224: Todd Pierce: Unfiltered Reality of Professional Rodeo Life & My Marriage Breaking Point

This week's episode is something special — it's John Eldridge's live message from our Brave Co conference, and it is one of the most powerful things I've ever witnessed delivered to a room full of men. John opens with Proverbs 4:23 and builds an entire framework around a single, urgent idea: the heart is the center of everything. Your ability to love, to fight, to chase your calling, to win your kids, to find joy — all of it flows from your heart. And if your heart has been shut down, beaten up, or buried under years of performance and pain, nothing else in your life is going to work the way God designed it to.John walks through three things wired into the masculine soul — battle, adventure, and beauty — and what happens when men lose access to them. He does a live exercise with the room around favorite movies that is genuinely one of the most illuminating things I've ever seen, showing how story is the language of the heart and how the films we love are whispering clues about our true identity and mission. He also takes on the emasculated version of Jesus that most men have been handed by the church — the soft, religious, timid figure who no man would actually follow into battle — and replaces it with the fierce, brilliant, playful, deeply human Jesus of the Gospels.The core of this message is a call to wholeheartedness — not more discipline, not more willpower, but the actual restoration of the heart that Jesus came to accomplish. John is a therapist with 30 years of experience and thousands of men behind him, and he is not speaking in theory. He's speaking from the trenches of his own story. If you are a man who has been grinding hard and still feeling like something essential is missing, this message is for you. Please share it, leave a comment, and subscribe so more men can hear it. Stay brave.00:00 – Welcome 04:41 – Gender, the Masculine Soul, and the Image of God You Carry09:22 – The Glory of God Is Man Fully Alive14:03 – What Your Favorite Movies Reveal About Your Soul and True Identity18:44 – Yahweh Is a Warrior23:25 – The Emasculation Crisis28:06 – The Real Jesus32:47 – Adventure Is Food37:28 – Beauty, Sexuality, and the Assault on the Masculine Heart42:09 – Wholeheartedness Is the GoalCONNECT WITH BRAVECOJoin Our Free Community for Men (ladies, sign up your man): https://www.braveco.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/braveco.menInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/braveco.men/Shop: https://shop.braveco.org/ABOUT BRAVECO: We live in a time where men are hunting for the truth and looking for the codebook to manhood. At BraveCo, we are on a mission to heal the narrative of masculinity across a generation; fighting the good fight together because every man should feel confident and capable of facing his pain, loving deeply, and leading a life that impacts the world around him.

Connect with Todd: https://www.ridinghighministries.org/aboutIn this episode, I sit down with one of my best friends on the planet, Todd Pierce — a former professional bareback rider who competed in over 100 rodeos a year and now runs Riding High Ministries, where he breaks wild horses in front of live audiences as a living picture of man's relationship with God. Todd takes us inside the brutal world of professional rodeo: the borrowed gear, the 15-plus knockouts, the broken bones, the nights driving through the dark eating hot dogs just to get to the next event. But what really hits different is hearing him talk about what the rodeo life couldn't prepare him for — being a husband and a father who actually shows up emotionally.What makes Todd's story so powerful is that he spent years doing ministry — real, sincere, devoted ministry — and still giving surface-level answers to deeply hurting men. It wasn't until he discovered tools around emotional intelligence, culture of honor, and the courage to say "I don't know what I'm doing" that things started to shift. Hearing him describe the moment his son Colton sat him down and told him what it was like to grow up with him — and watching Todd actually receive it instead of deflect it — is one of the most honest and healing things I've ever witnessed in a man.If you've ever felt like you were doing everything right and still falling short at home, this episode is for you. Todd and I get into how men unknowingly inherit an operating system they never chose, why toughness without vulnerability will cost you the people you love most, and what it actually looks like to create a new culture in your marriage, your parenting, and your walk with God. This conversation will challenge you and, I believe, set something free in you. Stay brave.Chapters:00:00 – Welcome to Brave Co06:47 – From Racehorse Jockey to First-Time Rodeo Competitor13:34 – The Raw, Unfiltered Reality of Professional Rodeo Life20:21 – Knocked Out and Dragged27:08 – When Toughness Stops Working33:55 – Injury, End of Career, and the Start of Something New40:42 – The Operating System You Never Chose47:29 – The First Truly Courageous Thing He Ever Did54:16 – Healing Through Hard Conversations With Your Wife and Kids1:01:03 – Living Transparent and a Prayer Over Every Man ListeningCONNECT WITH BRAVECOJoin Our Free Community for Men (ladies, sign up your man): https://www.braveco.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/braveco.menInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/braveco.men/Shop: https://shop.braveco.org/ABOUT BRAVECO: We live in a time where men are hunting for the truth and looking for the codebook to manhood. At BraveCo, we are on a mission to heal the narrative of masculinity across a generation; fighting the good fight together because every man should feel confident and capable of facing his pain, loving deeply, and leading a life that impacts the world around him.

Connect with Abi: https://www.instagram.com/abistumvoll/I don't bring many women onto BraveCo, but when I do, it's because they have something that men need to hear — something they won't get anywhere else. Abby Stumble is one of my oldest and most trusted friends, and this conversation is one of the most honest ones I've ever had on this podcast. Abby grew up thinking she had a great childhood. She was wrong. A mentally ill, drug-addicted mother. A home full of chaos she internalized as her own failure. Panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, self-hatred, and a body she despised — all without a single clear explanation for why. It wasn't until she was 37 that the real story started to unravel. And what happened next changed everything she thought she knew about herself, her marriage, and what healing actually looks like.We go deep into marriage in this one — specifically what happened when two beautiful train-wrecks decided to build a life together. Abby and Justin's story is a masterclass in how broken attachment cycles play out in real relationships: the avoidant man who disappears, the anxious woman who picks fights just to pull him back, and both of them trauma-bonding through explosions they thought was just how love worked. Sound familiar? We unpack the exact moment their marriage started to change — and it wasn't a big dramatic breakthrough. It was ownership. Honesty without shame. Vulnerability that didn't demand rescue. And I share my own piece of this too, because for years I went home every night feeling like a boy, not a man — isolated, ashamed, and slowly drowning while Lauren watched me disappear. This is the conversation that brings all of that into the open.And then Abby goes somewhere I didn't expect. She tells the story of a season four years ago when she was so sick she couldn't walk ten feet, had lost thirty pounds, and begged Justin — through genuine physical torment — to end her suffering. What she learned in that dark place about present-moment living, nervous system regulation, collecting moments of good, and training your brain to attach to safety instead of pain is some of the most practical, life-changing content I've ever heard. If you're in a hard season right now — with your health, your marriage, your emotions, or your sense of who you are as a man — this episode is for you. Stay Brave.Chapters:00:00 – Welcome to BraveCo09:44 – Growing Up in Chaos19:27 – The Slow Unraveling29:11 – Two Trainwrecks, One Marriage38:54 – Jason's Story48:38 – The Vulnerability Men Fear Most 58:21 – Small Steps, Big Culture1:08:05 – When the Body Breaks Down1:17:48 – Regulating the Nervous System1:27:32 – The Tiny Things, The Future With Hope, and a Prayer Over Every Person ListeningCONNECT WITH BRAVECOJoin Our Free Community for Men (ladies, sign up your man): https://www.braveco.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/braveco.menInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/braveco.men/Shop: https://shop.braveco.org/ABOUT BRAVECO: We live in a time where men are hunting for the truth and looking for the codebook to manhood. At BraveCo, we are on a mission to heal the narrative of masculinity across a generation; fighting the good fight together because every man should feel confident and capable of facing his pain, loving deeply, and leading a life that impacts the world around him.

Website: johndeloney.comInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/johndelony/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnDelony/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johndelonyYoutube Channel:  @TheDrJohnDelonyShow  I don't say this lightly — I finished this book in a single day. Dr. John Delony's Building a Non-Anxious Life is one of the most practical, honest, and genuinely helpful things I've put in front of the men who follow Brave Co. And before I even started asking questions, I had to be upfront with John about something: anxiety hasn't just been an academic topic for me. It's been my life. From OCD as a kid that I couldn't name, to coping in ways I'm not proud of, to a full nervous breakdown — I've spent years clawing my way out of a hole I didn't fully understand until much later. That's exactly why this conversation matters so much to me.Dr. Delony has two PhDs, has worked in mental health for decades, and somehow manages to take the most complex stuff about how our brains and bodies work and make it simple enough to act on. In this episode, we unpack what anxiety actually is — not a disease, not a character flaw, not a broken brain — but a smoke detector. A signal. Your body working exactly the way it was designed to work to get your attention about something that isn't right in your world. We talk about the ticker tape of shame that runs under most men's lives, why so many high-achieving guys are secretly falling apart, what it means to actually love yourself, and why you absolutely cannot do this alone.Dr. Delony also walks us through his six daily choices framework — Choose Reality, Choose Connection, Choose Freedom, Choose Health and Healing, Choose Mindfulness, and Choose Belief — and we get into the ones that hit me hardest personally. If you're a man who has ever felt like you're behind, like you're not doing enough, like no matter what you accomplish it still doesn't feel like it's working — this episode is going to stop you in your tracks. Go grab the book. Take the anxiety test at johndeloney.com. And stay brave.Chapters:00:00 – Jason Gets Personal About His Own Battle With Anxiety07:02 – Your Body Isn't Broken — It's Working Exactly as Designed14:05 – We've Built a World Our Bodies Can't Survive In21:07 – What Anxiety Actually Is28:09 – The Ticker Tape Lie35:12 – The Real Cheat Code42:14 – The 6 Daily Choices49:16 – Freedom, Health and Healing, and the Power of Mindfulness56:19 – Why Self-Actualization Is a Myth1:03:21 – What Are You Really Worth?CONNECT WITH BRAVECOJoin Our Free Community for Men (ladies, sign up your man): https://www.braveco.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/braveco.menInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/braveco.men/Shop: https://shop.braveco.org/ABOUT BRAVECO: We live in a time where men are hunting for the truth and looking for the codebook to manhood. At BraveCo, we are on a mission to heal the narrative of masculinity across a generation; fighting the good fight together because every man should feel confident and capable of facing his pain, loving deeply, and leading a life that impacts the world around him.

Connect with Michael: https://michaelkoulianos.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelkoulianos/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelKoulianos1/Youtube: https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCBKurdZlFEMaLdwxSYMRNAwI'll be honest — I almost didn't record this episode the way I did. Because it required me to sit across from one of my closest friends and one of the most gifted men I know when it comes to the presence of God, and admit that I've been struggling. Struggling to feel connected. Struggling to cultivate that place with the Holy Spirit that I know I'm supposed to have — especially after walking through five weeks of watching my mother-in-law die of cancer. That's not an easy thing to say as a pastor. But I said it anyway. And what Michael gave me back was one of the most practically powerful and spiritually deep conversations I've ever had on this podcast.Michael Koulianos leads Jesus Image, a church and global movement, and there is genuinely no one I know who flows in the presence of God the way he does. In this episode, he walks us through his personal morning prayer routine — two hours, early, consistent for 20 years — and breaks down exactly what it looks like: silence, Bible reading from Genesis to Revelation looking for Jesus the whole way, worship, and a prayer list he's been building for years with names being crossed off one by one. But more than the mechanics, he talks about what it means to feel God's presence not as an emotional high but as a continual awareness. And he talks about mourning — why giving yourself permission to grieve is actually the door that opens to the Holy Spirit's comfort.We also get into the real cost of leading a movement, the false sense of responsibility that burns leaders out, what God is actually doing on the earth right now, and why the cross isn't just the starting point of the Christian life — it's the whole shape of it. If you're a man who's been running on empty spiritually, or you've been grinding so hard you've lost the thread of why you started, this episode will recalibrate you. Carve out the time to watch the whole thing. It's worth every minute.Chapters:00:00 – Welcome: Jason Gets Honest07:15 – Little Ezra, Grief, and Why Mourning Opens the Door14:31 – Sensing vs. Feeling21:46 – Inside Michael's Morning Routine29:01 – Prayer Lists, John Eldridge, and Hearing God's Promises36:16 – How to Find Jesus in Every Page of Scripture 43:32 – The Hardest Part of Leading a Movement50:47 – Burnout, Boundaries, His Church Doubling While Michael Couldn't Speak58:02 – What God Is Doing on Earth Right Now1:05:17 – Living on His Mission, the Cross-Shaped Life & Closing PrayerCONNECT WITH BRAVECOJoin Our Free Community for Men (ladies, sign up your man): https://www.braveco.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/braveco.menInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/braveco.men/Shop: https://shop.braveco.org/ABOUT BRAVECO: We live in a time where men are hunting for the truth and looking for the codebook to manhood. At BraveCo, we are on a mission to heal the narrative of masculinity across a generation; fighting the good fight together because every man should feel confident and capable of facing his pain, loving deeply, and leading a life that impacts the world around him.

This week's Brave Co podcast is a moment I've been waiting to share with you guys — John Eldredge live from our BraveCo conference last year, and I'm telling you, this one carries weight. John takes us all the way back to Adam in the garden and shows us how the original failure of masculinity — passivity, the failure to engage — is still being passed down through every generation of men. He unpacks the fig leaf every man wears, why what you meet when you meet a man is rarely his true heart, and how the poser inside of us is quietly keeping us from the life God designed us for.John gets vulnerable about his own story — growing up as the only son of an alcoholic father, the trips to the river that ended, the police station ride home in absolute silence, and the vow he made as a teenager that he would never trust anyone. He talks about the wound every boy carries, the two questions every man is secretly asking — am I loved, and do I have what it takes — and how the way those questions were answered in our childhood is still shaping who we are today. If you've ever wondered why you medicate with work, alcohol, sex, or constant achievement, John explains it with a clarity I haven't heard anywhere else.The back half of the episode moves into one of the most powerful guided prayer experiences I've ever sat in. John walks every man through inviting Jesus into the wounded places, forgiving the people who hurt us, breaking the agreements we've made about ourselves, and letting the older us finally bless the younger boy we've been ashamed of for years. This is sacred ground. Sit with it. Don't rush it. If this episode meets you in a deep place, share it with a man in your life and start marking your calendar for next year's BraveCo conference, June 21–23 in Redding, California. Subscribe, rate, and review — and stay brave.Chapters:00:00 — Jesus, I Want My Whole Heart Back07:29 — Adam's Failure and the Birth of the Fig Leaf14:58 — Masculinity Is Strength on Behalf of Others22:27 — Love, Validation, and the Father's Voice29:56 — The Police Station and the Vow That Shaped a Life37:25 — Raising Boys and the Bestowal of Manhood44:54 — Naming Your Wound and What You Believe52:23 — A River Runs Through It and the Lost Father59:52 — Jesus Asks, "Where Do You Need Me?"1:07:21 — Blessing the Younger Boy Inside YouCONNECT WITH BRAVECOJoin Our Free Community for Men (ladies, sign up your man): https://www.braveco.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/braveco.menInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/braveco.men/Shop: https://shop.braveco.org/ABOUT BRAVECO: We live in a time where men are hunting for the truth and looking for the codebook to manhood. At BraveCo, we are on a mission to heal the narrative of masculinity across a generation; fighting the good fight together because every man should feel confident and capable of facing his pain, loving deeply, and leading a life that impacts the world around him.

This week on the Brave Co Podcast, I'm getting personal about something that's been stirring in my heart for the last eight months — the role of a man as a watchman, a priest, and a contender in prayer. I'll be honest with you, I've never thought of myself as a prayer warrior in the same league as men like Lou Engle or Watchman Nee, but God has been pulling me into a deeper place. After a lunch with a friend who is genuinely a man of prayer, I started making small shifts — five minutes here, ten minutes there — and watching what God was doing in real time. This episode is me inviting you into that same stirring.I walk through the four roles every man is called to step into — priest, prophet, king, and warrior — and zoom in on what it means to be a priest who goes to God on behalf of his family. We look at Isaiah 62, Ezekiel 22, Psalm 106, and the story of Moses literally changing God's mind on behalf of a rebellious nation. The truth is, God isn't lacking power. He's looking for men who will take ownership, men who will stand in the breach, men who refuse to let their families, their churches, and their cities go unprotected. That's you. That's me. That's our actual role.I share a story from my childhood about falling asleep under the chairs at my dad's Friday night prayer meetings while men like Bill Johnson and Danny Silk contended in the room, and how that model is still shaping me today. I talk about the Businessmen's Revival in America and why I believe God is waking men up right now to do the same thing in this generation. If you've been passive, distracted, or unsure where to even start, this episode gives you a simple challenge — just five minutes. Start there, build the habit, and watch what shifts. Subscribe so you don't miss the next drop, and head to braveco.org for hats, gear, and more.Chapters:00:00 — A Time When Masculinity Is Shamed02:15 — A Lunch That Stirred Me to Pray04:29 — Priest, Prophet, King, and Warrior06:44 — What a Real Watchman Actually Does08:59 — God Found No One to Stand in the Gap11:13 — How Moses Changed God's Mind13:28 — You Are a Royal Priesthood15:42 — Falling Asleep Under the Prayer Chairs17:57 — The Businessmen's Revival and Your Five Minutes20:11 — A Prayer Over Every Man ListeningCONNECT WITH BRAVECOJoin Our Free Community for Men (ladies, sign up your man): https://www.braveco.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/braveco.menInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/braveco.men/Shop: https://shop.braveco.org/ABOUT BRAVECO: We live in a time where men are hunting for the truth and looking for the codebook to manhood. At BraveCo, we are on a mission to heal the narrative of masculinity across a generation; fighting the good fight together because every man should feel confident and capable of facing his pain, loving deeply, and leading a life that impacts the world around him.

This week on the Brave Co Podcast, I'm doing my absolute favorite thing — going live with you guys and tackling the questions you don't want to ask out loud anywhere else. We covered some heavy ground, from a husband who feels triggered by his wife's silent attitude, to a stay-at-home dad of five wondering if he's hit his ceiling, to a man wrestling with whether he's truly hearing God's voice about a big move. I tried to give each guy real, practical tools — not Christianese platitudes — because that's what we men actually need to grow.A few themes kept rising to the surface as we worked through these conversations. Conflict resolution is a learned skill, not a personality trait, and most of us never had it modeled for us. The culture of your home is something you build on purpose, not something that just happens to you. And when it comes to hearing God, I'm convinced more men are paralyzed by the fear of getting it wrong than are actually missing His will — because we serve a Father who's kind, not a trickster waiting for us to mess up. I shared the exact framework I use when I'm trying to make big decisions, and how I keep moving forward without spiritualizing my own passivity.We closed with a powerful conversation with my friend Alejandro who's about to plant a church in Washington while caring for a wife who's hurting. I unpacked the three needs every woman has — to feel safe, seen, and known — and gave practical, doable steps any husband can start using this week to hit that target. If you want to lead your home well, this episode is loaded with tools. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss next week's drop, and head over to braveco.org if you want to check out our gear and resources.Chapters:00:00 — Welcome to the Live Q&A05:24 — Conflict Is a Learned Skill, Not a Personality10:47 — Invest in Your Marriage Like You Mean It16:11 — A Stay-at-Home Dad Hits the Wall21:34 — Optimize Before You Escape26:57 — How Do I Actually Hear God's Voice?32:21 — Green Lights Until God Says Stop37:44 — Called to Plant a Church, Wife in Pain43:08 — Stop Solving, Start Validating48:31 — Build the Culture, Hit the TargetCONNECT WITH BRAVECOJoin Our Free Community for Men (ladies, sign up your man): https://www.braveco.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/braveco.menInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/braveco.men/Shop: https://shop.braveco.org/ABOUT BRAVECO: We live in a time where men are hunting for the truth and looking for the codebook to manhood. At BraveCo, we are on a mission to heal the narrative of masculinity across a generation; fighting the good fight together because every man should feel confident and capable of facing his pain, loving deeply, and leading a life that impacts the world around him.

This week on the BraveCo Podcast, I sat down with one of my closest friends, Richard Gordon, for a conversation I've been wanting to have for a long time. Richard is on our executive team at Bethel Church, and over the years I've had the privilege of watching him grow from a son in our house into one of the strongest fathers I know. We dug into the journey of moving from "what can I get?" to "what can I give?" — that quiet, often invisible shift that turns boys into men and sons into fathers.We got real about marriage, parenting, and the things nobody warns you about — bedtime battles, sensory struggles with our kids, co-sleeping, and the seasons where you feel like you're failing even when you're showing up. I shared what it was like walking my daughter Edy through years of dysregulation after my mother-in-law passed, and Richard opened up about how God keeps inviting him deeper into leadership through his family first. We also talked about what I call "the noble drug" — the way work and ministry can quietly become an escape, even when it looks valiant from the outside.If you're a husband, a dad, or a leader feeling pulled in a thousand directions, this conversation is for you. My prayer is that it gives you permission to make your family your number one team, to be led by vision instead of need, and to remember that the seasons that feel the hardest are often the ones you'll look back on as the most sacred. Hit subscribe so you don't miss next week, and check out our new gear at braveco.org. Love you guys.Connect with Richard: https://richardgordon.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richardgordon_/Chapters:00:00 — Welcome Back & Meet Richard Gordon03:24 — From Son to Father: The Mindset That Changes Everything06:48 — How God "Tricked" Richard Into Leadership10:14 — Jesus as Lord AND Friend: Leading Your Kids Without Losing Connection13:38 — Bedtime, Routines & Why Connection Regulates Everything17:04 — Walking Through Edy's Sensory Journey & Our Hardest Season20:28 — Co-Sleeping, Emotional Safety & Building a Bubble at Home23:54 — Your Family Is Your #1 Team (And Why That Matters)27:18 — Led by Vision, Not by Need: The Noble Drug of Overworking30:44 — Your Greatest Assignment & Final EncouragementCONNECT WITH BRAVECOJoin Our Free Community for Men (ladies, sign up your man): https://www.braveco.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/braveco.menInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/braveco.men/Shop: https://shop.braveco.org/ABOUT BRAVECO: We live in a time where men are hunting for the truth and looking for the codebook to manhood. At BraveCo, we are on a mission to heal the narrative of masculinity across a generation; fighting the good fight together because every man should feel confident and capable of facing his pain, loving deeply, and leading a life that impacts the world around him.

Website: https://www.dadawesome.org/In this episode, I sit down with Jeff Zaugg, host of the Dad Awesome podcast and author of Dad Awesome, to talk about what it really takes to become an intentional, healthy, and present father. Jeff shares the story behind his new book, the lessons he has learned from years of conversations on fatherhood, and why every dad needs more than good intentions to lead his family well.We talk honestly about the moments we have missed it as dads, the anger, pain, passivity, and unprocessed wounds that can come out on our kids if we do not bring them into the light. Jeff shares a powerful story about a snowball that broke trust with his daughter, and we discuss how repentance, self-awareness, brotherhood, and humility can bring healing instead of shame.This conversation is for every dad who wants to grow, lead, and love his family with greater purpose. If fatherhood matters to you, it is worth investing in. Grab Jeff’s book at dadawesome.org and start building a plan for the kind of father you want to become.Chapters:00:00 Welcome Back to Brave Co03:21 The Weight of Becoming a Dad06:42 The Snowball That Broke Trust10:03 When Dads Lose Control13:24 The Grenades Fathers Carry16:45 Healing Pain From the Past20:06 Self-Awareness and Brotherhood23:27 Growing as Sons Before Fathers26:48 Loved, Learner, Leader30:09 Why Dads Need a PlanCONNECT WITH BRAVECOJoin Our Free Community for Men (ladies, sign up your man): https://www.braveco.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/braveco.menInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/braveco.men/Shop: https://shop.braveco.org/ABOUT BRAVECO: We live in a time where men are hunting for the truth and looking for the codebook to manhood. At BraveCo, we are on a mission to heal the narrative of masculinity across a generation; fighting the good fight together because every man should feel confident and capable of facing his pain, loving deeply, and leading a life that impacts the world around him.