Chris Grainger: 1:22

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 meat episode. I'm excited to be here with you, so let's get right into it. So we're going to be looking in the book of Mark this week. So Mark, chapter 16, two verses verses 15 and 16. He said to them, jesus speaking, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe, he will be condemned. So, guys, go listen to the spiritual kickoff. I unpacked those verses at length, gave you some ideas on how you can simplify and apply that to your life. And again, if you like, the spiritual kickoff episodes. We do that every day, monday through Friday, within our line, within us community. Get started, get plugged in. If you need a little spiritual boost to get your days going, we provide it for you every day. Okay, it's right there, you come, hang out with me, we'll have a good time together and I guarantee you you'll leave hopefully encouraged and ready for the day ahead. So now for today.

Chris Grainger: 2:23

For this episode, we welcome in Dr James O Davis. He's the founder of the Global Church Network and also Cutting Edge International. He's known worldwide as a leading Christian networker and probably one of the greatest of our time. Quite frankly, for the last 40 years he has been successful in developing and deploying 10 major international initiatives. So he's always on the go, he's always busy, he's always moving and just trying to do what he can to advance the gospel. He's really committed to synergizing and mobilizing the global church because at the end of the day, it's about completing the Great Commission, everything that Jesus has called us to do. So he's a wonderful author, great speaker, for sure, and he's just. He's recognized as an expert on networking and leadership. So you guys are going to love this one.

Chris Grainger: 3:16

Dr Davis is phenomenal. I really just enjoyed the time with him. Just his spirit, his demeanor before we recorded, just the way that he actually always pray with guests before every episode. Just it's just part of the process. I just want to make sure we invite the Holy Spirit to the conversation. I believe he's the first person ever to.

Chris Grainger: 3:36

When I finished praying, he immediately started praying for me and for the lion and for the conversation. So it was very it was just spirit led. I got out the way as usual. Just let the smart guys talk about the smart things, right, and he just had a. He shared so much wonderful things, lots of resources out there as well. So go check out the show notes. Guys, connect with us If you have any questions or any thoughts that you that we can help you with. To get started as you move forward, this idea of advancing the great commission definitely want to help you with. To get started as you move forward, this idea of advancing the Great Commission Definitely want to help you just get plugged in the best we can. All right, so enjoy this conversation with Dr James Davis. Well, james, welcome to the Lion Within Us. How are you doing today, sir?

Dr. James Davis: 4:18

Man, I'm doing incredible. And I often use that word incredible, chris, because when I get asked that when I'm traveling and I say I'm doing incredible, that person pauses because I didn't say I'm just doing good, I'm doing fine. I say I'm doing incredible and they look at me and I want to know more and, as a Christian, wow, we get the opportunity to live an amazing, incredible Christian life.

Chris Grainger: 4:47

Amen to that Amen, and we need to lean into more of that. I feel like so many Christians out there, James, their spirit animal is like Eeyore or something, and that's just. It tears me up Like come on. We should be a lot more on fire, you know.

Dr. James Davis: 4:57

I agree with that and you know we should live, do our best to live with Christ high on the peaks, and I realize there are times we have to walk through valleys. We all do, and some who say they don't ever have to. Between you and me, Chris, even the Lord had to walk through valleys, but thankfully it's not all valleys and it's not all peaks. The Lord knows how to balance it all and help us to get through to the end.

Chris Grainger: 5:25

Amen, Amen. Well, before we get into it too heavy today, why don't we share something fun about you that not many people know about you, James Well?

Dr. James Davis: 5:33

thank you, I have an identical twin brother, chris.

Chris Grainger: 5:37

Oh yeah.

Dr. James Davis: 5:38

Identical and his first name is also James name is also James, and we're named after two grandfathers whose first name was James and whose their fathers was James, and my dad had a brother named James. I had a son that's with the Lord named James.

Dr. James Davis: 5:57

We just get on one name, chris in our family and we just drive it all the way to the ground. You know so, uh, but it's uh, it's really special to have an amazing, uh twin brother who's doing amazing work for lord as well, and um. So that's a little inside scoop on on the davis family I love it, and this has to be my.

Chris Grainger: 6:20

My favorite book of the bible, too, is james. So there you.

Dr. James Davis: 6:23

That's good. I remind my two daughters. I have two amazing daughters that are 18 and 21. I remind them that the first town in America is Jamestown. That's right. I say to them I said they could have chosen any name. I said, but they chose Jamestown. So I just make it a real strong point there you go the name James is very important.

Chris Grainger: 6:47

Love it, Love it.

Dr. James Davis: 6:49

Well, looking forward to hanging out with you, hearing your story, unpacking some things that you did here in your Chris and for your audience and for the fact that lion within us says it all that Christ is that lion and that gives us the courage, the faith, the fortitude to be able to find God's will, follow God's will and finish God's will. And when I'm asked you know what is, how do you measure success? I say find, follow, finish. And because the Lord wants us to get in the race, but he wants us to finish it as well, it was a snowy day, it would have been February 18, 2001. I was sitting in my car in Springfield, missouri, I just left some meetings and I was sitting in the car and I was really praying about the future and I knew there was so much more available. And the Holy Spirit whispered to me, sitting there that day, to pick up the phone and call the late Dr Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. And I called him later that day. We spoke on the phone and I said to Dr Bright I said I just believe we need to build a network for pastors and Christian leaders around the world and I believe that the basis by which we do the training is online, by internet. And so a year later, we launched the Global Church Network in Orlando, florida, and at the same time, chris, we launched online training at the exact same time, and so we've been fortunate to be involved in online training for over 22 years. And in those early days, when we said that we were going to do online training, people say, oh, that's never going to work, that's never going to fly. And by the time of October of 2002, we were already in 114 countries doing online training. It wasn't as fast as it is today, but we saw the future, and so it was out of that moment that the Holy Spirit whispered, called Dr Bright. We agreed that we will launch a network, and the network was born in January of 2002.

Dr. James Davis: 9:25

And I'm grateful to say today, chris, that there's more than 2,700 different denominations in the network and more than 700,000 local churches worldwide, and the network is growing very fast. It truly is, and it's really hard to keep up with the amount of growth that is going on, with men and women participating in going to the finish line. A friend of mine asked me about two years ago at lunch. He said James, could you give us the elevator version of the network, global Church Network? I said I think I can. I said we synergize in order to mobilize, to help finalize the Great Commission. That's who we are, so that's what we're about. We're not in every lane, but I think we're in a very important lane to synergize, mobilize, finalize and I'm grateful to say, chris, we're getting closer than we've ever been to the finish line I love it.

Chris Grainger: 10:27

I love it. Well, james, it sounds like you know. I'm very interested in the online training that you guys are doing, so is this like a seminary online that you're that you're using, chris?

Dr. James Davis: 10:38

um, when, when we launched the online training, we we began to ask ourselves taking the long look instead of the short look. Okay, you know, I was privileged to go to Bible college and then I went on to seminary and then I went on and did my doctoral work and I don't feel worthy enough to have had the opportunity to do it, but in today's world it's too slow, you know, to do four years bachelor's, three years to do the master's, or the MDiv as we call it, master divinity, and then build your doctorate upon that. If you choose to do that, that's 13 years. That, if you choose to do that, that's 13 years. 13 years, wow. So if someone started today, that means they would finish in 2037. If they only did the bachelor's, which is great, then that's 2028. If they wanted to do a master's, then we are past 2030.

Dr. James Davis: 11:43

If you're going to be a missionary in the traditional model, it's about eight years before you actually get to the field, and that model was based upon we in the Western world. We're sending missionaries out, and we still are. Praise the Lord, we are and what God has done to missionaries out, and we still are. Praise the lord, we are, and and I, and and what. What god has done to the missionaries around the world is staggering. However, today god has his people everywhere. There's churches and incredible pastors and leaders all over the world, and so it's not today about just training someone, eight years for them to go. What about collectively, how men and women are being trained on a global scale to go? And then the next step beyond that is in certain areas of the world. They don't get up. Asking where you went to school, asking where you went to school and in the future, it's really not about where you go, it's about who taught you when you went, because when the internet was born, distance died. The internet doesn't know distance. It's not about where, it's about who.

Dr. James Davis: 13:03

So when we launched our school, it's called the Global Church Divinity School and those of us who are participating in the podcast, you can just go to gcdstv globalchurchdivinityschoolcom or acronym gcdstv and you will see the Global Church Divinity School. And the Global Church Divinity School has more than 250 courses in it, eight major languages. We're going to 25 major languages by 2030. And the Global Church Divinity School was built for the global church and, chris, when I use the terminology global church, we in the Western world think. Well, that's them. No, global is global. Global is a 360. So when we think of global church, we think of everyone, and so the Global Church of Indian School was built to accommodate pastors who want to train their teams at their church, to accommodate pastors who want to launch campuses at their own local church anywhere in the world. To equip those who are called into full-time ministry.

Dr. James Davis: 14:17

The church has grown so fast around the world. Number one. Number two if we're actually ever going to finish the Great Commission, we're going to need a lot more trained. We know that we need well over a million more called ministers in this day and time to finish A million more plus. It's actually in one particular country. They need a million just in that country alone to finish because of the size.

Dr. James Davis: 14:49

So you're not going to be able to scale it at the slow model. It's too big and you're going to have to find a way to speed it up without reducing the quality. It up without reducing the quality, and I believe the internet affords us that opportunity to do both at the same time, to allow men and women to go to school, to get the training as they want it, when they need it, and continue to do the work that God's called them to do, and the Global Church Divinity School is an incredible opportunity for any of our viewers here today. It's extremely affordable, and when they go and click on the information there, they'll see how affordable it is, because we built it with the Global Church in mind, and so we don't compete with our partners. We complement our partners to get to the finish line.

Chris Grainger: 15:48

Wow, that is incredible. So I mean, it's all. Is it self-paced online type of it is?

Dr. James Davis: 15:54

It is, and, and we have churches that open up their own campuses, and what's cool about it is they get to choose the name of their campus.

Dr. James Davis: 16:03

So let's say they're in Chicago, they could call it the Greater Chicago Divinity School, and so they get to choose the name of their school. And there's different levels of membership. There is the growth level, which is just one-on-one I just want to take the courses for myself. There's the gold level, where, as a pastor, can say you know what, I want to open up a campus for all of our leaders to participate as well. And then there is the brand level that allows a pastor to partner with nine other churches in his area and he's maybe paying for it, but he's blessing the other nine and making it one campus together, so the other churches and making it one campus together, so the other churches can benefit as well.

Dr. James Davis: 16:47

Then there's the global level, where a pastor anywhere in the world can bring another 50 churches into it and create one global campus, and what's really cool about that is he creates a global campus, but underneath that global campus, he's able to see where all the other people are. It could be in Zimbabwe, it could be in Lebanon, it could be in Nepal, it could be in America, and he's able to see where all the other people are taking their classes and all those different campuses that are underneath that large campus. We built it that way so that any man, any woman, whether it's for him or himself, personally or globally will be able to participate in it. And what's really also cool about the pricing the pricing is so affordable that it doesn't matter to us how many students they have, and it doesn't matter to us how many students they have, we don't care. And so it's become a great training opportunity, education opportunity for men and women around the world.

Chris Grainger: 17:53

Wow, that's incredible. Let's take our first break. We'll be right back. Guys, 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.

Chris Grainger: 18:16

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 forum 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 want help overcoming issues and becoming stronger in many different areas. That's why we created several mastermind groups where the iron truly sharpens iron. 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.

Chris Grainger: 19:12

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 with them. James, I'm just curious. So for a guy that's listening right now, maybe he's, you know he, but it's.

Chris Grainger: 19:44

we built it for three years and and it's.

Dr. James Davis: 20:09

I tell people it's not cotton candy, it's real robust and there's over 200 faculty that have provided their best teaching and training and it's an incredible opportunity. It really is.

Chris Grainger: 20:28

That's amazing. Has there been, you know, so far as certain denominations I know they, like you know certain denominations want you to go to these certain areas for training? Has there been any pushback?

Dr. James Davis: 20:41

I'm just curious within the church that you no, because we don't ordain ministers, we don't license ministers, we're not going to because we believe there's enough fellowships and denominations out there that are already credentialing. So we're not planning to do that, and so it doesn't create competition or uncomfortableness for anybody.

Chris Grainger: 21:03

Right, right, so you can just do the training, get trained up and be confident there, I mean, and so it doesn't create competition or uncomfortableness for anybody. Right, right, so you can just do the training, get trained up and be confident there. I mean, is it video-based training?

Dr. James Davis: 21:13

It is Give an example of what to expect. It's video and it has transcripts that can be downloaded of every course. It's an amazing reservoir, right, yeah, it's five, almost six terabytes of content. It is over 2,600 lectures. Wow, wow, that's incredible For men and women all over the world.

Chris Grainger: 21:35

Yeah, well, guys, we're going to be sure to have that link in the show notes. You said it was gcdstv.

Dr. James Davis: 21:42

Yes, tv. Thank you. I feel like it's a big value that we've added. We've been building this for 20 years, right.

Chris Grainger: 21:52

That is absolutely incredible. I know you have such a big push as well for the Finnish 2030. That's part of your passion. Maybe you can unpack that a little bit and explain to our listeners what that's all about. I Maybe you can unpack that a little bit and explain to our listeners what that's all about.

Dr. James Davis: 22:07

I'll be glad to man.

Chris Grainger: 22:11

All right, well, go ahead sir.

Dr. James Davis: 22:14

Well, I'm just so grateful, Chris, to be able to unpack regarding the Venn Day School, and I do encourage our viewing audience to go to the link that you see and check it out. I will simply say this there's a lot of training platforms all over the world, but you will not find one like this that took 20 years to beautifully, strategically build something that represents the global church. It includes us in the Western world as well, but it's so far beyond that To learn from men and women who are actually making it happen and to sit at their feet and to learn, and it is video-based. But also there is transcripts that you can download. Can you imagine being able to download over 6,000 pages of edited transcripts? That would be like 40 to 50 books that you're having right here from more than 200 faculty. It's an incredible reservoir. It's an incredible reservoir.

Dr. James Davis: 23:21

We are who we are based upon what we bring into us. The way that I can grow is to read my experiences, but spending time with the right people. If I find myself as the smartest guy in the room, I'm in the wrong room. I need to get in a room filled with men and women that are brighter than me and then, when I get in that room I need to get really quiet and let myself go to school and grow and be able to move forward, because if I'm an eight in my leadership I'm not going to attract nines, tens and twelves. I've got to continue to raise the lid of my personal leadership. And then, chris, we've also, you know, been everything flows to one thing. It's we have a number of initiatives that are going on all over, but we do not randomly do one thing one place and say, okay, let's do that and then do something else someplace else. Everything flows to one thing and it's to finish. Everything flows to finish. Whether we're doing online training, whether we're doing a leadership roundtable, whether we're hosting our biennial Synergize conference at synergizetv, we see everything we do in the Global Church Network as on-ramps to the highway that takes us to the finish. You know, I live along Interstate 95 in Florida and 95 runs from Miami to Maine. But what makes the interstate go are the on-ramps. But the on-ramps get no credit. It's always I-95. But without the on-ramps it doesn't matter how good your highway is. So when we build the network, we see everything as an on-ramp to the highway to the finish. We see everything as an on-ramp to the highway to the actual day of the 500-year celebration of the Protestant Reformation, to host a gathering of eagles in Castle Church in Wittenberg, germany. And on that day, november 1, 2017, we launched FINISH FINISH 2030. And FINISH is an acronym. It stands for Find Intercede Network, invest, send Harvest. Find Intercede Network, invest, send Harvest. Now to my fellow TRIES followers in this podcast.

Dr. James Davis: 26:21

People often ask how can I multiply myself? How can I move from production to reproduction? I want to tell you how to do it. You have to simplify. If you simplify it good, then it becomes memorable. So you first of all make it simple becomes memorable.

Dr. James Davis: 26:40

So you first of all, make it simple, then it becomes memorable, then it becomes transferable, and once it becomes transferable it's multipliable. But if it's too complicated that a man or woman on the run can't remember it, then it will not be transferable and it will not be multipliable. So therefore you got to get it down to make it simple. So FINISH is an acronym six steps to the finish Finding the remaining unrich people. Groups intercede and pray, network like crazy, invest a lot of time, energy and money, send the best young equipped, bring in the harvest. So let's fine tune that word network. In the future, those who are not networking will be not working. It's not about activity, it's about accomplishment. It's not about busyness, it's about business. What is a net? A net is a lot of little knots tied together for one purpose not to be hung on a wall but to be filled with fish. So what does a networker do? Tie relational knots. That's what I do. I never envisioned Chris founding and co-founding a network. That was never my goal. I was actively involved in full-time ministry when the Lord whispered this to me. And so we have to tie enough relational knots for the same purpose. And the purpose is not to make the earth a better place for people to go to hell from? That is not the purpose. Should we take care of God's earth? We should, but that's not the main purpose. We're here. We're not here just to beautify the place. We're here to finish the assignment, to give access to the gospel of Jesus Christ to every ethnic group, to every people group on this earth. But it's too big for any single person to do. You can't bench press 8.4 billion people, and before long it's going to be 9 billion. We can't bench press 8.4 billion people, and before long it's going to be 9 billion. We can't bench press it. It's too heavy. We need a lot of spotters, and so if we can pull enough people together, we can get to the finish.

Dr. James Davis: 29:17

Now, why 2030? Why not 2028? 2030, why not 2028? Well, because we're coming up on the 2000 year birthday of the church, and so it's hard to believe. But, chris, you and I, we're going to welcome in the third millennium, we're going to say goodbye to the second millennium and we're going to enter into the third millennium. This is huge. We're about to become the church of the third millennium. We're coming to a finish line.

Dr. James Davis: 29:52

So why 2030? Because we're coming to the 2000 year birthday of the church. A vision becomes a goal when we put a date to it. Until we put a date to it, until we put a date to it, it's just blue sky. Until we put a date to it, we can say, well, we'll do the best we can and we'll let the next generation pick up from where we live off. But if we put a date to it, wow, it becomes measurable. Now we got to stay focused, we got to stay focused, we got to stay active.

Dr. James Davis: 30:27

And so we're coming up on the 2000-year birthday of the church. The Global Church Network is going to celebrate it on June 9, 10, and 11 in Jerusalem at the International Convention Center of Jerusalem, and we're already making plans. And so for us, chris, finish is a serious word Find, intercede, network, invest, send harvest, and everything we do moves us toward that goal. So we're launching hubs in the network, we have finished summits going on the network, we have the online training that's going on in the network and we're moving everything we can to do our very best to have said listen. We've provided access to the gospel to the hardest unreached people groups in the world, and that's what Finish 2030 is all about.

Chris Grainger: 31:20

Love it. So what are the hubs you mentioned? There are hubs there. Are they located all over the world?

Dr. James Davis: 31:26

They are, chris, and we have 161 hubs Okay, by 2030, we're scaling to 800 hubs and we have a master map, a blueprint map that we're working off of. Two weeks ago, I was in Serbia and I was meeting with the leaders there of the Balkan nations, because in September we're launching seven hubs in the Balkans. Lord willing, next week I'll be in Romania and Moldova and we're going to be launching two more hubs there. And right now we're doing Europe, because last September we had a Finnish summit there and so we're launching hubs and, for our audience, all the hubs do three things Synergize the best relationships, tie a lot of knots.

Dr. James Davis: 32:20

Systematize the best training. Everyone in the hub, chris, has access to the Global Church of Ending School, but you can't have access to it unless you are in the hub in person. People say, well, but it's online. No, it's not. It's both. It's online and on ground.

Dr. James Davis: 32:37

If we're going to build relationships, you got to get in the room, you got to spend time. You got to pray together, break bread together. You got to get in the room, you've got to spend time, you've got to pray together, break bread together. You've got to get in the room and get to know one another. This is not about on the go, just on the go, all the time, and so systematize the best trainings and then strategize for unreached peoples. Peoples, it's got to move us closer to those who've never heard the gospel, and so every hub does that. We have a hub in cairo, we have hubs in peru, we have hubs in nepal, we have hubs in sensitive places, uh, in the world, and and we continue to launch more and more hubs because it's on ground and online and gets us closer to the unreached people groups, and we're very strategic between now and 2030 where those hubs are going to be launched.

Chris Grainger: 33:31

Amen. Well, guys, we're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. I find it helps me to have a guide at times when I'm reading and studying the Bible. I find it helps me to have a guide at times when I'm reading and studying the Bible. One way that helps me is by using devotionals to guide not only what I read but insights into the scriptures themselves. So we were blessed to become an author on the YouVersion Bible app, and we saw an immediate opportunity to help others with devotionals around the areas that we spend the most time talking about at the Lion Within Us. So if you enjoy the show, you may enjoy these devos as well. We have some guys that are using them as part of their small groups as well, as they're a great way to get conversations going. So to see the ones that we've created, head over to the lionwithinus slash you version, and that's Y-O-U-V-E-R-S-I-O-N to learn more. So that's the lionwithinus slash you version to get started with your own men's devotional today.

Dr. James Davis: 34:51

So, james, where can the guys go to find out about the hubs? Maybe they want to get connected to learn more about the hubs themselves. To be part of that Is that, at the same website, putting a key in the door and opening it, and I really am grateful for it, because and I will say this in our next segment is it's not that the harvest is hard, it's that the laborers are few, and it's always a labor problem, it's never a harvest problem. The devil lies to us to convince us that the ground is too hard. It's not about the ground, it's not about the harvest. It's not about the harvest, it's about the laborers. It always is.

Chris Grainger: 35:28

We have a labor shortage, maybe share to that, to the guy right now who's listening, james, and thinking you know what this is more for pastors, and I'm not called to be a pastor. What would you say to that, to that individual who's?

Dr. James Davis: 35:41

pretty much. Yeah, I'll say that because we have business leaders involved, we have marketplace leaders involved. Um, it's not just uh for the preacher, right? Thank you what about?

Chris Grainger: 35:54

what would you say to them, though, so far as their role in fulfilling the great commission, because it's not just preachers that are supposed to do that, that's right.

Dr. James Davis: 36:01

No, I'll say that too. Thank you, chris. Yeah, yeah amen.

Chris Grainger: 36:03

Well, tell us a little bit about this synergized conference. Where is that are supposed to do? That that's right. No, I'll say that too. Thank you, chris, amen, yeah, amen. Well, tell us a little bit about this Synergize Conference. Where is that at? How has that grown over the years? I'd love to learn more what that looks like Thank you, I'll unpack that too, yeah. Thank you, and you notice we use the.

Dr. James Davis: 36:22

Why I chose that word too. Yeah, go ahead, love to hear about it. You ready? Yes, sir. Well, you know, chris, we're talking about the hubs, and how that started was back in 2006,.

Dr. James Davis: 36:36

A friend of mine from Manila, philippines, david Sopri Pena, and I were in South Africa. We'd had a summit down there and he said James, you know, we need to talk about hubs. I said huh, what about? He said well, you know, airplanes have hubs and companies have hubs, and there are certain cities that can be considered a hub. We need hubs in the church. I said well, that's a really good concept. And so I started mulling that around in my head and it's called the Global Hubs of Christianity. And anyone who's interested in learning more about the hub, you can go to GCNW GCNWTV, which stands for Global Church Network. Just go to GCNWTV and you scroll down a little bit in there on the screen you'll see the hubs there. And if you're interested in being a hub trainer, you can write us at hubs at GCN, gcnwtv, hubs at GCNWTV. And we would love to have you participate because it's going to take everybody to go to the finish line. It's not just the pastors going. It's not just the pastors going, it's not just the seminary teachers going, it's going to take everybody.

Dr. James Davis: 37:53

As the book the Synergistic Church teaches. We all have a role in the goal. We all have a part in God's heart. See, the goal is everyone. The problem is none of us can do it. So we have to move from goals to roles. I have a role, chris, you have a role. Every one of us in the podcast, we all have a role. You have gifts and talents and abilities that God put in you and you have a role toward that goal. And what's really cool about the hubs is that we cultivated a training resource, a curriculum that was developed by men and women from all over the world, and so anybody can teach it. So it's not just a man or woman that's been to Bible college or seminary, no, anybody can teach it. And so we need the church needs a lot of laborers.

Dr. James Davis: 38:50

Oftentimes the devil tells us you know, the harvest is not so good in Europe or harvest has slowed down in America. You know, and well you know things. That's just the way it's going to go. We don't have a harvest problem. Well, you know things. That's just the way it's going to go. We don't have a harvest problem. We have a labor problem. Jesus said the harvest is plentiful. You got to trust the story. The story is the harvest is plentiful. Then he says pray to the Lord of the harvest that he'll send more laborers into the harvest field. It's always a labor shortage. Anytime we see, chris, that harvest is slowing down, it's not because the Lord is not at work, it's because we don't have as many laborers.

Dr. James Davis: 39:35

And so at every Finnish Summit and people can check this out at Finnish2030.com at Finnish2030.com you'll see, see the finished summits that are highlighted there. And at every finished summit we handpick hub leaders, hub leaders who are going to lead the hubs, and then the dates are set, because it's not just about the summit, it's about pulling people together, synergizing together, getting the hub leaders together, setting those dates. And then we need hub trainers and teachers. We would love for you to consider being a hub teacher or a hub trainer. It would be super cool to have you involved, whether it could be in Europe or in Africa or here in North America. We're getting ready to have our Finnish Oceania Summit for the island nations. That's going to be really cool for 22 nations there. It's going to be in Fiji and that's in October and the Finnish East Africa Summit is at the end of August. But all this is shown at Finnish2030.com and if you have an interest in being a hub trainer, you can write us at hubs at GCNWTV and we'd be honored to have you participate in it as we collectively go to the finish.

Dr. James Davis: 40:56

You know we use the word synergy a lot, chris. We use the book that you have there, which I really appreciate you taking the time to read, and a lot of us have a lot of books and I know that. But I decided to write a book on the synergistic church the answer to fulfilling the great commission, after we had built a network. You know, and just because someone says they have a network doesn't mean it works. If there's nothing in the net, it's not working. If you're not tying relational knots, you're not building a net that works, and the second word in network is work. So if you're going to build a net that works, you're going to have to put a lot of blood, sweat and tears in it. But we chose the word synergy because Romans 8.28 says God works together all things. But the Greek term there is God synergizes all things, synergeo. Paul chooses to use the word synergy. God synergizes all things for my good. Why does he do that? Because I love him and I'm called according to his purpose.

Chris Grainger: 42:14

Right.

Dr. James Davis: 42:15

And so he synergizes the universe, chris, for you, for me. I don't know how he does it, but he does it For me. I don't know how he does it, but he does it. And back in the 1990s, chris 1996, I was reading a book by Stephen Covey, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and in my study here I have a signed copy from Stephen and he wrote a letter in front of the book to me and I've cherished it. It told me a lot what I need to know about Dr Covey when he sent me the book in 1996.

Dr. James Davis: 42:54

But habit number six is the word synergize. Synergy, it's habit six, right before habit seven, sharpening the saw. So he's summarizing the first three habits, the inward work, the second three habits, the outward work, the first was the private victory, the second was the public victory and after you understand win-win, you can build synergy. Habit six so when I was reading that, chris, I saw that he was quoting from the New Testament and using the New Testament words about synergy. And I said wait a minute, these are our words and what happens is that when the church world doesn't use certain terms, the business world steals them. Oh yeah, okay. So synergy and synergize, these are New Testament concepts.

Dr. James Davis: 43:52

And so when Dr Bright and I were launching the network, we talked about synergy in 2002. And at that time, in the body price, no one was talking about synergy. And because we're so far apart, everybody was in their own lane. They all said they were going to the finish. But they're all in their own lane. And so we launched a synergized conference because as I was reading the seven habits habit six and I it's so captivating in my imagination I said, oh man, this is really good. And so for 22 years we've hosted the Synergize Conference and it's at synergizetv and it sells out every time we do it.

Dr. James Davis: 44:39

The next one will be 2026. And men and women come from around the world to the Synergize Conference here in Orlando, florida. It's always in the wintertime on purpose in Florida, but men and women come from around the world where we say this is where the global church gathers to help save the world, and it's more than just a conference. It's an outpouring, it is an impartation, it is where you get a glimpse of what the Lord is doing on a global scale and you'll be able to find your role in the goal. It's a wonderful conference and I would encourage our viewers go check it out. It's going to take place in February 2026 here in Orlando, florida. I know you will be glad you came to be part of this Synergize conference.

Chris Grainger: 45:35

Amen to that. I mean, who doesn't want to go to Florida in February? That's right.

Dr. James Davis: 45:41

Unless you're in the southern hemisphere, they're already having summer weather. That's right. That's right. Unless you're in the southern hemisphere, they're already having summer weather.

Chris Grainger: 45:47

That's right. That's right. Well, I mean, this has been fantastic. I think there's lots to learn here. Before we wrap up, James, I'd love to play a lightning round with you. Just a little bit of fun.

Dr. James Davis: 45:57

Of course man Fire away.

Chris Grainger: 45:58

Please do, and let's just jump right into it. So what do you enjoy doing for fun? Do you have any hobbies? So let's just jump right into it. So what do you enjoy doing for fun? Do you have any hobbies?

Dr. James Davis: 46:04

I do. I enjoy walking. I enjoy walking by the lake, by the water. I have a walking trail that's not too far from here. I love my two daughters, olivia and Priscilla. My wife and I we buried two children in the 1990s, one in 91 and one in 98. One was a little girl, one was a little boy. And then we adopted our two daughters from mainland China back in the early 2000s and so now they're 18 and 23,. Amazing Christian young women. But I often say made in China means something different to us and other people. And so I love my daughters. I love my wife. I've been married 38 years and I love walking and just talking with the Lord, privately and quietly. I'll play a little bit of golf every once in a while. I don't play much golf. I love golf but I don't play much. But I enjoy those kind of things and I enjoy writing. I do a lot of writing.

Chris Grainger: 46:59

Obviously you're a great writer, so do not surprise at that one. What about favorite food? What's your favorite food, james?

Dr. James Davis: 47:07

You know favorite food? Wow, you know, I eat a lot of salmon.

Chris Grainger: 47:11

Okay.

Dr. James Davis: 47:12

Yeah, I used to not do that, but about 10 years ago the Lord got a hold of my heart about it and I eat a lot of salmon and I'm pretty faithful in my diet and health. Good health food. I'd have a rich amount of vitamins and supplements I take every day. No matter if I'm in the U? S or not, it doesn't matter, but I eat a lot of salmon. And then, of course, I will say to my daughters hey, go get some Chinese food in honor of my girls.

Chris Grainger: 47:42

But I I love, yeah, love it. So if you could have a superpower, james, what would it be and how would you use it? A superpower. Yeah, a superpower.

Dr. James Davis: 47:55

Well, I think the greatest force in the earth is the Holy Spirit in the church, and I believe that the church is an amazing superpower. There's more than 2 billion Christians in this world today and we're adding 130,000 to 140,000 more per day. And the church is not shrinking, it's exploding around the world. And I believe that the greatest force on the earth is the untapped power of the body of Christ that can get in step with what the Holy Spirit is doing today. There's no way to stop the mighty power of the gospel in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the greatest force on this earth and I believe that we need to synergize our efforts together to finish the assignment. I can't think of anything greater for us to be a part of, to be able to say that the remaining unreached people groups have access to the gospel and that we did what the Lord told us to do. I think that is the greatest opportunity of this generation.

Chris Grainger: 49:07

Amen, amen and James. The last question for you is what do you hope that the guys listening remember the most from our conversation?

Dr. James Davis: 49:14

today.

Dr. James Davis: 49:15

Thank you. I believe that the sky is the limit. We have the opportunity, as Christian brothers and sisters, to live our life from a heavenly edge. Paul said we're seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We're not fighting for victory, chris, we're fighting from victory, and the view there is different than the view down here. The view there is different than the view down here.

Dr. James Davis: 49:46

I had an amazing dad who loved the Lord and poured into my brother and me and one day, chris, when I was just 12 or 13 years old, my dad said to his two boys why don't we fly a kite today? And we were living in Montgomery, alabama at the time and he went by this store that he managed. It's a very large store. It was closed. On Sunday afternoon he took us to the toy department and he filled up an entire shopping cart with kite string little rolls of kite string, got a big kite, came out to the parking lot, we started putting the kite up 100 feet and 200 feet, got another ball 400 feet. And, chris, we put that kite up that day, 5,300 feet. We put it up a mile high. I remember the moment I was looking up. I couldn't even see the kite anymore. All I could do was feel the tug on the string. I couldn't even see the kite anymore. All I could do was feel the tug on the string.

Dr. James Davis: 50:46

And my dad said to my brother and me said, boys, you can put up your kite as high as you want, don't let anyone else tell you anything different. And you know for those who are watching, you can put your kite up as high as you want. You can choose to think higher thoughts instead of lower thoughts. You can choose to pray bigger prayers than just smaller prayers, and in the eyes of God, all the prayers are small anyway, so you might as well pray the biggest one, because to God it's still small. We get to choose the friends that we spend time with.

Dr. James Davis: 51:26

Why run with the gossipers? Why have coffee with the critics when you could spend time with faith-filled people and visionary people? That's what I would do and I would choose you. I would call you to put up your kite as high as you can and make coffee nervous today and believe God for great, amazing, incredible outcomes in your life. Doesn't mean it's always gonna be easy. As Chris and I said earlier on, there are valleys. Don't criticize the valleys. Celebrate the mountaintops. God's gonna take care of you. That's what I would say. Put your kind up as high as you can. Let's believe God for amazing outcomes in this season of our life.

Chris Grainger: 52:13

Amen James. This has been phenomenal, sir. I mean, you mentioned several links. How should people connect with you directly or just to learn more about the things that you're doing?

Dr. James Davis: 52:21

Well, thank you. You know we have a website that's named after me, jamesodaviscom, and at that site you'll see all the books and resources that are there. You can also reach out directly to me through our executive director. Her name is Kylie and you can reach out Kylie at GCNWTV. Kylie at GCNWTV, kylie Harris extraordinary. She's our executive director, but every correspondence we respond to, chris, we don't ignore it. We believe every email, every note is extremely important. We want to do our best to add reciprocal value back to everybody.

Chris Grainger: 53:01

Amen, well, thank you guys for that. James, we'll make sure we get that stuff synced up for you guys out there. Anything else you'd like to share with us today on the line within us?

Dr. James Davis: 53:10

I think it's great. Just cultivate the line that's within you, you know. Starve the enemy and feed the one that builds faith and character in your life and you'll see, over time, your life is going to be so different. And as we wrap up this podcast with Chris, I would encourage you go get a piece of paper, make a list of the closest friends in your life, because that's a picture where you're going to be five years from now. And if you don't like that picture, get some new friends. Relationship currency is the greatest currency in all the world and, cultivated becomes capital and we can do great things together. That's what I would implore you to do. That's what I do every week of my life. I encourage you to do the same and you watch the dividends that will come your way.

Chris Grainger: 54:06

Amen, amen, james, this has been phenomenal. Thank you so much for your time today, sir.

Dr. James Davis: 54:10

Chris man, it's been an honor to be with you. Thank you for the lying within you. Thank you for this incredible ministry and podcast. Thank you, chris.

Chris Grainger: 54:17

Are you a manager, solopreneur or business leader? Are you a husband or father? Do you have people counting on you to guide and direct them personally and or professionally? Get the guidance and confidence you need at the Summit Leadership Development, an intensive, biblically-based mastermind group that transcends the boundaries of conventional leadership. Where there is no vision, the people perish. That's why we focus on the perfect, inerrant Word of God to become strong men and leaders in our business, home and community. Join other men who are ready to speak and embrace truth. Learn how to refine your approach and become a beacon of light in a dark world in all aspects of life. Our intentional monthly sessions will give you an accountability partner to dig deeper. Throughout the month, the Summit is empowering leaders like you to amplify their influence in the workforce, home and community. Don't miss this opportunity to become a strong leader in a weak world. Secure your spot today at thelionwithinus slash leadership. That's thelionwithinus slash leadership. All right, guys, I told you that was going to be a great one and Dr Davis did not disappoint for sure. So hopefully you guys enjoy that.

Chris Grainger: 55:42

If you feel convicted, if you have questions that you want to, you know maybe I need to move forward with some of the training that I'm doing to to grow and develop as a disciple of Christ. Go check out the podcast, the podcast website, if you will. The Lion Within dot US. You'll see it right there as a link for the podcast. Get connected, get plugged in. If you have questions, you can always email us directly support at thelandwithinus or chris at thelandwithinus.

Chris Grainger: 56:06

I want to make sure we have plenty of ways for you guys to get plugged in and get connected, because, ultimately, the biggest question I want you to think about is what's your drive right now? Your mission to fulfill the great commission? Because your own mission. You have been called to do this, so what drives it? Are you just sitting hoping? Are we just hoping our way through? Are we putting our hand to the plow and doing the work he's called us to do? Again, I know you're thinking well, I can just outsource this to other people. Nope, nope, nope. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few, as Dr James was reminding us. We need to recognize you are called to do the work. For sure, we want to support, support people, the missionaries and the pastors and all that that are doing more of the front line, but you're still yourself called to advance the Great Commission and that's your challenge as a Christian man. All right, so hopefully you guys enjoyed this one. Share it with other people, for sure. Give us a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts at Share the stuff out, For sure. Give us a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts at Share the stuff out.

Chris Grainger: 57:07

Connect with us at thelionwithinus. That's thelionwithinus. Find all our resources.

Chris Grainger: 57:11

Maybe, if you're on the Bible app from YouVersion, go check out all of our devotionals we have out there completely for free If you're looking to amp up and try to get some Christian men in your life that are going to help you grow to be just a stronger disciple. Our community that's what that's all about, and we are making some incredible changes and advancements to the community Every day. We're building it, we're making it better, we're refining, we're pruning. We're just making sure that we're doing all we can to give you the best opportunity to be successful in being that disciple of Christ.

Chris Grainger: 57:41

So get after it, guys. Have a great day. Come back on Friday for some tips for your fun Friday episode. Thank you so much for the support. Again, thelionwithinus is how you connect with us all the wonderful things that we're doing. We'd love your support. If you want to be a monthly donor to the show, That'd be just be wonderful, as we continue to try to do what God has called us to do. All right, so get after it, have a wonderful day and keep on le.