Become Good Soil

<p>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_064_IsleofMisfits.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_064_IsleofMisfits.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> <br></p> <br> <br><p>Authenticity is a collection of choices we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen. <br>–Brené Brown <br></p> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>Courage begets courage. <br> <br>That was my experience of Nancy Carmichael when she invited me to share a conversation on her podcast, Isle of Misfits. Her podcast predominantly serves a tribe of women; and truth be told, of the over 40 podcasts, interviews, radio shows, and events I’ve been invited to participate with regarding the launch of Becoming a King, Nancy was the only woman to bravely and boldly extend me an invitation. <br> <br>All of the other communities, organizations, and tribes have been hosted by men. <br> <br>Of course, on the surface, this ratio makes sense: Becoming a King appears to be a message for men. <br> <br>Yet experience tells me it's more than that. My sense is that the lack of invitation reflects the aggregate negative impact of fallen masculinity upon women. Many women—perhaps especially those who have fought hard for a voice and presence as a cultural influencer—have been failed not only by the individual men in their lives, but also by long-standing cultural structures that, rather than holding esteem and respect for female influence and power, have brought contempt. <br> <br>Many women, if given a choice, would just as well choose to steer clear of masculinity. <br> <br>Why would a woman risk opening her heart to masculinity when she has been failed for so long on so many levels? <br> <br>As the Spirit has been opening my eyes and allowing me to begin to see the depth and breadth of the degrading, harmful, and disempowering impact of broken masculinity upon women, what comes up for me is deep sorrow and a desire to be a part of what God is doing on the earth to turn the tide. I have seen many of your lives. I know you stand with me in wanting to be a humbled and strong-hearted portion of the restoration of all things, particularly as it relates to masculinity. <br> <br>Instead of unconsciously recirculating contempt and debasement, my desire is to take the lowest seat, hear from women, and listen and learn—then partner together to help restore masculinity as it was meant to be. <br> <br>The privilege of engaging with Nancy and the Isle of Misfits was catalytic in my own relationship with God. In the hope of passing on what I recieved, I wanted to bring this episode to Become Good Soil for our mutual strengthening. <br> <br>Here is Nancy’s reflection on the work of Isle of Misfits and on the conversation that we share in this episode: <br><p>If you’ve hung around these parts for any length of time, you know that we hold dearly to our core principles, beginning with the dearest of the dear: the clarion call to “Own Your Awkward.”</p> <br><p>I gotta tell you, though, in this particular episode with Morgan Snyder from Wild at Heart and Become Good Soil, that little value of ours was put to the test, and I was tempted to edit the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks out of it.</p> <br><p>Don’t get me wrong. It was a great conversation, not just about Morgan’s new book, Becoming a King, but about, oh, a lot of things. The “new normal.” God as “genderful.” Acknowledging wounds and healing hurts. </p> <br><p>There is deep insight, let me tell you. In fact, so much so, that at one point in the conversation it took a turn toward the vulnerable, and I had to make a choice as to whether I’d keep that part to myself or share it with you all. </p> <br><p>In the end, I decided not to edit it out, ‘cause, well, sometimes a little vulnerability makes for a much more interesting conversation. </p> <br>Friends, let’s dare greatly to

<p>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_063_AnxietyandPeace.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_063_AnxietyandPeace.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> <br></p> <br> <br><p>It is profound how different our experiences can be inside our own skin. When it comes to sensations in the body, we are not on a level playing field. To love and be loved, to know and be known, it’s so important that we practice story-informed relating with ourselves and each other. Jesus is the most brilliant story-informed and trauma-sensitive teacher and friend who has ever lived. <br>– Cherie Snyder</p> <br> <br><p></p> <br><p>Many of us—or those whom we love—have contended with the agonizing sensations of acute anxiety. In attempts to regulate these sensations, we often reach for substances, co-dependent relationships, or control over external circumstances to mitigate the pain and upheaval we feel on the inside. Sometimes the efforts we make to soothe our bodies end up causing harm to ourselves or to those we love.</p> <br><p>Friends, if acute anxiety has been a part of your story or the story of someone you love, there is reliable hope for encounter, comfort, and transformation. I can speak to this hope on a very personal level: over the past 18 months, God has been tending to the root of the anxiety in me and offering new freedom, restoration, and internal peace beyond what I ever dreamed was possible.</p> <br><p>My bride, Cherie, has her own story of acute anxiety. Out of her own story and path toward wholeness, she has consented to the slow and steady process of becoming a trauma-informed educator. She works regularly with fellow travelers to help listen for the sacred information that the body might be conveying and experience loving and compassionate transformation.</p> <br><p>Join her in this podcast as she shares a hopeful framework and practical steps to help us listen to our bodies, learn our stories, encounter God, and move compassionately from anxiety through transformation and toward greater peace.</p> <br><p>For the Kingdom,</p> <br> Morgan

<p>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_062_Searching_For_a_Father.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_062_Searching_For_a_Father.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>Many people die with their music still in them. Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out. <br>–Oliver Wendell Holmes</p> <br> <br>I'm noticing questions along a particular theme surfacing more and more frequently these days. <br> <br>How do I find a mentor? <br> <br>What do I do with my disappointment in older men? <br> <br>How do I offer guidance, counsel, or simply "more" to younger men in my world? <br> <br>Friends, these are central questions in masculine initiation, and yet we often find ourselves both mixed in our past experiences and perplexed or ambivalent about moving forward. Join me as we dive into a podcast that dips below the waterline, identifying questions and recovering a greater hope we can all share. <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> <br>

<p>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_060_Margin.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_060_Margin.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>“Make margin in your life, or life will make margin for you.” </p><p>–Chuck, from a federal prison cell</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>No one stops to think. </p><p><br></p><p>These five words, spoken over two thousand years ago,1 have the potential to change your life more than any others. </p><p><br></p><p>These five words are the headwaters from which a single idea is found, an idea that might be the universal narrow gate through which all like-hearted apprentices of the Kingdom of God must travel if we are to recover the Gospel in our age. </p><p><br></p><p>Having nothing to do with COVID-19 or a pandemic, we find ourselves in an unprecedented time in the history of humanity in a wholly other respect. </p><p><br></p><p>Thankfully, every unprecedented challenge comes with its own unprecedented possibility and particular provision, for such a time as this. </p><p><br></p><p>Join me as we risk going after the deeper things of God and his Kingdom together. </p><p><br></p><p>Below, you’ll find resources referenced in the podcast that will help you dive deeper. </p><p><br></p><p>There is a revolution being seeded around the globe. It’s a revolution of the human heart. It’s taking hold. This is our hour. </p><p><br></p><p>Let’s go. </p><p><br></p><p>For the Kingdom, </p><p>Linear vs. Exponential Growth Curve </p><p><br></p><p>Human Function Curve </p><p>1Isaiah 44:19a NIV </p><p>Reflections Questions: </p><p>1. Observe the current condition of the space that exists in your life between your load and your limits. What does this reveal, through your actions, about what you believe about margin? </p><p><br></p><p>2. Notice what has happened to your attention and your affection... </p><p><br></p><p> over the last year </p><p><br></p><p> over the last five years </p><p><br></p><p> over the last decade </p><p><br></p><p>3. What if this life we find ourselves in is not normal? Notice your capacity for adaptation. How has it been a blessing? How has it been a hindrance? </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Margin by Richard Swenson</p><p><br></p><p>The Overload Syndrome by Richard Swenson</p><p><br></p><p>Hurtling Toward Oblivion by Richard Swenson</p>

<p>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_059_BecomingaKing_Repurposed.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_059_BecomingaKing_Repurposed.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p></p> <br><p></p> <br><p>The great problem of the earth and the great aim of the masculine journey boil down to this: when can you trust a man with power? <br>– John Eldredge</p> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>What’s the most important thing? <br> <br>Over two decades ago I set out on a relentless quest to find the answer. What I found was not what I expected, and where I found it was in the most unanticipated places. With it came a restored strength and an unshakable hope. <br> <br>The most important thing turned out not to be a thing at all, but rather a path. A path to becoming who God meant when he created each one of us. And it is my joy and sacred trust to share it with you. <br> <br>In this podcast, join John Eldredge and me as we explore the soul-strengthening themes in Becoming a King. <br> <br>A Joybomb with Becoming a King Pre-Orders <br> <br>As I recorded the audiobook for Becoming a King, I sensed that the most powerful way to communicate the impact of this message is through the stories of the men who have lived it. Specifically, I wanted to record a conversation with four of the men who have walked shoulder to shoulder with me along this way as each of us has consented to the process of becoming the kind of man to whom God can entrust the care of his Kingdom. But even more, I wanted to risk interviewing our wives and hear directly about what they have seen and experienced in us along the way of becoming a king. <br> <br>So along with Cherie, my bride, I circled up with the wives of four of the men who have been living and forming this message at my side for over a decade in their own personal lives and in community. <br> <br> <br>I asked these courageous and truth-telling women to share from their perspectives about what they’ve seen in their husbands along this journey. The conversation that transpired was raw, honest, and hope-infused, and I am thrilled to share it with you. <br> <br>For everyone who orders Becoming a King before May 26, we’re offering these bonuses: <br> <br> First access to the exclusive Wives Conversation Collection <br> The first three sessions of the Becoming a King video series <br> The first three chapters of the in-depth Becoming a King study guide <br> <br>You can find out more at <a href="http://becomingaking.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">BecomingAKing.com</a>. <br> <br>Together, let’s reach the many, and find the few. <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> <br>

<p>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_058_CirclingtheWagons.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_058_CirclingtheWagons.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>No life of faith can be lived privately. There must be overflow into the lives of others. <br>–Eugene Peterson</p> <br> <br>Seventy-two years ago, a novel threat emerged on the earth, inciting a proportionate pandemic of fear around the globe. In that hour, it was the advent of the atomic bomb, a weapon whose potential for immediate and global destruction was unprecedented. The pressing and consequential question of that age was “How should we now live in light of this new and deadly threat?” C. S. Lewis wrote the following in response: <br>In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.” <br> <br>In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty. <br> <br>This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds. <br> <br>“On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948) in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Present-Concerns-Journalistic-C-Lewis/dp/0062643592/?tag=thegospcoal-20" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays</a> <br>Following Lewis’s counsel, one of the “human things” we can do is gather, albeit virtually, to connect and be strengthened by the stories of others. Together, we can imagine, dream, question, and unite in prayer, and thereby enact a power beyond ourselves that will steady and focus us as we continue in the sacred and sometimes mundane work of being found at our post on any and every day. <br> <br>To this end, I have gathered some of my most trusted companions for mutual strengthening; we are inviting you to gather with us as well. Our hope is that as a global fellowship of like-hearted men, we can encourage each other in “sensible and human things,” and as one, bring more and more of the reign of Heaven to more and more of the domain of earth. <br> <br>Our world is at a rare juncture; the global crisis of our age offers a fresh and remarkably accessible opportunity to return our need and our personal story back to the Hero and Author of the Larger Story from which we originated. There is so much goodness to fight for here. Long-standing strongholds can be broken. Shattered relationships and lives can be restored. Lost things can be found. Life can be recovered. Light shines brighter in darkness. Come, join us. We’re glad you’re here. <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> <br>

<p>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_57_CoronaVirus_10Things.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_57_CoronaVirus_10Things.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>The owner of the company maintained his poker face; it was not simply for the card game. This was the face he now donned for every public moment in these dark days. He was in trouble, and under no circumstances would he let it show. The investments he had made in the good times were now worthless. Ever since the waves of panic and the dread of complete collapse had gripped the region, commerce had careened to a violent stop; his tenants had no means of making money, much less paying him. Who knew when the next dollar would come? The economy was like concrete—it had moved well when it was wet, but now the scorching heat of oversupply, panic, and free-fall had dried it up overnight. Later, people would swear they had seen the terror behind his eyes. But in those first dreadful days, they had refused to admit it even to themselves. </p><p><br></p><p>This story isn’t from 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a glimpse of the grim inner reality of a landlord and investor in 1931, a paraphrase from a story told by Timothy Egan in his brilliant and award-winning book The Worst Hard Time. </p><p><br></p><p>In the early 1930s, a terrible collision of deadly drought, global economic instability, and the dire environmental consequences of man’s misuse of power gave rise to a cataclysm of dust storms that devastated the southern high plains of the U.S. Nothing like it had been seen before; and to this day, the total ruination of the ecosystem of the Great Plains is often credited as the worst environmental disaster of human history. </p><p><br></p><p>Not surprisingly, few lived to tell the story, or if they did, it was a story too painful or shameful to recount. </p><p><br></p><p>I can’t help but connect the stories in The Worst Hard Time with elements of our current global challenge. No one knows the outcome of these times in which we find ourselves. There is no crystal ball; there are no material guarantees. Yet by Grace there is a brilliant, kind Teacher who wants to guide us through all of it into Life. And there is a map of human history that can educate our souls to survive, to endure, and to make the way for future generations to thrive as a result of abiding wisdom applied in the midst of an unprecedented crisis. </p><p><br></p><p>Which brings me to a question: In times of crisis, when life shifts in some distinct ways from normal to survival, who lives, who dies, and why? Laurence Gonzales wrote a compelling, research-based narrative exploring the mystery behind this question in his fascinating book Deep Survival. </p><p><br></p><p>In the hope of offering some soul-strengthening counsel from shapers among us as well as shapers of old, my aim in this podcast is to pause and consider some very practical aspects of “surviving survival” that we could lean into today in order to become even more the kind of men who can receive life and bring life, in partnership with God, for such a time as this. </p><p><br></p><p>Specifically, I highlight 10 ideas that can help us first receive love and then lead in love, even in this uncertain hour. </p><p><br></p><p>Friends, let us stand together, holding onto the hope that Paul expressed to the community of God’s people in Galatia: the hope that we who have chosen to receive the gift of God’s generously available life are given the resources we need for union with God and to express our faith in love. Not in our own strength, but in union with the Trinity today. Paul assured us that we do have direct access to remarkable qualities of God’s own life and experience: </p><p>Joy that overflows, </p><p>Peace that subdues

<p>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_056_CoronavirusPrayer_v2.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_056_CoronavirusPrayer_v2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br>Friends, it was Oswald Chambers who said, "We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there's nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all." <br> <br>This morning I was deeply moved in my own personal prayer time to contend for God's particular and wide-reaching provision in a world that, in this hour, has given itself over in significant ways to fear and chaos. I had the privilege of gathering (via Zoom) with a fellowship of like-hearted men from around the globe, to stand in agreement with God, praying wholeheartedly for his prevailing work in the hearts and lives in every nation impacted by coronavirus. During the prayer time, I sensed it would be a soul-strengthening blessing to share that prayer with you, inviting you to stand with us, as one. Our infinite need can only be matched by God's infinite capacity and joy to respond. Let's risk believing and trusting, together. <br> <br>As One, <br> Morgan

<p>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_055_FireYourBoss_Final.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_055_FireYourBoss_Final.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Standing up and owning our reverberating pulses of passion rarely comes down to a singular event or momentary intersection with destiny. There is a daily-ness to our noble and sensible resignations. We dutifully go about our lives for years, decades even, and suddenly we look up to find ourselves with parts or whole swatches of our lives unlived. </p><p>–Aaron McHugh</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>What if the current challenges you're facing could lead to an inner transformation that facilitates, over time, a flourishing finish to your story? Paul prayed this daring prayer for his like-hearted allies in a place called Philippi (Phil. 1:6). I too pray this regularly for the hearts of family and friends entrusted to my care. But sometimes in my own struggle, it is strengthening to see it being lived out by other climbing companions. </p><p><br></p><p>Become Good Soil is about setting as paramount not what we do, but who we are becoming. The hope is that together we will be strengthened and guided more deeply into becoming the kind of men to whom God can gladly entrust to the care of his Kingdom. </p><p><br></p><p>It takes the like-hearted to get there. </p><p><br></p><p>Over the years, I’ve made it a priority to invest in friendships with men who are also risking it all on God and his Kingdom. In some upcoming podcasts, I hope to pull the curtain back on other men's lives so you can draw courage and strength from the fruit of their commitment to the slow and steady process of deep inner transformation. </p><p><br></p><p>Aaron McHugh has been side by side with me in this since the beginning. He attended the first <a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bgs-event-home-page/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Become Good Soil Intensive</a> (which was a dozen guys in camp chairs and sleeping bags at Bart’s ranch) and has helped provide leadership for every U.S. Intensive over the past decade. I’ve participated in and had the privilege of witnessing hundreds of Aaron's largely unseen choices where he gave a risky yes to God, allowing his apprenticeship in the Kingdom to be the primary driving force of his days and his last two decades. For years he’s been putting pen to paper the story of what it has looked like to live out this process in a corporate context. Part of Aaron’s mission as Kingdom ambassador has been to offer a framework for discovering the work you love without quitting your job. He tackles fear and self-preservation head on while mapping out philosophical, emotional, tactical, and heart-centered shifts that can help recover the narrow road in the context of work. </p><p><br></p><p>Aaron's new book, Fire Your Boss: Discover Work You Love Without Quitting Your Job, launches January 14, and it’s with joy that I recommend it to you. Woven through its pages is living, breathing evidence of the slow and steady that leads to the life we were meant for, from the inside out. </p><p><br></p><p>Two years ago I sat down to interview Aaron to celebrate a milestone in the stewardship of his podcast and to take a hidden look behind the scenes as he was steadily shaping what would become his new book. In the spirit of featuring soul-strengthening stories of the like-hearted, I wanted to bring some of that conversation to your heart in this episode. </p><p><br></p><p>For the Kingdom, </p><p> Morgan</p>

<p>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_054_Question_Response_VII.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_054_Question_Response_VII.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Much of our effort to do things for the Lord is really the resurgence of our desire to dominate and make things happen in our own strength. </p><p>– Dallas Willard, Life Without Lack</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>We celebrated the 50th Become Good Soil podcast by asking you like-hearted listeners around the globe to send in the questions coming up as you travel the narrow road. </p><p><br></p><p>The response was far more than we anticipated, and so deeply encouraging. And included far too many to address in one podcast! </p><p><br></p><p>The depth and breadth of the questions set the stage for Q & R to become a regular part of the mix for the Become Good Soil tribe. </p><p><br></p><p>In that vein, this podcast is a Volume 2 of responses to the original questions that listeners offered, including these: </p><p>When it comes to risks, which ones should I be taking?</p><p><br></p><p>I long for life-giving mentorship. How I do I find mentors?</p><p><br></p><p>When is it too late to begin the process of excavation for the soul?</p><p><br></p><p>I’ve done the slow and steady work of putting to death the false self. Yet I find myself in the deepest places of doing what I don’t want to do and not doing what I want to do. How do you put to death the final parts of the false man within?</p><p><br></p><p>Do you have questions you’d love to see considered in a future Become Good Soil podcast? Type your question on this <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScNznASARqzQn53SVFPui4qNU7hiXZASHht2OEwaoCVdNshNQ/viewform" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">form</a> or <a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/ask/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">leave a voice recording</a>. </p><p><br></p><p>For the Kingdom, </p><p> Morgan</p>

<p>Podcast: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_053_ChuckBolton_3of3.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_053_ChuckBolton_3of3.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>Start by doing what's necessary; <br>then do what's possible; <br>and suddenly you are doing the impossible. <br>– St. Francis of Assisi</p> <br> <br>It has been an incredible privilege to invite you into an intimate mentoring encounter with Chuck Bolton in this three-part Become Good Soil series. Among the many treasures in this final conversation, Chuck offered this gold: "I want to be authentic with everyone, transparent with fewer, and intimate even fewer." Join me as Chuck helps us unpack a Kingdom-centered view of the Twelve Steps recovery process and guides us into deeper possibilities for cultivating healthy and vibrant relationships. <br> <br>Let’s dive in to the final episode in this series. <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan

<p>Podcast: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_052_ChuckBolton_2of3.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_052_ChuckBolton_2of3.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>Prison was so holy, because there was such a dependence on God. I had the gift of desperation. I couldn't fix anything. I couldn't do it. I had to lean into the Father. <br>-Chuck Bolton</p> <br> <br>One of the lenses I often use when I'm looking to recover the way back to the narrow road is to search for couples who have courageously cultivated friendship in their marriage. I know couples who choose to love and stay together and do hard things together, but I've only observed a handful who really have fun together and really laugh together. Chuck and Michelle have a marriage like that. What most stands out about them is their fun, their laughter, and their willingness to do the work to become people who actually enjoy each other. <br> <br>In part two of our series with Chuck, we go deeper into his time in prison and what it looks like to navigate prison and marriage and love. Let’s dive in together! <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan

<p>Podcast: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_051_ChuckBolton_1of3.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_051_ChuckBolton_1of3.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>I've spent 15 months in federal prison, but I can say the loneliest, darkest prison I've ever been in was my addiction. It was because I was alone and because I was living in secrets. <br>-Chuck Bolton</p> <br> <br>Heart strong and soul safe. That’s what I think of when I think of Chuck Bolton. I had the privilege of sharing over four hours in the studio with this mentor, friend, and hero. He’s been close to hell and back more times than you’d want to count. Our conversation spanned federal prison, private jets, big dollars, big deals, and devastating losses and glorious recovery. <br> <br>If you want to become the kind of man who, in time, has a wife who can say confidently, “I not only love my husband, but I actually really enjoy him,” spend time considering the wisdom that flows from Chuck's Kingdom ventures. <br> <br>Let’s dive into the first in this series. <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan

<p>Podcast: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_050_Question_Response.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_050_Question_Response.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>The questions came pouring in. From near and far. They have been rich and meaningful. What I thought would be one podcast celebrating the 50th episode of Become Good Soil is sure to turn into an extended volume of conversations over time. <br> <br>For this first volume and to celebrate you—the tribe of like-hearted around the globe—we are diving into these questions: <br> <br> Taking the lowest seat at the table: When is it time to take a higher seat and assume a role of greater leadership? <br> Initiating daughters: We’ve received treasures on initiating sons. I have daughters and girls in my world. Is it similar? Different? <br> <br>Join me for this—and more—in the 50th episode. <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan <br> <br>I'd love to keep receiving questions for future volumes in this series. You can submit them <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScNznASARqzQn53SVFPui4qNU7hiXZASHht2OEwaoCVdNshNQ/viewform?usp=sf_link" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">HERE</a>.

<p>“Love and relationship are the bottom line of the Kingdom of God. And they must be ours if we are to establish a Kingdom culture in our homes.”</p> <br><p>-Danny Silk, Loving Our Kids on Purpose: Making a Heart-to-Heart Connection</p> <br> <br> <br>Podcast: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_049_PaulEdwardsv2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_049_PaulEdwardsv2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> <br> <br> <br> <br>It was 21 years ago, but I remember the interaction like it was yesterday. <br> <br>I was in the home of a mentor, and he and I were talking in the kitchen while two of his boys played in the adjoining room. <br> <br>A few minutes into our conversation, a conflict arose between the boys. And in the blink of an eye, as sometimes happens in the glorious fellowship of boys, the older son laid a couple of solid knocks on his younger brother. Immediately, I turned to their dad to see how he was going to respond. And the way he did blew my mind. <br> <br>Having observed the whole thing out of the corner of his eye, their father caught my eye and signaled a pause in our conversation. Then, he went over to the son who had taken the swings at his younger brother. <br> <br>Calmly kneeling before him, my friend looked directly in the eyes of his son and slowly said this: <br><p>“Son, God has made you strong for a reason. I love your strength. I see your strength. But do you think God made you strong to hurt or to help your brother?”</p> <br>It was a sacred moment that continues to reverberate with instruction for me decades later. <br> <br>Instead of only addressing his son’s behavior, my friend dropped below to the level of the heart. He validated his son’s strength and then appealed to his son’s own understanding of his strength, directing him to consider for himself God’s intentions for his strength. Rather than moving against his son and exacerbating the atmosphere of battle, my friend chose to calm himself first, then harness his own adult strength in order to move toward his son in love. <br> <br>Much was at stake, in the boy's heart and also in mine. <br> <br>As we have explored in previous resources, understanding our styles of relating (first given visibility through Karen Horney) has been powerful to help me and many grow in awareness of our own impact as well as curiosity about how to move from reactivity toward integrated responsiveness in my relationships. <br> <br>And as I engage this work, it is in the realm of parenting that I am feeling both the exposure of where I still operate with dysfunctional styles of relating and also the power of applying the material for truer connection with God, myself, and my children. <br> <br>I was recently interviewed by Paul Edwards on the topic of the <a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/stylesofrelating/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Styles of Relating</a> applied in the realm of parenting. He has graciously made the audio of his podcast available for the Become Good Soil fellowship. I hope you enjoy. <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan

<br><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_048_Initiating_Five_Sons_with_Paul_Ryan.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_048_Initiating_Five_Sons_with_Paul_Ryan.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> <br>Though it is rare, there are people who have built a strong inner character, who have achieved a certain depth. In these people, at the end of this struggle, the climb to success has surrendered to the struggle to deepen the soul.<br/>– David Brooks <br>In The Road to Character,David Brooks explains the crooked timber tradition, an ancient way of understanding human nature. The crooked timber tradition holds two facets of the human person in stable tension: humans have a genuine capacity for goodness and greatness (the timber); and, there are grains within each of us that are inherently “crooked” and must be addressed. If something beautiful, good, and true is to be constructed from a person’s life, the inner "bentness" must be corrected through an intentional process of pervasive inner transformation. In the mission and message of Become Good Soil, we have come to call this traveling the ancient road. <br> <br> <br> <br> <br><p>Brooks intimately scrutinizes key historical figures whose lives exuded a particularly generative power, illustrating how each of these uniquely transformative men and women consciously devoted themselves to an ongoing process of personal reformation. Through his study, Brooks distills this universal theme: “You have to give to receive. You have to surrender to something outside of yourself to gain strength within yourself. You have to conquer your desire to get what you crave. Success leads to the greatest failure, which is pride. Failure leads to the greatest success, which is humility and learning. In order to fulfill yourself, you have to forget yourself. In order to find yourself, you have to lose yourself.”</p> <br> <br> <br> <br><p>How rare it is to sit with a man who has traveled this crooked timber way, a man who reckons honestly with our God-given capacity to participate with God’s life and offer genuine strength for the sake his Kingdom, and also continually confronts the bent places within. How much rarer it is to lean into a man who has not only been initiated himself, but has also invested much of his strength to initiate five sons over the course of more than two decades. (<a href="https://vimeo.com/312589124/cb5fe200b3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">This video</a> is an example, a glimpse into one of the many initiation stories of Paul's son Aaron.) Simply put, we are initiated as we initiate others.</p> <br> <br> <br> <br><p>Paul Ryan is this kind of man.</p> <br> <br> <br> <br><p>As part of the living legend series, I had the privilege to host an initiation conversation with Paul, a Become Good Soil mentor who serves as Director for Ellel Ministries in Australia, and more importantly is husband of Joanne and father to five sons and a radiant daughter.</p> <br> <br> <br> <br><p>Join us as we dive deep, excavating another layer of masculine initiation.<br/><br/>For the Kingdom,<br/> Morgan</p> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br><p>Note: In our conversation we reference Healing the Masculine Soul by Gordon Dalbey.</p> <br>

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_047_IntensiveSeries_8of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_047_IntensiveSeries_8of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence. <br>–Oswald Chambers</p> <br> <br> <br>In the mid-20th century, The Times in London ran an essay contest, inviting highly respected thinkers and leaders to respond to the question, “What’s wrong with the world?” Chesterton offered this as his full response: <br><p>Dear Sirs,</p> <br><p>I am. </p> <br><p>Sincerely yours,</p> <br><p>G. K. Chesterton</p> <br>Chesterton was in contact with the reality of the masculine soul. An an apprentice in the way of the Kingdom, he had taken personal responsibility for his part in what is wrong in the world. Chesterton consented to a process of masculine initiation, a putting to death of the false self, this ancient path epitomized in the life and death of Jesus and described concisely by Joseph Campbell: “Where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves.” (2) Through apprenticeship to Jesus, Chesterton had become the kind of king who could be entrusted with more and more of God’s Kingdom. <br> <br>We are invited to join him at the side of our true elder Brother, so that one day the inverse of the question offered by The Times might be answered positively by us all: <br><p>What’s right with the world?</p> <br><p>I am.</p> <br>That is what comes to mind when I think of the men with whom I had the honor to share this conversation for the final episode of the <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/040-intensive-series-episode-1-of-8-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">8-part Become Good Soil Intensive Series.</a> <br> <br>One man shared this phenomenal joybomb with me recently. He hosted a few alumni and their families for a meal and some laughter around the campfire. One of the wives, who has suffered much trauma from being mistreated by men who were entrusted with the care of her heart, shared these words as she later reflected on the evening: <br> <br>"I feel safe and secure in a world where there are men like these men around the fire." <br> <br>Oh, friends, the good it does my heart to know that among some of the lasting effects of the transformation of God in the hearts of men through this message, is this sort of good and caring impact on the lives of women. Perhaps it is indeed the "atmosphere" a man does or does not produce that can tell us much about the heart of the man. <br> <br>If you're joining us for the first time in this series, I would encourage you to begin with <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/040-intensive-series-episode-1-of-8-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">part one</a>. <br> <br>If this series has strengthened your masculine soul in any way, I encourage you to ask God which men in your world would benefit from your passing it along. <br> <br>The deadline for applications for the next U.S. Intensive is October 12th. <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bgs-event-home-page/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Find out more.</a> <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>(1) Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_046_IntensiveSeries_7of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_046_IntensiveSeries_7of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>For a human character to reveal truly exceptional qualities, one must have the good fortune to be able to observe its performance over many years. If this performance is devoid of all egoism, if its guiding motive is unparalleled generosity, if it is absolutely certain there is no thought of recompense and that, in addition, it has left its visible mark upon the earth, then there can be no mistake. <br>– Jean Giono, The Man Who Planted Trees</p> <br> <br> <br>Who can forget when Daniel, the Karate Kid, visited Mr. Miyagi in his understated workshop? Or when Luke Skywalker was led to the swamp and encountered Master Yoda? Both young men found themselves responding to an invitation to enter a process of becoming. The theme is universal: the human soul is formed and forged at the feet of a wise master. <br> <br>Yet this vision of apprenticeship to a Master is often exchanged for a commitment to autonomy and self-realization, especially in a culture enamored with the freshness of youth and fiercely committed to convenience. <br> <br>Dallas named this resistance to discipleship as “vampire Christianity.” In his words, this resistance effectively says to Jesus, "Yes, I'd like a little of your blood, please. But I don't care to be your student or have your character. In fact, won't you just excuse me while I get on with my life, and I'll see you in heaven." (1) <br> <br>The Spirit is faithfully reissuing the invitation to apprenticeship to this generation. And together, we can respond. We can say yes to Jesus’ offer of a front-row seat in his "Master Class for Kingdom-Living" and choose the narrow road of inner transformation. <br> <br>Join me in episode 7 of the <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/040-intensive-series-episode-1-of-8-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">8-part Become Good Soil Intensive Series</a> as we do the sacred work of turning to elders in the Kingdom, the fathers of our faith, to allow their counsel to orient, refresh, and strengthen the kingly heart set within us. <br> <br>The deadline for applications for the next U.S. Intensive is October 12th. <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bgs-event-home-page/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Find out more.</a> <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>(2) The Great Omission by Dallas Willard

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_045_IntensiveSeries_6of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_045_IntensiveSeries_6of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who is fully consecrated to him. <br>– Henry Varley</p> <br> <br> <br>What astonishes the heart of God? <br> <br>Join me for this sixth episode of an eight-part series where we are going behind the scenes into the most recent Become Good Soil Intensive. <br> <br>If you're joining us for the first time in this series, I would encourage you to begin with <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/040-intensive-series-episode-1-of-8-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">episode one</a>. <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_044_IntensiveSeries_5of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_044_IntensiveSeries_5of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>How are you arranging your days? </p><p><br></p><p>Dallas suggest that there is a possibility and a promise that, in time and over time, we can indeed arrange our days so that we are "experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in our everyday life with God." </p><p><br></p><p>Friends, it is available. By day and by decade. </p><p><br></p><p>Join me as we once again dive behind the scenes for a portion of another session from the most recent Become Good Soil Intensive. </p><p><br></p><p>In this episode I refer to two images: </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Through October 12, we are accepting applications for the next Become Good Soil Intensive. <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bgs-event-home-page/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Find out more</a>. </p><p><br></p><p>For the Kingdom, </p><p> Morgan</p>

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_043_IntensiveSeries_4of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_043_IntensiveSeries_4of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br> <br>In Renovation of the Heart, Dallas says, <br> <br>"Our soul is like a stream of water, which gives strength, direction and harmony to every other area of our life. When the stream is as it should be, we are constantly refreshed and exuberant in all we do, because our soul itself is then profusely rooted in the vastness of God and His Kingdom...and all else within us is enlivened and directed by that stream. There we are harmony with God, reality, and the rest of human nature and nature at large." <br> <br>It's been said that the infinite need of the soul can only be satisfied by God's infinite capacity and desire to satisfy. <br> <br>The soul was designed for a habitat in which it can thrive. <br> <br>Let's dive in behind the scenes for a portion of another session from the most recent Become Good Soil Intensive. <br> <br>In this episode, among other categories, I refer to an <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/castration-a-case-for-carrying-a-knife/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">IKEA instruction manual</a> and, by way of contrast, a powerful trailer from Gerber Knives: Hello, Trouble. <br> <br> <br> <br>Through October 12, we are accepting applications for the next Become Good Soil Intensive. <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bgs-event-home-page/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Find out more</a>. <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_042_IntensiveSeries_3of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_042_IntensiveSeries_3of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>I break the limits I have made with <br>who God can be, <br>what God can do, <br>and how God can do it in my life.</p> <br>It's perhaps the second most dangerous and daring prayer we could ever pray. And it is one that can lead us into treasures beyond telling. <br> <br>Listen to this session from the most recent Become Good Soil Intensive about receiving God as Mother. Then, if you'd like to explore this teaching more deeply, check out a <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/receiving-the-mother-heart-of-god/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">video of a teaching</a> I recently offered at <a href="http://metooplace.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Discovery Church Colorado</a>, as well as <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/mother/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">more resources</a> on the mothering heart of God. <br> <br> <br> <br>Through October 12, we are accepting applications for the next Become Good Soil Intensive. <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bgs-event-home-page/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Find out more.</a> <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_041_IntensiveSeries_2of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_041_IntensiveSeries_2of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>What was it about Jesus that allowed him to become quite possibly the most relaxed and lovingly unpredictable person who ever lived? </p><p><br></p><p>Join me as we explore part two of an eight-part series in which we're going behind the scenes into the most recent Become Good Soil Intensive. </p><p><br></p><p>If you haven't listened to episode one, start <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/040-intensive-series-episode-1-of-8-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">there</a>. </p><p><br></p><p>You can find the Part One, Part Two and images I refer to in Getting Naked—and much more—<a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/stylesofrelating/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><p><br></p><p>Through October 12, we are accepting applications for the next Become Good Soil Intensive. <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bgs-event-home-page/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Find out more</a>. </p><p><br></p><p>For the Kingdom, </p><p> Morgan </p>

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_040_IntensiveSeries_1of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_040_IntensiveSeries_1of8.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p> Many are saying that in the automobile industry, there has not been a revolution of this magnitude since Henry Ford inaugurated the assembly line for the Model T Ford on December 1, 1913. Yet as with every revolution and in every growing kingdom, there are hidden costs. Even in an endeavor as brilliant and groundbreaking as the Tesla Corporation. </p><p><br></p><p>‘This past year has been the most difficult and painful year of my career. It was excruciating." These candid words belong to Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla. (1) </p><p><br></p><p>There are hidden costs in every kingdom. With vulnerable emotion, Musk describes 120-hour work weeks at the hefty expense of time with his kids and his friends. As an example, Musk confesses racing to his brother’s wedding (he was the best man) by private jet, arriving a mere two hours before the wedding, only to fly out immediately afterward in order to be back at his desk—the same desk where he spent his birthday entirely alone, minus friends or family or even a step outside the building. </p><p><br></p><p>The names change, but the storyline is ever present: dramatic success often has its own hidden and painful costs. “There is nothing new under the sun,” as the author of Ecclesiastes put it almost 3,000 years ago. (2) </p><p><br></p><p>Falling men and falling kingdoms. </p><p><br></p><p>Good and beautiful and heroic desires are embedded in the center of the masculine soul. Yet there is also something corrosive at work. Some drive to answer a searing question for which we have no words. Some compulsive need to push and strive that lures us so often to prioritize the things that matter less over the things that matter (or are supposed to matter) most to us. </p><p><br></p><p>What are we to make of this dilemma? </p><p><br></p><p>If we venture below the surface, into the sacred inner geography of the soul of a man, what treasures would we find? What type of rescue mission might we initiate to help recover the life for which we are made? And what path of wholehearted restoration might we find that could put us on a trajectory so that, a decade from now, these words might be true? </p><p>Life is different now in tangible and meaningful ways. Circumstances are no less difficult, yet my soul is thriving. My relationships are strong. A courage-filled and cultivated “yes” is at work in my soul. My kingdom and those under my care are doing increasingly better. My heart is more whole; not only my strength but also my smile has been restored. No doubt, I am still under renovation. Yet I have come to an experiential knowing of the promise of the One to whom I am apprenticed, and my experience is this:</p><p><br></p><p>I was tired and worn out…burned by people and things and myself most of all. Yet I drew nearer to my Guide. I risked consenting to a process. I began asking the hard questions. I began risking love: love for my own soul, love for those around me, love for the One who sets all good things in motion. I drew away and slowly and assuredly began to recover my life. I watched my Master as he modeled how to take a real rest. I walked with him and worked with him. I watched with a fresh and steadfast curiosity how he navigated precarious terrain and engaged in it without being ruled by it. I learned what I can only name as unforced rhythms of receiving God acting in my life to accomplish a goodness far beyond my ability to create on my own. I gave up what was heavy and ill-fitting. I kept more and more compa

<p>In time it sometimes comes to pass that familiarity can give way to presumed familiarity. That presumed familiarity can then give way to unfamiliarity. And unfamiliarity can give way to boredom, obscurity, or even contempt. <br>– Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy</p> <br> <br> <br><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_039_ContemplativePrayerSeries_E3.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_039_ContemplativePrayerSeries_E3.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> <br> <br> <br> <br>There’s nothing like the practical. <br> <br>In this third and final episode of an Inquiry into Contemplative Prayer, we explore the pragmatism of integrating this practice into our daily lives, concluding with a third opportunity to practice together this accessible and time-tested means of experiencing the Kingdom Among Us. <br> <br>If you haven’t experienced the first two episodes of this series, you’ll want to start with <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/contemplativeprayer/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">episode one</a>.

<p>Meditation and contemplative prayer is not so much a way to find God as a way of resting in him whom we have found, who loves us, who is near to us, who comes to us to draw us to himself. <br>― Thomas Merton, Contemplative Prayer</p> <br> <br> <br><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_038_ContemplativePrayerSeries_E2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_038_ContemplativePrayerSeries_E2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> <br> <br> <br> <br>What is it like to really know God? Not just know about God but to know him, thoroughly and comprehensively in the most essential places of our souls? <br> <br>What if there were a way to practice experiential knowledge of God? What if we could regularly encounter God on a level far deeper than creedal statements through a vibrant knowing of a faithful God, even when we are lacking confidence in his reliability? How do we find a way to regularly access the life of God even deeper than our cognitive representations of things and in a manner which has the power to change our actual experience of our everyday life? <br> <br>Friends, Cherie and I are excited to welcome you into part two of a three-part Become Good Soil podcast series intended to be an onramp to the spiritual practice of centering prayer. <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> <br>Morgan and Cherie

<p>All men desire peace, but very few desire those things that make for peace. </p><p>–Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_037_ContemplativePrayerSeries_E1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_037_ContemplativePrayerSeries_E1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>I find it fascinating that when Jesus speaks of eternal life, it's less often about a specific time or place where we transition into some other state of being and more often about a quality of life—robust, deep vitality—that is being made available to us, right here and right now. He offers this invitation to a rich young man who has found his trust in things of this world. (1) He regularly teaches the thirsty that the Kingdom of God is at hand. (2) He leans into this idea on the night of his betrayal and abandonment by the men closest to him. </p><p><br></p><p>In intercession for these same friends and for us, he cries out to his Father, "The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you." (3) </p><p><br></p><p>If deep, whole-person union with God is the invitation and inheritance of Christianity, what are the means by which we respond to this invitation? How exactly do we go about entering into this union? </p><p><br></p><p>Join my wife, Cherie, and me as we explore some deep waters in <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_037_ContemplativePrayerSeries_E1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">part one</a> of a three-part podcast series on the practice of contemplative prayer. Our hope is that together we can recover one of the greatest means of deeper union—and through it, deeper life—embedded in the rich history of God’s people through the ages. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>(1) Matt. 19:16-30 </p><p>(2) Matt. 3:2 </p><p>(3) John 17:21 MSG </p><p><br></p><p>If you'd like to go deeper, here's one resource that helped launch our journey into centering prayer: Open Mind, Open Heart by Thomas Keating. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_036_JDH_E3.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_036_JDH_E3.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>Spontaneity is the fruit of preparation. <br>– Jonathan David Helser</p> <br> <br>"Did you bring me out here in the storm to kill me?" <br> <br>This pained and brutally honest prayer poured from Jonathan David Helser's heart in the midst of a moment of exposure and hand-to-hand battle with the living God. <br> <br>Jonathan explains, <br>Over the years, the Father has engineered circumstances to expose some of the core beliefs and lies that have tried to silence my heart. He has led me on a journey of initiation to excavate and transform these deep-seated beliefs in order that I might come into the fullness of life as it was meant to be. <br> <br>Praying my most honest prayer gets me to my core beliefs. <br> <br>And in response to “Did you bring me out here in the storm to kill me?” the Father spoke back this truth: <br><p>"I did not bring the disciples into the storm to kill them.</p> <br><p>I brought them into the storm to kill their fear.</p> <br><p>Son, I have brought you into the storm to kill the fear that lives in you."</p> <br> <br>Join me in this final installment of a three-part journey of receiving more of the wild love of our Father alongside songwriter, musician, father, husband, and son, Jonathan David Helser. <br> <br>If you haven’t listened to <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/034-jonathan-david-helser-episode-1-of-3-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">part one</a> or <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/035-jonathan-david-helser-episode-2-of-3-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">part two</a>, you’ll want to <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/034-jonathan-david-helser-episode-1-of-3-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">start there</a>. <br> <br>Explore more of the treasures in this three-part series here: <br><p><a href="http://www.jonathanhelser.com/about/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">JonathanHelser.com</a></p> <br><p><a href="http://www.18InchJourney.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">18InchJourney.com</a></p> <br> <br> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_035_JDH_E2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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/bgs_podcast_035_JDH_E2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>If we have a crisis in this country. It’s more than a fatherless crisis, though. It’s a crisis of manhood, of masculinity. It’s affecting our families, our schools; it’s filling our prisons, and it’s killing the hearts of our women. <br>– Donald Miller</p> <br> <br> <br>Check out the news on any given day and you’ll find stories that illuminate a crisis of masculinity. It's a crisis rooted in the loss of effective masculine initiation, for a boy does not become a good man on his own, but by the soul-food of loving mothers and the soul-forging of loving fathers. <br> <br>Yet we are not without hope. God is ever faithful to supply provision for every problem. In pockets of redemptive communities around the world, God continues to turn the hearts of Kingdom-oriented fathers and mothers back toward those under their care and influence. <br> <br>Jonathan and Melissa Helser are part of God’s provision to manifest the love of God on earth as it is in the Kingdom. Together, they offer servant leadership for a redemptive community in North Carolina and kingly care for an apprenticeship school for the next generation of Kingdom leaders, songwriters, and musicians. <br> <br>Join me for part two of a three-part conversation with my friend and hero Jonathan David Helser. <br> <br>If you haven’t listened to <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/034-jonathan-david-helser-episode-1-of-3-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">part one</a>, you’ll want to <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/034-jonathan-david-helser-episode-1-of-3-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">start there</a>. <br><p>Here are two options for digging deeper:</p> <br><p><a href="http://www.jonathanhelser.com/about/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">JonathanHelser.com</a></p> <br><p><a href="http://www.18InchJourney.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">18InchJourney.com</a></p> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_034_JonathanDavidHelser_E1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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/bgs_podcast_034_JonathanDavidHelser_E1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>When we worship, we silence the fear and declare who our father really is. <br>– Jonathan Helser</p> <br> <br>"Messy could describe the first moment that God has with man. He gathers dirt in His hands to form Adam. There is dirt under God's fingernails and then on God’s lips as He draws Adam close to breathe in His Spirit. What is it like for Adam when he opens his eyes and sees and feels God’s face pressed against his? Surely God is both willing and ready to get messy with us as He brings us close and breathes us to life…” <br> <br>Friends, I am thrilled to invite you into an experiential journey in this three-part Become Good Soil podcast with songwriter, musician, father, husband and son, Jonathan David Helser. Through question, story, and worship, we will practice together venturing along the narrow road and the holy and sacred path of initiation as men. <br> <br>To explore more of the treasures in this three-part podcast series, check out these other pages: <br><p><a href="http://www.jonathanhelser.com/about/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">JonathanHelser.com</a></p> <br><p><a href="http://www.18inchjourney.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">18InchJourney.com</a></p> <br>For the Kingdom, <br> Morgan

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_033_The_Slow_And_Steady_Dallas_Willard_Michael_Cusick.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_033_The_Slow_And_Steady_Dallas_Willard_Michael_Cusick.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>The whole point is presence, the with-God life. That’s the real substance of our relationship with God. <br>– Dallas Willard, 1935-2013</p> <br> <br> <br> Amidst the clamor of contemporary life, there is the narrow path of slowing down and setting our souls before the insight of the elders. We can take heart: there are wise ones who have gone before us, men and women who have recovered the lost treasure of the Gospel and can effectively communicate it. Wise ones who now make known to us the path of Life. <br> <br>Join me in this deep and rich interview with Dallas Willard and Michael Cusick and spend some time in the company of true elders. Michael is an ally of our <a href="http://www.ransomedheart.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Wild at Heart</a> team. As both president of Restoring the Soul and lead counselor of a team of like-hearted warriors, he is devoted to the restoration of the hearts of men. You can find out much more about Restoring the Soul and the retreats, intensive counseling opportunities, and marriage ministry they offer at <a href="http://restoringthesoul.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">RestoringTheSoul.com</a>. <br> <br>Here is just a sample of the realities Dallas and Michael touch on in this conversation: <br> <br> How do God and His Kingdom usually work? What is God’s preference in the “how” of uniting heaven and earth in the kingdom of God? Rather than focusing on the ways God can work, what if we focused our energy on participating in the ways God prefers to manifest His kingdom on the earth? <br> Pascal said "all the troubles of the world come from the fact that people cannot go into a room, sit down, and be quiet." Why is stillness important, and how can we participate in the art of sitting down and being quiet? <br> Solitude is a radical discipline that breaks the hold the world's system has over us. Solitude suspends the activities that pull at us, distract us, and energize our unaware-of-God identities and habits. Dallas and Michael explore how solitude is a reliable activity—within our power to do—that enables us to experience the with-God life through interactive knowing and being known. <br> Wholeness is the functioning of all aspects of the self in harmonious union. It's what enables a person to be truly good, doing good under God. <br> <br>If you're interested in deeper restoration, I encourage you to connect with Michael Cusick and his team at <a href="https://restoringthesoul.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Restoring the Soul</a>. <br> <br>Strength and Honor, <br> Morgan

<p>The important achievement of Apollo was demonstrating that humanity is not forever chained to this planet, and our visions go rather further than that and our opportunities are unlimited. </p> <br><p>- Neil Armstrong, NASA astronaut</p> <br> <br> <br><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_032_One_Giant_Leap_For_Mankind_Brad_Beck.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_032_One_Giant_Leap_For_Mankind_Brad_Beck.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> <br> <br> <br> <br>Brad Beck has spent a lifetime offering strength in a myriad of roles in countless missions. As a flight surgeon in a supersonic jet for NASA, a crew member in international theater performance with YWAM, a physician in private practice, a coach of high school football, and a co-leader of men’s missions with Wild at Heart around the globe, Brad has left his fingerprints on the lives of many and much. <br> <br>Yet none of these powerful roles inspire the breadth of redemptive pause as his role of Dad and his path of loving his family, particularly loving a special needs child through her short years in this world and gently and lovingly into the next. <br> <br>Join me in a podcast that will surely lead us back to the Narrow Road. <br> <br>Recently we featured Brad and his wife, Lisa, in a <a href="https://youtu.be/c4fDshsDP5E" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">beautiful short film</a> that echoes the story of hope infused in John’s most recent book, All Things New. <br> <br>As a complement to this interview, I strongly encourage you to check out <a href="https://youtu.be/c4fDshsDP5E" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">the film</a> as well as All Things New.

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_031_100Miles_Dave_Eitemiller.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_031_100Miles_Dave_Eitemiller.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. </p><p>– John Muir</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Piecing together a string of single-track trails that meander through a dry, rocky, cactus-strewn landscape, it’s possible to make a 48-mile continuous trek across Zion National Park.</p><p><br></p><p>For most people, this trek would be one of the epic adventures of their lives; if you’re Dave Eitemiller, you count it as a solid training workout for yet another 100-mile adventure race. </p><p><br></p><p>Nearing the sixth decade of his life with a frontiersman’s heart akin to the likes of Lewis and Clark, Dave is partnering with God in the corners of the globe to father leaders in the Kingdom. </p><p><br></p><p>With experiences spanning corporate executive roles in Shanghai to adventures with fly rod and skis in the backcountry of the West, Dave’s the kind of man with whom it’s good to share a campfire. </p><p><br></p><p>I had the privilege of hosting a conversation with him prior to his recent venture into the wild of Zion National Park. Join us as we savor a conversation sure to beckon each of us forward along the frontier of the masculine journey in unique and collective ways. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>To connect with fathers in the Kingdom, consider applying for a future <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bgs-event-home-page/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Become Good Soil Intensive</a>. And for all of us, let this podcast be a reminder of this Kingdom reality: We are each invited to become what we did not have. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_030_Coming_To_The_Center.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_030_Coming_To_The_Center.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p>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</p> <br> <br> <br>Kelly and Phil are getting a divorce. <br> <br>The email from a mutual friend sharing the news hit me like a punch in the stomach. <br> <br>Brandon and his dad are in deep contention. It’s the kind of painful, two-sided misunderstanding that could finally sever the strained relationship. <br> <br>Tragic stories of ruptured relationships continue to stream into my world, and I’m sure into yours as well. My heart never builds resiliency. Rather, it seems to break even more with every fresh story. <br> <br>But increasing ever more are the stories of restoration. <br> <br>Resolution. <br> <br>Resolve. <br> <br>And many, through the miracle of validation—a practice of coming to the center of the soul of another—through which God’s life seems to flood in like morning sun. <br> <br>This practice of seeking experiential heart knowledge of another for her or his own sake is perhaps one of the most courageous and loving acts a spouse, a friend, a sibling, or a parent can ever take. <br> <br>I will go as far as to say that the breakthroughs in our marriage over the past 16 years have often been directly proportional to the process that has begun with my capacity to come to the center of the present reality of my wife’s soul. And to offer her the same access to mine in crazy, risky love. <br> <br>In Renovation of the Heart, Dallas suggests, <br>The hidden dimension of each human life is not visible to others, nor is it fully graspable even by ourselves. We usually know very little about what moves in our own soul, the deepest level of our life, or what is driving it. Our ‘within’ is astonishingly complex and subtle. <br>And within this complex, hidden dimension is the power and possibility of love. <br> <br>The practice of coming to the center of another involves putting aside—for a time—my own pain, my need, my presumption, and my agenda in order to know and enter into the experience of the hidden dimension of another for his or her own sake. It is a participation in the Life of Christ, who does unendingly what we intend to do for a moment: enter into the internal experience of another. <br> <br>That is the space of transformation. <br> <br>Join Cherie and me as we head back into deep waters. <br> <br>Let’s become the kind of people—the kind of marriages—where we can cause the world to believe, as Paul says, though much is not as it should be, the Kingdom of God is growing. The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger, in us and through us. (Phil. 2:15, Col. 1:5-8) <br> <br>This is the fourth of a marriage podcast series. If you haven’t heard the first three, I’d encourage you to <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/027-venturing-toward-the-more-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">start at the beginning</a>.

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_029_E2_Pt2_SpeckAndPlank.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_029_E2_Pt2_SpeckAndPlank.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br>The offer is Life. <br> <br>Yet that abundant life is often found in the least likely of places. <br> <br>What is the most effective path toward the much looked-for restoration in the heart of your spouse? <br> <br>Join Cherie and me in this second half of a conversation in which we reflect on the particular elements of Reality as Jesus reveals what can bring more life to our marriages than we ever thought possible. <br> <br>Jesus, we choose to pause. <br> <br>Jesus, we open the gate of our soul and trust that you are reliable and fully capable of providing a way where there is no way. <br> <br>In this episode we offer some reflection questions for deep consideration. Take the time to stay with God in those questions until you are led into the more he is making available. <br> <br>With deep anticipation, <br> <br>Cherie and Morgan <br> <br>Note: If you haven't listened to the first portion of this conversation on the plank and the speck, you'll want to <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/028plank-and-speck-the-marriage-series-part-two-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">start there</a>.

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_028_Plank_and_Speck_P1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_028_Plank_and_Speck_P1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br> <br><p></p> <br><p>Jesus and his words…are essentially subversive of the established arrangements and ways of thinking. That is clear from the way they first entered the world, their initial effects, and how they are preserved in the New Testament writings and live on in people. He himself described his words as “spirit and life” (John 6:63). They invade our “real” world with a reality even more real than it is. <br>– Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy</p> <br> <br><p></p> <br> <br>Where are Jesus and his words subverting your established arrangements and ways of thinking? How are his words and way invading your “real” world with a reality more real than it is? <br> <br>A mentor encouraged Cherie and me to immerse ourselves in the four Gospels, taking our places as Jesus’ apprentices, attentive to what he said and taught. We are discovering much treasure, including Jesus’ teaching on what is wonderfully Well in the Reality of the Trinity; and we are discovering much challenge, including sobering insight into what is still unwell within and between us, where is it not “on earth as it is in Heaven.” <br> <br>Yet even in the revelation of what is unwell, Jesus’ words insist on the Good News that the Kingdom is open to us right here and now, even in these places. <br> <br>Particularly, Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7 on “the plank and the speck” has revealed something unwell in our marriage and illuminated a way back into the joyous Kingdom-Among-Us. <br> <br>Join Cherie and me in this second episode of conversations reflecting on the particular elements of Reality as Jesus reveals that are becoming the new and reliable foundation for the house of our marriage. <br> <br>Jesus, we give you permission to subvert us. Open our eyes, subversive Christ.

If we are relational to our core, fashioned in the image of the One who is Three, then it is in dynamic relationship that we participate in the unending Life of God. And among human relationships, there is none more brimming with the loving potential to both expose our "not yet" and to beckon us forward than marriage. <br> <br>In The Mystery of Marriage, Mike Mason writes, <br>The book of Proverbs as a whole takes a view of marriage that remains proverbial to this day: there is nothing in the world worse than a bad marriage, and at the same time, nothing better than a good one. <br>Man, if we haven’t tasted that truth, for better and for worse. <br> <br>As we reflect on our marriage and on the stories others have shared with us, we hear Love’s offer that pain need not be the final word. Rather, we are finding that the pain in our marriage is becoming a spiritual trailhead of sorts, inaugurating a journey to increasing expanses of goodness and life. <br> <br>“You are a rare couple. You are choosing not to just phone in some prescription and call it good enough.” <br> <br>These were the words that marriage counselor spoke into the lives of good friends of ours last week. When my buddy shared them with me yesterday, they became a mirror, causing me to inquire in my own soul—could the same words be spoken of my marriage? I was reminded of how much easier it is—at least in the short term—to settle, find some medication for the pain we experience in our marriage, and simply call it good enough. It is far riskier to let the pain be a teacher, guiding us to risk both the belief and the action toward choosing the more. <br> <br>Our friends’ choice for more surfaces a question: Am I willing to forsake the shallow waters of good enough and set out into deeper waters where it is all frontier? <br> <br>Seventeen years ago, having very little acquaintance with what it really meant, Cherie and I included the following poem by Sir Frances Drake on the final page of our wedding program. <br>Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, <br>when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, <br>when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore. <br> <br>Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, <br>we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; <br>when having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; <br> and when in our efforts to build a new earth, <br>we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim. <br> <br>Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizon of our hopes, and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love. <br> <br>This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ. <br>Now, with a bit more experience, more pockets of pain, and yet a growing vision of the Goodness of Trinitarian Reality, we take hold of these words afresh, drawn forward by the promise that we do not go alone. There is one who offers His kind, competent—though unnerving—leadership if we are willing to follow. <br> <br>Our need is great: there is much that is hindering love. We are in need of deeper submersion into the Life of the Trinity; we are in need of the continual exposure of our imposing blind spots; we are in need of deliverance from our vast entanglements with the narrow self-life and all the harm it brings to us and to our marriage. <br> <br>Yet our hope is greater still: we want it all, the full portion of what is available between a man and a woman in marriage. <br> <br>We want to uncover and experience all the treasure hidden in this mysterious union as two become one: all of the transformation, joy, co-creativity, ecstasy, play, intimacy, shared mission, and unending giving and receiving of love, honor, cherishing, and delight that is available. <br> <br>In the spirit of a shared expedition, with joy and a healthy dose of trepidation, Cherie and I offer this series of Become Good Soil podcasts as we venture out toward the more in our marriage. <br> <br>Together may we seek, ask, and knock unceasingly in order that as it is in the Trinity who is Love, it might be in us and between us and through us. <br> <br>God, you have our yes. <br> <br>And, friends, we invite you to set sail into deeper waters with us as we all risk believing there is more. <br> <br>With all our hearts and hope, <br> <br>Morgan and Cherie <br> <br> <br> <br>Looking to go deeper into the mystery and possibility of the full portion in marriage? Consider these onramps to the Narrow Road. <br>&

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_025_ILoveBeerMoreThanJesus.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_025_ILoveBeerMoreThanJesus.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p> <br>By day and by decade. <br> <br>These words have become a mantra for my masculine soul. A sort of North Star as I attempt to orient and re-align my life with the Reality of God and His Kingdom. <br> <br> <br>Allen Arnold and I had an opportunity to share some dialogue and prayer regarding how we're choosing to orient our souls at the beginning of this new year. <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>In the podcast, we reference A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God, which I'd recommend strongly as a read to launch this next year. <br> <br> <br>I also reference Gerald May's Addiction and Grace.Also, as part of the podcast I reference a blog from a January past titled <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/i-love-beer-more-than-jesus/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">I Love Beer More Than Jesus</a>. <br>In The Pursuit of God, Tozer offers these words: <br> <br> <br>In this hour of all-but-universal darkness one cheering gleam appears: within the fold of [God's people] there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself. They are eager for spiritual realities and will not be put off with words, nor will they be content with correct 'interpretations' of truth. They are athirst for God, and they will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water. <br> <br> <br> <br>Friends, be encouraged. You are woven into a redemptive community. A fellowship that spans the globe of like-hearted men who will not be satisfied with less than the full portion of what is available under Heaven. <br> <br> <br> <br>As you set your face like a flint toward another year of choosing to become good soil, know you are not alone. Nothing is wasted. <br> <br> <br> <br>Let's keep going. <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_025_EstherSparks_BackToLife.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_025_EstherSparks_BackToLife.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>This most recent episode was a treasure to record, featuring Esther Sparks, a Scottish poet and musician whose music has been uniquely sustaining to Cherie and me throughout this decade of excavation and becoming. </p><p><br></p><p>Offering transparently from her own story, Esther’s music speaks to central themes of the human experience: love and loss; betrayal and forgiveness; abandonment and embrace; birth, death, and resurrection. </p><p><br></p><p>Luminous in her insights and raw in her offering, Esther draws us deeper into our own stories and the Kingdom-among-us that connects all therein. Her songs have become dear companions for the narrow road, songs that say, "Yep. Me too. You are not alone. Don’t give up. We can find our way together." </p><p><br></p><p>Join me as Esther shares the stories behind some of our favorite songs. Her music is substantive food and drink for hearts that beat to become good soil and have been broken along the way. </p><p><br></p><p>You can find more on Esther Sparks <a href="https://esthersparks.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><p><br></p><p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_025_EstherSparks_BackToLife.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_025_EstherSparks_BackToLife.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p>You're invited to join us for the Sons of Thunder Brewing Christmas Party and you can hear Esther Live. </p><p><br></p><p>And as a gift from her heart to yours, Esther is making available the following tracks to the Become Good Soil listeners for your continued nourishment: </p><p><br></p><p>Cry All Over You </p><p><br></p><p>[audio mp3="http://<a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/04-Cry-All-Over-You.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/04-Cry-All-Over-You.mp3</a>"][/audio]</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Back To Life </p><p><br></p><p>[audio mp3="http://<a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Back-to-Life.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Back-to-Life.mp3</a>"][/audio]</p><p><br></p><p> Morgan</p>

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_024_BGSPrayer.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_024_BGSPrayer.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>It has been said, "The lives of many rest in the courage of a few." How are you becoming the kind of person to whom God can entrust the lives of others? How are you becoming the kind of person to whom God can entrust his Kingdom? </p><p><br></p><p>In this third episode of a three-part series, I take us deeper into a Become Good Soil Intensive, where we are invited to participate in portions of a guided session inviting more of us to belong to more of God. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>We are now accepting applications for the upcoming Become Good Soil Intensives in Colorado and Australia in May of 2017. Deadline for complete applications is November 15, 2016. To learn if you qualify to apply and to find out more about the message of Become Good Soil, go to <a href="http://www.ransomedheart.com/BecomeGoodSoil" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">www.RansomedHeart.com/BecomeGoodSoil</a>. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p> Morgan</p>

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_023_CounselfromKingdomGiantsofAustralia.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_023_CounselfromKingdomGiantsofAustralia.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>In part two of the three part series, we venture behind the scenes into a sacred space where sages of the great nation of Australia offer their counsel at a Become Good Soil Intensive in New South Wales. I want to invite you to savor some wisdom from the ancient path. </p><p><br></p><p>We are now accepting applications for the upcoming Become Good Soil Intensives in Colorado and Australia in May of 2017. </p><p><br></p><p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bgs-event-home-page/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Find out more</a></p><p><br></p><p> Morgan</p>

<p><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_022_WhatAstonishestheHeartofGod.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_022_WhatAstonishestheHeartofGod.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>What astonishes the heart of God? </p><p><br></p><p>In part one of this three-part series, I want to invite you behind the scenes into a session at the heart of the most recent Become Good Soil Intensive in Colorado. </p><p><br></p><p>We are now accepting applications for the upcoming Become Good Soil Intensives in both <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bgs-event-home-page/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Colorado</a> and <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bgs-event-home-page/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Australia</a> in May of 2017. <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/bgs-event-home-page/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Find out more</a>.</p>

<a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Cherie-Snyder-Favorites-0006.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a> <br> <br><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_021_You_Are_His_Favorite.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_021_You_Are_His_Favorite.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> <br> <br> <br> <br>It was a shimmering rehearsal dinner, the headwaters of which were most certainly in Eternity. <br> <br>The choicest wine flowed, but even more, the choicest stories: stories of daring, risk, and deep redemption. Family and friends honored Abbey and Shaun with words of profound affection, honor for obstacles overcome, and the kind of faithful knowing and seeing that forms the texture of our deepest longings. <br> <br>In the transcendence of that evening God spoke five words that would change our lives forever... <br> <br>-This podcast is available in <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/youarehisfavorite/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">written</a> form. <br> <br>-Want more? Dive deep into this Kingdom reality with <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/youarehisfavorite/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">additional resources</a>.

<a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Flip-Flops.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><br><br><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_020_did_jesus_wear_flip_flops_V3_6.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_020_did_jesus_wear_flip_flops_V3_6.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a><br><br><br><br>It all started with a lawnmower, a skateboard, a women's clothing magazine, and a set of flip flops.<br><br>What if play is God's idea and is at the epicenter of Kingdom living?<br><br>(A version of this podcast is also available in <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/did-jesus-wear-flip-flops/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">written form</a>.)

<a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_019_cherie_Morgan_BuyingTheField.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_019_cherie_Morgan_BuyingTheField.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> <br> <br>God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field. -Matthew 13:44 <br> <br>In the sunset of his days, D. L. Moody realized that the catalyst for the deepest portion of his conversion was this sentence spoken to his soul by a trusted sage: <br>The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who is fully consecrated to him. – Henry Varley (quoted in A Deeper Experience of Famous Christians) <br>This quote equally entices and disrupts me. <br> <br>How much more is available in communion with God than I’ve glimpsed or even remotely dreamed possible? How much have I taken for granted as “normal” in the life of a Christ-follower that is painfully less than what is available? How much am I willing to set out again in search of a treasure whose worth would prompt ecstasy, and in the wake of the encounter, the desire to sell everything in order to possess it would be my unforced response? <br> <br>Surely this treasure is the invitation to share in the Life of the Trinity, and if I could only see both the invitation and the sensual grandeur of the Life of God for what it is, unforced and total consecration would be my ever-increasing response. <br> <br>There is a woman I know whose heart has long been set on pilgrimage to search for this kind of vision of God. She is the woman with whom I share my children, my body, my dreams, and my life. <br> <br>And in her search, she has glimpsed a God who is first searching for her. Of the many impacts of her life upon mine, she embodies the words of Simon Tugwell, as John quotes in The Sacred Romance: <br>“So long as we imagine it is we who have to look for God, we must often lose heart. But it is the other way about—He is looking for us.” <br>In response to a glimpse of the Treasure, I am witnessing her process of selling more and more to possess it. <br> <br>After fifteen years of life together, we met up in the studio, pressed “record,” and dove into our first-ever shared <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_019_cherie_Morgan_BuyingTheField.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">podcast</a>. <br> <br><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/13_Nov_Snyder-376.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>

<a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcast: </a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a><a href="http://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_18_wild_unfettered_and_free.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a><a href="http://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_18_wild_unfettered_and_free.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> <br> <br><a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_98491.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a> <br> <br>This episode of the Become Good Soil Podcast is a reflection I wrote after ongoing ventures in recent years through The Message paraphrase of Matthew 21:12-18, the passage commonly referred to as “The Clearing of the Temple.” My hope is that it might help us thirsty ones peel back the glaze of over-familiarity and experience the scene afresh, as we find ourselves among the crowds in the Temple on that day. <br> <br>Once you've listened to this episode, I suggest you return to the text again as captured by The Message in Matthew 21:12-18 and immerse yourself in it. <br> <br>Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus afresh. Ask to see him even more truly as he is so that you might offer him your consent to become like him, as he is making possible, in this hour of this day. <br> <br>Enjoy the <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wild-unfettered-and-free/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">blog</a> version of this podcast <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wild-unfettered-and-free/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>. <br> <br>Podcast: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a> | <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_18_wild_unfettered_and_free.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a> | <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_18_wild_unfettered_and_free.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> <br> <br>Strength and Honor, <br> Morgan <br> <br> <br> <br>Matthew 21 (MSG) <br>When Jesus neared Jerusalem...Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: “Go over to the village across from you. You’ll find a donkey tethered there, her colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you’re doing, say, ‘The Master needs them!’ He will send them with you...” The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!...” As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, “What’s going on here? Who is this?” The parade crowd answered, “This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth in Galilee.” <br> <br>Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants. He quoted this text: My house was designated a house of prayer; You have made it a hangout for thieves. <br> <br>Now there was room for the blind and crippled to get in. They came to Jesus and he healed them. <br> <br>When the religious leaders saw the outrageous things he was doing, and heard all the children running and shouting through the Temple, “Hosanna to David’s Son!” they were up in arms and took him to task. “Do you hear what these children are saying?” <br> <br>Jesus said, “Yes, I

<p>Podcast: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a> | <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_017_reese16_p2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a> | <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_017_reese16_p2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p>Eugene Petersen, author of The Message, makes this observation: </p><p>The two most difficult things to get straight in life are love and God. More often than not the mess that we make of our lives can be traced to the failure in one or both of these areas. </p><p>Sages have a capacity to see our lives illuminated with a glow that can only be appreciated through the view of many decades to come. From victory and defeat, agony and hilarity, they can help us see clearly the dangers we might not see that create a life that is simply not sustainable. </p><p><br></p><p>How do we choose a life whereby we become the kind of men who can not only finish well, but genuinely enjoy our lives and the people around us in the midst of our days? How is it that the things that matter most for many men are the very things that, over time, are discarded as casualties of war? </p><p><br></p><p>Join <a href="http://adventuresoftheheart.org" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Reese</a> and me as we pick up on the second part of a <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/016-dismantling-the-fig-leaf-part-one-of-two-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">two-podcast series</a>. If we are to truly come to this with sincere curiosity, honest consideration, and a willingness to not settle for less, it has the possibility and the hope to transform our lives for eternity. </p><p><br></p><p>If you haven't listened to <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/016-dismantling-the-fig-leaf-part-one-of-two-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Part One</a>, I recommend you start there. </p><p><br></p><p>Strength and Honor, </p><p> Morgan </p><p><br></p><p> </p><p><br></p><p>Below is a quote I reference in this teaching drawn from Dallas' words in The Divine Conspiracy: </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Jesus’ enduring relevance is based on his historically proven ability to speak, to heal and empower the individual human condition. He matters because of what He brought and what He still brings to ORDINARY human beings, living ordinary lives and coping in their daily surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weakness He gives us strength and imparts through His companionship a life that has the quality of eternity. </p>

<p>Podcast: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a> | <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_016_reese16_p1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a> | <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_016_reese16_p1.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>I've lost the ability to bullshit. It's the me I've always wanted to be. </p><p><br></p><p>It's one of my all-time favorite film quotes, spoken by Jerry Maguire as he sheds the Poser and becomes more and more the kind of man to whom God can entrust His kingdom. The film is a modern parable of a transformational process being made available to us every day. Of the men I’ve encountered, few have become the kind of man who embodies these words more than Reese Bricken. </p><p><br></p><p>Join us in part one of a two-part dialogue where we risk putting words and questions to what we often feel but rarely talk about, exploring together what it means to keep company with the living God and learn to live freely and lightly. </p><p><br></p><p> Morgan </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Make a movie night out of Jerry Maguire to see what shedding the Poser might look like. </p><p><br></p><p>For more on the True Self as considered in this podcast, check out <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/the-new-name-going-deeper/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The New Name – Going Deeper</a>.</p>

Podcast: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a> | <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_015_styles_of_relating_p2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a> | <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_015_styles_of_relating_p2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a> <br> <br>It was Dallas Willard, in The Divine Conspiracy, who suggested, <br> <br>Jesus’ enduring relevance is based on his historically proven ability to speak, to heal, and empower the individual human condition. He matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ORDINARY human beings, living ordinary lives and coping in their daily surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weakness he gives us strength and imparts through his companionship a life that has the quality of eternity. <br> <br>In this second podcast of a <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/014-getting-naked-styles-of-relating-part-1-of-2-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">two-part series</a> on the Predominant Styles of Relating, we begin by taking a deeper look at how Jesus moves fluidly with both authority and love in all three styles, not out of habitual reaction but rather divine response. We then move straight into honest application as Alex, JD, and I host a raw dialogue that is both painful and hopeful. <br> <br>If you haven't yet listened to <a href="http://www.becomegoodsoil.com/014-getting-naked-styles-of-relating-part-1-of-2-podcast/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">part one</a>, start there. <br> <br>Both podcast reference exercises. Access those <a href="https://www.becomegoodsoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/PredominantStylesofRelating-01.1-2.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>. <br> <br>Take the time. Do the work. It'll bring more and more life for you and those you love. <br> <br>Jesus, I long to have a life that, like yours, cultivates a "quality of eternity." I ask that you would increase my awareness of what it is like to relate to me. What is my effect on people? What is my impact? What are you revealing? I am asking for your supernatural revelation and insight. I give you permission and access. Lead me into the deep waters. I want more. Amen. <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>

<p>Podcast: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/become-good-soil/id839310942" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe in iTunes</a> | <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_014_styles_of_relating_p1-2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Play in new window</a> | <a href="http://podcast.ransomedheart.com.s3.amazonaws.com/bgspodcast/bgs_podcast_014_styles_of_relating_p1-2.mp3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Download</a></p><p><br></p><p>How we relate with other people is one of the greatest indicators of our spiritual maturity.</p><p><br></p><p>This was the counsel offered by an older, wiser man years ago as he helped untie the knots in my rope and my marriage. </p><p><br></p><p>One tough conversation began the beautiful and life-changing process of understanding how our predominant style of relating shapes all the relationship in our lives. </p><p><br></p><p>God is after the wholehearted integration of a person. </p><p><br></p><p>This podcast is part one of a two-part series where we take some risks and offer our vulnerability with the hope of partnering with Jesus in both His disruption and His enticing us into an ever more wholehearted integration of our souls. </p><p><br></p><p>You can find the exercises referenced in this podcast <a href="https://storage2.snappages.site/98GBK9/assets/files/Predominant-Styles-of-Relating-01.1.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">right here</a>.</p>