Chris Grainger: 1:01

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, this is your meat episode. I'm excited to be here with you. Let's get right into it, okay?

Chris Grainger: 1:13

So Scripture of the Week this week is in the book of Luke. I can get that out eventually. The book of Luke, chapter 10, verse 37. The expert and the law replied the one who had mercy on him. Jesus told him go and do likewise. So, guys, go back.

Chris Grainger: 1:29

The last podcast in your feed will be the spiritual kickoff episode for this week. I took some time to unpack that at week and the whole SKOs each and every week are just to give you some reflections, some thoughts on how to simplify and apply the scripture to your life. That's what it's all about. So we also do this Monday through Friday within our community. So we'd love to have you go check that out. Head over to thelionwithinus. That's our website and you can join the community right there, all right? So this conversation hits definitely at heart because we did our first disaster relief trip for Delilah with Dennis this year, or 2024. And we're going back. It was for the hurricane relief victims, for Hurricane Helene, and when I got the pitch for this idea of having this Daniel on the show, I was like absolutely got to have him on.

Chris Grainger: 2:19

So Daniel Garasi is the founder and CEO of United in Crisis. Some of you guys may have heard about this. United in Crisis is a pretty big organization and they're dedicated to bringing these churches and equipping these churches together to basically form a crisis response network and therefore they're working on emotional, spiritual as well as the physical needs of those who have been impacted by survivors. So previously he had a really great stint, if you will, in Austin for Austin Disaster Elite Network. For 14 years, 20,000 volunteers, $22 million, he's raised hundreds of thousands of disaster survivors. So he knows what he's doing right and it's a really powerful conversation. Daniel's going to give you some really good insights. If you're, if your church doesn't really know how to move forward with disaster relief or when things happen, he's got it laid out for you. So hopefully this is going to encourage you. He's he lives now in Missouri where they relocate. He's got two daughters, got his wife Allison.

Daniel Geraci: 3:20

He's a hunter.

Chris Grainger: 3:21

He is camping, hiking, all this stuff outdoors, fellas, You're just going to really enjoy it. He's got a great personality, but his mission what guys called him to do is so doggone important Cannot emphasize that enough. So enjoy this conversation and if you have questions afterwards on how to get started, how to get plugged in with him directly, please reach out to the Lion with Dennis. Okay, Let me know I want to make sure you get your answers that you need to get started. So enjoy this conversation with Daniel Garasi. Well, Daniel, welcome to the Lion with Dennis. How are you doing today, sir? Great Chris.

Daniel Geraci: 3:58

Thanks for having me on today.

Chris Grainger: 4:01

I'm excited for this one. This one hits close to my heart, for sure, and before we get into your mission and everything that you're doing, give me something fun about you, something fun that maybe not many people know about.

Daniel Geraci: 4:12

Yeah, well, I love hunting, there you go. So I'm out here now in Odessa, missouri, just recently moved by the Lord, and we're on 328 acres out here, so which means if you're a hunter, you've got a lot of space to hunt, and so that's been a lot of fun. One of the fun things of moving here to this new location that the Lord put us in.

Chris Grainger: 4:42

Now, what kind of hunting do you enjoy doing?

Daniel Geraci: 4:44

well, uh, you know, I, in texas, I I loved hog hunting also. You know, yeah, with the boars out there, of course everyone's needing to kill them because they're a nuisance to the land, but they make for good eating. But out here it's, it's, it's doe or or buck, right, so right, that's primarily it. I don't go beyond that, at least at this point.

Chris Grainger: 5:04

I don't so are you bow hunter, gun hunter, like what do you know?

Daniel Geraci: 5:09

out here. You really need to be a bow hunter. So I've got a crossbow and in a compound bow, uh, you know, you only have 11 days of of uh time to use a rifle in in missouri if you want shoot a buck, it's an 11-day window. You have a little more time, another I think 10 days for a doe, but yeah, it's a very short window. Versus in Texas it's pretty much almost the whole season versus the first 30 days. So, yeah, so it's. You know, that's okay. The crossbows are pretty powerful and they're very similar to a gun. Of course, I can't get beyond 70 yards, but still not bad for a bow and arrow.

Chris Grainger: 5:52

That's right. And reach out and touch them, that's right. Well, looking forward to this conversation for sure, definitely for your heart, your story to this conversation for sure, definitely for your heart, your story. Because, I mean, in North Carolina, we were talking about it before we just went live and recording here. You know we had a pretty major disaster hit earlier this year and the Lion. We went out there with a big group of guys and disaster relief. We were all on board. It was my first time coordinating something like that, so it was a lot of learning curve, but for you, this is what you do. You're the expert. I'd definitely love to hear your Genesis story of how you got started and what led you to where you're at today.

Daniel Geraci: 6:33

Sure. Well, I'll first say that anyone and everyone that you find in doing disaster relief, they probably didn't wake up as a child and say I'm going to do disaster relief. It suddenly comes upon you, the way that life leads you to it. But for me, I was working on a healthy fast food concept called Healthies, so I did not have disaster relief in the bullseye there, and it was in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf. Yeah, I lived in Austin, texas, at the time, and Austin experienced well over 6,000 people that flooded into our area from New Orleans and they were all put into the convention center. So it was a kind of a big mess. As you know, at that time was the first real mega event hitting our United States, and so our city didn't know what to do. The church didn't know what to do. In the midst of that, I began to pull people out of the convention center, bring them into churches and then have church members adopt them, so to speak, bring them into their home, speak, bring them into their home. And it was in the middle of that where I get this download that just comes to me that the Lord reveals his heart for a church network, for churches to work together, for churches to be trained, for churches to shepherd families or walk alongside of families like the Good Samaritan, to ultimately bring the gospel. And, of course, you can't do any of that without prayer being initiated prior to doing something like that in your city. So I was pretty excited, wrote that on a napkin For me, napkins are pretty famous because they're the first thing I grab but I began to show that reveal the plan to a bunch of citywide leaders or denominational leaders in the community of Austin, and all of them unanimously said, one by one man this feels like it's from God. We need to do this. So I kind of jumped to it, but the timing wasn't right. So I laid it down, went back to the healthy fast food concept, because that's what I had been working on for quite a few years, and it wasn't until 2009 that the Lord brought it back to mind.

Daniel Geraci: 8:51

Now, in between 2005 and 2009 in the greater Austin area, we had an additional three hurricanes hit the Gulf Rita, gustav and then Ike, and that brought a total of 44,000 people into Austin. But here's the kicker, and this is something that everyone should know Most emergency managers across the United States believe that the church is the second disaster in a time of disaster, and I was shocked when I first heard this from a city official and then I heard it from another one, then another one, different cities, different states. And the reason why is the church has such a good heart, but because we lack the training, we don't know what to say, what not to say, most importantly, and when to say it, and so, because of the lack of training, we can put our foot in her mouth. And this is what happened in Austin in 2005 when Katrina happened. A handful of pastors went into the convention center and said you're here because of your sin, and rather than comforting them in their place of absolute loss of course there's a time and a season to share the gospel, but their approach ultimately kicked the church out. So when all those other disasters happened and the other rest of the 44,000 came, the church was not allowed in any shelters at all to minister to single family in need. And so, if you can imagine between 2005 and 2009, suddenly, all this building up and the church just being frustrated, when we came on the scene to say let's launch a church network, it was music to the ears, so it was kind of a Jehovah's setup. Now, after that, we launched it thinking, all right, we're ready for hurricane season. Not a single, not that evacuation had ever happened from that point on, had ever happened from that point on, but prior to us launching in 2009,.

Daniel Geraci: 10:44

One last fact there was a total of nine major disasters in Austin in its history since 1900. So not a lot of major disasters, but when we launched, we had 16 disasters major disasters, seven of them historic, three catastrophic all in a 14-year span. So we became incredibly busy and I believe it's not build it and it will come, but God so loves people that he wanted his church united and ready and prepared so that way, when these events happen which is a picture, I think, of the Lord's heart for the whole earth as crises continue to happen, they're on a 6,000% increase since the 1900s worldwide. There used to be a total of five to six disasters every year worldwide. Now there's well over 400, and no longer is it if or when, but the frequency of these disasters are now happening Billion-dollar disasters every 16 to 20 days, versus going back into even 1980, they used to be around every 60 to 120 days. So the frequency is just enormous.

Daniel Geraci: 11:58

And one last quick fact here for your listeners to set the talk up on. The reason why we would need such a thing is that back in the 80s, if you look at it, in America billion dollar disasters happened. There was a total of $29 billion disasters over that 10 years. Last year we had $28 billion disasters alone. This year we'll easily hit that, if not go over that, and so yeah. So it's no longer if, but when. And these events are so big that one church isn't enough. It's going to take an entire church, you know network of churches, right? It's government isn't enough, right? One nonprofit great organization like Samaritan's purse, who's in your backyard?

Daniel Geraci: 12:42

phenomenal organization, but they'll be the first to tell you we're not enough, I mean so it's going to take all of us working together to be able to meet the emotional, spiritual and physical needs, and so that is why I believe the heart of the lord was was this needs to be done in every city? That every church in every city would be ready and united and ready to respond.

Chris Grainger: 13:06

I think the timing of our conversation is just so. It's a God thing. So, prior to the hurricane hitting in the Carolinas, I wasn't really in tune to as much with the disaster, relief and what that looks like. After going through it, though, and going out there, daniel mentioned the church. Sometimes they're the second biggest disaster, and I saw that firsthand, because many of the people I would talk to and and I even saw the church that I attend uh, we, they, we basically got told to stop sending people and supplies because they weren't qualified, and they the heart was in the right place, but they you place, but they were overloaded in those areas, and I just think it kind of sounds like to me a lot of what you're doing is that qualification piece as well equipping the people so that, when things do happen, they're coming in, you can dispatch the right groups of people. So I'm not sure if that's right, but I'd love to hear more what that looks like.

Daniel Geraci: 14:01

Yeah, well, imagine if, in Asheville, if a church network were already formed. This is kind of what it would look like and I'm going to base it on what happened in Austin, texas, in the greater Austin area. So in an event of that catastrophic event, what we do is we prepare the churches on a network to have what they call a coordinator, church coordinator and a core team, because immediately what happens is churches will get overwhelmed. The moment a big crisis like that happens, the pastor and the staff are going to jump right to it, get involved, and what happens to them is you know it's like a sprint, even though it's a marathon, because of the lack of training there. You know it's like a sprint, even though it's a marathon, because of the lack of training there.

Daniel Geraci: 14:45

You sometimes see churches they burn themselves out, they overwhelm themselves, and what happens is they quit altogether. They're not in it for the long haul because they just put themselves so much after it they just became exhausted and had to shut it down. Or in some cases I've even seen a pastor quit and leave. I mean, I'll never forget a story during Hurricane Harvey, when I went to Houston, where we actually had a place to go, a church said yeah, well, how's your team? When I got there, I said yeah, I'm here to meet Pastor so-and-so, and he said he's gone.

Daniel Geraci: 15:23

He went to Wisconsin, so when does he get back? Because he knows that we're coming at this time, because now he quit, uh and and yeah, it was just too overwhelming the pressure for the pastor. Yeah, in his area, and you see that happen more often. But when you have that coordination, that church network core team, in place, what happens is the pastor can still be the pastor, the staff is still, the pastor could still focus on the flock, while this amazing train team will then begin to get more volunteers trained in the area of crisis uh, crisis intervention, which deals with emotional, spiritual care, shepherding families that it's the number one goal is to begin walking with these families, because they are so traumatized they don't know how to even put back their lives and to put someone that's clear-minded to walk alongside of them.

Daniel Geraci: 16:29

And then, lastly, is that we begin because the network's in place. We know what church has what resources, what church has warehousing space, what church has clothing ministries to maybe transportation you know buses, etc. When you have that times, 200 churches on a network suddenly you can mobilize like an army. You're mobilizing teams like an army. That way it's not done one-on-one-on-one, where you know resources are being duplicated left and right versus. It suddenly becomes an organized event. So we know now where to raise up the warehouses. But yet we know also to begin wristbanding all the survivors, taking down the information, understanding that they are survivors, that they've been vetted, so that way they wear that wristband wherever they go. We actually categorize them. If they're in this particular area, they go to that sector and that warehouse and that sector. So that way duplication of services isn't happening. We begin the process of getting them tied to Shepard. We begin the process of gathering all that information and begin to make sure that everyone is debriefed and pulled out of their trauma. The whole effort becomes a lot more organized. And then you take all the people that need cleanup help. They go on to one massive system database where that way the churches begin to say we're going to take these 30 and we've got them and they check them off, and so no one's going to tackle those 30 homes and then another in. So that kind of organization is happening behind the scenes. And then also we're able to control what is being raised in terms of in-kind donations, because what happens is, yeah, everyone under the sun is sending everything. As you know, that could be a disaster. It actually is.

Daniel Geraci: 18:16

The next disaster have a coordinated effort. In Austin, when Harvey happened, the mayor said we want everyone to give their stuff to Austin Disaster Relief Network, which was the ministry I was sharing about early that was the name of it. We were able to open up eight warehouses, because my father owns a lot of buildings, right? So you ask the father for help and he always the first responder, last responder, and he never leaves. So he talking about provision. Provision comes when you're united, like this, uh, and so suddenly we have eight, eight warehouses open and over 4,600 pallets were received, 205 semis distributed to 32 cities in the greater Gulf area.

Daniel Geraci: 19:08

That's what it looks like when the church becomes united and the Lord you put the but God shirt you have. So, yes, it's a disaster, but God, when you attract his presence, because you're united, you're trained, you're equipped, you're walking like the good Samaritan, you're preaching the gospel. These are the very, this is the heart of God and what he wants to happen, because it's going to be organized. Now he can step in and, man, when you've got that kind of organization, you can handle the favor of God at a whole, nother level. And suddenly he makes you look like you know what you're doing and really, at the end of the day that you have to admit it's like, all right, we have zero experience.

Daniel Geraci: 19:49

But yeah, that guy that was just fired from his place, he was a genius in knowing how to organize true story, organize a dispatch system which, prior to Harvey, we had only dispatched two semis. Now we're dispatching over 205. That's normally like a massive freight company that does that kind of work. But yeah, we had never. We didn't even know what a Gaylord was prior to Harvey. But that's what the Lord does and you know, he roars like a lion, like the photo right behind you. Anyway, that's kind of what it could look like. And they're wearing one shirt, raw badge with credentials and badges like this To the city. It looks amazing. It's one voice, one mission, one purpose, right that they're having to work with. So for them, it's like wonderful right that they're having to work with. So for them it's like wonderful. It's like the relationship between daniel and nebuchadnezzar, or joseph and pharaoh, and guess what? You get put in charge and get prominent positions with the government because of it, amen amen.

Chris Grainger: 20:56

Well, daniel, thanks for sharing that. Guys, we're gonna take our first break. We'll be right back. I don't know about you, but I used to find Mondays really rough. I would find myself trying to reset for work, trying to get my bearing on the family calendar, trying to find time for my own spiritual growth and development, and often I found myself overwhelmed or just flatly ignoring aspects of my life that I know are meaningful to me. What I learned was that if I had immediate access to important and impactful spiritual topics and reflections to start my week well, after the allure of a Sunday sermon has passed, I would set my whole week up to be more meaningful and for the opportunity to make a true impact.

Chris Grainger: 21:45

If you think that getting such a boost would help your week to get started on the right foot, we would love for you to sign up for the Weekly Roar, which is our newsletter that is produced by the Lion Within Us. Each week will deliver a powerful reflection and practical steps to help you apply scripture with clarity and purpose, all being rooted in light and truth. So in just a few minutes, we hope to arm you with insights for living out biblical leadership with confidence and strength, and maybe even have a little extra bounce in your step. If that sounds useful, head over to thelionwithinus slash ROAR to sign up today. That's thelionwithinus slash ROAR to get your weekly ROAR today. Daniel, I got to know, so I mean it sounds like there's so much going on, so much coordination.

Chris Grainger: 22:45

Obviously, the infrastructure you have in place is phenomenal For the one listener out there, who may be a church leader or elder or pastor, and they're not plugged in. Walk us through. What would that path typically look like for a church that wants to get started? What could they expect so far as that onboarding process?

Daniel Geraci: 23:05

Yeah, well, you know. For that listener that's saying you know what this is, what we need to do for our city, and maybe it's you saying this could be me. I could actually lead this thing. Well, we have a 12-month program that we actually walk a city through, uh, until they're completely up and going. Very similar to like an entrepreneur that wants to open up their own mcdonald's. Step one is you have to go to burger university in chicago. Besides coming up with a lot of money in this case there isn't a lot of money, you know. Similar to McDonald's, but they are equipped and trained to know how to open up at McDonald's. But they're also given all the equipment, all the marketing materials, everything they would need to look excellent, as if they've had this restaurant for years, right the moment that it's opened.

Daniel Geraci: 23:59

Similar with us, where we have, because of the 15 years of experience of opening, helping over 24 cities, we have a database of documents that's nice and filed and ready to go that we give to a city. We have training that we teach them how to be that leader for their community, how to connect churches together, how to equip the body of Christ. We actually have the training to give to them. So it's kind of like a full turnkey. But what it takes for every city is leaders, minimally one leader that will lead it, but we usually ask them to build a core team around them and then also from there we will help walk them through those initial meetings with pastors and churches to cast the vision on behalf of what it could look like on their city.

Daniel Geraci: 24:52

Actually, the logo is given to them, also a website and all the other tools that they would need. So one could be up and running fully within four months after training, even though the training lasts 12 months. Yeah, one could be up and running within four months with a fresh, new nonprofit organization and then we begin to help them also raise funds within their community and teach them how to do that. Now, if you're someone that says, well, man, that's not me, I'm not the type of leader, but I have pastor friends or my pastor needs to hear about this, well, those folks can just simply point them to our website, which is unitedinchrisisspelledoutorg, and on that there's a video and you can set up a 90 minute meeting with us and that's where we can cast the vision and that's kind of where it can begin and then, who knows that might build to multiple pastors joining a meeting.

Chris Grainger: 25:50

I'm super curious, though, because you're talking about bringing churches together, and churches, quite frankly, they can be difficult to work with from time to time, and there's lots of denominational and theological differences. So walk us through how that works when you're bringing these different church groups and leaders together.

Daniel Geraci: 26:05

I think, at the heart of all of us because Christ is in us, right, and if his heart is, john 17, 21, that they may be one in order for the Father and I, for the Son to be revealed right through the Father, that they may be one. So I think that's, you know, at the core, at least for me and for many pastors I've talked to. They actually want to work together, they wish they could work together, but don't know how to work together. I've heard it said in many disaster scenarios it's a shame that it took a disaster to finally bring us together. I've heard that over and over and over. So there's a desire. It's just the how. And you know, there's two areas I find that unite the church together that way. It's two areas where theology doesn't have to play a part, we just need to do it, and one of them is prayer. The desperation of our society today in America has drawn pastors to say my gosh, we need to pray together for our community because it's going in a bad direction.

Daniel Geraci: 27:11

The second one is disasters. You know the disasters are on the rise. Ok, so some cities might be in a comfortable place where perhaps COVID was the first mega disaster your city's ever seen. Well, okay, there's storms, there's winter storms, there's maybe famines or heat. You know droughts, you know, maybe it's a small flood, but every city has fires. Every city, you know, has apartment fires, house fires, floods of some sort, just because of drainage issues. So there's always disasters happening.

Daniel Geraci: 27:47

So it doesn't particularly have to be formed around a major disaster. Our recommendation is to begin by taking on all the small disasters in your community and then for the church, with the infrastructure that we give the church because we really are building an infrastructure within the infrastructure of a church and having the network become a great administrator for the whole church to organize. The crisis in the network focuses on the administrative side of working with the government pulling together the pieces. So that way the church's role is to be the Good Samaritan in that time of crisis. So the crisis could be housing crisis in your community, could be homeless issues, it could be a crisis around fostering kids, which is a big one third grade reading, whatever it may be that system that we help train the church in in that community actually works in an incredible way to help take on all forms of crisis, and that's why we didn't put disaster in our name. We use the word crisis united in crisis.

Daniel Geraci: 29:00

And let me, if I can, I'll give you one quick scenario here. In Central Texas in 2018, a massive rainstorm hit the Hill Country area, and we're talking about, you know, the kind of floods that look similar to Asheville. Of course, asheville was more widespread, more homes this was around 2,500 homes but the floods were destroying bridges, reinventing, resetting the way that rivers were going to be flowing. In Central Texas.

Daniel Geraci: 29:35

I mean massive. And so these small communities, when the Hill Country did not know what to do, but we, the Lord led our organization, austin Disaster Relief Network, to go in there to help form a new network called the Highland Lakes Crisis Network. They decided to say Crisis Versus Disaster Network because they said we don't have many disasters but we have lots of crisis. So that church community did a phenomenal job shepherding families, walking with families, rebuilding homes, all of that. And then we're talking about a small network. So this is an encouragement for the smaller communities 40 churches on that network sponsored 700 families and rebuilt, repaired 700 homes. Got people back on their feet within two and a half years Incredible timeframe, right, just amazing, amazing testimony. Well, they did so well.

Daniel Geraci: 30:30

The mayor of the community said don't stop. Can you start taking on other forms of crisis, like the homelessness crisis in our community? We'd like to give you 100 acres, we'd like to give you all these facilities to begin housing people and, by the way, here are 24 housing units you could use. Could you take on the single women problem that we have with children that don't have? You know they need housing help. I mean they begin taking on all forms of crisis in the community. If you look them up, you'll be able to see wonderful stories of what the church is doing together besides disaster relief and have they had other disasters? You bet COVID, they were ready to go as one united church and they were key to that whole response. But see, they were able to raise that up when it was needed, but in the in-between times they're doing other forms of crisis within the community.

Chris Grainger: 31:24

Amen, amen. Now I'm super curious on this too, daniel, when you look, obviously we serve our show primarily serves men. Now we do have a lot of ladies who listen, but for the guys out there listening, what are some of the needs that you recognize, that where you need men the most, and maybe what are some of those needs and those skill sets that are? You know, maybe you're a little bit of a shortage on when you look across to you know, just a general. So I'm just trying to give out guys ideas of skill sets and in training. Maybe they may not be thinking about right now where guys could step in, that maybe there's a gap.

Daniel Geraci: 32:02

Yeah, well, you know. Number one there's always a need for men to be prayer warriors, so it's not just for the ladies to do so. We'll start with the ABCs, and so that number one. But two would be the training that we provide. Obviously, there's a lot of physical boots on the ground and men love to do that, from chainsaws to mucking out to, you know, warehousing. A lot of physical labor there. That's always needed and there's, you know, always a great need for that, for just the strength of men. And we teach, you know, safety protocols and protocols in all those areas.

Daniel Geraci: 32:40

But, believe it or not, I find a lot of men have loved the crisis intervention training that we provide, which is helping people come out of trauma. And it sounds like, oh man, that's not for me. It literally is just seven questions and on the back of every badge, and after you're trained, you're given these questions and the questions are like you're sitting in front of a survivor. We set you up so we give the platform where you're sitting at a table. Here come the survivors because they're coming in to get gift cards away that we teach the nonprofit how to do it, but they simply just say, hey, tell me your story what happened and put duct tape over your mouth, invisible duct tape, so to speak, and that's it. And then they're sharing the story. Then the next question what was most significant to you in this crisis? I mean, we lay it out where anyone could do it. As long as you put the duct tape over your mouth, you don't say, well, man, I can't do the same thing. Oh my gosh, you know, we'll teach them what to do and what not to do and that's the thing you don't want to do.

Daniel Geraci: 33:42

But so men could do very well in that, because sometimes men like men to connect with right and okay, there are men that might connect with, you know might be placed a single woman across from you in that crisis zone. Of course, you're with a lot of people, so it's still safe and we normally pair you up with somebody else. It might be two guys or a guy and a gal, but men are needed in that area, also to shepherd families. You know sometimes the strength of men, you know, and the way that we operate. Of course there's men and women. Both have phenomenal giftings. But again, to say this is only for a woman to do, no, this is for men and women. In fact, we recommend that this could be a great place for a men's group to shepherd a family, or your Bible group or husband or wife. There's many multiple ways to do it. So those are some of the areas that we recommend, besides the physical, which is one area where you know you tend to not have a shortage of men, but we always need them.

Chris Grainger: 34:54

Amen, amen. We'll take a quick break. Guys, be right back. When I reflect on the kind of things that the men who participated in our discipleship masterminds had in the past, I am overwhelmed by the quality of their comments and commitment to each other. Several of the guys commented that this was the most meaningful leadership experience they've encountered, and we even had one man log into a discipleship mastermind while a hurricane was hitting his house. He was that committed and received that much from his peer group that he didn't want to miss it. Because of this extraordinary commitment and because it's a true gift and pleasure, we made them a core part of our community and we hope you might join us. We sit up men with their own peer advisory group of seven individuals that meet every other week for 12 weeks. Each member shares areas they want to focus on, such as improving their prayer life, being more intentional with their wives or maybe shedding a few extra pounds Together.

Chris Grainger: 36:04

We help them strategize, make commitments, find accountability and learn. It's been our experience that most guys want a community of trustworthy men to share their ideas and create support for each other with, and it's been our experience that most men don't either create this for themselves or seek them out. So we do this because we want you to have that in your life, and all that is needed to begin winning is you. If this sounds interesting, check out our community to see the dates and times of when these different groups meet. Visit thelionwithinus to start your free trial of our community. To get started today, that's thelionwithinus, and I would love to see you lean in and tap into the power of our discipleship masterminds. So, daniel, I mean obviously the work you're doing matters. You put this book together Just curious. You know Genesis. Why get all this formalized in this wonderful book here? Just what was your hope there?

Daniel Geraci: 37:15

Well, I want to say that it was my idea, but you know, the Lord, I felt, spoke to me and in the transition from stepping away from Austin Disaster Relief Network and launching United in Crisis, which is taking the model that the Lord gave us in Austin to begin training the nation and world, you know, I felt like the Lord said tell the story. So that way, as people begin to hear about what's been going on in Austin, where we've been asked so frequently, you know, how can this, what could this look like? Well, it's all in the book. We wanted to share the God stories, number one, and they're miraculous because it says in Psalm 133 that it commands a blessing when brethren dwell together in unity.

Daniel Geraci: 38:07

And man, I had to get these stories out. They're hair-raising, I mean, they will have you on your seat. Some people say I cried through it. You know, because maybe your life might feel a little empty, where it feels like I'm kind of going through the motions, I'm going to church. You know, kind of punch that card, go home, go to work and there isn't an adventure in your life and talk about men who need adventure.

Daniel Geraci: 38:31

God's like the greatest adventure, you know, guide in the history of the world and it's often like the Raiders of the Lost Ark, where the ball is rolling about to crush him, crush him right and he's just about to get out of the way. It feels like you're gonna die, but you never do because the lord always rescues you. But that's kind of the adventure. When you walk in faith with god and and to do what we've been asking, you know mentioning here, it takes a man of god to walk in faith, or a woman of god who knows his wife might be watching the podcast, but a woman of god or a man of god to walk in faith, or a woman of God who knows His wife might be watching the podcast, but a woman of God or a man of God to walk in faith to do these things. Because when you have to shepherd a family, you're going. What am I going to do Me, you know? Which is the wrong way of thinking. That's a poverty mindset to say what can I do? It's very similar to Andrew saying Lord, how are we going to feed all these people? Because he's thinking out of his own strength. But when we lean on trust in the Lord and say you know what, it's actually not up to me. But God, right, like your shirt, says and now I'm going to take a step of faith, trust in him, even though it doesn't feel good, because faith has nothing to do with feeling, has everything to do with trust. I'm going to trust it because I'm doing my part. God's going to do his part. Show up.

Daniel Geraci: 39:45

That's when the adventure begins. But you start seeing the kingdom of God unfold before you. You begin to see signs, wonders, miracles, things that you have to say that wasn't me. You know and you want to say it, because the more you say it, the more he could come in, because you're staying humble through the process. But the book is to stir hearts, light your heart on fire, to say you know what I'm hoping, even if you don't start a church network in your city, you say I'm going to live a different life than I am living now. I need to get involved in my community, begin to become the Good Samaritan in my community, because the church has really given that title away to the government. The government in our day and age is really the Good Samaritan. The church is more like the Levite and priest that walk by all the crisis of the community because we say the government's got it, that's their job and you know what? That's not how it always used to be. That's right.

Chris Grainger: 40:40

So I also love to you know it's. You know, I talked to so many guys too where, when things happen, they want to go help but they're not ready. And I think a lot of what you promote and everything around United in crisis speaks to is that proactiveness. And I'm just curious do you have a word to stir up for that guy who's listening right now? You know, we know when, if you're waiting for disaster to happen to get ready, that's, that's, that's too late, like there. There's something to be said about being proactive here. So just curious on what, what's your, what's your word would be for that listener there?

Daniel Geraci: 41:13

Yeah Well, there's crisis all around us, right. All right now, across your, in your neighborhood, there's crisis happening, right. So, number one get trained, so that way you won't be a person that says I'm not sure what to say, what not to say, how to say you know. So if we're not in your city, there's still incredible training that you can find through nonprofits in your community to be ready, right, so, number one. Number two is that God will show up. He is the first responder to everyone's crisis. He's the last responder and he never leaves.

Daniel Geraci: 41:54

And you know, when a crisis happens, god's goodness is usually on trial in that person's life. If they're not a believer, especially the devil's whispering in the air God doesn't love you or there is no God. If there was a loving God, why would he allow this to happen to you? Right? So God's, his goodness is on trial. They're actually going. Maybe there isn't a God right, Because they're going to agree. Maybe if it was a disaster, then the insurance company is saying this was an act of God, or the government saying this is an act of God. So it's all against God right and his goodness.

Daniel Geraci: 42:29

That's why you're so needed, because we are to reveal the goodness of God and we're to reveal what he's done for us just simply by beginning to become a friend, walk alongside of this person. Let's not just give a cup of cold water and some food or maybe some stuff. What if we began to walk with them, to just listen to them, just to be there and be a friend to them in their time of crisis? I think that's why our society is so broken. Broken people are everywhere.

Daniel Geraci: 43:02

Because the church I don't think, because we've given up that role of the Good Samaritan when these people were in crisis and we didn't show up, it created a greater crisis, which gave us the world that we live in today, a lot of broken people all over the place that have really become anti-God, right or anti-Christian, and maybe have gone to another religion because they were there and we weren't there, and it's a shame. So my encouragement is that God qualifies the unqualified. Don't say you know, I have to be, I'll wait and I'll do that once I do. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Daniel Geraci: 43:41

You know I have to be, I'll wait and I'll do that Once I do one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. You know, actually the Bible shows many stories where you know the apostles. If you've watched in the chosen, I love that. You know, when the Lord has said all right, let's go do this. And they're like you gotta be kidding, right? I think that's everyone's reaction. But God showed up. All they had to do is walk in faith, and the Lord began to step out and meet them there because of faith amen, amen.

Chris Grainger: 44:12

Anytime you bring up the chosen here, you're in good company on this show too daniel.

Chris Grainger: 44:16

So good stuff, good stuff. Well, before we wrap up, this has been phenomenal. Let's play a lightning round. We always do this on our show at the end of the of the every episode. So we're just a fun, just a fun way to kind of wrap up and let the, let the listeners know you even a little better, so you willing to jump in and play that? Sure, all right. Well, you already mentioned hunting, so we're going to take that off the table. So what's another hobby that you enjoy doing for fun?

Daniel Geraci: 44:38

Well, you know, for me, just being with family is always number one. I have two girls, a 20-year-old and a 13-year-old, and doing things with them is obviously not a hobby. It's I get to do this right, I get to do this right, and so I would say that is probably, you know, top there. Besides, you know my wife and I doing date nights, you know, and always trying to do things together to stay connected in the midst of a busy, busy world.

Chris Grainger: 45:08

Amen to that. So you got two girls, I got three and a boy, but two of mine are 14 and 12. So I have to come to you for some advice. Since you have a 20 year old, you can. Oh man, the teenage girls. There is something to be said for that. So we'll be praying for you there, for sure. How about favorite food? What's a food you enjoy? You're from Texas. I'm curious what's your go-to?

Daniel Geraci: 45:30

You know, obviously barbecues. Texas is known for its barbecue. You know I love Mexican food, real Texas Tex-Mex food. I'm having a struggle here finding good salsa in Missouri, In Missouri yeah, they puree it versus in Texas. It's chunky and stuff, yeah, and it tastes different, but I would say mexican food is a favorite for me all right.

Chris Grainger: 45:58

How about sports teams? Anybody you're following?

Daniel Geraci: 46:01

well, uh, you know, I used to be a huge chicago bull fans back in the jordan days and I used to be a big steelers fan as a uh growing up too, but ut I still kind of look out and see how UT is doing at University of Texas. You know they've been having a great year this year, other than getting past Georgia. So Georgia's been the stumbling block to their national title. So they probably have one more chance and, who knows, maybe we'll play Georgia for a third time in a year.

Chris Grainger: 46:35

We'll see. We'll see how. About a superpower? If you could have any superpower out there, Daniel, which one would it be and how would you use it?

Daniel Geraci: 46:44

Well, you know, we actually do have a superpower. It's Christ in us, right? And so that's the key thing is to use it. That's the key thing is to use it. We're like all, like policemen that have great authority. You know, a policeman has a badge gun and he uses authority. It's the only thing that will stop traffic. If I put my hand on the gun and throw out the badge, I can stand out in the middle of traffic and stop it.

Daniel Geraci: 47:08

Christians, we have authority. It's like a superpower, right? The Holy Spirit is within us. Do we use it? Do we believe that he who's in us is greater than he is in the world? Are we going to pray for that man at the restaurant that has a knee problem? We're going to pray with the waitress that? And then ask the lord, lord, is there anything you want me to say to her? And suddenly you get something come and like do you have a mom that's sick? Like, yes, how did you know that? Well, it's tapping into what's already available within you. A lot of times, it's just simply fear that holds us back from allowing, so to speak, the lion within us to roar and to do what he does best. And so that's what the father what Jesus did. The father says, hey, let me show you what my father is. We're to continue with that way of thinking, to reveal the nature of the father and how good he is to those around us, so that itself is a superpower.

Chris Grainger: 48:10

Love that answer. Love that answer, Daniel. So you talk a lot about God and obviously you're in his favor. You're walking in what he's commanding you to do. What's your favorite thing about God? Just boil it down. Simple for us statement Even hunting.

Daniel Geraci: 48:36

by the way, I don't know. For your guys, I'm going to give a tip. This is the most amazing thing.

Chris Grainger: 48:40

I bring.

Daniel Geraci: 48:40

God into the hunting field. I mean, I always think of this. He's the great redirector. He redirected all the animals to the ark. I mean, supernaturally, he directed the fish to Peter's net. He put the coin in the fish and put them right there. If you think about the big fish that caught, jonah was redirected to be there at the right time. Why not ask God to redirect a large buck into your field and have fun with God hunting?

Chris Grainger: 49:06

And so to me.

Daniel Geraci: 49:06

I love hunting because if it was just me it would be boring. But God is in it. Man, it becomes amazing. You'd be surprised when you cast all doubt and throw away that he ain't going to show up and nothing's going to happen. I could be in a desert and quail could come. Surely he could bring a large buck your way. So there you go Tip for hunters out there.

Chris Grainger: 49:31

That's it. That's it. Now let's flip it 180. What's your least favorite thing about the evil one?

Daniel Geraci: 49:37

Well, he's a liar and unfortunately he's deceived us all at times. And so we just got to make sure that we're reading the word of God, because understanding the word, putting us in the word constantly, will expose those fruitless deeds of darkness and the lies of the enemy. And yeah, so that's. Or seeing another one is, you see, a good friend, not only yourself impacted, but it even hurts more when you love someone and suddenly they get fooled, they get triggered, or loved one falls away and man, I hate seeing that. And we as men, again, we need to go in there as a rescue. Of course he is the great rescue, but we need to stand in the gap with them, begin praying violently, so to speak, the godly take. It's literally a war, and we can't sit around like David did for that small season where he became defeated with Bathsheba. We always have to be on our game and put men around us that can hold us accountable, to make sure that we're always focused on the Lord and in the word, and praying.

Chris Grainger: 50:46

Amen, Daniel, Amen. Well, the last question for your lightning round is what do you hope the listeners remember the most from our conversation today?

Daniel Geraci: 50:55

That he is the first responder. The last responder never leaves that if you want to encounter God, he's always at work. Just join him and you know again, there's crisis all around us. Simply, when you go and help someone, this is what I would call sonship practice is Lord, I'm going to surrender myself to you. I don't know what to do, but that's okay. That's called poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit. They will encounter God right. They will experience the realities of his kingdom. So when we are poor in spirit, we say, yeah, I can't do it. Yeah, god, that's actually good. Praise God. You don't know what to do Now say God, but you do so. I don't even know how to love this person. Will you love him through me? Now I'm going to just step forward and do it. Use my voice as your tool to speak to this person and just surrender and do it, and so Amen, Beautifully said, Beautifully said.

Chris Grainger: 51:58

Well, Daniel, where do you want to send the listeners to connect with you? United in Crisis? Obviously to get a copy of this wonderful book. So where do you want to send them?

Daniel Geraci: 52:07

today. So if they want the book, they can go to Amazon. Just type up United in Crisis by Daniel Geraci. Or you can go to unitedincrisisorg, which is again the website for those that might want to look into showing their church, their pastor Pastor we should do this in our community and the third website is unitedincrisisbookcom, and actually I have tons of videos that go with the stories of the stories that I have been sharing. A lot of God stories I did not share. I mean they're again some jaw dropping God stories, because really his signature is always jaw dropping, right, that is his signature. Anytime you're left going oh my gosh, that is his signature. Anytime it's you're left going oh my gosh, that's his signature. So so really we should all be writing our own book of acts. You know that never ends because it's his acts. All we had to do is step into it and so that that is basically what the book is about is his story. I love it, just in my little pathway.

Daniel Geraci: 53:12

So is his story. I love it Just in my little pathway.

Chris Grainger: 53:14

So Well, that's great, that's great. Well, guys, we'll have that in the links and show notes for you guys, all those links there for you. Daniel, this has been phenomenal. Thank you so much for sharing your story, your heart, what you're doing and just anything else you'd like to share today.

Daniel Geraci: 53:30

Yeah, can I end with a prayer over the men listening to this podcast? Love it, love it All right. Well, father in heaven, we just thank you, lord, that you have raised up these men for such a time as this, and I ask you, father, to empower them with great boldness, courage and faith to say yes and step out, even not feeling qualified, but knowing you qualify the unqualified. Lord, give them the direction, the guidance, the leading that they need at that hour. God, enable them to love whoever it is that's before them, god, even those that maybe they feel like they're unlovable. But, lord, through you, but God, all things are possible. So, lord, bless them. May this coming year, lord, be a year where they see your favor with man and with you, and may they become a powerful force, the Good Samaritan in their community, to see change happen and transformation follow. And we just bless them, father. Bless them in the fullness of your glory, in Jesus' name Amen.

Chris Grainger: 54:36

Amen, amen, amen, amen. Daniel, thank you so much for that. What a great way to put a bow on this Pray. You have a wonderful day, sir. Hey, you too. God bless you. Thanks for having me, chris.

Chris Grainger: 54:51

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 thelionwithinus to learn more. Created head over to the lion withinus to learn more. So that's the lion withinus to get started with your own men's devotional today.

Chris Grainger: 55:44

All right, guys, I told you that was gonna be good. I'm so thankful for Daniel for coming on. Love what he's doing. The mission is so powerful, it's so impactful. And again, if you want to get started he gave the links, but go to the website, check out. We'll have all the links there as well fellas for you guys to get started to plug in with that United in Crisis organization. Okay Now, you also heard him say there's lots of jobs and duties that they need men for. So it's not just you know out there handing out blankets although there's nothing wrong with handing out blankets they need men to do some of these the heavier lifting, the hard stuff, the truly the laborious tasks that are out there. We need you guys doing it. Okay, so get equipped right now so that when things happen not if, but when things happen you'll be ready to serve.

Chris Grainger: 56:29

All right. So now, the question of week this week is what's one small act of kindness that you can do today? You don't have to be thinking years from now. Today, what's a simple, small act of kindness that you can take Now. The follow up is why aren't you doing it? All right, go do it. That's what we're called to do is go out and be the hands and feet of Christ. So, fellas, thank you so much for listening. Hopefully you enjoyed this conversation with Daniel. Again, the lionwithinus Go over there, check out our weekly reward, check out our Christian leader assessment. Go ahead and pop in and join the community, fellas. We see all the different ways and also check out our events. We're trying to do mission and opportunities to serve others on a regular basis. So check the events out, see if one works for your calendar and come along and be a partner with us. All right?

Chris Grainger: 57:15

Well all right guys. So All right guys, have a great day. Thank you so much again for listening. Again, the Lion Within. Dot us. Give us a rating and review for every listening or watching this podcast. That would be amazing. Also, you can subscribe. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. We have lots of clips that we put out each and every week, just lots of ways we try to serve each other, but I ultimately would love to see you inside our community where we can serve, where we can help you be the man that God intends you to be. That's what it's all about. All right, so have a great day, get after it and just keep unleashing the lion within.