Soil and Roots

11/28/2025

Brian takes us deeper into the Formation Gap by exploring why instruction—good and necessary as it is—can’t carry the weight of true spiritual transformation. He invites us to think about the actual people who shaped us: parents, friends, mentors, coaches, and the Spirit Himself. Those relationships, not lectures, formed our hearts. So why does modern Christianity elevate instruction above time, habits, community, and intimacy? Brian turns to The Critical Journey to unpack six stages of spiritual growth and highlights the Wall—an unsettling but essential season where our assumptions crack open, and God invites us into deeper trust.

From there, Brian gets brutally honest about how churches tend to avoid the later stages of formation because they’re slow, messy, and inefficient. Marshall and Payne’s Trellis and the Vine becomes the backdrop for his central point: institutional structures often overshadow the personal, relational work that actually changes lives. When we hit the Wall, we don’t need more verses texted to us—we need people willing to sit in the dark with us. Instruction has its place, but silence, presence, and “withness” often do far more to heal and form us.

Check out "What Lies Beyond the Wall" on the Soil and Roots Substack page: https://vist.ly/4gcu9

Instruction's Limitations in Our Spiritual Journeys

11/27/2025

In this week’s piece, Brian pushes us to rethink something we usually take for granted: the lecture. He argues that while instruction matters, Western Christianity has leaned so heavily on monologue—sermons, lectures, experts—that we’ve forgotten how people are actually formed. Not by information alone, but through relationship, experience, and conversation. Even though we have more teaching available than ever before, biblical literacy keeps dropping. So maybe the problem isn’t content, but the model itself.

Brian makes the case that spiritual formation requires dialogue. The ancients understood this, and Jesus certainly did—He asked questions, invited wrestling, and opened space for discovery. Brian wonders what might happen if churches took a small risk and invited their communities to talk, question, debate, and discern together. It would mean giving up a little control, sure—but it might also produce the kind of depth, honesty, and transformation we’re all longing for.

Check out "Bueller...Bueller..." on the Soil and Roots Substack page: https://vist.ly/4g8hr

Less Monologue, More Dialogue in Our Spiritual Formation

11/26/2025

Brian takes us back into one of his favorite themes—how our hidden ideas quietly run the show—and he does it with a story he just can’t shake. Before diving into the final Greenhouse element of instruction, he pauses to explore one last cluster of unconscious assumptions that shape how we see value, power, and love. His backdrop? A surreal fundraising trip to the Broadmoor, where wealthy Christian donors were walled off—literally—from “non-donors.” Brian uses the moment not to scold the rich, but to expose the subtle ideas our communities often absorb without noticing: who matters, who deserves access, and how easily we drift into partiality while claiming to follow Jesus.

From there, he moves beneath the surface. What do these practices reveal about our real ideas of value? Of power? Of love? Brian contrasts curated exclusivity with the life of Jesus, who consistently moved toward the overlooked and welcomed interruptions as opportunities for grace. He closes with an invitation—not to shame, but to pay attention. Hidden ideas shape institutions, relationships, and our sense of what “normal” looks like. And unless we intentionally uncover them, they’ll keep governing us.

Read "The Haves and Have Nots" on the Soil and Roots Substack page: https://vist.ly/4g3pe

Uncovering Our Hidden Ideas about Value, Power, and Love

11/25/2025

Spiritual maturity isn’t measured by how much we know. It’s measured by how much the truth has reshaped our lives. Let the truth move from your mind into your decisions, habits, and relationships.

Check out episode 133 of the Soil and Roots podcast on Spotify and YouTube.

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11/24/2025

True self-knowledge is the Spirit's revelation of who we are before God.

To know God deeply, we also need to understand the story of our own hearts. The places He heals are the places where we learn who we truly are in Him.

Check out episode 133 of the Soil and Roots podcast on Spotify and YouTube.

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11/21/2025

Become a deep disciple means that at times we must take an inward journey. We explore our hearts, our ideas, our true desires and our stories.

Check out episode 133 of the Soil and Roots podcast on Spotify and YouTube.

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11/20/2025

We don’t follow Jesus just to “get to heaven” someday.
We follow Him so heaven can transform us here and now.
May the Lord's presence shape who we are today.

Check out episode 133 of the Soil and Roots podcast on Spotify and YouTube.

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11/19/2025

In the Season 6 finale of Soil & Roots, Brian takes us on a sweeping journey through the core themes we’ve explored over the past three years—The Great Omission, the tension between the head and the heart, the hidden power of ideas, and the path toward becoming a deep person shaped by divine love. If you’re new to the podcast, this may be the single best place to start; if you’ve been with us from the beginning, this episode connects and clarifies everything we’ve wrestled with so far. Together we revisit the three primary problems of story, community, and purpose, confront the Formation Gap, and rediscover the invitation to a life rooted in the love that transforms from the inside out. A perfect setup for Season 7.

Check out episode 133 of the Soil and Roots podcast on Spotify and YouTube.

Watch on YouTube: https://vist.ly/4f8ct
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10/24/2025

Brian Fisher wraps up his exploration of intimacy—the fourth element of spiritual formation—with a heartfelt reflection on what it really means to know and be known by God. He reminds us that true intimacy isn’t about trying harder or putting on a polished spiritual front—it’s about receiving love, uncovering our hidden ideas and desires, and allowing God’s Spirit to transform our false selves into something whole and authentic. As Brian writes, intimacy requires authenticity. God is always honest with us, but we often hide behind fear, control, and performance.

Drawing on Scripture, C.S. Lewis, and his own experiences, Brian points out that God’s intimacy isn’t “safe” in the way we’d prefer—it’s transforming. Like Aslan, He’s not tame, but He’s good. And while vulnerability with everyone isn’t wise, deep trust with God and a few trusted friends can reshape us from the inside out. As Brian prepares to move into the fifth element of formation—instruction—he leaves us with this invitation: to keep pursuing authenticity, even when it’s messy, and to let God’s deep love become more than a belief—an experienced reality.

Read "The First Cut is the Deepest" on the Soil and Roots Substack page: https://vist.ly/4bmvn

10/23/2025

Brian Fisher dives into one of the most overlooked forces shaping our spiritual lives: our ideas. While we often talk about beliefs in church, he explains that it’s our ideas—the deep, often unconscious assumptions of the heart—that truly govern how we relate to God, others, and ourselves. Brian introduces six core ideas that sit at the root of our formation—identity, anthropology, value, power, purpose, and love—and shows how misalignment between what we believe and what we actually assume creates tension in our inner life.

He explores how these hidden ideas play out, from our obsession with power and control to our distorted views of what it means to be human. Using vivid examples from church culture and his own experience, Brian shows how the journey toward deep discipleship requires courage, humility, and curiosity—especially when facing the gap between our stated theology and our lived reality. The invitation is simple but profound: gently examine your heart’s six core ideas, compare them with God’s truth, and rediscover what it means to live as a beloved child of God—whole, free, and deeply rooted.

Check out "Six Degrees of Separation" on the Soil & Roots Substack page: https://vist.ly/4bgim

10/22/2025

Every decision is a direction. Which way is your heart and mind turning today?

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10/21/2025

In this special bonus episode, Brian invites his two young adult sons, Caleb and Zachary, on to the show to discuss spiritual formation in different generations.

Caleb and Zach grew up in the church and are now involved with a church plant in their area.

Both share some of their stories of apprenticing with Jesus, what they find fascinating about Him, and their perspective on discipleship and institutional churches.

We hope you enjoy this fun, intimate look at three men who are all following Jesus in their own ways, and seeking the Kingdom as they continue to be wrestle with what it means to become more like Jesus in our age.

If you watch this on video, be advised Zach's camera was having hissy fits! You will hear him perfectly, but his video alternatives between clear and blurry.

Join us online!

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