Chris Grainger: 1:10

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, spiritual kickoff time, let's get into it, okay? So the scripture of the week this week is in the book of Romans. It's the first chapter, 20th verse. It says For since the creation of the world, the world, god's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Chris Grainger: 1:40

So now let's take some time to unpack this, to simplify and apply it to our life as Christian men, as leaders. And we first need to understand where is this scripture? At the book of romans. So romans is in your new testament. Go past acts. You go past your first, your gospels, matthew, mark, luke and john. You got acts. Then you get romans if you get to first or second corinthians. You went a little bit too far. Just back it up, okay. So the apostle paul wrote this one love. The book of romans is probably one of the the books we that I spend a lot of time just studying and thinking about and just going back to Romans 8, I still think it's probably the greatest chapter in the Bible of all time. Right, I mean, just outside of anything from the Gospels the Gospels, just to me, stand alone.

Chris Grainger: 2:25

But this week we're going to be talking about a dilemma that lots of guys have and that's a stumbling block for us, and that dilemma is this science. I know just by saying that word science a couple of you guys probably just started like shrinking down in your chair. Maybe you had some flashbacks to a terrible science teacher that you had, or some or science project or something like that that you didn't do a good job on, and I get it. Science is not fun at times. Right, and we look at science Really. What is it? It really is to pursuit of knowing more. That knowledge, discovering things, answers that's what scientists are always after. Right, the answers of the most intricate questions of life. Right, for believers, that could be an area of tension. Right, because we have to start figuring out how we reconcile our faith with some of these scientific advancements. Right, because they can, if we're not on a firm foundation, they can provide a little bit of a challenge for us and what I'm trying to pull us to this week and we have a guest that's going to do this on our Wednesday episode is that the world presents this as a dilemma, but the real problem isn't with the science, it's with us. Think about that for a second. It's with us. Think about that for a second. It's with us Because our human desire to know more is quite often a stumbling block, because we crave certainty.

Chris Grainger: 4:00

We just do. We want to know more, but we forget one key truth God didn't design life to be fully explained here. God didn't design life to be fully explained here here. What he requires is for us to fully trust him here, and once we get that back in alignment, if we recognize that as a salient truth, then things start falling into place better. Okay, because the faith we resist is a faith that we need more than anything. And Romans Paul's telling us right here his handiwork is at every turn, everywhere you turn, from the complexity of a DNA strain right If you just look through a microscope and stare at the stars to the way that an ecosystem works in harmony. All this stuff, all this stuff should draw us into a better conclusion that we have a sovereign God. We just do. It should put us in more of a state of awe when we think about our creator. But if that makes our faith, if our faith is shaky, what does science then? Science becomes a threat.

Chris Grainger: 5:18

Okay, because it threatens to disprove what we think is true, but in the truth, in all reality, it doesn't do that, because our faith struggle usually is tied back to our personal desire to know more, to know more. A lot of times it comes down to the pride of life. We're prideful, we want to know more. Thus, we don't want to expose an area that we don't know much about. Therefore, you know what I'm going to make my calls.

Chris Grainger: 5:49

But Jesus tells us, matthew, it's like look, unless you change and become like a little child, you're never going to enter the kingdom of heaven. So childlike faith is not ignorant, fellas. No, it's not ignorant. What is it? It's submissive. There's a big difference between ignorance and submission. It means we have to trust the Father that we have, even if we don't understand it, and we have to humble ourselves to admit that we always won't have the answer key. I loved having the answer key growing up, didn't you? When a teacher would give that to you and you'd check other people's grades and stuff. That was great. But God doesn't give us that this is where really we're going to be talking about this week. We're going to run into a dilemma here Because we want to be in control, we want solutions and we don't have them, we get mad. But again, that surrendering is what it's all about. Now, imagine for a second, just think about this. Imagine for a second, just think about this.

Chris Grainger: 6:56

If you could explain everything that comes across your plate through the lens of science, if you could do that, think about the impact it could have on you from your sense of wonder and awe and inquisitiveness right, it would take it away, because sometimes we grow quite often rather, we grow our faith when we can't understand the circumstances we find ourselves in. I mean, look, in Hebrews it says by faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was invisible. Right, that's a truth from God's word. So science may be able to tell you you know how things work, but it can't tell you why and it definitely can't tell you who made it. Quite often, god reveals to us what he chooses to reveal to us, and what he gives us is evidence that we have a creator, no excuses, is evidence that we have a creator, no excuses. But then he I love the nuances because he still leaves these little things unexplained to build our further dependence on him. Because that gap between what we know and what we don't know, that's what stretches us to pursue him. It grows us in the waiting to just wonder, to think, to have those moments of reflection, and they often bring us to the point of you know what? I guess I just need to trust him.

Chris Grainger: 8:45

That's such an important part that never gets talked about, because there's not a conflict between science and faith, because science cannot contradict the one who created it. It just makes no sense. Right? It's not whether they can coexist, it's whether we're willing to let go of our need for the answers. That's what it comes down to, boys, and that faith really is the bridge that we're looking for. And it's hard because it means for lots of dudes we got to say we don't know, I don't know. But that level of humility is what God's called us to do, to be the leaders he's called us. To be right, you have to be humble. Here's something else that's probably going to make you think for a second at least. I hope it does. The world doesn't need every Christian man out there to have all the answers. No, it needs Christian men out there to have the courage to walk in faith, even when they don't know the answers. And the next the path isn't clear, because we're not going to abandon the things that we know or just ignore this stuff. It means, okay, what is God revealing to us and how can we use it in our walk to honor and glorify Him? Okay, that's what it's all about. This is part of our daily walk.

Chris Grainger: 10:05

Fellas, if you face a challenge you don't understand, maybe it's a financial crisis or something's happening to your family, or health diagnosis quite often. Let's just correlate that to those scenarios. We want the answers. We want God to give us that answer key. We want to know how we can fix it. That's what God really wants. Let's just be real. We want to be able to fix it. If we can fix it, then we can take the credit for it.

Chris Grainger: 10:33

What God's calling us to is to lean on Him, not our own understanding. That tells us that directly in Proverbs. But that submission's hard, but it's the key, because the world is obsessed with knowledge. It really is. It's obsessed with knowledge, but when we trust God right more than our desire for answers. We grow, we just do so again, there's no conflict here. Science can describe the intricacies of what God's created, but it never passes the creator. Just make sure we're clear on that, right. Okay, so that's what it's all about.

Chris Grainger: 11:16

So I encourage you to embrace the stuff that we don't know, take those steps of childlike faith and allow God to be that source of wisdom that you so desperately need. So God didn't promise us the answers, but he did promise us himself. I don't know about you guys, but that is more than enough. More than enough. So every week we take time on the line with Dennis to unpack the greatest news I could ever give you. You know, news comes and goes. We're not a political show, we're not a trending show or anything like that. We just talk about the salient truths that God's given us. But one thing he's given he gave me and I want to make sure we don't just fly by this was the gospel how much he loves us.

Chris Grainger: 12:13

And for that listener out there right now who's listening to the lion and you've never surrendered your life to the lordship of Christ. First of all, thank you for listening, for being curious enough to even listen to a Christian quote, unquote podcast. That took some courage. Maybe you have questions. Maybe someone sent this episode to you. I don't know why you're listening to it. I just know one thing I'm glad to have you here. I just want you to know the world we live in, that we live in right now.

Chris Grainger: 12:42

We've talked a lot about science today. Before it was broken, it was perfect. God's divine design was for man to be with him To the point he spoke everything into existence the heavens, the earth, the stars, the sea, the animals, the plants, all the stuff. Right, he's spoken into existence. Yeah, when it came to man, the sea, the animals, the plants, all the stuff. Right, he's spoken into existence. Yeah, when it came to man, the interesting thing is he formed man with his hands and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. So when Adam sat up for the first time, when he created man, he was face to face with his creator. It was perfect, perfect, it was absolutely perfect in that design and things went really great for like a page and a half in my bible, and then things were ruptured. Sin entered the world. Right, our pursuit of knowledge. Ultimately, that's what it was. Our pursuit of knowledge led Eve to taking the bite of the fruit. Adam was just as responsible. He's standing right there. And then that separated us from the Lord, right, and that created this gap. And that was her pursuit of knowledge.

Chris Grainger: 14:00

But we pursue other things. We pursue money, you know, in our careers and different relationships that we feel like are going to bring us value, they quite often define us, but we have that separation between us and a holy and righteous God and it's like what can we do to overcome this gap? And this is where guys get in trouble. Because we try to fix it. We just do. We're naturally fixers. Guys want to do stuff, bootstrapping. Just get out of my way, tell me what I need to do and let me go do my thing, right. So we start going to church and we start, you know, giving money or donating our time, or just try and be a good person. Right, I just got to be a good person.

Chris Grainger: 14:46

The problem with all that is that we're trying to overcome this massive gap on our own initiatives. That's not going to do it, because how much is enough? How good do I have to be here on earth so that when I get to heaven, they'll let me in? If I just knew what that definition of good was, then I could go do it. Now, full disclosure. I wish it'd be nice if it was that way, because then we could just go do our thing right and that's all it would take. Just go do this thing, do the A, b, c, d, e, however many it goes. Go do that stuff and then you're in. But it doesn't work that way. So what we need is not a coach to help us get better. We need a savior to do for us what we can't do for ourselves.

Chris Grainger: 15:39

And this is where Jesus enters the scene. So he's in heaven. He's seeing all this stuff happening. He's like you know what, tap me, I'm stuff happening. He's like you know what, tap me, I'm going. Now he comes on a rescue mission from heaven to earth. Why? Why would he do that? He was in heaven have you been here? I don't care, but the coolest place on earth, nothing compared to heaven, nothing.

Chris Grainger: 16:04

He did that because he loves us so much. He was born of a virgin. He fulfilled all the prophecies about him. He did all the teaching. He did all these miracles. All this stuff is documented about him. He was a real, living person, fully man, fully God. God was his dad, mary was his mother, and then he showed us the path to salvation, and he knew that it was going to be the cost, the penalty for our sin his death, and ultimately he was going to put an end to the sacrificial system. So thus, jesus willingly left heaven to come to be crucified for us, because he loves us so much.

Chris Grainger: 16:52

Would you go on a mission today if you knew that that mission would end in your death? Would you leave? And I know the answer is absolutely not. I wouldn't do that because I don't blame you, because we're all in self-preservation mode. That's 180 of Christ. I know this is going to hurt, I know this is going to kill me, but I also know I'm doing this for the whole world and I want them to know how much I love them. That was the mindset.

Chris Grainger: 17:26

So they put him on a cross, they crucified him, they killed him. He didn't faint or pass out or go to sleep. Jesus died. He paid a penalty for our sin, complete, in full. No balance left, bro. You're solid, golden. Then they took him and they laid him in a tomb, but it's more like an Airbnb, because Jesus only needed that thing for like three days, because that's the God we serve.

Chris Grainger: 17:51

We're not like the rest of these religions out there, to where you know whoever the religion is formed after is still dead. No, we're not wearing black to church on Sunday, every Sunday, like we're going to a funeral, because we worship a living Savior. That's who we worship. So after three days, jesus came out of the tomb baby. He overcame death, he has risen, he is alive, and that is the fundamental difference between us as Christians and the rest of the world out there. Chase these different religions.

Chris Grainger: 18:25

Jesus is the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to follow steps under him. There is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. It is it, it is Jesus and Jesus alone. So there's no other way, fellas. So what do we have to do? You have to repent and believe in him. Confess him as Lord and Savior of your life. Admit that you're a sinner, a doggone, black-hearted sinner in need of a Savior, and that Savior is Christ, and you confess Him as Lord, and by taking those steps of obedience. That's how you get the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. But it requires action on our behalf. We have to take the step. We can't sit idly behalf. We have to take the step. We can't sit idly by. We have to do that. He's sitting there, it's ready. The gift, the free gift of salvation, is there for every believer, for every man, right there. It's in front of us. We have to go get it and that is my encouragement to you. It's confess Christ as your Lord and Savior today.

Chris Grainger: 19:30

And look, you listen to this podcast. You're like this dude has lost his mind. You know what? Maybe I have, maybe I have, but I'm being obedient to what God's called me to do. It's not popular. Go look at our YouTube channel. It's not popular. It is not popular to tell people the truth that they need a Savior and that is Jesus Christ. It's not a popular thing to say. There's a whole lot of other ways to grow a platform, to grow influence than confessing the gospel and proclaiming the gospel rather each and every week. But we're not doing this for likes and for thumbs up, emojis and all that. No, we're doing this because God's called us to do it and it can get tiring for all the negative feedback.

Chris Grainger: 20:16

I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about the one person listening right now who knows that there's more, who knows God is pulling on their heart and that is ready to confess him as Lord and Savior of your life right now. Whoever you are, I'm here for you and I just want to encourage you right now. Whatever you're doing, stop and let's just pray and accept Christ as your Lord and Savior today. So, Father, I just pray for that one listener right now. Maybe they've been in a tough spot right now. Lord, I don't know their individual situation or scenario, nor do I need to, because I'm sharing with them.

Chris Grainger: 21:00

The truth that is universal across, no matter where people are at, is that they need you, just Just like I need you. So I pray that you hear their prayer right now, as they're just confessing it. I can just feel this person's heart right now that they're really Reflecting and recognizing that they need you so bad. So I pray you put people on their path, now that they've made this most crucial decision for their life. That you do put people on their path. That's going to help them. It's going to guide and direct them. It's going to give them encouragement.

Chris Grainger: 21:40

I just pray God to just be with this person as they head out on this new journey and recognize that they are now at the start line, not the finish line. So now salvation is coming to their heart. I pray we can help them. Just come alongside, to equip, to prepare them for the work that you've called them to do, lord. So we love you, we praise you and we know that heaven celebrates every time one, one lost person turns back to you. So we give you all the praise, honor and glory in Christ's name. Amen. All right, fellas.

Chris Grainger: 22:12

So look, if you just accepted Christ as your Savior, I want to hear from you directly so you can send me an email, chris, at thelionwithinus. I'm going to hook you up with some free things, like some scriptures, some of our PDFs and stuff like that. I really want to find out where you're at, too, see, and if you, if you need help finding a church, we have resources, you know, we have a network, so we'd love to you know, just provide you some value there and also just give you a high five man, like, let's go. This is such a big deal, okay, so so thanks for for listening to this gospel presentation and, as our question of the week this week is, I really want you to think about where is God calling you to trust versus understanding, and this can be extremely difficult to navigate mentally through, and I don't mean to make this to be an area of conflict for you, but if you find yourself in a moment right now hearing that question where is God calling me to trust versus understanding? You're like you know what.

Chris Grainger: 23:21

I haven't really given this thing up. I've been holding on to it for too long. I get it For me many times it's my health. The least little thing I get a cold, I get to feeling bad. Well, I'm dying. I guess reality is we're all dying, but it can take me to such a negative place mentally and it's in those moments where you know what. I'm not trusting whatsoever. I'm definitely not trusting you know. I'm trying to understand, I want to understand it. Give me answers. I'm going to figure out the answers, but we've talked about it today and we're going to talk about this more this week. It's about taking the steps of obedience. That's what it's all about. So, anyway, wherever he's calling you to, I should encourage you to lean in and do it. All right. So thanks for listening to the show. Come back on Wednesday. Look, seriously, we're going to have a really good conversation with a guy. I think you're going to really like this one around science and some really cool resources that they have developed that are going to equip you to have fun conversations with your kids.

Chris Grainger: 24:36

Okay, so, thank you so much. Give me some rating and review If you don't mind. That'd be awesome. And the big thing I'd like for you to take away go to thelinewithinus. That's our website. That's how you can connect with our weekly roar, our Christian leader assessment. Both of those are incredible ways to grow as a Christian leader. Get that message delivered directly to your inbox each and every week.

Chris Grainger: 25:02

With the weekly roar as well, we have our Bible devotions on the Bible app. We have a ton of those devotions out there. I'd love for you to check that. Connect with me on the Bible app. We have a ton of those devotions out there. I'd love for you to check that. Connect with me on the Bible app, too. And when we go through these Bible studies together we do about two per month Come alongside, let's read and study God's word together.

Chris Grainger: 25:25

Okay, so thank you so much for listening. Again, thelionwithinus is where you find all those resources. Highly encourage you to consider joining the community. Bring in the truth without having to worry about the world. You can talk about your issues chronologically your issues with your wife, your issues with your kids, your issues with your finances. Whatever those insecurities you are, bring them, just bring them. We're here to equip, we're here to help, we're here to serve Right. Have a great day. Thank you so so much for listening from the bottom of my heart. See you next year Not next year, jeez, louise. See you on our next episode, as we have a fun conversation, keeping unpacking this idea of science dilemma together. So have a great one, get after it, keep unleashing the lion within.

Chris Grainger: 26:22

I don't know about you, but I used to find Mondays really rough.

Chris Grainger: 26:28

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.

Chris Grainger: 26:46

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. 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. 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 to sign up today. That's thelionwithinus, to get your weekly roar today.