Become Good Soil

Friends,

Jean Giono, author of The Man Who Planted Trees, penned these breathtaking and invitational lines - words that draw us back to the path of Christ’s Kingdom Simplicity and Generous Love:

“Creation seemed to come about in a sort of chain reaction. But the man who planted trees did not worry about it; he was determinedly pursuing his task in all its simplicity... For a human character to reveal truly exceptional qualities, one must have the good fortune 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… This was the most impressive visible mark of his work: as we went back toward the village, I saw water flowing in brooks that had been dry since the memory of man. These dry streams had once, long ago, run with water…”

Friends, take a moment to ask yourself:

What would it be like to receive this invitation?

To become this kind of person?

To return to simplicity?

To see dry stream beds run with water once more?

To give most of our attention and affection to God and to a few things and a few others, in a way that is deeply affecting and outrageously good?

To receive the freedom from our Father to engage only what is essential?

It would change the world.

Join me for a hidden conversation originally shared among a handful of Become Good Soil Intensive alumni. For other thirsty, like-hearted women and men among us, we’d love to welcome you to explore simplicity, essentialism, and generous love—together.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan & Cherie

"You shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you shall return to your property, and each of you shall return to your family." — Leviticus 25:10

Consider these provocative words by Walter Brueggeman from Sabbath as Resistance. 

“Sabbath is not only resistance; it is an alternative. Sabbath offers both the awareness and practice of the claim that we are on the receiving end of the gifts of God.... To be so situated is a staggering option because we are accustomed to initiating all things. I have come to believe that the fourth commandment on the Sabbath is the most difficult and urgent commandment in our society because it calls us to an intent and conduct that defy the fundamental demands of a commodity-driven society - one that thrives on control, entertainment, bread, and circuses, and requires 24/7 multitasking to achieve, accomplish, perform, and possess.” 

Pause with me for a moment and try on this reality. The joyous restoration of land to its original owners. Debts canceled—forever. Slaves released from bondage. Relationships healed. Even the land recovers its vitality with extended rest from sowing and reaping. Spiritual renewal and re-creation as the community shifts from striving and acquiring to pausing, noticing, receiving, forgiving, reconciling, celebrating, and resting.

In The Year of Jubilee, biblical scholar John Bergsma invites readers to consider how God is calling His people to a collective, life-saving practice - one that preserves freedom, family, and the fullness of God in a fallen world that has lost its ability to rest and to heal.

What lies behind Yahweh’s profound directive and promise of Jubilee, first given to the people of Israel to reform them? How was it ultimately fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Messianic King?

Given to the people of God 3,500 years ago, this ancient rhythm feels like a long-lost key to life’s riddle. How can we participate in this biblical pattern of stopping and settling in, of forgiveness and renewal?

And what might we say to the curious—or to those who think we are out of our minds?

Join us as we explore The Sabbath of Sabbaths, inviting you more intimately into our story and walking alongside you as you discern what God may be calling you into in yours.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan & Cherie

What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself. 

Luke 12:19-32 MSG

Friends,

Our initiation into wholehearted maturity and deeper union with Christ unfolds over decades of learning to practice without pressure.

Perhaps nowhere is this invitation more hopeful than in parenting.

Of all the questions I receive, none are more common than questions about fathering—and none consistently carry within them more weight of pressure and fear or confusion.

Pause and consider for a moment: What would it be like to shift from a posture of performance into a posture of practicing without pressure? What would it be like not only to understand but also to accept the reality that our children’s lives are held in the hands of a present, caring, and beautifully winsome Father? In the ordinary rhythms of daily life as a dad, what would it be like to encounter God, recognize His presence, feast on His goodness, and, from that nourished place, carry His very essence into the sacred journey of fathering our children?

It would change the world.

Dare I say, it is changing the world.

We are men choosing to become the kind of fathers to whom God is glad to entrust His Kingdom—His rule, His presence—that we might generously reveal His unrelenting affection to our children.

Moms and dads, join us for Part 2 as we explore together the hope and promise of participating in the story of our becoming—the story God is authoring in and through our journey of fatherhood.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan

P.S. For more parenting resources, explore more with the free Becoming a King Parenting Devotional and this blog, Celebration of Boyhood.

Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them.

 Matthew 7:12 MSG

Friends,

Few questions come my way as consistently and sincerely as questions about the desire and dilemma of initiating children—particularly sons—into wholehearted maturity. And few aspects of my own initiation have received more of my attention.

On behalf of the boys in our world—and the boy within every man (myself included)—I want to invite both men and women to join this roundtable on Initiating Sons.

Often beneath our questions about parenting lay fear, shame, or a nagging sense of lack, fueling a persistent apprehension that we are blowing it royally both in what we do and what we leave undone as parents.

But if we pause long enough—choosing curiosity over fear and consent over control—we may discover that below our fear lies one of the Gospel’s most profound invitations: the invitation to become what we did not have. And as we become, we will naturally offer and initiate from our transformation.

Our role as fathers will eventually evolve into an unbreakable bond of siblinghood with our children in the Kingdom of God—where each of us is deeply loved and securely rooted in the heart of our Common Father.

Join us for Part 1 of a conversation exploring both the pain and possibility of being initiated—and of offering initiation to our sons.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan

P.S. For more on initiating boys, check out these blogs: An Arsenal, a Library, and a Tool Collection and The Gospel as Initiation.

In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects.

Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity.

Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.

– Matthew 5:48 MSG

The invitation of the Gospel is stark and unrelenting: Come and die in order to live. It is strange and compelling that Jesus, who healed so many, never once chose to heal his own disciples instantaneously. Instead, he continually beckoned them to the weightiest of challenges, probing the very depths of their souls—both the masculine and the feminine within them—daring them to come and die at the deepest levels of their human experience:

Pick up your cross and follow me.

If you want to save your life, you must lose it.

You cannot serve God and money. You cannot serve God and power.

Leave everything you’ve ever known, and follow me.

Unless you surrender all to me—giving up everything, father, mother, sister, brother—you cannot be my disciple.

Jesus’ language to his disciples is a language of initiation. He shaped and implemented a culture where men and women can realize their God-given identities. And from generation to generation, he guides his followers into a lifestyle of ever-increasing maturity through loving challenge.

If we allow our lives to speak, we will hear Reality inviting us to pass through a death and experience rebirth. At every moment, Jesus is freshly inviting us onto the ancient path of initiation. It is the center of his brilliant and loving work.

You cannot discipline your way out of woundedness and brokenness. At the same time, you cannot heal your way out of immaturity. Jesus’ way with the disciples is both: to heal and mature. By day and by decade, he not only heals what is lame in us but trains us to join him in walking on the water.

Join me and Conrad Schottel for a conversation as we dare to let Jesus lovingly challenge us.

For the Kingdom,

Reclaim the lover inside you.

The post 179: The Sex Talk You Never Got, with Sam Jolman (Part 2) appeared first on Become Good Soil.

"If you can’t be kind to yourself, you can’t change."

– Sam Jolman

Friends,

I’d like to invite you to savor with me a breathtaking excerpt from Sam Jolman’s book as we plumb the depths of the intersection of God’s kindness and our sexual stories: 

We take the risk to call shame what it is: a damn liar. We turn the tables on shame and question it. That starts with getting curious about what provoked it. Maybe it’s lying to you. Maybe love is still available . . . and you can recover a sense of safety. Leaning into vulnerability like that takes immense courage.

If you don’t want to handle your sexual shame with contempt, you must take a risk on love.

Contempt or kindness. That’s it.

What is this kindness stuff? Maybe it invokes an eye roll. Kindness feels too close to niceness . . . but kindness is not niceness. It has more teeth than that. It’s brave with the deep things of life. It looks you right in the face and really sees you with no pretense, with no threat of harm. Can you imagine someone who does not flee from you or metaphorically hit you back, who keeps their heart open and available, but does not flinch from the truth? That is kindness. Someone who can hold the tension of facing reality but still stays openhearted and kind.

Kindness says I can handle you. And I can love you. It’s profound.

Jesus is this incarnate kindness we most desperately need. 

And Jesus is the kindness that we get if we but turn to him with our need.

The Sex Talk You Never Got is brilliant, thorough, and God-breathed. 

I will be recommending it and giving copies as gifts to men (and their wives) I am investing in for decades to come. Grab a copy and immerse yourself in this treasure chest of wisdom, guidance, and hope.

Come along into Part 2 as we reclaim, together, the lover inside of us all. 

For the Kingdom,

Morgan

The Gospel is an invitation to be curious, rather than ashamed, about our sin.

God’s preferred method of communication is through a still, small voice.

– Dallas Willard

Dear Friends,

Who have I become, and who am I becoming?

For over two decades, I’ve relentlessly asked these questions and found myself lovingly interrogated by Jesus and His Kingdom at every turn of my journey.

Now, as I transition from one season to the next, I sense another pair of soul-searching questions rising from the depths:

Who is God, really?

Who will I allow Him to become in the decades ahead?

Parker Palmer beautifully wrote, “Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must first listen to my life telling me who I am.” God comes to us brilliantly disguised in the ordinary moments of our everyday lives.

Let us look back and see afresh the God who has prevailed. Let us look forward with confidence and hope, trusting in the God who will continue to prevail.

This episode offers a brief, real-time reflection for the soul. My hope is that it will beckon you deeper still. As you engage with this Examen, may you receive a renewed and personal invitation to explore the updated version of "A Soul’s Review," BGS Podcast Episode 151. While this exercise can be done individually, many allies have found it to be an especially transformational experience when shared as a couple or small group during a half-day or full-day retreat. Pray about it. You and your community are worth the time it takes to transition well from one season to the next.

So, as a prologue, come along. Let us slow down and dare to tune in to the still, small voice of God.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan & Cherie

"You should not be surprised when I say, 'You must be born again.'"