Who Pastors Call When They’re Falling Apart

Brandon Andres Green, host of Good Neighbor Podcast Tulsa, sits down with Aaron Maier of Battle Cry and Lydia Commission Ministries to talk about the people who pour into pastors, ministry leaders, evangelists, prison ministers, and faith-based nonprofits.

Aaron shares why so many church leaders look strong on the outside while quietly carrying pressure, fear, isolation, and spiritual exhaustion behind the scenes. His message is direct: ministers need ministry too, and real restoration requires safe people, honest conversations, repentance, encouragement, and support that does not crush someone when they fall.

This conversation also gets into the heart behind Battle Cry, a ministry focused on helping believers come into alignment with God’s purpose. Aaron explains why transparency is not weakness, why exposure can become mercy instead of destruction, and why the church is strongest when leaders are not trapped on a platform with nowhere to be human.

You’ll also hear how Lydia Commission supports gospel work through outreach, prayer tents, ministry resources, and practical help for churches and ministries that need equipment, encouragement, or connection. Aaron also talks about unity in the body of Christ, serving outside the four walls, and why ministry should never become a competition for attention.

If you care about church leadership, ministry burnout, prison ministry, evangelism, Christian outreach, or helping the people who are usually helping everyone else, this episode is worth your time.

Because even the people carrying the battle cry need someone standing with them.

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Aaron Meyer

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Brandon Andres Green.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast Live. Pastors pour out. Street evangelists pour out. Prison ministry leaders pour themselves out. Faith-based nonprofits pour themselves out. But who pours into them? Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Aaron Meyer, Battlecry, Lydia Commission Ministries. Aaron is a minister to ministers, serving churches, evangelists, prison ministries, faith-face nonprofits, and people inside and outside the church. He's also been part of Lydia Commission, a ministry focused on reaching the lost, equipping believers, and connecting the body of Christ. Aaron also co-hosts the Deborah Sweeton Show, which is a Christian television program produced at GEB Network Studios at ORU. Aaron, how's it going?

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Brandon, thanks for having me on, brother. It is a beautiful day to be in the Lord, so I'm excited.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

Hey man, we're excited to learn all about you and your ministry and how you help strengthen the people who are usually busy strengthening everyone else.

Battlecry And Spiritual Alignment

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Can you tell us a little bit about Battlecry and the heart behind the work?

SPEAKER_01 1:31

You know, Battlecry is a ministry that, you know, my mom started years ago. Um, I'm talking when I was in my 20s and uh uh, you know, almost three decades ago. And, you know, it was started because there had to be a call, a cry in the body of Christ. Um we don't just come to church based on tradition. Uh this this uh eternal spirit that's in us is longing to touch God, to know God, to be in position. And so, you know, we have just like in our natural bodies, we have to be fed and we have to eat the right things. And so, you know, battle cry became a voice in the body of Christ, in churches, to rally up, to position, to bring people into alignment. You know, the word of God says we're one body, many parts, each has a different function. And so, but if your body's out of alignment, years ago I had to go to a chiropractor because I hurt myself and everything I did, my lower back screened. And it didn't matter what function I tried to do, pick something up, set something down, walk, everything was in pain in connection to that. And until I got that adjustment that brought my spine into alignment, all of a sudden I got full use of my body. And so Battle Cry is a positioning of people to know God, to know their purpose, and to come into alignment with God's plan and purpose.

Why Ministers Need Ministry Too

SPEAKER_02 3:13

You describe yourself as a minister to ministers. What does that mean in real life?

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Well, brother, we're in an age where you have a lot of exposure happening in the body of Christ. Um, it just seems like every month there's another ministry that's falling, another pastor exposed for a scandal. And the world is just looking for a story to jump on, to say, see, those Christians, you know, look at the hypocrisy. They do think they're better than everyone else. And so what God's beginning to show me, and it really goes back, Brandon, to my surrender, to me telling God, I will, I will go where you tell me to go and I'll say where you tell me to say. Not based on circumstantial things, not based upon whether or not I'm liked or I'm received, but based simply upon obedience to doing what God asked me to do. And the thing he began to do was connect me to ministers. And I just began to say, well, Lord, what about the lost? Lord, what about uh these who don't know you and need to hear the word? And and but God just began to show me there's a there's a season right now where God is raising up uh his sons and his daughters, and he's positioning them right into the middle of somebody's mess. And and ministers need ministry too. And a lot of times what you're hearing is when another one falls and the world rejoices, you hear, well, who did I have to go to to talk about the issue that I was having? You know, there's there's no perfect person. We've all fallen short of the glory of God, the Bible says. But there is people who are willing to see the issue when it's exposed, to come into correction, to come into repentance, so that, you know, one of my favorite uh verses is a righteous man falls seven times and gets back up again. It's not about crushing the person who falls. It's not about, to me, the exposure is the mercy of God and the heart of God to reposition somebody through repentance back into the place God called them to be to begin with.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Amen. So

Transparency That Restores Leaders

SPEAKER_02 5:37

why do you think so many ministry leaders are simply struggling to find someone safe they can talk to?

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Well, I feel like, you know, sin causes us to hide ourselves from God. You go all the way back to the beginning in the book of Genesis, you know, when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit God told them to, which birthed all of us into the nature of sin, the first thing they did when they heard God's voice was want to run and hide. And then the next thing they did is they realized I've got a nakedness, I'm vulnerable. I I'm now I now see that I'm exposed. When God created us to walk in transparency, to be exposed to begin with, because he didn't want anything to separate us from his love and us from relationship with him. It said, Adam walked in the cool of the garden. There was intimacy in that relationship that God established and desperately wants with his sons and daughters. And so the enemy comes and he lies to us. He says, Man, you you can't allow yourself to be transparent because people reject you. They're looking for somebody perfect. Even when Jesus came, his own people, the Jewish people rejected him because they said, no, no, no, our Messiah ain't gonna be born in a manger. Our Messiah is gonna be a powerful king that's gonna come and destroy the Roman Empire, uh, who's who's besieged us, who's who's come and taken over. Um, but but Jesus showed continually that he came as a servant to others. Even when he went to wash the disciples' feet, I believe it was Peter that was says, No, you can't wash my feet. I'm gonna wash your feet. And Jesus said, No, unless you allow me to wash your feet, you cannot be a part of this kingdom. And so, you know, the the the shepherd, the pastor, the teacher, uh, even the the five-fold ministry, the evangelist, uh, you know, the apostle, the prophet, they're all to come under that same positioning, which is Christ is the head and we're the body. Um, and part of that is we got to walk in transparency, Brandon, with one another. People respond to transparency. In the in prison ministry, I've noticed that the ones who have the testimony of God brought them out of prison time, of you know, one of the ministries I work a lot with is Hope Dealers, Jameson and Alyssa O'Connor. And they have a powerful testimony because God brought them out of decades of addiction. And so when they're ministering and loving on somebody in addiction, that person sees the transparency and they say, hey, if they can do it, I can do it. And this is where God's trying to bring, for some reason, Western Christian culture, our American church, boy, we put these leaders on platforms where they are so high that that they're up there and they're like, who do I go to uh with these issues? And and so, man, we we all gotta be brought, we're all level at the foot of the cross, and we're all asked to do uh two things, and that's to listen to God and walk in obedience according to his way.

SPEAKER_02 9:03

Amazing. And I

Unity Vision And Ministry Merge

SPEAKER_02 9:04

understand that Lydia Commission is now merging into Battlecry. And you guys have a new website coming soon, some new content. Yes, what's changing in this new season, and what are you hoping it makes possible?

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Well, brother, the everything in the word says that Jesus is coming back for a unified bride, not one based out of denominations, not one based upon traditions of men, not one based upon, you know, a religious system, but he's coming back for a unified bride. So something has to happen between now and Jesus coming back. And what I'm seeing is ministries finally willing to come together to do the work. The word says the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest for laborers. God is the one who brings the harvest, but we are the ones who do the work, tilling the ground, planting the seed, watering the crops. And so we have to come together. And I'm seeing more and more ministries in every field, whether it's evangelism, whether it's church, whether it's outside of the four walls ministries like prison ministries or homeless ministries. I'm seeing ministries finally willing to come together, share resources, and not be worried about, well, I can't connect to them because what if they preach better than me? What if I lose my members to them? What if I lose, you know, tithe paying members? When we quit work truly worrying about money, my Bible says that for those that God calls, he equips. And so we need to quit worrying about the how, and we need to worry about are we walking in obedience to what God is telling us to do?

SPEAKER_02 11:04

Amen.

Lasting Fruit Over Busy Good Works

SPEAKER_02 11:05

And Aaron, what's one thing you really want our listeners to remember about the people who are always pouring out for others?

SPEAKER_01 11:15

I would say uh for lasting fruit. Um, you know, this this is a season where we're called uh to produce fruit in our life. Jesus said, you know, for the branch that doesn't produce fruit, it's going to be cut off and cast into the fire. There has to be a purpose connected to uh what we do. You know, I I've at Battlecry we got a saying, and that's good things aren't always God things. And so sometimes good things can become distractions. You know, I love bridging hunger, where actually me and you met, Brandon, um, because bridging hunger does a good thing by bringing resources together, producing uh bags of groceries and giving it to ministries. Now, if you talk to brother Rod Baker, uh you know, he will tell you we're not a we're not a food ministry. And you're like, well, what do you mean? You you you bring people together, you put bags of groceries together to go out to meet a need. But there's a deeper meaning and connection to that. The food just becomes the avenue to reach a deeper need, that spiritual need. Jesus said, I'm I'm talking about, you know, Jesus was called the bread of life. And he said, I'm talking about eating of me, tasting of me so that you no longer hunger. You know, Jesus was was, he said, uh, you know, to drink of me so that you're no longer thirsty. He wasn't talking in the natural physically, he was talking about eternally, spiritually. And so, you know, bridging hunger uses the ability to put something tangible in the hands of those who have the heart to do the work, but then they have now an open door when they meet that physical need to meet a spiritual need and say, is there anything I can pray with you about? And man, testimony after testimony, Brandon. If if it was one thing I would say for people, and not only fruit, it would also be that we overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimonies. You have a story. That's why I love what you do, Brandon. You take people's testimony, you take their stories, whether it's in the business world, whether it's in the in ministry, whatever facet of life God has called somebody to be, they have a message, and it's not just in what we say, it's in the actions and what we do.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Amen.

Outreach Support And How To Connect

SPEAKER_02 13:59

And Aaron, how can listeners learn more? Maybe connect with you and and help support your ministry.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

Well, here's here's what we do. Um, you know, God has called us into a season of support. Lydia Commission, that portion of our ministry, um funds the gospel. You know, we we do outreaches, we go into secular venues, concert arenas, we we pay money to rent space just as a vendor would peddle a product. We peddle the gospel. You know, we want to make prayer available. We want God. Jesus went to the highways and byways. That's why the religious community hated him. They said, man, this guy dines with sinners and tax collectors. And so we go into the venues that the church struggles. Well, I can't go in there. They might sell alcohol or they're playing secular music in there. And but we go in there and we set up a prayer tent and people come. I don't beat people over the head with a Bible. They walk to us, they ask us questions. Why are you here? What's this hope you talk about? And so Lydia Commission meets those needs. You know, we we we we bring resources to ministries. Uh, if a ministry needs a sound system, Lydia Commission will pay for that sound system. Um, if a ministry needs a trailer, Lydia Commission is designed to raise the money to meet that need so that now we can go out and we can meet the spiritual needs of the community. Battle cry is more of a of a shaking that happens inside of a believer in a positioning. It's to come in and we're to stir one another up and our and encourage one another, exhort, edify, lift one another up in our most holy faith. And we're in a season now, Brandon, where I don't have to tell you, you walk outside the door, you know, before we came on live, you were kissing your son goodbye. Man, he's got to go out in what is the craziest time and season that if I would have told my grandparents that are past right now that this is where America's come to, they wouldn't believe me if I if I tried. Um, but but we still have to carry hope and joy and go out and not condemn. Jesus said, I didn't come into the world to condemn it, I came to save it. And so, you know, I'm not browbeating with this Bible, somebody over the head, truth. I'm showing the truth and love, I'm speaking truth and love. Our actions have to come into alignment. And that's what battle cry does is man, it just wants to bring people to the heart of the Father so that they move with him and not against him.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

Man, what a great word. Well, Aaron, I really appreciate you being on the show. I wish you and Battlecry and Lydia Commission Ministry the best moving forward. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

I sure appreciate it, Brandon.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnptulsa.com. That's gnptulsa.com or call 918 301 6356.