Chris Grainger: 1:23

Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be. I'm your host, chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, guys, it's your fun Friday episode. Let's get right into it. I'm so excited to have you here, first and foremost. Hopefully you're having a great week. Let's get into some fun Friday stuff.

Chris Grainger: 1:39

So the scripture of the week this week is actually in the book of Philemon, and it's verses 15 through 17,. Because there's no chapters, because there's no chapters in Philemon, it's just one book, okay. So now it says perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but better than a slave as a dear brother. He is very dear to me, but even dear to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. So if you consider me a partner, welcome him, as you would welcome me. Love that scripture, fellas. It's just so. It's such beautifully written and it has a lot of meaning, a lot of impact. Go check out the Spiritual Kickoff episode if you want to understand how you can simplify and apply this, these verses, if you will, to your life Again.

Chris Grainger: 2:30

For you new listeners out there, if you like the spiritual kickoff episodes, they come out every Monday. We have something within the line within this you're probably going to really like. We have a daily spiritual kickoff. It's exclusively found inside our community so you can go check that out. Subscribe to it. It's free. We offer that up just to give you some an access to some a small thing that we're doing to serve other people and once you're there, you may be interested in checking out some of the other community. If not, that's fine, just get the daily spiritual kickoff. Every day, monday through friday, I go live I scripture. I try to give insight to how you can simplify and apply it to your life. If that sounds interesting to you, head over to thelandwithinus and get started today. All right.

Chris Grainger: 3:14

So now for this week's episode, the primary episode. We had what I call one of the probably the most influential guests we've ever had Pastor Brian Laredz. Absolutely Pastor Brian Laredz. Absolutely. Enjoy Pastor Brian Laredz. He is a teaching pastor over at the Summit Church there in Raleigh.

Chris Grainger: 3:31

Love the conversation with Pastor Brian. He's definitely just full of wisdom and insight and discernment and just the way he unpacked the whole idea about friendship, the reason that we need to fight for friendship. It has to be fought for. Friendship's going to cost you something. You know we have plenty of surface level friends out there. We all have that, that outer circle.

Chris Grainger: 3:54

But what he really touched on was that core group. That core group three to five guys that you know are going to be there. You call them whatever you want your lion's den, your inner circle, your pallbearers, whatever you want to call them right. These are the guys that you can be real with and, if I'm being fully transparent, this is probably one of the weakest areas of my life. I have lots of the outer acquaintances and friends, but that inner it's hard to get. This is a hard thing. It takes work. I'm still working on this and I'm telling you I know it's important, I know it's important and this is for me. It's not a blind spot. It definitely is a weak spot. I'm trying to cultivate this to a higher level and it just it takes time but it takes intentionality.

Chris Grainger: 4:48

Pastor Brian shared so many things here about this subject about making sure that we're not too busy. If you're going to have these meaningful relationships, you can't be too busy. You have to be careful about that. To be honest, I thought I had it. A fellow brother actually lives right here at me and it just hasn't proven to be the case. And it hurts because you know if you want something really bad and you're trying to force it, it just for some reason it just doesn't work Right. So it just you have to recognize sometimes it's not going to work out. And that seasonality that Pastor Brian talked about, that's huge. That's huge to recognize and to know as a man, you know what Friendships they do come and go. It's not always out of malice, there's not always reason to be mean or bitter about it. Sometimes just life changes and that's okay, you know, and the whole idea of truth, repentance and grace, I mean that's what it takes to be a disciple of Christ and it definitely is what it takes to have those enduring friendships that we all desire to have in our life. So, hopefully, enjoy the conversation with Pastor Brian. It was definitely one of my favorite. I just enjoyed just the opportunity just to sit and speak with him, to have him on, to share his insight, and we'd love to get your feedback on as well, fellas. Ok, so let's get into our tips this week for our fun Friday episode, him on to share his insight and we'd love to get your feedback on as well, fellas. Okay, all right, so let's get into our tips this week for our fun Friday episode.

Chris Grainger: 6:16

You know we're going to do a health, a wealth and a self tip. That health for you new listeners out there, that's your mind and your body. How do you cultivate a stronger mind as well as a stronger body to do the work he's calling us to do? The wealth tip is look, how can we be better stewards of our finances and our careers? It's such a big deal that stewardship and the self-tip is just ultimately being better, stronger fathers and husbands. We need to do this. You can't outsource any of this stuff, guys, okay. So the health tip I want you to think about this for a second Cold shower.

Chris Grainger: 6:48

Okay, every now and then, incorporate that cold shower into your routine. It's going to boost a lot of your circulation, it's going to help reduce some inflammation and it's just invigorating. I'm going to tell you so one of my coaches that I work with. He told me at the end of his shower when he takes a shower every day, he what he'll do. He'll take it at normal temperature, get clean and he'll flip the hot water off completely over to the cold side. He'll'll just stand there. He'll try.

Chris Grainger: 7:12

He tries to do six to eight breaths, deep breaths, with just that cold water hitting. And he recommended, you know, if you're getting started, just do a, two or three. Maybe you start there, maybe you start with two or three deep breaths while that cold air, while that cold water is hitting you rather, and just try to regulate your breathing, because that's the hardest part when you have cold, cold water like a, if you're going to a, a, a polar plunge or something like that, it's just regulating your breath. So, deep breaths, and try to hold that for just a couple, two or three, shut it off and then see if you can build it up. He's got to the point where he can do about a minute during that time. Of course he can do about a minute during that time. Of course he can do cold plunges much longer. That's a great way. If you don't have a cold plunge tank, you just incorporate something right there in your home to mix some things up. So try that out, see if that helps get you a little bit of clarity. But that cold shower can go a long way.

Chris Grainger: 8:09

All right, wealth tip Find you a financial accountability partner. Okay, now we're talking about friendship this week, right? So this is such a big deal, but a trusted friend to help you hold you accountable for your financial goals and decisions. Now, obviously, if you're married, your accountability partner needs to be your spouse, but you can also have accountability partners outside of that, and these are people that you just want to check and just make sure. Hey, do you think this is a good decision to buy? I'm thinking about big ticket items cars, atvs, accessories, all these things guns for some of you guys out there, right, it's just good to have someone to bounce ideas off of, because you don't want to get caught up making a rash decision with your finances that could end up costing you in the long run. So having that wisdom, that discernment, that knowledge around you is huge, because I don't know about you, but if I get my mind on something that I want, I can talk myself into that, and it takes a whole lot to talk me out of it. I can talk myself into that and it takes a whole lot to talk me out of it. So sometimes it's good just to have that sounding board of people, particularly trusted advisors that you can just talk to, you can gain insight from, you can sit back and listen. Ok, so think about that financial accountability partner and your self tip this week, guys how to be a bit more kind of focus on being a stronger father.

Chris Grainger: 9:32

This week Is dad and kid adventures. All right Now, you guys heard me talk about this in the past long, long time ago. But plan some one-on-one adventures with each child because that's going to build up some unique bonds, I know for me and my oldest. We went to a smash room last year and had a blast. We actually had just a good reminder I need to take her back. That was so much fun.

Chris Grainger: 9:55

But try to spend some one-on-one time with them. If you're like us we have four kids it gets harder. I can just promise you. The more kids you have, the harder this gets. It just takes more attentionality. That's all. But even if you have one kid, you better put it on the calendar, plan for it. Let them be part of the planning as well, because if they're part of the planning, that gives them some skin in the game, some ownership and more likely you're going to have a more fun time. Because if you're planning all this stuff out and you happen to pick things that they're not enjoying, you're not really moving the ball down the field the way you should be. If you'll be taking and really spending that intentional time to plan a fun adventure, let's make sure it's fun for them too. Okay, so no, it's a simple idea, but don't just just fly by that. That, that that overall theme fellas. Talk to them, plan it out, put it on the calendar and give them something to look forward to. Okay, so there you go, your three tips your health, wealth and yourself. Your health as a cold shower. Go ahead and hit that one up. Boys, I'll try that one out. See how that works. That wealth tip gets you that financial accountability partner. And the self-tip Be looking for opportunities to have dad-kid adventures, and that adventure is such a big part of it.

Chris Grainger: 11:03

Okay, so the book of the week this week for you guys on YouTube. I'm holding it up right now. This is Enduring Friendship. This is sticking together in an age of unfriending. We know how easy it is to unfriend people. You can unfollow them on Facebook and all these different things. You can even unfollow people without them knowing it. It works that way, right, and the forward is actually written by John Mark Comer. I love him as an author out there as well, but Pastor Brian just really unpacks the whole idea of what it looks like to be a friend, just walking in truth, walking in repentance, walking in grace, and how that we need to if we want to cultivate this in our lives. This takes a extremely intentional amount of focus and really just drive. You can't outsource this. If you want more friends, you got to lean in and be a better friend. You got to be the type of friend that others are looking for.

Chris Grainger: 11:57

So highly enjoyed this one, guys. It's a great book. It's a quick read too. It's not very long. Let's see how many pages is this thing? It's only about 138 pages. Then you have the epilogue, so you can literally read this thing in a couple of sittings and knock it out. So, dad joke time, let's get into it. And, by the way, those books, guys, if you go to the linewithinus book, you have all the books that we recommend each and every week, and this is one that definitely put it on your shelf. All right.

Chris Grainger: 12:28

So the first dad joke when we get this week is how does a penguin build its house? Hmm, it glues it together. So there you go. I love that one. It glues it together. Fellas Number two. Why do you call a dinosaur? Actually, what do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? Well, that's easy, that's a thesaurus. So there you go, fellas Number one. How does a penguin build its house? It glues it together. What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus, or a thesaurus is probably how it should say that. So let me know, remember, I always totally can't with dad jokes, guys, and if you get a little nudge or a little wink from your wife, you know you hit a home run from your wife, you know you hit a home run.

Chris Grainger: 13:11

And if you've got a dad joke you want to submit. You want us to use support at thelinewithinus? Send us your dad joke. If we use it, we'll give you a free shout out. We'll give you a shout out. Also, he'll give us some free stuff just to give you, to show our appreciation for you, just for taking the time to come support us.

Chris Grainger: 13:32

Okay, so, guys, probably one of the hardest things that's out there right now is friendships. I highly encourage you, guys, when you start thinking about your friendships and what does that look like in your life? How are you showing up? How are you showing up to be a friend to others? I think Pastor Brian did a phenomenal job of unpacking this, particularly from the book of Philemon. I encourage you guys just to reach out. If you're struggling with friends right now, don't just go through isolating alone. Reach out to our community. Take a step of obedience. Join a community. Let us get you connected with some fellow brothers in Christ. At least that will come alongside, that will encourage you, that will lift you up, that will pray for you, that will just be intentional about supporting you.

Chris Grainger: 14:14

So head over to thelinewithinus, start your trial, get going there. We'll get you plugged into a mastermind group. As you think about a mastermind group, you have a group full of Christian men who are striving to be a leader, a guy that intends them to be. They're leaning into making commitments, they're having accountability, so they're moving the ball down the field and they're growing in relationship with each other. They're sharing the things that they're struggling with. They're sharing their wins. They're sharing their dreams, their hopes, their aspirations, all the things that God's calling them to do. They're sharing this stuff together. They're being super intentional about making that meaningful connection with each other. So that sounds intriguing to you. What are you waiting on? Get started today.

Chris Grainger: 15:01

So, again, thelinewithinus is how you get started with that. We'd love to support you there. You can also find on thelinewithinus You'll find our devotionals from YouVersion, all the different resources we have out there to serve people with. Head over to our YouTube channel. We have lots of free content on YouTube Head over. We're on Facebook, we're on Instagram, we're on LinkedIn All the different social media platforms, okay, but really all that stuff is fine, but none of it matters if you don't get plugged in so we can talk with you. We can talk with you, we can support, we can encourage you and again, that happens within our community.

Chris Grainger: 15:34

Now, if you don't want any of this, but you like what we're doing, support us, become a monthly donor. Just support the Lion Within us. Head over to thelionwithinus, jump on, be a monthly donor, monthly supporter. Your support would mean the absolute. So much to us. I promise you every dollar goes to good funding of resources that we're trying to build to help you be the leader God intends you to be. We also have a couple of great live events coming up in the fall, one already planned for April 2025. So go check those stuff out, put that stuff on your calendar. If you're looking for some fun and very intense men's retreats, this is what it's all about. So hopefully you guys can check, you can find all that, get plugged in and we'll love to see you there. Okay, so again, it's thelionwithinus is how you connect with us, love to hear from you, reach out if you have any questions and just thank you again. So much for the time today. Have a great weekend and you know what's coming. Keep unleashing the lion within.

Chris Grainger: 16:40

If you're a man who's looking for greater spiritual guidance into how to become a better leader, finding resources that you can trust and then implement can be daunting. For me personally, I thought it was a lost cause and I decided to take the action, knowing that I wasn't alone. It was because of this wide gap that we created our line within this community, and the areas that we're helping Christian men grow are incredible. For instance, we've built ways for guys to lean in and grow through fun events like our daily spiritual kickoff, where you get that much needed boost directly from God's word, our Bible studies that always focus on how to discern and apply what we learn, and even our amazing form where you can speak your mind without fear of getting shut down or judged by the extreme rules of modern day social media. On top of all that, we know that many men won't help overcoming issues and becoming stronger in many different areas. That's why we created several mastermind groups where the iron truly sharpens iron.

Chris Grainger: 17:36

Our community is about having a growth mindset, accountability, intentionality and transparency. In other words, just leave fake you at home and come to community just as you are. I fully believe what we feel. I see the impact it's making on men right now and I would love to have you check it out. So start your very own 30-day free trial today to see how we can help you be a better leader. So if you're ready to take that first step, head over to thelinewithinus and get started. Your journey begins here. Visit thelinewithinus and I'll see you inside the den.