Cultivating Truth and Rediscovering Identity in Christ | Ep. 48 Troy Dennison

From Business to Ministry: Troy Dennison on Cultivating Truth and Rediscovering Identity in Christ

In a culture that often defines identity through performance, achievement, and external validation, Troy Dennison offers a different foundation for life and leadership. As founder of Cultivating Truth and regional leader within the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Western Montana, Troy has spent over 30 years helping athletes, coaches, and leaders discover their true identity in Christ and fulfill their God-given purpose.

Troy's unique background spans entrepreneurship, executive pastoral leadership, and ministry, giving him authentic understanding of both business leadership and spiritual formation. His work with FCA involves faithfully engaging relationally, equipping scripturally, empowering spiritually, and mobilizing leaders across Western Montana to live, minister, and lead in truth.

Rooted in his personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Troy's mission centers on coaching, equipping, motivating, and releasing individuals to rediscover their true identity, engage God's leadership, perform by the power of His Spirit, and fulfill their God-given purpose in fellowship with Him and others.

In this episode of The Standard Podcast™, Troy explores:

• The biggest lies culture tells athletes and leaders about identity and success
• How to rediscover your true identity in Christ rather than performance
• What it means to engage God's leadership and perform by the power of His Spirit
• Building legacy that extends beyond achievement to kingdom impact
• Scripture-based leadership principles for authentic transformation

Whether you're an athlete searching for identity, a coach trying to lead with purpose, or a leader seeking to understand what it means to live and lead in truth, Troy's insights provide biblical foundation for life beyond performance.

This isn't motivation. This is a movement.

Connect with Troy: Ministry: Cultivating Truth Organization: Fellowship of Christian Athletes (Western Montana)

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Aaron, is that okay? We're good to go. Alrighty team. Welcome to the standard podcast, where we raise the bar, rebuild the culture, and call out the misconception or lies that no one else will. This isn't motivation, this is a movement. I'm Thomas Rowe, hosted uh joined by my host, Aaron Charles. And today I'm super excited. We're sitting down with Troy Dennison, founder of Cultivating Truth and a seasoned leader with over 30 years of experience in business, ministry, and leadership development. Troy's career spans entrepreneurship, executive pastoral leadership, regional oversight with a fellowship of Christian athletes, which I'm excited to get into that, where he faithfully engages relationally, equips spiritually, empowers spirituality, and mobilizes leaders across western Montana to live, minister, and lead in truth. Rooted in his personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Troy's mission is to coach, equip, motivate, and release individuals to rediscover their true identity, engage God's leadership, perform by the power of his spirit, and fulfill their God-given purpose. Married for over 30 years and a proud father of three adult children, Troy's life and leadership are driven by the gospel and the transformational truths found in Scripture. We're diving into the truth behind what it really takes to build identity, discipline, and legacy in sports and in life. Let's get into it. Troy, I'm so excited to have you here. Thanks so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Oh, thank you, Thomas. Appreciate you and Aaron for having me on. It's an honor to be here. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

Awesome. Thanks. With you've spent over 30 years in business, ministry, and leadership development. And now you're mobilizing leaders across Western Montana through FCA and cultivating truth. What does raising the standard mean to you, especially in the work that you're doing?

SPEAKER_01 2:02

I think probably the easiest the simplest way I would put that is just like living out something that's greater than yourself. Right. I think under FCA, and in specific under the leadership that I have the honor to work with, we would say we're better together. Right. How would we define that? And ultimately, how would we live that out in unity together? Right. So the standard, which oddly enough is something we use in the Pacific Northwest, is a list of things that we ultimately adhere to. We're not perfect. We're going to make mistakes. Right. But it's something that stands above who we are individually and it points to who we are collectively.

SPEAKER_03 2:48

No question. No question. That's awesome. What is the biggest lie you feel the culture has sold athletes, coaches, and leaders about identity, success, and what it means to live with purpose? Well, we kind of before you get in that, we kind of got into that just didn't we? Just before we got on the call with considering the current events. But with you, what do you think is the biggest lie with coaches, athletes, and leaders?

SPEAKER_01 3:16

To say this, I'm gonna say two things. First, uh, if it's meant to be, it's up to me. Got it. Right. Back to the standard. Okay. We we ultimately, at some point, we have our own BS, our belief systems that we operate under. And ultimately, in sports specifically, we get this mindset that we ultimately believe that the level of our success is directly related to if it's meant to be, well, then I just got to make it happen. And we completely ignore the idea that, first of all, I can't do it myself, and secondly, there's somebody greater than me who's over all of this. And we create an idol out of the very thing we say we've been gifted a platform to use. Right. And the lie that I think ties into that is that that if if in fact you do everything right, you can't help but be successful, because that's really what you want anyway, success.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Then why does it always leave me with a deficit?

SPEAKER_03 4:26

Right. And your mission is to help people, help young men and women rediscover their true identity in Christ and fulfill their God-given purpose. How did you see that lie playing out uh in your life and what truth needs to be needs to replace it?

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Well, first of all, I get exactly everything I just said. I mean, I've I've lived that. Yeah. You know, the idea that, well, if I just work harder than everybody else, if I just, you know, if I'm making more money, if I rise up like as if somehow that defines me. My identity, if I get my identity from what I have, what I do, or what others say of me, then I am cultivating in my life something that is not the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So, oh my God, it's a lie.

SPEAKER_03 5:18

Right.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Right. If I walk into I have a mentor that says, you know, if you walk into that room and you believe you can either get your identity or lose it from that room, you're already defeated before you got there. Yep. Why? Because ultimately I'm self-focused. And then in that, what ends up happening is I start to self-promote and self-protect. Right. If that's the way I'm going about it, my motive was never about to achieve something collectively. My motive was always about how far can I get me and mine. Yeah. Well, if that's your culture, you're gonna reap what you sow, right? You reap what you sow. We we know this. This is right, it's truth. Yep, that's happened in my own life. So I'm I'm not above you know failure. Like I've learned from it, right? Right. As a high school football coach for over a decade, we used to tell you know our athletes, like, hey man, the greatest lessons aren't necessarily because you failed, right? You're gonna learn from them, hopefully. But oftentimes it's because you can learn from somebody else, their experience, their failure. How are you using that as an opportunity? And and to just simply ignore that and hope it doesn't happen to you, right?

SPEAKER_03 6:36

Absolutely, that's awesome. We're gonna turn it over to Aaron for segment two, which is identity and legacy. Take it away, Aaron.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Okay, Troy. I would love to ask you who are you beyond all the things that Thomas just described from FCA to pastor. Who is Troy?

SPEAKER_01 7:01

I I would answer that question based upon really just what the gospel says, right? My identity isn't based upon what I've achieved or how I failed or how I responded to failure. My identity is is found in Christ, in the gospel of not only what he did, but who he made me to be.

unknown 7:23

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Ephesians 2 says I'm his masterpiece. And there's times when I look at that and go, wow, that's a jacked-up piece of masterpiece, right? And you're like, no, no, no, no, no. Like we're we're working it out. And for me personally, I do that in certain ways, uniquely so. And it shows up in every area of my life, whether it was in business, sports, whether it's in ministry, it's connecting people. I tend to connect people biblically, right? I I love I love scripture, but I do it in a way that they can receive it and help them understand that the source of that truth is rooted in somebody who loves them. Not theology, not ideology. It's a person. And then my identity tends to be somebody who kind of helps, like I like to help you. I'm a coach at nature, right? So I just happen to be, don't ask me to coach golf because my golf game is unworthy of even being talked about, other than to re realize it's really bad. But if I'm coaching, say football, for example, which I I love that sport, my goal isn't to make much of me. My goal is to help put that athlete in the best position possible for them to be successful. That's alignment, right? We always said if you can't get aligned right, the rest of the play is gone. Right. And and that's true in relationship to the gospel, the kingdom, right? If I know who I am because I know who he is, it's gonna help me know how I see other people. And that's what I do in alignment, right? And then I I love coming alongside people. I call it as a wingman. I'm not out front. You know, players play, coaches coach. My my goal is to help them live on mission in view of who God created them to be and the space and place he invited them to be, not me. And ultimately to see them perform at a level they could never do on their own, but that he's doing in and through them to prove his good, perfect, and pleasing will, which is how much he loves you and what he actually did. That's what I love to do. And I try to have that show up not just in ministry, but in my personal life, in sports, in business, and in every other area that I'm invited to participate in, which obviously it's including being involved in this podcast.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Awesome. I love that. I would love to dive into what does legacy beyond performance mean to you, especially with what you just spoke about about equipping leaders to living and leading in their truth.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

I define that as fulfilling a purpose that our we ourselves we can't pull that off. Meaning I would love to do something that in in what I've done, hopefully successfully, has lasting impact. Okay. You're like, what does that actually mean? Well, that it it helped, it bettered, it served, it produced something that was better for other people, it helped other people, and it was good as you as we want to define that. But then what's lasting impact? 20 years, 50 years a hundred years? I'll use the example of interestingly enough, over 2,000 years ago, there was a man who was crucified. That he was crucified wasn't the thing that was relevant, that he was resurrected, and we're still talking about it. That's lasting impact. That has infinite and eternal impact. And for me, it's taking that truth and living that out in the area in which God invited you, and all of us are unique and all of us are different. Okay, you're never gonna catch me in a physics class just like killing it, whatever. But there are people who do, and they can and should do that in a way that puts him on display in and through them. When you do that, that's lasting impact, that will outlive the the result, right? It's not just something it doesn't matter how many championships or Nobel Peace Prizes or anything like that, it will outlive your result. That's lasting I love that.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

That's so good, so good. My last question before I turn it back over to Thomas is what's one truth you wish every athlete, coach, or leader understood about identity, faith, and fulfilling their God-given purpose?

SPEAKER_01 12:29

One every time you gotta narrow down to one, I always struggle with this. I had a mentor tell me one time, he's like, what you do is important, but who you are is infinitely greater. We oftentimes, because you know, especially I think in sports and in business, we get so hooked on ROI. We get so hooked on the fact that what we do has to have a particular product or outcome that we miss the idea that who you are in the process is greater than the product or the outcome of it. And and and and a perfect, the best example I can give you is is did Jesus provide salvation, a perfect way for a relationship with God, uninterrupted, unconflicted, completely open the door. Yes, absolutely, and that's amazing, and there's way more that he did, but who he is is infinitely greater than what he did. And if I had that in my mind at a younger age, I really believe I would have, I hope, would have made fewer mistakes. Hope is not a strategy, right? But I can look back and say that. But I think it'll help other people, right? Not put the emphasis on trying to achieve something, but rather recognize that they are actually the achievement. And together we can pull off way more than we thought we ever could.

SPEAKER_02 14:09

I love that. I think that you are you're the greater than your achievement. I think that's what every athlete coach needs to hear.

unknown 14:18

Agreed.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

Thomas, I'm gonna turn it back over to you.

SPEAKER_03 14:21

Awesome. Troy, we're gonna go into segment three. Advice across all stages. If you could sit down with a young athlete or leader just starting their journey, what advice would you give them about discovering their true identity and living with purpose?

SPEAKER_01 14:42

Well, I think first and foremost, in the absence of identity, in the absence of knowing the truth of who you are, you're gonna backfill that. Which means that I won't be willing to stand for things that I know I should stand for, or do the things I know I should do because I'm so focused on trying to backfill the deficit the deficits in my life. It's just an example. Like, if I don't think I'm enough, if if I have this fear of not being enough, then I'm gonna compensate for that, which means that at some level I'm going to invite into my process things that have already sealed my faith. I feel like if if if we had a culture, let's just use a sports team, if you have a culture of people who can focus on an identity that ultimately celebrates who you are in that space, and it's truth, right? Help each other do that, right? I love Tim Tebow, right? Like I love everything he stands for and everything. Was he an amazing quarterback? Come on. Was he a better athlete than he was a quarterback? Sure he was. Could he have played other, could he play longer? Like, I who am I to say? I'm just saying one thing I saw about how he did what he did was he was more about bringing people together than he was worried about whether he was the quarterback of the football team. Right. Yeah. Right? Identity was I'm all about the unity of this. He did it in he, I'm sure he did it because I never knew his high school story, but I know he did it in Florida, right? Right. And he did it in Denver, and you're like, this is this is a guy who believes who he is. He had a clear understanding of who he was and is, and he does that today. Oh, yeah. It's a public figure. I get it, but like there's a lot of people who do that. Right? And I think if we do that, we open the door to doing something greater than we could even if we were the most amazing individual. And I ultimately think that's what Jesus meant by even the things I do, you will do, but you'll do greater things.

SPEAKER_03 17:14

Oh, yeah. Building off of that, Troy, what about coaches and leaders in the middle of their careers? What where they're trying to balance performance, leadership, and staying rooted in truth? What do they need to understand? Or what truth do they need to understand?

SPEAKER_01 17:29

Oh we oddly enough, Thomas, we were just we were just talking about this before we came on to the podcast. And that is the degree to which you're willing to be vulnerable, authentic, and transparent.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Right, ownership. There's not a program in the country that hasn't got problems. Right. And if you think you can just hope your way out of it, no way. We were talking about this before, you know, and a program that had an incident at the end of a football game, and you're just like, How do you deal with that? Wow, we you know, we you know, we moved on. You're like, okay, great, but how did we get to use that as an opportunity to teach others? Like, what's going on? Right? Your willingness to take ownership of the fact that I've got flaws. Yeah, I've got I've got parts of me that that that are broken and that I'm gonna need others to help me through to the degree that we're willing to do that. I'm not excusing failure, I'm simply saying to the degree that you're willing to do that, is the degree to which you'll have a process already in place to help walk you through that. Where this is kind of what we're talking about in relationship to to blueprint, right? To blue chip, kind of kind of something that that I do as well, which is how do you have in your culture a program and a process? I'm not saying it's formulaic, it's gonna have to be generative, but do you have something that can walk you from that brokenness into and continue the mission, or are you just done?

SPEAKER_03 19:07

Right. Yeah. How about for those? How about for those who are transitioning or retiring or asking what's next? What truth do they need to hold on to about identity and legacy?

SPEAKER_01 19:26

I think the beauty of that is that we're always growing, right? Transformation is is not a and I finally arrived.

unknown 19:34

Right.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

I mean, you look at some of the greatest contributors to sports, and they're people who've who it weren't because they were successful in in the midst of their career. It's because of how they engaged with their sport when they were quote unquote retired, or they'd they moved, they started to learn some things about who they were. They started to learn some things about what was more important than what they thought was important. And now they're they're a they're an actual benefactor in that to that program, to that school, to that environment. Like, there's so many stories we don't hear about of athletes and coaches specifically who've gone to schools, who've gone into communities, who've donated time and resources for what purpose? So they can be put on a stage? No, so they can help others learn. Like, hey, success is important, don't get me wrong. Winning matters, but how you do it, your why behind it, the process you use to get there is greater than the end result. And I think that's like sometimes we miss that. It seems like sometimes our wheels spin like they would on you know ice, and we just don't have any traction. And it takes sometimes seeing that brokenness show up in another program and go, hey, we got to get back to what matters more.

SPEAKER_03 20:57

Right. Right. I'm gonna turn it over now to Aaron. Segment four is gonna be about the is the rapid fire round. Go for it, Aaron.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

Okay, I'm back. Here I am. Okay, this is where you get to finish my sentence. So I'm gonna say a sentence and then you just finish what I ask. So discipline equals.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

I would say discipline equals a consistent, determined, an unwavering willingness to adhere to some some values, a set, a standard. We use that term, right? So if I stay disciplined to something, then I don't allow the things that would otherwise detract me from the thing I just said is of greater value. I I'm remaining disciplined in the truth. Of that, and there's a consistency to it. I refuse to compromise it.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

I love it. Okay, what does leadership equal?

SPEAKER_01 22:13

I say it this way, and I and I'm sure I got it at some point from somebody else because I'm not the source of truth. Leadership is the ability to get the most out of others for their benefit.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

Okay, I love that. What about faith equals?

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Right. Hebrews 1, answered in verse 6. But it's the actionable. Faith is the actionable evidence of what I really believe. So we oftentimes think of faith as being, well, I just need more faith. You're like, I have a measure of faith already given to me in Christ. The issue isn't my faith. The issue is my own or the things I believe that aren't actually true. So faith for me is the ability to take action, right? Disciplined action in leadership, right? I love how these like seem to fit together for the purpose of putting on display the very thing I said is true, that my faith is rooted in. Right?

SPEAKER_02 23:29

Yep. I love that. What about legacy? What does legacy equal to you?

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Legacy. It means to me that I have the ability, and I can never do this on my own, but I have the ability to actually do something that outlasts the result.

SPEAKER_02 23:53

I love that. And what's one thing you would never compromise on? I think I know the answer, but I'm gonna see what you say.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

The gospel, the gospel of the kingdom, right, of Jesus Christ. Like, no compromise.

SPEAKER_02 24:09

And what about if you could put a billboard up for the next generation of athletes, coaches, what would your message on the billboard be?

SPEAKER_01 24:23

I was uh I'm laughing because I'm thinking to Thomas when Thomas said to me one time, he's like, the mind I have can't fix the mind I have. And like, if I put that on a billboard, people be driving off the roads, they wouldn't even know what we mean by that. I'm gonna say, I put this on oftentimes on emails, I put this on things, and I'm gonna try to paraphrase it instead of quote scripture, but it's Ephesians 3, 14 through 21. By his grace, you are infinitely greater. You are infinitely greater than anything you could ever think or imagine to ask for because of God's love in Christ. Like that's a paraphrase. But if but if you can stop and think about that for a second, it it opens a door to receiving something about who you are that will inform how you do what you do.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Yep, I love that. That's so powerful. Okay, Thomas, you get to take us home.

SPEAKER_03 25:31

Right on. Troy, before we wrap up, is there something we didn't touch on today that you feel athletes, coaches, and leaders need to hear about identity, faith, or living with purpose?

SPEAKER_01 25:46

I don't know that we didn't. I think I just would reinforce one of the things that I appreciate about what you guys are doing is you're calling and you're calling out and you're you're bringing to light, I think the same thing that FCA is trying to do, right? We're bringing to light the fact that we put a lot of time, energy, and effort into the sport, how you do it, how to be successful. But if we if if we really understood that what's most important is the person that goes into that, we would be spending as much time at least, and as much money and as much effort into the development of the person as we do the development of the performance of the person, right? Like who you are matters more than what you do. And you guys are bringing that to light. You're calling that out. So I'm not saying we haven't talked about it, but I just want to reinforce that. When you look at your program, when you look at your business, when you look at your department, when you look at the things that you're doing, are you putting as much effort and time and resources into the development of the person as you are what you perceive to be the product or the service that you're doing?

SPEAKER_03 27:02

Right on. Yeah, you had uh the rapid fire, now we're gonna put you on the hot seat. Top three sports movies of all time, according to Troy.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

Oh gosh. Top three sports movies? Well, I I don't know, I'm I'm old school. So there is the idea of you you could never, you know, Rocky, right? The especially the original Rocky, like just always resonates. I do love, I do love the movie, and I oftentimes quote it and remember the Titans. Sure. And then another movie that I've seen recently that I've actually gone back and watched multiple times because I just I just love the setting, I love the many struggles that are taking place simultaneously, and that's the movie Woodlong. Which movie? I I highly recommend it. Which movie is that? Woodlong. I've never even heard of it. Woodlong? Okay. There we go. It made the top three, so it's gotta be, you know. I'm making notes right now, for sure, for sure. Yeah, yeah, I just highly recommend it. I think what you'll find is the very things we're struggling with today that they were struggling with back then. Oh, no question. There's a part of that movie that I'll bet you people don't know. Right? It answers the question of when you see an athlete do one of these, like, where did it come from? What's he doing? Am I number one? No, like it came out of that movement, it came out of what happened in that space. So I just yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:38

That's that's awesome. I'm gonna check it out. Troy, where can people connect with you and learn more about cultivating truth and uh the work that you're doing at FCA? Where can they connect with you?

SPEAKER_01 28:48

Yeah, they so multiple places, but you know, I do have a web page on cultivating truth. Again, that that's just that's a way for me to engage people where sometimes there isn't an open door if you're a part of a religious organization as they perceive it, or a political organization, right? So it gives me kind of neutral territory. Think of it as international waters. Uh, the other place is FCA.org. So many wonderful resources, amazing people, an international organization that that's you know, the vision is to see the world transform through the influence of coaches and athletes by the power and uh the life of Jesus Christ. And I just I just would encourage you if you're looking for resources and tools. I know there are other organizations that do that, but that's one place. And and you can look up any staff member, anywhere in the country through FCA.org, and you can also you know reach me through there.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

Awesome. Troy, thank you for sharing your your story and your truth with us today. If this conversation challenged you, inspired you, or made you think differently, do two things for us, team. One, share this episode with someone who needs to hear it, an athlete searching for identity, a coach trying to lead with purpose, a leader who needs to be reminded of who they are. Two, connect with Troy through cultivating truth and let him know how it resonated with you. And if you're ready to rediscover your truth true identity, engage God's leadership and fulfill your purpose. Troy is building something real, so definitely connect with him. And if you're an athlete, parent, or coach, ready to raise your standard, check out Blueprint to Bluechip. You can find us at blueprintbluechip.com. We help athletes build identity, discipline, and legacy that goes far beyond the game. If you're ready to get clear on who you are and beyond the game, join us on our three-day reset win place show, also at blueprintbluechip.com. It's designed for athletes who are ready to rebuild their foundation. And if this episode has resonated with you, take 30 seconds, team, and leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps us reach more athletes, parents, and leaders who need to hear this message. This is the standard podcast, and this movement only grows when you raise the stand when we raise the standard together. Talent fades, but truth endures. Let's raise the bar, rebuild the culture, become the standard. We'll see you next time. Aaron, Troy, thanks so much for joining us. You guys have a great day.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

Thank you.