Soil and Roots

What does it mean to be beloved by God? In Episode 120, Brian continues Season 6, The Object of Our Formation, by exploring the lived reality underneath Jesus’ relational security: belovedness. Jesus was not anxious, defensive, manipulated, or controlled by other people’s opinions because He lived from a deep, abiding attachment to the Father. He knew who He was. He knew whose He was. He lived as...

What does it really mean to abide in Jesus? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 118 on Jesus’ relational and emotional security. If Jesus is the most secure person in human history — unshaken by rejection, manipulation, pressure, praise, criticism, or failure — then what does that reveal about abiding in the Father’s love? The conversati...

What would it mean to live with secure attachment to God? In Episode 118, Brian continues Season 6, The Object of Our Formation, by exploring one of Jesus’ most compelling qualities: His relational and emotional security. Jesus is not anxious, rattled, manipulated, needy, or driven by what other people think of Him. He lives from a rock-solid sense of identity as the beloved Son of the Father. Thi...

What is goodness in the Bible? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 116, “What Is Love in the Bible?” That episode offered a working definition for Season 6: love is seeking someone’s goodness based on God’s ideas. Episode 117 presses into the question underneath that definition: what do we mean by goodness? The conversation begins in Gen...

What is love in the Bible? In Episode 116, Brian continues Season 6, The Object of Our Formation, by asking a deceptively difficult question: what does it actually mean to love like Jesus? The answer may seem obvious at first. God is love. God is good. Followers of Jesus are called to love God, love others, love ourselves rightly, and participate in the goodness of His Kingdom. But in a fractured...

What is the difference between doing what Jesus did and being like Jesus? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 114, the launch of Season 6: The Object of Our Formation. Season 6 explores who Jesus really is and what qualities we should expect to develop as we become more like Him. The conversation begins by revisiting the Soil & Roots...

What does it actually mean to become like Jesus? In Episode 114, Brian opens Season 6 of Soil & Roots: The Object of Our Formation. After five seasons exploring the Great Omission, the Three Primary Problems, Heartview, Greenhouses, and the need for deep discipleship, this episode turns toward the central question underneath it all: Who is Jesus, really, and what kind of people should we expec...

What does a true spiritual formation community look like? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 112, “The Desperate Need for Deep Communities.” That bonus episode asked whether many modern Christian institutions are structured to form people of depth, or whether deep discipleship requires smaller, more vulnerable, more intimate communities...

What kind of community forms deep people? In this Season 5 bonus episode, Brian continues the reflection from Episodes 110 and 111 by exploring the desperate need for deep communities. If a deep disciple is someone increasingly awake and attuned to God, self, others, creation, and culture, then the next question is obvious: what kind of community can actually form that kind of person? Brian argues...

What makes a person spiritually deep? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian and Handsome Kyle continue the conversation from Episode 110, “The Desperate Need for Deep People.” That bonus episode defined a deep person as someone increasingly awake and attuned to God, self, others, creation, and culture. Episode 111 presses further into what that actually means. Brian and Handsome Kyle explore why spiri...

What is deep discipleship, and why does the world desperately need deep people? In this Season 5 bonus episode, Brian steps back from the Conversations series to review the Soil & Roots journey so far. Drawing from Dallas Willard’s language of the Great Omission and Richard Foster’s call for “deep people,” this episode returns to the central question behind Soil & Roots: how do people beco...

Why do our views of the end times matter for discipleship? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 108 with Dr. Darrell Bock on the kingdom of God, Progressive Dispensationalism, Israel, cultural engagement, and Christian mission. The conversation asks why end-times views are not merely abstract theology or speculative debate. How we underst...

What does the kingdom of God have to do with the end times? In Episode 108, Brian talks with Dr. Darrell Bock, Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and Executive Director of Cultural Engagement, about the kingdom of God, Israel, eschatology, and Christian mission. This conversation builds on Season 4, The Forgotten Kingdom, where Soil & Roots explor...

What does healing from church hurt actually require? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 106 with Matt Davis. Matt’s story opened up a raw and necessary discussion about church hurt, pastoral burnout, ministry failure, institutional self-protection, and the people who are wounded when church systems value the institution more than the in...

What happens when church wounds the people it was meant to form? In Episode 106, Brian talks with Matt Davis, founder of Pastoral Transitions and co-host of Life After Ministry. Matt shares his story of ministry failure, church hurt, pastoral burnout, and healing after leaving vocational ministry. Together, Brian and Matt explore the Formation Gap, megachurch systems, institutional self-protection...

What does it mean to disciple children as whole persons? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 104 with Emily Riffe on spiritual formation for children. Drawing from Emily’s reflections on Charlotte Mason, education, nature, habits, and character formation, the conversation asks how parents, teachers, churches, and communities can better h...

How are children spiritually formed? In Episode 104, Brian talks with author, educator, and homeschool mom Emily Riffe about spiritual formation for children. Emily introduces the work of Charlotte Mason, a British educator whose philosophy treated children not as empty vessels to be filled with information, but as whole persons made in the image of God. This conversation returns to the Disciplesh...

In this Greenhouse episode, Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 102 with Zach Leighton on Christian storytelling, testimony, and the role of story in deep discipleship. They explore why story is essential to how we understand God, ourselves, our communities, and the larger narrative of Scripture. The conversation asks whether the modern church has lost touch with t...

What role does Christian storytelling play in deep discipleship? In Episode 102, Brian talks with Zach Leighton, founder of Reliant Creative and co-founder of Kingdom Stories, about the importance of story, testimony, and narrative in the life of the church. Zach has spent more than a decade helping churches, ministries, and nonprofits around the world communicate more faithfully and effectively t...

Why does deep discipleship matter for culture, not just for personal faith? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 100 by asking the “so what?” question at a deeper level. If the Great Omission is real, and many Christians are not being intentionally formed to become more like Jesus, what does that actually cost us? The conversation begins...

In this special bonus episode, Brian celebrates Episode 100 by stepping back from the normal Season 5 flow and revisiting the major Soil & Roots journey so far: the Great Omission, hidden ideas, the Discipleship Dilemma, the Formation Gap, and the Forgotten Kingdom. The episode asks a simple but urgent question: so what? If many Christians are not being guided into deep discipleship, what does...

What happens when we move through the early stages of faith but are not guided into the deeper ones? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 98 with Dr. Jim Reiter on The Critical Journey . They explore the six stages of faith, the Wall, and why many modern churches are well equipped for awakening, learning, and service, but often struggle t...

What is The Critical Journey , and why does it matter for deep discipleship? In Episode 98, Brian talks with Dr. Jim Reiter about The Critical Journey , the well-known spiritual formation framework developed by Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich. The book describes six stages in the life of faith, including awakening to God, learning the faith, productive service, the inward journey, the outward jou...

What is the relationship between spiritual formation and soul care? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian, Handsome Kyle, and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 96 with Adam Ormord. They reflect on Adam’s definition of Christian spiritual formation as a lifelong process of experiencing God’s love and being formed into the image of Christ for the sake of the world. The conversation explores why...

What is soul care, and why does it matter for spiritual formation? In Episode 96, Brian opens Season 5, Conversations , with Adam Ormord, founder of LifePoint Resources. Adam is a pastor, spiritual director, and spiritual formation guide who helps pastors, leaders, and everyday followers of Jesus pay attention to the condition of their souls. The conversation explores Christian spiritual formation...