Ever wondered how grace and faith can transform your life? Join us on The Lion Within Us as we unpack the profound meaning behind Ephesians 2:8 and its impact on our daily existence. We'll offer practical ways to integrate scripture into your routine and share insights from our enriching daily spiritual kickoffs. Special guest Jeff Fields, a dedicated law enforcement officer, joins us to discuss his inspiring book "Sober from Sin" and the invaluable support it provides to those serving in the field. Our conversation also touches on balancing praise with prayer, embracing gratitude, and championing ministries that make a real difference in our communities.
As men, we navigate different seasons, seeking guidance to conquer obstacles while remaining steadfast. Discipleship Masterminds is the environment where you not only receive invaluable insights to overcome challenges but also gain profound guidance on the path to becoming the leader God uniquely designed you to be.
Ever wondered how grace and faith can transform your life? Join us on The Lion Within Us as we unpack the profound meaning behind Ephesians 2:8 and its impact on our daily existence. We'll offer practical ways to integrate scripture into your routine and share insights from our enriching daily spiritual kickoffs. Special guest Jeff Fields, a dedicated law enforcement officer, joins us to discuss his inspiring book "Sober from Sin" and the invaluable support it provides to those serving in the field. Our conversation also touches on balancing praise with prayer, embracing gratitude, and championing ministries that make a real difference in our communities.
As men, we navigate different seasons, seeking guidance to conquer obstacles while remaining steadfast. Discipleship Masterminds is the environment where you not only receive invaluable insights to overcome challenges but also gain profound guidance on the path to becoming the leader God uniquely designed you to be.
Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be. I'm your host, chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, guys, it's your fun Friday episode. I'm excited to be here. Let's get right into it. So now you know how we're going to start, just like we start every episode.
Chris Grainger:
Come on, guys, out of Scripture. Okay, so the Scripture this week is in the book of Ephesians, chapter 2. Just one verse. Verse 8 says for is by grace, you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it's a gift from God. I'm telling you, guys this one verse right here. If we can start wrapping our minds around what it actually means, it can do so much for us. So if you need some help with that on figuring out how you can simplify and apply this one verse to your life go back and listen to the spiritual kickoff episodes it should be two episodes back in your feed, and to see some of the insights, some of the lessons that we shared there will help encourage you, because that's what it's all about. Okay, if you like, the spiritual kickoff episodes again, we have a daily spiritual kickoff within our community.
Chris Grainger:
This is those. Again, we have a daily spiritual kickoff within our community. I do this every morning, monday through Friday. Good little willing, every morning, go live inside the community, share some insights around Scripture, how we can simplify and apply it to our life. At the time of the recording, I did Psalm 31. Today, that was one of the ones I did for the guys this morning. We just leaned right into it. We just leaned right. Okay, how can we apply this to our life? So, again, that's a big part of what we do at the line. Within us. We're trying to connect you Christian men together, because we know churches struggle with this. They just do. Men's ministry oftentimes is lacking. So we're trying to be lean in, be authentic, be real, be transparent with each other to give you guys a place that you can just come in and do what God's calling you to do. Sometimes you need help. This is what we're building. So, again, thelinewithinus is where you get all that. Join the community, be part of the Daily Spiritual Kickoff, all right.
Chris Grainger:
So now on Wednesday's episode with Jeff Fields had a lot of fun unpacking his book Sober from Sin, lots of things around law enforcement. He is using that to serve others in such a meaningful way, such a meaningful way. So love the conversation with him, fellas, and go listen to that one for sure. If you have friends that are in law enforcement, that is one that you want to share out, because even if they're not struggling with alcohol or some other addiction, they might not tell you that you're struggling. I guarantee you they're struggling with something, but maybe they have friends that are, or fellow coworkers who are struggling in some of these areas. You want to point them to resources like this that could help them. So such a big deal. Go check that out, guys. Thank you, jeff, for coming on the show. So now for the new listeners out there.
Chris Grainger:
On Fun Friday we do a health, wealth and a self tip. The health is having stronger minds and bodies. The wealth is careers and finances being better stewards of that. The self is just look, how can we be better husbands and fathers? We know that the family's under attack. What can we do to lean into that? So for the health tip, this is more of a mind thing.
Chris Grainger:
Praise over prayer, now. Jeff brought this up, so I just thought you know this is worth leaning into a little bit. Praise over prayer Now, I'm a big prayer guy. I think every guy should have every day spending a lot of time in prayer, and prayer is continual, it's not just a one-time event and then you're done for today. Check my box and live my life. No, you need to be praying at all times, going to the Lord in prayer, talking to him, asking for wisdom, asking for discernment, right that constant communication. But the time when you do enter the prayer, don't forget the praise. So I lead a bunch of different groups Sunday school, there's a couple online type of worship or prayer groups that I get together with, and I always am very intentional about asking for praises and prayer requests, because it's so easy when you get into a setting like this or a situation where you just lay out to God your needs I need this, I need this, I need this, I need this or, even worse, the wants I want, want, want, want.
Chris Grainger:
He's not a vending machine, guys. If you don't take the time to look back and praise him for what he's done for you, you're missing such a great opportunity, because too often we'll miss the blessings that he's just poured out on us, because we're just moving on to the next thing. Well, check that box now. This is what I need next? God, stop. So maybe you need to start your prayers, your time alone with him, with simply praising him, thanking him for what he's done in your life. I know it's simple. Some of you guys may be crushing it, but there's listeners out there who aren't. So for you guys who are not doing this, stop. It's not a vending machine. Start by praising. Maybe the next couple times you go to the Lord in prayer, you just need to do nothing but praise. Simply praise Him, just keep offering Him up. Thank you for this, thank you for that, thank you for this. Bless you, bless you, bless you. Just leave it at that and let that little, small voice speak to you All right Now for your wealth.
Chris Grainger:
Tip guys, promote and advocate, promote and advocate. So what we're talking about here? I want you to promote the work of ministries, seriously the ministries that are out there doing work like the Lion Within Us, like other ministries out there. Promote them, support them with your network, share with other people, because your reach, your impact is so huge. I'm telling you because when you're called to ministry, when you're doing work like I'm doing here at the Lion Within Us, you need advocates. You got to have some advocates out there, my boy. There's a guy in the Lion community I'm not going to say his last name because his name is Adam Probably the biggest advocate that I can think of Always texting me, always checking in with me, always wanting to know what else can he do, what can I see him do? How can he share, how can he promote? And I'm telling you those little bitty steps. They're so huge for us, so huge so you become an advocate for ministry and help extend the voice to a wider audience.
Chris Grainger:
It may sometimes you need to jump in and lean your monetary support for sure, but just promote it Because I'm telling you it can be such a big deal and it can be so uplifting as well. I can tell you, every time that I get a message from him, it's so encouraging, so encouraging. Time that I get a message from him, it's so encouraging, so encouraging. And you talk about the impact that you have. It could have a multiplication effect. So don't just say, well, I'm just one person. No, you are one person. Throw that stone out, make the ripple, see how far it can go and be an advocate for the ones that are supporting you. That's helping you grow, particularly if you have guys, you know again, career finances. We're very big on careers here, like you know what. Hey, I'm asking you to be an advocate for the line within us. If you like to show advocate for us, share it with other people. That's how, that's really how we get the message out.
Chris Grainger:
All right, now your self tip. Think about this Wisdom walks, okay. So think about times where you can have these walks and these interactions with your children to teach them. Because it says in Proverbs start children off on the way they should go, and even when they're old, they will not turn from it. Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they're old, they will not turn from it. So maybe, instead of you know, just turning straight to always be the dad who's throwing them in timeout or spanking them. If you guys are still walking that road, right, hey, look for opportunities to take that wisdom and partake it to the next generation. Okay, use daily interactions. Be intentional about this.
Chris Grainger:
I'll tell you what a wisdom walk looks like for me and my oldest daughter. Right now it's mucking stalls. I know it sounds gross when you have a farm and you're taking care of horses and animals. You got a lot of poop. You have a lot of poop, you need to have some help cleaning it up.
Chris Grainger:
She and I in the mornings or now, because we turn out at night, so usually in the evenings when we muck installs, we're talking. We're just talking about life. I'm sharing with her, just trying to be transparent about what I'm struggling with or how the day was, and she'll do the same thing. But those opportunities for teachable moments, to where I can partake to her things I've learned, hey, I'll ask her sometimes hey, do you want me to just listen here or do you want some advice on this? And sometimes she'll just say, hey, I just need to talk. I'm like, okay, got it. And sometimes she'll say you know what? What do you think, dad? And in those moments I have an opportunity to pass that wisdom on to her.
Chris Grainger:
But it means you have to look for it. You have to look for it, you have to build these things and you have to be intentional about this. Guys. So I know life is so complicated, there's lots of things happening, but any chance you can take to pour some wisdom, particularly some biblical wisdom, into your children, man, it's such a big deal. All right, so your three tips health, wealth and self. That health one was praise over prayer. That wealth one was promote and advocate. And that self tip is guys, think about how you can take that wisdom and just turn and just pour it into them. It could be a walk, or it could be wisdom mucks or, in our case, there you go, all right.
Chris Grainger:
So now the book of the week this week. No surprise for you guys out there on YouTube, right now I'm holding up a copy. It's Sober from Sin A Law Enforcement Veteran's Journey to Unraveling Addiction and Faith, jeff Fields. Absolutely love this conversation with Jeff. He's a great guy. Lives in Raleigh, north Carolina. Daughter, wife, daughter, daughter on the way, super excited for him and his family, some great things happening. But again, this is all about the law enforcement primarily a law enforcement story around Jeff's testimony how he walked away, was able to get that addiction of alcohol out of his life guys and be completely sober, walking a much better path now.
Chris Grainger:
So if you know those that are struggling that need some support, highly, highly, highly encourage you to get a copy of this book. This is not one that's an easy read. Just go ahead and warn you that right now there's some definitely some hard hitting things inside this book, but it's meaningful. It definitely will serve those who are struggling in such a big way. So maybe this is a book you want to gift to someone. If you know someone that is struggling with this, this would be a great way to say hey, you're not alone, because they're not. All right.
Chris Grainger:
Now let's get to our dad jokes. So dad jokes this week. We always do two dad jokes each and every week. Dad joke number one is what do you call a boomerang that won't come back? Think about that for a second. I will call it a stick. So there you go. That's what you call a boomerang that won't come back. Number two why don't oysters donate to charity? Because they're shellfish. So I think I know which one I like most this week. So number one what do you call a boomerang that won't come back? Well, that's just a stick. Number two why don't oysters donate to charity? Because they're a shellfish. So that's a hard one to even say. So let us know which one you like.
Chris Grainger:
Fellas, again, our rules totally count when it comes to the dad jokes. If you get a little nudging inside, you're good. If you get a slight grin from his spouse, you know we nailed it. Okay, all right, that's it Now. If you have a dad joke that you'd like for us to share, send it to support at thelinewithinus. That's support at thelinewithinus. We'll share that on the show. I'll send you a personalized thank you as well, just for taking the time to come on, taking the time rather, to send it in, and I would love to bring that on the show and share your dad joke with the world, all right?
Chris Grainger:
So the question of the week this week, guys, is how do you explain grace to others and I know that can be a difficult topic or even idea to wrap our heads around the whole idea of what grace is. So think about that in your personal life. What does grace look like to you? You know, if you had to sit down with someone else and say, okay, this is how the grace of God is impacting me in my life, what does that look like? And then share with others. Others need to hear what the grace, particularly the grace that God has poured out upon for you, how it manifests itself. Okay, so, fellas, think about that stuff Again.
Chris Grainger:
Thelinewithinus is how you connect with us directly, for all our resources, all the ways to try to help people. We have our Summit Leadership Development for you guys who are trying to figure out how you can be more ethical business leaders and making more morally based decisions right in your business. So that's the summit leadership development. We have our community, where we're connecting with guys all the time and inside the community, we have our discipleship mastermind groups where, if you want to grow to be a true disciple of Christ, this is where you have to jump in. This is where you need to lean in and think about being intentional about this. We have a daily spiritual kickoff where we're leaning into that every day, helping you be the leader that God intends you to be by showing you how you can apply this scripture to your life.
Chris Grainger:
Then we have our devotionals on YouVersion. So go get the most popular Bible app in the world, the Bible app fellas. That's what is out there. Search for the Lion Within Us. We have close to 30 devotionals on YouVersion right now. Tons and tons and tons of resources out there to help you. And all this, everything I just talked about can be found at thelionwithinus. That's thelionwithinus. Make sure you connect with us on YouTube. Subscribe to our channel there. Obviously, we're on Facebook and other social media channels, but YouTube's already spent a lot of our time. We put lots of shorts, lots of things out there to try to help you with the most. And then the lion withinus Jump on our mailing list. Get our 30 days to unleash the lion within. Get the seven days to more ethical business decisions. Get the seven days to a more ethical business decisions. Guys, we have lots and lots of resources out there to help you be the leader that god has called you to be all right, so get after it. Have a great day, great weekend, stand firm and, again, just look for every opportunity that you can to unleash the lion within.
Chris Grainger:
If you're a man just looking for greater spiritual guidance into how to become a better leader, finding resources that you can trust and then implement can be daunting For me personally. I thought it was a lost cause and I decided to take the action, knowing that I wasn't alone. It was because of this wide gap that we created our Lion Withinist community, and the areas that we're helping Christian men grow are incredible. For instance, we've built ways for guys to lean in and grow through fun events like our daily spiritual kickoff, where you get that much-needed boost directly from God's Word, our Bible studies that always focus on how to discern and apply what we learn, and even our amazing forum where you can speak your mind without fear of getting shut down or judged by the extreme rules of modern day social media. On top of all that, we know that many men won't help overcoming issues and becoming stronger in many different areas. That's why we created several mastermind groups where the iron truly sharpens iron.
Chris Grainger:
Our community is about having a growth mindset, accountability, intentionality and transparency. In other words, just leave fake you at home and come to community just as you are. I fully believe what we've built. I see the impact it's making on men right now and I would love to have you check it out. So start your very own 30-day free trial today to see how we can help you be a better leader. So if you're ready to take that first step, head over to thelinewithinus and get started. Your journey begins here. Visit thelinewithinus and I'll see you inside the den.
