Scripture, Daily SKO, And Invitations

Chris Grainger 1:34

Welcome to the Line Within Us, podcast serving Christian men. We're hungry to be the leaders, God intends you to be. I'm your host, Chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, guys, this is your member Spotlight. But before you get to meet our awesome member, I'd like to share with you the scripture of the week, and that's Mark 9, verse 24. Immediately, the boy's father cried out and said, I do believe, but help my own belief. Beautiful verse, guys. I unpacked it at length in a spiritual kickoff episode. So go back and listen to that one. Then we had my buddy Ryan on Wednesday's episode. So hopefully you guys enjoyed listening to him, his powerful testimony, the things that God is doing in his life. And if you guys enjoy the spiritual kickoff, we have it Monday through Friday called a daily SKO at The Lion Within Us. Go head over to thelionwithin.us, get started with that. It's our free way that we just want to serve you, encourage you, equip you to walk with you right through God's word. Like for instance, right now we're working through the Gospel of John, and God seem to be really encouraged by that, fellas. So the LionWithin.us is where you get that. It also comes with access to our prayer request space where we'd love to know how we can pray for you. And every Monday, we have a prayer meeting. So we'd love to have you join that as well. And on top of all that, if you're in a continental U.S., we have a free gift we'd like to extend your way. So just sign up for it at the daily for the daily SKO at the linewithin.us. All right, that's enough of hearing me jab around with us. Let's get into it with our

Meet Scott And His Family

Chris Grainger 2:54

awesome members. I'd like to introduce you guys to Scott Spencer. So, Scott, how are you doing today, my friend? How are things going for you?

Scott Spencer 3:02

I am doing exceptional, brother. You know, uh God's been doing wondrous things in my life, you know, recently. So glad to be here and you know chatting with you today.

Chris Grainger 3:14

Man, I'm beyond excited, man. Beyond excited Scott for sure. I mean, maybe just get our our listeners just a little introduction. Uh just introduce yourself, if you will, where you're from, family, things like that, and then maybe how'd you come to know the Lord?

Scott Spencer 3:29

Uh so my name's Scott. I live in uh the West Michigan area, been here my whole life. Um married my high school sweetheart. Um been together, let's see. 16 years as a couple and seven married come October. Um Lord's bless us with two beautiful daughters. Yeah, man, I'm I'm at the point in my life. You know, I'm 33. I'm looking at I've shared half of my life with this woman. She's seen me at my mountaintops and at my lowest valleys, and you know, thank the Lord. She's been through you know, been through it all with me the whole time, and you know, couldn't be more blessed with the the family he's given me. That's so great, man. Uh as far as my walk with the Lord. Uh yeah, share that. We'd love to hear that. I was born and raised in a Christian home. Uh went every Sunday, listened to gospel music around the dinner table, and uh my my parents worked hard to provide for us uh and in every in every facet, including spiritually, and you know, setting a good example for us and everything. Uh, me and my my little sister. Um, and it was that routine. One of my most cherished things growing up is every Sunday we'd go to church, come home and like clockwork, pizza rolls and mac and cheese every Sunday. Dad and I would dip out after that, go play around to golf and you know, praising the Lord with some songs on the way through. And you know, it was it was awesome, you know, growing together as a family and with Christ along that way.

Bullying, Isolation, And Hidden Addiction

Scott Spencer 5:27

Um but unfortunately, my my dad was in the National Guard, and after the events of 9-11, he uh his unit would get activated. Um so you know that was 2005 that my dad's unit got deployed, and that would be the period of my life that my faith started to waver, and I would ultimately end up walking away uh from my faith. And so in that time I was starting middle school. My hometown had three elementary schools that convened into one middle school, so I'm surrounded by a bunch of kids I don't know. My dad, who's my best friend and hero, isn't there, and I'm a math nerd, band geek, Christian kid, which is kind of the trifect of weird or uncomfortable that bullies seem to gravitate towards. Uh so you add to that me being emotional at school with my dad being gone and not knowing if I'd ever see him alive again. I the bullying was relentless, you know, humiliation constantly and not knowing why I deserved anything like that, this rough treatment. And I go home, talk to my mom, and my mom, you know, bless her heart. I didn't know it then, but you know, here I am getting frustrated because my mom doesn't have the tools to help me with my you know, my struggles I'm going through because my mom didn't have the energy to be there for herself. Unfortunately, I didn't see that as a 12, 13-year-old boy. And of course, that's a time when the testosterone's really kicking in. So I decided I'm gonna be the man of the house. And you know, in a moment that I should have leaned on my faith and my community more, I just started relying on myself. Um, add to that some unsupervised access to the internet, and my longtime vice of pornography would enter my life. Uh I was a monkey on my back for 20 years, and you know, it seemed that through my life, the more I walked away from the Lord, the deeper I walked into these hidden behaviors, uh, shameful things that took over my life, that the only solace I had in that was to drown them out with food addiction, with alcoholism, and video game addiction, that any way I could possibly numb my senses, that's what I resorted to just to deal with the shame of the life that I had been living. And that carried through from my twenties all the way up until really rather recently. Um I the Lord saved me from alcoholism in 2023. Um, I guess I'll I'll back up a little bit. So in 2020, my first my first daughter was born. Uh right at the start of COVID. So we're in a time of a lot of chaos and turmoil, we had something that helped us keep it all together, me and the wife. So uh that was a blessing, and was also the first eye-opening experience for me that you know, if I couldn't get my life together for me, I at least need to do it for my wife and my my little girl here. You know, they deserve the best for me. Um so I've been working on my my food addiction. I've been getting better about eating good whole foods, and I'd go into McDonald's three times a day. Um and then in 2023, I the Lord used some people in my life uh that I was working with to do a program uh called 75 Hard, and one of the bits in that was you need to be completely sober from alcohol for 75 consecutive days, not a drop, or you'd start the program over again. Um I wasn't walking with the Lord at that time, but I know that uh he was keeping an eye on me, and that that 75 days has now become three and a half years that I've been sober. Um let's see here, looking at my notes. I'm a rambler, so I tried to prepare a little bit before.

Chris Grainger 10:54

You're good, bro. Just take your time.

Scott Spencer 10:58

Uh so I I'd be in alcoholism, I'd given up the video games, and you know, wasn't turning to food as a vice anymore, really, either. Uh, but the shameful habit still remained. And so my coping mechanisms were gone. I didn't know how to deal with it. And so what ensued for a span of two and a half years was a downward spiral of shame and just worsening behavior. Um the the act became the coping mechanism at that point. Just it was the only way I knew how to disassociate. Um I was headed down a very, very dark path with that. Um just it controlled my life. Um the thoughts and images in my head were just never-ending. Um and then late last year, uh in September, I was at the end of my work day, and I uh get ready

A Sudden Wake Up And Confession

Scott Spencer 12:16

to clock out. I'm looking at my phone, and first thing on my social media feed, I watched a man lose his life. Uh a man married, two girls, whole life ahead of him, and his life was snuffed out in an instant. That gave me pause to reflect on you know the brevity of this life and where I'm going if I were you know to meet a similar fate, that my life was taken for me and at an instant, unplanned, you know, young, you know, could die in a car crash on the way home from work. And thought came in the back of my head of if you were to die today, like in an accident or a tragedy like that, where are you going? And brother, there was not a shadow of a doubt in my mind where that was, and it's not where we want to be. In that moment, I was I was fully convicted. You know, I I still wasn't a believer at this point. Um, you know, God calls you and chooses you long before you accept his call. And you know, this was a time that he was working in me, and I hadn't slept in a couple days because of the anxiety over the fact I need to tell my wife about these things that I've been hiding from her for all these years, and finally I I I built up the courage and and I told her, brother, as someone who had walked away from the Lord for a long time, and I've I've struggled with knowing what love and grace truly looks like and feels like when when I aired out my my vices and my grievances to my wife, she had every right to be angry to condemn me and to walk away. And what I received was Christ-like compassion and grace instead. She saw a broken man, but she saw the potential within that broken man. Right. Right. And it was such a weight lifted off my shoulders because man, the the vice may have still remained at that time, but I wasn't fighting it alone. I had this beautiful woman I call my best friend, my my partner in this life. She was on my side. I didn't have to be afraid of it anymore. I wasn't carrying that weight anymore. Um So for the few months afterward that followed, I'd go through this same cycle over and over again, where I'd be good for a few days to a few weeks, and then something would happen, and I'd you know be bored, have too much free time on my hands, and I'd slip into the same old vices again. Um then January of this year, I did something a little different. Uh before the shame set in when I had succumbed to my vice.

A Kitchen Floor Prayer And Renewal

Scott Spencer 15:51

I prayed. Something I hadn't done in fifteen years at this point. And and that's where the Lord met me. That's where he found me. On my knees, face down in my my kitchen floor, bawling my eyes out, asking Lord, deliver me from this, because I clearly don't have the strength to do this on my own. Right. Make me anew, save this sinner. And in that moment, I've I felt 2 Corinthians 5.17 in real time, the voices in my head, the images that played on repeat gone in an instant. I don't know how familiar you know people are with um how your brain works when it comes to habits and you know neural pathways that have been reinforced for, you know, in my case at this point, 20 years. That simply doesn't go away overnight. It doesn't happen. It takes a long time, continual effort to make that happen. But not for God. God saw this broken man, saw that I was a sinner in need of a savior, and my arms were wide open on that kitchen floor. And he said, I see you through all of the darkness, but that's not who you are. Doesn't have to be who you are anymore. That's not who I intended you to be. But this is the life that I've wanted you to live. And like snapping my fingers, everything changed. The way I see the world, the peace that came over me in that moment. Sounds amazing, bro. About a month after that, I uh would reach out to a longtime professional mentor of mine for spiritual advice. He recommended finding a church, because you know, you can't do this alone. We collectively are the body of Christ. A body you know doesn't work if each cell is off doing his own thing. Uh and so I got plugged into a church uh in March. Um you know, been a part of the the men's ministry there uh for the last handful of months now. And you know the the beautiful thing to me with my my walk with Christ is you know the the miracle you performed on me is is cool. I I'm grateful, you know, more than anything for that. Um but more than that, it's the blessing of getting to see you know me become the leader that God intended me to be and the impact it's having on my family. Yeah. You know, my my wife is a similar situation of I'm you know not really walking with the Lord for for many, many years. And when I told her I was planning on going to church, she told me, you know, that's that's cool, you can do your thing. I don't know if I'll ever feel comfortable going to church. I didn't pressure it because you know it's it's our own journeys. I prayed for her every day that the Lord would work on her in some sort of way. On that night, when I came home from that Saturday night service, I was talking to her about my experience and everything, and that never became a give me a month or two. Mm-hmm. And then Palm Sunday, she was talking about Easter Sunday plans and brought up herself about our whole family going. We've gone to church together every Sunday since. It's been three and a half, almost four months now going regularly together, uh you know, seeing her changing in like the kind of music she listens to, the way she responds to situations, uh the just the atmosphere in our household with between us and our kids and just getting to see them, you know, the um my wife and my girls grow themselves in their faith, being there right next to them, facilitating that relationship with them as much as I can, however I can. It's so awesome. Sounds like it, bro. For sure.

Chris Grainger 21:16

Definitely proud of you and this in the journey and the steps you're taking, man. And and what point did you find a

Finding Brotherhood Through The Lion

Chris Grainger 21:21

line? How what was the connection point there for you, Scott?

Scott Spencer 21:26

Um, so my mentor that I reached out to, he uh his other bit of advice after saying to plug into a church was to build up a habit of staying in the word regularly. And so he sent me a link to this devotional plan through uh the UVersion Bible app. Yeah. And it was it was your 30-day plan about being combat ready and everything. We walked through it together. That's 30 days doing everything, chatting back and forth about the perspective we gleaned from it and everything. And I I really like the way that it was all structured and got to the end there and saw you know the the trial for the lion's den. And you know, I I'm really bad about isolating, about pushing people off and thinking I've got to do everything myself. So I know that brotherhood is something that I need more than anything. Um so I decided to give it a try. I've been in a couple online men's groups and stuff before, but it was nothing rooted in faith, and I knew this was kind of a direction I needed to go, and so I checked it out, and here I am a few months later, still in there, joined the mastermind, and that's been as great as the lion itself is, the mastermind just takes it to a whole new level, brother. Yeah. Well share share with the guys. Wow, why why why would you say that? I'm just curious, which from your perspective. I I would say just the the way it's structured is you know, gets you that closer proximity because you're meeting with the group of guys on a consistent basis. You know, you're on a call, you're not just typing things down. So you're not hiding behind a screen. You're raw, you're real with each other. And with that comes accountability. And you can have all the plans for getting your life together until life hits you in the face. You trip up, you get knocked down, and having a group of brothers that are around you. How's that been going for you? Asking questions. And I'm either going to have some good stuff to report or I'm going to have a little bit of a mirror check with that. And the accountability that's just built right into it is it's exceptional. Yeah.

Chris Grainger 24:28

That's so great, man. So great to hear that you're getting a lot of value out of it. I know you you bring a ton to your to your group for sure. And yeah, I mean, if you think about you know where you're at right now in your discipleship journey, how do you think the lion has aided in that in any way? And we may not have. I'm just curious from your perspective, what's what's been the biggest aid in helping you grow in your walk with Christ?

Scott Spencer 24:54

I mean, first and foremost, is just example. You know, I I see from uh the way you and Adam and uh you know Stephen and the guys with the line are interacting with others and just guys within the line themselves, how they you know build each other up, and everything is rooted heavily in scripture and you know, just be in that role model, that Paul that I didn't have in my life, you know, having several Paul-like characters that I can rely on that you know, Adam Rushy and I talk on a regular basis. If I've got especially anything with the word that I I'm not quite sure if I understand it right, I text that guy, ask him any sorts of questions, and super big wealth of knowledge there. Uh I had talked about doing a um kind of like a Bible study with my wife, and I wasn't really sure how to structure it, and he was a wealth of insight on that. Um yeah, and then just too, seeing that I'm not alone, like the struggles that I've got, so many other guys are struggling with, and I'm maybe a little further along in you know walking with the Lord through some of those struggles, and they'll give me opportunities to have a Timothy in my life as well, and getting those reps in to practice discipleship and uh you know getting poured into and poured into others. You know, the the whole platform is conducive for that.

Chris Grainger 26:47

And I mean there may be guys listening as well, Scott, that that they're on the fence, they haven't joined they haven't taken a step with the lion, whether it's the daily SQ or the Lion Stand or the Mastermind application. What would be your message of encouragement to that guy?

Scott Spencer 27:02

What would you say to him if you had a chance to tap him on the shoulder and tell him about it? I'd say, you know, it's the whole reason I jumped in, you know, you're not gonna find out until you find out. Right. You know, it's the SKO, it's it's free. You know, we're working through John slowly, you know, handful of verses at a time, getting that deep dive. You know, it's one thing to spend time in the word, but it's another thing to go through it with guys that understand it far better than you. So even if it's just the SKO, like getting to understand God's word better. You know, you want to hear you want to hear from the Lord, read that thing. But if you can't understand it, you know, you're not really getting anywhere. And so the the SKO, especially, you know, in the prayer request space, if you've got anything, you know, again, don't isolate you know, the prayer request space. You've got things weighing heavy on your heart. You know, I'm going through a a career change after 10 years working in one field that weighs heavy on my heart. But I put something in the the prayer request space, and I know you brothers are praying it up because the the peace that's come over me in the last couple days over that is unmatched. You know, these guys are intentional about lifting that up, and it's powerful. You know, and with the Lion's Den having a couple areas where if you've got specific things going on with the husband space and you know the the health space has been blowing up lately, and you know we we live in an in an age where access to information is unparalleled. You can get anything you could ever think of in your back pocket, but if you don't know how to utilize that or understand it or hold yourself accountable to using the things that you've learned, it's not really going to go anywhere. And the lion with that is awesome. You know, having a band of brothers, making connections, reaching out to somebody, you know, whether they're, you know, 25 years old or 75 years old, there's a brother in there that's been through similar stuff that can maybe offer you a helping hand to not trip over some things that they've tripped on in their walk. Right. Well said, brother. Well said.

Chris Grainger 29:50

Well you definitely are an encouragement to me and to the so many of the guys in the lion I know Scott just because I hear it from them. So man, I really appreciate you just taking the time and sharing your testimony today, brother. It's been an absolute honor working with you, man.

Scott Spencer 30:02

And anything else you'd like to share before we kind of wrap up here at the end?

Hope For The Broken Plus Dad Jokes

Scott Spencer 30:09

Um I I guess I would say whether it whether you're a believer or not, if you think that your past is too dark, you're too broken, number one, you're wrong. And number two, you don't have the authority to make that decision anyway. That comes from the Lord. And when Jesus said it is finished, he was talking to you. No matter what you've been through, what's been done to you, or what you've done to others, nothing excludes you from the work that Jesus did on that cross. Brother, that's it.

Chris Grainger 30:55

Well, Scott, it's been an honor having you all, man. And before we wrap up today, guys, our book of the week is the Godwork Trusting. So that's Ryan's book. Told you guys about that earlier, so go check it out. And Scott, since you're a dad, I'd like to run a couple dad jokes by you, man. So you willing to play along?

Scott Spencer 31:11

Well, for sure, I'd love to add more things to my repertoire here. Love torturing my kids with those things.

Chris Grainger 31:18

All right, man. All right. Well, I got these from John Murray. So so thank you, John, for sending these in. So, what do you call a toothless bear?

Scott Spencer 31:25

Do you know what that's called, Scott? I I can't imagine. Hit me, Chris. Yeah, gummy bear, man. Gummy bear.

Chris Grainger 31:37

So there you go. That's use it, use that one with your little ones. There you go. Literally. There you go. And gifts it keeps on giving. And uh, how about the the second one? Is what kind of milk comes from a pampered cow? Do you not like a pampered cow?

Scott Spencer 31:52

What do you think there, Scott? It's too early for me to be thinking this hard. Hit me.

Chris Grainger 32:03

That's okay. Well, spoiled milk. So there you go. So if they're pampered, they're spoiled. So which one do you like the best? Number one or number two, buddy?

Scott Spencer 32:16

I'm gonna have to go with the gummy bear. That's that's right up my kids' alley. They're singing and dancing along with that gummy bear song. Right. So that's there you go. That's gonna be I'm gonna have to hit them with that when I get home from work today. I'll have to know later. I'll let you know later how they how they like that one.

Chris Grainger 32:37

Yeah, for sure, brother. Let me know where that one lands with them. And uh, and guys, if you're listening, we put these dad jokes out every Friday. So today, if you're listening to this podcast when it comes, when it when it's released, they always release on a Friday. And we put them out as a poll. And the cool part about it in the Lions Den, if you're a member, you can vote on it, and then you get to pick on the guys who who select wrong. So we know how Scott's gonna be voting today. And when you guys who who vote against him, you guys can kind of jab at each other anyway. I'm just kidding, guys. But that's we do put the poll out there. We'd love to see where you vote on it. And uh that's all found at the linewithin.us, guys. And our question of the week this week, oh, and thanks again, John John Murray, for sending those dad jokes in. And our question of the week is where are you struggling to trust Jesus right now? And we all have times and moments in life where we struggle, and okay, and that's it doesn't mean that our faith is dwelling, it just means we're human. So if you're struggling to trust him, uh, we'd like to encourage you. And I would encourage you personally, if you're struggling to trust Christ right now, just get in his word even more. Just get into his word even more, and just let that word get inside of you. And then at that point, just lean in, okay? So we'd love to walk with you, we'd love to encourage you, we'd love to pray for you. Guys, that's all found at the linewithin.us. So, Scott, thank you so much again, brother, for coming on today. It's been an honor to have you on, my friend.

Scott Spencer 33:56

Hey, I appreciate you know taking the time to chat with me and hear a bit of my story, man. If I can be an inspiration, even one brother out there who's struggling, then you know the Lord's working through me.

Chris Grainger 34:08

Amen, brother. Amen. Well, guys, can to connect with Scott and other wonderful guys just like him, go to thelionwithin.us. We'd love to have you in. Join the daily SKO, join the Lions 10. Uh, if you're listening, give us a rating and review, share us, uh, share the podcast out with others. We definitely that we'd love for you guys to do that. Get a copy of our book, Unleashing the Lion Within. And uh check out our events page, guys. We're doing a lot more of events and speaking and trying to encourage guys in their walks. So the events page is constantly changing. So go check that out. Other than that, fellas, have a great day. We'll see you next time. Keep unleashing the lion within.

New Husbands Support Group Announcement

Chris Grainger 34:49

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 line within our 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 bad to great. So inside, you'll find an active chat and a feed honest conversation 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 home. Now, if you want access to this support group, it's very simple. Go to thelionwithin.us and join the Lions Dan. Okay, that's the LionWithin.us. Start your 30-day free trial of the Lions Dan community, and boom, you have instant access to the committed and occasionally confused support group. We'll see you inside the den.