.jpg)
Friends And Family
Conversations from the studios of God's Way Radio in Miami, FL.
WAYG-LP | 104.7FM
Friends And Family
How Loss, Calling, And Discipline Shaped A Life Of Ministry In Sports
We sit down with Desmond Cook, Stanford scholar-athlete turned Miami Dolphins chaplain and FCA leader, to trace a path from loss and pride to surrender and purpose. A brother’s legacy, a parking-lot breakthrough, and a new call reshape what success means on campuses and in the NFL.
• family roots in faith and discipline
• from nerd to All-American and the Stanford choice
• the 12-year plan, injuries, and the end of an NFL dream
• brother’s influence and testimonies of changed lives
• grief, surrender, and a sunrise service turning point
• time stewardship for student athletes and priorities
• promise over problems, embracing strain for growth
• launching into ministry with FCA and regional impact
• Dolphins chapel culture, midweek study, and prayer
• integrity, contentment, and competing by the rules
• saved by grace for good works in every sphere
Stay with us until the end of our conversation for more information on this program and other unique offerings from God's Way Radio
You're tuned in to Friends and Family, a God's way radio exclusive where we introduce you to some amazing people. In John chapter 15, verse 15, Jesus says, I have called you friends for all things that I heard from my father, I have made known to you. That's our aim, that God would be made known to you. Stay with us until the end of our conversation for more information on this program and other unique offerings from God's Way Radio.
Desmond:I'm Desmond Cook. I am the uh director of Fellowship with Christian Athletes down here in South Florida. It's a sport ministry that aims to see the world transformed by Jesus through the influence of student athletes and coaches. I'm also the chaplain for the Miami Dolphins. And uh, but you know, probably more important than all those things, uh, just a son of God uh and a husband to the most amazing wife in the history of the world, Sarah Cook. Awesome, awesome.
Joey:And Desmond, you know, I would love to hear a little bit about just your background, your upbringing, where where'd you grow up, uh, what was family like growing up? Did you always grow up uh knowing church? Tell us a little bit about the early years.
Desmond:Yeah, no, I love it. Uh so uh originally from Nashville, Tennessee, uh, but raised down here in South Florida majority of my life. My parents are both native Floridians from Dade County, one's from uh Daniel Beach. And uh they brought my brother and I up in the ways of the Lord. So we grew up going to church and uh knowing right from wrong and things of that nature. And uh uh by the grace of God, uh just you know, coming out of uh South Florida, the Lord allowed me to excel at a lot of different things, both academically and athletically. So I was a nerd from well, I guess I shouldn't say was, I'm still a nerd, but uh so I'm a nerd, but also I was a nerd that eventually grew into uh his body. And so um wound up, you know, turning on a number of scholarships and then going out to Stanford University, uh, played ball out there, uh, you know, majored in math, organizational studies, um, chased the NFL dream for a few years, and uh, you know, when that didn't work out, uh came back, um, coached for a number of years, um, you know, did the arena thing, um, then eventually started up a tech company, built that up for a number of years, and uh then uh when the Lord called my brother home, uh, who played 11 years in the NFL, I'm the midget in the family. Uh that that's saying something. I'm about to say if you're in the studio, you you'd understand why they laughed.
Omar:I gotta interrupt because this is very and you can't see it. He doesn't have the body of a nerd. Yeah, he has the body of a stud. Trust me when I tell you this. Go ahead.
Desmond:Say that one more time for my wife. Um but when the when the Lord called my brother home, what I realized is my the Lord was using my brother, and I know I'm probably going way ahead and you have to reel me back in.
Joey:Yeah, yeah, but I I'm liking where it's going.
Desmond:But the but the Lord was using my brother the entire time, unbeknownst to me, uh, to kind of serve as an anchor point for me. Like uh so when the NFL thing didn't work out for me the way I had envisioned it, according to the 12-year plan that I submitted to God, uh, you know, I it became like this one compromise after the other on my part where I was a bit jaded. You know, I thought God had reneged on this deal that we had, not realizing no, that was your deal, not his. Um, and so so when I was slowly but surely immersing myself back in the world, even though I knew better, it was constantly my baby brother, uh, all six foot eight, 340 pounds of him, that would remind me, hey man, that's not what the Lord's called you to do. And I was swatted off like a like a gnat, like a mosquito, like yeah, yeah, whatever. Yeah. Um, but it turns out he he was living his life to be more than just an impact of my own personal life. Uh my brother played um you know five years with uh Ray Lewis and those guys in Baltimore uh with the Ravens and uh played in a bunch of other squads. And at the memorial service, uh I began to hear from all these people from around the country, former teammates, random folks I didn't know. And person after person was talking about the fact that they probably would not be walking with the Lord now if not for his influence. There's a couple on the verge of divorce 10 years earlier that said, Look, he said, Don't do anything till I get down there during my bye week. And if you know anything about NFL, you get that one bye week. It's the one chance you get to finally just relax a little bit with your family, stay off your feet. And instead of doing that, with you know, when he had his own wife and kids, he said, I'm gonna fly down there, we're gonna pray this thing out. And here they were 10 years later, saying, We're we're together stronger than we've ever been, in part because he came and he prayed with us and we were ready to just hang it up. And so uh he it turns out he was using his entire life, not just his football platform and an influence, but all of his all of his adult life to really impact the kingdom, and uh that that that weighed heavily, heavily on me, yeah uh made me become even more introspective. Like, hey, am I really doing what the Lord has called me to do? And uh, you know, we'll we'll circle back on that and I'll get into more detail.
Joey:Yeah, I mean, just to to hone in on what we just heard, he was uh he was a player, he yeah, he wasn't a chaplain, he wasn't a coach, he didn't have a position, he was doing his job, he was living the dream in a sense of a lot of athletes. Yeah, but on top of that, or under that, or around that, was a son of God, a a Christian trying to see God change other people's lives around him.
Desmond:Yeah, son of God and an ambassador for the kingdom, right? Like he was on mission each day of his life when he was calling folks at 5 30 in the morning. I thought it was just me. It turns out it was a whole bunch of people asking him, Hey, have you prayed yet? You know, like type of thing. And um so the impact he had uh not just again, not just on my life, and not just on some of the individuals I mentioned, I'll I'll never forget about uh five years ago. Um you know, back when I was serving as chaplain for the FAU, uh Ray Lewis on the sideline, his son was uh at the time was playing for FAU. And at that point, those two hadn't played together probably in over ten years. It had been five years at that point since my brother had passed away. And still, unprompted, unsolicited, in the middle of a game, he walks over to me, you know, he looks, you know, he knows he knows, you know, that we're related, right? My last name's Cook. My brother and I are very similar features-wise, and he just comes up to me, he's like, he's like, Cook. And I just want you want you to know, man, your brother, it still hurts my heart. You know, and he was just going on about the impact and influence my brother. My brother wasn't a draft pick, right? He wasn't a perennial starter, pro bowler, anything. My brother battled every year just to make a roster. And it did not stop him from using his life, even within that locker room setting, to influence those around him.
Omar:That's what let me ask you a question because I I dealt in grief share uh at Calvary Chapel for many years. But the loss of your brother at that an early age, how did that impact you and your walk with Christ? Because that was a very, very shocking thing for a young man like him. And you lost more than just a brother. I mean, you l you you lost a brother in Christ and a family member. How did you handle that?
Desmond:Yeah, it was crazy. I mean, uh to your point, not only was he my blood brother, not only was my brother in Christ, he was my best friend. Like he, you know, he was the best man at my wedding six months prior to his passing. And um we we just spoke on the phone two hours earlier when I get the when I get the call. Uh, we worked out two days prior to we worked out together two days prior to his passing. Um and the lot one of the last things I say to him, it was the morning of his 10-year anniversary, the first day in a brand new house he had just uh bought for his family. He had dropped the kids off with me during for the summer, like he normally would do. And and so we kind of joked. I was like, look, well, it's you know, I said it sounds like your breath stinks, so go back to sleep. Uh wish your wife a happy anniversary. I'll talk to you later. Um, and so the impact it had on me and finding that out, um, the initial impact was just disbelief. Like, what are you talking about? Like, I just spoke to him a couple hours ago. Nothing was wrong. Uh, but then like after that initial initial shock uh hit me, I just began to think about, and I know it sounds crazy, but I was like, man, I don't know if I'd be doing what I was doing now. I was at that point in my life, I'm walking with the Lord, you know, I'm I'm serving the Lord and things of that nature. But I was like, I don't know if I'd be where I'm at right now with the Lord, if not for my baby brother being so persistent and almost annoying at times. Uh and I began to think about like, yeah, I missed my brother already, but I would not want to have him come back, right? I knew where he was. Like, why would I wish that on anybody?
Joey:Let me ask you this, and and it's you know, a bit personal, but how how did he pass or what happened if you're able to still don't even know for sure.
Desmond:I don't know for sure. His his his his wife would know, but you know, it was either a heart attack or pulmonary emulism. I've heard like one of I've heard both of those. How old?
Joey:36 years old. Oh my goodness. 36 years old. And how were you at how old were you at the time?
Desmond:Uh 38.
Joey:We're two years apart.
Desmond:Man.
Joey:Yeah. And how long ago was it? 10 years. I just tricked you into saying your age. Oh, you didn't have to trick me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You didn't have to trick me, trust me. I'm a told. No, no, no. Live radio. Sometimes you go you go for a joke and it doesn't land. Um uh I'm sorry, I just light in the mood there. Uh the uh me trying. Uh Desmond, uh man, 36 and 38. Um, he passes away so uh surprisingly. Um this is during his NFL career.
Desmond:He's no, he he probably just retired, maybe a few years earlier. Uh he he concluded his play up in Detroit. Um, and then I think maybe a season or two go by, you know, he finally kind of officially retires, started teaching up there in Baltimore, uh teaching and coaching. And um, yeah. Yeah.
Joey:So rewinding a bit, like you you mentioned that we would, but also re greeting again uh anyone that's just tuned in, you're listening to Godsway radio. We actually have a special guest in the studio, uh, via or thanks to our friends at CBMC. Uh, we have uh Miami Dolphin chaplain Desmond Cook and like he said, more importantly, uh a son of God and and a husband. Uh, but we're grateful to have him here just to share his story. Uh, you know, Desmond, the hope is that we could talk about, man, just your testimony with the Lord, but also some of the cool things that that you get to do and and where the Lord has you and where the Lord has had you. So we'll see what we can cover uh today. Desmond, you mentioned that you played uh sports at a collegiate level. Uh let's go back to to um uh Pop Warner or high school or you know, how was sports when you were a kid? I mean, I I feel like sports are so much different now. Give us a little uh insight. Was it just a given? Man, you boys, you're gonna play, you know, you're built to play. How was that?
Desmond:So you'll never know now by looking at me. My my first sports uh were soccer, gymnastics, and platform diving. Okay. Sounds amazing.
Omar:We're not diving today, then.
Desmond:No, sir. You're not diving today. I jump in, the water's jumping out now. But those, you know, but my my father, uh my parents exposed my brother and I to, they wanted to expose us just to a multitude of things and experiences, and then we can kind of make our own decision as to what we wanted to do. So I pretty much played every sport, enjoy them all. Um, as I grew up and uh uh got to high school, I remember coming to high school at 135 pounds. I'm clearly not thinking, yeah, I'm gonna play big time college ball, let alone anything beyond that. So my only goal when I when I got to high school was like I wanted to go to Harvard on the academic scholarship. That was the plan. Uh, and so I'm working the plan. I'm in math club, chess club, band chorus, academic games. Um, you know, I'm still playing ball, but you know, I'm I'm I'm I'm a realist, I'm a pragmatist, 135 pounds. I'm not going anywhere. Sophomore year get up to 165, junior year, uh I eventually get up to 225, and and then and at that point, I've already I've I've placed sixth in the state in discus, my sophomore year, first time ever picking up a disc. My junior year, I won the state championship. Uh, and then so now I'm getting recruited by everybody for both football and track. And then by my senior year, uh both basically all American, both in football and track, I was number two in the country in the discus. And uh so I pretty much and then of course academically I'm where I want to be. So turned down Harvard. Uh thought I was gonna go to Florida State because that was my dream school coming up. Okay, took my trips to Florida State, No to Shame, Michigan State. Um, and then of course I get a phone call from Bill Walsh, who was at Stanford at the time. And at that point, I was like, done, I know where I'm going right now.
Joey:So that's kind of me coming up, yeah. Yeah. Uh what's the Bill Walsh Stanford connection? Was it a big name at that time?
Desmond:Or was it just I forgot you're younger. You don't know anything about these things. Anybody over the age of probably like 40, you know, like if the the name Bill Walsh is synonymous with genius when it comes to football. Like he won multiple Super Bowls with the 49ers. He was kind of the originator of the West Coast offense uh in the NFL. Um, and so for for me to get a call from him uh at that time, I again, and then of course, he puts a track coach on, which tells me that they're gonna allow me to do both at the premier academic institution in the country. Uh Harvard's like the Stanford of the of the east. And uh so uh so just the opportunity to have the best of both worlds academic athletically made perfect sense. And I wouldn't have to deal with the snow up in Massachusetts. I'd get to deal with the palm trees coming down Palm Ave down in the Bay Area.
Joey:So that's what it was. Nice, nice. Uh looking again at your school years, man. Um you know, there's so many different people that could be listening. There's parents listening, there's students listening. You know, we actually have a population here of students and families that listen to the station, that listen live to refresh. You're listening live. Uh, you know, I encourage you, I haven't given out the phone number yet. If you want to call or text, we we love to get your text messages, your phone calls here at the studio. And I always have people say, Oh, but it was an interview, I didn't want to interrupt. First of all, it's not interruption. We love hearing the phone calls, but you can text if if you feel that it's better to text, text or call us right now while we're live in the studio, October the 20th, with Desmond Cook, a guest that CBMC has brought with them today. 786-313-3115. 786-313-3115. What could you tell us about balancing the studies and the athletics about maybe things that your parents instilled in you or things that you learned through the years uh to really navigate and succeed in those high school years?
Desmond:Yeah, I think one of the first things is realizing there are 168 hours in a week, and uh, and and this comes from a conversation I had with Tyron Willingham. He he took over at Stanford after Bill Walsh resigned. And so by the time I get out there, he's my coach. And I remember I had this one particular semester. Um, I think I wound up getting like two C's, you know, and it was uncharacteristic, but you know, in my mind, I'm like, you know, like I'm I'm doing football, track, I'm doing community service, and I'm taking some of the hardest classes you'll ever take in the world. Like, it's okay. And he was like, No, I didn't bring you out here for that. He's like, What's your what's your your priorities look like? And of course, I'm trying to say the right thing. And I was like, Oh, you know, academics first, athletics second. And he's like, Well, there are 168 hours in a week, right? I was like, Yes, sir. So isn't there enough time to be excellent in both? And I was like, uh, and you know, and I didn't realize it be until that conversation, but that's that's the number and one thing I tell all of our athletes, uh student athletes that I that I speak with in minister to now. There's enough time if we choose to, and I understand this, we all have choices, right? Uh, if we choose to lean into uh the call that the Lord has called us to, there's enough time to be excellent in both of those things. Um, you know, but you do, but you have to make decisions. You have to be willing when your friends are going to parties or going to the mall or movies or whatever kids do nowadays to say, like, hey, I still have homework because the life of a student athlete is different from regular students. Students get out of school at the at the high school level 245. If you're on a college campus, you know, you have your classes, you're done by noon or whatever, and then you do whatever you feel like. If you play sport at the high school level, you get out of school like everybody else, but then you have practice somewhere between 3 and 6 p.m. You're not getting home until 7, 7:30 p.m. And when everybody else has been done with homework for four hours, you're just getting started at the collegiate level. Pretty similar, right? You know, uh, so it's just a matter of what you prioritize. And if my goal, if my aim is, hey, I want to live my best life right now, cool. Go ahead and do that. But do recognize that means something else will have to be sacrificed. Interesting.
Joey:So man, that's it right there. Thank you for getting no. I mean, that's so that's so much wisdom there, especially that how you wrapped it up there at the end. You can live your best life now, quote unquote, but you sacrifice the future, or you can invest now in your future, right? Is that is that kind of what you were getting at?
Desmond:Look, I I'll I'm I'm gonna use a biblical uh uh uh analogy. Numbers chapter 13, right? For those who if you haven't read it, read it when we get off. Uh God says, Hey, look, put together some men, go spy out the land that I'm going to give to you. God is basically saying, Hey, I have a promise for you. I just simply want you to go take a look at it. They go in there 40 days, they're in the land, they see it's all that they had heard and dreamt about, but they also recognize, man, there's gonna be some challenges if we go ahead and take this land, right? They got these giants there, they got these well-fortified walls. And so instead of leaning on God's promises, they began to focus more on the problems. And I'd say for those who are struggling now, oftentimes because we only focus on the problems, not the promise. And here's the thing uh, part of the reason why they focus on the problems, because I think a lot of them, like a lot of us, we want God to show up and do what only he can do. We want him to show up and just, you know, snap a finger and make it happen, but we don't want the strain that he expects us to endure to embrace in order to get there. And so they they recognize it's gonna be tough to take this land, much like some of our kids. Hey, in order for me to get that scholarship, in order for me to to whatever that thing is, it's gonna require real strain. It's not a one-hitter quitter. I can't show up one day and everything's gonna happen at the snap of a finger. I have to be willing to endure the strain of studying, the strain of missing the party, the strain of the extra practices or whatever it may be.
Speaker 7:Yeah, amen.
Omar:Yeah, Desmond, when you finish a Stanford or when you're in your senior year, you you have like a plan with God to play in the pros or something similar to that. Talk talk a little bit about your transition from Stanford to the pros, because you were successful from high school to college. You had all kinds of choices, right?
Desmond:Correct.
Omar:But when it when you finished college, your choices were not as varied. Let's talk a little bit about the difference.
Desmond:Yeah, I mean, yeah, the plan I submitted guy was uh uh during my sophomore year. I had the full 12-year plan laid out from like, look, in two years or 12 years. Oh, brother, yeah, I know. Brother was ambitious. I'm sure the guy looked at the plan and started laughing. Jesus, look at this fool right here. Um, so so ball is done. Um, you know, I had my plans. Uh I chased it as far as I could possibly chase it, but eventually phone calls stopped coming in, and now I have to be both ready and willing to pivot. Um, that's another life lesson. Like, it don't all like I'd love to sell you that dream that if you just give your life to the Lord, anything you ask, He'll give to you. Like, they don't it don't really work like that. Um, you know, ask Joseph how that whole thing went. God gave him a vision that he would hold a position of prominence, and the next thing he knows, he's thrown in the pit, sold into slavery, throw a lied on, thrown in the prison. Like that's kind of how life operates. But here's what I've also learned uh the bad things that occur in my life, it ain't always really just about me. And the good things that happen in my life really just aren't about me either. In totality, God has his plan that is working through both the ups and our downs.
Joey:Yeah, we we always look at ourselves as the main character of the story, you know, and we're not, right? If you really look at it, Jesus is the main character all day. We're a part of his story, you know. Uh, there's a there's an old dead guy uh that said, I don't know, I don't remember. I just I saw this quote and it was like, oh my god. I saw the quote, I saw well, I see the quote and it says, Oh, seven died 1790, whatever. A Christian back in the day. More dead than old, I guess. So anyway, so he said, you know, he said, preach the gospel, be forgotten. And it's just like, all right, you know, God, I don't need I don't need my name remembered, right? So man, just just hearing, I've been thinking about that lately, hearing it confirmed. It's like, hey, you're not the main character, you know. Um, but but but great question, Omar, and and uh if you don't mind, again, this is some of the kind of like the cool insights, right? That maybe people don't hear about or know. Can you even dig into that deeper? How is it that you were so successful in high school, leading into an amazing college opportunity, so successful in college, but what do you mean that it didn't take off in the pros, or it didn't, what were the hindrances, or do you not know it just didn't click?
Desmond:Or yeah, I think I I think in part, you know, if if I could be a have have an honest assessment of myself, I know pride kicks in from time to time, but it's tough to play in the NFL. Like them dudes are really talented and as good as I thought I was, and I yeah, I can blame the injuries, two fractured ankles, a shoulder suplexation, fractured capsule, torn cuff, all within 18 months. Those certainly played a role, but like there's still a likelihood, even with none of those things happening, I may not have made it.
Joey:Gotcha.
Desmond:I can't tell you how many guys come through. Uh I see every year during training camp. We you know, start off with 90 guys, dudes who were like all conference, you know, various levels of all American coming out of college. This is the creme de la creme. And then when the train when this when the training camp is over, when it's the regular when those final cuts are made, there's still gonna be 30 plus guys that may never play football again. That's the nature of this business.
Omar:It's an interesting thing because now your primary dream is gone. And one of the most w wonderful things in this country is that most of us share uh uh go after the primary dreams, but we end up with secondary and tertiary dreams.
Joey:Yeah.
Omar:So now what was your secondary dream? Once the dream of playing the NFL is is gone, where does Desmond go?
Desmond:Yeah. So that was the thing. Um, it was crazy. As much of a nerd as I was my entire life, somehow or another, I morphed, I became a jock, right? Like where I put all I put I put a ton of eggs into that one basket and I refused, like when even when I wasn't getting calls anymore, even when my agent wasn't calling back anymore, like I was like, no, like this is still this is still the plan. Uh so for me, I I I didn't I did not prepare myself uh initially for what was next. Now, unfortunately, the work that had been done up to then it the Lord allows that to still give me a leg up and an opportunity when I when I was finally serious about moving on to the next phase. But I also say this um as much as it's it's important to to have a plan uh and all those things, uh more important than all of those things, I think, is to have a legitimate and earnest, a real relationship with the Lord. I told you I'll I grew up in church. I knew right from wrong, right? I I could check off all the boxes, um but in hindsight, I looked back and I realized what I really had was more of a transactional relationship, right? I would do the right things because I was getting the results I was looking for. And so in my mind, I was like, well, I don't want to ruin a good thing. I mean, I definitely don't want to go to hell. I mean, I I grew up in South Florida, man, it's already hot. So like I didn't want that. So I'm like, yeah, if you ask me point blank, do you you know, do you accept Jesus? Yeah, of course. Because I knew the alternate, the alternative was you going to hell. So I would say the right things, I would do the right things, but you know what? I lacked the right heart. I didn't have the relationship. So here's here's a consequence of that. When stuff happens, when life punches you in the mouth, and it will for everybody as long as you keep living, it's going to happen at some point. I talked about the fact that I made all these compromises all of a sudden, and in part it's because I didn't have solid foundation. The promise that I thought you know I was in agreement with the Lord on didn't come to fruition. And so I began to look around, I look at the landscape, and I'm like, like cats that I used to beat that are still playing in the league, uh, people that I would hang out with down in South Florida who didn't love the Lord, wanted nothing to do with them at all, but their life seemed to be great. Well, I was like, well, look, well, God's not like us, He won't renege. So, you know, like heaven is mine, but I can begin to kind of live like the rest of the world. And it was only because I didn't have a real relationship with them. Uh, but I do thank God again for my baby brother and people like my brother who the Lord put into my and my life and constantly were reminding me, hey man, that's not it. Yeah, that's not the standard. God has a different plan for you.
Joey:So when did you make the turnaround and it stopped being transactional and it started being real?
Desmond:Yeah, I I still remember um Easter service uh at Lockhart Stadium of Calvary Chapel, and um, you know, I again still checking boxes, you know. I was like, I'm gonna go to Easter sunrise service, but I literally just came straight from the club, probably smelled like I don't know how many different drinks I had that particular night. Somehow another got glitter on me and came, you know, you know, all right, but scratch that. Some of someone's got to explain that to their kids. So but so here I was, I'm in the car, I'm in the parking lot early because I didn't go home. I knew if I went home, I would never make it. So I came straight to the stadium. I'm in the parking lot, you know, 5:30 in the morning. And when I see other cars pull in and people start to walk into the stadium, I'm like, let me get ready to get out of here, uh, go into the stadium. But when I try to get out of the car, I'm like, ooh, no, let me sit back down. Because, you know, again, the night was a little rough. By the time I woke up, the second service was already done. I'm in the parking lot practically by myself, with the exception of a few people that were still picking up stuff in the parking lot. And like in that moment, in that car, sweating profusely, but utterly broken, I began to think about like all the different things, those burning bush moments uh the Lord had had blessed me with. I I began to hear my brother reminding me, or Pastor Bob, or something that he would have preached back in the time, or or some random person that bumped into me instead, you know, while I got two drinks in my hand, yeah, yeah, I sense the blood of Jesus on you. And I'm like, I hear all these things, and I'm like, man, God's been trying to communicate with me for a long time. And I was just broken. And I think for the first time in my life, I was truly surrendered in that particular moment. Do you remember what year that was? I would have been 30. I don't even know, I don't even know how old I am right now. Uh I was probably about it was probably 31 years old at the time. Yeah.
Joey:So about 10 years ago plus.
Desmond:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Five years ago, you know, three years ago.
Desmond:Uh but no, but uh 17 years ago now. 17.
Joey:Wow, man.
Omar:What a so you were still partying at 31.
Desmond:Oh my goodness. Well, I was a late boomer. I didn't I never partied until football ended.
Omar:Yeah, because the athletics, the demands, you know, but the question here is after football, how did you make a living? Now you're 31 years old. What was you didn't play football? How were you?
Desmond:Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, the beauty is, I mean, I still had a standard degree, so it was like, you know, I can get a job anywhere. Uh initially, I just I started teaching. Uh, but eventually, uh, you know, I got as much as I love working with young people, and it just ain't pay anything. So I went to the private sector, uh, initially with Relief Group International, uh, reorganized uh the infrastructure there. And then eventually uh with my partners, we started up a tech company, uh Multiply Inc., which had a couple different verticals, rapid response, MC3, healthcare technologies. Um, and so we're just you know, we're building apps and other uh tech you know technology platforms. Brower County named the day after our company back in 2014. Um uh uh October 14th, 2014, uh back at that time. And um, so that's how you know we pay the bills.
Joey:Yeah, yeah. So you you get right with the Lord. Was there anything that God did right away? Like, you know, some people they get saved and they they call someone, you know, I gotta apologize or I gotta go fix this, or what what happened next?
Desmond:Um so no. Um the next I probably still went hung out with some friends, but I'll say this appetites began to change. Like amen. Um, and so and and so I I say that because I think there are some folks when they do come to Christ, and the hope is that all the temptations, all the like that we we pray that those things uh flee from us uh the moment we accept Christ and things of that issue. But the reality is there's this other process. Paul would say, Man, look, your flesh and and your spirit are at war with one another. And oftentimes for those of us who come to Christ, especially we do so late in life, guess what, buddy? You've been living in your flesh for 30 years, and now you've been living you know filled with the spirit for about one month. You know, it's gonna take some time uh for you to to to to to to hear his voice more clearly and things of that nature.
Joey:Yeah, that's an encouragement, you know. For anyone listening, again, uh for anyone that just tuned in. In. We're kind of just past our halfway mark. We're live here in the studio weekdays from 3 30 to 4 30. We have a guest with us, Desmond Cook, brought to you by CBMC, uh Christian Business Men's Connection. Omar's here with us. And our phone lines are open as they are whenever we're live in the studio. The phone number to call or text if you have a question for Desmond, a word of encouragement. The phone number is 786-313-3115. Again, the phone number to call or text right now before we finish our live uh program at 430 is 786-313-3115. And Desmond, that's such an encouragement for anyone listening that maybe they are a new believer or maybe they are wrestling with a certain sin and are thinking, God, why haven't you taken this away? God, why isn't this gone? And it's that that Christian life. It's that Christian walk. Very similar to uh the the Bible uh chapter that you referenced earlier. You know, you're you're in the pl promised land, but you still have those battles.
Desmond:In the already, but not quite yet.
Joey:Already, but not quite yet. Yes, sir. Uh so Desmond, let's fast forward a bit. How did you get involved with student athlete ministry, right? I'm guessing that's one of the next chapters of your life. Absolutely.
Desmond:Yeah, min I'd say ministry in general. Okay. Um, so I'm walking with the Lord. Uh I I began um preaching, or I initially started just leading Bible studies at the church. Um, then uh began, you know, preaching here and there, but like I still wasn't pursuing that. It was just something that, you know, as I studied more and whatever. But when my brother passed, that was kind of that seminal moment, right? Uh, because again, listening to all the people that were impacted by him, not just me. And now we're walking with the Lord uh in part because for how he allowed the Lord just to work through him. I remember I'm back in my office that following Tuesday morning, and I'm like, Lord, if I'm not where I'm supposed to be, uh let me know. And yeah, it sounds great. Uh, but when but when the Lord was like, yeah, it's time to move on, I was like, hold on, slow down, God. You know, because you know, when I started this company, I had plans. I was trying to be like Black Zuckerberg around this thing. Uh so you know, but so two weeks later though, I prayed again. Um, and I think this time I was actually ready for whatever the answer is going to be. And when the Lord was like, it's time to move on, yeah. Uh, he didn't tell me what was next. Um, I ultimately sell the shares of my company uh back to my partners, and and then I got a phone call out of the blue from some guy I never met before. Uh, most of y'all probably know him down in South Florida, Mike Blanc. He was the uh FCA director at the time, uh, eventually uh became the chaplain for the University of Miami for a bunch of years. He's now the chaplain for University of Auburn and our EVP of Pro and Elite Sport for FCA. I get a phone call from him. Don't even know why I answered the phone because I didn't recognize the number, but as you know, Lord and his providence. Mike invites me to a golf fundraiser for FCA, tells me about the ministry, and for the first time, I really began to see how I can serve in a tangible way. That's how I got involved with FCA and the rest is history. That's it.
Omar:Let me ask you a question because we haven't gotten there yet.
Desmond:Yeah.
Omar:Where's your wife? Right now? No, where's your wife? In other words, we talked about football. When does she go to the book? We talked about the board, and I think that's wonderful. Yeah. But we gotta get the missus in here. Oh no, she's listening. You better make sure you bring her in. Oh, you already know.
Desmond:Uh look, I I couldn't do what I do if not for my wife. Because my hours are crazy. I don't I don't know many women uh that would be as comfortable, content, and supportive of a husband that's just gone a lot. Yeah. And in the spaces where I'm often at, because I'm a surround about athletes, oftentimes being around athletes means you're also surrounded by some other folks, right? And uh, but my wife, you know, she loves the Lord, she loves me, she trusts me, and it's all good. And look, when I came to her, remember, we're we're newlyweds at the time when I'm getting ready to sell my company. Uh we're newlyweds. Six months after we got married. My best man, the first person she met from my family, has passed away. And then only a few months later, I'm talking about, yeah, babe. So I know uh you know, since you've known me, I've I've had this tech company, but the Lord is calling me somewhere else. I don't know who would have stayed. Uh, but her response shocked me. Uh, shouldn't have, but you know, she was like, well, all right, well, look, if this is what the Lord is telling you, then then yeah, I'm not gonna stop you.
Joey:Amen.
Desmond:She did have one caveat though. So look, but if the Lord should happen to call us to like uh to Iowa or something like that, let's make sure we go to them together. And so that was good, good.
Joey:We we actually have a call that came in. Let's take this call. Good afternoon. Where are you calling us from?
Speaker 6:Good afternoon. I don't want to take up too much time because this is so cool to have a dolphin chapman on the phone, but um, my youngest, she like pretends to watch football with my husband. We all pretend to watch football with him, and um he's always, you know, she's always asking about players and this and that. I only know like the famous words here and there, and um, you know, it's always a lesson into how to live your life because for what is it to give the world and lose your soul? And I think that you're standing in the gap of that, and it's so powerful, and you have such an influence into God's word there, and um, you know, my husband's always telling them, you know, yeah, he plays well, but well, you know, you gotta pray for him because there's a man who'll tell him a little bit of a story, and I'm like, Why can't you say um he's like whatever. So he's uh he's always like trying to tell them about yeah, they're fat, yeah, he's got Lamborghini, but none of this matters unless he's got Jesus. So we always look for the players that are active with Jesus and and really stand by what he says. And so it's really, really great story. And I just have one of my children in here that would love to pray over you um for what you're doing. So her name is Jules. Um, she's gonna pretend to know what fulfillments.
Desmond:Look, I receive all of that. Let's go, Jules.
Speaker 5:Alright. Thank you for having God that we have to talk to you and that we're gonna frequency where we can. Thank you for sacrificing God that we are able to talk to sacrifice and um thank you for um thank you for Joey who runs this larger radio god, and he actually did a really good job with this. And thank you for Sesmond and him speaking to the Dolphins God, and uh the Dolphins team members can also get to know you, Jesus, and we see them in heaven.
Speaker 7:Amen. Thank you, Jewel.
Speaker 6:Cheering you on wholeheartedly now.
Joey:Thank you. Amen to that. Thank you. God bless you guys.
Speaker 6:Thank you, Mr. Cook.
Joey:God bless you, God bless you all. Oh, that was the light of this whole thing. That was sweet. That was amazing. Omar, you didn't get it on the mic, but he said, that was really amazing.
Omar:That was the highlight of this whole thing. Amen. I mean, we can talk all we want. Here's a child. Come on, what did Jesus say?
Desmond:Man, I don't know. But the children come on, man. Amen. That was amazing.
Joey:That was amazing. Thank you. Thank you for calling. You have time to call or text 786-313-31 uh 15. But uh yeah, thank you, Omar, for bringing uh Mrs. Cook into the the storyline and the picture. She's you know, so many times our wives are are that uh behind the scenes pillar of support, you know, that that people don't recognize, you know. Uh and there's so many cheesy, funny ways to say, you know, behind every strong man, there's a strong wife, all that, you know, beside every successful man, there's an amazing woman, all that stuff. But it's true, you know, it's true. Um, Desmond, I would love to fast forward a little bit just to hear more about uh what you're doing in FCA, kind of the scope and reach of your ministry. And again, the credit goes to the Lord, and then some some cool and fun things about what you do with the dolphins as well.
Desmond:No, absolutely. Uh again, uh having taken uh taken over uh the FCA ministry down here in South Florida almost nine years ago, I guess. Um, we we were kind of in our infancy compared to all other um other places around the country. Uh, but the Lord's just continued to do a mighty work. Every year, what we've seen is we've had more people uh that have become either volunteers, come on staff, become donors, become board members to help us to spread this gospel message uh throughout the entire county, public, private, charter schools. Uh, we don't care. Look, look, if if you chase after an ice cream chuck, we're calling you an odd an athlete and you're gonna get this gospel. So, like, that's kind of our approach to it. And over the last what five years, um, I think the number is 5,100 young people and coaches have made a decision to trust Jesus uh with their lives. Uh, we're excited. November 1st, we have uh two sets of baptisms coming up for kids in the southwest part of Broward County and in the central part. Um we'll work we'll coordinate the dates of some of the local churches for the other areas. Uh, but that's what we're seeing. We're seeing the uh kids receive the word of God, coaches receive the word of God, respond to it, and then the next phase, which is do something with it, right? They now have salvation and they are being active on their campuses and sharing the gospel themselves. Um, but it's the same approach I have with the dolphins as well, which is like uh I was excited, you know. I'm excited by uh our young lady uh here and and and we have we the Lord has given us a team. I know the results aren't great on the field yet. Uh I promise it's gonna get turned around. But here's what I can tell you. Uh there our our midweek Bible study is three times larger than it's ever been uh since I've been there. These men, after an entire long week, they show up in the office at 6:30 in the morning. Uh by the time four o'clock rolls around, some of these guys, most of these guys have their own families they'd like to get home to and are still waiting an additional 30 to 45 minutes to get in the word of God in the middle of the week. Um we have a team full of men that love the Lord and that are actively trying to go at and share the word. Like so, some of those guys will be at our November 1st baptism to just really encourage these young athletes uh across the sports spectrum uh and them taking the next step of obedience in their faith walk um by just publicly declaring to the Lord to the world what the Lord has already done on the inside of them. So I'm thankful for the guys that we have. Um and look, and they're all in different stages of their walk, which is what makes the midweek Bible study fun. Uh, because we sit around kind of like how we do with the uh the Tuesday night Bible study, you know, I'll facilitate, kind of throw out the red meat, and then watch these men as they begin to kind of sharpen one another. Um, or as Paul would say in Ephesians, right? That that uh work towards a unity of the faith, right? And so, like I he has this one thought about something, he has another thought, he'll pull from scripture, they'll go. And my job at that point, I'm the bumper rail at the bowling alley. I my job is to make sure this thing don't go into the gutter. And uh so I'm blessed. I I'm probably more blessed than they are, I'm gonna be quite frank, that we have people at that level that recognize all that they have is by the grace of God. Amen.
Omar:It's an interesting thing that you do there with the dolphins, but here's my question: the bottom line in terms of prayer, do you sit with your players and do you pray to win? Or do you pray to play the game right? Yeah. Because you get a combination here. We all want to win. Absolutely. Okay, they went to Cleveland thinking they're gonna win, they didn't go there thinking they're gonna lose. They lost, but that's here and not there. But the whole idea is the prayer, the goal, is it about winning and losing, quote unquote, or about how to play the game and let the Lord lead us where he needs to lead us.
Desmond:So, one thing, if you ever stay after a game just for a few minutes, you're gonna notice around the 50-yard line, uh, players and coaches and staff from both teams come together, um, and then we all just pray. Um because we know that we can even do what we did without uh without his grace, without his mercy. Um I think we go for the bigger win, clearly, as far as what we pray for. Everybody knows our desire on the field. Like, I want to win. You know what else I want? I don't know, I want 20 million dollars. Uh you know what else I want? Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, there's a lot of things in life that I want that I desire, but the greatest of all the desires, at least my hope, is that whatever I do and whatever the Lord allows me to have or experience, that I'm able to glorify him in it. What if you know it's like so when when Paul talks about the secret to contentment, he's like, Man, look, I I know how to abound. I also know how to be brought low. Uh, I've had plenty and I've had lack, but through it all, I recognize that I can do all things, not four foot three guy being a slammed down champion in the NBA, but that I can do all things, meaning I can accomplish what God has created me and called me to do, yeah, in spite of my circumstance. And so our prayer is simply this God help us to go out there, play in such a way that uh when the world looks at us, yeah, they're able to recognize that we do this game different.
Joey:Yeah.
Omar:It's interesting because in 2 Timothy 5 it says, anyone who competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. And how does that apply to you? In other words, if you're gonna compete, compete, you're gonna compete according to the rules.
Desmond:Well, I mean, uh I think it's it's plain uh plain language, right? Like uh there's there's a standard by which we do things. Uh we don't take shortcuts, you know, we don't cut corners, we don't take illegal, you know, get illegal edges to try because it doesn't bring guy glory. Uh and by the way, I'd say that that's more than just in the sports sphere. I'd say that's in the markets in the marketplace. You know, if your ability to become top earner at your job came because you lied to your clients, uh, you obfuscated, you manipulated, it's the same thing. Same thing in pol in the political realm as well. Like so, no matter what the sphere of influence that we've been called to, yeah, we play by the rules and we do it with excellence so that he is the one that's glorified in it. That's our approach.
Joey:Yeah, I want to ask you something, and it's a very specific question. I'm not asking for any names. Yes, we're going to the playoffs. Hey, yes, done. I'm not asking for any names, but is there a moment where you met someone, a player, a coach, a celebrity, whatever, and they were the real deal? And maybe people don't really know them like that, but they love the Lord, they they have integrity. Has that happened? Does it happen often? What what's that like in in your ministry at your level?
Desmond:I'd say yeah, I mean, uh, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't even mind me. You know, they they're not asking for it, but like I'm thinking like the Jalen Ramsey of the world, you know, unpolished. But when I say his heart, his desire is just to serve God, like he's real with that. Uh uh Jonah John Lewis Smith, who we had last year, the tight end. Same thing. And as far as the current list of guys, again, I'm telling you right now, we have uh 28, 25 to 28 guys showing up the to to chapel service. We have you know somewhere between 16 and 20 guys showing up to midweek study. We got about 30, 35 to 40 people showing up that prayer circle before the game. So yeah, we have a bunch of men that recognize, man, I can't, and I'm talking about both players and coaches. Yeah, um, you know, and but again, they're in different levels of their walk. But as far as like the ones who are like all in, yeah, but that's kind of the beauty of who they are. They're all in isn't seeking glory in it.
Speaker 3:Right.
Joey:Um that's why I didn't even, I'm not saying even with the name, but but just you know, the reason I asked that is to get people to think look, I think that many of us that watch sports games or watch public figures, we're e we're quick to judge, right? Oh, they got this sound by or they said this, or I didn't like how they said this. Dude, you don't know, but here's someone that's that's with many of these people on a daily basis, and he can tell you, you know, some of these people are the real deal. So so just to hear that from you, you know, the listeners.
Desmond:Look, I I I probably caution this, uh, on you know, and I know it's just a euphemism, you know, real deal, whatever. Um I all of it's still flawed. Like, I don't know. We we've been walking with the Lord, some of us for 40, 50, 60 years, and I promise you, uh, if you take a magnifying lens to to their lives, you'll find something you can be disappointed about, right? Uh you have you have alpha personalities and a hyper competitive atmosphere. Every now and then they're gonna they're not gonna say things the right way, but if you're asking about their heart, I'm you know, look, if we examine David's life, I'm pretty sure that thing with him and Bathsheba and Uriah, right? But the Lord Himself declared David a man after his own heart. And so I think even flawed folks can be ultrally passionate about just serving God. We just we're just flawed individuals. We don't get it right off.
Omar:Desmond, um Tua right now is uh is a is a target. Tua wears two crosses on his cheek. Is that does that make him uh a target also because of the idea that he he is putting his Christianity on his face on the line?
Desmond:I mean, I don't know about Target. I mean, I I I I've known him to be like of criticism well because of the fact that Tua wears the crosses. You know, uh maybe I don't I I don't know, maybe I don't I don't have the uh like the victimization complex a lot of us uh try uh often wear. Like yeah, the world doesn't like what Christians um what we believe in all the time, or you know, but yeah, it kind of comes out of territory. Jesus told us it was gonna be like that. Uh I think you know, if Tua gets criticism, it's not necessarily for his faith, uh, because he's not Tim Tebeing uh in that sense, but he is he is bold about his faith, right? Like uh he professes his faith, but I think we we also live in a day and age and in a season where a lot of athletes and performers are boldly professing their faith.
Joey:I think I'm seeing that more.
Desmond:Yeah, I think where we can possibly get targeted, if we want to call it that, is when there's uh it's there's incongruence in what we espouse and then how we live.
Joey:Right. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's where the criticism will come heavy in hypocrisy, right? Is the word hypocrisy.
Desmond:Well, so in one sense, hypocrisy, but other the other sense I'd say is like if I quote Jesus without the heart of him, yeah, right? Yeah, the the non-believing world, they'll receive that differently. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like I can I can promise you this, as much as I'm bragging about like the amount of believers that are in the building, we got a whole bunch of folks that are not believers, right? That's why you're there. I remember I try to give somebody one of these coins, they're like, nah, I'm good. Like, you know, and and it's fine. I'll share a story offline one day. Um, but I'll say this. So how we address and deal with them though, yeah. I think the approach has to be this, and this is this is really Jesus' point, uh, and the Beatitudes, right? Uh, blessed are the poor in spirit. Yeah, because when you're poor in spirit, what you recognize is spiritually I am bankrupt. Like uh when you can come to that place in your spiritual walk that on my own, yeah, I don't have it, I'll never, I'll never have it. Um it changes how you look at people that aren't saved yet. Because we can we can sometimes have the sense where I've been walking with the Lord now, and we can get a little snooty with non-believers. I you know, I I constantly hear people talk about look at them, look I'm like, yeah, but that was you once upon a time. Like we we didn't come out of the womb out here worshiping Jesus.
Joey:And also that was me. And if you're honest, that still can be me if you catch me on a bad day. And thirdly, if you look at the way the Bible describes an unregenerated person, they're blind, they're dead, they're they don't know any better. You know, I didn't know any better. I didn't want to cause again. This is now, you know, thinking of the ages of people that are listening and students, I didn't want to cause ladies to suffer and my decisions and how I treated them and what I did, and uh I didn't I didn't know what I was doing, I didn't know the ramifications of my actions, so on and so forth. So so you know, and and even if uh so you guys are getting it. They're looking at me in the studio, they're getting it. So hopefully the Lord could translate all that to those that are listening. Desmond, I wanted to make sure, man, if there's anything else you wanted to cover, we got like two minutes before we we finish our live program. If there was anything else you wanted to share, just man, just to to anyone listening, the believers, dolphins, f a FCA, whatever. Yeah, any final thought?
Desmond:I I'd say just piggybacking off what we just talked about, right? Uh Ephesians 2, I think, is one of the most phenomenal chapters uh in all of the Bible. It reminds us, even as saved folks, who we once were, but also kind of points to the issue of the world. So uh, and it's a reminder of why we need to do what God's called us to. He says, We were all once dead, walking in our sins and trespasses. Sin, I simply missed the mark, trespassed. I was on the path and I deliberately got off. Don't really care how you got there, whether you accidentally missed it or you purposely got off the path, because of that, you are spiritually dead, separated from God. But then you have that that seminal moment, right? Uh that verse four of Ephesians chapter two, but God been rich and mercy with the great love with which he loved us, he raised us up. We were dead, dead things can't make decisions, dead things can't choose to do anything, right? But he raises us up so that we have the ability now to choose him back. And so for those of us that are saved, it's not by our works, it's not because I'm holy, it's not because one day I decided, you know, this just isn't it. No, what happened was when I was spiritually dead, God, because he's rich in his own mercy with the great level with which he loves me, he raised me up. But here's why he raised me up. He says, You are his workmanship, another translation, you are his masterpiece. That's poetry. That's how he sees that's how he sees you, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works and to walk in them. Our works don't save us, but he saved us so that we may do the good works. Amen.
Omar:You know, this is the appetizer. I was gonna say we get CBMC, give us the info. This is the appetizer that uh for for for the listeners, because if you really want to see, want to be part of the full course, a week from tomorrow, on October the 28th at 1230, uh Desmond is going to be joining us at the monthly CBMC lunch, which is held at the 94th Air Squadron restaurant, which is located right on 836 and 57 Northwest 57th Avenue, right next to the airport, east of 836. And he will be there from 1230 to 1, at which time we're going to be interviewing him and getting even more information or more tidbits of wonderful information from Desmond. Social Security numbers. So 94th Aero Squadron, date and time again? October the 28th. Tuesday, October the 28th, eight days from today.
Joey:Got it. So not tomorrow.
Omar:Not tomorrow, but the following Tuesday at the 94th Air Squadron restaurant, which is located on 836 and Northwest 57th Avenue, 1230. Be there so you can not only hear Desmond, but you can see why we were bigger than life.
Joey:You can see why we were laughing about this early life. Yeah. Desmond, I can't thank you enough. Omar, thank you again. Thank you to CBMC for bringing such wonderful guests and friends to us. And Desmond, again, thank you for sharing and thank you for what you did for your chair.
Intro:We hope you enjoyed Friends and Family, unique conversations recorded and produced in our studios where you get a chance to hear what God is doing in people's lives. Jesus tells us in John 15, verse 15, I have called you friends for all things that I heard from my father, I have made known to you. So that's why we love to share these exclusive interviews with you. Our hope is that through their stories, God will be made known to you. You can only find them here on Godsway Radio. Just check godswayradio.com for our full program together.