“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us…”

—St. John

Henri Nouwen offers these soulful questions:

“In what quiet ways have you bartered the worth of your soul to other grade-givers—some clamoring voices in the world around you, other critical voices firmly within your own being? By what small, repeated surrenders have you allowed yourself to become the very thing the world applauds, and the one thing you did not want to find yourself becoming?” 

In reflecting on these questions, we are keenly aware of the reality that we have often “bartered the worth of our soul” and been painfully malformed through “small repeated surrenders.”

Yet as we take stock of our precious yet infected souls, we experience Jesus’s pursuit afresh. As the generous host of all creation, as our creator and king, He invites us to once again entrust ourselves fully to Him—everything we are and everything we are not yet—and receive the nourishment, embrace, and affection we so desperately need and is His joy to extend.

In this second episode of our Become Good Soil Foundations Series, join us as we explore the wondrous reality whispered through the text of scripture, the text of nature, and the lives of those who intimately live the with-God life: that all reality begins with God—a God who overflows with creativity, energy, love, welcome, and life.

Let’s seek together how we might live more deeply from a posture of rest and receptivity, moving through our days and decades as those ever-receiving love and belonging—and, from that overflow, continually extending love and belonging to all those around us. 

We are so grateful to venture deeper on this journey together.

It’s all been prologue. The best is yet come.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan & Cherie

“The creeds function like a treasure chest, waiting to be opened and explored. The creeds are not meant to reduce our faith to simple facts; they are not intended to drive away mystery and complexity. Rather, the creeds secure a framework for the whole of our faith, so that we can freely go and explore the riches of the mystery in each part and in the whole.”

—Jason Ortiz and Daniel Keating in The Nicene Creed: A Scriptural, Historical, and Theological Commentary

Friends, beneath every value we express and every thought we act upon lies an underlying belief. Though often unexamined, each of us has developed a comprehensive worldview that shapes every moment of our lives. What are those beliefs and assumptions—and to what degree do they align with reality as revealed by God?

Join us for the first episode of the Become Good Soil Foundations Series, where we explore these core beliefs and assumptions of our faith and the fellowship of Become Good Soil.

Drawing on Jesus’ imagery in Matthew 7, we ask: what would it look like to make a fresh assessment of the foundations upon which the “house” of our lives is built? What might we notice if we paused to appreciate the beauty and strength of the “rock” itself—and to reckon honestly with the areas of our lives still resting on shifting sand?

As a fellowship, what does it look like to freshly receive and act upon Jesus’ invitation to relocate the whole of our lives onto the Rock—who is Christ Himself, His teaching, and His beautiful Kingdom?

Come along in a courageous global fellowship as we venture together down a path and process that leads to a life truly worth living.

It’s all been prologue. The best is yet to come.

For the Kingdom, 

Morgan & Cherie 

Note: In our conversation on The Nicene Creed this is the reference. For further exploration: Ortiz, J., & Keating, D. A. (2024). The Nicene Creed: a scriptural, historical, and theological commentary. Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

“We are greatly strengthened for life in the kingdom now by an understanding of what our future holds, and especially of how that future relates to our present experiences. For only then do we really understand what our current life is, and are we able to make choices that agree with that reality.”

— Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy

Where are we going?

Friends, this simple question continues to wake us, gently and insistently, again and again. As we linger with it, we remember that every path—whether chosen or assumed—is always leading somewhere. The question meets us as both invitation and mercy, asking us to notice where we are headed and to hold our lives up to the light of God and His kingdom.

In doing so, this question stirs our imagination toward the greatest end—the long-awaited day when God’s kingdom is fully revealed on earth as it is in heaven, when all things are gathered up and made right, good, and beautiful. With that ultimate future shimmering before us, we find ourselves able to turn—sometimes subtly, sometimes decisively—and set our course again toward the good, the true, and the beautiful, trusting

God to lead us faithfully in the present moment and into what is yet to come.

For more than a year, we have carried this question in our minds and hearts as we have listened for God on behalf of Become Good Soil. Through prayer, discernment, and many honest conversations—with God and with so many of you—a clearer sense of where Become Good Soil is being led in this new season has slowly come into view.

It is our deep joy to finally share this emerging vision with you.

In this final episode of Our Origin Story, we reflect on the expanded mission and vision of Become Good Soil. At its heart is a simple and steadfast desire: to walk alongside you as you continue your apprenticeship to Jesus—the gradual, grace-filled transposing of your whole life into the life of Christ—and as you faithfully steward the generative outposts of Eden entrusted to your care.

It’s all been prologue. The best is yet to come.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan & Cherie

You are here.

It turns out this matters more than we have come to believe. Consider this reflection from Henri Nouwen in The Wounded Healer:

A waiting person is a person practicing patience.

The word patience means to practice a daring willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full, in the belief that something hidden here will make itself known to us.

Impatient people are always expecting the real thing to happen somewhere else—the better thing to be somewhere other than here. Therefore, practicing impatience is to entertain and cultivate a longing to be somewhere else.

The present moment is empty for them.

Patient people dare to stay where they are.

Patient living means living actively in the present and daringly waiting right here. Waiting, therefore, in God’s Kingdom, is not passive. It involves bravely nurturing the moment as a mother nurtures a child growing in her womb.

As Nouwen reminds us, waiting carries with it both opportunity and temptation—the opportunity to become more whole and mature, united with God, and the temptation to give way to impatience, to hustle for control, or to force our will on others.

In this second episode of Our Origin Story, we explore a core challenge to fully inhabit the present moment: the twin thieves of fixation on the past and preoccupation with the future. We examine the subtle seduction of living in the past—not only the pull of regret, but also the empty cistern of nostalgia. We also explore the thievery of vaulting ourselves prematurely into the future—not only the anxiety and fear this can produce, but how visions of what might be can quietly morph into fantasies of a better life somewhere else or with someone else, rather than in the place and with the people to whom we are presently called.

Join us as we take a deeper dive, considering both the temptation and the gift of this present moment—and the audacious joy of coming home to where we are, here and now, held within the epic story of God revealing who He truly is and restoring all of His creation, together, with us.

It’s all been prologue. The best is yet to come.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan & Cherie

“In the darkness, something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. The hills were coming up. The earth was heaving and swelling like a wave of the sea. ‘Man, I give you the rule of this land. Treat it gently and cherish it.’”

— C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew

The apostle Paul reminds us that we have been grafted into the origin story of the People of God—a story that begins with God creating a good and beautiful world, and humans as beloved and creative stewards made in God’s image.

Before long, the story takes a tragic turn, giving way to exile from our original Home. Since then, a quiet homesickness has haunted the human experience—a sense that, for all its awakening beauty, the world is not now as it was meant to be.

Yet the story does not end in exile.

Scene after scene, we witness God’s persistent and passionate initiative to rescue and restore all of creation and His cherished human image-bearers. From Noah to Abraham, from Israel’s return from exile in Babylon to the bright expectancy of Anna and Zechariah in Luke’s Gospel, the story unfolds across centuries, culminating in the incarnation of Jesus, the promised King and Rescuer.

And now the story continues—handed down from one generation to the next—inviting each generation to freely and creatively enter, participate, and carry the story forward.

This great, cosmic history is the story within which our own personal histories unfold and find their meaning.

What might it look like to recover our origin story—both the cosmic and the personal? What if remembering where we come from is essential to our apprenticeship? Our origin stories help us name who we are, locate us within a larger story, and gently orient us toward the way forward. As pastor and teacher, Jason Jackson writes, origin stories are “seeds that are planted, becoming the identity of today and the vision of tomorrow.”

So we pause and wonder: What are the seeds of your origin story? Where do you come from—and who do you come from? As you reflect, what patterns begin to emerge? How might God be inviting you to notice what He is forming in you today, in light of where you have come from and where He is leading you?

As we unpack the seeds of the Become Good Soil story, we pray this episode might support you in recovering and strengthening the promise carried in the seeds of your story as well.

It’s all been prologue. The best is yet to come.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan & Cherie

“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.” 

— Parker Palmer

Important Note: HERE IS THE LINK to the most updated version of A Soul’s Review for Groups. Updates were made on 12/15/25. Please download THIS VERSION for any use of the guided Examen.

God comes to us brilliantly disguised in the ordinary moments of our everyday lives. With this in mind, we offer an invitation.

For several years, we have invited you into the ancient practice of an annual examen. This year, we have released an updated edition designed for groups of all sizes.

The first portion of this podcast is an invitation to host a group. It might be a regular circle of friends, family, or coworkers with whom you share life. Or perhaps a group of people you’ve been longing to invite into a deeper exploration of the geography of their soul and a reawakening to God’s pursuit.

Here’s the invitation: pray about whom you might share this with. Choose a date between now and mid-January to host a simple gathering. It is structured around a minimum of two hours, though giving it more time allows the experience to breathe. If possible, we encourage you to include a simple meal.

Listen to the entire podcast as a preview and prayer.

When you gather, provide a printed PDF of A Soul’s Review for Groups, which you can download HERE. Then begin playing this episode at the 11:15 time code.

It’s all been prologue. The best is yet to come.

For the Kingdom

Morgan & Cherie

“The main thing God gets out of your life is not the achievements you accomplish. It is the person you become. Spiritual transformation is not about behavior modification; it is about allowing the life of Jesus to permeate our whole being. This is a process that is slow, steady, and deeply relational. We become the kind of people who can naturally and easily do what Jesus would do, because His life has formed our life from the inside out.” — Dallas Willard

Friends,

We’d love for you to join us for the final episode in this three-part series. In this conversation, we take a hopeful look at what the Styles of Relating can become as we grow in maturity—as fear and shame loosen their grip, and as trust, courage, and love begin to shape our reactions more than our old habits do.

Our hope is that you’ll find encouragement for your own relationships and a renewed sense that change, even slow change, is possible.

We’re grateful to walk this road with you—toward deeper wholeness, steadier love, and a growing belonging in God’s Kingdom and Family.

Please note there is a COMPANION PDF for this episode that includes deeper reflection questions for the Styles of Relating. You can find it HERE.

It’s all been prologue. The best is yet to come.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan & Cherie

“When we intentionally bring awareness to our internal world—our emotions, our sensations, our impulses; we begin to see the patterns that have been driving us. And once we see them, we are no longer bound by them. Awareness creates choice. Choice creates change.”  — Dan Siegel

​Friends,

In this second episode of a deeper dive into Styles of Relating, we reflect on how fear, hedging, and self-protection show up in our relationships, in contrast to the moments when, by God’s grace, we find ourselves relating from trust, dignity, and self-giving love instead.

Nothing has exposed and transformed our own patterns more than this work. Slowly, we are learning to pause, to notice what’s actually motivating our reactions, to identify when fear and shame have snuck in sideways. But here’s the gift: awareness really does open space for change. And that change has brought us more joy, safety, and connection in our marriage than we ever imagined.

We are grateful to be on this journey with you—toward wholeness, deeper love, and a growing trust in God and His Kingdom.

It’s all been prologue. The best is yet to come.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan & Cherie

“We are born out of the laughter of the Trinity." 

— Meister Eckhart (1260-1328),  Medieval Mystic

Dear Friends,

Around 2011, we discovered the work of Karen Horney and her insight into how humans relate to one another, especially under stress, in uncertainty, or for the sake of self-protection.

Her work on the styles of relating became catalytic for both of us. It gave language to dynamics we were feeling but didn’t yet understand — why, despite our love for one another, we so often felt hurt, alone, or misunderstood. We were desperate for clarity, longing to discover what was not working, and what needed to change within us and between us to grow the kind of marriage we both believed was possible.

In 2014, we recorded a live conversation exploring how our styles of relating had been colliding — and sometimes colluding — since before we were married. That conversation became Episode 9 of the Become Good Soil podcast, marking an early milestone in our journey toward healing and deeper connection.

Now, we invite you to join us again as we revisit this territory. This is the first episode in a three-part series reflecting afresh on the Styles of Relating — a return to what these styles are, an exploration of how they may be showing up in our relationships, and an honest look at what it could mean to employ them in the service of Love instead of fear.

We’re honored to walk this path with you.

For the Kingdom,

Cherie & Morgan

P.S. If you haven’t explored our first two podcasts and the blog on Styles of Relating recently, we would encourage you to check out the following soul-nourishing resources as well:

Wild, Unfettered, and Free - Jesus Modeling Styles of Relating (Blog)

Getting Naked - BGS Podcast Episode 014 (Part 1 of 2)

Getting Naked - BGS Podcast Episode 015 (Part 2 of 2)

“There are some things that only time can do. Dynamite can't touch them.”

– Dwight D. Eisenhower

In The Scandals of the Kingdom, Dallas Willard names a profound tension between the person of Jesus and the dilemma of modern American Christianity. We spend vast sums of money and energy trying to get people into church. Meanwhile, in the Gospels, people tore the roofs off buildings just to get to Jesus. So much so, He often withdrew from the crowds—not to perform, but to be with His Father and to invest in a few trusted apprentices.

Jesus was the most consecrated King who ever lived. And yet, while we strive to build platforms and leverage influence, He chose obscurity and intimacy and consented to the slow and steady work of His Father in the lives entrusted to his care.

So we must ask ourselves: Why do we find Him hiding from crowds in places where we keep striving to be seen?

If we are willing to be honest with both this longing to be seen and the desire to see immediate results for the fruit of our labors, we can access a precious part of us that becomes a fresh doorway to return home to the heart of God.

This episode concludes a deeper cut series—an excavation of the foundational ideas unearthed through Becoming a King. At its core, we’ve been exploring a central, piercing question: How do we become the kind of men to whom God can entrust His power?

Let me remind you—this path was never promised to be easy. But I can assure you: it is profoundly worth it.

Over time, a compelling pattern emerges. Through the consent by day and by decade to the narrow road of deep apprenticeship, transformation is no longer just a hope—it becomes a lived reality. I see it in the stories, again and again, from men being led by God into deeper wholeness and restoration through Becoming a King.

What once felt like a headwind—marked by adversity, resistance, and battle—in time becomes a tailwind. The strength and care of a good Father, ever present, begins to nourish and sustain us.

A Father who is for us, not against us. Having committed Himself to our well-being, He relentlessly pours Himself into our shepherding and our apprenticeship.

He is our tailwind. And even in our trials, in the end, we will encounter His exceeding kindness.

In this episode, we conclude this conversation with some compelling ideas, questions, and stories from Outposts of Eden around the globe, thanks to the strength lent by allies John Scott Mooring, Pablo Ceron, Ryan Ruebsahm, and Chris Rice.

Together, we’re looking deeper into the kind of King that Jesus is, and I want you to join us.

It’s all been prologue. The best is yet to come.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan and Cherie

“We are wounded in isolation and we are healed in community.”

— Tim Keller

What does it mean to be made in the image of a Triune God-in-Relationship?

What if relational connection is the heartbeat of the with God life?

What is a relational model for becoming a king or a queen, one who can steward from wholehearted maturity?

We must begin by recovering our hidden life in God—the joyful intimacy available with the Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. Drawing our life from the Life of God, we move into relationships with our spouse, children, peers, and families—both our biological and kingdom families.

Right where we find ourselves. On this day. In these circumstances. Perhaps even through these circumstances, God offers a creative invitation to shepherd us in such a way that the things which matter most are no longer at the mercy of the things which matter least.

Join Cherie and me as we take a deeper cut into a relational rule of life and explore generative steps toward arranging our days so that more and more of us can be reattached to the Vine of Life.

It’s all been prologue. The best is yet to come.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan and Cherie