From Bull Riding to Brain Rebuilding: Nick Morrison’s Story of Grit, Faith, and Comeback Purpose

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:16):
Welcome to the OpenLive Podcast.
I'm your host, Kristen Kurt, andI'm also the founder of New
Wings Coping.
I opened a power wild heartedand adventurous women at faith
filling case competition, greatfaithful meditation, and private
confidence for more about theNew Wings Coaching.

(01:01):
Before we get started, he is amutual connection of a friend
named Cindy, who was glad tohave him on her podcast.
And I I thought that weinterviewed him and I was very
intrigued.
So so excited to have you heretoday.
Before we get into your story,would you just tell us a little
bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_01 (01:18):
Yeah, I mean, I don't uh I guess I don't know
where you want me to start onthat.
I've got uh quite a got quite abig quite a big life.
I mean, I'm uh, you know, just aranch kid, grew up in in Wyoming
and South Dakota.
Uh, you know, Wyoming uh uh havea ranch that our uh my
grandparents um uh it's been inour family for over a hundred
years um and uh kind of grew upon that.

(01:40):
My dad went into the ministry,um, and so we moved to South
Dakota, the Pine Ridge IndianReservation, where he had a
church there, and and uh andthat's where I lived uh most of
my life, uh the rest of mychildhood, I guess.
And and um, you know, rodeo issuch a big part of life out in
that area.
And so, you know, I startedrodeoing at a at a young age,
nine years old, started ridingsteers, and uh ended up being

(02:02):
good at it and you know, startedriding bulls when I was 12.
Uh by 16, I was travelingfull-time doing it by by 18, 19
years old.
I was on the PBR tour,fulfilling the dream as a as a
professional bull rider.
Um, we had a ministry calledBull Riders for Christ uh during
that time that um I waspreaching.
I started preaching when I was15 years old, and and we were
putting church services on atrodeos everywhere we was going.

(02:24):
And and our our main goal was inmentoring um uh young bull
riders of of all levels, um, notonly in their bull riding, but
also in their their spiritualwalk.
And and man, God just blessedeverything about that back in
the early 2000s.
Um but then my pro career umfinally made it as a pro, and it
just was was one frustrationafter another.

(02:44):
Uh broke C2 in my neck my rookieyear, um, sat out the rest of
that year.
Uh then I broke T10 and 11 in myback, my second year.
Yeah, and then uh only sat outeight weeks and and rode with a
brace after that because yeah, Iwas tough and dumb.
And um we uh and just startedhaving injury after injury.
Um just uh the injury bug uh hitbit and I couldn't get couldn't

(03:06):
get rid of it, just kept gettinguh kept getting injured and um
ended up having a prettyextensive surgery on the
shoulder.
And uh so come back my fourthyear, my very first PBR back, uh
21 years old, and ended uphaving a bull get me down really
bad.
And um uh found out a few weekslater that the injuries from
that was career ending.
And so my career was over at 21,and uh, you know, something I've

(03:28):
been dreaming of doing my entirelife and been working everything
towards since I was nine yearsold was was over before I even
really got to taste my prime.
And and um, so I went intoministry from that.
We moved to Texas and took overas a youth pastor and worship
pastor of uh uh what was a smallchurch at the time, it's Lone
Star Cowboy Church.
It's it's the world's largestcowboy church now.
But we got to be there duringall the growth.

(03:49):
So we got to be there when itwas just you know 100 people in
a tent and a youth group ofabout a dozen kids and and was
leading worship and and leadingthe youth group and God just
really blessed that uh wholetime there.
Uh youth group exploded into wewere averaging hundreds a week
after uh just a few years, andthen uh started um uh crossfire

(04:09):
ministries.
It was actually birthed at aconference speaking in in your
hometown of Minneapolis, and uhum the idea of that.
So we supplied youth ministryfor rural churches all over the
U.S.
I had some businessmen in ourchurch uh bought into it, so
they paid all of the expenses sothat churches didn't have to.
And our goal was to um not justsupply youth ministry for all of

(04:30):
these young um uh these thesechurches that that can't afford
youth pastors, but to train uptheir leaders.
Uh a big problem with churchesis they just see a young couple
and they say, Oh, they're young,we'll put them over the youth
ministry, and they're notthey're not trained, they're
not, you know, they're uh my dadcalls it lost, saved,
established, trained, employed.
And too many times they go fromlost to save to employed, and
there's no establishing andtraining.

(04:52):
And so our whole idea was isthat we're gonna come in and via
DVD, because this is back likeearly 2000s, we're going to
supply all of your youthministry, we're gonna have
bumper videos, we're gonna haveuh videos that you can be like
music video shows that you canplay while kids are walking in,
something dynamic, and thenreally good teaching of the
word.
And but and the backside ofthat, we're training your

(05:14):
leaders, and in a two-yearperiod, we're gonna roll this
youth group over to them.
So we're gonna help grow thatyouth group, but we're gonna
grow them as leaders as welltogether until they take over.
And so um, yeah, you know, wehad over 30 churches around the
US that we were were doing thiswith, and uh, and um when that
was really taken off, uh I had alot of concussions uh for my
bull riding uh time.

(05:35):
Um the it's recorded just frommy college and professional
career that I had over 26concussions.

SPEAKER_00 (05:41):
26?

SPEAKER_01 (05:42):
Yeah, well that's just that's just in the rodeo
part of it.
That's it.

SPEAKER_00 (05:45):
Like documented.

SPEAKER_01 (05:46):
Documented now.
Well, so now since then we'vedocumented over 50 uh
concussions.
For you for me, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (05:52):
For you just you.

SPEAKER_01 (05:54):
Just me, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (05:54):
Okay, so uh speaking of that, I I I feel like I need
to go back a little bit.
Okay.
That's okay.
Back and no, you're fine.

SPEAKER_01 (06:00):
Yeah, because like I said, the story you you stopped
me anywhere because it's itkeeps it.
It keeps going.
So I know.

SPEAKER_00 (06:05):
I I'm the same way.
Like I feel like we need to goback to the beginning a little
bit here because partly becauseum I shared with you before we
got started.
I love watching people do wildthings, right?
That I might not do.
Like for example, peopleclimbing Mount Everest would
never do it, but I find itfascinating to watch people do
things I would never do.

(06:26):
Like I've I watched eightseconds, I've watched different
things with bull writers.
I need to know this.
And maybe other people need toknow this.
You're nine years old.
Where was your mom?
Did he like I'm a mom, I havetwo boys.
Like how did you feel aboutthis, first of all?
And second of all, like how didyou feel the first time you like

(06:48):
got on a bucking animal?

SPEAKER_01 (06:51):
Well, you know, you started small on steers, you
know, and and so that you knowyou started young.
And my mom was alwayssupportive.
She didn't like it so much, butum, she was a prayer warrior,
and so she she she spent a lotof time in prayer.
There's um the only time yeah,the only time she really uh said
anything, when I was 11, I tooka horn between the eyes.
And it and it Yeah, I took uh uhright between the eyes, it split

(07:13):
split my uh split me open allthe way to the bone.
And the doctor said if it hadbeen an inch to either side, I'd
have lost an eye.
And it's higher, it it it hadthe possibility to kill me.
And if it had been in its lower,they the the angle that it hit,
they said it would have killedme instantly.
And so my my mom was um veryadamant if you're gonna keep
riding bulls, you're gonna weara helmet.
Well, at this time, and this islike 1993, 94.

(07:35):
Helmets weren't a thing yet.
And so um that's when you were11, right?
Yeah, and yeah, I was about 11.
And so we I wore a lacrossehelmet.
So I was one of the first everguys to really wear a helmet,
and I got made fun of a lot forit.
I got, you know, it was it wasbecause it was a manly thing,
you know, to ride bulls, andhere you're all wearing a
helmet.
And then a couple years later,Brent Thurman um at the National

(07:56):
Finals rodeo, which is like aSuper Bowl rodeo, that he had a
bull step on the back of hishead on live national television
and it and it killed him.
And so then they they inventedwhat's called the bulltuff
helmet.
And so uh because I was alreadyriding a helmet with a helmet,
the the guy that invented thosegot a hold of us and I had a
prototype.
And so I was one of the firstever bulltuff helmets.
And and so I I rode with ahelmet early on in it in my

(08:18):
senior year in high school itsaved my life, uh, had a bull
step on my head and crushed myhelmet.
And it would have it would havekilled me instantly if I
wouldn't have been wearing ahelmet.
Um, and what was really coolabout that, uh, you know, my mom
being a prayer warrior, it wasin the practice pen at the
house.
And my mom was inside doingstuff, and she got a phone call
from a lady in our church.
And the lady, as soon as my mompicked up the phone, she said,

(08:38):
Is Nick okay?
My mom said, What are youtalking about?
And she said, Is Nick okay?
She said, I just got a strongleading from the Holy Spirit
that I needed to pray for Nickright now, stop everything I was
doing.
I just want to call and makesure he's okay, he's okay.
My mom looked out the window,and right when she looked out
the window, I was crawling on myhands and knees with my helmet
off my deal.
So it had just happened rightwhen she yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (09:00):
So just and that's when the the helmet was crushed.

SPEAKER_01 (09:03):
Yep, yep, exactly.
And and it uh um, but so my uhmy mom was always, you know,
she's always a prayer warrior.
She was always, you know, um uhyou know, it probably wasn't
easy on her, but she uh she wasalways so supportive of it.
And rodeo is just a very bigpart of life there.
It's the official sport of ofboth states in Wyoming and South
Dakota.

(09:24):
Um and so my mom pretty muchbecome a rodeo mom for a lot of
the guys.
Uh, our house, we had our ownarena, we had our our own buck
and bulls, we raised buck andbulls and horses, and so you
know, in South Dakota, when Iwas growing up, um, that 90s in
the South Dakota was is thegolden era of just um high end.
You had guys that were alreadypros, but the high school,

(09:44):
junior high and high school age,you had what would go on to the
the in the 2000s dominate theprofessional rodeo field.
And it was all the guys comingand staying at our house and
riding riding at our house.
So my dad would use that guyswould come and and and we gave
them free practice for everyhorse or boy you got on Yodis of
church service.
And so we had we always haddozens of guys staying at our

(10:04):
house, a lot of them living withus, um, just so they could
practice because they werehungry for it.
And so my mom just became all oftheir rodeo mom, really
honestly.
And so uh it's just you know,the and that's where actually
where Bull Rise for Christbirthed out of was just was just
those sitting around and andthat uh atmosphere with my dad
pouring into all of us as juniorhigh and high school kids, and

(10:26):
then us just going out and doingthe same thing.
Um and so yeah, they she wasalways supportive, um, but she
she spent a lot of time inprayer for it for sure.
And for me, I just I I fell inlove with it pretty quickly.
I mean, it's the adrenalinerush, yeah, is it's it's
unrivaled.

SPEAKER_00 (10:40):
And so it's the adrenaline rush, right?

SPEAKER_01 (10:43):
Oh, absolutely, yes.

SPEAKER_00 (10:44):
I I just need to know like, do you have fear?
Like, did you have fear when youwere stepping into this?

SPEAKER_01 (10:50):
Like no, I never I never really was afraid.
Um, but you have to havebutterflies.
If you don't have butterflies,you're if someone tells you they
don't, they're lying in theirtime.

SPEAKER_00 (11:00):
But I remember one time every time, every time.

SPEAKER_01 (11:02):
Yeah, every time you get butterflies.
Like it's just like me gettingon stage.
You know, I'm I'm a stand-upcomedian now and and a and a
motivational speaker, and Istill get butterflies when I get
on stage.
I get more butterflies in frontof small crowds when it's a when
it's a smaller room, largerrooms, it doesn't bother me as
much.

SPEAKER_00 (11:17):
And uh but I get that's worth repeating.
Like somebody's listeningthinking, okay, well, you're
you're actually this is the bigdeal getting on a bowl.
And you would get butterfliesevery single time.
And even now in the work thatyou're doing, you get
butterflies every time.
I think sometimes we look atpeople, you know, I might be
watching eight seconds andthink, oh, that person just has

(11:38):
no fear.
Like, what's wrong with me?
Do you know what I'm talkingabout?

SPEAKER_01 (11:41):
Like, yeah, it and it's a it's a mon it's it's a
pretty common thread on that.
Like, there's some guys that arescared, like they really are,
and that's why they get andthat's why they drink a lot and
get a lot of drugs and stuffbefore they they ride, is
because it's the only way theycan really get the courage up.
Um, but a lot of your guys,you're gonna have even the just
the the toughest guys on theplanet, you're gonna have little

(12:02):
butterflies.
I do remember one time as at aPDR, and um I don't even
remember what town it is, but Ican still still see it, still
visualize it, and they'rerunning the bulls in the chutes,
and mine is still in the in thein the shoots in the back penny,
I hadn't run into the the bucketchutes yet, he's still in the
alleyway.
And I'm walking up there, andhe's a big old Brentle bull, and
he's just you know throwing hishead around and all this

(12:24):
different stuff.
And I'm going to put my rope onhim, and it's just like fear
just hit.
Like, what are you doing?
Yeah, like you're you're gonnadie.
Like you're gonna get on this,you're gonna, and like fear just
tried to take over me.
And I'd never felt that before,riding bulls, ever.
I mean, this is this is probably200,000 bulls in.
And I finally, for the firsttime, so I just started quoting
uh uh God's not giving me spiritof fear, but a power, love and a

(12:48):
sound mind over and over andover again until I just finally
I kind of got out of there.
But it was just it was the firsttime I'd ever, and really only
time I'd ever really felt that.
Um, but there's some guys theyare they're they're scared, but
the adrenaline it's it's worthit.
But most of your guys on the prolevel, they're man, they they
love it.
It's you know, it's somethingyou're good at.
You look forward to it, youcrave it.

(13:08):
You know, even now, I mean, Igot hurt in 2004, and so that
was 21 years ago, and I stillwill have a dream of riding a
bull and wake up in a cold sweatwith just you know, excited and
just craving it.
And so even though my body hurtsall over, it still is it's still
working, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (13:24):
Well, and I'm and I'm just curious, even you know,
you just said your your bodyhurts all over.
Like, do you have you know, yousaid 50 concussions?
I mean, yeah, I don't know if mybrain would still be working.
Like obviously God's grace andhis healing power, but like how
how are you doing like after Imean, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 (13:41):
So that that's quite a that's kind of what it
affected, yeah.
So I um when I couldn't ridebulls anymore, I had to do
something for adrenaline.
And so I bought a race car.
And um right at the same time,yeah, right at the same time
that our that you know I was atLone Star, everything was was
taking off and doing great.
Um, I wrecked my race car reallybad and had another concussion.
It wasn't even that bad of aconcussion, wasn't even that bad

(14:02):
of a wreck, but it was just theone that kind of pushed me over
the edge.
Okay, and I started having a lotof issues.
Um, that's when I startedpassing out a lot.
Uh, started getting nosebleeds,um, started getting nosebleeds
really bad, headaches.
My my mood had changed.
I didn't notice, my wifenoticed, but my whole
personality had changed.
Everything I got I was paranoidthat everybody was out to get
me, just all of this differentstuff.

(14:23):
And um, it took a lot of testsfor them to figure out it had to
do with my brain.
And so that's when they startedkind of tracking more of the
concussions.
Um, the problem is I pass outand a concussion isn't hitting,
it's not from hitting theoutside of your head, it's from
the brain moving too rapidlyinside the head.
And so you don't have to hityour head to get a concussion.

(14:43):
Um, you don't have to justbecause you're knocked out
doesn't mean you have aconcussion, and just you you can
get a concussion without beingknocked out.
Now, if you're knocked out,usually you are going to get
one.
But it's it's about the brainmoving.
Well, when I pass out, a lot oftimes it it gives me more
concussions.
And so they've actually stoppedcounting at 50 uh because
they're like at this point,there's really no point in
counting anymore.
It's just my brain is so looseinside the school and stuff.

(15:06):
So what they found in all thetests was that the front right
lobe of my brain was completelyinactive.
Um, and so they they figured itwas they called it like a
permanent bruise, but it wasjust damage over time and it was
causing all these issues.
But uh the brain is an amazingthing, and you know, God has
designed it to be an amazingthing, and so because my damage
happened over time and because Ihave a really high IQ, I'm I'm

(15:28):
on the the mensa scale, and sothey figured the IQ and the
damage happening over time thatthe brain adapted itself, and so
the rest of the brain kind ofpicks up the slack, although I
have had some issues, and so asthat I had to step down from uh
working such a stressful job atat Lone Star with everything,
with all of just there was a lotto to do there, and work started

(15:50):
to work at another church andexecutive role.
I'm I'm still there, I'mdirector of ministries there.
Okay, and uh the brain stuffjust kept kind of getting worse
and um concussions kind ofstarted stacking on top of each
other.
And then in 2020, I had uh areaction to to my brain um
issues.
Uh most people, when they'reyou're like when you get into
extreme colds, like you know,where you're at, it gets really

(16:12):
cold, your your body adapts andwill pull all of the blood from
your extremities to protect yourcore.
Well, my brain, the the wiresgot crossed somewhere, and so my
brain will do that when I gethot as well.
And so I was outside working andI got really hot, and I did the
whole manly thing of I'm justgonna push through this anyways,
and I just kept working, eventhough I could feel the blood
draining from my face, from myarms, and it ended up robbing my

(16:35):
brain of oxygen, and so I hadwhat's called a hypoxic extemic
encephalapathy.
And um, pretty much uh whathappened was uh a section of my
brain shut down because it waswasn't getting oxygen, and um I
my my arms and legs kind of quitworking, and so I kind of
crawled myself back in what Icould.
They were really numb.
And I cooled, and I got inside,and um, I had what's called a uh

(16:58):
a catatonic syndrome syndrome, acatatonic syndrome like uh
reaction is what they call it.
And pretty much that nightmareof getting trapped in your body
happened to me.
Um, I looked at a light switchon the wall and I couldn't take
my eyes off the light switch andwas pretty much just stuck
staring at this light switch.

(17:18):
I couldn't move my arms,couldn't move my eye, I couldn't
feel any of my body.
I could just see, I could feelthe tears running down my eyes
because I couldn't blink.
Um I could feel the drool comingoff of my because I couldn't
swallow, I couldn't do anything.
But um, I just sat there forhours until my wife got home
from work and saw me in thatstate.
And of course, she's trying tosnap me out of it.
She starts praying over me.

(17:38):
I snap out of it.
Um, and I went to tell her, youknow, I'm gonna be okay.
Just give me a minute torecover, and she didn't react.
So I said it again, like I'm I'mgonna be okay.
And that's uh after the thirdtime her not reacting, I
realized I'm saying it in myhead and I wasn't speaking.
So the damage to the brain hadcaused organ to orgad uh organic
mutism.

(17:59):
And um because of that, uh Icouldn't speak.
And I couldn't, my brain, Icould think the words, but no,
not even a noise.
I couldn't even get a noise tocome out of my my mouth.
And so I was now faced withanother op another deal.
You know, at this point I'dalready started doing stand-up
comedy.
Um uh uh and and it was takenoff, really taken off at this
point.

(18:19):
Uh Bob Smiley, who's a bigChristian comedian, was was
going to take me on the roadwith him, you know, and and so
I'm like, this is my first bigbreak and and all of this, and
now all of a sudden I can'ttalk.
And and everything I do revolvesaround talking.
I can't do comedy if I can'ttalk.
I can't work with the church ifI can't talk.
Not only that, my my arms werewere shriveled up and and they
wouldn't, I couldn't open myhands, they were just curled up.

(18:41):
Uh just everything was uh was amess.
And because of the brain damagethat I'd had when we left Lone
Star, I lost my health insurancethat I had through the church,
and no other health insurancewould approve me because I had
so much damage.
And so I didn't have healthinsurance to go to a facility
and rehab.
And so it was like this this isa choice I have to make now.

(19:02):
Do I want this to be my newreality or am I willing to put
the work in to get through this?
And so I made up my mind thatI'm I'm gonna talk again, even
though they're saying it's it'sa good chance I'm not gonna ever
be able to talk again.
I'm I'm gonna talk again.
And so I I'm like, yeah, I'mgonna put the same work I put
into everything I do, puteverything I have into it.
And so I'd wake up in themorning and I would just do

(19:23):
brain exercises and tell I wentto bed at night, and nothing was
working, nothing was happening.
Um, but one day I was walking bya piano in our room or in our
living room, and I rememberthinking, Man, I I miss playing
music.
And as soon as I thought that,my left hand opened up.
And so I started playing with myhand on the piano, and my other
hand opened up.

(19:43):
So I sat down at the piano andI'm playing the piano with both
hands, and tears was rollingdown my face because I'm
actually can play.
And I stood up and my handscurled back up again.
So I sat back down to the piano,they opened back up again.
And so, what was explained to mewas where the damage was, where
the brain had shut down withall.
On opposite side of the creativeside that the music.

(20:03):
And so that became an avenuethat I could now open the
brainwave.
So what I would do is I'd sitdown at the piano and I would
play with one hand, and then Iwould do with my other hand, I
would do um crosswords and Iwould do Sudokus and I would do
mahjong and in solitaire, justwhatever, just to make the brain
work.
Um I would get the dictionaryout and I would just read the

(20:25):
words out loud.
Well, then eventually I justwent ahead and got my guitar and
I was like, I'm gonna I'm gonnaworship.
And so I would play guitar frommorning till night until my
fingers bled, and I would justsing worship songs in my mind
because nothing was coming out,but I could play.
My fingers would work as long asI could could was playing music,
and so I would just worship allday long.

(20:46):
Well, eventually, after a fewdays, noise started to come out
of my throat, and so then I getexcited.

(21:29):
So now I'm now I'm not justsinging in my head, you know.
I sound like a beller and cow,but I'm um I'm making I'm making
noise.
And that eventually led to mebeing able to form uh with my
mouth some words and just slowlyjust kept doing that until I I
started to get my voice back andwas able to speak again.
And so, but the the thing is iswhere the damage to the brain

(21:51):
is, it's it's consideredpermanent damage.
And so I have to constantly keepthat open.
So this is like a daily fightfor me.
That was in 2020, and and I haveto do two to four hours of brain
exercises every morning to um tostill be able to speak and be
able to do this.
And now, you know, God has me ina space where I'm traveling all
over the world, you know,telling my story, but inspiring

(22:12):
people and and pushing them.
And and like if I have to be onstage, uh, like we were talking
about before, I'm gonna be inyour town in a couple days.
And and you know, I'm I'm goingon stage at 12 in the morning,
but sound or uh the productionmeetings that is at seven.
So that means you know, I'mflying in the afternoon before.
Um I'm waking up at one o'clockin the morning because I have to
do, I have to do that much timeto be able to know that I'm

(22:33):
gonna be able to step up onstage and be able to speak
clearly.
And so it's a it's a daily fightfor me here, but it's it's
turned into um uh something thatthat I've been able to use to to
reach people to talk aboutresilience, talk about not
giving up, talk about um what doyou do when life hits you so
hard that that you're you knowyou're looking at because I had
three, I had two career changesbecause of things out of my

(22:55):
hands and almost the third, youknow, and I just um and Satan's
always attacking, you know.
We're talking about itbeforehand.
It's just it's it never ends,you know.
But uh, but now you know Godlaid it on my heart to to put it
all in a book.
And so I started writing knockedout but not down.
Um uh a lot uh before any ofthat even happened.

SPEAKER_00 (23:13):
I was just writing about you wrote about it before
you had the 2020 incident.

SPEAKER_01 (23:18):
Yeah, yeah.
So I started on it seven yearsago, and then yeah, I pray that
my wife and I pray that God notonly guides our steps but also
our stops.
And so um Say that again.

SPEAKER_00 (23:27):
Say that again.

SPEAKER_01 (23:28):
Yeah, that God doesn't just guide my steps, He
also guides my stops.
So when God says to do, we do.
But a lot of times we we followGod saying to do, and then he
says, you know what, okay,you've done that for a time,
it's time to do something else.
And we go, Oh, but I'm enjoyingthis, I want to keep doing this.
And it's like, no, it takes ittakes more discipline to stop
than it does to start, honestly.
And but God's if God, like if ifGod told me tomorrow, stop doing

(23:52):
comedy, it's it's it's done itscourse.
Everything I put into it, I'llI'll listen because I've seen
God be so diligent in so manydifferent things.
Um, so I I started writing thebook and then set it down, then
everything else happened.
And then um in November of lastyear, God I heard God say, pick
the book back up.
I want you to start working onit again.
So I started working on it.

(24:13):
I picked it up, just kind of rere-acclimating myself to it.
And then in uh February, I heardGod say, okay, start writing the
next chapter.
So I started writing again, andyou know, I I didn't know, you
know, what I was gonna do as faras getting it out there.
Well, then I opened up myLinkedIn one day and I had six
uh six offers from six differentpublishing companies saying, Are

(24:33):
you interested in doing a book?
We would like for you to do abook.
We want to put it out there foryou.
So prayed about it, saying,Okay, God, this is it.
And God says, Nope.
And I'm like, Well, okay.
So I once again, I'm I'm gonnabe more diligent listening to
God.
And uh then about two weekslater, I got a uh a known, an
unknown, never heard of thempublishing company up in Canada.

(24:53):
And as soon as I opened the theemail message, I heard God say,
This is this is who you're gonnawork with.
Wow, and uh so I I signed a bookdeal with them in March.
Um, and man, it was the exactpeople I needed to work with.

SPEAKER_03 (25:05):
Wow.

SPEAKER_01 (25:06):
And um God just really blessed all of it.
They teamed me with a with anestablished author to help with
the research behind it.
Um and so and just kind ofhelped guide.
And uh I wrote wrote pretty muchstarted over the new chapters.
If if I would have, if Iwouldn't have written those
first chapters seven years ago,I wouldn't have time, I wouldn't
have been able to hit theirdeadline.
And so um, but well, I workedpretty much for three months

(25:29):
solid, and then the book cameout in October, and God has
absolutely blessed it.
Uh came out number one in rodeo.
Uh, our goal was to maybe make atop 100 list in rodeo, uh, the
three categories they picked forthat, uh neuroscience and um
sports biographies.
And we were we had no, we werelike, we're never gonna make the
top 100 list of sportsbiographies.
That's just too stacked of alist.

(25:50):
Neuroscience, maybe we can cracktop 100, but our goal is to
crack the top 100 in rodeo.
And it debuted number one inrodeo, top 10 in neuroscience
and top 25 in sportsbiographies.
And yeah, and God has justabsolutely blessed it.
Um, but even more is the the thefeedback I'm getting.
I mean, the book's only been outfor a month, and the feedback
I'm getting from from people allover the all over the the I uh

(26:13):
North America that are saw thebook on Amazon that was
recommended to them becauseAmazon put it on their top 100
new books to read list.
And so people were were grabbingthe book and and um and and
reading it because it wasrecommended to them and and just
their people who are goingthrough difficult things in
their life and how it helpedthem, but then other people that

(26:34):
have concussion issues thatgives you first hand accounts.
So it it kind of follows mystory of concussions, not really
my story, but also of adversityand all the different things we
face, you know, losing our houseand Hurricane Harvey and and um
having the insurance and FEMAfight over who's gonna pay for
it, and ultimately neither ofthem wanted to pay for it.
And so we had, you know, we'rein a torn-down house and and

(26:55):
having to start completely over,broke as broke can be, you know,
and just watching God movethrough that.
So the whole the whole thing isjust through adversity, through
all that, a lot of stories, lotof stuff.
And so just what following God'sleading on everything I'm doing
has got me to where where we'reat today.
And now, you know, it yes, I hadto deal with all this, but God
is placing me in front of peoplewhere I can I can be an effect

(27:18):
to them.
Like we were talking aboutbefore.
I'm not I I go into churches andI do a lot of like comedy at
churches and I do a lot of uhspeaking at churches, but I also
I go into a lot of uh bars, I gointo a lot of these other
things, and that's where God hasme doing comedy in these dance
halls and places like that, andI'm able to do to bring God to
them.
Um I speak at a lot of these, alot of these big companies that

(27:39):
bring me in to speak.
I have to sign a clause that Ican't I won't speak any politics
or religion.
And so I can't mention God fromthe stage, but that doesn't mean
I can't still mention God'sprinciples, and so I'll I'll
still 100% um be be use ofscripture.
I'm just not saying turn yourBibles to, you know, and still
use those same principles andstill instill God's principles

(27:59):
into people's lives, um, eventhough I'm not uh necessarily
allowed to mention that it'sfrom the Bible or that it's
about principles, if that makessense.

SPEAKER_00 (28:08):
Yeah, totally.
And I I love um I just want togo back for a second where you
where you even uh common threadwith your life.
Um I can see where even you hadthis one day in particular where
you're getting like text offerson LinkedIn for people to help
publish your book and you likestop when you talk about

(28:29):
stopping and you were just likethere's the right you know
coming out of the like oh that'swhat it's like, right?
Yeah, but you had enough umwhere was all to stop and ask
for it, like is it for me andyou didn't go with it.
You waited for the right theright people to help you move

(28:51):
forward.
It was a better I think you saidit was kind of like a a not well
known is that race?

SPEAKER_01 (28:57):
Yeah, they they they were kind of just starting.
Um they've been around for maybea year.
Um and they're they've beenthey're knocking out a ton of
books right now, mainly in thethe motivational speaking world
and sports.
They they have a lot of sportsathletes and and stuff.
Um and uh they've just beenphenomenal to work with.
Like they that uh and it wasreally it was really a kind of a
God thing, you know.

(29:18):
Totally.
Yeah, I mean uh yeah, but I meanit was, it absolutely was, but
it was it just was like, youknow, I'm I I've always and I
think a lot of it is becausethere's times where I didn't
listen to God and I and it tookme longer to to dig myself out
of those holes.
And so um then I'd rather bewhere God wants me to be than
where I want to be.
And it it always a perfectexample is as is what I do now.

(29:42):
So I'm you know, here I am, uh,you know, I've been working in
church for, you know, 15, 14, 15years, 16 years at this point.
And you know, my royal careerwas over, and and God was kind
of laying on my wife and I'veheart that he was gonna be
taking us through a uh not asmall change, but a very big
change.
So um I didn't know what thatmeant, you know, uh if that
meant that, you know, I I neverwanted to be a senior pastor.

(30:05):
I enjoy being the guy that kindof is in the back mentoring and
training people and and and andyou know, I don't I don't have
to be the guy type of a thing.
And so I was like, you know, Ireally don't want to do that,
but if that's what God wants meto do, I will.
And I heard God say that's notwhat it is.
And and I remember one time inprayer, God asked, I just heard
God say, What do you want to do?
And I said, you know what I'dlove to do is to be a

(30:26):
motivational speaker.
Like I love every time I'vegotten to speak at schools or go
speak at a business, especiallywhen I was riding bulls and the
and the and because I was a bullrider who could speak, the PBR
would use me to be the one to gointo schools and to go into
places and and talk because Imost bull riders are shy and and
they don't they can't me on theother hand.
I you know, I've I've been likeI said, I was preaching since I
was 15.
I I was used to it.

(30:47):
And I've loved that, would loveto do that.
So I remember thinking, okay,this is what I'm gonna do.
God's change is gonna be thatI'm a motivational speaker.
And we're driving to Christmasin in um, I think it's 2018.
We're driving across Texas to myin-laws in El Paso.
And um, I heard God say, youknow, we were my wife and I were

(31:08):
fasting, and I heard God say, Idon't want you to play any
anything on the on the radio oranything this entire drive
because during this drive isone, I'm gonna tell you what the
change is gonna be.
Well, that's tough.
I mean, it's a 13-hour drive,and you got two kids in the car,
and you got and you're saying,Yeah, then we're not gonna
listen to anything, it's gonnabe dead silence in here for 13
hours.

SPEAKER_00 (31:25):
And how old were your kids at the time?

SPEAKER_01 (31:27):
Um, they were probably uh, I want to say,
let's see, that's what we're in2025.
So I want to say they would havebeen like sixth grade and eighth
grade, maybe.
I'm not sure.
Wow, yeah, junior high.
And uh we're a few hours intothe trip, and I heard God say,
Okay, um, I want you to be astand-up comedian.
And here I'm thinking he's gonnasay, You're gonna be a

(31:47):
motivational speaker.
You asked me, What do I want todo?
And I told you I want to be amotivational speaker.
And I heard God say, I want youto be a stand-up comedian, and I
and I actually laughed.

SPEAKER_00 (31:57):
Did you laugh?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (31:58):
I laughed and I was like, Yeah, you're funny, God.
Yeah, not gonna happen.
And then my wife goes, Have youever thought about being a
stand-up comedian?
Well, then I'm kind of a littleupset because God went around me
to her because I laughed at it,you know, kind of a Sarah
moment.

SPEAKER_00 (32:10):
Wow, and how how short of a time span was that
that you're getting accustomedto?

SPEAKER_01 (32:16):
45 seconds.

SPEAKER_00 (32:17):
45 seconds, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (32:19):
45 seconds to a minute.

SPEAKER_00 (32:20):
I was gonna say it wasn't eight seconds, that would
have been yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (32:23):
I I I I joke that you know God God said it to me,
and I'm so airheaded that itjust went through one ear and
out the other and hit her aslike she heard it.
But uh but then so I'm like,okay, so we're talking about it
a little bit on the drive, likewhat would that be?
And I'm like, I just I don'tknow.
That's just not that's notsomething that sounds fun to me
at all.
Yeah, and then I get a phonecall and it's from one of my
best friends from rodeo, andhe's not the kind of guy to do

(32:45):
that well, he he's the kind ofguy that'll make fun of
comedians, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 (32:49):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (32:50):
And he he calls and he says, Man, I was praying and
I really feel like I needed tocall you and and ask you, have
you ever thought about being astand-up comedian?
And I'm like, Okay, God, I getit.
You know, so we drive the restof the way, I'm thinking through
it.
I'm I'm thinking througheverything I'm supposed to be
doing and and how that what thatlooks like, you know.
I get to my in-laws, I ask themabout it, and they're like, you
know, they're fully supportive.

(33:10):
So I'm like, okay.
So I I start doing this comedything.
Well, then the the HIE thinghappens, the hypoxic extemic
encephalapathy, and I lose myvoice and I have to get all that
back.
And so I'm doing comedy.
And um uh God has instead oftrying to get on with other
people, I'm just like, I'm justgonna do my own thing.
So I started buying, I startedrenting out uh dance halls

(33:32):
around Texas and Oklahoma andLouisiana, and then uh and I was
selling them out ever like wewent on like a 26 show sellout
street where I was selling outevery show.
You know, some of them are fouror five, six hundred people,
which in comedy that's that's abig show.
Like most comedy clubs are youknow, 30, 40 people is
considered a good show.
And so um that they these theseuh dance halls, they keep a

(33:54):
record of that and it takenotice.
And so the Texas music industryreached out to me and they said
we're doing a conference with umpeople who are their job is
booking uh musicians and andthey're the movers and shakers
in the Texas music industry, notjust country, but uh rappers and
Chihane and and or Tejano orwhatever they call it, the
Mexican music and like all thisdifferent stuff.

(34:17):
Um that we want you to come talkto us about how you're uh
selling these venues out becausewe're coming out of COVID and
we're struggling to sell showsout.
And so um, so I'm like, okay, soI go to this conference, and as
I'm driving down there, youknow, I've written this whole
speech.
I had I had uh a whole hour.
I was gonna be one of theirkeynote speakers for the day.
Have this whole hour speechwritten out, and I heard God

(34:38):
say, I want you to tell yourstory.
I'm like, well, I'm not gonna dothat to them.
They called me specifically todo something, but I'm like,
okay, I'm gonna I'm gonnadefinitely listen to this.
So then the rest of that drive,I'm like, what would that look
like?
I need to write a speech.
Like, I've never really told mystory from stage, I've never
really talked about myconcussions from stage.
And uh around that same time, amagazine had written an article
about me, a Western magazine,that um last time you saw me was

(35:01):
riding bulls, now you're seeinghim on the comedy stage, and it
told my story.
Well, when I get there, the guythat's putting the conference on
had read that magazine articleand he said, Hey, I know it's
kind of a last-minute change,but could you just tell your
story?
So I get up and I just tell mystory.
No notes, no nothing.
Just tell my story and just kindof let God lead in front of all
these people you know who werewho are there.

(35:22):
Well, in the crowd is uh an oldkeynote speaker, uh retired
international speaker.
And um, he comes up to me and hesays, Man, you really need to do
this.
Have you ever thought aboutbeing a motivational speaker?
And I said, It's it's what I'dlove to do.
I would love to do that.
And he said, Well, it's notsomething you can just show up
and do.
Like you have to you have to putthe work in.
And he said, I'm I'm retired, Ibut I I believe so much in how

(35:46):
you can affect people with whatyou have to bring.
I want to help you.
And so for a year, I worked withthis guy, and um, and we're and
it God just throws me into this,right?
And and now all of a sudden I'mtraveling and speaking, and I
remember um I'm on stage infront of like four or five
thousand people, and I'mtalking, telling my story, and

(36:06):
I'm talking about, you know, um,because I bring actionable
things.
So I'm talking about what I callthe 15-minute rule and how to
handle change, and and the onlythree three things I can control
are my my work ethic, myattitude, and my mentality.
And I'm talking about this andhow if any of those three things
stink, I'm not gonna succeed inin getting through this change
or through this adversity,whatever it is.
And I just heard God say,Remember what you said you

(36:28):
wanted to do.
And I looked out at this crowdand I'm like, I'm doing it.

SPEAKER_03 (36:31):
And it was like, what a moment.

SPEAKER_01 (36:33):
God get but God wants my obedience.
And I and I, this is one of thethings I talk about when
churches bring me in is beingdiligent in obedience, is that
God said, This is what I wantyou to do, but He He was like,
But I I want to know howobedient you are.
So I'm gonna give you somethingcompletely off the wall.
And I was obedient in that.
And then God was like, Okay,through that opened a door that

(36:54):
would not have happened had Inot done comedy.
If I hadn't done any of thecomedy at all, that door would
have never opened at all.
And so we're and so like I'mvery big on when God says to do
something, do it, regardless ofhow wild it seems.
I mean, you look at how manytimes in the Bible they did that
God would say, you know, dothis.
And it's like that's like throwyour staff on the ground.

(37:17):
What why throw my staff on theground?
Like it's like an issue fat?
Like, what do you want, youknow?
And God and and because Godwants your obedience.
David and Saul both um bothsinned.
But David repented.
Saul stayed in disobedience.
David kept his kingdom despiteit.
Saul lost his kingdom because ofhow important obedience is to

(37:41):
God.
And so for me, it's like, okay,God, what do you if if you tell
me tomorrow to stop doing all ofit, I'll stop doing all of it
tomorrow because that's you itthat you are putting me, and it
takes the pressure off of me,you know, where I don't feel
like I have to get up andperform.
Comedy is so hard to do, it'sthe hardest thing I've ever done
in my life because one nightyou're you're just slaying and

(38:01):
you get a standing ovation, andeverybody's laughing at
everything you say, and then thenext night it's crickets and
they're just looking at you likeit's just it's just the weirdest
phenomenon I've ever seen, andevery comedian struggles with
it.
I've I've been there when KevinHart bombed completely in front
of a crowd, just I mean, bombed.
And it didn't phase him at allbecause he's like, That's
comedy.
You know, you think, oh, he'ssomeone who's gonna be great all

(38:23):
the time.
Everybody bomb, everybody doesit, you know.
And um, and and but with all ofthat, like uh the pressures on
you as a comedian to try to makepeople laugh because you're
like, they're here to see me,they're buying tickets to see
me, and you have this mentalityif I don't perform well that
that I'm that that I'm failingthem.
And so comedians go through thisroller coaster of emotions, of

(38:46):
highs, extreme highs, andextreme lows.
And it's why you see a a lot ofcomedians uh commit suicide is
because they can't handle that.
And I and it was something thatMichael Jr.
had said.
Um, I can't remember if he if hesaid it to me or if I if I
watched it on a on a deal onetime, but um it it changed
everything because he he said,Stop trying to get laughs from

(39:07):
people.
You should be gifting laughterto somebody else.
It changes your entire mindsetthat you're not there to get
laughs from others, you're thereto gift them laughter.
And there's somebody therethat's going through something,
there's somebody there that'sstruggling in life, and you are
gifting them the gift oflaughter, you are giving them
that deal to escape from whatthey're doing.
And the pressure is no longer onme to try to perform to get

(39:30):
something from the crowd.
Now it's me to meet them wherethey're at.
And ever since change thatmentality, I haven't bombed
since.
Like I have not just had whereit's just like a you know, you
have more smaller crowds, and soyou don't get the you get used
to that raucous laughter from,you know, if you got a thousand
people in the room and half ofthem are laughing, that's still
500 people laughing.
If 10 are in the room, they hearthemselves laugh and they stop

(39:52):
laughing, you know, because theydon't want to people don't want
to hear themselves laugh.
And so you you but you're you'restill laboring through that, but
you can see their face, and soyou zero in on that person, like
you can tell from stage theperson that needs it.
And it's it's become a wholeother ministry for me, just of
what God can do through that.
And it just takes that pressureoff, okay, God, I'm gonna be
obedient and I'm no longer it'snot about me, it's not about uh

(40:14):
them laughing to give me um toto feed my ego or anything, it's
about me sacrificing everythingI have to bring to them
something to set them out.
And and the the one that alwayssticks out to me, we were at
this dance hall inHowlett'sville, Texas, and I
have a photo, it's like one ofmy favorite photos, it's from
behind because it's these fourboys sitting in front and
they're laughing.

(40:35):
And so it's one of my favoritephotos, I put it.
everywhere.
But there's these four teenageboys.
And you know, I had a bunch ofdifferent openers and a bunch of
different stuff before me.
And these kids weren't laughing,weren't laughing.
And then they started so slowly.
And then the feature rightbefore me, they started really
getting into it laughing.
Well when I get up, they're justthey're bending over, they're
holding their bellies, they'rejust covering.
And so I go back to the to themerch table and and who I think

(40:58):
is their parents come up to meand they're like, you have no
idea what tonight meant to us.
He said those four boys arebrothers and their parents were
killed in a car wreck about amonth and a half ago.

SPEAKER_03 (41:08):
Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 (41:09):
And they have not left the house.
They have not done anything andwe wanted to get them out to
enjoy life again.
And so we thought a clean comedyshow what a better thing so we
bought them first row front rowtickets.

SPEAKER_03 (41:18):
Oh my God.

SPEAKER_01 (41:19):
And like that is my memory every time of where I'm
like you know it's two o'clockin the morning and I'm driving
home at night and I'm tired andI just don't you know I just
lost a thousand bucks and travelbecause I didn't get paid as
much as they said they weregoing to pay me and you know you
just all and you're juststruggling I pull that picture
up and say this is why I'm doingthis.
Because yep every time becausethis is why I'm doing it.

(41:41):
This is the fact I mean that ththose boys they may never
remember it or they may alwaysremember it.
I don't know but I will alwaysremember this because it was
yeah because it's that this iswhat it's almost like God saying
this is what I place you herefor now.
You know?

SPEAKER_00 (41:55):
Yes oh my goodness that I mean it it it carries
over in so many things what youtalked about with you know not
just getting but giving rightbecause I feel like just the way
of the world is what can you getyeah we need to change that to
like what can you give and whatis what are your gifts that you

(42:16):
can give to this world?
Not not what are the gifts thatyou can get from this world.

SPEAKER_01 (42:21):
It's it's where I think that give me or see press
down shaking together runningover.
You know we we we just go okaywatch I just need to give money
and then I'll get money presseddown.
It's everything you give.

SPEAKER_03 (42:30):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (42:30):
And it's it falls back to treat those the way you
want to be treated.
If if I want it it's the way Ithink about if I want if I want
someone to think about me youknow one way then I'm not going
to I'm going to think that wayabout other people because I'm
going to get that back in returnpressed down shaking together
running over.
If I want people to to be niceto me I'm going to be nice to
people because then I'm going toget that back.
But in the same sense if I'm ajerk to people they're going to

(42:51):
be a jerk to me because you'regoing to get that back.
And so um I'm all about ourmindset has to know we we have
to take it off ourselves.
And it's so hard because we aresuch selfish people.
You know and if you think youaren't so like I tell people
this if you think you aren'tselfish go take a group photo
who's the first person you lookfor in the photo right and you

(43:13):
say I'm not selfish then but yougo and and if everybody else
looks good but your eyes wereclosed no we got to take the
photo again.
You know what I mean?
It's like you're you you we tryto say we're not selfish but we
are by nature.
Now me honestly a first person Ilook for is my wife because if
if she looks good I look good.
And so if if she doesn't lookgood then you know but she
always looks good.
But you know what I'm sayinglike that's like that because I

(43:34):
don't I don't care I know Ialready look like a goober as it
is and so but but we as humanslike we're naturally selfish.
And so when we meet somebodyit's what can I get from them
and we we put this label onpeople when when we meet them we
give them a number rating.
And we we may not do itconsciously but subconsciously
we give them a number ratingbased on the biggest thing what

(43:54):
can I get from them?
And we we rate them based onwhat they're wearing, how
they're talking how many teeththey have how many teeth they
don't have how many you know wewe rate them and we give them
this number system in our oursubconscious of what we can get
from them and how valuable theyare to us.
It's why like you'll see peopleum I see this phenomenon all the

(44:15):
time where you'll have like youknow there's there's this
there's one lady she's verypowerful in the in the comedy
world and if people don't knowwho she is they look at her and
she's she's this bubbly just funperson and they'll look at her
and you'll see comedians be likeoh she's just you know look at
look at that lady sitting in thefront row she and they'll start
making fun of her.
And then someone tells them whothey who she is and they're all
of a sudden like oh she'samazing and their whole

(44:38):
mentality changes becausethey're like oh she can get me
on bigger stages.
That's somebody who hasconnections that and so they
went from giving them giving hera one to giving her a 10 and and
my philosophy in life iseverybody's a 10.

SPEAKER_02 (44:49):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (44:50):
If I meet them I'm going to treat them like I can
get every like I like I would ifthey were the you know somebody
who could give me everything inthe world.
Like because that's what youryour brain wants to do.
I let them move that number downbased on their integrity based
on their how they treat otherpeople how they that number will
move down and really honestlyit's hard for me to move the
number back up if they move itdown.

(45:10):
But I'm not going to put them ina box of first impressions
exactly and and start offbecause you know you just you
never know who somebody and wewe we our our subconscious is
always what can I get from otherpeople that that's how we view
people our relationship withthem and it and really honestly
our our people are God'sgreatest treasure.

(45:31):
We should never miss anopportunity no matter who they
are that God that that we couldbe making an impact in their
life and we could be that personlike if I want God to trust me
with things I need him to trustme with a little that means when
I'm at the airport and I'm tiredand someone comes up and just
wants to talk to me and tell metheir story.
And I want to just be like walkaway I don't even have to be
like you know what they need totell their story to somebody so

(45:53):
I'm going to sit here and I'mgoing to talk to them and I'm
going to pray over them or I'mgoing to whatever it is.
I'm just going to give thisperson that time of day and God
bless you back.
I we were I was laid over theother day at an airport and you
know anytime you're flying it'sjust kind of the way of the
world right now.
And everybody's getting mad andeverybody's going up to the
ladies and they're throwing afit and they're mad at them and
it's not their fault that theplane is having issues.

(46:14):
And so um I went and got somefood and when I come back they
make the announcement we want tobuy everybody dinner.
Well I just got dinner and solike what am I going to spend
this money this little bellvoucher on it has to be here.
So I just went up to the ladiesand I said what's your favorite
candy like you guys have beenjust going through all of it.
What's your favorite candy?
And they're like well I saidthere's a candy store right
there.
You guys have been through ityou take it home it or your kids

(46:36):
spent candy whatever it is and Iwent spent that money and I
brought it back to them.
Didn't expect anything in returnjust you guys have been through
hell with everybody just justtearing and it's not your fault
and they were grateful of it.
Well we finally get a flight tocome in they had a uh first
class seat was open becausesomebody got mad and left and
went got another flight guesswho they called up to the deal

(46:57):
to give that first class seat toyou know and so it's like God
will bless you back.
And I and I've done itregardless of it yeah I wasn't
expecting that I was like ohthis is this is great thank you
so much you know like but it'slike if it's just it people say
it's you know being nice is aweakness and no it's not like
being nice is the hardest thingto do because your natural your

(47:17):
natural is to be a jerk.
Your natural is to well you'rewasting my time or you're and if
you force yourself to lovepeople you do more ministry
through that it my my son incollege was was is working as a
as a waiter my daughter now tooand they say Sundays are the
worst days because church peopleare the worst tippers and

(47:38):
they're the most rude people andthen they then we wonder why
non-Christians want nothing todo with the church.
When that is what we're showingpeople is you know you're yeah
okay you're tired but that's noexcuse to treat that person like
a jerk because you are you areshowing them Christ whether you
think it or not and you youshould be showing them the

(47:59):
fruits of the spirit ratheryou're showing them the fruits
of your flesh and they'reinterpreting that as being what
Christians should be.
And that's and that's why thesepeople shut God off that's why
they shut the church off wantnothing to do with it because of
the people not being so selfishabout what they want and what
they feel and what they ratherthan every opportunity we step

(48:20):
out is an opportunity to to showChrist to somebody but yet we
want to preach to them onFacebook.
We want to shove the word of Goddown their throat.
We want to point fingers at themwhen they're doing stuff wrong
and you've lost that credibilitybecause you've not built up any
equity to speak into their lifebecause you're not showing them
what God has done in your lifeyou're not showing them the love
of God to where they're theywant to hear from you in their

(48:42):
life.

unknown (48:43):
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (48:43):
You know I I the comedians I'm around I don't
preach at them at all.
We'll be in a car and drive allacross the United States and I
won't preach it them at all.
But I'll tell you what when theyare going through something I'm
the guy they call or when theywant when they have that they
start looking into that type ofstuff you know they've they've
earned that respect.
Yeah or I've earned that respectbecause I'm showing them God's

(49:04):
love I'm showing them God'smercy I'm showing them God's
grace I'm not pointing a fingerat them I don't want the the
plank in my eye because I'mtrying to point at the sliver in
theirs and so we it's all aboutgiving not getting and it's a
lot easier said than done andyou have to make it habitual and
even as habitual as it is for meI have to remind myself all the
time of it because especiallywhen I'm flying and traveling

(49:25):
I'm tired I'm cranky I don'twant to I don't want to be
around people you know peoplesay what's your pet peeve and I
say nouns.
People places things that's mypet peeve they all annoy me.

SPEAKER_00 (49:34):
Yeah so well it's I I I can only imagine if you're
probably similar to me like I Ifeel like I have to make room
because people just naturallytell me their whole story.
Yeah the grocery store like onan airplane like anywhere you
go.
Yeah it's such a privilege thatsomebody would feel like safe

(49:55):
with you.

SPEAKER_01 (49:56):
And um it's so hard to sit there and have that look
on your face like you you haveto make yourself care because
you can't take a caring face.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (50:06):
Well no I think this might be you know similar to
what you're saying I I like tojust remember just serve fruit.
Serve the fruits of the spiritright to serve serve it.
Serve the fruit bring bring it.
People are hungry for the fruitright now.
The the true fruits of thespirit and um I just love I love
your story.

(50:27):
I love the ways that you arewalking this out the ways that
you are meeting people wherethey are um and just your heart
to appreciate that yes you knowyou you may be on stages and you
know you're willing to go sitwith somebody in the front row
and and see them.
Like you see them you see peoplebeyond the stage.

(50:49):
So thank you for just having aheart like you do.
I know God created you this waybut it is work to stay that way
right oh it's not it's not mychoice like so like to to
naturally I want to be so NickMorrison is my name.

SPEAKER_01 (51:06):
I go back you know I trace back to a guy named Marion
Morrison which everybody elseknows him as John Wayne.
So that is you know if you ifyou want to know what a being a
Morrison's like just watch JohnWayne.
Like here we you know we alwaysjoke like all of the Morrisons
that are in ministry it was justproof that God is is real
because we go out in public andI'm I'm driving trying to find a

(51:27):
parking spot and I'm justmuttering people are God's
greatest treasure people areGod's greatest treasure because
I just want to run someone overyou know because they just annoy
me so much.
But it's just like it's not anatural thing by any means.
It's it's a it's a work at it toto do thing because I can't
control what other people saywhat other people think what
other people do.
I can't control what hashappened in my past which a lot
of it has happened.

(51:48):
I can only control what I domoving forward.
I can only like I said I canonly control my work ethic my
attitude and my mentality andnone of those can can stink
because if they do then then I'mI'm not going to be successful
because I'm gonna is is what I'msaying out of my mouth matching
what I want for my life.
Like if if I'm complaining aboutstuff then that's all I'm doing
is complaining.

(52:09):
You know our we have a rule inour house no excuses.
And so like okay we got 15minutes to to be mad about it
but at some point you have tosay okay I can't control this
anymore we have to move forwardwhat can what can I control?
And the big thing around otherpeople is I can control my
attitude and it's it's hardthere's a lot of times I want to
just be I want to be a jerk.

(52:30):
I want to be but it's like noyou know I I need to it's more
important that I show them God'sfruit the fruits of spirit than
it is that I show them what Iwant to show them you know well
you have been a joy to have onhere today.

SPEAKER_00 (52:44):
I would love for you to share what is the name of
your book.

SPEAKER_01 (52:47):
So it's called Knocked Out but not down.
You can find it on so we just wejust did an exclusive deal with
Amazon so it's only on Amazonright now.
So it's uh knocked out but notdown.
Uh you just look up my name NickMorrison knocked out and it
should start popping up or NickMorrison book um and uh and
you'll see it there and it's onit's on uh paperback hardcover
and it's on Kindle and uh Amazonjust added it to their Kindle

(53:10):
Unlimited so if anybody hasKindle Unlimited they they they
can uh go and read it on thereum and and share it with
somebody and and uh and blesssomebody that way so awesome
well what is the best way for umpeople to get a hold of you if
they want to reach out so um youcan uh the the best ways like uh
if you want to look into I I'vegot three different areas you

(53:30):
can go uh number one they canjust go follow me on Instagram
uh uh Nick Morrison Comedy onInstagram um or they can they
can look me up on Facebook andfollow too uh I do a lot more of
my personal stuff there but it'sjust peak nick is the
facebook.com slash peanutick umbut if they're wanting to look
at um the the comedy side ofthings they can go to nick
morrisoncomedy.com or thespeaker side of things they can

(53:52):
go to nick morrison speaker.comthey're two separate websites uh
managed by two differentmanagement teams um but you can
get a hold of me through throughthose um you can uh go to the
book now and and go through thatprocess and it'll send an email
out and if it's if uh if you'reuh if you're looking to to book
me I I really appreciate yougoing through that and would
love to talk with with uh youknow the church the different

(54:14):
churches you know I that that'skind of where we're sending the
uh this next wave of focus is umI've been doing a lot of these
uh Saturday night comedy showsthese like a fundraiser or a uh
volunteer banquet or somethingand then speaking that Sunday
morning or just even coming inand doing comedy Sunday morning
if that's what they want andspeaking just a little bit just
doing a little bit on thebackside of that however they
want it um uh you know we we uhyou can go to that

(54:38):
nickmaricksonspeaker.com and itit's a brand new website just
launched uh a few days agoactually yeah and so they can
email me at nick atnickmorrisons speaker dot com as
well um if they need to just geta hold of me directly so awesome
and I'll be sure to puteverything in the show notes you
guys can access that easily.

SPEAKER_00 (54:55):
As we close today, um I would love for you to just
share you know I I do thispodcast for the one and beyond
of course but um if you getsomebody in mind um is there
anything else you would love tojust share over the one any
words of encouragement or wisdomand then would you pray us out
today?

SPEAKER_01 (55:12):
Yeah um my big deal is is that no matter what you're
facing, no matter what you'regoing through um that there is
light at the end of that tunnel.
It may not seem like it now itmay not seem um you have to
focus on the positive uh youjust stop focusing on the
negative and everything that'sgoing wrong and everything
that's going if you're in a darktunnel as long as there's a

(55:34):
speck of light you know thatthere's hope at the end of that.
So grab onto that light andfocus on the positive that's
going always find something goodeven if it's the worst that
could be happening in your life.
And and listen I've had some badI've had some crazy stuff happen
to me and there's alwayssomething good you can find out
of that to hang on to and putyour faith in God through and

(55:55):
that there's going to be victoryat the other side and if Satan's
attacking and if it's coming atyou from every angle that
usually means there's somethinghe's afraid of and there's
something he doesn't want you todo.
Like he tried to take my voicefrom me because he didn't want
me to speak you know and so umyou have like just know that
that that on that other side andthat with Satan attacking all of

(56:15):
us stuff happening right now inour life it's just I'm more
excited than anything.
I mean it sucks to go throughbut I'm more excited because I
know that there's he wouldn't beattacking this hard if there
wasn't something huge on theother side.
And so just no matter whatyou're going through don't give
in to the to the poor me and theand the uh even falling into the

(56:36):
pity party and getting bitterand and and mad at everybody
else control what you cancontrol focus on the positive
and know that there's there'svictory on the other side.
Yes so good father I thank youthat uh thank you for Kristen's
heart for what she's you haveher doing father I thank you
that uh for the people she'sreaching the people she's
pouring her her life into andusing her story as well father I

(56:58):
pray that that whoever'slistening to this podcast if
there's someone out there thatthat needs to hear it that they
that they come across thispodcast and it and it speaks
directly to them and whatthey're dealing with in their
life father I pray that youcontinue to bless everything
that Kristen is doing movingforward father I pray that uh
that you guide her through thethings that she's going through
with her life now as well Fatherand the the the the the the

(57:19):
victory on the other side ofthat as well is uh is going to
be amazing and I can't wait tohear uh the this the testimony
of that on the other side fatherbut I pray that you continue to
bless everybody and that buteven more that we get the the
value of other people and thevalue of showing your love to
other people father and thatother people that we're never
too good for someone else.

(57:40):
And that whoever's listening tothis that that they can grasp a
hold of that the next time thatthey're standing in line at the
grocery store and wanting to beupset that that maybe God's
putting them there for a reasonthat there's someone there that
they need to minister to notpreach to them about you know
and puke the word of God allover them but rather just show
them God's love and and andfaithfulness and and kindness
Father I just praise you andthank you that you bless

(58:02):
everything uh with this podcastmoving forward and uh thank you
for letting me be a part of itin Jesus' name amen.

SPEAKER_00 (58:08):
Thank you Nick Amen.
Wow well thank you so much forbeing a brave voice who's
setting so many free I'm gonnaclose with the Hope Unlocked
anchoring verse which is may theGod of hope fill you with all
joy and peace and believing sothat by the power of the Holy
Spirit you may abound in hope.
And that's Romans 1513.
So thank you again Nick forcoming on I will be back with

(58:30):
another episode next week.
Thanks listeners

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