Chris Grainger: 1:38

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, fun Friday time, let's get right into it, okay? So the scripture of the week this week we've been talking about it all week, guys.

Chris Grainger: 1:52

Hebrews 3, verse 13 says but encourage one another daily, as long as it's called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. Very interesting verse. Now how do we apply it to our life? Good question, glad you asked. Seriously, we unpack these in our spiritual kickoff episodes. So if you're new to the line, maybe this is the first episode you ever listened to. Pop back to and to your podcast feed and you'll see something called the Spiritual Kickoff. That's where we took this verse and we unpacked it at length to help you simplify and apply it to your life. That's what it's all about, because it's one thing to have head knowledge, it's another thing to move to your heart, to apply it directly. Again, we do this Monday through Friday in our Lion Within Us community. So head over to thelionwithinus, because if you're looking for a little encouragement each and every day, just a little bit. We do this probably 10 to 15 minutes every day. That's exclusive content for Lion Within Us members period. It doesn't get released on YouTube, it doesn't go anywhere else. This is exclusive content. So if you're looking for even more of the Lion Within Within, we have this Monday through Friday exclusively for you and thelionwithinus. Okay, so hopefully you guys check that out and I promise you you'll enjoy it. I absolutely love doing the daily spiritual kickoffs. I think they bring me so much joy and encouragement. It challenges me to stay in the Word and keep thinking, but also I know it From the feedback from the guys that show up each and every day. It's a it's a boost for them as well. So check it out the landwithinus. All right.

Chris Grainger: 3:30

Now our last episode. If you check, if you were able to listen, we had Daniel uh, daniel Cho on and we talked about Thomas running out and really his uh his whole take on eschatology, which was super interesting just to sit back and hear where he's at with it. So I really enjoyed that conversation with him. And it also just goes to show you, fellas, when the Lord puts something on your heart, if he's put it on your heart, take the step of obedience. You know, it doesn't matter if you have certain qualifications or this or that. No, just take the first step he's calling you to and then, once you finish that, take the next one. And then, all of a sudden, you'll find that you're walking down the path that he's called you to walk down and, fellas, there's nothing that I can encourage you to do more than to do exactly what he has called you to do. All right, so, thank you, guys, for listening to that one.

Chris Grainger: 4:17

Now for our fun Friday. We always have. We mixed up a little bit. We'll give you some tips, we'll give you a book of the week and we're going to give you a few dad jokes. That's really the structure, okay.

Chris Grainger: 4:25

So for the tips, we do a health, wealth and a self. They're kind of the pillars of the line within us. That health is mind and body is. How do we improve as husbands and fathers, because that's a massive area that, guys, we just need to know. And all this from a biblical worldview. How do we tie it all together?

Chris Grainger: 4:48

All right, now for a health tip. How about this one? Think about one song, a one-song workout. So, pick a worship song, okay, maybe whatever your favorite worship song is out there and commit to while that song's playing. That's your workout. Maybe it's push-ups or air squats or walking, but one song is easy to commit to. But you do need to choose your exercise wisely. I wouldn't commit to, you know a bunch of bench press for an entire song, but it's going to, it can. It's a good way just to get you going. You know, maybe you just need to have a little bit of a motivator. Okay, I'm just going to do this while this is playing. Tell me as that, worship music in until you work out. Next thing, you know you're, you're, you're starting to ramp it up, all right.

Chris Grainger: 5:35

So now for your wealth tip. This is pretty interesting. Schedule career, all right. So do this Purposely, put it on your calendar Once a quarter.

Chris Grainger: 5:49

Sit down and ask yourself would I hire me and would I promote me to the next level? And this is where you have to be honest, because the answer is no, all right. Why? Because this is going to force you to think deeply about the work that you're doing, the impact you're making in your organization and how it matters. I'm not talking vanity metrics. Too many people chase the vanity metrics. How does the work that you're actually doing impact the organization, and what could you be doing more of to put yourself in a position to have more influence or growth, or, primarily, to do what God's calling you to do? So maybe God's called you to do certain things. Maybe God's called you to start a Bible study at your current employer. Okay, based off the one-on-one with yourself, what steps have you taken to actually facilitate that and put that into place? Or is it just something that's you know? It's just a good idea? Well, good ideas only come to fruition if you actually take action. So, fellas, these career one-on-ones, these are just really good practices to put in place.

Chris Grainger: 6:57

I'd encourage you to put it on your calendar, because what gets scheduled gets done and it doesn't need to be long. You don't have to book out four hours, but maybe 30 minutes, maybe 60 minutes to where you can purposely stop and have this thoughtful exercise. You may want to have this where it's not bookend by a bunch of heavy other work, because you want to be able to think deeply. Whatever that time of day is, that's best for you. Maybe you're a morning thinker. For me usually it's in the morning. Once I get past 3 or 4 o'clock in the evening, it's like my brain is done, but from four o'clock in the morning to about two or three, like let's go, I can crank it, you know. So keep that in mind. You may be a late thinker, where you know what later in the day, once the kids are in the bed, and you can actually get some peace and quiet. Maybe it's eight, nine o'clock, 10 o'clock at night, maybe that's the time. But whatever it is, carve it out, get that one-on-one and make it happen.

Chris Grainger: 7:48

All right, now the self-tip. Think about this. One meaningful question per kid, a meaningful question. So every day, ask each one of your children one question that makes them think, not just how our school, anything cool happened, but like, seriously, what made you proud today? What are you most excited for? You know, where were you challenged the most today? You know what I'm saying? Things that actually get them past the surface level junk that I feel like we just constantly live in and forces them to think deeply. I'm telling you, thinking deeply is a lost art. The art of conversation is being lost as well because of technology and the way we communicate. And as men leading your family, there is nothing greater that you can do than engage your family in a truly meaningful way, and it starts with questions. And you know what, when they ask you a challenging question, award them, thank them for that. You know what? That's a great question. Let me think about that.

Chris Grainger: 9:00

Okay, here's what I think, and just you see how that conversation just starts unfolding versus more oh how was your day? Oh, it was okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know what I'm saying. You get the rumbles and the grumbles right Versus the actual dialogue. I know for me with my teenagers, that's it. You know we can do the yes, no, fine, yeah, fine, yeah, no, yes, no. But then when I finally hit that thing to where they had to stop and think and respond with words and someone who's taught children's ministry for a long time too this is how you get the introverts engaged, right, you don't come with yes, no questions. So this is a sales strategy. So this also is for you salespeople out there. You know what I'm talking about.

Chris Grainger: 9:41

You don't want to ask yes, no questions. You don't want to use those situation problemification need, pay off type questions. You want to get them talking, get them engaged, get them thinking. So, yes, no questions are terrible. Okay, make them think. And you can do this. Take the lead, make them think. So there are three tips, guys Health, wealth, self. Again, that one song, workout, that career, one-on-one with yourself. And one meaningful question per kid per day.

Chris Grainger: 10:08

All right, book of the week. You guys know this one was coming. Time is running out. Am I really in good standing with God? I enjoyed going through this with Daniel. He's got definitely a passion for eschatology. He's got a passion for sharing God's word. He has a passion for just loving on other people. So, guys, go check out a copy of his book, support him, check out his YouTube channel as well. He talked about his YouTube channel as well as different ways you can connect with him. So, guys, just thank you so much again for Daniel for checking it out Again, thelinewithinus book.

Chris Grainger: 10:42

You can go see all of our books of the week. So if you're looking for some unique things to add to your library, this is where it's at All right. So now let's get to our dad jokes, guys. Fun time for our fun Friday right here.

Chris Grainger: 10:53

So the first one is why don't secret agents ever get cold? Huh, why don't they get cold? Because they go undercover. There you go, all right. Number two I'm reading a book on anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down. So there you go, fellas. Both of these are just kind of meh, I must admit, but I don't know. It's all about the eye roll, it's all about getting a sign, maybe just getting your, if your, if your wife just turned around and walks off. I don't know what to tell you about that one, but anyway, that could be a heart issue. But remember, let's vote for them. Number one why don't secret agents ever get cold? Because they go undercover. Number two I'm reading a book on anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down. So, fellas, let us know which one you like best, which one encourages you, and if you have us, send that in. We'll give you a shout out on the show as well as hook you up with some free material for helping us out. How about that?

Chris Grainger: 11:42

Now, the question of the week, guys, is who's sharpening you right now? Who Does anybody come to mind? Do you have anybody at all? And if you don't, what the heck are you going to do about it? This is why we built the lion within us. This is why we have our mastermind right here, because you need iron, sharpening, iron moments. You just can't find them very regularly. They're very rare, they're almost like unicorns and I'm telling you it doesn't have to be that's a lie from the pits of hell that we've leaned in at the lion within us, and we know you need these conversations, you need this place for reflection. You need this place to have these types of dialogues to challenge you, to push you, to hold you accountable, to bring things out of you that you don't even know is there right now. But you know, something is more than what you're experiencing. That's what it's all about the Lion Within Us. All right, so head over to thelionwithinus Don't forget the thelionwithinus to check out all our resources. Guys, so guys. Thanks so much for hanging out today. Come back next week, looking forward to spending some time with you there. For sure, we're so excited. We have lots of live events. We have lots of events within our community. Obviously, we have our masterminds, which we're so pumped about that we have that going on.

Chris Grainger: 13:00

If you have a Bible app, if you use the Bible app from YouVersion, please follow the Lion Within Us page. Just open it up, search for the Lion Within Us, because when we drop Bible apps, bible reading plans, rather on the Bible app you'll get notified. You'll see when they're out there, you'll see when they're live and we really lean in and try to put several of those out there each month. And we also lead Bible plans twice a month at the Lion Within Us directly plans twice a month at the Lion Within us directly. So if you want to come along with me and with others in the Bible app through a plan, through one of our studies, go to thelionwithinus slash Bible and connect with me. There's a link right there where you can connect with me directly on the Bible app. Once we're connected, when I set the studies up to go live with the dates that we're going to do, you'll be notified and you can come right along and I look forward to reading your comments. So we even have a calendar out there on the line within us slash Bible so you can see what's upcoming, so you can plan for it. Like, there's no surprises, guys, we just put stuff out there and we just want to encourage you along the way. So thank you so much for listening.

Chris Grainger: 13:55

Sign up for the weekly roar. Go take the Christian leader assessment, go check us out, guys. The YouTube channel, that's a big one for us. We have our Bible briefings for men that come out every week. They have been highly encouraged by the feedback from others on that, so hopefully you start enjoying those each and every week, and, guys, just thank you so much for listening. I don't even know what else to say. Give us a rating review, that would help, and you know what's coming. Just keep unleashing the lion with it. We're making a big change that I think you're really going to enjoy.

Chris Grainger: 14:27

I spent a lot of time thinking about our spiritual kickoffs and, honestly, I love doing them each week, so much so we started doing them live every Monday through Friday inside our exclusive platform. And here's the best part We've decided to give full access, completely free, so now you can join our daily spiritual kickoff space at no cost. Every day, we go live to read the word, to encourage each other and find simple and powerful ways to apply God's truth to our lives. You'll even have the chance to engage with me directly, and if you missed a live stream, don't worry. The videos are posted the same day so you can catch up whenever it works for you. This is exclusive behind-the-scenes content that is not available anywhere else, and now we've removed every excuse. So if you're ready to get started, head over to thelionwithinus and grab your free access today. Let's grow together.