Christian Men's Leadership and Self-Care

Chris Grainger 1:34

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 , fellas , it's fun Friday time , let's get right into it . So now you know we're going to start every episode at the Lion right With Scripture . It's all about Him .

Chris Grainger 1:51

So look , this week we're in the book of Mark , chapter 16 , verses 15 and 16 . It says he said to them Jesus , speaking here , 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 will be condemned . So , guys , that spiritual kickoff episode really unpacked that verse . Verses at length Go back two episodes ago . You'll find that one . If you want to have ideas on how you can simplify and apply that to your life , for sure that episode is going to help you . And if you didn't get the chance to listen to that one , but and hopefully you did , but if you didn't listen to the conversation with Dr James Davis , he unpacks this at length of what this truly means to be a follower , to be a disciple of Christ .

Chris Grainger 2:35

Okay , so I had a great conversation with Dr Davis , just a fun guy out of Florida started the Global Church Network , wonderful things with his divinity school that he founded as well . Many , many ways that they're advancing the kingdom . And he talked about the finish . And the finish is so important . The finish is so important he talked about you know , that's fine . Those people intercede on their behalf , you know , start networking , making the proper investments , sending people out Right and making sure that we're doing all we can to help in any way that we possibly can . So , guys , finish is such a big deal as we move forward , as we try to advance the gospel , as we try to serve people at an extremely high level . I love the simplistic way that Dr James puts things for us , that he's challenging us . This is not just for top-end type of churchy leaders . No , this is for everyone's . Got this call to fulfill the Great Commission , Do the work that God's called us to do . And I don't know about you , but as a Christian man , as someone who's trying to do all I can to be obedient to the Holy Spirit , it was just an encouraging conversation , so hopefully you guys get a chance to listen to that one . He's just a high energy guy for sure . Lots of things happening in his world , based out of Florida . And again , hopefully , you guys enjoyed that one .

Chris Grainger 3:59

All right , so you know , for our fun Friday , what we're going to do . So we're going to have a health , wealth and a self tip for you guys . So now for your new listeners out there , their health is how do you have stronger minds and bodies ? Ok , because if we're going to do the work that God's called us to do , we've got to take care of those things . Now for a wealth tip we need to be better stewards of our finances and our careers . So we're going to talk about that . Try to give you some ideas to make sure you're improving that stewardship . And from a sales tip , ultimately we're trying to strengthen you as a father or a husband or both . Sometimes they're both . So we're going to kind of get right into that this week and we're going to talk about those tips . So for your health tips , something I want you to think about I got this from one of our fellow members of our community , jd .

Chris Grainger 4:45

He started doing a workout program and trying to lose a little bit of weight , and one of the things that he was working with which he saw some success with out the gate , was eating a gram of protein for your desired weight . So let's say you had your desired weight was 200 pounds . You're trying to lose a few pounds , you're trying to get down to 200 . Well , in his case you would . Actually , your target protein for the day would be 200 grams . That sounds like a lot , and guess what it is . But if you eat that much protein good sources of protein as well you're just not going to be as full . Your body's going to take care of that . You're burning that faster . That's not going to hold on to it , and the power of protein is such a big deal . I've seen this in my life as well . So any day , anytime I get off track of my protein , I can feel it . You know it's a great way to just get back on track . Put a number out there , start tracking it , start measuring it and see how the results go for you .

Chris Grainger 5:43

Now again , we're not doctors . We're not telling you this is for you 100% . But if you wanted to amp up some areas for your life , to try to get a little bit cleaner diet in your system , add protein and you can do it in multiple ways . Eggs are a great way for protein , obviously , meats . I'm really big on protein powders . We're not going to talk about which powder I use , because you know what we're not , we're not going to endorse some of these things like that here . But just find a protein powder that works for you , that's good , that doesn't upset your stomach too much , and then start trying to just get as many , as much protein as you can throughout the day and just see , just try it for a few days . Just see , okay , I got 200 , 250 , whatever the number is , and just see if you can get it . And then how does that affect the rest of your eating ? Because ultimately , we're trying to take care of our body so we can honor and glorify Him , so we can do the work he's called us to do . That means we have to be very intentional about the food and the fuel that we put in .

Chris Grainger 6:35

Okay , all right , now for your wealth tip . This is very simple Stop chasing shiny . Okay , no-transcript what you're going to find . If you're chasing shiny , which you may find that that shiny thing has a hook in it , and it's usually in the form of a big payment . Now one of our members , adam , brought this up to us . This is a tip shout out to oh , adam , I love you to death , brother , because he's like you know what ? I see too many people tripping up over this . We want shiny , we want the newest , we want the latest and greatest and we never think about the implications that come to us as our family , as the stewards of our family , because if that puts us in a financial hardship time , if it tightens up things too much to the point where something else happens , we can't respond appropriately . We have to incur debt . That's dangerous . And incurring debt just to chase shiny , that's something we have to make sure that we're intentional about just heading that off in our life , guys .

Chris Grainger 7:33

So this means being very , very purposeful with your budget . I want you to have nice things for sure . I just don't want the nice things to have you . That's a big , big difference . So , again , maybe your vehicle doesn't have all the bells and whistles , but if you don't have that vehicle payment , you know what ? You have something that so many other people wish they had . That's financial freedom to your car . So just be careful if you're starting to chase clothes or whatever these things are that you think are going to fully and finally satisfy you .

Chris Grainger 8:06

Those shiny things in the world often do not right , because again the evil one dresses up , it's beautiful , these things look wonderful , they look enticing . And if you're that fish , you're out there in the water and a nice little , shiny little bait comes flying by you and it looks so great , looks amazing , I gotta have it , I gotta have , I gotta have it . Until you have that moment where you take the bite and you realize , instead of you having it , that it has you . And that's a real moment and I'm just imploring , I'm trying to help you guys . Just avoid that moment where the stuff has you and , because it has such a tight grip on you , you can't do what God's calling you to do . So good stewardship means being smart and not chasing shiny . All right .

Chris Grainger 8:56

Now the self-tip . Again , this came from JD . Within our community Guys . Actually we were in one of our meetings I think it was a lion lunch . I had these guys in there . I said you know what ? I've got a podcast coming up . I need some tips and we just talked about it . So more and more proof of the power of the lion within us community . How , guys , when they come together , when they're iron , sharpening iron , when they're trying to truly help each other get better , wonderful things happen , to the point where you get any tips today , all right .

Chris Grainger 9:24

So for the self-tip , don't judge your spouse from your standards , and particularly we're talking about intimacy here . Okay , because this gets us in trouble . Okay , when we start to project our standards on our spouse , it really robs joy from one of the most beautiful things that God has blessed us with within our confines of our marriage , which is the intimacy connection that we have as husband and wife . So there's so many guys out there who are not satisfied and verbally complain and moan about their level of intimacy with their wife . Well , I don't , you know , we're never . We don't , we're not able to come together enough throughout the week . We only get to come together two or three times throughout

Fulfilling the Great Commission and Marriage

Chris Grainger 10:04

the week .

Chris Grainger 10:05

You're like you know , quit putting your standard on her . You know , recognize that the covenant of marriage is beautiful and everything that she's trying , she's striving to do to come together and to connect with you on an intimate level , that should be celebrated . So quit putting a scoreboard up . It just bothers me . I get it . We're guys , we love to keep scoring all this , but you know what , at the end of the day , just be with your wife , just connect with her . Quit holding her to these impossible standards . A lot of these impossible standards . If I can be real for a moment , you guys know how I'm going to do that . I'm going to be real .

Chris Grainger 10:43

So many of these impossible standards come from pornography . Because guys are watching pornography , they're getting these ideas and these things in their heads of things that they wish their wife would do Right , and there are different types of moves and different responses that she would have from these actresses and actors and this pornography who are getting completely paid in as a black market . We know how terrible that market is , so full of darkness . In that market , of that market , the evil one has its hold on it . That's what I'm talking about when I say it's a black market . Fellas , I'm telling you this stuff is . We know We've had guests on the show who was in pornography and how absolutely dark it is , right and void and wicked and evil . Yeah , we're going to watch that and compare that to our spouse . There's no way she's going to live up to that standard and it's not very frustrating to even consider bringing that as part of the conversation .

Chris Grainger 11:36

So making sure those standards are , we're not projecting them on others , on them is so huge . Just be with them . Enjoy the blessing that comes with the covenant of marriage For sure . Be fruitful and multiply . I want you to enjoy the things that God has designed within the confines and the covenant of a one man , one woman . Marriage , all right , so there you go , guys . Those are your three tips from our community itself . That eat that gram of protein per your body weight . That wealth tip stop chasing that shiny stuff around , it's going to get you in trouble . And the self tip don't judge your spouse from your standards .

Chris Grainger 12:16

All right , so now the book of the week this week , guys . We talked about it with Dr James . I'm holding up a copy right here . It's the Synergistic Church the Answer to Fulfilling the Great Commission . The foreword was actually written by Robert Jeffress . I really just enjoyed this book . Lots of impactful stuff in this book , directly on how steps you can take to fulfill the Great Commission . So this is one that you'd want to have for your library . Go check out thelinewithinus book . You'll see a copy of this here from Dr James . I'd love for you to add it to your library .

Chris Grainger 12:48

Okay , so now for our dad jokes this week . We're pulling two dad jokes this week from our member , doug , and absolutely Doug's one of our faithful , longtime members of the line with Dennis . He's always looking forward to the dad jokes each and every Friday he sends me on a regular basis . I said you know what ? For this episode , we're going to make this a Doug special . So this is a Doug special for the dad jokes .

Chris Grainger 13:11

Both of them didn't come from him . Let us know which one you like best . The first dad joke he sent me is why did the lettuce go to the gym ? I said I don't know , doug , why did the lettuce go to the gym To get shredded ? I was like , uh-oh , here we go , here we go . So that's the first one from him . And then number two why did the ice factory have to call the fire department to put out the fire when they had tons of H2O on hand ? I was like I'm not sure it was because their assets were frozen . So there you go , let us know Again . Guys , I rolled the holy cow for dad jokes . Let us know we're number one or number two . Why did it ? Let us go to the gym to get shredded . Number two why did the ice factory have to call the fire department to put out the fire when they had tons of H2O on hand ? Because their when they had tons of H2 on hand , that's their assets for Frozen Again , fellas , dad jokes All about just trying to make you get a little chuckle this week , doug .

Chris Grainger 13:59

Thank you so much , my brother , for sending those in . It's just an honor just to know you , buddy , all the wonderful things you've shown us with your marriage , the way your marriage has grown . It's just great just to have you part of our community . So now the question of the week this week , fellas , is what drives your mission to fulfill the Great Commission ? So what's driving it ? Something's driving it and I'm praying that you're taking steps of obedience to fulfill what God is calling you to do .

Chris Grainger 14:26

If you're not and you need help maybe you need some abandoned brothers , some Christian men out there . They're going to speak life to you , they're going to encourage you , they're going to hold you accountable . That would challenge you to be obedient , to do the hard things that God's called you to do . If that's what you're looking for , thelionwithinus , that's where you connect with us . That's how you get started . Thelionwithinus , start your membership today . You're going to find Christian men there that are going to lean in . They're going to listen , they're going to push you to be a better , stronger Christian disciple of Christ . All right . So again , thelinewithinus guys is where you connect with us for all our resources , for sure .

Chris Grainger 15:04

Again , we have lots of ways within our community . We have our daily spiritual kickoff . If you need a little bit daily boost to get your day going , you'll find that there . Maybe you want to start one of our devotions . So they're on the YouVersion Bible app number one Bible app in the world . Tons and tons of devotions over 30 devotions out there on YouVersion Love to get your feedback on them . Hopefully they will serve you well .

Chris Grainger 15:25

Lots of people use them for their small groups because they have questions as well . So you can take that apart and pull it together into a small group session . They're usually three , four , five days . Some of them go up to seven days long and they can be individual sessions . You get together with your small group , you read the study , you check out the scripture , you come together , you have a really good discussion and that is where the iron sharpens the iron . Okay , through the discussion , through the conversation .

Chris Grainger 15:52

We do that in the line , within the Community , through our Discipleship Mastermind groups , where we put you in a group , a small group of Christian men who are trying to get better , and then we're going to try to help you identify a challenge , an opportunity , something that you want to improve , moving forward , and what we're going to do we're going to lean in over a period of 12 weeks and we're going to help you grow . So that sounds interesting . That sounds like something that you want to take part of . We're having these discipleship mastermind groups going on a consistent basis to get plugged into the next one and that's at thelinewithinus within our community . All right , you guys have a great day . Get after . Have a great weekend . Thank you so much for listening . Give a rating and review . All after . Have a great weekend . Thank you so much for listening . Give a rating and review . All that stuff helps . Be a monthly donor supporter that would be huge . And , at the end of the day , just keep doing what God's calling you to do . All right , fellas . So get after it . And you know what ? Keep unleashing the lion within .

Chris Grainger 16:51

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 . 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 .

Transformational Community for Men Leadership

Chris Grainger 17:51

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 with them .