The Red Letter Disciple Episode 14

014: Todd Doxzon Breaks Down His Journey From the NFL to Church Planting

Todd Doxzon was an NFL player living from himself until a mentoring relationship with Kurt Warner, a number of trades, and a series of injuries took him out of the game forever. He refocused his life on following Christ after reading the entire Bible in a year. Doxzon planted Love Church in Omaha, NE, and is committed to sharing God’s best with others.

The gap between how quickly you change and how quickly things change is called irrelevance. The Art of Leading Change course, taught by leadership expect Carey Nieuwhof, is a step-by-step guide to navigating the right changes and implementing them successfully. In the program, you get the entire playbook for leading change—from start to finish—including what changes are worth the risk, when to make changes, how quickly to make them, and how to communicate change. Plus, learn how to do this while minimizing the opposition and pushback. Until August 31st, you can sign up for The Art of Leading Change at it’s introductory price by visiting theartofleadingchange.com.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

180Ministries

Love Church

Key insights from the episode:

You can be a competitor and still love Jesus. I never knew!  I always thought those were two mutually exclusive ideas.Todd Doxzon

I found when I would excel athletically and would get attention, affirmation, and acceptance, my identity began to be based on performance. On one hand, it’s good because it creates a crazy drive to succeed; on the other hand, what happens when that goes away? – Todd Doxzon 

There’s a lot of people out there who are saying, “I’m gonna show you, Dad,” “I’m gonna show you, girlfriend,” so it’s power, but tragically, if it’s not converted into an identity of “I know who I am and I want to maximize what God’s given me,” then there are problems. It’s a mind shift. – Todd Doxon 

If I’m fully convinced that I have all I need in Christ, then I’m not as needy for other people’s approval or to desire to be in the “in crowd” anymore. We built bridges and reached these athletes through relationships and serving. – Todd Doxzon

There were little ways where you would just serve. We lead with service and unconditional love, not judgment, and it built bridges.  – Todd Doxzon

When I’d go to a new team, one of the first things I would do is open up my Bible. Not in a weird way, but I wanted early on for them to know who I was. – Todd Doxzon

The blanket question I am asking all the time is, “Lord, what are you inviting me into in this season?”Todd Doxzon

Bring it real. Don’t be a phony, bring it real. – Todd Doxzon

Words that the church and disciples are not known for as much are the things the world needs: fulfillment, joy, and happiness. – Zach Zehnder

We need to redefine and help people to see that, yes, God wants something great for you! God’s happy! Heaven is a party! What about any of this says God doesn’t care about happiness? – Zach Zehnder

Todd Doxzon’s Challenge: RESET: Rest, Evaluate, Saturate, Elevate, and Transition. Find some time to RESET this week. 

Todd talked a lot about your identity being shaped by God, and not the other way around. Did you know that we find our identity in our relationship with God. But how do you grow in your relationship with God? There was only one person who has ever existed in a perfect relationship with God, and His name was Jesus. Being Challenge introduces you to the habits that Jesus practiced, which are habits we are called to practice. The more we “Be” like Jesus, the more we will see our true identity. What are you waiting for? If you want to go deeper into leading yourself (and your church) to building the habits of Jesus, we’d love to introduce you to the 40-Day Being Challenge.

Lead yourself (and your church) to be more like Jesus.

Many Christians today aren’t great at maintaining the habits of Jesus. 

Even the most “mature” Christians struggle with opening up in community, prioritizing prayer, and seeking regular solitude. But that doesn’t have to be your story. 

The Being Challenge guides you through 40 days of practical, simple-to-understand challenges to help you learn, develop, and grow in the five keystone habits of Jesus.

You can learn more about the challenge here!

Some not-so-key insights:

Todd Doxzon is the nicest Iowa State graduate Chris has ever met. 

Alliteration and acronyms are Zach’s love languages outside of food. 

Todd Doxzon’s best years were his first three years since he moved to Omaha, NE when he was four years old. 

Watch the entire season for free: 

We’ll be uploading every episode of season two of The Red Letter Disciple on our YouTube Channel. If you aren’t subscribed already, you can do so here!

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