Chris Grainger 0:02

Welcome to the line within us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be. I'm your host, Chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, guys. Fun Friday member spotlight time. Before we get to our awesome member, let's look at our scriptures. Our scripture is 1 Timothy, and it's chapter 1, verse 2 this week, guys. And that says, To Timothy, my true son in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord. I took some time and I unpacked that verse at length in a spiritual kickoff episode, fellas. So hopefully you guys enjoyed that one. Uh, it's all about mentorship and how we need to have those men speak to the entire lives. And again, we do the spiritual kickoff Monday through Friday at the Lion Within Us Guys. It's called the Daily SKO. It's a great way to get connected with us. It gets you in our platform and also gives you access to a free gift we're giving away. And then our prayer request space. If you need some prayer over your life, let us know. Uh every Monday we have a prayer warrior huddle. It's a great call, just an opportunity to come together and be super intentional about the prayer. So I'd love for you guys to check all that out. So thelionwithin.us is where you do that, and uh we can connect with you and go from there. So I'm really pumped on this one. So you guys probably, if you've been listening to the show for any length of time, uh on our fun Fridays for our dad jokes, I'm always calling out my buddy Doug. I'm always calling out Doug. I'm saying Doug submitted this one, Doug submitted this one. Well, now you get to actually meet Doug. So I'm super pumped. So, Doug Mills, welcome to the line with tennis. So, Doug, how you doing today, man? Doing great, Chris. How are you doing, sir? I'm doing good, man. I'm uh I'm so excited to have you in on this one, Doug. I mean, our guys hear me talk about Doug with the dad

Welcome, Scripture, And Daily SKO

Chris Grainger 1:43

jokes. I gotta ask you before you go, where do you come up with all these dad jokes at, man?

Doug Mills 1:48

Well, it's uh part of being raised. You know, you as you know, I'm uh one of uh 12 children. So if I wanted to be recognized in that group, you had to be fantastic or funny. So I figured I would choose the funny route. So kind of joking around has always been in my nature, and you know, and uh as I say, I was before I was a Christian, I had bad jokes, and now that I'm a Christian, I do dad jokes. So there you go, man.

Chris Grainger 2:15

Well, let well share a little bit about your testimony. Yeah, so twelve twelve uh siblings, but yeah, let the listeners know where you're from.

Doug Mills 2:23

Um from a little town in uh the northern panhandle of West Virginia. It's that part that's squeezed between Ohio and PA and uh my Christian walk. Um, as I said, when we were little, we had a drug problem. You know, our mom drug us to church, dropped us off there, and she'd go have coffee with my aunt, which you know, God bless her, she probably needed two hours of break. That was you know, a two-hour break from raising 12 kids, you know. So um

Meet Doug Behind The Dad Jokes

Doug Mills 2:51

what's the gap for with your for your siblings? Like how what's the biggest age gap there? Uh 20 years. 20 years. Wow. Okay. There's four boys and eight girls. Uh I'm the youngest boy, and uh my oldest brother's 18 years older than me. So wow.

Chris Grainger 3:10

Yeah.

Doug Mills 3:11

So so my mother was pregnant for nine years of her life. So some of some of the women that catch the show will appreciate that. Not total years of pregnancy. That's that's a lot. That is a lot. My father worked uh two jobs for 35 years to support 12 kids, so that's that's kind of an amazing fact in its own. But uh yeah, our faith journey, um kind of, you know, always thought I was a Christian, but probably really didn't commit and get baptized until I was 34 years old, and it was uh about a year after 9-11. And it was kind of there was kind of a phenomenon going on after that where a lot of people came to faith. I think it was be you know, there was just an effect of something like devastating like that happening in our world that just the church numbers grew exponentially. Yeah. You know, we had come to faith. But uh and they've been going to church and things, but um have never been so immersed in the word as I have now since I joined the Lion. Uh there just yeah.

Chris Grainger 4:24

I'm trying to remember, man, we've been connected so long. I'm assuming we got connected through the podcast, right? You were a podcast, you found us via the podcast?

Doug Mills 4:33

Yeah, it was uh my marriage wasn't doing so great, so I was looking around through some stuff, and I think I believe you called it cross-pollination. I I had seen you on a YouTube video from uh uh trying to remember Mike Frazier, Dr. Mike Fraser, like strong menriages. And and I saw you on that pot on that uh it was actually a YouTube. So I'll go check this guy out, you know. And uh I think at that time I was back in 2022. So I think it was early on, and um, you know, you kind of had like an application and you know, to see if I could join and be a fit for the line, and you know, and uh you sent me like an email back that said, Hey, yeah, we'll have you as a member, which you know goes back to one of my other jokes, is like I'd never belonged to a club that would have me for a member, but but uh yeah, it's it it's been a blessing, and I I've been aboard since then and just mates met some fantastic people. I mean, I'll call them some of the OGs like Lucas and Adam, Steven, uh Lonnie um, you know, since inception, and it's just it's just been a fantastic journey.

Chris Grainger 5:42

Absolutely, brother. Yeah, I mean, I know when we met and got connected, you had a lot of things going on, but you guys you've you've come through it. It's just been it's been so just an awesome testimony to watch how you and your wife have just grown together and overcome, and it's just uh hats off to you, brother.

Doug Mills 6:04

Yeah, she she was

How Doug Found The Lion

Doug Mills 6:05

a little upset with me over this past weekend because you know we we started doing date night like you'd suggested, and uh I uh this weekend. I said, Well, where do you want to go eat, hon? You know, where can I take you out to? She goes, Take me someplace I haven't been for a long time. I said, our kitchen?

Chris Grainger 6:23

It's it's on. It's on. That's right. That's right. Well, I know what you guys enjoy you know the couple's night. You and since we started couple's night, pretty much been a staple at each and every one. And you've seen it from the very beginning, the emphasis to the idea of a couple's night to where it is now has definitely grown, you know, leaps and bounds. It's just great to see how many couples are leaning into it. I mean, what I guess what's been some of your takeaways from those from those uh couple's night events.

Doug Mills 6:53

Well, it's it's just amazing. I mean, the growth, um, just the the concepts that we go through. Uh JD does a great job, you know, and it engages the wives in the lion, you know what I mean, so they see what it's all about for us. And, you know, and my wife sees what the line, the changes that's made in my life, and encourages me. You know, like if I'm getting home, I'm like, I don't know if I feel like jumping on Bible stuff. She's like, you need to. You had a bed that take the time. You're always a better man after. So please.

Chris Grainger 7:28

Amen. We all are. I mean, just that iron sharpening iron, and you know, you you got connected with the lion. Um, if you think back, Doug, over as long as you've been hanging out with us, like where do you think it's been the biggest impact for you?

Doug Mills 7:44

Uh the biggest impact, uh, just definitely spiritual growth, just from surrounding yourself with uh fellow believers. Um just, you know, I mean we have people from all over the country, all over the world now, joining the line, getting their perspectives, their take on passages. Um of the blow me away with their biblical knowledge. I mean, it's just like, wow. Wish I had that wisdom at that age. The things I could have done. And it's I think we even touched on this in the study last night. Um uh you know, basically, it's it's a biblical principle to surround yourself uh with people who

Couples Night And Marriage Momentum

Doug Mills 8:25

will make you a better Christian, a better man. Um and I think uh Dr. Stanley said it the best one time. I was listening to one of his sermons. He said, not that we don't associate or or help, you know, those in need, those are that are not Christians, but he says you gotta be careful hanging out with them too much. He says, I've seen gloves get dirty, I've never seen dirt get glovey. Kind of just being surrounding yourself with people who are gonna make you better uh in your faith, uh being a better husband, being a better dad. It's that's been a big impact of the lion with me.

Chris Grainger 9:07

Amen, brother. I mean, even since you've you've been with the lion, now you're you you've a s you're a granddad now, right? So I mean how old are your how how how's that journey been?

Doug Mills 9:19

That's just such a blessing, Chris. Uh twin boys, they just turned three uh a couple Saturdays ago, and uh they my life has definitely gotten busier, but yeah, it's been a blessing. Just putting up some safety gates yesterday that I didn't know we needed till we had grandkids.

Chris Grainger 9:38

Yeah. Well, especially grandsons. I mean, me having my three my three-year-old little boy, and he's all we can handle right now with and we got the other the girls, but then that boy, and I don't know how your grandsons are, but but God bless your daughter. Because I mean, it's these these boys are different, aren't they?

Doug Mills 9:57

They they they are. I mean, and it is. It is when they come over, it is I I told my wife we were watching them the one Saturday, and we're running around the house. The clock on the oven hadn't changed. I told her, I said, I can't keep this pace up for three hours. How long is Marn gone?

Chris Grainger 10:16

Right. I mean, no doubt about it. Something I guess that's why you get to get to spoil them, then you send them home. You know, that's that's that's that's how that works.

Doug Mills 10:26

That that is true, very true. It's it's it's good to be the grandparent. And and God bless my daughter. I don't know how she does it on her own. Because what it does here, it's it's me and Michelle, both hands on deck.

Chris Grainger 10:37

I mean, it's like if you think if I were, you know, Michelle, your wife, she's not on the the in the podcast with this, but if you think if we were to ask her what

Brotherhood That Shapes Daily Habits

Chris Grainger 10:47

she thinks the biggest impact on you has been from you know, just your time, the time involved with the line, how do you think she would answer that?

Doug Mills 10:57

It's a tough question, but I I I think she would definitely see um, especially the way I am around other women. Um Okay. You know, probably surrounded by guys before who treated women like objects, like, hey, check her out. Hey, take a look at that one, you know, would make comments about women we saw lurk or or like you've brought up before, like, you know, somebody's gonna make a comment about a waitress or something. You know, and that that's not biblical, Chris. It's uh, you know, it and I have transformed into someone who calls people out at work and says, Hey, you know, that that's somebody's daughter. You know, you shouldn't be talking about her like that.

Chris Grainger 11:39

Yeah.

Doug Mills 11:40

Um just those things. Um getting close, you know, immersing myself in the word daily. Uh you know, and then even even little things like the health challenges. I've lost 30 pounds since I joined the line. It's it's Chris, it's better than Ozempic, right? A lot cheaper, too. There you go. There you go.

Chris Grainger 12:05

That's cool, man. Yeah, the health challenges, we don't we don't talk about them enough on the podcast, but they they they I mean right now we're doing that dead hang challenge. Man, I don't know about you, but I got so many new calluses on my hand. I had calluses to start with, but man, that challenge has been challenging. Let's just say that.

Doug Mills 12:24

Right. I I have to say I I bowed out of that one because this right shoulder, as I said, from you, as you know, throwing BP for 10. It did not feel good. I was like, something feels like it's gonna pull out of place. I'm gonna have to give up on this challenge.

Chris Grainger 12:43

Why hear you, brother. Well, I mean, it's you you definitely are a blessing to the lion. Any chance that we get to connect, and anytime you're on a call, you always just have good insights. And there's guys like you, brother, that that that's what makes it as incredible as it is, and God's moving in a mighty way, and he's done some great things in your life since you joined. And I just it's just such an encouragement just to have you in, Doug. So I just wanted to just want you to know that, man.

Doug Mills 13:09

Appreciate that, Chris. Yeah, and I definitely appreciate what you do in the lion. And uh I I had the blessing of seeing one of my nieces that I'd been praying for get baptized last Sunday. And uh yeah, and just the way it affected the whole family. It's like my wife said, she goes, you know, once one of them gets baptized, she said the rest are gonna fall in with the tears I saw in that family's eyes were real happening. I I know they're all not far behind, so that's just such a blessing. And that is, man. The little bit of a sermon uh that he gave just kind of made me think of you and the lion. And it was uh it's from Matthew 21, and it's you know, before Jesus' triumphal entry, and he tells him, you know, go ahead of me, uh, go to the village, and you'll find a donkey tied there in her car. Untie them, bring them to me, for the Lord has need of them. And that's just kind of what you're doing with the lion, Chris. It's like guys are out here tied up by their addictions, their guilt, their sins, and you're untying them from that and bringing them to the Lord because he has need of them. Right.

Chris Grainger 14:20

Amen, bro. Well, thank you for that. I mean, that's what we're trying to do. And it has not been easy. I mean, it's been you've you've witnessed personally. We try stuff, it doesn't work, and we we pivot and make make make changes, and I just think some of that is just part of growing and just trying to be obedient to what God's calling us to do.

Doug Mills 14:43

I I mean, and the growth that has been happening lately is just uh just such a blessing. I mean, and it's something that had been in my prayers for a while for the success of the lion, and it's just

Baptism Joy And Matthew 21

Doug Mills 14:55

it's just great to see the numbers that keep joining and and people are looking for something like this, Chris. You don't get this in a normal church. Right. You you will not find this type of talk and platform in a church where guys are just real with each other and real about their struggles.

Chris Grainger 15:12

Right. Amen, bro. And I'm sure there's probably some guys listening, Doug, and and they've been maybe they found us through the Bible app, which has been probably just our number one partner just to be able to reach people and order the podcast or just different, different you mentioned YouTube, just different areas. And maybe they they're consuming but and they're enjoying what they're hearing, but they haven't taken that step to maybe join the daily SKO. Well, sure there's no excuses for that. That's free. We give that away, so there's no excuses there. Or to the Lion's Den, or maybe considering a mastermind, or whatever, maybe, or coming to one of our uh events. What would be your message to that guy who is listening, but he hasn't taken a step yet?

Doug Mills 15:53

What would be your encouragement to that guy? I mean, it's just don't be afraid, just don't do it. Hey, hey, if you're shy, just slip in and listen for a while. You know, I believe it or not, I'm kind of a shy person. Um you know, to you get to know these guys and just you will naturally open up with the conversation. Um and you're gonna grow exponentially, um, and it's just gonna be a blessing to you. So just give it a shot. I mean some translations say, uh, you know, the Lord said loose them, bring them to me.

Chris Grainger 16:34

You know, untie yourself. Right. Right. Well brother, it's been I'm just so so pumped to have you in. And again, you always bring such so much joy. Becca always knows when I get a text from you, um, because I'm I'm I start laughing and giggling. She's like, What you got? Another dad joke from Doug?

Encouragement To Join And Engage

Chris Grainger 16:55

I'm like, Yep, I did. So it's just I just I'm very appreciative of that. And thank you for just the way you lean in and encourage me and encourage so many guys out to line, brother. Appreciate it. Thanks, Chris. Yes, sir.

Doug Mills 17:10

Well, no, go ahead. You know, that's right. Can't be fantastic. You better be funny.

Chris Grainger 17:17

I'm gonna use that fantastic or funny. I love it. I hadn't heard that one before, so that's good stuff. Well, we're gonna get we're gonna get speaking of funny, we'll get to our dad jokes here in seconds, but our our book of the week this week, guys, is the light shines brightest in Babylon. We've talked about that one uh from Mr. Buck Jacobs, so go check that out. So this week for our dad jokes, I thought we'd just kind of play a little bit of a game. So, Doug, I'm gonna let you fire, I'm gonna fire two at you, then you fire two at me. So I'll vote, you vote for mine, and I'll vote for yours. Is that is that work? Okay. That'll work. Perfect. All right. So um my first one for you is this is this. Is that I just broke up with my mathematician girlfriend. Uh, do you know why I broke up with her, though?

Doug Mills 18:03

Things weren't adding up? I don't know.

Chris Grainger 18:05

Well, that would be a good one, but she was actually obsessed with an ex. So that's that's my first one. That's my first one. It's a good one. The second one is uh if prisoners could take their own mugshots, do you know what they would be called? Then some type of selfie, I'm not sure. Ah selfies.

Doug Mills 18:30

Selfies. Oh my goodness. I did guess that one. You guessed it, but yeah, that's right. That's right. I think I'm going selfie on that one. Going selfie. All right. That's a pretty good one.

Chris Grainger 18:42

All right, he's went with number two. So so now this is the first that I've never I don't know what jokes you're gonna come come with me, so let's go.

Doug Mills 18:51

They're clean, they're good dad jokes. You know, I only know 25 letters of the alphabet, Chris. Only 25.

Chris Grainger 18:58

Yeah, I don't know why. You don't know why. Got it, got it. Okay.

Dad Jokes Game And Voting

Doug Mills 19:04

And this one's topical with uh what's going on with NASA right now. But did you hear about the restaurant on the moon? The restaurant on the moon, no.

Chris Grainger 19:13

The food is fantastic, but there's no atmosphere. I'm with you. I'm gonna go with the second one on those. Okay. All right. Love it, love it. And and something uh that we probably need to let the guys know about though, is uh every Friday we put the dad jokes in the in the lines then. Guys get to vote on them. I always like to see who votes where just to make sure so I can see who votes wrong, right? Because you don't vote what I vote, you know, then I gotta start praying for you. I'm just kidding, guys. Just kidding. But uh but that's funny. I got I do have some guys who tell me they run the dad jokes by their spouse before they vote, just to see, you know, just to get that uh that nod of approval or to that uh that look of of condemnation of like don't come to me with those. So it's a fun part of what we do, man. So thank you for always bringing those jokes to us because they are a big deal. We really enjoy them. All right, sir.

Doug Mills 20:13

We'll keep and anything else today, Doug, you want to touch on, buddy? Uh that that's it, Chris. It's uh it's just been a blessing and uh just enjoying the ride. And uh the great thing about joining, uh, if you can't make the SKO, then you can you can you have access to the recordings. You can catch up on you know that's right. The benefit to me, especially during grass cutting season.

Chris Grainger 20:39

There you go. There you go. Well, Doug, it's been an honor, brother, having you on. Thank you again so much. And uh guys, our question of the week, we're kind of going through the weekend, is who's currently speaking truth and wisdom into your life? Doug mentioned it already, the importance of having those men be able to be open, honest, transparent with. If you don't have them, guys, we got them. We got them at the Lion Within Us, but you got to get connected with us. The LionWithin.us is a great way to get started. So on that website, fellas, if you go there, you'll see several links. First one is the weekly roar. Uh that newsletter now has, I don't know, tens of thousands of guys on that newsletter. God has just been blessing that newsletter. So if you just want a little bit of fun in your inbox every Monday, join that or join a daily SKO. We talked about that already, the daily spiritual kickoff. Or go ahead and just jump into Lions Den. That's where you can connect with guys like Doug, and it's have a lot of fun. We have meetings all throughout the week, opportunities for you to engage. Uh so all sorts of fun stuff there. Live events. We're looking to do more and more live events. We do one in the spring every year, uh, but we're looking to do more and more as we as we God keeps moving, and we'll see what what that's gonna look like, fellas. So again, all that's found at thelinewithin.us. Maybe you want to join us to be a supporter of the show, thelion within.us slash donate. You can be a monthly donor. Just to support what we're doing. That's all. Just greatly appreciated and needed, fellas. So just think about all those things. Give us a rating and review. Doug, thank you again for coming on today. Have a great weekend, fellas, and just keep unleashing the line within. If there's one habit that can change your 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

Weekly Question And Closing Links

Chris Grainger 22:26

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've 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 write the ship when life starts to pull you off a course. So if you're ready, get access today at thelionwithin.us slash guides. That's thelionwithin.uslash guides. And start unleashing the lion within at home by leading your marriage through prayer.