb, the church of the living God-

Robb

Right

Bill

this wonderful, unadulterated truth of the word of God. Hear, O Israel- Yes the Lord our God is one Lord. Amen. His name is Jesus- That's right and there is no God beside him. Mm. He's still the healer of the body. He's still the mender of the mind. He's still the one that causes old things to pass away and make everything brand new, and he's the only one that can do it. And I think people are gonna be more open to truth right now because they're gonna get ahold of something that they realize brings stability- Yeah to their life in a world where they don't know what to believe.

Robb

Yeah. Man.

Bill

I almost preached right there.

Robb

Yeah, I... Yeah. But it was good. It was good. It was really good. Uh, because the, I'm like, I feel bad about the next question- Ooh, boy 'cause that was a good peak. Um.

Bill

It's

Robb

all downhill

The Weight of Pastoring

Robb

from here. Pastor, um, uh, do you feel more pressure now as a pastor than before? Um.

Bill

Yeah, I do actually. I do. and maybe part of that is the fact that we're a two-year-old church, you know- and we're facing two-year-old church, I think we're facing two-year-old church challenges. Um, and, uh, you know, sure, it's, it's, it's scary when you're, when you're pastoring a smaller church and your resources are limited and, not just your, I'm not even talking about your financial resources, I'm talking about your human resources.

Robb

Yeah, yeah.

Bill

Um, you know, you only got so many people that sing. You only have so many people that can play an instrument. You only have, you know, so many people that know how to run this or run that. And so, uh, you always face those challenges of, of, uh, this person's sick. Okay, who can we move into this? And, you know, and, and there's, gosh, there's so much work that goes into these, these church services- Yeah you know. Um, but the challenges that, that we face, I think, um, for us, it's, it's starting a new church. But God has been incredibly good to us. God has provided every need that we have had. I believe he'll still continue to do that.

Robb

do you feel more pressure now as a pastor than before?

Bill

More pressure. Honestly, I, and I'm, I, I don't know. Maybe, maybe it's just me. Maybe other pastors would, would disagree with me. I feel more empowered right now to preach as freely as I want to preach than I probably ever have in my ministry.

Robb

That's great.

Bill

I'm gonna preach the Bible. I'm gonna preach what it says without compromising it. Yeah. I'm not gonna water it down. I'm not gonna shy away from things that make people uncomfortable. It's too late to mess around like that now. Yeah. Um, if we're going to build a church, then we're gonna build a church whose foundation is strictly in the word of God, and those that love it will stay.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Those that don't will depart. I don't wanna see that.

Robb

Right.

Bill

But I, I can't make you stay. if we get them in the potter's house and get them into the hands of the potter-

Robb

Yeah

Bill

if that's what they're looking for, they'll stay.

Robb

That's right.

Bill

They'll stay. So to me, there's less pressure today than there was, say, 10 years ago, just because I feel like that effectual door has been opened for preachers to just let it rip, man. Just, just preach the word.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

And not that I didn't before-

Robb

Of course

Bill

but I didn't feel the liberty-

Robb

Okay

Bill

that I feel now to just, like I said, just let it rip. Just, just preach what the Lord gives you, preach it straight, and let God sort out all the details- Right after that. And Brother Robb, you know, it's, it's worked. It's worked. If it's one thing, I'm learning. Every single service I'm learning something. Every Wednesday night I'm learning something, and, and what I'm learning is hungry people will come and dine.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Hungry people will come and feed on the word. Hungry people aren't gonna be watching their watches wondering if the Baptist church is gonna beat us to the Mexican restaurant. You know-

Robb

they're,

Bill

they're not gonna be worried about that.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Dude, they're gonna eat. They're gonna, you know, "Feed me. Preach to me, preachers." You know, I used to have a pastor that said, I'll walk on the tops of your feet, you walk on the bottoms, and we'll both be fine." Yeah. Right. Uh, and you know, sometimes it happens, but, you know, I, I think right now in my ministry I feel more free to preach what God gives me without any hesitation than I probably ever have And, and I hope, I pray that other pastors would listen to this and say, "Amen. I, I feel that way too." Yeah. Because I think if it's one thing that all of the deception of the enemy in our culture, in our, in our world, it sort of backfired- Mm to some degree. Because we've realized now there's a lot of deception out there. Yeah. And so we're looking- It's obvious

Robb

now.

Bill

Yeah. Yeah. We're looking for something solid. We're looking for something that gives us a foundation to stand on, and it's in the church.

Robb

Yeah, at this point it's almost like it, they've overplayed their hand to where it's like- Ex- exactly

Bill

whoa. Yes, that's perfect.

Robb

Whoa, hold on. Uh, now I, I see that clearly. Um, whether that was God giving me a revelation of it, or, or again, they just overplayed their hand to the point where it was very obvious, and I'm like, "Whoa, I'm definitely on the wrong path here. Um, I'm in the wrong area of this world. Let me... Where, where do I go?" Yeah. Hold on, you know, turn around. Where's the light? Exactly. Um, you know, and, and hopefully that's when- There's a, a, a lighthouse or a beacon of hope, right? That, I mean- Right that's, those are the things that I pray. uh, I know God hears my prayers, but I don't know- Yeah my, you know, it, we always get so worried and wrapped up in the words that we pray and stuff, but I always pray, like, we're just a, a beacon of, of hope, in this city. Yeah. Uh, we're just some type of a signal or something that when people are, are lost and, and feel, "I don't know what it is what I'm looking for," uh, uh, same thing that you're describing, the people who have actually made it into the sanctuary-

Bill

Yeah

Robb

you know, they have found it, but-

Bill

We've seen people do that. That's right. I mean, well, just a couple weeks ago, we, we saw- Yeah a young man walk in here. Yes. And I've been reaching out to him. We haven't seen him since. Yeah. I believe he'll be back.

Robb

I, I believe he will

Bill

too. I mean, because that Wednesday night went from a teaching on prayer into an incredibly- Yes powerful prayer meeting.

Robb

Yes, it did.

Bill

And that young man who as far as I'm aware, based on what he said, had little to no church experience- Yeah stood back there and said, "There is so much power in this room right now." Yeah. Um, Brother Robb, I think you nailed it. Mm. Uh, when you talk about, you know, here's this little church over on, at 200 West Montford Street, that a lot of people may not know is here necessarily, knowledge-wise. But the Bible says, "No man cometh unto the Father except the spirit draw him."

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

And so like a moth to a light, I think as it gets darker-

Robb

Mm-hmm

Bill

out there and the, the, the light and the glory of God working through the body of Christ here at the Calvary Church Eden, people, whether they understand it or not, I think they will be like a lighthouse.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

They'll be drawn to that- Yeah that place of safety.

Robb

Man, you said that way better than

Bill

I did. I got some notes

Robb

right here. Um, one more question on that segment-

Bill

Oh and then- I'll, I'll, I'll- Oh, go ahead one, one more thing. One more thing. Yeah. Um, when you said hell overplayed its hand-

Robb

Yeah

Bill

there was one other time in history. Uh, so hell has a pattern of doing this, right? Uh, yet Satan is a fallen angel, you know, formidable adversary sure. Right. Supernatural being, great. N- not all that s- not always that smart, right?

Robb

Mm.

Bill

Overplayed his hand one other time- As Jesus carried that cross down Calvary's trail to Golgotha-

Robb

Mm-hmm

Bill

Hell rejoiced. "Oh, it's over. We got him. It's over." Yeah. And what does the scripture say? Had Hell known what was gonna happen, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Robb

Mm, that's right.

Bill

He didn't know, "We're gonna kill him. This is over." Oh, no, no, no, no. Wow. You don't even, uh, you don't even know what's gonna happen when he says, "It is finished." Man. When he says, "It is finished," son, you're finished.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Yeah. Uh, so yeah, they overplayed their hand again.

Robb

Man, that's, that's really cool when we think about that because it Even, even Lucifer being who he was and as close to God as he could've been, or was, and then could've- Yeah been if he wouldn't have, you know, um, got caught up in pride, but- Pride, yeah. Exactly um, he Oh, man, he didn't even know what the plan was.

Bill

Nope.

Robb

You know? Like, he didn't even know what the plan was. Uh, that's I, I guess it's just easy to just assume like, oh, the angels in heaven must know, you know, everything that's gonna happen instead of Of course they don't.

Bill

Right.

Robb

Uh, only God knows. Right. Uh, so yeah.

Bill

Uh- I mean, even, even the angels in heaven don't even know when Jesus is coming back.

Robb

Right. Right.

Bill

You know?

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

No man knoweth the day or the hour. Only God knows. Yeah. Only Jesus knows- Man when he comes back. Those angels will know when he looks at them and says, "Blow the trumpet."

Robb

Right.

Bill

It's time.

Robb

Man.

Bill

That's when they'll know.

Robb

That's really cool. Um, so I do ha- I have one more, uh, question on that segment there. Mm-hmm. Uh, and it's really just a follow-up, not necessarily anything that I presented to you ahead of time, but, um, it could be a little heavier, but,

What People Never See

Robb

um, what kind of weight do pastors carry that people don't

Bill

see? Oh, man.

Robb

I don't know if you pre-thought about that, but I mean, that's gotta be a question that we talk about and, You could talk about the general things that you know that pastors deal with, or you could talk, personal things that you dealt with

Bill

Mm. So, um- Ministry is an interesting endeavor. Um, my wife sent me this quote weeks ago, and I've, I've held onto it, and I thought it would be fitting for, for this podcast. But it's this quote here that says, "Ministry: others being blessed by the oil that came from what crushed you."

Robb

Ooh. Wow.

Bill

And I said, "That's, that's true."

Robb

Man.

Bill

Ministry is the oil-

Robb

Yeah

Bill

that blesses others that came from what crushed you.

Robb

Wow.

Bill

Uh

Robb

In the crushing, yeah

Bill

In the crushing. Um A lot of people don't understand that From the outside looking in, preaching looks like, to maybe to some it looks glamorous. you know. And people look at that and they go, "Oh, look at that's, you know..." It, it's, it's a glory position, but what they see literally is about 5%- Yeah of what goes into- Yeah

Robb

that

Bill

calling. Yeah. If a pastor truly prays, and this is one of the prayers I pray on a regular basis, is I think when the calling to be a pastor comes, that God also gives you a pastor's heart. And I pray often, "God, give me the heart of a shepherd," because what a pastor is is an under-shepherd. Jesus is the good shepherd.

Robb

Right.

Bill

There, there isn't any other good shepherd besides Him. But we are under-shepherds. We're, we're called, "If you love me, Peter, feed my sheep."

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Um, but the other 95% There are challenges that pastors deal with that the church will never know about There are attacks that come against a pastor's family that most people in the church will never know about. there are unique challenges that come against pastors that a lot of people are never aware of. there are sacrifices that come with the calling. It's, it's that crushing that come, comes with that. People, unless you're pastoring, you'll, you'll never understand the pain of watching somebody walk away.

Robb

Mm.

Bill

Um, you'll never know the pain of pouring yourself into people without reservation, just loving people with everything you have, not holding anything back, not putting up any walls And having those people turn against you or say really nasty things about you. It's hard to describe the pain that comes with watching people Come into the church get baptized in the name of the Lord, receive the Holy Ghost, and then a root of bitterness spring up in them and, and they get angry and spiteful and hateful and, uh, a- and then they're lost. Um, and, and you know, it's, it's hard, as a, as a pastor, if you have a child or children who aren't serving the Lord like they know they should, There's, there's a lot Your Your time with God Um That there's gonna be In my opinion, I, I think if you're pastoring right, re- repentance ought to be a pretty common part of your, of, of your prayer time.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Because... And it, it's not that you're sinning, it's not that you're doing a lot of things wrong, I don't know, maybe it's different for, for me or like, you know, Jesus said, "I'm the true vine and ye are the branches." I, I realize that I'm a, I am a graft-in Gentile branch-

Robb

Hmm

Bill

to the vine And what Jesus said is, he said, "Apart from me, you can't do anything." Um, I've tried to do things apart from him- Yeah and it blows up in my face every time. Right,

Robb

right.

Bill

So like I'm acutely aware all the time that, um The two-hour phone calls The weeping, the fear that you suffer when, um, you know, there's people, people miss church, and then they'll text me and they'll say, "I hope you're not mad at me." And I'm not. I don't get mad when people miss church. I get scared. Um, a shepherd Would be frightened if a, if a sheep wanders away from the flock because you don't know if they're in danger or not, and if you don't know where they are, then the shepherd does panic. Um, but you know, it's a calling, and if the Lord tarries, and this church survives the next 20 years, there could be a day that God says, "Okay, you're done. You're not gonna be the pastor here anymore. I, I want this person to be the pastor." And then I'm gonna step down, and I'm gonna turn that over to that next person, and they're gonna be the pastor, and that's no longer my calling.

Robb

Hmm.

Bill

And that's okay.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

But while it is my calling, it's my crushing. Yeah. And, and I think pastors don't talk about it except for maybe with other pastors. or maybe people in ministry that they're close to. and th- their wives sure see it.

Robb

Of course,

Bill

if anything, I think pastors' wives sometimes get pretty protective of their, their husbands, um, just because they do see those things. I can sit here and tell you I know what it's like to preach to empty churches being a home missions pastor previous to this, I, I know what it's like to, to show up on a Tuesday night and nobody show up. Mm. But you're there, so you preach anyway.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Um, yeah, there's People see the preaching-

Robb

Yeah

Bill

and, uh, and you know, and, and people see Pastor smiling and, and, but there, there's those times of crushing that, that happen. And, um, you know, pastors are just like anybody else. God's working things out of them as well.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

But the main responsibility, I think, is to make sure outside the four walls of this church that my life, that includes my, my prayer life, my, my, my time in, in the Word of God is, is what Or, or should I say is consistent and so that I can do what God has called me to do for this church.

Robb

Hmm.

Bill

Um, because without him, without that flow I was talking about earlier-

Robb

Yeah

Bill

I'm just a glorified public speaker.

Robb

Hmm. That's like when we talk about, uh, being a praying church or not, right? Like if we're- Yeah if we're not a praying church, we're just a, we're just a club. We're just getting together and- And

Bill

feel free to edit any of that if I just rambled on.

Robb

No way. Um, that was, that was good. Uh- It's

Bill

hard to put some of that into words

Robb

and, and honestly that was, I was gonna transition from there, but I, I, I'd, I have to ask after, after that though, how do you deal with it personally? Like how do, how do you... um, how do you deal with it personally? That, that is a lot.

Bill

Um, be 100% transparent with you, I haven't figured that out all the way yet.

Robb

Okay.

Bill

Um, some days I deal with it well, some days I don't deal with it so good.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

and, and, and again, being transparent, I'm not gonna say I've never gotten mad over, that, that I've, that I haven't ever gotten mad over situations. Right, right. You know, in just 100% transparent moment, there has been times that I've been like, "You're missing church for what? Oh, well the, the pastor sure can't miss church over something like that."

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

You know, I kinda gotta be here every single week, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Uh, you know, and, and but then I gotta, you know, I gotta kinda check myself and, and, and be like, "All right. E- enough in the carnal pocket. All right. Let's get back to the, let's get back to the Holy Ghost." But, um- My wife is a big factor.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Um, I will tell you right now, behind any successful pastor is going to be a praying woman.

Robb

Yeah. Yeah.

Bill

Um-

Robb

We can see that in Sister Puckett.

Bill

I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, my wife prays for me often. Uh, and that makes a huge difference. Um, and she also knows, um, those days, maybe those Sunday afternoons when I'm home and I'm quiet, she knows there's probably something I'm dealing with from the service, and we've been married long enough that she knows when I'm ready to talk about it, I'll talk about it. Mm. Um, so I don't know. I wish I had a more detailed answer for that.

Robb

No, that's-

Bill

Um- That's

Robb

real.

Bill

Prayer.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Deal with a lot in prayer.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Um, I mean, it's just- I don't know. I think some things sometimes I just chalk up to it comes with the calling, you know. Um, if you read through the Bible, everybody that God ever called to do something for him, they've There's not one of them that didn't face different types of challenges.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Yeah. Um, and I am Me or any other pastor or any other person endeavoring to do anything in ministry are not any different than they are.

Robb

Hmm.

Bill

Um, but any pastor worth his salt better understand the weight of those things. Um, and, and if there's anybody out there that's listening to this, this, that, that you just, boy you, you looked up to this pastor, you looked up to that pastor, man, you just wanna go and you wanna be a preacher just to be a preacher. Jesus said, "No man, no man builds without first sitting down and counting the cost-

Robb

Yeah

Bill

to make sure you have enough to finish it."

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Um, don't go just grab a pulpit because you think it's a, it's, it's a place to get glory. because you won't s- you won't survive the crushing. for God to bring that oil out of you, he's gonna have to take you through some things. I don't wanna discourage anybody from that. I just, I don't want anybody to go into ministry with any preconceived notions that, oh, this is just like heaven on earth 24/7. it definitely comes with its challenges. wish I could tell you in detail how to deal with them, but, uh, I, I don't know. I haven't figured it out yet.

Robb

is there a part of pastoring that, uh, people would struggle to understand unless they lived it?

Bill

yeah, and I think it's, it just goes back to kind of what we were just talking about. you know what you see, but you don't know what you don't see. Like, I'll, I'll never forget, listening to, Reverend Jeff Arnold. he was, he was talking to, T.W. Barnes when he first got into ministry, and, um, very few people, preachers that I personally would say I believe that that man earned the mantle of prophet. He would never call himself that, but T.W. Barnes, I think, was definitely a prophet of our time. And, Jeff Arnold and his wife, went to, to kinda get some mentorship from, from Brother Barnes and, Brother Barnes looked at Sister Arnold and, and told her, "Be prepared to live a lonely life."

Robb

Hmm.

Bill

Because that's, that's part of You know, and, and so here, here's another thing that a lot of people don't understand is, um, a pastor's calling doesn't just affect his life. Yeah. A pastor's calling affects his marriage-

Robb

Yeah

Bill

it affects his children, and he has to be very vigilant and aware of how his calling does affect his marriage, how it does affect his household. Hmm. Um, that same preacher, Jeff Arnold, I, I heard him say one time, "Growing up in a preacher's home's a little bit of heaven and hell all at the same time." Yeah. And, uh, and that's, that's probably right. Um, you know, I'm sure it wasn't easy for my kids, growing up, dad being a preacher, especially a holiness preacher.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Uh, we do things a little bit different than the rest of the world.

Robb

Right.

Bill

Uh, and that's okay. We just, we do things biblically. But, It's from, from a marriage standpoint, my wife has been asked for the last 17 years to sacrifice a lot. Sacrifice time with me. she's had to give me to the Lord-

Robb

Yeah

Bill

in different facets of our personal life. she's had to share me with people- Yeah that sometimes need me Maybe as much sometimes as what she does. and man, she has answered that call so wonderfully. I, I got called one time on Christmas Eve at a family Christmas event to go to a hospital and pray.

Robb

Mm.

Bill

And she hugged me and sent me on my way. She didn't try to hold me there. She didn't say, "Wait till tomorrow." She just understands this was just part of the calling. And incidentally, the man that we, I prayed for that night on, he was on life support. Um, couldn't breathe. Uh, he, uh, he had double pneumonia, and, was already, uh, suffering terribly from COPD. The guy was dead practically.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Uh, and two weeks... No, no, no, no, four weeks later, I walked out of the hospital with him. Uh, God healed him.

Robb

Mm.

Bill

But it still came at a price.

Robb

Right.

Bill

You know? Um, so may- maybe if I could just throw that as an addendum there to, to what I already said before. Right. you know, ministry, it... When a man is called to pastor, his whole family's called to pastor, you know, because it affects, it affects the whole family. And, and so one of the challenges is that you have to be aware of how it affects your family, and you have to be very intentional about making your first church-

Robb

Your

Bill

f- inside the four walls of your home.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Uh, you have to be intentional about making sure that you're not more obsessed with saving this guy that goes to your church than you are your children or your wife. You know, your first ministry... Well, the pastors', the downfall of a lot of pastors over the course of, of time, I think is, is, uh, a misordering of priorities. They think it's God, church, family.

Robb

Mm.

Bill

And that's close, but not quite. It's God, family, church.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Your first ministry is always your wife and your children.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Hopefully there's not anybody listening to this be like, "Uh, no way, man. I'm never pastoring." "Listen to this guy. He's the most miserable human being on the face of the earth." And nothing could be further from the truth. Um, I just- I wanna answer these questions as best I can, but I also want people to have a realistic expectation of, of what, what a calling consists of when, when you're, when you're called to something like that.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

There's more to it than just... The easy part is getting up in front of people and talking.

Robb

Yeah. You know? And for most people, that seems like the scariest part. Yeah. But that's the easiest part, yeah.

Bill

It is.

Robb

knowing you the way that I do, I t- I try to lean into all these questions and, and, and try to figure out what you would say. Um, some of them are a little easier than others. This one, we've talked about this one many times. You've preached on this, you've taught on this, Um, the Bible says pastors will give account for souls. what does that responsibility actually feel like as a pastor?

Bill

Uh, it's tough. It's tough sometimes. So I believe it was James that said, "Let few of you be teachers, for yours is the greater condemnation." When I pray in the mornings, if I'm praying for specific people in our church, one of the things I say to God is, "Thank you for these souls that you have entrusted to me." And that's really what it's about.

Robb

Mm.

Bill

I understand as a pastor that, th- there's not one person in this church that belongs to me. unfortunately there's some pastors out there that feel that way. Right. "Oh, it's my church." Well, no.

Robb

No. It's

Bill

the Saint Bill Puckett's church.

Robb

No, I promise

Bill

you it- Bill Puckett pastors this church- Yeah but this is Jesus' church- Right you know? It's like I always, you know, I, I say this all the time from the pulpit, I, I didn't shed a drop of blood for any of this, you know? He did.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Um, I don't own anybody in this church, but God has entrusted them to me. These are- Yeah these are precious souls that Jesus went to the cross for- Yeah and he's entrusted them to me. And so that is a huge responsibility, and part of that responsibility is understanding that everything I get up here and teach on Wednesday nights, everything I get up here and preach on, on Sunday mornings, I'm gonna give an account for. So if I get up here on Sunday mornings and I refuse to preach on sin, or I refuse to preach on holiness or, or whatever, um- And, and I do that because I'm, I'm afraid of the response of the people, then I'm gonna give an account for that. I'm, I'm responsible for that. I don't want to be the guy that stands before Jesus and says, "They would have made it-

Robb

Hmm

Bill

had you done what I told you to do."

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

I'll never forget, many years ago, in the very first church that we were ever a part of, I was a very young preacher, and God had given me this word. I was preaching a Sunday night, and I was gonna preach this message. I believe it was entitled Doom Came to Sodom.

Robb

Hmm.

Bill

And, essentially- Hmm I was preaching against debauchery, perversion, homosexuality. You know, I was, I was preaching.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

And right before, right before I took the pulpit, there were two men that walked in the back of the church that I knew locally in the community. One of them I did, anyway. And I knew that these men were involved in a relationship together. And all of a sudden I had this fear grip me. And this fear was, if you get up there and preach what you're gonna preach, those guys are gonna get up and walk out, and they'll never be saved, and it's gonna be your fault.

Robb

Hmm.

Bill

And so I remember I walked off the platform out into this little hallway that was off the platform. Nobody could see me. Worship was still going on. I was probably three or four minutes from taking the pulpit. I walked out there and I started to argue with God. Could I preach something else tonight?

Robb

Hmm.

Bill

Maybe I got it wrong. Maybe this isn't what you want me to preach. Is there a different message I could preach? And I'll never forget, I very clearly heard the Lord, not verbally, but very clearly impressed on my heart, "If you don't get up there and preach what I gave you, they will never hear this message."

Robb

Hmm.

Bill

And so I was like, "Okay, here goes nothing."

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

And I got up there, and I, I preached it exactly the way that God gave it to me. I didn't hold back. I didn't pull any punches. I, I just, I just preached the word. And I was watching, and I'd glance back there in that corner. And any, any point, I'm just waiting for my peripheral vision to pick up somebody standing up and walking out of the church.

Robb

Yeah.

Bill

Didn't happen. Uh, as a matter of fact, those two men stayed after for some time, probably 30, 40 minutes after service, and stood back there and talked with me and the pastor.

Robb

Hmm.

Bill

And, uh, and it was a pleasant conversation. And one of those two men came back to the church multiple times after that. I don't know whatever became of him, but I learned a lesson that night, which was I'm responsible, that if God gives me something to preach, don't worry about who's out there. Go preach what I gave you to preach. Preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season. so yeah, I Just understanding that the people that call this church home, the people that are members of this church, um, I have a responsibility-

Robb

Yeah

Bill

uh, to, to, to preach the word of God and give it to them straight, The word of God's the word of God.

Final Challenge

Robb

And so today, maybe the takeaway isn't what your pastor can do for you. Maybe it's understanding what they're carrying for you. Pray for your pastor. Pray for ministry leaders. Pray for those who are carrying burdens you'll never fully see. This has been Where Do We Go From Here? If this conversation encouraged you, share it with someone else. Follow us for future episodes, and remember, real questions still deserve biblical answers. We'll see you next time when we continue the conversation of the weight of the call.