All Episodes — Become Good Soil

113: Doing the Tiger – 2019 BGS Intensive, Part 7

You’re right where God wants you to be when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you, there is more of God. – Jesus of Nazareth, to his closest friends Your reliance on your talent and gifting must die before they can ever be truly free. It is impossible for a man to fully know the love of God until he has experienced the love of God apart from his gifting, his performance, and his successes. To fully rest in love, we must experience the relentless affection of God—not only when we are running strong, but also when we have reached the end of our rope. The cross and resurrection of Jesus is a brutal and beautiful comment on the shape of reality. The cross reveals to us that our masculine initiation lies not on the path that avoids death and suffering, but on the path that enters suffering and death in order to be transformed. Passing through death is nonnegotiable. There is a way of being in us that must be put to death so that the indestructible life of Christ might be born in us and experienced by those entrusted to our care through us. We will have life and have it to the full only if and when we are willing to die. Come along into Part 7 of the 2019 BGS Intensive. Dive into the story of The Company Men, the modern-day parable inviting us to put self-sufficiency to death. I encourage you to view the <a href="https://youtu.be/Pl7hsmRSrBQ" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">trailer</a> and the movie before listening to this podcast. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Jul 19, 20221h 23m

112: Taking Care of My Side of the Street – 2019 BGS Intensive, Part 6

Sometimes we don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are….What happened wasn’t about you, it was about me. – Superintendent Eric Marsh, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE_GY6zccqc" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Only the Brave</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE_GY6zccqc" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a> Brothers, As we mature as kings who offer more love and strength to those entrusted to our care, Jesus invites us even deeper: Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, "Let me wash your face for you," when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor. (Matthew 7:3-5 MSG) I’m sorry. I was wrong. Will you forgive me? Friends, it’s these three phrases that can transform our every relationship. With hearts deeply rooted in a growing experience of sonship, our courage gains momentum and we can remove the judgments, assumptions, and rigid conclusions that inhibit our seeing. We begin to treat people as we want to be treated, with an open mind and open heart. And we finally start seeing the people we love more clearly. Come back into the 2019 BGS Intensive series for Part 6 as we chase even more of our masculine initiation together. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Jul 5, 20221h 14m

111: Men Without Chests – 2019 BGS Intensive, Part 5

You are a soul made by God, made for God, and made to need God, made to run on God. Which means that you are not made to be self-sufficient. – Dallas Willard Change in the rate of change is the quiet killer of our generation. Change is the constant. Habits were meant to root our masculine soul in the life of God. They were meant to be an onramp of constancy in a changing world. Our masculine soul matters immensely to God, to those entrusted to our care, and to our particular role in the story God is writing. In this postmodern age of hyper-individualism and endless noise, wholehearted living is no longer a choice—we must cultivate daily habits that root us in the life and presence of God. Slowly and steadily, by day and by decade, we get to arrange our days so that we experience deep joy, contentment, and union with God. How are you arranging your days? What are you practicing? What are your habits? What is the condition of your soul? Friends, join me and the like-hearted tribe of men across the globe for Part 5 of the 2019 BGS Intensive series. In this episode, I invite my friend John Eldredge into a beautiful conversation on exercising the masculine soul in life-giving habits. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Jun 21, 20221h 5m

110: Twenty Seconds of Insane Courage – 2019 Intensive, Part 4

All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage, and I promise you something great will come of it. – Benjamin Mee, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krh1koDU2uE" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">We Bought a Zoo</a> It was Francis Schaeffer who boldly invited disciples to "do the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way,” instructing that “we must take the lowest seat at the table until God makes it impossible to do otherwise.” As we live into more and more of the reality of sonship, one of the foundational ways a man can practice taking the lowest seat at the table is to wholeheartedly pursue the path of a generalist. Through willingly engaging the relationships, things, and details of his life that feel uncomfortable, a generalist acquires not only a severe humility, but all the more a radical trust in a good and active Father. As we explore the path of becoming a generalist, we might begin with asking ourselves these questions: Where do I feel uncomfortable, as a man? When do I feel weak? In what ways do I feel uninitiated? Where is God asking me to risk? Friends, join me and this like-hearted tribe of men across the globe choosing to take the lowest seat at the table, step into risk, and engage the uninitiated places of our souls by way of becoming a generalist. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Jun 7, 202254 min

109: Robust Well-Being – 2019 BGS Intensive, Part 3

Attachment begins in the first few months of life, but it is the continuous presence of a mother in the first 18 months that is the first step in building a deep and lasting sense of emotional security in a child. This security forms the basis of a child’s sense of self for the rest of life. Bonding is putting the pieces together and attachment is gluing them into place. – Erica Komisar, Being There “Are you glad to be with me?” It was Mom who first and foremost was to answer our unspoken question with a wholehearted "yes!" to the depths of our soul. And not just once, but ten thousand times over. While our father forges us, our mother forms us. Our earthly mother was intended to be our first encounter with reliable nourishment, cherishing protection, unconditional delight, renewing rest, and safe emotional connection. Through her attentive, loving gaze, we were meant to experience our worthiness of love and belonging simply because we exist. We are not only deeply loved but also fully seen, known, and celebrated by one greater than ourselves who needs nothing in return. No earning. No transaction. No conditions. One whose wise, regulated, and affectionate relating communicates, “I am so happy you exist. I am so glad to be with you. There is more than enough for you.” That’s what we were designed to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt. We were designed to experience abundant, cherishing love freely offered from a wholehearted source. Pay attention to your own story. What has been your experience of being loved without condition by someone who had robust well-being to share? Where have you experienced abundance of provision? And where do you currently experience a sense of fullness, a sense that nothing more is needed and there is no lack? Friends, join me and this like-hearted tribe of men across the globe choosing to break the limits of who God can be for us; what God can do to meet our need to be seen, soothed, safe, and secure; and how God might choose to meet these sacred needs. Part 3 of the 2019 BGS Intensive series is a risky invitation to look to God as Mother and experience robust well-being as the powerful fruit. For the Kingdom, Morgan

May 24, 20221h 12m

108: Restoring the True Man – 2019 BGS Intensive, Part 2

A 30-year old-man is like a densely populated city. Nothing new can be built, in its heart, without something else being torn down. – Mike Mason, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Marriage-20th-Anniversary-Meditations/dp/1590523741" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Mystery of Marriage</a> The theme of "dying before we die" is Jesus’ steady and consistent invitation to his closest companions. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.” Matthew 16:24-26 MSG “...unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” John 12:24 NIV “If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.” Luke 17:33 NLT Perhaps one of the crowning marks of masculine maturity is the increasing capacity to entrust ourselves to God with intimate abandon so that we no longer shrink from death. This session takes us a step further in uncovering what in us needs to die in order that we might really, really, live. And in living, as more parts of us come home to more parts of God, we become men who have nothing to hide. Nothing to fear. Nothing to prove. Nothing to cling to beyond the love and goodness of the Triune God. Come along into Part 2 of the 2019 BGS Intensive as we journey together on the path to restoring the True Man. For the Kingdom, Morgan

May 10, 202240 min

107: Entrusted with Power – 2019 BGS Intensive Series, Part 1

There are many people who think they want to be a matador, only to find themselves in the ring with 2,000 pounds of bull bearing down on them, and then they discover that what they really wanted was to wear tight pants and hear the crowd roar. – Terry Pearce Over 20 years ago, I found myself navigating a man’s world but largely feeling like a boy. Balancing a young marriage, young children, and a young career had punted me into the deep end. Though I was thirsty for God and his Kingdom and doing my best to pursue good and noble endeavors, I was running out of steam. It was a baptism into adulthood by the fire of overwhelm. “It felt like I hopped on a rollercoaster that I didn’t remember getting on—it was all I could do to simply hold on.” That’s how an older friend described this nexus of pressure and responsibility and it felt spot on. Life became something that happened to me, rather than something to which I was bringing strength and intentionality from a reservoir of confidence and peace. Money felt scarce, and time scarcer still. In response, the myriad of uninitiated little boys in my soul began to surface, leading me to one of the most important days of my life: The day that I traded my exclamation points for question marks. The day that the Spirit invited me to a path of connected initiation instead of isolating performance. And it's made all the difference. We’re more than a decade into hosting intimate leadership events with apprentices both young and old from around the globe to chase after the treasures of the Kingdom. Now two decades from beginning this quest, it is my joy to invite the extended Become Good Soil Tribe of apprentices to this audio teaching from the 2019 Become Good Soil Intensive. Join me for Part 1 of an extended podcast series diving deep into the restoration of the masculine soul. For the Kingdom,

Apr 25, 20221h 4m

106: Coming Home, Part 3

I will not abandon you as orphans….I am coming back for you. – Jesus of Nazareth Friends, there is much to hope for in the face of our apparent waywardness with God and our nagging discontent. God is coming for us. In his book Renovated, Jim Wilder explains the very simple and profound path to re-attaching ourselves to God and finally becoming the kind of people who can heed the supreme command of Jesus to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength. “...having received love, you will be transformed into a person who loves.” The secret is not found in a heroic, self-made mixture of beliefs, practices, and willful effort. The secret is in receiving the love, care, and nourishment of God, over decades, into our souls. The hope is not found in our effort or action, but rather in the desire, design, and deepest intentions of God’s heart. There is more. Join Cherie and me in Part 3 as we share stories of coming home to receive the overflowing love, attention, and care of God through multiple stages of development. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Apr 12, 202249 min

105: Coming Home, Part 2

Christianity has tended to focus on right beliefs and right choices as the keys for personal growth. But biblical evidence and modern brain science show that our character is shaped more by whom we love than what we believe. – Jim Wilder, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Renovated-Dallas-Willard-Church-Transforms/dp/1641581670" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Renovated</a> What if coming home to a new and secure attachment to God is the primary definition of salvation? What would it be like to come home to God as our primary and single source of life, joy, strength, and stature? The writers of the Old and New Testaments assure us that the very real dilemma of unhealthy attachment to other things and relationships need not have the final word, nor does the nagging sense of disconnection from God. God has provided a path and process through the dignifying choice to re-parent our souls, shepherding them afresh into a loving, strengthening, and momentous attachment to God. <a href="https://becomegoodsoil.com/podcast/105-coming-home-part-2/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Come along into Part 2</a> as Cherie and I reveal ways to come home to God when we feel distant from him. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Mar 29, 202237 min

104: Coming Home, Part 1

All of life is a coming home. Salesmen, secretaries, coal miners, bee keepers, sword swallowers, all of us. All the restless hearts of the world, trying to find a way to go home. It's hard to describe how I felt then. Picture yourself walking for days in a driving snow. You don't even know you're walking in circles...the heaviness of your legs in the drifts, your shouts disappearing into the wind. How small you can feel. How far away home can be. Home. The dictionary defines it as both a place of origin and a goal or destination. The storm? The storm was all in my mind. Eventually I would find the right path, but in the most unlikely place.– <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF-pJngRKU4" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Patch Adams</a> Where have you taken your soul's need for unearned love? In what or in whom do you seek a sense of unconditional belonging? Where do you regularly feel joyful, nourished, and satisfied? In Isaiah 66, God unveils the secret to these questions with a promise brimming with hope and possibility: “You newborns can satisfy yourselves at her nurturing breasts.Yes, delight yourselves and drink your fill at her ample bosom.God’s Message:I’ll pour robust well-being into her like a river, the glory of nations like a river in flood.You’ll nurse at her breasts, nestle in her bosom, and be bounced on her knees.As a mother comforts her child, so I’ll comfort you. You will be comforted in Jerusalem.You’ll see all this and burst with joy —you’ll feel ten feet tall—As it becomes apparent that God is on your side.” If this is God’s intention, then what's gone wrong? What is in the way of growing our attachment and attunement to God? Why do we find ourselves wanting and even genuinely loving God, yet continuing to attach our hearts and hopes to so many other things? Join Cherie and me in Part 1 of this series as we explore the hope of a palpable attachment to the living God as our Source of pleasure, joy, and comfort—a secure attachment through which we could feel ten feet tall, overflowing with loyal love for our Father’s good and precious world. For the Kingdom,Morgan Taking Action: List three unhealthy ways you seek comfort.List three healthy ways you seek comfort.What is the condition of your attachment to God? Not beliefs, or theology, but your operational, daily practice. In prayer and with God, <a href="https://becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Comfort-Survey-1.0.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">explore this PDF</a>.

Mar 15, 202242 min

103: Work: Repairing the Sacred Secular Divide

There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places. – Wendell Berry There simply is no distinction between sacred and unsacred work in the world. The ache and longing in a man to have purpose and meaning expressed in his daily work is universal. It is intrinsic to our design, marred in the fall, and contested terrain in every masculine soul. So often we spend precious energy and time hoping for "the next job" in order to engage in the work of God. Rarely does it come. And even when it does, the familiar specter of futility so often continues to haunt us. But what if our work already is sacred? What if our current assignment already is God's work? Or at least, it could be? As men, the core desires we share are greater than any distinction in how they are expressed. I had the JOY of circling up with two men I love who are both fully immersed in the Kingdom of God and are engaging wholeheartedly in work that many might mistakenly consider secular assignments. Buckle up for an honest and hopeful conversation that helps us recover a Kingdom vision of the aspect of our lives we have come to call work. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Mar 2, 202252 min

102: I Am Being Led

Now I have had most of the life I am going to have, and I can see what it has been. I can remember those early years when it seemed to me I was completely adrift, and time when, looking back, at earliest times, it seemed I had been wandering in the dark woods of error. But now it looks to me as though I was following a path that was laid out for me, unbroken, and maybe even as straight as possible, from one end to the other, and I have this feeling, which never leaves me anymore that I have been led. I will leave you to judge the truth of that for yourself… there is no proof. – <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jayber-Crow-Wendell-Berry/dp/1582431604" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Jayber Crow</a> Reflecting on the whole of his story, Wendell Berry’s unforgettable character Jayber Crow utters these words in the twilight of his life. A resident of a small Kentucky town on the banks of the Ohio River, an itinerant barber by trade, Jayber speaks of a feeling that never leaves him: the feeling of being led. Over seven decades of curiosity, heartbreak, and loyal love for an increasingly marginalized community, Jayber became the kind of man who experiences even the bewildering turns in his story as an unbroken line of grace. Including painful setbacks and unforeseen bends in the road, it was, in fact, the “the straightest path possible.” Over time, Jayber became the kind of man who now experienced the feeling of being led every moment of his days. What if, even in the midst of bewildering pain and disappointment, we are actually being led, being led by a Father on the particular path and process of masculine initiation that he has uniquely set for each of us? What if there is an ancient path that leads to life? What if you can discover who God meant when he meant you, and find yourself being led to become that man? It’s all available, dear brothers. And it might even prove to be the apex of our masculine becoming. Come along with me and a remarkable global fellowship of men as we dive into yet another foundational question of masculine initiation. For the Kingdom, Morgan Taking Action “I Am Being Led" – <a href="https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:3903d3bc-c23a-3a1c-aa4f-4f5badf23df0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download this PDF postcard</a> and place it in a prominent, disruptive place. Say the words out loud every day through the end of the year. Linger. Look for God's leading. Notice when you are most aware of it and when you are most clueless to it. Notice what is primarily in the way. Notice what part of your soul is mostly in the way of this right now. (Ex.: Does the “strategist” always have permission to drive the bus?) Notice the effect of practicing confidently resting and trusting in his leading. Meditate on <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U7mJjQY6UTEBP_c2jqkQutWgX6mZx3K6UlgejCXrUtc/edit?usp=sharing" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Paul’s Theology of Being Led</a>. Dig into <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/02kkadmkoy6zxn3/The%20Complete%20Works%20of%20Oswald%20Chambers.pdf?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">“The Worker”</a> (unpacking 1 Corinthians 9:11-27, from Approved unto God by Oswald Chambers). Get the book <a href="https://amzn.to/3L7CexR" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Approved unto God</a>. The <a href="https://amzn.to/3AUvP4p" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Complete Works of Oswald Chambers</a> is fabulous and also a great source of the teaching above, along with much more. Read <a href="https://amzn.to/3HGvxRr" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Jayber Crow</a> by Wendell Berry.

Feb 15, 202259 min

101: From Life to Life, with Bill Lokey

Aim at Heaven and you will get earth "thrown in"; aim at earth and you will get neither. It seems a strange rule, but something like it can be seen at work in other matters. Health is a great blessing, but the moment you make health your main and direct object you start becoming a crank and imagining there is something wrong with you. You are only likely to get health provided you want other things more—food, games, work, fun, open air. In the same way, we shall never save civilization as long as civilization is our main object. We must learn to want something else even more. – C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity There is nothing more clarifying for our masculine souls than proximity to birth and death and the invitation these twin experiences provide to consider what we most deeply want. This immutable truth struck me freshly today while driving my daughter to school. In the midst of the bewilderment, unmet longings, and painful misses that my brave teenage daughter and I are navigating in the emerging rapids of our relationship, the memory of her birth rose up and caught my breath with startling power. The words spilled out to her before I could edit them: “The day you were born was the best day of my life. I remember every moment. I always will.” Surely the poignancy of birth and death is why a man like Bill Lokey would risk so much, risk sitting with me for hours even as he draws closer to his grand transition from Life to Life. The gift of being with Bill was a privilege beyond measure—this wise guide, this father in the faith. Together laughing and crying as we explored some of the deeply mysterious miles of life in a broken world; touching on the painful death of a marriage, the challenges and graces of parenting teenagers, intimacy lost and gained, vocation, and remarriage; and the task of showing up with intentional engagement all the way through our very last mile and very last breath along this slow and steady process of transformation into the likeness of Jesus. Bill is nearing the end of his beginning. His journey through aggressive cancer has led him to the end of what modern medicine has to offer. Yet in the midst of this chapter of his story, he joyously mustered the strength to respond to my questions with bravery, courage, and love. Join us for a conversation where we risk living and offering as we all journey from life to Life. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Feb 1, 20221h 4m

100: Your Stories

We all need a witness to the particularities of our story, someone who takes in and holds everything from banal trivialities to what is so horrendous it can barely be seen, let alone spoken. Even truer, however, is that we are a proxy witness for the One who reminds us that our life is seen and held by a great cloud of witnesses. – Dan Allender It was Ezra, one of the heroes of our faith, who reminded us, "The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him" (2 Chronicles 16:9). For almost a decade, the Spirit has fueled the Become Good Soil podcast, reaching the many to find and strengthen the few. Though the world has changed a great deal since we launched, the mission has remained the same: supporting men and their families as they respond to our Father’s creative and relentless invitation to a path and process of masculine initiation. To mark this sacred milestone of 100 episodes, it is my deep joy to celebrate your stories! I asked, and from around the globe you responded with story after story of God working through the Become Good Soil podcast to fuel your journey. It is my deep hope that this chorus of stories will strengthen each of our souls and grant us fresh revelation of what our Father might be pursuing for us, in us, and through us as we trek this narrow road together that leads to life. The human race is in trouble. Yet as one man at a time experiences the restoration, integration, and maturing of his heart, our world can be healed and we can participate together in the greatest story ever written. Dive in with me as we savor the stories of like-hearted men consenting to the path and process of becoming. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Jan 18, 20221h 4m

099: I Was Sure, with Adam Paulson

Life is our resume. It is our story to tell, and the choices we make write the chapters. Can we live in a way where we look forward to looking back? Inevitably, we are all going to die. Our eulogy, our story, will be told by others, and forever introduce us when we are gone. The soul objective: begin with the end in mind. – Matthew McConaughey, Greenlights Where have you collided with the limit of what your best can accomplish? Where are you coming to terms with your powerlessness? How have you responded to the reality that, in some stories and places in your life, your very best strength is still not enough to achieve the outcome you long for? Brothers, we are diving into deep waters yet again. Masculine initiation is always unique and, at the same time, always universal. One of the universal crucibles is when our best is not enough. Through this painful birth canal of soul, God delivers us from our self-sufficiency into the reality of an indestructible life. Drafting off the wheel of brave men like Adam Paulson—a legend among the few who have said yes to God and his Kingdom a thousand times—greatly helps us cross this challenging terrain. You don’t want to miss this poignant blend of conversation and song featuring the newest album release by BGS alumni, music artist, and worship leader Adam Paulson. In this very special episode, Adam and I reflect afresh, with tears and laughter, on the mystery of suffering and hope presented in the holy middle of a decade of consented initiation. Beyond the new songs featured in this podcast episode, you can find the full collection of Adam’s music on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6tUD14ujM9V4UtxVY4PRze?si=MoojmOpzQgqgG-A3PPmdNA" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/i-was-sure/1580668409" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://adampaulson.bandcamp.com/album/i-was-sure" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a>, or just about any place you go for soul-strengthening melodies. Sit back, slow down, and let these songs and stories permeate your soul, tend to you in your quiet suffering, and fill you with a greater hope. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Jan 4, 20221h 29m

098: Joseph

To be a man, a boy must see a man. – J. R. Moehringer, The Tender Bar Adultery. Rumors. Scandal. A growing cloud of suspicion. God invades humanity through the womb of an unwed 14-year-old Jewish girl? Mary had been betrothed to Joseph in a romance fit for a fairytale, but her story suddenly appeared to be going sideways. Joseph could’ve bailed; it was his right given the alleged adultery. How does a woman get pregnant without having sex? If he had chosen this path, would Mary have been left, like most unwed young mothers at the time, with no recourse but to sell her body as a prostitute in order to ensure the survival of her child? But he didn’t. What was going on in the heart and soul of Joseph that caused him to risk everything on God? G. K. Chesterton observed that Jesus made three promises to those who consented to being his disciples: they could be completely without fear, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble. No story highlights this trinity of experiences more than the circumstances of the Incarnation. Friends, as we draw closer to Christmas and the celebration of the Rescuing Creator’s great invasion of our raw and fragile human scene, may this creative rendering from Joseph’s perspective grant you pause. May his story slow you down and draw you afresh into the Deep Magic of the Kingdom of God. May this story strengthen you with wonder, and may you find yourself newly awed before the invitation that your Father in the Heavens extends to you to play an irreplaceable role as his apprentice in the greatest Story of all. Christ has come. Christ is coming. Christ will come again. For the Kingdom, Morgan P.S. To reflect even more on the paradox of this "Average Joe," take six minutes and <a href="https://www.philliportiz.com/average-joe" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">dive into this video</a> created by one of our BGS allies. P.P.S. Much of this episode is drawn from a compelling Christmas book, <a href="https://amzn.to/3EnFhxY" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Indescribable Gift</a>. Blending tradition, biblical story, historical fact, and sanctified imagination, Richard Exley uses words like chisels and scalpels to unveil the heart of the Incarnation. You don’t want to miss a chance to add this collection of beautifully imagined eyewitness accounts to your holiday library.

Dec 15, 202138 min

097: The Becoming a King Experience

What will they say about you when you're gone? What is the most important thing? What if you had another chance? What if there was an ancient path that led to life as it was meant to be? Would you take it? What if it wasn't easy? What if it wasn’t cheap? What if it wasn’t quick? What if there was a way to be good again? ...to become who God meant when he meant you? What if you could have your whole heart restored? What if you could be strong again? ...courageous again? ...and learn to love with a ferocity that outlives your life? What if that's what they remember? Brothers, it's happening. More and more men are saying yes to God in this hour, consenting to a process of inner transformation and slowly and steadily becoming men who are deeply good. Men who are true. Men who will be celebrated when they cross over from this life into eternity as men who built and lived legacies of love. Don’t miss this invitation to the <a href="https://wildatheart.org/becomingaking/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Becoming a King Experience</a> as John and I explore the heartbeat of authentic masculine initiation and provide a relevant and fresh context to use this resource personally or with a group. As you turn the corner into a new year, we invite you to pray about how this free resource can personally fuel your masculine initiation and strengthen the souls of the men in your world. After listening to this BGS podcast exclusive, find out more about the Becoming a King Experience <a href="https://wildatheart.org/becomingaking/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Dec 7, 202147 min

096: What’s Your Bias?

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_096_WhatsYourBias.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_096_WhatsYourBias.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> We see the things we want to see, the things that confirm our assumptions and our preferred way of looking at the world. Our masculine initiation was intended to be an interpretive grid and narrative arc for every moment of every day of our lives. However, the transformative experiences at the heart of the process often come in forms contrary to our preferences. Here’s the good news: God at times gives us what we want, but at all times gives us what we need. Reckoning with our unconscious biases is a form of initiation that is often unpleasant. Yet in order to become the kind of men who can increasingly see more of how God sees, the interrogative process of engaging our own bias is essential. Have you ever wondered why God chose to record the story of Jesus through four distinct and intentionally biased Gospel accounts? Through each writer's highly designed story-telling of the teaching, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, what do you think is lost, and what is gained? Turn your attention back to your own process of transformation. How are you becoming a student of your own bias? I want to suggest that our biases were intended to be habitually explored and scrutinized, then consecrated and, over time, brought more and more into alignment with the vision of Jesus. Here are a few questions, by way of example, to begin to engage us in this process: How has your social location or your family of origin affected your bias? How about your consumption of information? Who and what are your sources? Most importantly, why is this so? How does the information you choose to engage form your way of seeing? These questions lead us to deep waters, and engaging them takes both humility and courage that few men ever choose to exercise. But the offer of freedom and joy in becoming the kind of men who can see through the eyes of Christ makes all the discomfort and effort of challenging our biases more than worth it. Come join a fellowship of rare and remarkable men from across the globe as we dive deep into these foundational questions of becoming. For the Kingdom, Morgan Taking Action WATCH: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEJH0hEoHc4" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Crash</a> (2005 film) Fill out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XT9euMoj2vaJTKTlsUFm1vHegFDTXVqwrqGdmfhnIpU/edit?usp=sharing" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">reflection sheet</a>, then prayerfully enter into each character’s story and ask God for one thing from each story you can learn that will help you further crucify and consecrate your personal bias. READ: Four Gospel accounts of the resurrection Matthew 28 Mark 16 Luke 24 John 20-21 Observe the impact of bias and how it shapes the story in which we find ourselves. What is lost and what is gained through each Gospel writer’s unique storytelling that is not captured by the others? What might God be bringing to us through these four distinct accounts of the resurrection? If you were asked to write an account of the resurrection, drawing from the four Gospels and your own walk with God, what would you choose to include? What would you choose not to include? How would your bias have shaped those decisions? TAKE HONEST INVENTORY: What is your bias? Begin using these gateways for your excavation: family of origin social location my consumption of information – Who and what are my sources? (silo bias) fear and shame The “unforgivable sin” in which I operate in relationshi

Nov 24, 20211h 7m

095: Advent, with Simon Kyne

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_095_SimonKyneAdvent.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_095_SimonKyneAdvent.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Christ from the very first moment of his existence virtually bears all men within himself....For the Word did not merely take a human body; he incorporated himself in our humanity, and incorporated our humanity in his humanity. – G. K. Chesterton As a man, what does Advent mean? What is a winsome onramp to engage in the practice of Advent for our own souls and for those entrusted to our care? And what is the fruit of a wholehearted preparation for the Coming of Christ in the final days of our calendar year? As we explore Advent, we might be pleasantly surprised to find it is not only a celebration of Christ’s cunning entry into the landscape of humanity, but a rousing call to prepare for his Return and the Restoration of All Things he promises. And so we are invited not only to seasonal readying of hearts and lives, but to become the kind of men who urgently desire and ardently prepare for his Coming Again. It has been said that when the will of God meets the will of man, one must die. St. John the Baptist expressed this holy exchange between himself and his God in this way: “I must decrease, so Christ can increase.” Advent is yet another powerful context for our masculine initiation, an opportunity to relinquish our inferior self-will in order to joyfully receive more of our King and his Indestructible Life. Christ has come, and he is coming. Behind it all is a Person. And that Person is God—coming for us. Pause with me and Simon Kyne as we wonder together how we can be men who are ready to receive the God who is coming. For the Kingdom, Morgan P.S. If you want to go deeper, engage these calendars, Scriptures, and prayers, inviting God to illuminate a deeper meaning of Advent. Advent as considering the Incarnation: Isaiah 40:1-4 Isaiah 60:1-3 Isaiah 61:1-3 Micah 5:2 John 1:1-12 Luke 1:26-38 Advent as preparing for the Second Coming of Christ: Matthew 24:37-44 Matthew 25:1-13 Mark 13:33-37 Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 <a href="https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/prayer-index/advent-prayers" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Advent Wreath and Prayers for Lighting</a> <a href="https://sofestive.com/2016/12/02/hay-in-a-manger-tradition/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Tradition of Hay in the Manger</a> <a href="https://www.ocp.org/en-us/blog/entry/o-come-o-come-emmanuel-lyrics-o-antiphons" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Pray or Sing the O Antiphons</a>

Nov 10, 20211h 8m

094: Through the Bible, Part 3

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_094_TTB_Ep3.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_094_TTB_Ep3.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose. – C. S. Lewis In the twilight of his life, Parker J. Palmer, one of the last great elders of our day, penned these words: “Clinging to what you already know is the path to an unlived life. So cultivate a beginner’s mind, walk straight into your not-knowing, and take the risk of failing and falling, again and again—then getting up to learn again and again. That’s the path to a life lived large in the service of love, truth, and justice.” – <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brink-Everything-Grace-Gravity-Getting/dp/1523095431" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">On the Brink of Everything</a> What if you were to turn with an open heart and a beginner's mind toward the Bible for a fresh revelatory quest? Join Cherie and me for a third and final episode where, with confession and curiosity, we dive into our one-year journey through the Bible. Above all, this episode is a final invitation to join us and a fellowship of like-hearted women and men around the globe for a one-year quest through the Bible, cover to cover, under the care and leadership of the wise guides at the <a href="https://bibleproject.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Bible Project</a>. We launch January 1, 2022. <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Zxo5QYfIggbUISUwmymlcKBZrzk_8vsB-tSSESrAO6U/edit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Register now</a> to find out more. In order that we can build cohorts for participants shepherded by BGS Intensive alumni, the registration deadline is November 22. <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Zxo5QYfIggbUISUwmymlcKBZrzk_8vsB-tSSESrAO6U/edit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>With a beginner's mind and an expectant heart, let's dive in. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Oct 26, 202148 min

093: Through the Bible, Part 2

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_093_TTB_Ep2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_093_TTB_Ep2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Reading is the first thing, just reading the Bible. As we read we enter a new world of words and find ourselves in on a conversation in which God has the first and last words. We soon realize that we are included in the conversation. The Bible is not only written about us but to us. – Eugene Peterson, introduction to The Message David Brooks, the author of The Second Mountain and The Road to Character, offers rare transparency into how his experience of the Scriptures transformed during his later decades of life. He suggests that we are created yet being created still. That the Bible stories introduced into his childhood as myths were later transformed into wisdom literature on which to build a life. Yet later still they become more. In "simple yet endlessly complex ways," the Bible became a living script. He goes on to say, My old ideas were not adequate for the extremes of joy and grief I experienced. These [Bible] stories kept coming back, but they changed as if re-formed by the alchemy of time. They grew bigger and deeper, more fantastical and more astonishing. Wait, God asked Abraham to kill his own son? I suppose this happens to most of us as we age; we get smaller, and our dependencies get bigger. We become less fascinating to ourselves, less inclined to think of ourselves as the author of all that we are, and at the same time, we realize how we have been the one shaped—by history, by family, by forces beyond awareness. And I think what came, in the most incremental, boring way possible, is that at some point I had the sensation that these stories are not fabricated tales happening to other, possibly fictional, people: they are the underlying shape of reality. They are renditions of the recurring patterns of life. They are scripts we repeat....These stories provide the horizon of meaning in which we live our lives—not just our individual lives, but our lives together....We are created and being created still. Wisdom is not always knowing more, but knowing with more of you, knowing more deeply. Friends, buckle up for another conversation and invitation to read the Scriptures afresh. There is a narrow road to know the Scriptures—and the God who wrote them—with more of us, more deeply. This three-part series is, above all else, a personal invitation to all Become Good Soil listeners, women and men alike, to<a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bible" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> join me for a year's journey through the Bible together</a>. <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bible" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a> For the Kingdom, Morgan

Oct 11, 20211h 8m

092: Through the Bible, Part 1

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_092_TTB_Ep1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_092_TTB_Ep1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> There are two ways of seeing. One is to look at a forest, and take in a landscape, and the colors, depth, dimensions, and nuances of all of it. But there is also the act of getting on your hands and knees and looking at one flower, and one petal. – Walt Harrington, <a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/books/everlasting-stream/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Everlasting Stream</a> What do we do with this collection of ancient texts called the Bible? For many of us, even the word “Bible” elicits mixed feelings. As I talk to men, these sorts of words often surface: pressure, “ought to,” disdain, guilt, pain, delight, gratitude, anger, and awe. Let’s face it, the Bible can be intimidating, inaccessible, or less relevant to life than we might hope. To cope, we might stick to the parts that seem comprehensible, positive, and comforting, avoiding the rest like an ominous forest from which we aren’t sure we could find our way back. For some, the complexity and strangeness of the Bible has demanded a rejection of the whole thing, along with the One whose voice is said to be found within. But God is not on trial. Neither is his story. And neither are we. What if there were teachers and a community willing to engage our questions and face the strangeness of the Bible head on with us? What if we could start at the beginning again with a posture of honesty, openness, and curiosity? What if we could follow wise guides right into the forest of these texts and find a compelling revelation of the Living God and Reality afresh, one that would stir our hearts, expand our imaginations, and renew our whole person with Beauty and Mystery as never before? In this first episode of a three-part series on “Through the Bible,” Cherie and I are stepping under the shepherding care of the wise guides at the <a href="https://bibleproject.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Bible Project</a> and engaging texts that have troubled and intimidated us for years. Friends, this is the beginning of a treasure hunt. You don’t want to miss this. Spoiler Alert – This three-part series is an invitation to join me and a tribe of like-hearted allies as we walk through the Bible as a community beginning January 1, 2022! From my experience, having traveled this journey all of 2021 with a few different groups, the bar is low and the fruit is immense. All BGS subscribers, young and old, women and men, are welcome. More to come, but if you’re interested, <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bible" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">sign up</a>. <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bible" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a> Referenced in this podcast are Eugene Peterson's introductions to each of the books of the Bible. You can find a link to download that PDF in the <a href="https://dev-becomegoodsoil.pantheonsite.io/arsenal/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">ARSENAL</a> section (under MORE) of <a href="http://dev-becomegoodsoil.pantheonsite.io/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">BecomeGoodSoil.com</a>. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Sep 28, 20211h 2m

091: Soulcraft, with Sam Jolman

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_091_SamJolman.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_091_SamJolman.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Who will cry for the little boy, lost and all alone? Who will cry for the little boy, the boy inside the man? – <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5be_UPkLRw" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Antwone Fisher</a> Our initiation as sons is a wildly intimate process that travels terrain both universal and unique. One universal feature is found in our origin story from Genesis 1 and 2, when God bestows on man the deeply seeded identity of very good. So what's gone wrong? It was Chesterton who said, “Every man has forgotten who he is....We are all under the same mental calamity; we have all forgotten our names. We have all forgotten what we really are.” With our true identity stolen, surrendered, wounded, and disfigured, we find ourselves reaching to anything and everything except the Living God to stabilize our reality. We set out on a path committed to avoiding God and the truth of the rupture within. Along the way, most of us unconsciously agree with the lie of original shamefulness and that at all costs, we must and can cover our shame. Yet denying our pain and determining to deliver ourselves from shame and fear need not be the final word on our story. There is another ending the Father is committed to provide, an ending of redemption, love, and joy beyond our wildest hope. Sam Jolman has become a craftsman in the restoration of the masculine soul. For two decades he has personally sought to become a wholehearted man and has professionally shepherded hundreds of men into new freedom, deeper strength, and greater wellbeing through his counseling practice. Though he operates off a waitlist for engaging future clients, in this episode we each get a rare and blessed seat in his office to dive together into the masculine journey. This is a treasure chest for the few. Let’s dive in. For the Kingdom, Morgan P.S. You can connect with Sam and learn more about what he offers at <a href="http://www.samjolman.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">SamJolman.com</a>.

Sep 13, 202157 min

090: Theology of the Body, with Christopher West

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_090_TheologyofthteBody.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_090_TheologyofthteBody.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> It was the Beauty I longed for, beyond the beauty that I longed for in her... – Frederick Beuchner Sex is never about sex. It’s always connected to places hidden deeply in the souls of men and women. Where have we taken our longing for love? What have we done with the glory and complexity of embodiment in a fallen and being-redeemed world? And how does the story of our sexuality connect with these questions? Friends, I'm inviting you to dive with me into the deep waters of sexuality, love, beauty, and intimacy—and the hope of restoration in both this age and the age to come. Join me and Christopher West, a leading voice in a theological exploration of the human body, as we unpack the mystery and wonder of original design and the compelling intersection of body, soul, and the life of God. You don’t want to miss this. For the Kingdom, Morgan P.S. If you want to dive deeper, take a pass through Christopher’s book <a href="https://shop.corproject.com/collections/books/products/our-bodies-tell-gods-story-discovering-the-divine-plan-for-love-sex-and-gender-paperback" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Our Bodies Tell God’s Story</a> and look for many other life-giving resources at <a href="https://tobinstitute.org/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">tobinstitute.org</a>.

Aug 28, 202159 min

089: The Wild at Heart Experience

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_089_WildatHeartExperience.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_089_WildatHeartExperience.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> When I look at him there is a collection of awful memories. Memories I have spent most of my adult life trying to forget. – <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hH2Yo6Gdbs" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Kid </a> Some of our most determined energy is poured into forgetting the sights, sounds, and locations that harmed our souls. At best we acknowledge them but minimize their significance; at worst we bury them, laboring to convince ourselves that our painful experiences play little role in the kind of men we have become. Yet a wound ungrieved is a wound unhealed. The relentless mission of Jesus is to heal and restore every aspect of our personhood. To rebuild what has been devastated. To befriend the young, dismayed, and lonely parts of us that have never been welcomed home. How do you treat the little boy inside of you? What are your knee-jerk reactions when circumstances expose young places in your soul that have yet to be healed? What would it be like to join God in seeking and shepherding the young places within, receiving the relentless pursuit of a Loving Father? Join Cherie, John, Stasi, and me as we discuss the importance of knowing our woundedness and actively receiving the healing that God longs to bring. May this conversation be an encouragement to your heart today, and may it also be a fresh invitation to join us for the <a href="https://wildatheart.org/wildatheart/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Wild at Heart Experience</a> and <a href="https://wildatheart.org/captivating/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Captivating Experience</a> made available free to you and others. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Aug 16, 202150 min

088: Blurring the Lines of Vocation and Family

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_088_FamilyasVocation.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_088_FamilyasVocation.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Live at Home. Love at Home. Thrive at Home. Family First. – Morgan Snyder “All of life is a coming home. Salesman, secretaries, coal miners, beekeepers, sword swallowers—all of us. All the restless hearts of the world, all trying to find our way home….Home: the dictionary defines it as both a place of origin and a destination.” – <a href="https://youtu.be/cF-pJngRKU4" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Patch Adams</a> Where and when do you have the sense of being “home"? What does that feel like? How would your family describe the atmosphere of your home? What’s it like to live with you, in the atmosphere you have knowingly or unknowingly created? And what do these questions have to do with your work in the world? What if maturity looks like blurring the lines between vocation and family? What if culture has baited you into surrendering the greatest treasure entrusted to your care? What if you could come home? And what if it changed everything? Come join a fellowship of rare and remarkable men from across the globe as we dive deep into some of the most foundational questions of becoming. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Jul 31, 20211h 0m

087: The Company Men

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_087_TheCompanyMen.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_087_TheCompanyMen.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Sometimes we have to leave what we know to find out what we know. – Greenlights, Matthew McConaughey A modern-day parable, The Company Men depicts one man’s journey along the ancient path and process of masculine initiation. Like most initiation stories, the process begins with a man who finds himself at the end of his rope. A. W. Tozer once said, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.” Where does a man take his heart when he has been crushed, when the achievements he has pursued crumble around him? What does he do when failure forces him to face one of life’s most important questions: Who am I? If a man is willing to consent to his initiation, he will indeed pass through a death into a larger, indestructible life. Though death is inevitably excruciating, the ancient path assures us that the new life will be infinitely richer. Join me for this conversation with <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/men-at-the-movies/id1543799477" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Paul McDonald and Men at the Movies</a>, drawing on The Company Men to prompt our self-interrogation and connect us afresh with the God who embraces and engages us at the precipice of the impossible. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Jul 22, 202154 min

086: Back to the Garden

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_086_JaneBiel.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_086_JaneBiel.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. – Goethe If the primary expression of God, his Kingdom, and his story happens through the recovery of family, why is it often so difficult to experience breakthrough? What's with the regular boredom, monotony, or discouragement? What if engaging these challenges is not a distraction from our Kingdom calling, but rather precisely the path to its fulfillment? What if the holy constraint of pursuing and cultivating wholehearted relationships with those under our care is a holy invitation back into the garden of simplicity with God? Jane is a woman consented to the slow and steady process of maturation, responding with her feminine heart to the invitation from God to become whole. Join me as she invites us back into the Garden to participate in a beautifully inefficient and joy-inducing life in God. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Jul 7, 20211h 1m

085: Defending the Defenseless

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_085_DefendingtheDefenseless.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_085_DefendingtheDefenseless.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it's having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it's our greatest measure of courage. – Brené Brown <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_085_DefendingtheDefenseless.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>The Father is a wild one, undivided in his commitment to meet us where we are and father every uninitiated place in us. <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_085_DefendingtheDefenseless.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> </a> This podcast is one of the many privileged opportunities the Father provided this year to reach the many to find the few. Midway through, our conversation took an unanticipated turn and finished with an encounter that embodies what we are after for every man with the message of Becoming a King. Join me in this podcast, originally hosted by John Walz, as he courageously enters the unpredictable waters of vulnerability and accesses the sacred place every man must go to recover his strength. Come along as we consent to our Father-initiated masculine journey. For the Kingdom, Morgan P.S. You can find an ever-expanding list of other podcasts featuring the mission and message of Become Good Soil <a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/external-podcasts/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>.

Jun 22, 202159 min

084: Becoming a King Campfire, Part 2

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_084_BecomingaKingCampfire_Part2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_084_BecomingaKingCampfire_Part2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> My story is important not because it is mine, God knows, but because if I tell it anything like right, the chances are you will recognize that in many ways it is also yours… It is precisely through these stories in all their particularity, as I have long believed and often said, that God makes himself known to each of us more powerfully and personally. If this is true, it means that to lose track of our stories is to be profoundly impoverished not only humanly but also spiritually. – Frederick Buechner, Telling Secrets How do we become the kind of kings God had in mind before the creation of the world? One year ago we launched a mission to reach the many to find the few with the message of Becoming a King. Thanks to your partnership and Jesus’ power, we have been able to steward this mission for the sake of many hearts and kingdoms around the world. In the Revelation, the apostle John reminds us that the stories of the saints weave with the blood of Jesus to accomplish the breakthrough we desperately seek. To mark this one-year anniversary, we share these heartfelt stories from Becoming a King allies around the globe in that spirit: may the words of these men who are risking it all on God and his Kingdom connect with the blood of Jesus in each of our lives in order that we might overcome as one. May these stories strengthen you and fuel you for what’s ahead. We’re just getting started… For the Kingdom, Morgan

Jun 8, 202158 min

083: Becoming a King Campfire, Part 1

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_083_BecomingaKingCampfire_Part1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_083_BecomingaKingCampfire_Part1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall. A king does not command his men's loyalty through fear nor purchase it with gold; he earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake. That which comprises the harshest burden, a king lifts first and sets down last. A king does not require service of those he leads but provides it to them. A king does not expand his substance to enslave men, but by his conduct and example makes them free. – Xeones, Battle of Thermopylae, Gates of Fire In an age of immediate answers and an overabundance of information, our souls’ questions often get buried, denied, or forgotten. At times, we abandon them for fear of where they might lead. Often, we give up on them entirely, too ashamed to reveal the depth of our thirst and ache. But Jesus has not changed, nor has his Kingdom. He is always inviting us to rediscover and hold fast to our questions as his particular way of guiding us back to the path of Life. What are your questions? Who are you asking? If the goal is success, we will in the end lose heart. If the goal is having the right answer, we will often be disappointed. But if the goal is to become true and wholehearted, nothing can kill us. If the goal is more of us belonging to more of God, our questions are vital. Over the past year I’ve had the honor to share campfires with like-hearted allies to connect and hear stories of the men bravely working through the Becoming a King video series and study guide. The campfire I got to share with Pablo Ceron of <a href="https://wildsons.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Wildsons</a> and the behind-the-scenes glimpse of the courage and strength of the men with whom he walks and the Father who pursues us all is a highlight of this series. Join me around this Becoming a King campfire and be strengthened. For the Kingdom, Morgan

May 25, 20211h 9m

082: Unbridled Optimism, with Peb Jackson

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_082_PebJackson.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_082_PebJackson.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success. – Ad placed by Sir Ernest Shackleton, 1915 He would never tell you that he was the one who connected Eugene Peterson, author of The Message paraphrase of the Bible, with U2’s Bono and helped cultivate their enduring friendship. It’s reasonable to say that he has fostered more connections between leaders of leaders across the global Christian community than any other man in modern history. Peb Jackson is a living legend. Incurably positive, uncommonly attracted to risk, the core of Peb’s heart is wild and unfettered. His life inspires my curiosity: how does a man recover and fuel this quality of consecrated masculine strength over such a length of time? Peb is slow to share about his extraordinary life because he is a man who listens far more than he talks. Through the practice of cultivating questions, he has recovered a disproportionate share of the map that leads to life for the masculine soul. And he shares this map with others with magnificent generosity. Yet Peb’s most distinguishable and attractive quality is his practice of spending extended time with God his Father. With nothing else. No book, no phone, no people. Just God himself. His life embodies these words of A. W. Tozer: "The man who would know God must give time to him. He must count no time wasted which is spent in the cultivation of his acquaintance. He must give himself to meditation and prayer hours on end." This is Peb Jackson. Friends, slow down and receive with me the treasure of an intimate conversation with a man who has consented to becoming a king to whom God has entrusted much of his Kingdom. For the Kingdom, Morgan

May 11, 202153 min

081: Maternal Deprivation

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_081_MaternalDeprivation.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_081_MaternalDeprivation.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> In 70-year-old men, the number one factor in shaping who they had become was the presence or lack of strong emotional bonds with a single consistent feminine caregiver. – Robert Karen, Becoming Attached Where have you taken your soul’s need for feminine love? Have you ever considered your relationship with food and how that story has played out in your life over decades? How are you receiving daily feminine nourishment from the heart of God? I am persuaded that our nagging experience of lack, our unsatisfied experiences in our bodies, our complex relationship with food, our addictions and commitments to feel good no matter the cost to ourselves or others, our dysfunctional relating in relationships with females, and our unshakable sense of disconnection from God are rooted at least in part to one core wound: maternal deprivation. If, as George MacDonald suggests, our central misery is our inability to turn to God for masculine validation, then our central anguish is our incapacity to receive feminine love from the heart of God. But our woundedness need not have the final word. There is provision and promise in the rescuing, restoring love of the Trinity. We are invited to risk turning toward God as Mother to receive the maternal care, secure attachment, and feminine love we so desperately need. Trusting Jesus’ leadership and authority over our lives, let’s take a closer look at the theme of maternal deprivation and explore how we can regularly receive feminine love and maternal care from the heart of God. Join me as we dive deep together. It’ll change everything. For the Kingdom, Morgan This podcast opens with a beautiful poem written and read by Rob Porter. Rob serves as a facilitator at the Become Good Soil Intensives and has been a faithful ally in this path and process of becoming for years. He is now offering what he has received to allies in New Zealand, the UK, and beyond. My deepest thanks for his contribution to this mission.

Apr 27, 202152 min

080: Slow Is Pro

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_080_SlowIsPro.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_080_SlowIsPro.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> You speak often of my drinking, but little of my thirst. – Scottish Proverb In seven years of crafting the Become Good Soil podcast for you, no episode has infused me with more JOY than my time with Winton Nicholson as we explored Slow Is Pro. Winton is a fiery, full-hearted Joy-Bringer who has found the treasure in the field and sold everything to possess it. He looks back to us from further down the narrow road and, with a wink and sparkle in his eye, says, “Buckle up…we’re in for a ride!” Winton’s is a story of a thirsty man who sought to slake his thirst in countless ways until God revealed that his real thirst was for the radical, unconditional Love of his Pursuing Father. Through his story, Winton guides us to deep and daring waters, inviting us to reconnect with our true thirst and dive in with reckless abandon. It was Brennan Manning who boldly asked, “Do you believe that the God of Jesus loves you beyond worthiness and unworthiness? Beyond fidelity and infidelity...that he loves you in the morning sun and in the evening rain...that he loves you when your intellect denies it, your emotions refuse it, when your whole being rejects it? Do you believe that God loves you without condition and reservation and loves you in this moment as you are and not as you should be?” Both Brennan’s and Winton’s stories bring us to a point of decision. Will we risk believing and receiving more and more of the utterly unconditional and intense affection of our Father? And will we risk loving God and loving ourselves? How we respond to this invitation will dramatically shape our decade of becoming the kind of kings to whom God gladly entrusts his Kingdom. Winton’s story reminds us that we mustn’t minimize our sin nature that attempts in myriad ways to distance us from our pain and inhibit our transformation yet fails to satisfy our true thirst. Below our compulsive reaching for another drink, our overeating, our constancy of activity, or any other medicating behavior is an unmet need. Noticing these compulsions and becoming curious about what is underneath can reveal the next layer ready for excavation in our process of becoming wholehearted. Here is the good news: our medicators and their grip are not the truest thing about us. Our hidden self-hatred need not get the final word. There is a Father who is fiercely pursuing us, who loves us right now as we are and not as we should be. And none of the messes we have made in portions and seasons of our lives, nor the harm we have caused ourselves and others, are beyond the Love of our Father and his path forward to irrepressible joy and indestructible wholeness. Join me and Winton in this episode of the Become Good Soil podcast as we courageously acknowledge the strategies of our sin—yet upend them, receiving the truth that the truest thing about us all is this: we are dearly loved sons. You don’t want to miss this. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Apr 13, 202136 min

079: A New Dawn Is Rising

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_079_NewDawnisRising.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_079_NewDawnisRising.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord's Prayer is about. – N. T. Wright In The Second Mountain, David Brooks observes the inescapable fact that we all grow up in one moral ecology or another. Our moral ecology is the system of beliefs and behaviors that are often based in collective responses to big problems in a specific cultural moment. Recovering what is good, true, and beautiful often depends on identifying our current moral ecology and courageously asking, “Where have we gone astray, and how might we uncover the path forward to recover life in our age?” Brooks describes the pattern like this: “It usually starts with a subculture. A small group of creative individuals finds the current moral ecology oppressive and alienating. So they go back in history and update an old moral ecology that seems to provide a better way to live...” Were we to allow Jesus’ words to interrogate us, we may find ourselves asking courageous but uncomfortable questions: What do I need to unlearn? How is my current moral ecology getting in the way of seeing Jesus and his Kingdom as it really is? And how can I see Jesus and his Kingdom more clearly? Often at first pass we see things not as they truly are, but only as we are. However, if we are willing, our distorted vision need not be the final verdict. If we will give our consent, Jesus and his disruptive Word can address and heal our blindness. His words and teaching can liberate us from our inherited, unconscious, or entrenched perspectives and deliver us into a new life and expanded vision. By his grace and transformative power, we can, in time, begin to see things more and more as they really are. Join Cherie and me as we risk questioning our current moral ecology in light of the way of Jesus, opening ourselves to his interrogation so that our impoverished vision of his gospel of the Kingdom may be exchanged for a greater vision ablaze in Resurrection Light. For the Kingdom, Morgan I recommend a deep dive into these books we referenced:

Mar 29, 202139 min

078: Wild at Heart

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_078_WildatHeart.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_078_WildatHeart.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is men who have come alive. – Howard Thurman Over two decades ago through his book Wild at Heart, John Eldredge offered men the central thing they were missing: Permission. Permission to recover what God meant when he created masculinity. Permission to recover a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and the courage to fight for beauty with integrity and sacrifice. Permission for us to recover our hearts, as men. The promise was this: through taking this masculine journey, we would be able in time to bring ourselves as whole-hearted men to the world and to our world. Thoreau’s words from his seminal work Walden are so often quoted because they ring true: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Yet through the message and mission of Wild at Heart, that desperation has evaporated in hundreds of thousands of men and in its place has been sown a recovered strength and union with God. As a result, a quiet and unshakable revolution is at hand. It’s a revolution of the human heart. Its epicenter is the restoration of men. And from there, communities, marriages, families, and kingdoms around the globe are being healed. And we’re just getting started. Friends, join John and me as we unpack the story of Wild at Heart, a story more than 25 years in the making. We reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going. Know this: where we are going will only happen if we lock shields and recover our hearts, together. So join us. Dream with us. Grow with us. And act with us to participate with God in rescuing and restoring the next generation. “Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is men who have come alive.” Let’s go. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Mar 16, 20211h 6m

077: Initiation, with Nick Carlile

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_077_NickCarlisle.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_077_NickCarlisle.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> I haven't made all A's in the art of living. But I give a damn. And I'll take an experienced C over an ignorant A any day. – Matthew McConaughey, Greenlights In Backpacking with the Saints, Belden Lane captures a fundamental mystery of masculine initiation: “What does [a man] do when there’s nothing he can do, when there’s no audience to applaud his performance, when he faces a cold, silent indifference, if not hostility? His world falls to pieces. The soul hungry for approval starves in a desert like that. It reduces the compulsive achiever to something little, utterly ordinary. Only then is he able to be loved.” Masculine initiation has as much to do with unlearning as it does with learning, as much to do with powerlessness as it does with power. How do we attune our hearts, minds, and imaginations to the path of masculine initiation that God is orchestrating right here and now? Friends, join me for an interview on initiation hosted by Nick Carlile on Life Enchanted. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Mar 1, 202158 min

076: Liturgy

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_076_SimonKyne.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_076_SimonKyne.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> To an unaccustomed onlooker, the ancient practices, set prayers, bells, and incense of formal liturgy may seem perplexing or even bizarre. But as I've gone through another round of unlearning and relearning rightly, I've begun to grasp—with the help of longtime ally Simon Kyne—that liturgy was intended to be a grace and essential stream to draw near to God and access the full breadth and depth of his Kingdom. And as is often the case with any structure or institution, the heart of God can get lost in the debris. How do we recover these sacred practices that have stood the test of time? How do we receive afresh the Life of God through the symbols, ceremony, and traditions that anchor us in the past, present, and future reality of God's Kingdom? What can we learn from the labor and love of thousands of years of apprentices who have gone before us? How do we recover an annual rhythm and liturgical calendar that guides us through our months and years and centers it all upon the resurrection of the King of kings and the hope of the Restoration of All Things? Friends, I want to welcome you to the deep end of the pool with Simon, this faithful guide who has cultivated personal and corporate liturgical practices for four decades. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again. Let's dive in. For the Kingdom, Morgan In the podcast we reference several tools as an onramp into a deeper liturgical practice. You can find those <a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/liturgy/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>.

Feb 15, 202159 min

075: Vision, Intention, and Means

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_075_VIM.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_075_VIM.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> “I have not failed. I've just found 1000 ways that won't work.” –Thomas Edison, inventor of electric light What is the path of inner transformation and becoming like Christ? Is such transformation even possible? Dallas Willard assures us it is readily available. We can, in time, become the kind of people who naturally bless those who curse us and love our enemies as our normal reaction. However, he presses that it happens only with a compelling vision of the Kingdom, a deliberate decision to seek it, and the engagement of effective means through which the Grace of God can flow as the rushing River of Life that Jesus has promised. Dallas refers to this pattern of human transformation as VIM: Vision, Intention, and Means. He argues that we can see the pattern of VIM at work in any effective human endeavor. When it comes to the reformation of our humanity into the image and likeness of Jesus, Dallas argues that “if we are to be spiritually formed in Christ, we must have and must implement the appropriate vision, intention, and means. Not just any path we take will do. [Without these,] Christ simply will not be formed in us.” (Renovation of the Heart, p. 87) How is the VIM pattern relevant in our quest to become the kind of men to whom our Father can gladly entrust his Kingdom? Join Cherie and me as we explore the significance of vision, intention, and means more closely. For the Kingdom, Morgan For more, check out Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard:

Feb 2, 202154 min

074: Experiential Therapy with Bill Lokey

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_074_BillLokey.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_074_BillLokey.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Thinking about something rather than trying not to think about something is much more successful. Walking toward rather than away from something allows us to get where we want to go. – Bill Lokey Jesus has an uncanny way of pulling that singular string that, over time, unravels the well-woven fig leaf we use to insulate our true self from being found and restored. One day he uses merciful deliverance; the next, an exacting question. One day he speaks words of life; the next, he allows us to walk away for a time. He is brilliant in modeling distinct streams through which the River of Life can graciously flow. His ways of healing our broken hearts and setting our captive places free seem boundless. Always imaginative, always personal, and always in love. Among these streams, experiential therapy has been a profound conduit of the River of Life for me and for many; it is one of the great modalities of therapy and healing to consider in our toolbox for the restoration of the masculine soul. Few in this country are as equipped and experienced in this modality as Bill Lokey. I first came under Bill’s care while he served as Senior Clinical Director at Onsite Workshops for ten years. At Onsite, Bill supervised over 70 therapists throughout the U.S., training them in experiential therapy and designing transforming emotional wellness and recovery programs that have drawn people from all over the world. Bill is most renowned as the loving husband of Laurie and as a beloved father and grandfather. Professionally, he offers learning opportunities and counsel on the topics of trauma, rising through adversity, overcoming codependency, connection in relationships, the impact of a self-protective culture in the workplace, burnout in helping professionals, sexual intimacy in relationships, and more. He and Laurie co-facilitate experiential workshops for churches and organizations to repair their cultures and strengthen their trust, as well as marriage workshops and intensives for couples and groups. Licensed as a senior psychological examiner for over 23 years and certified as a level-3 experiential therapist with the American Society of Experiential Therapists, Bill stewards a private practice to help clients recover from the the effects of trauma, feeling stuck, relational damage, anxiety, grief, loss, spiritual disconnection, and burnout in life. His passion is to help leaders whose lives have been broken or impaired find the hope of a tenaciously loving God and the healing that leads them to serve the world from a place of wholeness and integrity. As apprentices of the King and his Kingdom, let’s take a dive into the modality of experiential therapy with the help of this faithful guide. If you're interested in learning more from Bill, connect with him through <a href="https://billandlaurielokey.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">BillandLaurieLokey.com</a>. In the spirit of shared support, I also want to pass on to you a short list of experiential therapists who've been recommended to us, in case one of them might be a fit along this quest of becoming. I have not personally worked with any of them, so I leave it to you to do your own research and exploration. <a href="http://www.billandlaurielokey.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Bill and Laurie Lokey</a> <a href="https://www.abbebarclaycounseling.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Abbe Barclay</a> (emphasis: sex addiction and couples) <a href="https://npino.com/counselor/1205480225-james--horne/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">James Horne&

Jan 19, 20211h 26m

073: Gary Unruh – Counselor and Restorer of Families (Part 2 of 2)

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_073_GaryUnruh_Part2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_073_GaryUnruh_Part2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable. – C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves “If you want to know how well you are doing as a parent, you can gently begin to ask that question when your kids turn 40. In the meantime, today, risk love.” They were generous words spoken to my soul by a wise guide years ago. Dan Allender is wise when he suggests that children really raise parents. Nothing in the world has the power to form us into loving parents like the steady act of parenting through the days and decades. In How Children Raise Parents, Dan goes on to say, “We often realize that we learn as much from our children as they learn from us. So why don’t parents approach the task of child-rearing as a learning experience, rather than a mandate to make sure their kids succeed in life? To reduce the pressure and enjoy greater closeness in your family, turn your parenting upside-down by allowing God to use your children to help you grow up. Imagine what would happen if you began to prize what you’re being taught by your children’s quirks, failures, and normal childhood dilemmas, rather than worrying about whether you’re doing everything right as a parent.” Friends, with a posture of joyfully embracing the “task of child-rearing as a learning experience,” we turn to part two of a conversation Cherie and I hosted with our mentor, counselor, and dear friend, Gary Unruh. His five decades of work with children and families have recovered some of the relational keys that can turn a catastrophe in relationship into a story that will bring us to tears with gratitude in decades to come. In part one, we explored themes from Golden Rule Parenting. In this episode, we dive into LIFT for Children – Love Infusing Fear Therapy. It’s practical, accessible, and a brilliant onramp to recapture the hearts of children and deepen any other relationship entrusted to your care. To love is to be vulnerable. Having faithful, wise guides like Gary can help us keep risking in love. Let’s dive in. For the Kingdom, Morgan For Gary’s counseling services you can connect with him at <a href="http://garyunruhtherapy.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">GaryUnruhTherapy.com.</a>

Jan 5, 20211h 7m

072: Zechariah

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_072_Zechariah.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_072_Zechariah.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village where he trained and worked as a carpenter until he was thirty. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never went to college. He never traveled more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things usually associated with greatness. He had no credentials but himself. He was only thirty-three. His friends abandoned him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery and humiliation of an unjust trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth at his death. He was laid in a borrowed grave. All the armies that have ever marched, all the navies that have ever sailed, all the governments that have ever governed, and all the kings who have ever reigned have not affected the life of humankind on earth as powerfully as that one solitary life. – Author Unknown Pause with me for a moment and look back through your calendar over the past year. Deeper still, pick up your smartphone or computer and take five minutes right now to scroll through your photos from the last twelve months. No doubt, it was a year to remember. For all of us in ways big or small, it was a year of shaking. I’m curious where your heart is landing as the year comes to a close. Or if you have even had the margin to check in and notice where your heart is during these days. I offer this podcast as an invitation to remember and also pause and reflect again on the impact of the coming of the Messiah on all that is unfolding in our lives and in our world. With the help of a Zechariah the Priest, who faithfully served at his post for nearly four decades in daily anticipation for the Arrival of the King, let’s look back and look forward. Let’s feel the depth and breadth of our heart’s journey over this past year, and let us turn to the hope of the Revolution that is at hand in our stories and in the lives of all those we hold dear. In this podcast, I feature an extended quote from The Indescribable Gift, written by Richard Exeley and illustrated by Phil Boatright. I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy and tuck it away with your Advent wreath to revisit each December. It's out of print but you can still pick up a used copy through Amazon. May the action of our Coming King in you and through you refresh your heart and enliven your hope as you prepare and anticipate his Coming Again. Finally, may we be reminded of why it matters and what it brings to the world through your lives, by watching this moving video shared with our community through one of our alumni: https://youtu.be/Fz1q8NWbExc For the Kingdom, Morgan

Dec 21, 20201h 1m

071: Gary Unruh – Counselor and Restorer of Families (Part 1 of 2)

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_071_GaryUnruh_Part1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_071_GaryUnruh_Part1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> “What grieves God most is not our sin but our refusing to believe that he is so kind, and that he desires to be with us so much more than we do with him.” – Rankin Wilbourne, Union with Christ How often do you have the opportunity to connect with a man who has invested five decades listening to the hearts and stories of over 5000 children and their families? If this generation has a few fathers among us, Gary Unruh is one of them. From serving people at the helm of a large organization in the early years of his career, to piloting at the helm of a small sailboat in open water for joy and soul-care, Gary is a man God has transformed in Love, drawn into deeper union, and empowered to care profoundly well for the hearts of thousands entrusted to his care. One by one. After being Gary's counseling clients for years, meeting with him in his sacred, nondescript office, Cherie and I had a chance to host him on the Become Good Soil podcast. Our hope is to bring his 76 years of insight from his heart to yours. Join us as we explore healthy attachment and the deepest needs of the human heart. Whether for the quest of parenting our children, loving well in our marriages, or caring for the hearts closest to us, Gary guides us to see outward behavior as fruit of emotion, and emotion in the body as the great reflection of the condition, longings, fears, and needs of our Center. When we seek to see, understand, and validate another human at their Center, we unleash the power of Love. We can be well. And we can become the kind of people who offer love to others with greater effect as we increasingly receive it from the heart of God for ourselves. Let’s dive in to part one and learn how. The big ideas that shape this podcast can be found in Gary’s book Golden Rule Parenting. I recommend you read and put into practice these accessible and transformational tools for healing relationships entrusted to your care. For Gary’s counseling services, you can connect with him at <a href="http://www.garyunruhtherapy.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">GaryUnruhTherapy.com</a>. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Dec 7, 20201h 12m

070: The Body Keeps the Score, with Cherie Snyder

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_070_TheBodyKeepstheScore.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_070_TheBodyKeepstheScore.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature. That is why he uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life into us. We may think this rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: he invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it. – C. S. Lewis What if our bodies are guides for the path to become the kind of human in whom the image of God is being restored? What if the sensations, pain, reactions, protests, and needs of our bodies are evidence of what is right with us rather than what is wrong? What if our bodies carry invaluable data about our stories and our destiny with God that can serve as a reliable compass pointing to freedom? And what if there was a way to feel utterly well in our own skin and story? It’s my joy to lean into the trauma-informed story work that my wife, Cherie, has explored for two decades. May this conversation be one more step for all of us toward the wholeness that Jesus offers in the marvel and promise of our embodied life. For the Kingdom,

Nov 24, 20201h 14m

069: The Inquisitive Christ – Part 2 of 2

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_070_TheInquisitiveChrist_Part2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_070_TheInquisitiveChrist_Part2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Shall I abandon, O King of mysteries, the soft comforts of home? Shall I turn my back on my native land, and turn my face towards the sea? Shall I leave the prints of my knees on the sandy beach, a record of my final prayer in my native land? Shall I then suffer every kind of wound that the sea can inflict? Shall I take my tiny boat across the wide sparkling ocean? O King of the Glorious Heaven, shall I go of my own choice upon the sea? O Christ, will you help me on the wild waves? (excerpt from the Prayer of St. Brendan) Eugene Peterson once said, “The clarities of faith are organic and personal, not mechanical and institutional. Faith invades the muddle; it does not eliminate it. Peace develops in the midst of chaos. Harmony is achieved slowly, quietly, unobtrusively—like the effects of salt and light. Such clarities result from a courageous commitment to God, not from controlling or being controlled by others. Such clarities come from adventuring deep into the mysteries of God’s will and love, not by cautiously managing and moralizing in ways that minimize risk and guarantee self-importance.” (Running with the Horses) There are few means more potent for venturing into these mysteries than to recover the questions of God. It’s my joy to invite you into part two of the Become Good Soil podcast series on The Inquisitive Christ with our winsome, American-born, Irish-bred lady of the questions, Cara Murphy. For the Kingdom, <a href="https://caraltmurphy.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Connect with Cara and find out more.</a>

Nov 11, 202042 min

068: The Inquisitive Christ – Part 1 of 2

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_069_TheInquisitiveChrist_Part1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_069_TheInquisitiveChrist_Part1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> “The intention of God is that we should each become the kind of person whom he can set free in his universe, empowered to do what we want to do. Just as we desire and intend this, so far as possible, for our children and others we love, so God desires and intends it for his children. But the character, the inner directedness of the self, must develop to the point where that is possible.” –Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Recovering Our Hidden Life in God “What do you want me to do for you?” It’s a soul-penetrating question from Jesus to each of us. And it is not the only one; the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures record God asking over 300 questions of humans. Curiosity, it seems, might be at the epicenter of the Father’s heart. If intimate, mutual knowing is the point (and given the often hidden nature of what is really going on inside of us), there is nothing more incisive and connecting in our relationship with God than the questions he is asking us on this very day. How do we recover these most precious questions? Cara Murphy is a woman of the questions. She is an apprentice of the King, a mother, a wife, and a thirsty, wild-hearted lady of wisdom. Through her craft and care, we’re welcomed back to God’s ways of igniting imagination, intellect, and soul. It’s my joy to explore her book, The Inquisitive Christ, together and recover some of the central questions needed in this hour on the earth. Let’s dive in to part one of a two-part Become Good Soil podcast series. For the Kingdom, <a href="https://caraltmurphy.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Connect with Cara and find out more.</a>

Nov 3, 20201h 3m

067: Pathfinder – A Conversation with Zach Thomas

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_068_ZachThomas.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_068_ZachThomas.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> God, grant me character greater than my gifts and humility greater than my influence. –Scott Sauls “God, if this is not your will, may it be rendered fruitless.” Who prays that kind of prayer? Very few indeed. Yet Zach Thomas does, and he has prayed this prayer again and again and again. A husband, father of seven children, author of Leader Farming, and Kingdom entrepreneur through and through, Zach is a man who has consented to the path and process of becoming the kind of man to whom our Father can gladly entrust the care of his Kingdom. It’s my joy and privilege to invite you into this soul-strengthening conversation with a fellow Kingdom apprentice. Let’s dive in. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Oct 23, 202052 min

066: Arranging Our Days – An Intimate Conversation from the 2019 Become Good Soil Intensive [podcast

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_067_JohnMorgan.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_067_JohnMorgan.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> "We must empty ourselves of that with which we are full so that we might fill ourselves with that of which we are empty." –St. Augustine of Hippo, 425 A.D. How do we become the kind of men who have nothing to fear, nothing to hide, and nothing to prove? Our Father is making available the way to becoming this kind of man every moment of every day. All that is needed to access it is the simple and powerful act of consent, consenting in this day and for this decade to the slow and steady process of becoming wholehearted. Join John and me and the participants of the 2019 Become Good Soil Intensive for an honest and vulnerable conversation as we dive deep into the mystery and possibility of recovering our whole hearts and the wellspring of life Jesus promises will well up from within. Jesus says it’s possible; we are testing his audacious claim and finding it to be true. Join us. And for those of you interested in diving even deeper into the mission and message of Become Good Soil, the deadline for 2021 Intensive applications is fast approaching. We will review and pray over all completed applications received by November 1st. Find out more <a href="https://dev-becomegoodsoil.pantheonsite.io/events/intensive/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>. Participating in a <a href="http://www.wildatheartbasic.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Wild at Heart BASIC</a> as facilitator or attendee or attending a <a href="https://wildatheart.org/events" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Wild at Heart Boot Camp</a> is a prerequisite for any Intensive, so you’ll want to check those two opportunities out if you haven’t done so yet. Nothing to fear. Nothing to hide. Nothing to prove. It’s available. Let’s recover the ancient path together. For the Kingdom,

Oct 16, 20201h 4m

065: Heroic Stories Series – Wives of the Become Good Soil Intensive Fellowship

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_066_HeroicWomen.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_066_HeroicWomen.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> Friends, As we anticipate the next <a href="https://dev-becomegoodsoil.pantheonsite.io/events/intensive/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Become Good Soil Intensive</a> event—we are now accepting applications—I want to feature stories of what our Father is accomplishing through this message: stories of heroic men recovering heart, strength, joy and intimacy; stories of heroic women championing those men; and stories of women benefiting from men who have risked getting curious about the landscape of their souls and consenting to the process of becoming the kind of king to whom God can entrust his Kingdom. I am blessed to have now cultivated quite a number of allies living this message, including the friends whose lives I have the privilege of seeing up close. I reached out to a few of these men to ask if I could invite their wives into a conversation. What I wanted to hear is what it’s been like for the women to live with their men. I wanted to hear from each woman how she would respond to this question: What is the fruit of the message of becoming a king in your husband's life? I’m confident you’ll enjoy listening to these three candid and courageous women and the stories they generously share. Above all, my hope is that as you listen, your heart is strengthened with deep assurance of the radical transformation and care that our Father promises along this way. As you hear the fruit of consenting to a decade of becoming, if you're compelled to <a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/events/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">find out more</a> about the Become Good Soil Intensive, you are on time. We're accepting applications now. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Sep 14, 20201h 2m

064: Cultivating a Habitat for the Soul

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_065_CultivatingHabitatfortheSoul.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> | </a><a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_065_CultivatingHabitatfortheSoul.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> “There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.” –Victor Hugo, Les Misérables You find yourself in a world gone mad. and You have a soul—or, more accurately, you are a soul—made by God, made for God, and made to need God. You've noticed by now that these two things, the world system and your soul, are constantly at war. But if the aim of the Gospel is the restoration of all creation, including your human soul, how do you avoid the tragedy that Jesus named as gaining the world and losing your soul (Mark 8:36)? What is the way back? How do we reestablish what has been lost, how do we replant what has been uprooted? Here’s what is giving me hope again today: the quest doesn't begin with us; it begins with God. Our job is to respond. There are practices in our power to do that accomplish in us what we never could on our own—small, consistent, but heroic acts that integrate our fractured souls and reconnect us supernaturally with our God. Join Cherie and me for a very practical discussion on being found by God through the formation of small and accessible practices. May this conversation—originally offered at our Homecoming event last fall—encourage you as you seek to arrange your days for union with God. Remember this: there is always a way forward, no matter how far into the weeds or off-track we might find ourselves today. The good news is this: our Father is more at work than we are. He is seeking us even now, finding us right where we are, and moving us forward in his story of healing us, restoring our sanity, cultivating our flourishing, and moving us into deeper union with him. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Aug 18, 20201h 1m