394. Transforming Faith: From House Cat To Lion - Fun Friday
Jul 05, 2024
Chris Grainger
Are you ready to transform from a "house cat" to a "lion" in your faith? Discover how Christian men can shine like stars in a world that often feels crooked and depraved by embracing the teachings of Philippians 2:14-15. We discuss practical ways to honor God in your daily grind, stressing the importance of spiritual preparation akin to donning the armor of God. Alongside, we'll share three actionable tips to enhance your health, wealth, and self, with an emphasis on the rejuvenating power of spending time outdoors to nourish your spirit and deepen your connection with God's word.
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.
Are you ready to transform from a "house cat" to a "lion" in your faith? Discover how Christian men can shine like stars in a world that often feels crooked and depraved by embracing the teachings of Philippians 2:14-15. We discuss practical ways to honor God in your daily grind, stressing the importance of spiritual preparation akin to donning the armor of God. Alongside, we'll share three actionable tips to enhance your health, wealth, and self, with an emphasis on the rejuvenating power of spending time outdoors to nourish your spirit and deepen your connection with God's word.
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 with you, so let's get right into it.
Chris Grainger:
We're in the book of Philippians this week. Okay, philippians, chapter 2, verses 14 and 15. It says do everything without complaining or arguing. All right. So for you guys who are still listening, let's keep going Probably some of you guys have checked out by now so that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault, in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe. Love that scripture. Guys.
Chris Grainger:
Go back and listen to the spiritual kickoff episode, because this week we talked a lot about how you can actually do that be that shining star, right. How we can do that by producing the fruit of the spirit in our life, by getting complaining and arguing out of it. How you can go to your workplace, not just for you, the pastors that are listening, but for you guys who are in the secular workforce. How you can go out, not just for you, the pastors that are listening, but for you guys who are in the secular workforce, how you can go out there and you can be set apart, how you can do your part to share the good news of the gospel with others, just by your actions. And that's really what I talked about with my buddy, jared Haley when we came on. We had a conversation about how can we be intentional about honoring God in our workplace and the professions that we've chosen, where God has called us to. You know, and what does that look like? So we've had a lot of good conversations about the importance of making sure that we're in the Word ourselves, that we have a spiritual mentor that's guiding and directing us, that we're putting practices in place so that we can be ready to go out for the battle.
Chris Grainger:
Jared talked specifically about putting the armor of God on every day, you know, putting on that belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, that shield of faith, picking that thing up, the feet of the gospel, that helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, and being ready to go out. And then the reason why Christian men that are going out to the workforce you need to be prayed up every day Like you would not go out. Let's just be for real. Let's just talk for you guys for a second. You wouldn't go out of the home in the morning headed to work without any clothes on, would you? So why in the world would you go out without putting your armor on? No, you're going into a battle, a Navy SEAL. Before they enter to the battlefield, what are they doing? They are getting prepared so that when they enter the battlefield they are ready, because they don't know what's going to come. But they know one thing the bad guy's out there and I need to do all I can to be ready to battle the bad guy when I encounter him.
Chris Grainger:
And we have to have the same mindset as Christian men, as believers out here who are going out to do what God's calling us to do. You're in a battle, whether you recognize it or want to admit it or not. You can live in denial all you want to, but you are in a battle and you can either cower over in the corner, okay, or you can put on an armor and let's go. And the line within us. Here's where I'm at fellas a lot with my writing and my thinking lately. I'm done trying to cater to the house cats. Nope, this is not for the house cats. This is for the lions. There's a clear differentiation there. Now here's the crazy part House cats can turn into lions. Okay, we can help you with that. Again, this is what the Lion Within us is all about. This is what our community is all about. This is what the Summit Leadership Development is all about All the resources we put out, helping guys to lean in, to be the leader God's called them to be. So if you feel like you know what, chris man I don't know if I like that, maybe I am a little bit of a house cat, I get it, I was a house cat tendencies okay, I'll tell you one thing I'm trying to pursue to be a lion every day. Some days I get a lot closer than others. And I know another thing I need fellow brothers in Christ alongside me on the journey, and so do you All right. So, guys, let's get right into it.
Chris Grainger:
For our Fun Friday episode, we always do our three tips our health, wealth and self. For you new listeners out there, that's a. Health is your mind and body. How do we firm that up? Make it stronger? For our wealth, we've got to be better stewards of our finances and our career. And for self, that's being a stronger husband, it's a better dad, it's more intentional dads okay, so let's get right there.
Chris Grainger:
So the health tip, fellas, think about this Sunshine in Scripture, okay, sunshine in Scripture. So spend some time outdoors every day. You need to get some of that natural light, some of that vitamin D, because it says right here in Matthew 5, 45, you may be the children of your Father in Heaven. He causes His Son to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain to the righteous and unrighteous. So, fellas, we need to recognize let's get out there.
Chris Grainger:
It provides that vitamin D, like I've already said, but it uplifts our spirit it really does, and it's reminding us of God's impartial love for his creation. He just absolutely loves everything about us. And then why don't we want to get out here? And when you start pairing that time outdoors with him, it's just going to enhance everything for you. It's going to make you feel better, physically, mentally, spiritually. You'll be grounded in god's word and I just know, for me, I feel closest to christ and to god, just to be when I'm outside. I'm inside right now.
Chris Grainger:
But we, we, the way we designed the studio when we moved was I told my wife to look back, I got to be able to see nature. I got to be able, right here. So, even when I'm working, I can be out here doing what God is calling me to do. And yes, edit that please even when I'm working, I can be out here doing what God has called me to do and be able to see His creation, nature. So, fellas, make sure you're spending that time in sunshine, in Scripture, each and every day.
Chris Grainger:
All right, now wealth tip Consistent contributions. Okay, consistent contributions. Now I want you to think very intentionally about the ministries that you choose to support, and this could be through financial giving, like we're talking about for wealth here, or it could be volunteering time or resources. We know Scripture tells us that we should set aside certain sums of money to help with supporting others, and consistency in giving really helps these ministries grow, because if you're in a ministry and if you're in a ministry like the Lion Within Us, we have donors who are consistently donors, and it helps us plan for the investments that we want to make. It helps us offset, obviously, the expenses and things like that. But I can tell you one thing it gives you a firm foundation to execute the mission effectively.
Chris Grainger:
Okay, so regular contributions I'm not talking about regular contributions for the Lion Within If you want to do that, great, we'd love to have your support but just regular contributions or whatever that you feel like God's calling you to support. Be a part of that. You know we have several regular contributions outside the tithe for our church, so we do that faithfully. We have other places that are more like pro-life type things for adopting kids, and we even have a pre-born ministry that we support. There's lots of things we can do with these ministries that align to our values what we see as important, but go ahead and automate it, be consistent with it. Our values what we see as important, but go ahead and automate it, be consistent with it. Give them that monthly monetary support, because it goes such a long way and we as believers, as Christians, we have to start speaking with our wallet, our wallet, to make that connection Right. So, anyway, consider doing that. If you don't, if you're not doing that right now, definitely you start reaching that, researching that, have the conversations with your spouse and you know what, if the Lion Within us is providing you value, you know what I like to support these guys on a regular basis. We'd love to have you. You can go over to the lionwithinus slash donate, you can be a monthly partner, and that would be amazing.
Chris Grainger:
All right, now the self-tip. I actually had another self-tip written. Now to self-tip. I actually had another self-tip written. Then, after my conversation with Jared, I was like you know what? I'm going to edit this, because what he gave he gave it in the episode but we were going pretty fast so you may have missed it. He said this thing about decide, don't slide. So decide, don't slide. And what he really was pointing to there was making a conscious decision instead of just sliding into something.
Chris Grainger:
Okay, and as relationships grow with our spouse, relationships with our kids, you can find yourself very reactional and while that has its place, you have to be careful Because if you're making reactionary decisions as a leader, you have a very high probability of making a bad one, particularly when it comes down to financial decisions. Ok, but if you and your spouse have laid the groundwork, ok, we've decided as a family, this is, or as a couple, this is, this is a non-negotiable. We're going to stick to this, whatever this is. And when that, when things come up that would pull you off, you can go right back to that? Nope, this is a conscious decision that we've made. Off, you can go right back to it. Nope, this is a conscious decision that we've made. We're not going to vary from it. Okay, so be careful. If you find yourself constantly sliding into trouble, stop, put some boundaries up, be intentional about this and then make the decision to decide instead of sliding All right. So your three tips, guys health, wealth and self. That health is sunshine In Scripture, that wealth tip is consistent contributions and that self tip is decide, don't slide, all right.
Chris Grainger:
Now the book of the week. This week I'm pulling up one from my old buddy, jd Greer. It's 12 Truths and a Lie Answers to Life's Biggest Questions, and he really goes through some good ones here. I was able to get this at a conference that they had at the Summit Church, which was really great. So some of the questions are how can I know for sure I'll go to heaven? What's the most important prices in a Christian's life? I believe in God, so why do I still struggle with anxiety? How should Christians handle political differences? If I'm a Christian, why do I keep sinning and much, much more? How about this one? Why does God care so much about my sex life. You ever ask that question right there. So this book right here is really good. Jd does just a phenomenal job of just laying out in each chapter what we should consider from God's Word around some of the myths that are out there. Some of the myths that are out there and what do we need to do to combat that myth with the truth. This is not JD's truth, this is God's truth and this is what's so important. Okay, so go check that one out, fellas 12 Truths and a Lie.
Chris Grainger:
If you're looking for a good book resources for you, thelionwithinus book is where we have all our books of the week. Check out your resources and feel free to plug into them. Check out your resources and feel free to plug into them. Most of the times, 10 times well, I'd say nine and a half times out of 10, I've read every book on that page. Some of them I'm still working through, but it's such a big deal, okay, just to put good content in our brains.
Chris Grainger:
So now let's get to our dad jokes, fellas, our dad jokes this week. Dad joke number one what do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire? Well, you get frostbite. Well, everybody knows that's what. That is right. So that's it. Snowman and a vampire. You get frostbite. Number two why don't eggs tell jokes? Because they crack each other up. Obviously, if they tell jokes, they get cracked. So anyway, let us know, guys, which one do you like best? What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire? Frostb guys, which one do you like best? What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire? Frostbite. Number two why don't eggs tell jokes? Because they crack each other up. So let me know again Eye rolls totally count. If it's a dad joke, if it just gets that little huh out of your teenager, hey, that may not be a bad dad joke after all. And if you have dad jokes that you want us to use support at thelionwith10.us, email us your dad jokes. We'll send you out some free swag for helping us out and give you a shout out on the show. All right?
Chris Grainger:
So the question of the week this week is how does the world identify you as a father of christ? This has to be a personal thing, guys you can't think about. How does the world identify my neighbor or my co-worker? I can't tell if they're a Christian or not. Instead of all that, focus how they are identifying you as a follower. And if they can't, okay, what do you need to do to change that? Take some corrective action, particularly in your workplace how they are identifying you as a follower of Christ in your workplace. I'm not talking about the coffee cup that you use that has a Bible verse on it. No, I'm not talking about that. That's what you choose to use to have for your coffee. Okay, outside of that coffee mug, how are they identifying you? Love, joy, peace, patience, you feeling me, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. You getting it. You're in self-control. Are they seeing the fruit in you as a Christian? Because if you're a follower and choosing to follow, that means you're a disciple. That's going to change everything about how you choose to interact with others, your response and all that All right. So, guys, hopefully you enjoyed this episode Again.
Chris Grainger:
The lionwithinus is where you get all our resources, all our devotions. How you join our community, start your 30-day free trial with the community. How you join the Summit Leadership Development Program. I put an application in for that for you guys out there in business who want to figure out how you close the gap between who you are at work versus who you are at home. I know, jared and I talked a lot about that for this week's episode. However, with our summit, we help you, we bridge that gap for you each month, to give you resources, to give you tips, to give you a standing board, a peer of advisors that you can go to to help you on your journey. Okay, so, guys, come on back on our next episode On Monday. Good Lord willing, we'll have a new spiritual kickoff out for you guys. Again, if you want to be a donor or supporter of the Lion Within, go to thelionwithinus. You can find a donate, support button there. Give us a rating and review. That would be tremendously helpful and I'd just love to hear from you. So feel free to email us support at thelionwithinus. That's a great way to get in touch with us and we'll just look forward to connecting and going from there. All right, so, guys, have a great weekend, get after it and you know what's coming. Just keep unleashing the lion within.
Chris Grainger:
If you're a man who's 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 line within this 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 form, 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 feel. 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 get started. Your journey begins here. Visit thelinewithinus and I'll see you inside with them.
