In his talks, Brandon engages his audience with a dynamic and passionate approach. He speaks from the heart but also draws from the deep riches of scripture and Catholic teaching in a way that helps the audience know the powerful and personal way that the teachings of God through the Church and through Scripture apply to the messy, everyday challenges of life. Brandon's goal is that every person will be challenged and empowered to be the man or woman God is calling them to be.
What would make an evangelical preacher leave behind everything to become Catholic? In 2019, after seventeen years of ministry in an evangelical denomination, God brought Brandon and his family into the Catholic faith. The journey required unexpected sacrifices but also included many surprising blessings. During the last several years of his ministry, God brought Brandon along a search for the truth.
While the nature of authority and the sacraments were keys to his conversion, ultimately, it was a search for truth and the realization that what you believe matters that God used to bring him and his family into the Catholic Church in 2019. There are a lot of elements (some funny, some difficult) to this story that Brandon loves to share as part of his ministry. As a speaker, Brandon does not shy away from the messy brokenness of real life. As Christians, we do have the privilege of living in a world just as messy and broken as the one in which Jesus ministered to thousands of years ago. It can be difficult, at times, to see how the truth of God, revealed through the Catholic Church, matters in the real life struggles of marriage, finances, relationships, trauma, and other deeply painful encounters we have in this life. In fact, it is Brandon's passion to help people answer the question of "Why does this matter?" through the exploration of scripture and the teachings of the Church.
Prior to 2019, Brandon was an ordained pastor in the Church of the Nazarene. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor's in political science and philosophy. He received his master's degree in ministry with a concentration in leadership from Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University. For over twenty years, Brandon has been preaching, leading Bible Studies, and leading ministries. Since becoming Catholic, he has been a repeat guest on Guadalupe Radio Network, leading parish missions, and teaching in a local parish. He currently works for a Catholic parish in Texas and is also the host of a podcast and a published author.
Topics Include:
(Aside from a specific topic you would like Brandon to cover, he also covers the following topics)
My Conversion Story
- I share my story of how I went from being an evangelical pastor to converting to the Catholic faith.
Fatherhood
- The failure of fatherhood - King David provides an excellent example of what it means to fail as a fatherhood. This message challenges us to examine the wounds we received as children, the ways that we can fail as fathers, and what we can do about it.
- Holy Men - We cannot be holy fathers until we become holy men. This message challenges us to grow in the process of holiness so that we can become the people God wants us to be and therefore capable of helping our children be disciples of Christ.
Being a Man
- Taking Wise Counsel - the people we surround ourselves with will impact the people we become. In the Bible, King Rehoboam provides a great example of the dangers of not listening to wise counsel. This message challenges us to identify those we are allowing to give us advice and understanding how to cultivate relationships with people who will mentor us towards Christ.
- Leaving a legacy - When Elijah's ministry was complete, Elisha asked Elijah to receive a portion of his blessing and authority. Far too often, we focus on leaving legacies of worldly influence, financial power, career achievements, etc. More than that, many of us have received a legacy from our parents of consumerism, materialism, wounds, and brokenness. The challenge of this message is identifying what type of legacy we are passing on and realizing that the most important legacy we can leave is a spiritual one.
- Worshipping Others – In Acts 12, we see Herod Agrippa being worshipped as a god, leading people away from the path God has called them on. In our culture, we are constantly bombarded with messaging from influencers, celebrities, and others. It's easy to idolize others, which can lead us to absorbing their message. The challenge of this message is to recognize the influence others have on us, realize ways in which we be more prudent in our influences, and also recognize the ways in which we are influencing others.
Marriage
- The ideal marriage - this message identifies what the first marriage teaches us about what God wants for us as men and women and, most importantly, what the first marriages teaches us about the nature of love and of our character. When we realize how marriage is supposed to be (and who we are supposed to be in marriage) we can identify where we went wrong and how to change.
- Conflict in marriage - why do so many marriages break down in conflict? This message challenges us to realize how marital conflicts are not only about circumstances but also about character. This message also provides some helpful, practical ways to reduce marital conflict.
- What is real love? Hollywood and mass media paint an interesting picture of what real love means. Yet how does this compare to the way love is depicted in scripture? This message highlights the differences between the way society views love and the way that we are called to love our spouses as Christians.
Family Dynamics
- How a Holy Family Interacts - using some of the dysfunctional families depicted in scripture, as well as the writings of St. Paul, this message helps us to understand some of the foundational spiritual work we need to do in our lives to help our family dynamics be one of holy, healthy relationships.
- Raising Holy Kids - Raising your kids to be saints is one of the most difficult endeavors we can ever participate in. While there is no magic formula, this message focuses on how the dynamics of our marriage, faith, and relationships with our kids creates an environment that will either help or hinder your children from becoming who they are called to be. This message also includes a lot of practical advice.
Difficult Times
- Continued Reliance – Due to his faithfulness to God, Elijah lost everything and, as a result, had to learn how to rely on God. This message speaks to us in 2 ways. 1) God allows difficult times in our lives so that we can learn to rely on him. 2) The times of peace and prosperity in our lives are temporary, because God wants us to rely on him rather than ourselves or circumstances. The challenge of the message is to learn how to cultivate an attitude of reliance on God.
- How to respond to hostility – In Acts chapter 8, we see two different approaches to difficult times: that of Philip and Simon. One approach is of humility, service, and suffering. The other approach is one of comfort and self-glory. Far too often we are interested in being comfortable rather than agents of change, our reputation rather than Christ's reputation, being with those who are like us rather than those who most need Jesus. This message challenges us to embrace the cross rather than comfort.
- The Character of Christians – In Acts 11, we see the Christians suffering from both persecution and a famine. Many of us, in similar circumstances, would enter "self-preservation mode." Our focus would be on protecting ourselves and taking care of ourselves before helping anyone else. Many of us would hoard supplies out of a mentality of fear. Yet the Christians in Acts 11 lived out the love of Christ by sharing their food with others, spreading the gospel, and aiding those in need even though they themselves had little. The challenge of this message is to help people identify the reasons we seek to protect ourselves (fear, shame, insecurity, a lack of trust, etc.) and be willing to allow God to heal those wounds. When those wounds are healed, we can be the people of generosity and joy that we are called to be.
- Peace – when we look at Psalm 23, there are two main images presented to us: that of the Lord being our shepherd and that of the Lord hosting a feast. Both of these images convey to us beautiful characteristics of God: provision, love, tenderness, caring, and more. Social media, 24/7 news, economic issues, health issues, and many other factors lead us to being anxious, afraid, and overwhelmed. Yet God is calling us through this Psalm to not only change our mentality, but to let him lead us to his healing, grace, and mercy.
Being the People We are Called to Be
- With God all things are Possible – When God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery, Moses had all kinds of excuses for why he wasn't capable. He believed he was a nobody. Many of us have become convinced that we are nobodies, unable to make a difference in the world or in the Church. Yet the secret to Moses' success is that God was more than capable, all Moses had to do was cooperate.
- Acting rashly – Far too often we allow our emotions to dictate our actions which leads to damage in our relationships, our careers, and our ability to show Christ to others. Rash actions (and words) are common in our marriages, careers, and more. By using the example of Moses, I highlight our destructive tendency to make rash decisions and contrast this with a path of prayer, virtue, and sacrifice which will lead to much more joy and peace in our lives.
- Rooted and Grounded in Love – Until we become rooted in a love for God, we will not be able to love others or even love ourselves the way that we desire. Often times we try to love ourselves first and God second. Yet only when we have our life in the right order will our life be complete.
- What does God want me to do with my life? Many times we ask this question during the course of our lives. So often we are waiting for a neon sign from God. However, as Acts 8 shows, one of the primary things God wants you to do with your life is to identify the needs of those around you and to faithfully fulfill the corporate works of mercy.
- The process of Holiness – in 2 Peter 1, St. Peter lays out the process of holiness: faith leads to goodness to which knowledge, self-control, endurance, mutual affection and more must be added. This message challenges us to identify which step we are at in the process of becoming holy people. Once we identify this, we must be willing to finish the race and complete the process.
Lent
- The power of fear - Taking the encounter of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, this message highlights the role and power of fear in our lives while also challenging us to counter fear by knowing Christ and developing trust in him.
- What does God want for our Lent? - We often approach Lent by developing a checklist of all we want to accomplish during Lent: Things we want to give up, Books we want to read, prayers we want to incorporate, etc. This message challenges us to understand who God is so that we can understand what God really wants to accomplish in our lives during Lent, which is far more important than whatever we have planned.
- Simplify your life -Lent, just like Advent, can be a time of immense busyness with family activities, spiritual practices, church activities, and more. Yet one of the most powerful lessons of Lent is that we have a need to simplify our lives so that we can focus on Christ more clearly. This message challenges us to understand the key to simplicity and how to draw closer to God during Lent.
