Welcome Scripture And Guest Intro

Chris Grainger 0:57

Welcome to the Line Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who were hunger to be the leaders God intends you to be. I'm your host, Chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, guys, meet episode time. Let's get into it. Okay. So scripture of the week this week is Acts 11, verses 23 and 24. It says, Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord. For he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a considerable numbers were added to the Lord. Beautiful verses right there, guys. Impactful for us as men to think about. I unpacked these verses in our spiritual kickoff episode this week. So go back and listen to it. It'll be the last one in your podcast feed. Hopefully you'll be encouraged by it. Reminder: we do a daily spiritual kickoff Monday through Friday at The Lion Within Us. It's our way to serve you. So go to the LionWithin.us. It also gives you access to our prayer request space. We have a weekly prayer call and this gives you an opportunity to see what we do at The Lion and how we can try to come along and walk with guys in their discipleship journey. And talk about just an amazing episode. You're getting ready to hear a wonderful conversation with Josh Smith. Okay, he's the senior pastor at Prince Avenue Baptist Church. Uh he's been uh pastoring for many, many years. Uh he's uh ministered more in more than 30 countries, guys, international studies. He worked at Duke University as well. Uh he was a uh missionary in Central Europe. Uh he just he loves lifting up Christ and advancing the kingdom, and he is just doing a phenomenal job with it. Uh so you guys, you're gonna recognize him. He the Titus 10, that he was the author of that. Uh he uh but now he's got this new book, The Man for the for the day. Uh absolutely love just unpacking this with him. Uh he just talked, he's just a just a very relatable guy. Four daughters, a son, lives in Georgia, big University of Georgia fans. For you guys out there, for your dog fans, you may enjoy just hearing him talk about that. But just a challenge, some insights, and some encouragement for us as men to be the man that God has called us to be. So I know you're gonna enjoy this one with Pastor Josh Smith. And Josh, welcome to the Lion Within Us.

Josh Smith 3:16

How are you doing today, sir? Man, I'm doing great. This is uh a joy to be a part of what you guys are doing today. I'm thankful for the opportunity.

Chris Grainger 3:23

Well, we're blessed to have you here for absolutely. And and before we kind of get into your book and all the wonderful things you're doing, share something fun about you that maybe not many people know about.

Josh Smith On Family And Pastoring

Josh Smith 3:34

Uh well, I don't know about that. I so I live um in Athens, Georgia, uh, where the University of Georgia is, which is a fun place to live, particularly the last few years. We've had some good years here, uh, and hopefully some good years coming up. So I have uh I have four daughters and one son. So people ask me all the time, why do I write men's books when I have four daughters? And the answer is because I have four daughters. So that's right. I gotta raise up some good men. And we had our son last. We weren't trying, like everybody thinks. Oh, you just kept trying for a son, but there's a long story there. Actually, I tell some of that story in the book, but that was kind of a little bit of a surprise, but a joyful surprise. Having that boy at the end is a lot of fun. I like to think that at my age I know a little bit more, have a little bit more wisdom to help raise that uh boy. So it's a lot of fun.

Chris Grainger 4:22

We have a similar path now. So I have three daughters and a boy. And that's great. So yeah, so I'm with you there. I mean, people ask me all the time, too, the same thing. Before my son is only three, and uh they were asking me, Well, why are you starting a lion with three daughters? I'm like, because I'm surrounded by Estrogen. God is obviously calling me to this, and my wife was like, You have got to do this. I'm like, exactly. So that's great.

Josh Smith 4:46

That's great. Well, you'll three is a fun age. Mine's 10, and it is so much fun. I mean, I love being a girl dad. I could, I, that's one of the greatest things in the world, but it is fun having that boy there.

Chris Grainger 4:57

Oh, yeah, no doubt, no doubt. Yeah, I got the girl dad stuff's awesome. I mean, I got my oldest is 15, and then so 15 down to three, but uh but yeah, he is showing me everything I knew about being a girl dad. I man, what 180 out the window when it comes to raising this little dude. So it's been uh it's been interesting.

Josh Smith 5:16

I say all the time I was gonna write a book on parenting, and then I had a son and realized I've never written a book on parenting on how cooler.

Chris Grainger 5:22

100%. I'm sticking the man and the men ministry because I can't figure this parenting stuff out. He's gonna be a good thing.

Josh Smith 5:29

Having girls is amazing. I love it.

Chris Grainger 5:32

Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, for our listeners, maybe they don't know a whole, you know, where you're from. Just kind of give us a little brief brief background, huh?

Josh Smith 5:42

So I'm I'm a local church pastor. I pastor a church called Prince Avenue Baptist Church, uh, right outside of Athens, Georgia, kind of a historic um church in Georgia, and have the opportunity to minister to a lot of college students, which is which is really fun, uh really multi-generational church. But over the last few years, seeing a significant uh increase in the college students we're able to minister to. So I love that. I love being in a college town, and um I love being in a church that loves college students and invests in them. So that's a lot of fun. I've um I was a missionary uh for about three years after college, full-time missionary, and then uh pastored one other church before this. But but this is it, this is where we want to be. And Atlanta, which is about an hour uh from here, is kind of home for my wife and I. So we're we're close to home and really feel like we're in a place that fits and love the context and culture we're in and and uh just really thankful to be able to do what we're doing and love being a local church pastor and love the opportunity that gives me to invest in men as well. 100%. And I'm just making an assumption. So you're a dog fan? I am a dog fan. I I am, and oh, I don't know. I mean, I guess I don't have to be here. I don't know if I could still be a pastor if I wasn't, but uh so uh we have about 500 college students that come on Sunday morning. So if I if I wore anything other than red and black, I'd probably be in trouble. So although my worship pastor is from born and raised in Alabama and is a diehard Alabama fan, but he doesn't wear, like we kind of have a rule. I'm fine with that. Like that's great, whatever, but you can't wear crimson on Sundays. Like you can't talk about that. Like just be you gotta be a closet Alabama fan around here.

Chris Grainger 7:20

Love it, love it.

Josh Smith 7:21

Now, since you're so close to Atlanta, are you a Braves fan as well? I grew up a Braves fan. I did. And um, so growing up, I moved to Atlanta when I was 13, so that was kind of home. Of course, when I moved there, they were terrible. But then by the time I graduated high school, they were good. Those were the sweet years, you know. Uh those, you know, 92, 93, 94, all those years were great, Braves years. So I am a I'm a Braves fan. I'm not like a diehard baseball fan until October, but um, I like the brave. There you go.

Chris Grainger 7:50

There you go. Well, I mean, what was happening? I I love, you know, you got I got a copy of your book, The Man for the Day. And I'm just curious, what was happening in your heart at the time to say, you know what, right now is when I need to write this book and get this message out there.

From Titus 10 To Elijah

Josh Smith 8:04

Yeah. So I wrote a book uh about four years ago called The Titus 10, and the Lord really blessed it. And to be honest, that book, I didn't I didn't set out to write a book on that. I starting in 2008 as a local church pastor, I just decided to start mentoring men. And I really felt like the calling God had placed to my life as a local church pastor was to raise up men. And so uh I invited in 2008, no idea what I was doing, I invited 10 men to come with me for 10 weeks. And I just decided we'd study the book of Titus. And so we started walking through it verse by verse. That was kind of how I did it. And the more I taught that, like after three or four years, I started to see from the book of Titus some really strong foundations for manhood. And so I taught that for, you know, 15 years or so, 13, 14 years, and really saw the Lord bless it. And so had an opportunity to put that into print. Uh, foundations for godly manhood, the Titus 10. And the Lord really blessed that. And as I was thinking about that, you know, I continue to think about, well, what's what's next for men? So we want to build a foundation. And I, I, I, you know, we talk about dominion and identity and assignments and all of that in that book. But I thought, okay, what's next? Like, so if a guy has laid a foundation for manhood, now he needs to build something on it. So I began to pray through what that looks like. And, you know, I made a commitment a long time ago that I was never gonna just write books. I wasn't gonna write anything that didn't come out of my ministry. So I didn't want to have like a pastoral ministry and then a book writing ministry. I just wanted to be a pastor, and as the Lord gives me things to write them if they resonate with our church. So I lead a monthly men's breakfast in our community, and the basically I started to teach through the book of, I mean, through um the life of Elijah. And the more I love his life, everything about his life, and the more I begin to walk through it, I thought, man, there is something here. This is a guy that was a man for the day. And the the title for the book comes actually from something I read almost 30 years ago. I saw a line in a Spurgeon sermon from 1888 where he says this, it is now as it was in the Reformers' Day. Here's the day for the man, but where's the man for the day? I mean, that is just a great quote. So Spurgeon basically looked at the culture around him and said, We need men. And then he looked at the church in front of him and said, Where are those men? So here is the day for the man, but where's the man for the day? And I feel that, I think we feel that right now. I think all of us feel like, hey, it's the day for the man, but where is the man for the day? Right. And so those things begin to connect. That that idea of developing men that are God's men today, and then walking through the life of Elijah. So it all just kind of came together as I began to teach that, and it resonated with people. And so I begin to work through what it means 10 ways to be the man for the day.

Chris Grainger 10:44

Love it. Absolutely. I love it. I'm just curious, there's certain there's tends to be there, can be a focus so much on New Testament and just pulling things directly from New Testament, but hats off to you. Going Old Testament, pulling Elijah. How has that been received for guys who maybe don't spend a ton of time in the Old Testament studying and and and growing?

Josh Smith 11:04

Yeah, so somebody asked me a really good question years ago. They said, What Bible characters do you resonate with the most? And I thought, well, that was interesting. I really didn't know what to say. And I thought about that for a really long time. And one of the things I talk to men a lot about is when you're trying to discern God's calling on your life and who God wants you to be and your gifting. Honestly, trying to connect with a Bible character really often helps. I think I I don't, I'm not sure we're we're talking enough about how we can identify with those characters. So for me, there's two Joshua, uh, not just because of my name, but I I feel like God's given me a gifting to be a directional leader. And then Barnabas. I want to be a spiritual encourager. Like those are the two Bible characters that have resonated with me. And so I have a prayer that I try to pray most days, and I pray those two things. I want to be a Joshua, I want to be a Barnabas. And I feel like when we begin to kind of find Bible characters that we identify with, it really helps us maybe to understand our gifting and calling. And Elijah has been one of those somehow for me in my life. I I often say I really identify with Elijah, not in his strengths, but in his weaknesses. Not because he called down fire from heaven and slaughtered 450 prophets, but because he sat under a tree one day and said, I'm no better than my father's and I want to die. Like I've been there. So, no, I think it's good. I think it's good to take some Bible characters, and I've done this a number of times, and really use them as a means to challenge men. And the Old Testament's got some great ones.

Chris Grainger 12:33

You got that right. Well, I mean, you've been investing in men for a long time now, and I'm very curious from your standpoint perspective, what's been the most consistent struggle that you see guys that are wrestling with today?

Why Men Feel Defeated

Josh Smith 12:45

Well, that's good. I I think I've noticed, so after having written the Titus 10, the Lord opened up a lot of opportunities to do things like this and then to travel and speak and do men's events. And I think what I've what I've discerned over the last four or five years is that most men that I talk to feel discouraged, uh, defeated, and and unsure of what they're doing. They don't feel like they're thriving in most areas of their life. And if they do think they're thriving in one area, it's it's partly their work, but they don't feel like they're thriving at home. They don't feel like they're thriving in their spiritual life. I just feel like I'm I'm surrounded by a generation of men who feel really discouraged and defeated. And that's what the enemy's done to them. I mean, the enemy's just continues to wage war on them in so many ways. And I think a lot of men are losing that battle, even if it's not losing the moral battle. They're just, they're not encouraged, they're just not confident, they're not excited about life and what God's called them to do. And so I've noticed a lot of that. And it's sad to me. It's it's just the work of the enemy of making men feel really discouraged and defeated. So one of the things I I really like to do is to speak to men, and I do this, try to do this in my writing, with a tone that doesn't make them feel worse about themselves. I mean, I think there was a generation of men's ministry, probably 10, 15 years ago, that really felt a lot like every man's an idiot, stop being an idiot. So my thought is I think men already know that. I think most men feel really discouraged and defeated. And so I want to write with a tone that that is empowering and encouraging and edifying and just challenging them to see that God has something so good for them. That that Christ died to make them into something really good and want them to see that. So I think that's that's what I'm noticing. Uh uh just kind of discouraged and defeated men. I think a a lot of the reason men avoid home is because they just don't feel confident there. Uh uh, they don't feel like they know what they're doing in their leadership with their wife or with their kids. They don't feel like they have a place in the church, which is a sad thing. And so they're just, you know, I I I said to someone recently, I feel like we've given this entire generation of men a participation trophy at church. So we joke about, you know, like every kid gets a participation trophy. Well, we've done that with our men. What we've done is said this, okay, if I can get a guy to come to church on a semi-regular basis, give a little bit, and maybe serve a little bit and not be a pain, he's that's the hero. Like that's that's what we want, man. That's the goal. Like, give me a hundred of those and I'm good or whatever. So I think we've given a generation of men a participation trophy and we've said, all right, we're just satisfied with you doing very little and being very little. And I'm just not going to be satisfied with that. Like, we gotta, we gotta challenge them to do a little bit more than that.

Chris Grainger 15:29

Well, what does that look like? I mean, where do you think where where what what's a step in the right direction and where where does that discipleship journey look like for you and your church?

Inside Out Discipleship That Lasts

Josh Smith 15:37

Sure. It I think it begins with this, and this is what I flesh out so much in this book, The Man for the Day. It begins with understanding that God builds men from the inside out, not the outside in. Meaning, what we tend to do with men, and I think a lot of men's books tend to do this, we try to fix the external stuff. So do this, do this. And I think that's that's helpful in some ways. I mean, when I talk to men, I'd give a lot of practical things. I try to talk to men about, you know, working hard at work and then working hard at home and going home and not being grumpy and making sure your tone of voice is right for your with your wife. And so all of those things, those external things matter, but I want to start in a deeper place. So in the book, The Man for the Day, I start the first chapters with surrender, uh, talking about the life of Elijah. Elijah comes on the scene out of nowhere. Like we have no idea who he is or his background much. We have a few words, but his name is Elijah. And in this incredibly pagan time where no one was really following the Lord, it seemed, his name means my God is Jehovah. So his name means I'm God's man. And the reason God used him is because he was already a surrendered man. So I want to work with men from the inside out. I want to say, all right, let's start with who you are in your relationship with Jesus Christ. Have you surrendered your life to Christ? And are you willing to do whatever he wants you to do and be whoever he wants you to be? Life building men has to start with that. Like we have to start with are you a man surrendered to the lordship of Christ right now? If not, there's no other steps from that. So I think where we begin is we begin from the inside. Stop trying to reform men and just make them better. Let's see God do a supernatural work inside of them that then bears fruit externally.

Chris Grainger 17:23

Amen. Amen. Guys, we're gonna take our first break with Josh. We'll be right back. If there's one habit that can change a home, it's this when a husband prays with his wife, not because it's a magic formula, but because it recenters your marriage under God's authority and care. And let's be honest, a lot of guys want to do it, but most don't know how to start without it feeling awkward. Maybe you tried it before and it felt forced, or maybe you've never tried it because you don't even know what to say. Or maybe you're thinking, man, I'm not a pastor, I'm just a guy. And that's why we created this guide. It's our how to pray with your wife. Simple guide. It's biblical, it's practical, and it's designed to help you start praying with your wife in a way that actually feels natural. So it's a five-section guide and it gives you a simple framework to get started. Okay, it makes sure everything is grounded in scripture, and it also has a powerful PDF that you can pull up whenever you need, especially when things get off, because they're gonna get off. That's normal. So this is all about reclaiming your marriage and reclaiming the spiritual leadership reigns of your home. Because praying with your wife is one of the strongest ways to fight for unity, to build trust, and to right to ship when life starts to pull you off a course. So if you're ready, get access today at the lionwithin.usguides. That's the lionwithin.us slash guides, and start unleashing the line within at home by leading your marriage through prayer. Well, I am curious from your standpoint. You talk a lot about resolve and you just mentioned surrender. And from your standpoint, like help the guy who's wrestling with those two in their mind. How do they work together instead of competing with each other? Resolve and surrender.

Surrender And Resolve Together

Josh Smith 19:19

No, that's good. So I do have a chapter on both surrender and resolve. And so in surrender, what I'm trying to say is this can you honestly say, like, can you say before the Lord that you you are you want to be his man? So you're taking everything that you've wanted and everything you've desired and say, okay, I'll lay that aside and I'll be his man. I tell a story in the book how I was uh speaking at an event one time and was supposed to be counseling as other people spoke. It was a student event. And the guy that spoke after me spoke on surrender, and he said, All I want you to do is to be able to pray this prayer. Lord, I'm yours. Whatever you want to do with me or through me, I'm completely surrendered to you. And I was a preacher and a speaker and found myself not able to say that prayer. Uh, and I knew the Lord, like I think I was walking with the Lord in some ways. I just found it really scary to come to a place where I would say, okay, Lord, you've got my family, you've got my kids, you've got my wife, you have my future, you have all of my gifts, all of my talents, all of my money, you've got it all. So that can be a scary place to be. So we've got to start there with that willingness. But then that that surrender doesn't lead me to a let go and let God. I mean, in some ways, what I'm saying is, Lord, I'm gonna do whatever you want me to do. But that surrender then leads me into a place where I'm saying, okay, as a man who surrendered to the Lord, the Lord is now first in my life. He's the center of my life. Now I've got to make the steps to move toward Christ. And so what I say in the book is we don't need more resolutions, but we need more resolve. That firm, I the way I define resolve is a firm determination to walk with God. Like I'm gonna have an unwavering determination. I am gonna, if I'm a surrendered man, I've surrendered my time. So I'm gonna wake up in the mornings, I'm gonna spend time with God, I'm gonna fight sin. I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna be disciplined in every area of my life. I'm gonna love my wife better and invest more in my kids. And so I just I feel like we do need a generation of men who are saying, okay, because I'm God's man, I'm gonna do the things God's called me to do. I'm gonna step into that. Right.

Chris Grainger 21:33

100%. Well, I mean, I I again kind of going back to Elijah, I I'm so thankful that you you took the time to unpack that, and then we can think about his testimony, think learn from that. He he had lots of bold public victories. He also had some deep private discouragement, you know, and I think that's for guys, that's that's that's good for us to see. I mean, what can we learn about burnout and fatigue from the life of Elijah? What we what we saw there.

Elijah Burnout And God’s Whisper

Josh Smith 22:02

Yeah, that's a great question. One one of my probably my one of my favorite chapters in this book is the chapter on weakness. And I I hate it because it's the last chapter, and I know that most men, when they have their books, you know, they have a little piece of paper right here at about page 20 or 30, and maybe it stays there for 20 years. So when they're kidding me at their books, there's a little bookmark in page 10. So I hate that, and that's true with me as well, but and I hate that it the weakness is the last chapter. But so Elijah's story is so interesting. He he comes out of nowhere, he has a massive big moment where he goes to King Ahab and he says, It's not going to rain until I say so. And we can talk about in a minute what happens next. I don't want to get away from from uh the question you asked, but there's a lot of things that happen in between. But there comes this moment after his greatest uh victory, which, to be honest, may be the most significant moment in some ways in the Old Testament when uh he calls down. Fire from heaven and it consumes the altar. He then goes and slaughters these false prophets. It's like an incredible, um, it's an incredible moment. And then right after that, he gets word that King Ahab's wife, Jezebel, wants to kill him. Well, who cares? This is Elijah, right? Like, he just slaughtered prophets. He just stood in the face of these false prophets and called down fire from heaven. But something's got him. Like, he gets terrified, and he's so he runs away with his servant. He then leads his servant and goes as far as he can get into the woods. And he sits under a tree and says, I'm no better than my father's, which means I'm an idiot. You know, I'm worthless. Uh, take my life from me. I wish I could die. So it is super surprising to find Elijah, such a strong man, at a really, really weak place. I I got a call from a guy last week who had read this book and was just really encouraged and excited about it. And he said, I've always loved Elijah, but I've hated that moment. Like I hated Elijah's weakness. I thought he was so wimpy in this. Like I just wanted to look at him and say, get up, stop acting like this. The truth is, we need this from Elijah because all of us have those moments. I mean, like I said at the beginning of our time together, I feel like I resonate with Elijah more in his weaknesses than his strength. And so God begins to minister to him in that moment. And what's interesting is everything in a life, Elijah's life has been big, just big stuff. And, you know, God sends an earthquake and the Lord's not in the earthquake, and a strong wind, and the Lord's not in the wind, and all these things. And then finally, he hears the voice of the Lord in a still small voice. So I think in our weakness, what the Lord wants us to say is our weakness often brings us to a place in which we're desperate. And desperation is a really good place to be. And in that moment of desperation, hopefully we'll get quiet enough to hear from God and let him restore our souls. Um Psalm 23, God wants to restore our souls and usually restores our souls when he leads us in paths of righteousness and when he leads us beside still waters. Um I, you know, Psalm 23 says, He makes me lie down by still waters. I think about that a lot. There's been a lot of times in my life, I think particularly through some just some illnesses that I've had and uh maybe some times of discouragement. Sometimes God makes you lie down by still waters. Like he makes so he did that to Elijah. He made him, he made him go and be still. And in that stillness, God restored him and gave him something that was necessary for the rest of his life. And so we tend to resent our weaknesses when the reality is those are the means by which God gives us the strength we need to do what he's called us to do. Amen.

Conviction Without Harshness

Chris Grainger 25:33

I'm curious from your standpoint, as as a pastor who's who's definitely studied this at length, when you when you you already mentioned, you know, uh um Elijah with the prophets. I mean, you can go see some straight up trash talking one-on-one. I mean, that was some great stuff he was doing, calling those prophets out. And I'm curious from a man's standpoint, you know, how do you take how do you how do you encourage a man who wants to walk with his convictions, but also we're not called to be harsh or reactive or prideful. So how do we balance that of being a man of conviction and at the same time, you know, just just balancing being obedient to the spirit and not and not going over to going over the edge if it makes sense, right? So I'm just like help help the guy right there.

Josh Smith 26:20

Goodness, that is a that is a such an unbelievably good question, and such a good one for I think the culture we're in right now, where there I see two sides of manhood. There's there's some men who are afraid to say anything, and there's some men that need to say less, right? So like they just and they need to be some guys need to be more bold, and some guys need to realize that not everybody needs to hear their opinions on everything. Um, so that there is a real balance there. Yeah, there that moment when Elijah is challenging the prophets of Baal and Asher is like just a great moment. I mean, he just mocks them. So so basically they they they both set up altars, and the God who answers by fire is God. So he allows the prophets of Baal to go first, and they begin to pray and cry out and call on their God and dance and cut themselves. And Elijah, like I I get this picture that he's like sitting in a lawn chair just mocking them. He's saying, Well, maybe he even says maybe he's gone to relieve himself. Like maybe maybe your God is gone, yeah, maybe he's gone to the bathroom, and so he can't answer you. Like he's just mocking them, which is so funny. Um, but then you know, then his time comes and God sends fire and it's a great moment. So yeah, I, you know, I think there's something to be learned there from confidence in God. And I have a chapter on courage, which is specifically from that moment. He, you know, looks at the people of Israel before he has this moment and says, Hey, stop teetering between two opinions. Who are you gonna choose? And they couldn't make a choice. They did not know whether the witness of the Lord or God, and a lot of men are in that spot. They can't decide. So I I guess my answer to your question would be maybe a couple of things. One, you know, being filled with the Spirit and making sure that the life of the Spirit is what's coming through us matters. So John 7, 37 and 38. If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink, and out of him will flow rivers of living water. So what we want to be flowing out of us as men is living water. We want something to flow out of us that gives life to other people, that refreshes people. And the only way that happens is if we're receiving that. So I'm drinking heavily from the Lord, and then what's coming out of me is things that are of the Lord. My fear sometimes is that there's men that aren't drinking very heavily from the Lord. So what's coming out of them is a lot of opinions, but not a lot of the Lord. So that that would be, I think, the distinction for me is what you're giving people is your strength and your opinions, are they gospel-centered, Jesus-loving, life-giving words? Or are you just trying to be snarky and cynical and harsh? And we all have those people. I mean, I'm a pastor, I have those people in my church. They have an opinion about everything. And but here's what I would say. Oftentimes those men, so let's go back to my illustration from John 7. So whatever you drink in is what you're gonna give out. What I've found is a lot of the men who tend to be like that are drinking a lot of news. They're drinking a lot of Facebook, they're drinking a lot of Fox, they're drinking a lot of like just they're just drinking from uh, you know, conspiracy theories. And so what's coming out of them is what they're drinking from, and it's not Christ. That's the problem. That is the problem.

Chris Grainger 29:41

And then that lots of times I see that with the guys that I work with, turns to anger, and that anger just comes out and manifests in different ways. Which you address righteous anger, which I I'm so thankful that you did, but maybe help the guy out there who's trying to understand when it when is anger righteous, and then when have I has has it transitioned over, or it's not righteous anymore. And it's it this is more of a me thing.

Righteous Anger And Real Danger

Josh Smith 30:03

I really, I really Chris wanted to write a chapter on anger, and I I would say out of every chapter in the book, it's the one that I worked the hardest on and the one that I was the most afraid of. Because, you know, you know this ministering to men, there's very few things, if anything, more harmful to a family than an angry man. Uh, anger does not produce the righteousness of God. So an angry man is incredibly dangerous. I mean, there there, I could tell so many just stories of ministering to men and families or families coming to me who have been just destroyed by an angry dad or an angry husband. There's a lot of men out there that they're just about to boil over. I mean, they've just got a lot of anger inside and they're about to boil over. So I was a little afraid to address the issue of anger because what I'm trying to say is there's a positive anger, but my goodness, I didn't want to give license to some of the men you're talking about, Chris, who are just angry all the time that they should be more angry. So anger is a very dangerous emotion, but it's an emotion that God has. God gets angry. And there's some examples. I mean, I'm studying the book of Exodus right now, I'm preaching it on Sunday mornings and um Exodus 32, when Moses comes down from the mountain and they've made a golden calf, Moses is angry. He throws down the tablets, he grinds up the golden calf and puts it in their water and makes him drink it. When Elijah slaughters these false prophets, there's some holy anger there. So the best way I knew to kind of figure it out is to think about not only do we see examples in the Bible of good, righteous anger, but how have I seen it in my own life? So I start the chapter with a really powerful story of my father, who uh I was eating in a restaurant with when I was a young kid, and there was a man in the restaurant sitting with his wife and kids who was just angry and harsh. He was grabbing their arms and pulling them and speaking to them in a really harsh and angry way. As a kid, he scared me, and he wasn't even my dad. And he was in public. I can't imagine what he was like at home. But I saw my dad getting more and more red-faced. Like my dad was getting angry. He was rising, but his anger was a righteous anger. He was angry at this man abusing his wife. So I watched as my dad stood up and went to this man who was much larger than he was and said, Hey, you're not gonna talk to your kids that way. My dad was kind of a powerful man in that city at that point and said, Hey, if you do that again, I know people and we're gonna take your kids away from you. I remember just thinking that was the baddest thing my dad ever did. Like, that was so great. But it was this example of like a righteous anger, like I want to stand for what's right versus an anger that was destroying people. So my dad's anger brought some life and some healing. This other man's anger brought harshness and death and and destruction. So there is a righteous anger, and more men need to have it. We need to hate what the enemy is doing in our generation. We need to hate the sin in our life. We need to hate the enemy's attack on our family and women and children, and we need to hate what social media is doing to our daughters and our sons. Like, we've got to love the things God loves, but we have to hate the things God hates. That's right.

Prayer For Guys Who Struggle

Chris Grainger 33:17

100%. Thank you for addressing that so directly. So head on. Guys, we're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back. It's time to stop neglecting the body that God gave you. And we're done making excuses and watching discipline slip. So we decided it's time to rebuild strength the right way. And we have our Health Stronghold Support Group, which is a dedicated space inside the lion's den, specifically for men who are ready to steward their bodies with discipline and purpose. Look, this is not just for guys trying to lose weight. Let's just clear that up. This is for guys who know that energy affects you how you lead, your habits affect how you lead your family, and discipline affects your calling. And most guys don't need another workout plan or some extreme diet ideas. They need a stronghold. They need to have a place where they can hear other men say, then I fall into. I want consistency, not shortcuts. So inside our health stronghold, you're gonna find real conversations around physical health and discipline, honest discussions about habits, setbacks, and progress, and encouragement for men pursuing strength. This comes with a monthly call with one of our trusted guides as well. So look, it's not about vanity, it's about stewardship. It's a place to train without shame and pursue strength without comparison. You don't have to impress anybody. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just got to show up. So the health stronghold is found inside the lion's den. And you can start a 30-day free trial today. So if you're ready to stop drifting, head over to thelionwithin.us. That's thhelionwithin.us. And hop inside the lion's den. Start your 30-day free trial and get started today at thelionwithin.us. So I want to transition a little bit because this is an area that that I the guys I work with on a regular basis, I know this is a um stumbling block, I guess is the right word for it. But it's it's prayer. And and try I'd love to get your insight on what role prayer plays and help the forming in the men who we who we know we're called to be, uh, and used by God in a mighty way. And what does that look like? I mean, because I know guys are like, man, I I I just I don't know how to pray, or when I pray, I don't hear anything, and and I just give up on it. And maybe I'll pray with my with my wife from time to time, but like I just, you know, maybe they're too busy. But just curious from your standpoint, what would be your encouragement or or for that guy who who's just not sure how to even get started praying right now and why is it so important?

Josh Smith 35:56

Yeah, that's good. Um, I, you know, I start this chapter by telling a story of a of um a man that had been kind of mentor to me and and a minister and talking about just a really, I won't tell the whole story, but a really hard time in his life in which he prayed for something early in his life and God didn't answer him. And he said, you know, as an 80-year-old man, I never really prayed since then. And I think what I realized is that most men I don't think most men pray. I I may be wrong on that, but I I don't think most men pray. Certainly not much. And I don't know if it's cynicism or the sense that it doesn't matter, that doesn't work, or I think a lot of it's just pride. I mean, as men, we just, you know, we want to do our things, want to get busy, want to work hard, and we've got plans and we just move. But I think as I'm as I'm, you know, the point of this book is helping men be the man God's called them to be today. So this is this book is very much a right now book. So what I'm trying to say is don't think so much about the man you want to be someday necessarily, but the man you want to be today. And be that man today. So God makes great men today. That's how you become a you become a great man by being a great man today. So that's just like simple walking with God today. And if you have any desire to be used of God, you need God and you need God's help. I mean, without prayer, you're essentially becoming your man. You're not becoming God's man. And so I think, I think the way in which I encourage men to start to pray is by learning to take your needs, your daily needs, your daily struggles, the little frustrations, everything, and learn how to bring those in that moment to the Lord in prayer. So certainly we need to have times where we sit and pray and we get on our knees and pray. I think for a lot of men, that's really hard. And we need to do that. I mean, I, by God's grace, I did that today. But the truth is, I think the the better way to teach men to start to prayer, pray, is when a frustration comes up, when a need comes up, when a, you know, a besetting sin comes up. Stop in those moments and pray. So learn to pray consistently throughout the day, bringing needs to the Lord. I mean, how many times a day do we just feel like we need something, or you know, we're in the car and an emotion comes up, or in a temptation comes up, or we go home and an emotion comes up, or we go home and want to be passive instead of active. And just all throughout the day, we have these little things that we know are not of God. Well, learn to take those things to the Lord right then. Stop for a second right then. Lord, I need your help. I need your help. I need you to help me in these moments. And just learn how to kind of walk with the Lord in prayer in that way. Certainly, you know, I um I think teaching men how to pray through the Lord's Prayer and using that as a pattern is really helpful. So using the Lord's Prayer not to just repeat, but just to learn how to pray is helpful. So there's a lot of things like that. But I think more and more I'm trying to encourage men just to talk to the Lord on a more regular basis. Uh turn some of the radio off in the car and talk to the Lord and learn how to every time a need comes up, stop and bring it to him.

Chris Grainger 39:01

Right. Yeah, there's so many distractions in this world now, too. It's just I feel like that's it's getting even harder and harder to get guys just to slow down. Just to take that unintentional time. For you, is it is it the morning? I mean, what do like when you think about when you try to coach a guy, what's the easiest way for them to get started? Is it is it that defined time in the morning? Is it in the evening before bed? Like just practically, what what what what do you see to works best for guys?

Morning Bible Habits That Lead

Josh Smith 39:26

Yeah, I mean, I think ultimately the answer is yes to all of those things. But uh, as I'm talking about guys about getting started. So again, let me go back to this principle. God builds men from the inside out. If all you're trying to do is be a better man, if all you're trying to do is reform yourself externally, you're never gonna be the man God wants you to be. This has to be internal. It has to be the work that God does in your heart. And so if you want to see something lasting happen, like if you actually want to be a better husband, a better father, if you want to be a better follower of Jesus, that has to happen by the work God does inside your heart. Well, the way God does that work inside your heart is through the primary means of Bible reading and being in some kind of community, being committed to a local church, having a group of men that you're walking with. But, you know, there is no hope for any man being the man God calls him to be without those basic spiritual disciplines. So if you're never gonna make Jesus a priority in that way, uh there's like there's no progress for you. I mean, I'm just telling you, you there's no progress. You've got to start with that. So my encouragement to guys is, you know, just start with the basics. Let's don't overthink this. Find a Bible reading plan. So if you've never read the Bible before, if you read one chapter of the New Testament five days a week. So five days a week, you read one chapter. This is gonna take you 10 minutes. You can read through the whole New Testament in a year. I I would imagine most of the men listening to this podcast have probably never read the entire New Testament all the way through. And so, because that's true in most contexts. So that that really doesn't take much. Like that's a really simple ask. You know, we're Chris, you know this. We're in this funny time, I feel like right now, where when a guy gets like into barbecuing, he watches like thousands of YouTube's videos and can talk to you for 10 hours about barbecuing. If he get this is just like people are obsessed with like knives and guns and like ATVs and fishing and hunting, and like you can go so deep, I guess because YouTube, you can go like so deep into something. But then when they talk about the investment in their spiritual life, it's like you can't give five minutes. Now you can give an hour to a YouTube video on how to smoke meat, but like give the Lord some time. And I I encourage you to do it in the morning. Uh man, I have a really neat thing happen recently to me, and I've never even shared this. But so I our downstairs is kind of open to an upstairs loft, you know, and my kids' bedrooms upstairs. And my daughter, uh, one of my daughters has started to spend more time with the Lord in the mornings. And what she says is this her alarm goes off, and she comes down if she sees the light on in the living room. And the light on in the living room means I'm up reading my Bible. Okay. So that was like huge to me. So what I didn't know is that my kids are aware, even like if they wake up in the morning, their eyes just are barely open, they can see a light down. And if the light's on downstairs, they know I'm up to reading my Bible. So they're noticing these things. Like my kids are wanting to know if I'm up spending time with God. And I think uh the greatest thing your kids can say someday is that I remember my dad in the morning sitting with his Bible. So, like for their sake, that's important. But for your sake, whatever's coming in you is gonna come out of you. So, what's gotta come into you is more of Jesus Christ. So get up in the morning, read your Bible, write down a few notes, go through a book with some men, but you've got to make some investment in your personal life. And I encourage you to start in the morning with your Bible and that, first of all.

Chris Grainger 42:56

Amen. And he's mentioned a few times you got you got to have some men to walk this with as well. And you know, just speak to the importance of that. And I mean, this is where, to your point earlier, sometimes the church has missed it with men and and and putting them together. Again, this is one of the main reasons we started aligned within this was just bringing a form in which guys can come to have these conversations. But I just I think it's more important now than ever, and I'm sure you're probably seeing the same.

Brotherhood And Men’s Groups

Josh Smith 43:21

Yeah, I mean, you know, you have three daughters, I have four daughters, we have wife, you know, and and the the truth is the women lap us in about every area of our life. Like they just they're just lapping us, right? They're just going around us, and particularly in the church. So we've ignored church for too long. Again, like I said, we've given this generation of men a group of a participation trophy saying, thanks for just showing up. That's good enough. And we've got to challenge guys more. And I think the starting place for that is getting guys in groups. I just think it's important. So every book I write, so I wrote the Titus 10, I followed that up with the Titus 10 Bible study, which is specifically for groups. We uh came out in December with the Titus 10 for teens. So my story is I was discipled starting in 11th grade, but no one ever taught me about manhood. And I should have been having these conversations with someone when I was 16, 17, 18 years old. Like someone should have been talking to me when I was 16 years old about manhood. And so we put a book out for that, Titus 10 for teens. So everything, and that the The Man for the Day is out now. There's going to be a Bible study out next year. So everything I write, I write for men to read together. You can read it alone, that's fine. But it's meant for guys in groups of, you know, three, four, five, six, whatever, reading a chapter a week and getting together and talk about it. That's it. So I got a call last night from a uh a guy that I've mentored. He actually plays college football and I mentored him when he was uh in our community here. And uh he started reading the book and called me last night and said, Hey, I just realized I got to read this with some guys. And how do I do that? And I said, Hey, pick three or four guys you're with on a regular basis and just see if they'll meet you once a week, whenever's good for them, once a week for Hour. That's it. All of you show up having read the chapter and then just talk about it. That's it. Like that's that's easy. But every guy needs that, and somebody's got to initiate it. So some guy listening just has to say, All right, I'm gonna start this myself. You don't have to know anything, you just gotta start it. You just gotta pick some guys and get it going.

Chris Grainger 45:14

Gotta do it. Gotta do it. When you when you look around right now, what where do you think uh manhood or the lies about manhood rather uh are most damaging for guys, particularly this generation that's coming up? Like what do you think is that the the lie that's that's holding them back the most?

Lies About Manhood And Hope

Josh Smith 45:33

Yeah, I think one of the lies is that it's it's not okay to be a man. Like we have to be ashamed of being a man. And we we've I think we felt that for a long time. So I I get I get the toxic masculinity and all that kind of stuff. Like I the manly bravado, like I get some of that. But I think what's happened is it's created a generation of men that are afraid to talk about manhood and are afraid to be strong and are afraid to be bold. And so, you know, I talk in my book about my first book, The Titus Ten I, my first chapter is on Dominion. So I used to joke when I would go speak about Dominion, I would say every time I speak on this, I'm like looking over my shoulder, making sure women aren't hearing us, because it sounds like Dominion. But when you start to understand that dominion is basically sacrificing yourself for the good of other people. And when we start to understand manhood biblically, what we understand is if women are surrounded by godly men, like who are surrendering to the Lord and sacrificing for the good of others, they're gonna love that. Like, so what we have is like a wrong manhood, not godly manhood. Once we have godly manhood, the women in our lives will thrive. That's the way God meant it to be. But I think this lie that that it's not okay to be a man is a problem. And we need to, we need to deal with that by saying, all right, we can step into manhood and strong manhood, but it's gotta be godly strong manhood. I think that's a lie. I think another lie the enemy is doing as is kind of um continues to tell guys is that there's no hope for them, maybe morally. They're just gonna be stuck for the rest of their life. Like they can't get out of this. The enemy does a really good job of helping men just feel so defeated that they're they don't feel like they can make any progress. Um man, I I ten minutes before I got on this phone call, I got a call from a police officer in our church that dealt with a situation with a guy uh yesterday, a uh domestic situation that was super, super hard. And as we talked about, I think what happened with this guy is he he made some bad decisions, and then those bad decisions made more bad decisions, and then finally got to the place where he realized there's no hope for me. Like I'm gonna be like this forever and I'm done. And then once you get to that place, you go darker and darker and darker and darker. So the enemy just wants to make guys, I think, feel lonely and isolated and think that God can't do anything with them. But the way out of that is what we just talked about. Get some guys, start connecting with them, and realize that you can make progress out of that. Got that right.

Chris Grainger 47:56

Well, for the guy who actually gets this and reads it, fellas, read read the book front to back. Like, what do you think the what what is your hope for the change that they're gonna see in their life?

Josh Smith 48:11

The man for the day is a man who is ready and willing uh to be the man God's called him to be. So that's that's what I say. So here here's here's one of the principles that I talk about in the book is that direction matters more than distance. And if you'll take care of the direction of your life, God will care about the take care of the distance of your life. Meaning this. Most men are thinking about, I want to be this, I want to be this, I want to do whatever, here's what I want to be. What I would say is this we're thinking more about how far I'm gonna get and what I'm gonna accomplish and what I'm gonna do with my kids, all that, than I am, am I even walking in the right direction? So if I go a hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction, well, you know, man, that's amazing. I went a hundred miles an hour, but I didn't go in the right direction. The point of this book is to get guys heading in the right direction, to say, all right, I'm gonna start doing the little things that it takes to walk with God today. Just the little thing. I'm gonna make good decisions today. Like I'm gonna walk with God today, I'm gonna be surrendered today, I'm gonna, you know, spend time with the Lord. I'm gonna today is what matters, of the man for the day. And so what I think we need is a generation of men who are the men for this moment in time. So this moment in time mattered. We need some strong men for this time. But the way we make those is by making those men right now, like this day. So the whole goal of this book, and I think what it's gonna help men understand is all right, I'm gonna take some pressure off of myself, and I'm gonna make sure that I'm heading the right direction today. I'm gonna walk with God today. I'm gonna love my wife today. I'm gonna love my kids and bless them today. And man, you string some of those days together, you you start to realize you've gone a lot further than you thought. So, a lot of the goal of this book is to take some pressure off and give just a practical guide of how you can be the man God's called you to be, right now, right here. 100%.

Chris Grainger 50:03

Yeah, as we got a last break, come back, and we'll have a little fun lightning round with Josh. It's time to stop battling pornography, lust, and temptation alone. We're done sitting on the sidelines, seeing shame win, and hearing from guys that are fighting private wars with no backup. So we decided it's time to fight back. We have our sexual integrity support group, which is a confidential space inside the lion's den for men who are ready to step into the light and pursue real freedom. This isn't just for guys in crisis, by the way. It's for any man who's tired of the cycle, who's tired of living in secret, who's tired of saying this is gonna be the last time. Look, most guys don't need another app or some rules. They need some brothers to come alongside them to say you're not the only one. This doesn't define you. And freedom is possible. So look, inside our group, you're gonna find a confidential, judgment-free forum to engage and ask questions. You'll have honest conversations without condemnation. And you'll also have a monthly call with a trusted guide. So look, this isn't just about stopping pornography. It's about becoming a man of integrity, a man aligned, a man who lives in freedom, not secrecy. And you don't have to clean yourself up first to come. You just have to step in. So our sexual integrity support group is found inside the lion's den. And you can start that today with a 30-day free trial. So if you're ready to stop fighting alone and need that extra support, start your 30-day free trial right now at thelionwithin.us. That's thhelionwithin.us and step inside the lion's den. So this has been I've loved the conversation. Thank you so much for coming on. We always like to have some fun at the end of our conver of our episodes, Josh, when we do a little lightning round. We haven't lost the patient yet. So if you're willing to play, we'll jump right into it. I'm ready. Let's do it. All right, all right. Well, what do you enjoy doing for fun?

Lightning Round And Final Charge

Josh Smith 52:13

What what hobbies do you have? Well, I used to have a lot of hobbies, and then I had five kids. So I decided a few years, and this is not for everybody, that everybody can do their own thing, but I decided a few years ago that my main hobby is gonna be my kids. So I used to play golf, I don't play golf anymore. Uh I do, I will say this, I do love working in the yard. I love being outside, I love mowing my grass. I got a uh about two and a half acres. I love mowing my grass, and uh I love being outside. So anything I can do to be outside is helpful. But I'm just, and again, this is not for everybody, but I'm at this stage in life right now where I decided I'm not gonna do a lot of hobbies. Uh I'm gonna just invest in my kids. And but I do love, love the yard.

Chris Grainger 52:49

There you go. Nothing like that fresh cut lawn 100%. What about so you're a Georgia guy? What's your go-to food?

Josh Smith 52:58

My goodness. Uh I have a weird relationship with food. So uh I I think a lot of the uh I I function in very high adrenaline, which tends to affect my stomach. But uh man, I do, I do love barbecue. I love barbecue. I love to, I've I've got a black stone, you know, griddle. I love to use the griddle. Yeah. So I grill as well. I've not gotten to smoking meat much. Everybody does that around me, but I love anything on the griddle, man. I I make uh two two specialties that my kids love. I make great cheesesteaks, like a Philly cheesesteak on the griddle. And then uh I make really good smash burgers on the griddle as well. So those are probably.

Chris Grainger 53:32

There you go. There you go. Love it. What about your uh a movie, all-time favorite movie? What's your go-to?

Josh Smith 53:37

Oh my gosh. See, I hate answering this question because then people go watch it and they go, that's not a very appropriate movie. So uh you know that feeling. You can't pastors can't recommend movies. If a pastor recommends a Disney movie, someone critiques them, you know. Uh so uh I do. I'm not just saying this because it's manly, but uh Braveheart was real influential in my life. I love that movie. I never even saw the second one. I just decided I didn't want to do it because it it I, you know, uh I didn't think it could it could compete. Um, but I you know, I love I've never been like a Star Trek fan. I like Star Wars. Uh my family has kind of been watching together. Started watching some of the um Marvel movies, which has been a lot of fun for us uh recently. Trying to watch some of those, but yeah, probably some of those. There you go. What about music? What's your go-to? Uh no, I'm a music guy, so I love I love music. So I grew up listening to a lot of uh like 50s music. My dad loved and my dad loved old country. So if you were to look at my Spotify, there's a lot of new stuff. I love new stuff, but there's a lot of old country. So I have a I have a playlist just for mowing the lawn. Okay. And it's all old country. So a lot of Merle Haggart, uh, a lot of Johnny Cash, uh, a lot of Charlie Pryde, just like my my playlist for mowing the lawn is old country. So I've seen Willie Nelson concert a couple of times. I've seen Johnny Cash in concert. Um, so I've seen some I've seen some good shows. That's awesome. That's awesome.

Chris Grainger 55:10

Well, if you could have a superpower, what which one would you pick, Josh? And how would you use it?

Josh Smith 55:16

Man, that's a great if I could have a superpower, what would it be? Um I don't know what that is. Part of me would say that I would just never sleep, but man, sleeping is such a wonderful thing. I uh I could just go look at it. Yeah, but then I think, why would I want that? That's like one of the best parts of the day. That's right. That's right. Man, a superpower. I don't know, man. Okay, I got it. I got it. So my superpower would be that I never in my entire life get a dad bod. There you go. My superpower is just to be able to eat and not exercise, and I never get like a belly. I never that's my superpower. It's just nobody can understand it. I just I eat whatever, I don't even exercise, and I just always look great. That's my superpower right there.

Chris Grainger 56:01

Love it. Love it. Probably the best answer to that question we've ever had. There you go, boys. All right. So when you think about God, what what's your favorite thing about him?

Josh Smith 56:11

Yeah. No, I think for me, it's it's that the idea that God enjoys us and that God wants to be with us is just an amazing thought to me. Just that God created us for his presence. He really enjoys our company. And the whole goal of creation is to get us back into the presence of God and to enjoy him. So the fact that he wants to be with me and enjoys me is an amazing thing. And then he gives me the ability to enjoy him. The closer I get to the Lord, the more I enjoy him and like being with him. So I was telling somebody the other day, I think one of the best things you can say to your wife is, I like you and I want to be around you. Like that's a big thing. And I think one of the best things the Lord says to us is, Hey, I like you and I want to be around you, you know. So it's an amazing thing. So anyway, I could talk about that all day.

Chris Grainger 56:56

Amen. Let's let's flip it 180. What's your least favorite thing about Satan?

Josh Smith 57:02

Uh, that he never relents. So it would be fine. Not fine, but it'd be, I mean, okay, you can handle it if it was like once a week, whatever. But the fact that he never gives up. He's really wise. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and he just never stops. I hate that. And I would say too, probably the thing that makes me the most angry is that he also never relents with our family. He never gives up on trying to take my kids and my wife down. And I hate that so much. Yeah.

Chris Grainger 57:34

Well, what do you hope the listeners remember the most from our conversation today?

Josh Smith 57:38

Yeah, I think that listen, be encouraged. Uh God really has something significant he wants to do in your life. There's no question about that. God created you for something good. And the Lord wants to help make you into a great man, but he wants to do it day by day. Today is what matters most. What matters most is that you're heading the direction today, the right direction. So my prayer for the book, The Man for the Day, is that it would help you get your face moving, like looking in the right direction, your body moving, your heart, soul moving in the right direction, and uh just see what God can do with a guy who's just committed to going in the right direction. Amen to that.

Chris Grainger 58:12

Where do you want to send guys to connect with you, the wonderful things you're doing? Obviously, to get copies of the book. Where should they go?

Josh Smith 58:18

Yeah, so I have no social media, uh, but I my church is Prince Avenue Baptist Church. I know I don't the book publishers hate it, but uh I have no social media. That's kind of one of my I got five kids, I don't need social media. So, but um so I um Prince Avenue Baptist Church is our church. You can find me there and all of our sermons and stuff there. Matter of fact, we do a men's breakfast, all those sermons are on there as well. But the books uh from BH or LifeWay, but I, you know, most people get them on Amazon. A lot of people buy them in bulk because they do Bible studies and on LifeWay's website, all of my books are there in bulk, and they're so much cheaper if you're taking 10, 15 guys through it or taking your church through it.

Chris Grainger 58:57

Okay. All right, guys. We'll we'll have that stuff out there for you.

Josh Smith 59:00

Anything else you'd like to share today? No, I'm super encouraged by your ministry. I mean, as soon as we talked, I told you how much I love lions and I'm thankful for uh that symbol, but just grateful for your ministry. Anybody that's doing what you're doing, I'm a fan of. So let's keep pushing guys in the right direction and stay faithful, Chris. I appreciate the time. Thank you so much for your time today.

Question Of The Week And Resources

Marriage Support Group Invitation

Chris Grainger 59:20

All right, guys, I know you're gonna enjoy that one. So thankful for Josh for coming on. So the question of the week this week is how are you embracing what God is doing, even if unfamiliar? So sometimes God's gonna call us to do stuff that makes no sense whatsoever. The question is, are you gonna take the step of obedience and do the work? Okay. So, guys, thank you so much for listening and hanging out. Look, give us a rating review that would help for sure. The big thing for the lion, guys, the lionwithin.us, go check out all our resources. Jump into the lion's den. Just hop into the lion's den or join a daily spiritual kickoff. Or if you're really looking for that band of brothers that are gonna walk with you through the different things of life, we have our leadership mastermind. And that is a great way that we're seeing guys serve over and over, week after week, just to be encouraged with that. We have our live events, we have all our material that we have on the Bible app. There's just so many incredible ways that we serve and really try to just do it in a in a truly meaningful way, guys. So check it out, thelionwithin.us or the Bible app. Just search for Lion Within Us there, okay? All right, fellas, get after it. Have a great day, get have a good uh week ahead. Look forward to seeing you on Friday for our member spotlight. And uh just remember to keep on leashing the lion within. Let's just say it out loud. Marriage is one of the greatest gifts that God can give a man, and one of the most consistent places where we can feel unsure of what we're doing. Even the strongest marriages have moments where you look at your wife and you think, you know what? I love you. I'm so committed to you. But right now, I have no idea what I should do next. And that's why we launched something new inside the lion within us community. It's our very first support group, and it's for husbands, and we're calling it committed and occasionally confused. This isn't just a place for men in crisis. So if you're there, hey, you're welcome. This is for any man who refuses to coast and wants to take his marriage from good to great. So inside, you'll find an active chat and a feed, and honest conversations, and brotherhood that says, You're not alone, we've been there. Let's bring this to God and grow. And we're also doing a monthly couples night where your wife is invited because we're not letting the world set the agenda for our homes. Now, if you want access to this support group, it's very simple. Go to thelionwithin.us and join the Lions Den. Okay, that's thelionwithin.us. Start your 30-day free trial of the Lions Den community, and boom, you have instant access to the committed and occasionally confused support group. We'll see you inside the den.