All Episodes

November 28, 2025 13 mins

Send us a text

Trials don’t wait for a convenient time. One week you’re serving thousands at a men’s conference with a full heart, and the next you’re in a hospital bed with a PICC line, two surgeries, and a choice to make: fear or faith. We walk through that sharp turn with James 1:2–3 as our compass, not as a slogan but as a lived reality. Consider it joy, not because pain is pleasant, but because endurance changes the man you become—at home, at work, and in the quiet moments your kids remember.

Ever think, “I’m just a guy… what real difference can I make?” You’re not alone. But God isn’t looking for perfect men — just obedient ones. Our I’m Just a Guy Bible study on YouVersion has helped 20,000+ men see how God uses ordinary guys to do extraordinary things.

Check it out at thelionwithin.us/youversion or search The Lion Within Us directly in the Bible app.

It’s time to stop sitting on the sidelines.

Step into the fight and become the man God called you to be. Join a brotherhood built on truth, strength, and action. Visit thelionwithin.us right now and start leading with boldness and purpose. Iron sharpens iron — let’s go. 👉https://thelionwithin.us/

Try a Community Subscription Risk-Free for 30-Days.

Men, if your ready to build lasting relationships, deepen your faith, and grow into the leaders God calls them to be, then this is for you. Step boldly into your calling—Lions seeking purpose, not house cats avoiding the challenge. 👉 https://den.thelionwithin.us/landing

New Book: Unleashing The Lion Within

The enemy is relentless—doing everything possible to steal, kill, and destroy what matters most in your life. It’s time to fight back. True transformation happens when intentionality meets obedience. Take notes, apply these truths, and extend grace to yourself. Real change takes time—but if you stay faithful, the impact will reach far beyond what you can see. 👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FLWYQJMB

Get Free Daily Inspiration With Our Bible App Devotionals

Our devotionals dive deep into the pillars that define The Lion Within Us - health, wealth, and self. W...

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:53):
Welcome to The Lion Within Us, a podcast serving
Christian men who are hungry tobe the leaders, God intends you
to be.
I'm your host, Chris Granger.
Let's jump in.
All right, fellas, this is yourfun Black Friday episode.
How about that, fellas?
Let's jump right into it.
Okay.
Scripture the week this week isJames 1, verses 2 and 3.
Consider it all joy, my brothersand sisters, when you encounter
various trials, knowing that thetesting of your faith produces

(01:15):
endurance.
Those verses don't make sense.
Just kidding, fellas.
Totally makes sense.
It's God's word.
Are you kidding me?
So go back, listen to yourspiritual kickoff episode.
I unpacked.
These verses are my life verses.
And then in the last episode, Itried to unpack how these
verses, I've literally had towalk them out recently because I
went from the mountaintop highof being serving thousands of

(01:38):
guys at a conference with PastorJoby to the absolute valley low
of being admitted to a hospitalfor over a week and finding out
I have a staph infection andundergoing two surgeries to
remove hardware from the anklethat just is rejecting it.
So, guys, you can't make thisstuff up.
I got a pick line in right now.
I'm still doing IVs,antibiotics, all that fun stuff,

(01:58):
trying to get healthy, trying toget better.
But at the same time, God'scalled me to do this.
Therefore, the lion is going tokeep on roaring.
That's what we're here to do,okay?
So again, the lionwithin.us iswhere you find all our stuff,
fellas.
I know it's Black Friday.
Most of you guys are off.
Some of you guys probably won'tlisten to this.
That's fine.
But you guys that are, hey, headon over there now and get

(02:19):
started with the either dailyspiritual kickoff, community, or
put in an application for amastermind.
How about that?
All right.
So really the whole meet episodethis week was unpacking my
unfortunate story of how I'vebeen in the hospital and dealing
with this uh staph infection andrecovery from these two
surgeries.
It's been a trial.

(02:39):
I'm not even gonna lie, it'sbeen a trial.
But uh hopefully you've uh had agood third Thanksgiving.
You ate a little bit too muchturkey.
Maybe you're out for a walk andyou're listening to the lion
trying to walk that turkey off.
So I've we'll we'll we'll helpyou uh pass a few minutes here
with some tips, okay?
So for our fun Black Fridayepisode, we're gonna do a

(02:59):
health, wealth, and a self-tip.
Okay.
I'm gonna try to align thesetips uh more for the season that
we're in, okay?
And uh the health tip is againhow do we build stronger minds
and bodies?
Wealth tip is how do we stewardour finances and our careers
better?
Self-tip is how do we improve ashusbands and fathers.
That's it.
That's the lion we talk aboutthose pillars all the time.
So for the health tip, I talkedabout this a little bit at the

(03:22):
end of the meet episode, but Iwant to really double down on
it.
Make a gratitude list.
Make that list for each yearyou've been alive.
Okay, so if you're 40, you got40 things.
If you're 50, you got 50.
Got it?
And that's how it works.
And then share it with yourfamily.
Because if it's gratitude andyou just hold it to yourself,
you're missing an opportunity tobless them.

(03:43):
Because it's one of the mostpowerful tools we have for
emotional and spiritual health.
So take it, I mean, really, takethat step, build that list out.
And maybe it's moments orpeoples or lessons or even
trials, whatever it is, if it'sif you have gratitude for it,
write it down.
And if you take the time tointentionally reflect, you're

(04:04):
gonna see something God'spatterns showing up over and
over and over.
Remember, I was telling you,God, I tell you, 100%, He
allowed, He gave me the strengthand provision to go to that
conference and to serve at anextremely high level.
And then at the exact momentwhen I needed to get taken care
of this leg, he made thatvisible.

(04:27):
I had the appointment set upalready with the surgeon.
Our oldest daughter wasn'tfeeling well that day.
So she actually stayed home withour little kids.
So my wife, when the surgeonsaid, go to the hospital and
take care of this, she could dojust that.
All these things fell intoplace.
Not just because of ahappenstance, but I fully

(04:48):
believe God's hand is rightthere.
So just use that, share it withyour family.
Take write, write the the the umthe reflections down, and then
let your kids and your spousehear about them.
Okay, I'm telling you, it's agreat way to remember his
goodness and how it never fails.
All right, for the wealth tip,we just came out of

(05:10):
Thanksgiving.
So, what does that mean?
Christmas, babe.
We're we're here.
Consider adopting a family forChristmas.
Now we are I'm all about theOperation Shoebox and all these
different ministries, but thinkabout locally.
Find a family and love on.
And you won't have to look forit hard to find people, I'm
telling you.
You won't.
They're local.

(05:31):
Maybe you reach out to yourchurch or your school.
There's different ways to findthese families.
Here's what you do for them.
Buy them groceries, buy themtoys for the kids, uh, pay their
bills, whatever the need is,meet it with generosity and
prayer.
And and and let them see you.
Okay, let them see you doing it.
Right.
And so if you live open-handed,guys, you'll find that joy just

(05:54):
flows generos, just followsgenerosity.
It just does, man.
So let this be a season whereyou teach your family that
wealth isn't measured in whatyou keep, it's revealed in how
you give.
So I highly encourage you to dothis, man.
This is this could it could be away that could change a family
around you in an incredible way.
It it could be the the pinholethat opens up the opportunity

(06:17):
for them to hear the gospel andthem to accept Christ as their
savior.
Now, you talk about a touchdownor touchdowns, but it starts
with a heart of generosity.
All right.
Now, self-tip serve with yourfamily this season.
Okay, don't miss the opportunityto serve with your family.
This is a great time of year,right?
And to have to have chances tolearn and find ways to serve

(06:39):
together.
And there are very few thingsthat are as powerful as serving
with your family, guys.
Maybe it's volunteering at afood pantry or delivering meals
or nursing homes or just simplyjust going to help a neighbor
clean up their yard.
I don't know what it is.
Find it.
And then you're gonna find thatyou're creating more than just
memories, you're shaping theirheart.
Because when your kids see thatyou're serving and you're

(06:59):
showing them what it truly meansto lead, to be humble, to love,
man, you're teaching themsomething right there, bro.
Because it's not just aboutothers, right?
This is about uh it's not justabout like a holiday thing,
rather.
It's about a kingdom thing, bro.
This is what it's about.
So look for them, create thoseopportunities.
And then if you serve as afamily, it's gonna deepen your

(07:22):
bond.
It's gonna build gratitude, andit's gonna reflect Christ in a
time of year where people arevery open and receptive to it,
okay?
All right, guys.
There's your three tips.
Quick reminder, make thatgratitude list.
That's your health tip.
That's your health tip.
Wealth tip, consider adopting afamily for Christmas.
And your self tip, serve withyour family this holiday season.

(07:42):
Okay?
Now, book of the week this week.
Shamelessly, I'm gonna plug TheLion Within Us again, okay?
Unleashing The Lion Within, thebook that I wrote.
Uh Pastor Joe B.
Martin wrote the Ford.
Again, I know it's two weeks ina row, but this has been a big
deal.
I'm gonna be honest.
Just writing the book was hard.
Getting it published is hard.
There's been nothing easy aboutthis.
So if you don't, if you're noteven a reader, but you like what

(08:04):
the lion has done for you insome small way, please buy a
copy of the book just to just togive to someone else.
Okay, just to give it to someoneelse.
Get copies for friends and forand for your men's group and
give it to them for Christmas.
Go to your church and ask them,say, hey, I like to do this for
my men's groups.
You'd be surprised.
Churches would jump all overthis.

(08:24):
I had a guy in Florida whobought a ton of them because
he's at a church.
He's like, I'm gonna use thisfor my men's group.
So just reach out, fellas.
Everything's found on Amazon.
I'm prayerfully by now, theaudible version is out.
But if not, I know the the ebookas well as the print version is
out.
Unleashing the lion within,please consider getting it.
Again, we don't make a lot ofmoney off these books at all,

(08:45):
fellas, but it's a lot of valuehere that I want to get in your
hands and uh be praying becauseI'm already thinking about the
next book uh of what I feel likeGod's laying on my heart.
And hopefully you guys are gonnalike that.
But for now, right here,unleashing the lion within.
Again, super thankful for PastorJoe B for writing the uh forward
for it.
So consider getting that, guys.

(09:05):
All right, now, dad jokes, butthey have to be Thanksgiving
related.
So I went and got twoThanksgiving dad jokes, okay?
So even though it's BlackFriday, you can still use them.
We're close enough to theturkey, okay?
First one is why did a cranberryturn red?
Okay.
Hmm.
Well, I think it's because itsaw the turkey dressing.

unknown (09:23):
All right.

SPEAKER_00 (09:24):
There you go.
That's number one.
Number two, what sound does aspace turkey make?
Space turkey.
Well, that'll be Hubble, Hubble,Hubble.
There you go, fellas.
So that's number one.
Number two, not gobble, gobble,gobble.
Got it.
So number one is why did thecranberry turn red?
Well, because it saw the turkeydressing.
And what sound number, andnumber two is what sound does a
space turkey make?

(09:44):
Hubble, hubble, hubble.
There you go, fellas.
So let me know which one, numberone and number two, lands best.
And as always, dad jokes, it'sall about getting an eye roll, a
sigh, or just having them turnaround and walk away.
You know you got a good one.
So, question of the week thisweek is how do you respond with
joy when trials hit, fellas?
And it's all up to you.
You have the opportunity to turnthat into your response and how

(10:06):
you respond.
You can't control the trial.
I couldn't control the hospitaland the infection and all that
stuff, but I could control theresponse to the trial.
And that's my encouragement.
That's my challenge, and that'swhat I really want you to think
about as we go into thisweekend, okay?
So, I mean, it's a big weekend,it's kind of kick off the
Christmas, big deal for sure.
Lots of people are are amped upand excited for this time of

(10:29):
year, as you should be.
But we're excited about Jesusall year long, right?
It's got nothing to do withDecember 25th, right?
We're we're excited for him,24-7, 365.
So at the Lion, thank you guysfor listening.
Thank you for the support.
Give us a rating and review ifyou don't mind.
Hey, you're maybe you're off onthis Black Friday and you
actually have time to write thatrating or just give us that

(10:49):
review.
That'll be awesome.
Uh, reach out to us, guys,thelionwithin.us.
Like all the resources there.
Open the Bible app up, searchfor the Lion Within Us there on
the Bible app.
Uh, maybe you want to check outthe Daily Spiritual Kickoff or
the Community or the LeadershipMastermind, put an application
for that.
Guys, we have lots of ways weserve.
We're trying to help guys, uh,but you can't find any of it

(11:09):
unless you head over to the LionWithin Us.
Okay, so that'sthhelionwithin.us.
Maybe you're looking for thingsthis year that you want to
support.
We have donors.
If you want to be a donor of theLion Within Us, we would greatly
appreciate your support.
Maybe you say you can set it upas a monthly, a one-time or
annual donation.
Just help us out there.
Because I can tell you it takesa lot of resources to pull all

(11:29):
this stuff together that we'reputting out on a regular basis,
guys.
But I'm committed to it.
Whatever it costs, whatever ittakes, we're going to do it
because I know guys need thisstuff.
They need these resources, and Iknow how it's helped me, how
it's helped so many brothers inChrist that I've that I'm
thankful to be connected with.
And again, we could definitelyuse your support.
So thelionwithin.us is how youcan do that.

(11:50):
You can do/donate to connectwith us there.
All right, guys.
So I did hope you have a great,great Thanksgiving weekend.
Lots of people space out themeals.
Maybe you got some more mealscoming up.
You know, remember those uhthose those those holiday
calories don't count so much,but I'm just kidding, they
totally count.
So be careful there, right?
Uh it's the first plate's okay,it's the second or third place
where I get in trouble.

(12:11):
See, anyway, fellas, enjoy it.
Have a great weekend.
Look forward to seeing you guysnext week.
We'll have some guests, we'llhave a guest next week.
Uh appreciate you guys hangingout over the last two weeks as
I've unpacked the conference aswell as the hospital.
So keep the prayers coming.
Let me know how I can supportand serve you.
And guys, you know it's coming.
Just keep unleashing the lionwithin.

(12:34):
If you're like me, you don'tneed another book just sitting
around collecting dust.
What I enjoy is something tohelp guide me when my feet hit
the ground in the mornings.
And that is why we put togetherUnleashing the Lion Within.
It has honest stories, scriptureyou can apply, and simple steps
to help you lead at home, atwork, and everywhere in between.

(12:56):
So if you've been feeling stuckor scattered lately, you may
find this resource encouraging.
Read a few pages.
Take one step and watch what Goddoes with your obedience.
Hey, and if reading's tough foryou right now, no problem.
The book is also available inaudible version.
So you can listen on the go.

(13:17):
So if this sounds interesting,check out thelion within dot us
slash book or search forunleashing the lion within
directly on Amazon.
So there's no pressure here,just a resource that many guys
are finding helpful.
So grab the format that fits andtake your next step.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

The Bobby Bones Show

The Bobby Bones Show

Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.