Become Good Soil

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A few thoughts on discipleship from Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard to begin:

Who teaches you? Whose disciple are you? Honestly. One thing is sure: you are somebody’s disciple.  You are learning how to live from somebody else. There are no exceptions to this rule, for human beings are just the kind of creatures who have to learn and keep learning from others how to live...

It is one of the major transitions of life to recognize who has taught us, formed us, and then to evaluate the results of their teaching in us. This is a harrowing task, and sometimes we just can’t face it. But it can also open the door to choose other masters, possibly better masters, and one Master above all...

The assumption of Jesus’ course of action for his people on earth was that they would live their lives as his students and co-laborers. They would find him so admirable in every respect—wise, beautiful, powerful, and good—that they would constantly seek to be in his presence and be guided, instructed, and helped by him in every aspect of their lives...

Anyone who is not a continual student of Jesus, and who nevertheless reads the great promises of the Bible as if they were for him or her, is like someone trying to cash a check on another person’s account. At best, they succeed only sporadically...

[God Himself suggests that] the one who hears him and does what he says accordingly builds the house of his or her life to be totally indestructible...

And of course it is discipleship, a real-life apprenticeship to Jesus, that is the passageway within The Kingdom Among Us from initial faith in Jesus to a life of fulfillment….Accordingly, we must take a very careful look at discipleship to Jesus.... consider what it is to be a disciple of Jesus, how to become a disciple of Jesus and how to make a disciple of Jesus...

But if I am to be someone’s apprentice, there is one absolutely essential condition. I must be with that person.

……..

The daily structure of our life is precisely related to the results we currently experience.  If we truly desire a life of more—more of God, more of the internal and external fruit of His Kingdom, more joy, more hope, more courage, more strength—we must strategically direct our lives day by day, moment by moment, on a path that takes us deeper into the interactive life of God.

The spiritual disciplines are the tools. Better said, our weapons.

They aren’t some set of religious activities or a magic formula.  A discipline is “an activity within our power that we engage in to enable us to do what we cannot do by direct effort.” A spiritual discipline simply postures us to receive the living water of the Life of God. It is an activity we engage in to ingest the bread of heaven offered by the only One who can truly feed our souls and generate his life within us.

Daily, personal worship is not only one of the primary disciplines, it can be one of our most strategic weapons.

You only learn by practicing. Like most good things in the masculine journey, there is no shortcut and no substitute for miles on the odometer.

……..

Adam Paulson is a dangerous man in every good way.  I have happily consented to be his student in the arena of worship. And through that consent in this decade of becoming good soil, I have grown in my capacity to access the heart of God through the daily spiritual discipline of worship in ways beyond my wildest dreams.

I had a rare privilege to have some time with Adam to hear more of his heart on worship.

Adam partnered with us to produce the updated Hello Trouble Single as part of our Hello Trouble Podcast and Castration blog.  He spends much of his time directing and developing worship for Toth Ministries.

In a desire to invite men like you to go adventure deeper into God's heart together, Adam and I turned on the recorder. I think you'll enjoy this.

Over the last several years I've put together some powerful playlists for our nourishment as sons and as warriors of the Kingdom.  Click here to access those resources, which are found in the Dig Deeper section of BecomeGoodSoil.com.

At the end of this podcast, we entered into an impromptu worship time.  Below is a link to have that worship set as a stand-alone, apart from the podcast.  Once you've enjoyed the podcast, you may want to return to to the worship set as a new weapon in future days.

To download the live worship, right click on this link and choose "save as" or "download."

Enjoy the podcast.  Link below:

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Note: Several of the songs from the live impromptu time were originally recorded by Will Reagen and United Pursuits. You can find more of their worship here.

"Never let the truth get in the way of a great story.”

Nearly a decade ago, I had the privilege of seeking wisdom from Craig McConnell, a man who's seen many miles, fought many wars, and conquered death more times than I can recount. It was an even greater privilege to circle back with him on another conversation, this time recorded for the benefit of other men like you.  Join us as we explore the profoundly deep implications of how we relate with others, how we embrace the decade of excavation, and how we grow in this decade of character over kingdom.

In this conversation Craig references a powerful book, Addiction and Grace.  I strongly recommend it as well. Here's a link if you're interested in going further.

Craig also references his original counsel to me on the eve of this decade.  Like great scotch and like my brother, uncle, and friend Craig, it has aged well over time.  I include it below for your benefit, praying that the Father would have gifts for your heart in it.

As many of you know, Craig has been battling for Life and against the death of cancer for the last few years.  As you are encouraged and strengthened in this podcast, please stand with me in bringing God's Kingdom on behalf of Craig.  And Praying the full resurrection life of God to fill Craig's body, soul and Spirit.

C.S. Lewis was right when he summed up the dilemma of modern masculinity:

It's painful.  And it's true.

Become Good Soil is committed to helping men find an alternative path—a narrow road—that doesn't "remove the organ and demand the function."

Join me for a conversation with Jon Dale and Adam Paulsen, two of my peers, allies, and role models, as we consider what it looks like to become wholehearted men.  The conversation took some remarkable turns and concluded with an experience of the Father's love that was unplanned and simply remarkable.  And all of it was prologue to offer you a gift: a never-before-released remix of the older song "Hello Trouble," recorded by worship teacher and leader Adam Paulsen and featuring newly added Become Good Soil lyrics penned by poet/artist Erik Swenson.  All of us, graduates of the Intensive, are going after the more that God offers—and hoping you will join us for the adventure. We sure hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

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Hello Trouble is available at the conclusion of this podcast episode.

To Download a single of the Hello Trouble Song MP3, right click on this link and choose "save as" or "download."