Become Good Soil

He opened the door of the birdcage to let the eagle fly to freedom. But the eagle had been in captivity for so long it no longer believed it could fly, and it chose not to fly. It was then he realized the bird was not in the cage. The cage was in the bird. – Jonathan Helser Friends, Jonathan David and Melissa Helser have become the kind of people who bring with them, wherever they find themselves, the atmosphere of the Kingdom of God.  Through their pain, they’ve grown into their possibility. Their suffering has given way to an even greater desire. They have seen the goodness of God in the land of the living.  And they are inviting us to come along, courageously following the Father anywhere. We rise by bowing We live by dying When we give what we could never keep We gain what we will never lose Join us for Part 2 of this series as we weave together story and song to shepherd our hearts ever deeper into the hope and heart of a God unbound by death.  For the Kingdom, Morgan

God loves you unconditionally, exactly as you are and not as you "should be.” – Brennan Manning, All Is Grace The best teachers are foremost, always and forever, committed students.  Jonathan David and Melissa Helser are unapologetically committed, life-long students of Jesus and his Kingdom. Risk-takers, worship leaders, and courageous parents, the Helsers blaze a path for people to encounter God—exactly as they are. For decades, they’ve invited generations of God’s sons and daughters to come as they are, authentically and intimately, into the presence of God.  From that place, they’ve discovered a secret of the Kingdom: The one who knows us best is the one who loves us most.  Friends, God is the one who knows us best.  And from that place of deep knowing, he is the one who chooses us and loves us most.  Come along as we discover afresh that we truly are the dearly loved sons and daughters of God.  For the Kingdom, Morgan [Here are some ways to go deeper with the work entrusted to the Helsers' care: Explore their worship ministry, which has traveled the globe to offer live opportunities to encounter our Father together, at JonathanHelser.com and CagelessBirds.com. Check out their small-batch deep discipleship school for young adults through 18InchJourney.com, one of the premier contexts for apprenticeship in this hour on the globe.]

Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am. – Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation Our stories do not define us; the Author of them does.  It’s a profound truth and reality that takes many tears, much blood, and many years to fully participate in.  Tommy Colwell is one of the men heroically participating in this reality. Through the ups and downs, the triumphs and tragedies, the breakthroughs and dead ends, he has discovered, looking back, that throughout his story he has been led.  Deeply. Strongly. Abundantly.  By a Father who is far more kind and loving than we dared to believe.  How does a man abandoned and abused in childhood, suffering a profound lack of attachment, become a conduit of the Father-heart of God to not only offer to a family what he never had, but also shepherd the hearts of over a thousand individual fallen pastors into restoration and repair? Come along to witness and participate in a living miracle as we dive into Part 2 of this rich story of God fathering a boy, initiating a man, and raising up a seasoned sage.  For the Kingdom, Morgan

So take seriously the story that God has given you to live. It's time to read your own life, because your story is the one that could set us all ablaze. – To Be Told, Dan Allender As we share our stories, engage our stories, and begin to partner with God in the restoration of our stories, we experience an increasing measure of what Saint Paul scandalously discloses in Romans 8: None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. (8:38-39 MSG) Though beautiful promises of the Father’s heart saturate the Scriptures, there is perhaps no promise greater than the bottom-line reality that his affection wins.  His love gets the last word.  And all will be made new in the light of this love. Tommy Colwell is 81 years old—and still courageously consenting to his masculine initiation. He has become an elder, a son, and a sage. Come along into Part 1 of this series and receive Tommy’s story as nourishment and validation, as it mirrors the narrative arc of our own initiation. For the Kingdom, Morgan

Without God, we cannot; without us, God will not. – Saint Augustine Since we are the sons of God, we must become the sons of God.  Since we are the kings of Jesus, we must become the kings of Jesus—kings to whom he is glad to entrust his Kingdom.  It brings an honorable sobriety to come to the realization that our heart—our healing and our wholeness—is not about us, nor is it primarily for us. It’s primarily for others.  As the sons of God, our will is insufficient as the fuel for transformation. Yet it is always the rudder to set our course.  By day and by decade, we always have a choice.  How will we accept and engage the particulars of the consecrated life our Father has asked us to live? If you’ve made it this far in the Intensive series, you are among the few. Well done.  We’ve traveled some hard and honest miles together, but we’re not done yet.  Come along into Part 8, the final session of the 2019 BGS Intensive. We hear from men who have traveled the road before us. We sit in their counsel. And we will stand on their shoulders. You don’t want to miss this.  For the Kingdom, Morgan

You’re right where God wants you to be when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you, there is more of God. – Jesus of Nazareth, to his closest friends Your reliance on your talent and gifting must die before they can ever be truly free. It is impossible for a man to fully know the love of God until he has experienced the love of God apart from his gifting, his performance, and his successes. To fully rest in love, we must experience the relentless affection of God—not only when we are running strong, but also when we have reached the end of our rope.  The cross and resurrection of Jesus is a brutal and beautiful comment on the shape of reality. The cross reveals to us that our masculine initiation lies not on the path that avoids death and suffering, but on the path that enters suffering and death in order to be transformed. Passing through death is nonnegotiable. There is a way of being in us that must be put to death so that the indestructible life of Christ might be born in us and experienced by those entrusted to our care through us.  We will have life and have it to the full only if and when we are willing to die.  Come along into Part 7 of the 2019 BGS Intensive. Dive into the story of The Company Men, the modern-day parable inviting us to put self-sufficiency to death. I encourage you to view the trailer and the movie before listening to this podcast.  For the Kingdom, Morgan

Sometimes we don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are….What happened wasn’t about you, it was about me. – Superintendent Eric Marsh, Only the Brave Brothers,  As we mature as kings who offer more love and strength to those entrusted to our care, Jesus invites us even deeper: Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, "Let me wash your face for you," when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor. (Matthew 7:3-5 MSG) I’m sorry.  I was wrong.  Will you forgive me?  Friends, it’s these three phrases that can transform our every relationship.  With hearts deeply rooted in a growing experience of sonship, our courage gains momentum and we can remove the judgments, assumptions, and rigid conclusions that inhibit our seeing. We begin to treat people as we want to be treated, with an open mind and open heart. And we finally start seeing the people we love more clearly.  Come back into the 2019 BGS Intensive series for Part 6 as we chase even more of our masculine initiation together.  For the Kingdom, Morgan

You are a soul made by God, made for God, and made to need God, made to run on God. Which means that you are not made to be self-sufficient. – Dallas Willard Change in the rate of change is the quiet killer of our generation. Change is the constant.  Habits were meant to root our masculine soul in the life of God. They were meant to be an onramp of constancy in a changing world. Our masculine soul matters immensely to God, to those entrusted to our care, and to our particular role in the story God is writing.  In this postmodern age of hyper-individualism and endless noise, wholehearted living is no longer a choice—we must cultivate daily habits that root us in the life and presence of God. Slowly and steadily, by day and by decade, we get to arrange our days so that we experience deep joy, contentment, and union with God.  How are you arranging your days? What are you practicing?  What are your habits?  What is the condition of your soul? Friends, join me and the like-hearted tribe of men across the globe for Part 5 of the 2019 BGS Intensive series. In this episode, I invite my friend John Eldredge into a beautiful conversation on exercising the masculine soul in life-giving habits.  For the Kingdom, Morgan

All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage, and I promise you something great will come of it. – Benjamin Mee, We Bought a Zoo It was Francis Schaeffer who boldly invited disciples to "do the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way,” instructing that “we must take the lowest seat at the table until God makes it impossible to do otherwise.”  As we live into more and more of the reality of sonship, one of the foundational ways a man can practice taking the lowest seat at the table is to wholeheartedly pursue the path of a generalist. Through willingly engaging the relationships, things, and details of his life that feel uncomfortable, a generalist acquires not only a severe humility, but all the more a radical trust in a good and active Father.  As we explore the path of becoming a generalist, we might begin with asking ourselves these questions: Where do I feel uncomfortable, as a man?  When do I feel weak?  In what ways do I feel uninitiated?  Where is God asking me to risk?  Friends, join me and this like-hearted tribe of men across the globe choosing to take the lowest seat at the table, step into risk, and engage the uninitiated places of our souls by way of becoming a generalist.  For the Kingdom, Morgan

Attachment begins in the first few months of life, but it is the continuous presence of a mother in the first 18 months that is the first step in building a deep and lasting sense of emotional security in a child. This security forms the basis of a child’s sense of self for the rest of life. Bonding is putting the pieces together and attachment is gluing them into place. – Erica Komisar, Being There “Are you glad to be with me?” It was Mom who first and foremost was to answer our unspoken question with a wholehearted "yes!" to the depths of our soul. And not just once, but ten thousand times over. While our father forges us, our mother forms us.  Our earthly mother was intended to be our first encounter with reliable nourishment, cherishing protection, unconditional delight, renewing rest, and safe emotional connection.  Through her attentive, loving gaze, we were meant to experience our worthiness of love and belonging simply because we exist. We are not only deeply loved but also fully seen, known, and celebrated by one greater than ourselves who needs nothing in return. No earning.  No transaction. No conditions.  One whose wise, regulated, and affectionate relating communicates, “I am so happy you exist. I am so glad to be with you. There is more than enough for you.” That’s what we were designed to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt. We were designed to experience abundant, cherishing love freely offered from a wholehearted source. Pay attention to your own story. What has been your experience of being loved without condition by someone who had robust well-being to share?  Where have you experienced abundance of provision? And where do you currently experience a sense of fullness, a sense that nothing more is needed and there is no lack?   Friends, join me and this like-hearted tribe of men across the globe choosing to break the limits of who God can be for us; what God can do to meet our need to be seen, soothed, safe, and secure; and how God might choose to meet these sacred needs. Part 3 of the 2019 BGS Intensive series is a risky invitation to look to God as Mother and experience robust well-being as the powerful fruit.  For the Kingdom, Morgan