Become Good Soil

Home is both an origin and a destination. Friends, When the time is right, a man must leave his father and mother to find his True Father and Mother in God's heart. Returning home to God is the destiny of his soul and the consummation of his initiation.  Linger.  Every man must leave his mom and dad to find his God.  On a soul level, most men, to some degree, still haven’t left home. In walking with men for over two decades and paying attention to my challenges, resisting leaving our “home” is one of the inhibitors to becoming mature and more fully united to God.  Most of us know this resistance and challenge all too well, though we may not have been able to name it.  If a man has never entirely left, he can never come home again and know it for the first time. In it all, our Father does not pull away from us. His affection never leaves us, and his daring invitation remains: Receive the kingdom afresh like a little boy, innocent again. Free, here and now.  So often, we mistakenly conclude that our boy-hearted innocence is the source of our pain, stirring us to open our hearts and only to be so deeply let down.  Yet along the path of recovered innocence, we will find ourselves finally at home with God.  Let's take another deep dive together.   For the Kingdom, Morgan

I came from the Father. Now I come home to the Father. – Jesus of Nazareth Friends, We come from the Trinity.  We will return to the Trinity.  So what is in the way of our homecoming?  Perhaps better said, where do we find ourselves along the journey of home-going? The mission and message of Become Good Soil reach thousands globally, nourishing men from 18 to 83. Men of different ages and at different stages of masculine initiation. At first glance, the diversity of our stories is outstanding.  But there is a universal ache informing and uniting us all: We hunger and thirst for the love, validation, and intentionality of a man who is stronger than us.  In a phrase, we hunger and thirst for God himself.  Brothers, we do not hunger and thirst for this wild and generous Father in vain. We find him, realize him, feast on him, and, from this nourished place, carry him with us into the dearest relationships of our daily lives.  The Father is undefeated. His love is winning.  His goodness is prevailing.  His intentional and scandalous validation of us is immeasurable.  And he is just getting started.  Let’s pick up the next first track of our masculine initiation and be visited again by this ancient truth:  It all starts with the Father.  For the Kingdom, Morgan

Exploring surrendering personal identity, hitting rock bottom, and embracing God's call. Reflecting on transformative power of surrendering to God and aligning with His initiation. Emphasizing spiritual growth, personal transformation, and gratitude for shared masculine initiation experiences.

He trusts her without reserve and never has reason to regret it. – Proverbs 31:11 MSG Friends, To say the proverb another way, masculinity trusts femininity without reserve and never has reason to regret it.  Femininity trusts masculinity without reserve and never has reason to regret it.  What if this is intended to both include and transcend marriage, plunging us into the possibility and finally the scandalous destiny of Galatians 3? “...you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (3:28 NIV) In The Sacred Romance, Brent Curtis goes as far as to say that Heaven holds for us “multiple intimacy without promiscuity.” Oh, to plumb the depths of integrity and recover even more of what might be intended when we wrestle with what it means to be formed in the image of a Trinitarian God. What would it be like to truly embody the New Testament vision of the Body of Christ and become creatively unified in whole-hearted interdependent relationship with one another, as men and as women? Let’s dare to discover together.  Join Cherie and me for Part 3 of the Metanarrative of Feminine Love. We think you’re going to love it.  For the Kingdom, Morgan

Cherie Snyder explores the metanarrative of feminine love, emphasizing the importance of spiritual growth and integration between genders. The discussion delves into the impact of toxic femininity and masculinity, highlighting the need for redemption and healing for a flourishing world. It also reflects on mature femininity and masculinity as portrayed in Proverbs, stressing the transformative power of aligning with God's wisdom.

Cherie Snyder, a thought leader on gender dynamics, discusses the intricate metanarrative of feminine love and its essential integration with masculinity. They explore how pauses in life can foster meaningful dialogues about emotional connections. The conversation tackles societal implications through contrasting narratives, examines women's experiences in shaping current events, and highlights the theological roots of gender identities. Additionally, Snyder emphasizes the vital role of secure attachment in development, showcasing the nurturing aspects of love and the balance between autonomy and connection.

Any place you don’t find a track is not wasted, but part of refining where to look. – Boyd Varty, The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life Friends, Boyd Varty’s life has enticed me into ever deeper waters of my masculine initiation. His stories of tracking animals in wild spaces offer stunning insight into the experience of tracking our souls as men during this bewildering hour on Earth. Boyd's insight offers particular treasure for our community of apprentices to Jesus, inviting us to become men whose wise hearts and skilled hands can engage in our Father’s intention to share his power and authority on earth as it is in heaven.  One Kingdom irony is that our Father invites us into this risky endeavor of power-sharing through the unlikely doorway of losing track of our lives. As Boyd suggests, “There is a last track, and then it's gone. Trails can be like life in that way. You are clear on a path one minute, and the next instant, it's gone. You get fired, you lose a loved one, the company fails, you retire, she dumps you, and you get divorced. Where you thought you were going vanishes. Who you thought you were is lost….More than any other part of tracking, losing the track might be the most metaphorically rich.”  What if losing the track—and what we do with being lost—is an essential practice to engaging in the unbroken line of God’s masculine initiation of our souls?  If we are to dare greatly and fail forward, we must practice accepting that losing the track is an essential part of tracking. We must courageously accept that to admit we are lost is to discover we are found by a good and strong Father lovingly leading us home.  Join Boyd Varty and me for Part 2 of this daring conversation.  For the Kingdom, Morgan P.S. If you want to journey deeper with Boyd, visit www.BoydVarty.com.

I have no idea where I’m going. But I know exactly how to get there. – Boyd Varty, The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life Friends, Boyd Varty’s life illuminated in and through The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life has been a steady stream of nourishment for my masculine soul in recent years. I’ve returned time and time again to the disruption and enticement of his life, wondering with hope and curiosity... What does it mean to be a man in this hour on earth? Where is the path to wholehearted, integrated masculinity today? Amidst the poison and disintegration of postmodern life, is any of it concretely possible? Masculine initiation is meant to be the interpretive grid and narrative arc for every relationship, aspect, and dimension of our lives.  Boyd’s experience in the God-breathed and terrifyingly wild spaces of South Africa reveals to us a freshly discovered universal truth of masculine initiation: Too much uncertainty is chaos. But too little is death...and we are invited to track this narrow path of uncertainty under and within the heart of a Father who is extravagantly loving and wholeheartedly forging us into deeper maturity as men.   Join me and Boyd Varty for the first part of a daring conversation on all things masculine initiation.  For the Kingdom, Morgan P.S. If you want to journey deeper with Boyd, visit www.boydvarty.com.

Dive into a reflective journey that encourages introspection and personal growth. Explore how failures can lead to spiritual transformation and the importance of recognizing both positive and negative experiences from the past year. Delve into the emotional depths of grief and its role in spiritual maturity, especially for men. The discussion highlights the significance of personal milestones and divine guidance on the path of growth. Embrace being 'unfinished' and get inspired to set new intentions as you welcome the upcoming year.

The only thing which we may take with us from our life on earth are those things which we have given away. – Babette’s Feast Friends, The feast of Christmas is drawing near. In preparation, I invite you to share this gift for the soul with the like-hearted among our global community. In Babette’s Feast, Isak Dinesen explores the riches of Christ’s grace in story form. This dialogue from one of his characters caught my attention: “‘Man, my friends,’ said General Loewenhielm, ‘is frail and foolish. We have all of us been told that grace is to be found in the universe. But in our human foolishness and short‐sightedness, we imagine divine grace to be finite. For this reason, we tremble….We tremble before making our choice in life, and after having made it again tremble in fear of having chosen wrong. But the moment comes when our eyes are opened, and we see and realize that grace is infinite. Grace, my friends, demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude. Grace, brothers, makes no conditions and singles out none of us in particular; grace takes us all to its bosom and proclaims general amnesty. See! That which we have chosen is given us, and that which we have refused is, also and at the same time, granted us. Ay, that which we have rejected is poured upon us abundantly. For mercy and truth have met together, and righteousness and bliss have kissed one another!’” Let’s jump into Part 2 of a Christmas Feast. May hope rise fresh in our hearts with holy defiance as we remember together the trajectory of our God-authored stories:  God has the first word.  And God has the last word.  This is good news, my friends.  Merry Christmas, Morgan