Become Good Soil

By Morgan SnyderReligion & Spirituality Christianity

Become Good Soil episodes

April 03, 2020 057: Surviving Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why? [podcast]
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download 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 […]
44 min
March 14, 2020 056: Strength in the Midst of the Storm – Prayer Response to Coronavirus
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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."

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.

As One,

Morgan
24 min
December 17, 2019 055: The Secret To Work You Love
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download

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.
–Aaron McHugh

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.

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.

It takes the like-hearted to get there.

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.

Aaron McHugh has been side by side with me in this since the beginning. He attended the first Become Good Soil Intensive (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.

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.

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.

For the Kingdom,
Morgan
1 hr 24 min
October 16, 2019 054: Question Response, Volume 2
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download

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.
– Dallas Willard, Life Without Lack

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.

The response was far more than we anticipated, and so deeply encouraging. And included far too many to address in one podcast!

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.

In that vein, this podcast is a Volume 2 of responses to the original questions that listeners offered, including these:
When it comes to risks, which ones should I be taking?

I long for life-giving mentorship. How I do I find mentors?

When is it too late to begin the process of excavation for the soul?

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?

Do you have questions you’d love to see considered in a future Become Good Soil podcast? Type your question on this form or leave a voice recording.

For the Kingdom,
Morgan
50 min
July 25, 2019 053: Heart Strong – A Conversation with Chuck Bolton (Part 3)
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download

Start by doing what's necessary;

then do what's possible;

and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

– St. Francis of Assisi

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.

Let’s dive in to the final episode in this series.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan
50 min
July 03, 2019 052: Heart Strong – A Conversation with Chuck Bolton (Part 2)
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download

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.

-Chuck Bolton

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.

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!

For the Kingdom,

Morgan
50 min
May 30, 2019 051: Heart Strong – A Conversation with Chuck Bolton (Part 1)
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download

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.

-Chuck Bolton

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.

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.

Let’s dive into the first in this series.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan
54 min
March 15, 2019 050: Question Response, Volume 1
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download

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.

For this first volume and to celebrate you—the tribe of like-hearted around the globe—we are diving into these questions:

Taking the lowest seat at the table: When is it time to take a higher seat and assume a role of greater leadership?

Initiating daughters: We’ve received treasures on initiating sons. I have daughters and girls in my world. Is it similar? Different?

Join me for this—and more—in the 50th episode.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan

I'd love to keep receiving questions for future volumes in this series. You can submit them HERE.
1 hr 1 min
February 19, 2019 049: Parenting and Styles of Relating
“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.”

-Danny Silk, Loving Our Kids on Purpose: Making a Heart-to-Heart Connection

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download

It was 21 years ago, but I remember the interaction like it was yesterday.

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.

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.

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.

Calmly kneeling before him, my friend looked directly in the eyes of his son and slowly said this:

“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?”

It was a sacred moment that continues to reverberate with instruction for me decades later.

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.

Much was at stake, in the boy's heart and also in mine.

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.

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.

I was recently interviewed by Paul Edwards on the topic of the Styles of Relating 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.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan
1 hr 5 min
January 22, 2019 048: Initiating Five Sons, with Paul Ryan

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download

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.
– David Brooks

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.

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.”

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. (This video 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.

Paul Ryan is this kind of man.

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.

Join us as we dive deep, excavating another layer of masculine initiation.

For the Kingdom,
Morgan

Note: In our conversation we reference Healing the Masculine Soul by Gordon Dalbey.

1 hr 30 min