Podcast:
Nick Lowery: NFL Legend on Faith, Philanthropy & Life Beyond Football | Cross Examined Ep. 6

00:00:00.160 Welcome to Cross-examine with the
00:00:01.600 Gerbers. I’m Megan Gerber and this is
00:00:04.080 Mr. Ken Gerber.
00:00:08.639 >> Ken, who do we have on today?
00:00:10.080 >> We are blessed to have NFL legend and
00:00:12.880 worldrenowned humanitarian Nick Lowry
00:00:15.200 with us.
00:00:16.239 >> This will be a 41yd attempt.
00:00:18.560 >> No one kicks better than Nick. Nick
00:00:20.560 Lowry of the Kansas City Chiefs. The
00:00:22.640 most accurate kicker in the history of
00:00:24.560 the NFL.
00:00:30.400 How are you, Nick? Great to see you.
00:00:32.880 >> You know what’s so funny is I literally
00:00:34.960 was about to make a post today. I get
00:00:37.280 friend requests where people are like,
00:00:38.640 "I’m worldrenowned." And then I go on
00:00:40.480 their page and I’m like, "They have four
00:00:42.160 friends. How are they worldrenowned?"
00:00:43.680 You really are the real dealown.
00:00:46.640 >> Well, thank you. Um, by the way,
00:00:48.160 cross-examining it, ladies and
00:00:50.640 gentlemen,
00:00:52.239 uh, Megan Gerber is the female Perry
00:00:55.280 Mason, and by the end of this broadcast,
00:00:58.800 she will have dissected me
00:01:01.120 psychologically, basically destroyed me
00:01:04.000 psychologically, and I will go home with
00:01:06.560 if I had a tail with a tail between my
00:01:08.400 legs because that’s what
00:01:10.560 >> that’s what cross-examinations done by
00:01:12.880 the best do.
00:01:15.200 >> Exactly. Thank you for that setup. I
00:01:17.439 appreciate that, Nick.
00:01:18.479 >> Can’t wait. Can’t wait.
00:01:20.400 >> We’re we’re also cross-examining our
00:01:22.799 lives in view of the cross. And so with
00:01:25.520 that in mind, Nick, can you give us a
00:01:27.520 little bit of uh background about your
00:01:29.600 faith and where you are with that?
00:01:31.600 >> Yeah. Um, I was very uncomfortable
00:01:35.119 talking about this probably
00:01:37.920 25 years ago
00:01:40.479 and I feel emotion coming up right now
00:01:42.400 because it’s just been a transformation
00:01:44.799 over time with beautiful people starting
00:01:46.880 with uh Dick Johnson at St. Alvin
00:01:49.680 School. I was an acolyte at at the
00:01:51.280 National Cathedral where John McCain and
00:01:53.119 Ronald Reagan and many famous people
00:01:54.720 were buried where all the presidents
00:01:56.479 line up and pass notes between each
00:01:58.320 other. Um,
00:02:00.799 and my parents, you know, put me through
00:02:03.439 Episcopalian, communion, all those
00:02:05.920 things. Um, I used to watch the minister
00:02:09.199 at the ca at the cathedral after every
00:02:11.520 service on Sunday mornings, make sure he
00:02:13.440 took care of all of that wine, which I
00:02:15.040 always found amusing. Um, but seriously,
00:02:18.560 talking about it was a different thing.
00:02:20.239 And Dick Johnson
00:02:22.239 uh was my mentor and and kicking coach.
00:02:24.640 He’d never kicked before, but he had
00:02:27.120 almost died two months before we met for
00:02:30.080 my first coaching session as a junior at
00:02:32.000 St. Alburn School, Washington DC. And I
00:02:35.280 remember walking from my mother’s
00:02:36.800 station wagon after dropping me off and
00:02:38.720 the first thing he said was, "Did you
00:02:40.000 thank her?" I’m like, "Oh, uh, no."
00:02:44.480 And from that point on, there was just a
00:02:47.280 very powerful connection and message
00:02:49.519 from him. And he said, first thing he
00:02:51.519 said, we got on the edge of the
00:02:53.040 bleachers and we took went through a
00:02:55.120 process of helping me learn how to relax
00:02:57.200 because the kicking position teaches how
00:03:00.640 to focus under pressure or you’re you’re
00:03:02.800 not going to be good,
00:03:04.239 >> right? and he said to me, "You know, two
00:03:05.920 months ago, I was on my deathbed with
00:03:07.519 hepatitis
00:03:10.319 and I was going to die." And I was
00:03:14.080 getting comfortable with that when this
00:03:16.319 kid appeared I hadn’t seen in 55 60
00:03:19.200 years. He was about 70 then. And he
00:03:22.080 said, um, he looked right at me and he
00:03:24.159 said, "Dick, you were there for me in
00:03:25.760 school when no one else would be. and
00:03:28.480 you know when people were beating me up
00:03:29.840 and bullying me and you stood up for me
00:03:32.480 now then and I’m going to stand up for
00:03:34.319 you now. You’re not gonna die.
00:03:36.560 >> And from that point on everything that
00:03:39.120 Dick said to me was in this state of
00:03:42.959 grace, this state that
00:03:46.480 God was in the room and it was so
00:03:48.959 consistent. I use that word a lot now.
00:03:51.599 Consistency. Who are the people in your
00:03:53.360 life that their essence is there when
00:03:56.080 they’re five and their essence is there
00:03:57.680 when they’re 20 or they whenever you
00:03:59.360 meet them, you just know that’s them?
00:04:01.840 And sure, they’ll there we all go
00:04:03.439 through changes and and lessons and
00:04:05.760 evolutions, but he was always that way.
00:04:09.439 And he coached me through high school. I
00:04:11.200 kicked the game-winning field goal with
00:04:13.200 literally two seconds left in the mud
00:04:15.519 and the rain and wind against our arc
00:04:18.478 rival Orlando from 43 yards. It goes
00:04:20.720 through the uprights. Literally as time
00:04:22.880 expired, the other 5,000 fans ran on the
00:04:25.919 field thinking Landon had won our rival
00:04:28.720 and then there’s a delay. They realized
00:04:31.520 it did go through and then suddenly all
00:04:33.199 our fans went through and um that was
00:04:36.479 sort of an interesting moment when Dick
00:04:39.280 was teaching me about preparation, about
00:04:41.840 getting ready for your moments, and he’d
00:04:44.639 convinced our coach Gary Gardner,
00:04:46.240 another great mentor. But Gary wasn’t
00:04:48.560 one that talked about his faith where
00:04:50.320 faith whereas Dick did. And so that that
00:04:52.479 was the first reference. And then I
00:04:54.479 would say a man named Dr. Tory Brooks
00:04:57.199 about 20 years ago, we just he was so
00:05:00.880 comfortable talking about it and he
00:05:02.160 always used that word grace
00:05:04.560 and right the idea of love. And there’s
00:05:10.000 a book I’m reading right now called
00:05:11.360 Tattoos on the Heart, which is all about
00:05:13.840 the grace that this Catholic minister
00:05:16.960 found for the deadliest and the most
00:05:20.160 violent and the most compromised and
00:05:22.800 conflicted gang members in the Dolores
00:05:25.919 mission in LA. It’s always coming back
00:05:28.720 to the God so big that it’s actually to
00:05:33.280 conceive of it is more like the God of
00:05:35.120 the God we think. So who would be the
00:05:37.440 God of the God we think? That’s how big
00:05:39.520 God is. And and that bigness is
00:05:44.160 >> it’s huge.
00:05:45.280 >> Love to
00:05:46.400 >> Was there ever a time that you
00:05:48.000 questioned your faith though? Have you
00:05:50.720 always been this strong in that, Nick?
00:05:52.800 >> Oh, no. I mean, I I I I wouldn’t say
00:05:55.280 that I I felt like God was not on my
00:05:57.840 side or any of those things. Um, we do
00:06:00.960 see a big distinction between organized
00:06:03.440 religion and your relationship with
00:06:05.680 Jesus Christ. That’s
00:06:07.039 >> absolutely
00:06:08.000 >> and most people I talk to
00:06:10.080 >> are on the same page. They’re like
00:06:11.600 organized religion has reflected
00:06:14.080 politics, wars, brutality,
00:06:17.520 >> torqu and the Spanish Inquisition being
00:06:20.160 the worst examples. And of course we see
00:06:22.400 what is happening now with the Muslim
00:06:24.720 Brotherhood using religion to to really
00:06:27.680 just, you know,
00:06:31.520 perpetrate horrible things on other
00:06:33.039 human beings. But just to progress
00:06:35.520 though, I I began to date a young lady
00:06:38.160 named Jesse Coulter, who was the wife
00:06:41.039 and and widow then of the great Whan
00:06:44.160 Jennings. If you remember Wayan Jennings
00:06:45.759 and Nelson.
00:06:46.800 >> Oh yeah.
00:06:47.600 >> And and she was that way. And it made me
00:06:50.479 feel even more comfortable because the
00:06:53.680 thing is you see people what they say
00:06:57.039 then you see what what’s in here,
00:07:00.479 >> right?
00:07:01.039 >> You see their actions consistently. and
00:07:03.039 she’s always that way. And she’s also
00:07:04.960 had an incredible sense of humor. And I
00:07:06.800 just broken off my engagement, which was
00:07:09.599 devastating, but it also was great about
00:07:11.759 helping me um
00:07:15.440 just be more aware of the conflicts of
00:07:17.680 narcissism and self-importance and
00:07:19.759 selfishness, which I saw in the other
00:07:21.440 person, realized I had to do that work
00:07:23.199 on myself. And so I’m so much more clear
00:07:26.319 now that whenever I see something uh you
00:07:29.360 know the biblical quote is this the moat
00:07:32.479 in the other’s eye cast it out in your
00:07:34.400 own eye first your own judgmental
00:07:37.520 uh critical
00:07:39.599 righteous eye. And so when we see
00:07:43.919 somebody that’s living that
00:07:47.120 it it invades us. It it it marinates
00:07:51.599 throughout our every cell in our body.
00:07:53.039 Sure.
00:07:54.000 >> And um and so I’ve just got more and
00:07:56.319 more more clear with that. And then I
00:07:59.039 think then we begin to magnetize
00:08:00.720 ourselves to people that have that
00:08:02.400 energy. And so more recently, if you
00:08:04.960 haven’t heard of him, I’d love to get
00:08:06.319 him on your podcast. Tim Story and I met
00:08:10.000 uh during COVID, we were speaking on the
00:08:12.160 Think and Grow Rich tour here in Phoenix
00:08:14.720 at the Hyatt at Gayy Ranch and which I
00:08:17.199 love by the way. and um
00:08:20.879 and there was something about him and I
00:08:22.319 had to meet him and told him about my
00:08:23.919 work with the homeless and we we
00:08:26.560 connected then we exchanged phone
00:08:28.400 numbers but it took about three years
00:08:30.160 well for the last three years he and I
00:08:31.840 have been pretty close and he’s been on
00:08:34.240 Oprah 38 times he’s both
00:08:36.080 >> wow
00:08:36.880 >> a minister and he has a PhD in therapy
00:08:39.599 and he actually began his ministry in
00:08:42.640 many ways went with Jack Lemon and
00:08:45.279 Walter Matau uh and Charlton in three of
00:08:48.480 the greats uh in their later years which
00:08:50.959 then morphed into more mainstream
00:08:53.279 younger Bible study in Beverly Hills
00:08:57.600 >> right in the heart of one of the most I
00:09:00.000 wouldn’t say anti- God antirist but just
00:09:05.440 >> it’s it’s a little bit of a
00:09:06.480 >> denomfortable uncomfortable if you ever
00:09:09.040 see most ministers and priests in movies
00:09:13.519 they they ring hollow most of the time
00:09:16.240 now the passion of the with with Mel
00:09:18.800 Gibson. That’s not true. It’s incredibly
00:09:21.279 deep. But most of those and that that
00:09:23.440 spiritual culture there, I think Tim uh
00:09:26.560 created an opportunity, a doorway he
00:09:29.600 opened up for people to realize that if
00:09:32.160 you’re thinking about your success, you
00:09:33.600 won an Oscar, you’ve done all these
00:09:35.200 great things. There’s still going to be
00:09:37.040 that emptiness inside. Where is the
00:09:39.360 source of your
00:09:42.000 your fullness, your purpose?
00:09:43.839 >> And I love that. That reminds me of that
00:09:45.600 song, Only Jesus. And I was telling Ken
00:09:48.880 today, you know what I love so much
00:09:50.959 about the podcast? I love learning about
00:09:52.880 everybody’s jobs here as they’re humans.
00:09:55.760 You know, you’re you’re a soul having a
00:09:57.760 human experience, but we’re getting a
00:09:59.760 glimpse of your eternal soul when you
00:10:02.399 get to share these things with me. And
00:10:03.920 it made me tear up this morning because
00:10:06.560 I feel so honored that I I get to see
00:10:08.800 that in in you and other people we have
00:10:11.360 on this podcast. It it makes me feel
00:10:13.760 like we get to peel back the the name
00:10:17.600 and what you created what you did on
00:10:19.440 this earth, which is fantastic, but
00:10:21.279 what’s even greater is what God has done
00:10:25.440 in our lives. And I get to meet you, the
00:10:28.480 the soul that’s going to heaven, and we
00:10:30.880 get to be there together, and I get to
00:10:32.640 witness and see who you truly are. And I
00:10:35.839 just love that. That that brings so much
00:10:37.519 joy to my heart. So, thank you for
00:10:39.279 sharing that with us.
00:10:40.800 >> Thank you. Well, Tim moved from uh Tim’s
00:10:43.680 story moved from Beverly Hills down to
00:10:46.560 Newport Beach and and um he does a
00:10:49.120 ministry and we called it World Shakers.
00:10:51.680 Um but you just know when somebody is
00:10:55.120 authentic every day. He does two hours
00:10:58.240 of reflection and and reading the
00:11:00.959 scripture, something that I wish I did
00:11:03.200 and need to do more of. Um but he’s just
00:11:06.480 so imbued with that and it’s an easy
00:11:11.120 authenticity. Uh he’s got a great voice.
00:11:13.600 But anyway, so he’s moved me further
00:11:16.720 forward in in that. Um I write a lot of
00:11:18.959 poetry and the poetry that I write is
00:11:23.519 almost always about a spiritual
00:11:26.399 um balance in life. And uh so those are
00:11:31.760 things that to answer your original
00:11:33.120 question very in a very extended way got
00:11:36.079 me more comfortable. Um and and by the
00:11:38.959 way you bring up heaven you know um I’m
00:11:42.320 not afraid or I’m comfortable with
00:11:45.040 mentioning the things that I’m not
00:11:46.800 comfortable with with the Bible. And um
00:11:50.079 I’m just going to put it out there that
00:11:53.040 you know the descriptions of heaven in
00:11:55.680 the Bible are, you know,
00:11:59.680 with adjectives like gold, gold paved
00:12:03.440 streets and all those things. That’s not
00:12:05.279 heaven. Heaven’s not man manufactured in
00:12:09.680 a material way,
00:12:11.360 >> right? No, that’s a manmade value.
00:12:13.920 >> The gold of the spirit. It is the depth
00:12:17.760 >> and a million colors, not just gold of
00:12:21.519 the spirit. The depth of insight into
00:12:24.639 human beings. The ability because if you
00:12:26.560 don’t have that, how do you have the
00:12:28.079 ability as Jesus did to be comfortable
00:12:31.200 with the tax collectors and the
00:12:32.720 prostitutes even more so than the
00:12:35.040 Pharisees who thought they were gold,
00:12:37.680 >> right? And yet they were all in that
00:12:40.959 I’ve got my stuff together and you don’t
00:12:43.519 and see you’re just not as good as I am
00:12:46.160 as opposed to it’s such a primal
00:12:48.240 psychology as opposed to and and I’m
00:12:51.360 uncomfortable people listening you know
00:12:53.360 I that I’m born a sinner that I’m born
00:12:55.680 flawed. God made me perfect in his
00:12:59.279 image. And by the way, that perfection
00:13:03.839 is manifested in imperfection.
00:13:07.760 >> We’re on a human plane, a flesh plane.
00:13:10.320 So, um, so I had to get that two cents
00:13:13.360 in. I I would love I wish the Bible
00:13:15.600 described heaven in ways and you know,
00:13:17.600 of course, heaven also is a big thing in
00:13:19.120 the Muslim religion and these are really
00:13:21.120 important themes right now. You know,
00:13:22.720 what why are we living here? Where is it
00:13:25.760 to go to heaven? And if heaven’s not
00:13:27.360 case, is it we’re floating? It just
00:13:29.600 seems so naive to describe it that way
00:13:31.839 when spiritual depth is the greatest
00:13:34.160 depth. It’s the greatest wisdom. It’s
00:13:36.000 the greatest empathy. It’s the greatest
00:13:38.399 compassion. It’s the greatest
00:13:40.000 connection. So that the power of Jesus
00:13:43.839 and God connects us to all our loved
00:13:47.519 ones and role models who have died
00:13:49.600 already and they’re there and yet
00:13:51.040 somehow we’re going to be able to be
00:13:52.639 with them. What kind of power is that?
00:13:54.800 That’s when we go back to I think what
00:13:57.120 this book talks about called Tattoos on
00:13:59.760 the Heart. That really God is so big
00:14:02.560 that he’s really the God of what we
00:14:04.720 think God is. He’s that big. And you
00:14:07.920 know, all you have to do from a
00:14:09.279 mathematical standpoint is think about
00:14:10.959 the universe, you know, when when it’s
00:14:13.839 trillions of of galaxies that represent
00:14:17.040 trillions of stars. I mean, it’s numbers
00:14:19.440 and size that’s so beyond anything we
00:14:21.440 can comprehend.
00:14:22.720 >> Sure. So the phrase in the Bible is
00:14:24.959 about you know
00:14:27.920 beyond
00:14:29.440 our understanding. Well
00:14:31.279 >> absolutely
00:14:32.079 >> it it’s so far beyond
00:14:35.440 behind our understanding. It’s just so
00:14:37.680 there’s the humility that that in the
00:14:39.920 end is you just notice with the real
00:14:43.199 people in life that have God in their
00:14:45.279 hearts. Jesus is speaking to them and
00:14:47.360 they’re hearing him and uh it’s not
00:14:49.920 because they haven’t, you know, had
00:14:52.079 conflicts and it’s harder today than
00:14:54.639 ever to not be confronted with
00:14:58.000 temptation and with the um hypocrisies
00:15:03.279 of of people and our so-called
00:15:05.519 leadership
00:15:07.040 um and the storytelling that’s going on
00:15:08.959 through the media which seems to not no
00:15:11.440 longer be about accurate storytelling
00:15:13.680 but just taking aside. So
00:15:16.000 >> my two cents I’ I’ve given you about 15
00:15:18.560 cents so far.
00:15:20.000 >> No, no, we love it so much.
00:15:21.680 >> Is there a particular game that you
00:15:23.199 remember praying your hardest?
00:15:26.000 Is there one game that you remember
00:15:27.680 thinking I really need to not I don’t
00:15:30.240 I’m not going to pretend that I know
00:15:32.000 football stuff. Like I I don’t I’m like
00:15:35.279 I’m really naive. But I think about the
00:15:37.680 emotion about stuff and I think like you
00:15:40.240 know people that have their biggest
00:15:41.680 concert or their biggest game. Is there
00:15:44.399 a particular game that sticks in your
00:15:46.160 mind that you just think like I was
00:15:48.560 praying so hard on that particular day?
00:15:52.240 >> Well, certainly running out on the field
00:15:53.680 say God just handle this for me. Um I
00:15:56.480 wasn’t this is now 30 years ago. So, you
00:15:59.360 know, uh almost 30 years ago. So, um I
00:16:02.399 almost played 25 years ago for the Rams
00:16:04.480 in the Super Bowl. I was praying for
00:16:05.839 that. That’s another story alto
00:16:07.120 together. But, um
00:16:10.480 you know, I think of the uh Jelly Roll
00:16:12.560 song. I love it. You know, I only play
00:16:15.360 to God. Pray to God when I need a favor,
00:16:18.320 >> right?
00:16:19.759 >> And and so it really wasn’t I mean, I
00:16:24.000 certainly prayed and we had chapel
00:16:25.839 before the games on home games and all
00:16:27.600 those things. Um
00:16:31.279 but to me, it’s it’s the consistency
00:16:36.320 uh that the game is every day and every
00:16:38.000 moment. And um and if you do that, then
00:16:41.759 things take care of themselves. If
00:16:43.279 you’re waiting for the big home run, the
00:16:45.519 grand slam, God, I need this one. I will
00:16:48.000 say obviously praying for people when I
00:16:50.639 prayed for people and this is not me
00:16:53.120 once again. It’s always remembering it’s
00:16:54.720 God. But it’s just amazing and I hope
00:16:56.880 you’ve I’m sure you’ve had this
00:16:58.079 experience, but gosh, when somebody’s
00:17:00.000 sick and they’re in the hospital and you
00:17:01.519 say prayers and you ask for their
00:17:02.800 specific name, not just pray for them,
00:17:04.880 what’s their name?
00:17:05.679 >> Right. Right. that and how often they’ve
00:17:08.480 come through and I you know I don’t know
00:17:11.199 if that’s
00:17:12.959 you know where that comes from. I just
00:17:14.799 notice it’s almost always come through
00:17:17.520 including I think you know what happened
00:17:19.359 to me um 12 days ago I almost died on
00:17:22.640 the operating table uh with an heart
00:17:25.439 ahib operation and and Dr. 11. Good man.
00:17:29.360 Uh, apparently gave me a paralytic
00:17:31.200 called Rockyonium. And I my heart
00:17:34.320 basically stopped. Um, or my blood
00:17:36.960 pressure was falling from 128 over 74
00:17:40.080 down to 50 over 50. And they had to give
00:17:43.600 me an epinephrine because I’d had a
00:17:46.480 >> an anaphylactic reaction. And uh, I woke
00:17:50.240 up just like, oh man, what happened? And
00:17:54.880 two hours later, I was beginning to feel
00:17:56.320 better. And I was at the Chiefs game two
00:17:58.640 days later, which is probably stupid,
00:18:00.160 but
00:18:02.240 if I’m gonna die, I’m gonna be I’m gonna
00:18:04.240 die. I’d rather die at the Chiefs game.
00:18:06.160 Uh, but also it also is that where does
00:18:08.960 our head go when things happen? And for
00:18:11.280 me, it was absolutely God still wants me
00:18:13.520 here.
00:18:14.799 >> I got more work to do. And
00:18:16.799 >> yes, you do.
00:18:17.679 >> And the work is again, it’s not about
00:18:19.919 paved gold street. Come on, guys. It is
00:18:23.840 about that depth of wisdom, not
00:18:27.760 intelligence, wisdom, education,
00:18:30.960 >> learning and intelligence, but it really
00:18:33.039 should be and sometimes is if we’re
00:18:34.880 lucky, wisdom, being able to
00:18:37.760 differentiate and distinguish between
00:18:40.960 the lesser things and the truly
00:18:42.880 important things. And and of course, um,
00:18:46.480 if there’s some subtext in your life,
00:18:49.919 I’m better than you.
00:18:52.480 I’ve got so much wisdom that I’m going
00:18:54.160 to give to you. Then you’re you’re off
00:18:56.720 you’re off the mark. Right. There’s a
00:18:58.240 movie now recently. I don’t know why I’m
00:18:59.760 so stream of consciousness today, but
00:19:01.520 but it it it it said something I really
00:19:03.840 love, which is, you know, the the idea
00:19:05.679 is really you’re not never better than
00:19:07.919 anybody else. You’re better than who you
00:19:10.160 used to be.
00:19:11.280 >> Amen. I love that. And I love what
00:19:14.400 you’re talking about too about wisdom
00:19:16.799 and we always talk about lowhanging
00:19:19.120 fruit, you know, and people always
00:19:21.440 trying to go after that lowhanging fruit
00:19:23.679 versus being patient and waiting and
00:19:26.480 seeing the fruits that God is going to
00:19:29.120 give to you,
00:19:30.240 >> you know. Um, to me, the fruit that I’ve
00:19:33.280 noticed, and we know about this, the
00:19:35.200 fruits of the spirit is intuition, which
00:19:39.039 is absolutely part of
00:19:42.720 wisdom. Um, when I I’m writing my book,
00:19:45.520 it’s called Naked and Alone with 80,000
00:19:47.600 people because that’s how it feels like
00:19:48.960 when you’re running on the field. You
00:19:51.600 sticker.
00:19:52.480 >> Um, but so much of it is where do you
00:19:54.400 put your head under great pressure and
00:19:57.679 getting to that place. It took me the
00:19:59.600 last few years of my career to really
00:20:00.960 get to that better place. If you can
00:20:03.679 imagine the kicker, you’re lining up,
00:20:06.640 the ball’s there. The ball represents
00:20:08.320 our daily work and discipline and who we
00:20:11.600 surround ourselves with. Most important
00:20:13.840 thing we do in life, you choosing a
00:20:15.760 great husband or a great wife and in
00:20:19.360 business as well. All those things,
00:20:20.880 that’s the holder. And then we have the
00:20:23.600 people that are rushing at us. We got
00:20:25.440 people protecting us, our community
00:20:26.960 hopefully. And then you got 11 guys paid
00:20:29.360 an average of almost $5 million a piece
00:20:31.679 to block your kick. and maybe eat you if
00:20:33.760 they could.
00:20:35.280 >> And and the goal and and the goalposts
00:20:37.520 are the bigger mission. So to me that is
00:20:41.120 your office as a human being and
00:20:43.360 everybody has their own office which
00:20:45.039 refineses and defines what is their
00:20:48.000 life’s work their mission and if you
00:20:50.559 take care of that the wind the referees
00:20:53.760 the screaming fans the very large people
00:20:56.400 in front of you doesn’t matter and so I
00:21:01.039 would approach the ball and my last step
00:21:03.039 I would say to myself left foot because
00:21:05.360 left foot for me with a right footed
00:21:06.880 kicker
00:21:08.159 was point my left foot in the direction
00:21:10.159 of that mission, that goalpost,
00:21:13.039 and then explode. Explode to me was not
00:21:17.200 about trying to kill it. It was just
00:21:19.679 trust your god-given talent and your
00:21:22.159 training and let it go. And the ball,
00:21:26.400 the the studies in the brain show that
00:21:29.120 the self-conscious brain is very crude.
00:21:31.840 the major muscle groups work. But when
00:21:33.600 you let go of that self-consciousness
00:21:35.360 that God’s in me and I know he’s going
00:21:37.200 to lead me to the right stuff and you
00:21:39.760 just attack it, the synapses in your
00:21:42.720 brain work a 100,000 times faster. And
00:21:45.840 your natural speed, if you’re a pitcher,
00:21:47.679 you the snap as you throw the ball or a
00:21:50.000 tennis player with your serve or, you
00:21:52.159 know, swinging the bat, all those things
00:21:53.840 happen naturally. So intuition is a
00:21:56.400 fruit of the spirit where we know who’s
00:22:01.039 really talking to us and we know who to
00:22:03.200 trust. And we also notice
00:22:06.799 people at a much deeper level and I’ve
00:22:09.600 got so many now working with the
00:22:12.320 homeless. They know if I’m there for
00:22:15.280 them or not. They know that I come from
00:22:17.760 and I tell all of our volunteers at
00:22:19.440 Champions for the Homeless, the next one
00:22:20.880 September 21st by the way, St.
00:22:22.400 convincing to Paul in downtown Phoenix.
00:22:25.120 But uh I tell them there’s absolutely no
00:22:29.360 difference between the giver and the
00:22:30.720 receiver.
00:22:31.840 >> Nope.
00:22:32.960 >> So you’re better than somebody because
00:22:34.960 you’re given to them, you’ve lost the
00:22:37.440 beautiful essence of the spiritual
00:22:39.440 lesson that we’re connected and there
00:22:41.520 but for the grace of God all of us. And
00:22:44.000 when they notice that people that have
00:22:45.840 been in mercenary relationships on the
00:22:47.679 street where somebody gives them
00:22:48.799 something they got to give them a ticket
00:22:50.000 or they sign in here and they get but
00:22:52.240 somebody’s really just looking at them
00:22:53.440 for who they are
00:22:55.600 no matter and with no judgment just love
00:22:58.480 just embracing them
00:23:01.280 man that’s great. So, if there’s a stage
00:23:03.280 that we can benefit as as and take
00:23:05.679 advantage of and exploit in a good way
00:23:08.720 as athletes or so-called celebrities,
00:23:11.120 it’s simply that I’m going to say, "Oh,
00:23:12.799 this guy’s a celebrity. He still thinks
00:23:14.720 I’m important." Well, yes, that’s why
00:23:16.960 I’m here.
00:23:19.120 >> You are important. You’re just as
00:23:20.640 important as I am. And that’s a kind of
00:23:23.120 healing that you can’t put in a notebook
00:23:26.960 and measure digitally, but you just know
00:23:29.360 if it’s there or not. And you see these,
00:23:32.400 the biblical word is scales, but these
00:23:34.480 these layers of human humanity
00:23:38.640 um reappear and the scales of dishumity
00:23:42.799 and pain and protection and scars of you
00:23:47.360 know the wounds of the past that melt
00:23:50.559 away at least for a few hours.
00:23:52.960 >> And the word is hope, but it’s really a
00:23:55.679 much deeper thing than that. It’s just
00:23:57.440 I’m I’m here for a I’m still here for a
00:23:59.440 reason. And people see that in me and I
00:24:02.720 still see that light that tells me
00:24:05.200 there’s something that I’m here for to
00:24:08.559 be magnetized towards even though right
00:24:10.400 now I’m on the street.
00:24:12.400 >> Well, and what do you say to people
00:24:13.840 because you know uh you work with the
00:24:15.919 homeless and we’ve talked about how your
00:24:18.159 post football life really is is
00:24:22.880 exponentially more than than all of your
00:24:25.520 amazing accomplishments on the field
00:24:27.679 with the work that you do. What do you
00:24:29.600 say to people because there’s so much
00:24:30.960 emotion wrapped up in people that that
00:24:33.840 just see homelessness and they have, you
00:24:36.799 know, sometimes fear or they have even
00:24:39.520 anger towards people who are homeless.
00:24:41.360 What do you say to them with the work
00:24:43.039 that you’re doing? How do you appeal to
00:24:44.960 those people?
00:24:46.080 >> Where’s your where’s your anger coming
00:24:47.679 from first of all, but also just look at
00:24:50.080 California. And I always call out
00:24:51.520 California because I want to bully them
00:24:52.880 in a in a in a benign and spiritual way
00:24:55.200 to say get your act together with regard
00:24:57.520 to your communities because in in LA, in
00:25:01.279 San Francisco, all over the place,
00:25:03.360 you’ve got a doubling and tripling of
00:25:05.200 homelessness in the last 20 years, even
00:25:06.880 though they spent $20 billion. And
00:25:08.559 there’s one simple distinction. You
00:25:11.360 don’t throw money at it. You throw this
00:25:13.279 at it. you throw this at it where you
00:25:17.120 allow each of those people you say
00:25:18.880 you’re helping to acknowledge their
00:25:21.360 uniqueness in their unique journey. If
00:25:23.520 you don’t, you put them in a big bucket
00:25:26.000 >> and they’re just as they’re just as much
00:25:28.000 as if they’re in a a real prison, even
00:25:30.720 if they’re outside on the street, a
00:25:33.200 prison of perception and and judgment.
00:25:36.559 And that never works. Uh, and so that’s
00:25:41.039 to me, look at these people and look at
00:25:43.919 their individual stories. I’ll give you
00:25:45.600 some statistics, just two. For every one
00:25:48.480 person leaving homelessness now, two are
00:25:50.559 entering. And while the stock market’s
00:25:53.360 doing incredibly well, that’s for a
00:25:56.240 small percentage of people. Um, in the
00:25:59.200 last 36 months, this is from St. Vincent
00:26:01.520 Dep Paul itself 7,000 evictions every
00:26:04.159 month for 36 months.
00:26:06.880 That’s about 260,000 plus evictions
00:26:10.480 times four people per eviction. That’s
00:26:12.480 over 1 million people in Maricopa in the
00:26:15.919 Phoenix area or one
00:26:18.720 >> oneif of the population of Phoenix have
00:26:21.520 been evicted or temporarily at least
00:26:23.840 homeless in the last three years. So it
00:26:26.240 is a real thing and right now with the
00:26:28.400 economy what happens is lose a job have
00:26:32.000 a significant medical expense and you’re
00:26:34.080 done.
00:26:35.360 >> So the amount of people that have their
00:26:37.840 unique journey that are not
00:26:41.520 mentally ill that are not drug addicted
00:26:44.159 uh you know that’s exponentially
00:26:47.039 increasing the amount of pediatric
00:26:48.880 homelessness elderly homelessness
00:26:51.840 and then of course what is mental
00:26:53.520 illness. If somebody who is mentally ill
00:26:56.720 suddenly feels like they’re safe,
00:26:59.520 suddenly feels like all those traumas
00:27:01.360 that they’ve perceived or actually
00:27:03.440 experienced
00:27:05.279 are no longer the threat they were. It’s
00:27:07.200 amazing how transformation happens. Of
00:27:09.279 course, Jesus manifested this in
00:27:11.039 miracles
00:27:12.960 starting with Mary Magdalene who I think
00:27:14.799 had seven demons.
00:27:16.960 >> So,
00:27:24.080 Think about her.
00:27:26.159 She became his greatest disciple in many
00:27:28.240 ways. In that culture, women weren’t
00:27:31.120 treated the same. But she was the one
00:27:33.440 that went to the tomb. She was the one
00:27:36.480 that the spirit said let them know he’s
00:27:39.520 risen.
00:27:42.799 >> Right. So,
00:27:44.080 >> absolutely.
00:27:45.360 >> I get so emotional about this because to
00:27:47.440 me when you hit on
00:27:50.320 sort of like a vein of gold. We’re
00:27:52.400 sticking with that analogy of gold, the
00:27:54.080 real gold.
00:27:55.919 >> You know, you’re what you’re supposed to
00:27:57.279 be. So powerful
00:27:59.840 >> and I don’t apologize for it because I
00:28:01.840 know it’s really from a place of
00:28:03.200 strength to be able to admit it, but it
00:28:06.000 it empowers me to keep doing more.
00:28:08.480 Yesterday met with University of
00:28:10.559 Arizona, which are universities are off
00:28:13.679 godless places these days, too. But I
00:28:16.880 had a wonderful conversation with a man
00:28:18.960 named Cortez Smith who’s uh director at
00:28:22.399 the Eller School of Business about doing
00:28:24.559 great work with diversity with helping
00:28:27.520 people that have had difficult um
00:28:31.440 transitions
00:28:32.960 not not through DEI so to speak but
00:28:35.760 through simply once again what’s your
00:28:38.240 journey where your obstacles
00:28:41.840 where are the places where you can grow
00:28:44.080 how can we help you get there and that
00:28:47.520 work is so powerful whether it’s working
00:28:49.360 with kids with cerebopal palsy how I got
00:28:51.120 my start my aunt had cerebal palsy and
00:28:53.760 Margaret we raised a million dollars for
00:28:56.640 united cerebal palsy we u but we
00:28:59.039 educated people on the rights of the
00:29:00.320 disabled then suddenly light bulb we’re
00:29:03.600 all disabled
00:29:04.960 >> right
00:29:05.360 >> getting back to that idea you know made
00:29:07.120 us perfect but perfect in our disability
00:29:09.279 too you know perfect in the thorn in our
00:29:11.279 side that teaches us more than any of
00:29:14.080 the good trophies we won. So,
00:29:17.520 um
00:29:19.520 anyway, so I I love this uh place to
00:29:23.120 notice the gifts that make me able to
00:29:26.640 help more people. And always when we
00:29:29.520 help other people, what does that do? It
00:29:31.360 blesses us. It makes us feel like I’m
00:29:33.120 where I need to be.
00:29:34.720 >> Oh, absolutely. You feel like you’re
00:29:36.480 bigger than yourself
00:29:37.600 >> right now. Like what you guys are doing
00:29:39.200 right now, you know?
00:29:41.520 >> It’s that ripple effect. I love that.
00:29:44.159 Yeah.
00:29:46.320 Um, Robert F. Kennedy is a friend Jr.
00:29:48.480 and and his his father, one of his
00:29:51.360 famous quotes of the course, you know,
00:29:52.720 how do we make a difference? Well, if we
00:29:54.399 make that one little ripple effect, it
00:29:56.720 it grows. Um, it grows into a benign
00:30:00.799 spiritual tsunami. If we believe and if
00:30:03.919 we just do our part, others will pick up
00:30:06.720 on that vibration or whatever you want
00:30:08.720 to call it, that that frequency. And
00:30:11.679 that’s what we’re really doing. We’re
00:30:13.200 teaching a frequency of love and wisdom
00:30:15.840 and gratitude,
00:30:17.760 >> right? We express it first.
00:30:20.399 >> We express that love. We show love. We
00:30:22.559 live out our lives through the word.
00:30:25.520 Then it becomes infectious. It really
00:30:27.440 does.
00:30:28.159 >> Well, you just love on people. And I,
00:30:30.320 you know, so many I told Ken and I said
00:30:33.520 this in the podcast before when God had
00:30:35.919 put it on our heart to do the nonprofit,
00:30:38.320 there were other people that might have
00:30:39.840 known the Bible better. And there were
00:30:41.760 other Christians that said, "Why her?" I
00:30:44.000 don’t know why me. I just love people
00:30:45.760 and I just want to give to them. And I
00:30:48.000 might not, you know, know every word
00:30:50.240 perfectly, but I know in my heart I love
00:30:52.880 the Lord and I love giving. And I am
00:30:55.520 super genuine. And I just I want to
00:30:58.240 encourage people every single day just
00:31:00.720 like you do. And I never see someone
00:31:03.360 that has, you know, maybe a less
00:31:05.279 expensive car or they’re on the road and
00:31:07.039 think that they’re any different than I
00:31:08.720 am. They’re just in a different station
00:31:10.159 in their life and they’re just as
00:31:12.000 beautiful in God’s eyes as everyone
00:31:14.880 else. And I never see them as less of a
00:31:17.039 person ever.
00:31:18.720 >> And you really have to you mentioned,
00:31:20.720 you know, the people who who have a
00:31:22.399 sickness again, you know, and that they
00:31:25.440 end up on the street because of that. We
00:31:27.200 see that not the the homeless part of
00:31:29.600 it, but we see people in our line of
00:31:31.600 work with the law firm where an injury
00:31:34.399 puts them out of work and these people
00:31:36.799 prior to their injury were just barely,
00:31:39.360 you know, paycheck to paycheck and it
00:31:41.279 sends their life into a downward spiral
00:31:43.760 when they can’t work because of an
00:31:45.440 injury. And so, uh, you know, there but
00:31:48.480 the grace of God go I for so many
00:31:51.120 people. Uh, and it’s important that we
00:31:53.360 recognize that and and that’s why the
00:31:55.919 work that you’re doing with Champions
00:31:57.360 for the Homeless is is so great. And if
00:31:59.919 you want to take a a couple of minutes
00:32:01.519 and tell people how they can reach out
00:32:03.519 to you and get involved in in what you
00:32:05.679 have coming up with that, we’d love to
00:32:07.279 hear it.
00:32:08.240 >> Okay. Well, um, it’s called Champions
00:32:11.200 for the Homeless,
00:32:13.919 and I’ve done it for 19 years. I would
00:32:16.559 challenge anybody to think deeply and
00:32:18.720 pray on what you would be willing to do
00:32:20.799 for a generation because that’s when you
00:32:23.200 take the intention to do something
00:32:24.880 that’s important and valuable and you
00:32:26.880 make it a reality for people that may
00:32:28.960 never have had anything to depend on.
00:32:30.880 But it’s at St. Vincent Depal. Uh we’ll
00:32:33.919 this next one on September 21st will be
00:32:36.000 our 74th
00:32:37.760 and it’s at 1075 Jackson. If you follow
00:32:40.960 me on Facebook and Instagram is Nick
00:32:43.679 Lowry 888 and it’s Nick the Kick Nick
00:32:45.600 Lowry on Facebook. Um I I start putting
00:32:50.240 things out there every week starting
00:32:52.480 next week really um about it. But uh if
00:32:57.039 you can bring it uh a hundred bucks or
00:32:59.200 more of gift certificates to McDonald’s,
00:33:01.279 that’s great. But the most important
00:33:02.640 thing is just join us there at 9:30 to
00:33:04.799 organize all the clothing, thousands of
00:33:06.640 pairs of underwear and socks and
00:33:08.640 t-shirts, incredible music with CC Yan,
00:33:11.279 the New Destiny band, Ben Bulis and CA
00:33:14.240 Simron Kalsa who were a chiropractor and
00:33:17.120 acupuncturist, five hair cutters, uh,
00:33:20.080 and just drowning people in love. Uh,
00:33:23.279 it’s the best thing ever. We do it on
00:33:25.039 Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, and
00:33:26.480 twice in the summer. So, this will be
00:33:28.000 called Christmas in September. But join
00:33:30.080 us, find me there. And you can also go
00:33:32.000 to nicklowry.com
00:33:33.840 to get more information. And and these
00:33:36.159 things are 300 bucks. And I think I know
00:33:39.120 somebody who might have one. And it goes
00:33:41.760 to purchasing more clothing for the
00:33:43.840 homeless. So, thank you for that. I’ve
00:33:46.159 got to run for now. Uh God bless you.
00:33:49.120 I’d be honored to come on again. And for
00:33:51.519 anybody thinking about doing something
00:33:53.440 in the world, just think, what would be
00:33:54.720 the thing that I would be so proud of I
00:33:56.480 could stick with it for 20 years?
00:33:58.720 because then you end generational curses
00:34:01.600 and there’s no no greater thing to do
00:34:04.480 than that. So, thank you.
00:34:06.399 >> Thank you so much for being on today. We
00:34:08.159 appreciate
00:34:08.480 >> we love to have you back. Thank you,
00:34:09.599 Nick.
00:34:10.560 >> Thank you. God bless you for what you’re
00:34:12.320 doing. We need great storytellers and I
00:34:15.280 guess we need cross-examiners, too.
00:34:20.239 >> All right. Well, you have a blessed day.
00:34:21.679 Thanks, Nick. We’ll see you later.
00:34:23.839 Bye-bye.
00:34:25.679 Well, as much as we love having our
00:34:27.599 friends on here and laughing and having
00:34:29.440 a good time and really examining our
00:34:31.359 faith and their faith, we do want to
00:34:33.760 remind you that we’re real people. We
00:34:35.839 own Gerber injury Law. We are available
00:34:38.399 and want to help you with any kind of an
00:34:40.239 injury you, a friend or family has.
00:34:42.800 Please reach out to us at
00:34:44.000 gerberjurylaw.com.
00:34:45.839 >> And thank you for watching Cross-examine
00:34:48.159 with the Gerbers. We’ll see you next
00:34:50.000 time.