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, meet episode time. Let's get into it. So the scripture of the week this week is Amos 3.8. The Lion has roared. Who will not fear? The sovereign Lord has spoken. But who can prophesy? All right, guys. So I took some time in the spiritual kickoff episode to unpack that verse at length. And look, I'm gonna tell you, you need a charge, you need to get you need to get a little boost this morning, or whenever you listen to this, go listen to that podcast, okay? Because I really think there's some things there that hopefully are going to encourage you in your walk, some things that I learned uh along the way, and hopefully just simplifying and applying God's word. That's what it's all about. Okay. So, yeah, we do it Monday through Friday to Lion Within Us at the LionWithin.us, it's called a daily spiritual kickoff. Get that. Join the day the weekly roar, join our community, put in an application for the mastermind, all the ways we try to help guys. Okay, so this episode is gonna be a little different. I'm not going to one of our devots that I that we write for the Bible app, like I typically do once a month on the Lion Within Us. What I want to do is just kind of recap the men's conference that I went to uh in October with some other brothers. Uh this is the first conference that the men at the lion rather has ever done. You know, we've I've I've been to men's conferences, but this is one where the lion was actually represented. So I just kind of want to unpack that. Again, this was at the church of 1122 in Jacksonville, Florida. Pastor Joby Martin was uh obviously I'm connected with Pastor Joby. I've had him on the show four times. Uh, Pastor Ryan Britt, Pastor Trey Brunson, all the guys there in Jacksonville, they're just awesome. So when they put together that they had a men's conference coming up, I immediately reached out to Joby. He's like, we got to make it happen. So we we did, and we we were able to go there. Uh, and this was just a great time. So I just want to share some of the things we learned. I mean, starting with just an excellent trip now. So we drove from North Carolina to Florida. Uh, rode with my brother Adam, and uh, we had a great road trip. We actually did one of our daily spiritual kickoffs from the road, which is really cool, uh, just to be able to do that from the road from the guys. Uh, we even did a spiritual kickoff uh on Friday, which I think this was probably one of my favorite spiritual kickoffs ever. Uh, we did that in the in the Airbnb with the guys, and it was just really cool. We unpacked the sermon that we heard on Thursday night together. Uh, and it was just a special, because usually the spiritual kickoff episodes are me, and I'm just kind of going through scripture and and sharing it. It was neat, uh, just a fun experience to have their perspectives on what the spirit revealed to them in the sermon. And it was just a highly encouraging thing for the guys. So again, it was just a fun time. Daily spiritual kickoff. As a reminder, it's free, guys. Go check that out. Uh, so it was just a uh uh a good time there. Uh I also, just so you know, I rode the whole time. I actually was the passenger. I decided to let go of control, and I didn't drive the entire trip. Uh, and that was a fun challenge and an experience for me. I'm I'm usually the guy who drives everywhere. Okay, so this was this was a uh way for me to challenge me a little a little bit, get out of my comfort zone, but then at the same time just enjoy that fellowship with him. I really was. And uh we were blessed on Thursday. They gave us behind the scenes kind of tour of the church of 1122, met the whole crew, we had a lot of fun time with that, met some ladies that I've talked to regularly on via email, and uh they when they found out that it was the line within us and that I was there, they were excited. I was excited. So it was just really cool. Got to see, you know, where where they do their deep in podcasts and all the different things that go behind the scenes of pulling off something as incredible as what 1122 does every week in and week out. You know, we got a hundred thousand plus people who are watching online through their services. So it was just pretty cool to be part of that. And uh, you know, again, just uh being able to have fellowship with with our brother Adam, John, Joseph was there, Carl, he showed up as well on Friday. We were able to have a lot of fun with him, but just a really good time with those guys at 1122. Uh, that Thursday night service was baller. Joby did a great job as always. And then we're able to go back to the room, uh, had just had some fun fellowship with the guys. I I remember when the when the sermon was over, uh, it was felt like a rock concert. It was just bumper to bumper, just trying to get out of there. Uh one of my first really truly experiences of a mega church, but man, just a great service, great sermon. And then uh we're able to have some fellowship back at the at the room. We ordered some pizza late, some chicken wings. We watched Idiocracy because apparently that's a movie every guy has to watch, and that had been one that flew by me. So I'm officially up to speed now, guys. I get why that movie is so good. So we watched that, and then we had a uh uh kind of went to bed a little bit late, but we got up Friday morning and uh headed to the church to get set up. And uh that was fun, man. It was kind of cool with the way they set us up in there. Uh they gave us a little section. We we brought all our stuff. We had two big mantras set up with some things, uh, a loop going with the episodes that we've done with Joby. Another mantra was connected to a phone so they could see what our community was all about. We had our books out, we had candy out, we had flags up. It was just really awesome. My dad had made some flags for me uh a while back. So we're able to use all the flags he made just to really just kind of showcase the lion. Uh so that was pretty awesome. And then, you know, just Jacksonville area, man. It's just what a beautiful area. Went to the pier, got to walk out, saw some cool fishing, things like that. But then when we were back there Friday night, it was game on. I mean, it was crazy. You talk about 3,000 dudes, okay? They brought in uh probably a dozen Harleys. It was a Porsche race car there. Like it was insane. They had arcade games, uh, air hockey, Unreal. Just just the level of intentionality that they put in to make sure the guys coming would have a great experience. It just it was really a great experience, you know. And and then, you know, um just that Friday night, uh, just being able to hear the message and hear, and we're gonna kind of go through some of those messages and things like that. Uh, and then it was kind of a crazy moment for me on Friday. Uh, they the Church of 1122 bought quite a few copies of our book, uh, Unleashing the Lion Within, which we're gonna be talking about that in this episode as well. So they put those in their resource center. So walking into the resource center, seeing Joby's book and Pastor Brian Lorette's book and all these different wonderful Christian resources, and then there's this whole section for the lion within us. It didn't seem real. It seemed odd. It's just like, is this is this really God? What what's going on? Like, I I can never script this, right? And uh throughout the weekend, you know, guys coming, which is crazy, buying copies of the Unleashing The Lion Within, and having me uh personalize the book for him. And I just still I I can't believe that happened. Uh, and I just um humbled by it. So Joby, we it was kind of one of those things where I was trying to finish the book, I was kind of debating on whether or not to finish it, and uh sent him an email and he he emailed me back and say, Look, you gotta finish this book, you need to get it done. And then uh there's also a commitment that he was gonna write the Ford. So there you go. So I was like, that's motivation enough. So the book actually has the Ford written by Pastor Joby, uh, so which is pretty awesome. So if you want to get it now, it's live on Amazon, guys. Uh just search for Unleashing the Lion with the end. Here's a copy for any of you guys that are actually looking uh or watching the video online. So it's uh is it's our Bible study that we originally created with the lion. Then I I just expanded on that. So it was just a lot of fun there and sharing with others. And by the way, fellas, if you're listening to this uh around the time this is coming out, this is a great idea for Christmas presents. I mean, I'm not trying to like you know push anything on you, but if you're really looking for something to give guys that's a little bit unique, consider this. I mean, it's a great idea for the men in your life. So go to Amazon, get a bunch of copies. Dude, I don't I we we make hardly anything off the book, so it's not like it's a moneymaker for us. I just think there's a lot of good value inside of it to help you and to help others just have some really good conversations because we break down things like marriage and finances and uh being a husband, uh being a dad, being uh being a career, you know, how do we advance in our career? How do we take care of our bodies? All the stuff we talk about, the lion all condensed into this. And then we have a really cool forward written by Pastor Joby. So check it out there, fellas. I mean, but that trip there was praying with guys regularly. Uh guys actually coming up on a pray for us and pray over us. I mean, it's just incredible. Uh, we had a really safe trip while we were there, had some good tacos, good Mexican food on Saturday night, uh, safe trip back. Uh I mean, I was able to actually connect with Pastor Joe Big a couple times. Uh cool part about him was uh was I was the second time we were I was talking with him, I was like, you know, I really would like to get a picture with you uh with our book just to just to help promotion, just to uh since I feel like he's a bit such a big part of it. And uh he was like, Are you kidding me? Absolutely. Let's go get your book, bro. So he got my book. He's like, I'm only gonna take the picture if I hold it. I'm like, okay, let's go. So the picture uh that we were able to get was with Pastor Joby and me together. He's holding the book, uh just just supporting it, encouraging it, and just such an encouragement to me. Uh we had a safe trip back. Uh and God was working all the way. I mean, the whole trip he was working. On the way back, we stopped at a Bucky's, and there's an awesome Bucky's in Georgia, by the way. Uh, we missed the one in South Carolina, but we stopped at one in Georgia. And we had this encounter with this guy uh I did uh just inside the store. I had this shirt on uh that that I got from um um the conference and it said blame Jesus on the front. And this guy comes with me, he's like, I love your shirt. And and uh we got to talking about it. And come to find out he was on he was being detoured on a trip uh and he had to he was supposed to fly, I think, out of Atlanta, ended up having to fly out of Jacksonville. He was frustrated, but he's starting a man's ministry, and he feels like God's calling him to do some things, and he's like, and now here you are, you just show up. And like, and I feel like I told him back to Lion, he's like, Well, I know now why that flight was canceled. So it was just little moments like that where it was uh just a just a great, great experience to be a part of, you know. And and then uh God whispered something to me. I mentioned in the spiritual kickoff episode, but I'm gonna share it again. God whispered something to me while I was there that uh I had to really wrestle with, and it was uh I'm a prophet. You know, he's called me to be a prophet, and and and and that's simply a truth teller. Um, not telling the future, you're like, don't come to me to give you a winning lottery number. No, just telling the truth. That's God's truth, his word. And that's what we do at the lion. And so they had some wonderful speakers from the stage. Uh obviously, Pastor Joby was was there, Pastor John Tyson was there, Jeff Fox Worthy was there, uh Willie from Duck Dynasty, Pastor Brian Lorest. It was just a great, great lineup of godly men who brought some much needed truth uh in and and not watered down whatsoever, to just for us to be the men of God that God's called us to be. And that theme was just echoed over and over and over throughout the weekend. Like godly men don't drift. We gotta stand firm, we've got to stand strong, right? We have to lead you with conviction, uh, and we have to do that from that place of intimacy and union with the Father. And and I I really enjoyed Pastor John Tyson. I never really listened to a lot of his sermons, but he talked about in one of his uh discussions about ambition and how what you chase shows what you serve. Okay, and I was like, man, that's pretty good, bro. Right. And it's like if you want to live in God's will, you gotta seek his vision, right? And and quite often that's found outside of our own comfort zone. And the way he explained that, he took us to Luke 14, he was just unpacking the the the God's banquet and and and how we're too busy just living an ordinary life. And he said something, he's like, Don't let normal keep you from the supernatural life that God intends you to be. And the the other salient thing that he just said when he said, I was like, bro, that's incredible. He said, beware of the soul-sucking voice of reason. So the soul-sucking voice of reason that's the voice, fellas, that we talk about all the time on the line within us. It's trying to talk us out of our faith, of the things that we're passionate about, of our purpose. And and and the evil one has a great way of doing this. And just you know, we start rationalizing and just just well, I have to do this because this is what expected of me, or whatever it may be, whatever that lie is, right? And Pastor John just hit that head on. He's like, No, that's wrong. That is wrong. We should build rhythms into our lives that feed our spirit, right? We're talking about you know, gratitude on a regular basis, intentional time away with our spouse, intentional time about just being in God's creation, making our marriage a priority, removing lust out of our path before it poisons us, right? And it's just like, man, that's the vision I want. That's the that's I have that type of ambition for my marriage, and you should too, but it doesn't happen by happenstance. It takes work, it takes action, it takes us as men to say we're not gonna be stuck this way anymore. And he shared a practical uh truth. He was like, Look, man, if you're married, you should have joy in that, bro. Like you should enjoy the intimacy in your marriage. He's like, and that's the sex you have as a as a within a covenant marriage, that needs to be part of your side of your rhythm. Like that, that is something we should be just fully embracing because God's pleasure within the covenant is worship. I mean, it there's no shame, there's no condemnation there. I mean, it's just a great message. We also were we learned some about uh how we need to have our guard up against cynicism because David's wife, Michael, right, she had that cynical spirit. And that led to her, that led to her being barren, you know, not just physically, but spiritually barren. And cynicism is the enemy of joy, right? So we have to be able to recognize that. And if we see ourselves as we're always scoffing or or just we're always just doing stuff, you know, uh against God's will, we're gonna lose the goodness or the ability to see rather the goodness of God. And so that was just really good. They had several panels throughout the weekend too, which I thought was really cool. And and the panels were awesome because you got different perspectives. And and they one of the times they said, like, look, look, bro, don't use your kid or your career to validate who you are, because your true work is found in Christ. And I'm like, man, that's good because so many guys find their identity in their children, you know, and and and there's nothing wrong with your children, but they're not defining who you are, right? No, we're we're we're called to steward them. And man, I just thought that was just a good, good, uh, good um thing for us to remember. They also reminded us that salt has to be placed where it can be preserved, like like we have to step into dark places to bring it to light, so we can't run from the from evil. And we also they also really emphasize the importance of surrounding ourselves with men who aren't impressed by us, but who love us enough to tell us what we're doing wrong. And I'm just telling you, bro, isolation just breeds weakness. It does. Um accountability breeds strength, but the lion within us is built for this. We it we it's what it's about. And and so they spent a lot of time talking about that, which for me was encouraging because that's literally what we do at the lion within us. We bring guys together in mastermind groups or community or whatever it may be and try to give them opportunities to encourage and support each other, right? Uh, they also had a reminder from the stage that you know the three most dangerous words that men can say is what? I got this, right? Because that shows pride. And that says that we don't another way to think about I got this is like I don't need you, God. So they just they really talk about that. And and then they that that panel kind of finished talking about how failure isn't final, but how it you respond to it reveals your level of faith. And I mean, a godly man, we've got to remember it's not measured by perfection, but we are measured by how quick we are to repent, rebuild, and rise. Like you're gonna fall, but what are we gonna do after the fall, right? So, I mean, that was a great panel discussion. Pastor Joby had several sessions, sermons, whatever you want to call them, all centered around standing firm and acting like men, you know, and he brought the fire. The couple things that are most salient to me, he talked about how us as men need to reclaim our biblical identity. And again, he talked about prophet, priest, servant, king, provider, protector. So those six things. Now, that the one that jumped out to me, obviously, the prophet, like God whispered directly to me, you are a prophet. But through conversations with guys at the lion's sense, all six of those are who we are. It's not a it's not an either or, it's, it's an and. Like you are, you are these things. Now, whether you recognize this and and and walk it out, that's up between you and God. But we're all called to be prophets, priests, servants, kings, provider, protector. And that's the king part, right, over your domain, like the things God is putting in for charge of you. You're not a king like like uh the king of England, but you are the king of your home. You are. You're also called to provide and protect for that home. You're also called to serve that home. You're also called to be the chief priest of that home, bringing God's word, and then the prophet of that home, speaking truth, right? And he did that. The whole sermon series, really, but what he started back in Genesis. And that man was just created differently, man. I mean, you guys heard me talk this but all the time how man formed Adam from the dust and breathed the breath of life, the rule into Adam's nostrils. And we were born for the wilderness. We were not born for the couch, man. It's not what we were born for. And uh it's he said something, he said it this way. He's like, look, it's hard for the devil to find you in the woods. So wear that camo. Like we have to get into the woods. And and he showed us uh through a some just some really great messages how we're called as men to find a work to enjoy, how we're supposed to obey that, how we're supposed to love our woman. He reminded us that Adam failed, not because he acted, because, but because he stayed silent. Okay. And we can't hide and stay silent when God calls us. Like that we can't abdicate our responsibility in the home. So he called that out. He really called out the passivity in the church because he's like, look, we don't need to check our testicles at the door. He actually said that. I thought that was awesome. You know, we don't have to do that because we don't need soft, silent men. We've got to have warriors who lead with humility, courage, and conviction. So Joby was just he was on fire. He urged us to go after our wives' hearts to be the safe place for our kids. Um, he did ask a question that's worth considering. Ask your wife what it's like to be on the other side of you. Man, I'm gonna tell you what, that's a that's a hard question to ask because you may not like the answer. But having the courage to ask that question and then respond when she tells you something, that was worth that's worth talking about. Uh, there was lots of talks around spiritual warfare, which is great. Uh they they were talking about, look, it's the same demons, it's just different days, right? Enemy strategy has not changed. He's trying to, he is trying to steal, kill, and destroy families and to take out the next generation. That's why we have to either kill sin or it's gonna kill us, right? We can't be making compromises, guys, because that's gonna grow. Those compromises grow. You know what happens when they grow, the next thing you know, we get bit, right? So we have to submit to spiritual authority and invite accountability to help us in this walk, right? Because um we have to have some people in our life that are authorized to tell us when we're wrong. Okay, if you don't have guys who are willing to tell you when you're wrong, uh, you're never gonna grow. Because you can find a yes, man, there are a dime a dozen. This was again more thing areas he talked about. So uh Jeff Fox really hit the stage. He I loved his message, very humble, hit hit home. Yeah, I did not realize that he had a he grew up in a broken home. But he spent so much time talking about father wounds and what does that uh uh how does that mean and how basically if you're if your a parent leaves with the kid, really what they what they uh identify with is uh I wasn't worth it. And he said that, man, that just that hit us so hard. And uh so then he talked about, look, if we've been blessed with the with a uh a woman who has said yes to us under the covenant of marriage, we gotta serve her, we gotta pray for her, we have to show uh our sons and our daughters what it looks like to love her to love their mama. Uh, he talked about he for him as making a coffee and buying flowers and just creating a culture of encouragement. And he said it br really well this way. He's like, how do you know if somebody needs encouragement? If they're breathing. You know, and it's just it's just such a simple reminder, but something we needed. Uh, he brought just a great um uh comedy act as well. He talked about his uh his colon oxygen and he talked about getting bitten by a snake. And those two stories, if you've never heard those stories, yeah, I I'm not gonna go through them because I won't do them justice the way Jeff Fox really does. Go uh check them out on YouTube. They're out there. Just check out the colon one and check out the snake one. They are just absolutely hilarious. And uh just it was just really cool to see uh his level of humility. Uh one thing I forgot about till just now, all these speakers typically get honorarium. They they they get that, you know, they get uh some type of payment for them and their time. And he felt like God had told him going down there that he was supposed to give that up. He didn't know why or or even who. Uh so he had an inter uh a very interesting interaction with the with the crowd and identified a guy who's just going through a really difficult time. And uh the guy was just down on his luck. And he actually gave him every bit right then and there. And uh that was just a really special moment, you know. That was just very you could tell it was spirit-led, it was genuine, it wasn't fake or brought up, so I really enjoyed that. Uh, but the whole theme uh throughout the weekend was was was really around strength, manhood. Uh he he uh I think I can't remember him, I think it was Joby said, you know, guys drive straighter when we have a heavy load, kind of like a uh a truck. You know, a truck drives a whole lot straighter when there's something in the back of it, right? And we're supposed to carry responsibility. We're supposed to, right? And that's not easy. So he took us through 1 Kings 18, which was awesome. Uh and he talked about strong good men like Elijah. He talked about strong, bad, Jezebel, because they manipulate, they control. They talked about weak good men like Obadiah. They they're they mean well, but they're still self-serving. Then he talked about weak men, bad men like King Ahab, who just abdicate any responsibility. And the question he ultimately ended up with was what type of man are you? You know, so I mean, really just a great weekend uh of of uh encouragement, uh challenges, uh, and uh it was just a reminder that we're not called to manage our life, we're called to lead them under the authority of Christ. And and it was just uh we have to stand firm, fellas. We have to kill that sin. We have to serve our families, we have to pursue the kingdom, and we were made for the fight. You know, we're we're not made for comfort, we're we're made to be courageous. And so overall, it was epic. Uh, I will do it again in a minute, 100%. And the guys that came out and supported us uh was incredible. Um God's timing was incredible as well. So this episode is going to come out the week before Thanksgiving. So, guys, next week is our Thanksgiving uh week, and we'll do something a little bit different because out of all these incredible hides that happened at the conference, I got home on Sunday, and then something happened Sunday night that took me from the top of the mountain, you know, hanging out with Pastor Joby and 3,000 dudes and Adam and John and Joseph and Carl and just all the fun times with them to literally within 12 hours uh I found myself in the valley. And I'm gonna share that. I'm gonna share on Thanks for Thanksgiving week because there's still a lot to be learned and to be thankful for with going through the valley. Okay, so that's what's I know it's a little bit of a tease, but that's what's coming, fellas. So, question a week this week again. Where are you staying silent when God's calling you to speak? And guys, whatever that is, you know, we all have different answers. We gotta stop. We're not called to be silent, we can't abdicate our responsibilities. We're called to be warriors. So this was a great conference. I'm so thankful for Pastor Joby just for the opportunity to come to be a part of it. Look forward to doing more of those in the future. I don't know if that's gonna be what God uh calls us to or not. We're gonna try to do more of them. And uh again, uh hopefully if you guys get a chance, you know, just check. There's lots of stuff on YouTube from that conference. You can check it out. Uh, and by the way, you know, consider getting the book, you know, just consider getting a copy of Unleashing The Lion Within. Uh, that would be awesome. So, guys, the uh uh thelionwithin.us is where you find all our resources. And uh if you have any questions or anything else that you'd like for me to unpack regarding the conference, or if we met at the conference and you'd like to just connect and we didn't have a chance to there, uh, or you didn't get a chance to come by our table, hey, send me an email, Chris at thelionwithin.us, would love to talk to you, love to encourage you. We have lots of guys who have joined the community since then. So I hope you guys can check that out, all right. So thanks for hanging out, fellas. We'll see you on our Fun Friday episode. Have a great day. Thanks again for all the brothers who came and served with us at the conference. It's a great learning experience. Hope you have a great day. Get after it and just keep unleashing the lion within. If you're like me, you don't need another book just sitting around collecting dust. What I enjoy is something to help guide me when my feet hit the ground in the mornings. And that is why we put together Unleashing the Lion Within. It has honest stories, scripture you can apply, and simple steps to help you lead at home, at work, and everywhere in between. So if you've been feeling stuck or scattered lately, you may find this resource encouraging. Read a few pages. Take one step and watch what God does with your obedience. Hey, and if reading's tough for you right now, no problem. The book is also available in audible version so you can listen on the go. So if this sounds interesting, check out the lionwithin.us slash book or search for unleashing the lion within directly on Amazon. So there's no pressure here, just a resource that many guys are finding helpful. So grab the format that fits and take your next step.