Soil and Roots

Brian Fisher
  • 5.0 (15)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Weekly

Why do so many sincere followers of Jesus feel spiritually stuck? Why does church sometimes leave us informed but not transformed? Join Brian Fisher and the Soil & Roots team as they explore deep Christian discipleship, spiritual formation, authentic community, and life with God. Through Scripture, thoughtful conversation, and the wisdom of teachers like Dallas Willard, discover how our hidden ideas about God, ourselves, and the world shape who we become—and how we can increasingly become more like Jesus from the inside out.

  1. Sep 11

    Does God Like Some People More? (GH) | Ep 147

    Most Christians would say that God does not have favorites. But do our hearts actually experience Him that way? In this Greenhouse follow-up to Episode 146, Brian is joined by Handsome Kyle and Dr. Tim to explore why God can still feel partial even when our theology says otherwise. The conversation begins with transference—the unconscious tendency to carry patterns from past relationships into new ones. Experiences with parents, pastors, teachers, employers, and institutions can shape not only how we see God, but how we imagine God sees us. From there, the discussion moves into performance, usefulness, the “looking-glass self,” the masks we wear, suffering, and our tendency to assume that successful or influential Christians somehow enjoy greater access to God. Why do we sometimes prefer a transactional relationship with God? Why can His delight feel difficult to receive? And what happens when we stop trying to earn love and allow ourselves to be fully seen? Join us online!  Web: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://soilandroots.org⁠⁠⁠⁠  Substack: ⁠⁠https://soilandroots.substack.com/

  2. Aug 31

    Ep 146: Is God Partial? Spiritual First Class and God’s Love

    Most of us would never say that God likes some people more than others. We know grace can’t be earned, and we believe God loves ordinary people. But do our hearts actually experience Him that way? In Episode 146, Brian explores another hidden idea of God: the idea that God is partial—that greater success, usefulness, discipline, or spiritual maturity earns us greater affection and access. We explore how this idea can show up in performance, suffering, comparison, spiritual celebrity, and even how we treat other people. And through the practice of Heartview, we consider what our resentment, striving, anxiety, and comparison might reveal about the God we actually experience. Deep discipleship invites us beyond simply believing the right things about God. It invites us to bring our hidden ideas into the light and allow Jesus to re-form them through relationship and experience. There is no spiritual first class. And with God, there is no back row. Join us online!  Web: ⁠⁠⁠https://soilandroots.org⁠⁠⁠  Substack: ⁠https://soilandroots.substack.com/

  3. Jul 10

    The Story Beneath (GH) | Ep 145

    Why do many Christians find support for learning about God but little guidance when faith becomes difficult, disorienting, or deeply personal? Brian is joined by spiritual director Rhonda Jenkins and pastor and coach David Smith to discuss the previous episode (The Story Beneath), performance-based Christianity, the Wall, double knowledge, spiritual friendship, and the need for communities that can accompany people through the inward journey. They also share how Soil & Roots is developing the Greenhouse as a two-year guided pathway into deep discipleship. Join us online!  Web: ⁠⁠https://soilandroots.org⁠⁠  Substack: https://soilandroots.substack.com/

  4. Jun 24

    The Soil and Roots Story: Struggle, Greenhouses, and What’s Next | Ep 144 (Bonus)

    In this bonus episode, Brian steps away from the usual Season 7 format to share the personal story behind Soil & Roots. Episode 144 traces the last five years: betrayal, loss, the dark night of the soul, chronic Lyme disease, financial uncertainty, and the slow emergence of a deeper calling. Brian shares how Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, A.W. Tozer, C.S. Lewis, the Critical Journey, and the language of hidden ideas helped shape the Soil & Roots vision for him - and for you. This episode also explains what has been happening behind the scenes this summer, including the emerging two-year pathway through the inward journey for the next generation of Greenhouses. Join us online!  Web: ⁠⁠https://soilandroots.org⁠⁠  Substack: https://soilandroots.substack.com/

  5. Jun 16

    Doubting God’s Goodness (GH) | Ep 143

    What do we do when we find ourselves doubting God’s goodness? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 142 by exploring one of the most difficult tensions in deep discipleship: how to affirm God’s goodness while honestly grieving the pain, injustice, and suffering of the world. Doc brings his own struggle into the conversation, naming the friction between experiencing God’s kindness in his own life and seeing deep suffering in the lives of others. This episode is not a philosophical defense of God’s goodness. It is a conversation about lament, authenticity, doubt, secure attachment, and the kind of community where people can bring their rawest questions without being rushed, corrected, or shamed. Brian and Doc explore why modern church culture often struggles with lament, why easy answers can fail the heart, and why the deeper question beneath “Is God good?” may be a cry for withness. Join us online!  Web: ⁠⁠https://soilandroots.org⁠⁠  Substack: ⁠ https://soilandroots.substack.com/

  6. May 25

    Is God Truly Good? | Ep 142

    Is God good, and do our hearts actually experience Him that way? In Episode 142, Brian continues Season 7, Deep Calls to Deep, by exploring one of the most powerful hidden ideas many followers of Jesus carry: the suspicion that God may not actually be good. We may consciously affirm God’s goodness, love, mercy, and faithfulness, yet our lived experience can tell another story. Drawing from the Soil & Roots distinction between beliefs and ideas, Brian explores how hidden assumptions about God are formed through suffering, disappointment, family systems, trauma, illness, and repeated experiences. The episode considers how distrust of God’s goodness often shows up through the Eight Indicators: control, anxiety, resentment toward reality, and difficulty receiving love. This is not an episode about forcing certainty or defending God with quick answers. It is an invitation into honesty. If somewhere deep down we do not really trust God’s goodness, healing begins by telling Him the truth. The Good Life is not built on pretending harder, but on bringing our hidden ideas into the presence of the God who is already with us. Join us online!  Web: ⁠⁠https://soilandroots.org⁠⁠  Substack: ⁠ https://soilandroots.substack.com/

  7. May 15

    Your Ideas of God Shapes Everything (GH) | Ep 141

    What if your view of God shapes everything? In this Greenhouse episode, Brian and Doc continue the conversation from Episode 140 on what God is really like and why our deepest ideas of God matter so much. Season 7, Deep Calls to Deep, is exploring how we become people of depth — people who are increasingly attuned to God, others, themselves, and the world. The conversation begins with Richard Foster’s claim that the world does not need more talented or intelligent people as much as it needs deep people. But becoming deep is not always safe, comfortable, or tidy. The inward journey can involve pruning, tearing, fire, pain, and the slow process of being unmade and remade by God’s goodness. Brian and Doc then explore how our view of God becomes the root system beneath nearly every other view we hold. Our theology shapes our philosophy, our politics, our view of creation, our understanding of the sacred and secular, and even how we think about suffering, the church, and the Bible. This episode also wrestles with several common Christian phrases and ideas, including “Jesus is enough,” “just read your Bible,” and the assumption that God only works through explicitly religious spaces. Brian argues that Jesus is enough precisely because He is Lord over all things — not because God is limited to church services, Bible studies, or religious language. The Good Life is not about becoming more religious. It is about becoming more like Jesus from the inside out, learning to recognize His presence in all of life, and allowing our true view of God to be healed. Join us online!  Web: ⁠⁠https://soilandroots.org⁠⁠  Substack: ⁠ https://soilandroots.substack.com/

  8. Apr 27

    What Is God Like? Uncovering Our Hidden Ideas | Ep 140

    What is God really like? In Episode 140, Brian returns to one of the founding questions of Soil & Roots: what do we actually believe God is like? Not merely what do we say in our creeds, statements of faith, or Bible studies — but what do our hearts assume about Him? Drawing from A.W. Tozer’s claim that our real idea of God may be buried beneath “conventional religious notions,” this episode explores why deep discipleship requires more than correct doctrine or Bible knowledge. It requires the uncovering of our hidden, often unconscious ideas about God. Season 7, Deep Calls to Deep, is exploring how we become people of depth. Brian argues that the journey into depth depends on four necessary conditions: self-awareness, story-sharing, suffering in community, and spiritual habits. The first condition, self-awareness, begins with the painful but essential work of uncovering our true ideas about God. This episode walks through several common distorted images of God: God as the Great Taskmaster, God as the direct cause of suffering, God as a performance-based Father, and God as an angry judge waiting to condemn. These ideas may not match our stated beliefs, but they can quietly shape our emotions, behaviors, relationships, health, words, and spiritual lives. Brian also challenges the common response, “Just read your Bible,” by reminding us that people bring their own assumptions to Scripture. The Bible is deeply formative, but discipleship is not about becoming more like the Bible. It is about being formed into the image of the One who authored it. The Good Life begins as Jesus uncovers and heals our distorted views of God, inviting us to experience Him as He truly is. Join us online!  Web: ⁠⁠https://soilandroots.org⁠⁠  Substack: ⁠ https://soilandroots.substack.com/

See All (147)

5
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

Why do so many sincere followers of Jesus feel spiritually stuck? Why does church sometimes leave us informed but not transformed? Join Brian Fisher and the Soil & Roots team as they explore deep Christian discipleship, spiritual formation, authentic community, and life with God. Through Scripture, thoughtful conversation, and the wisdom of teachers like Dallas Willard, discover how our hidden ideas about God, ourselves, and the world shape who we become—and how we can increasingly become more like Jesus from the inside out.

Information

  • Creator
    Brian Fisher
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    147
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Brian Fisher
  • Show Website
    Soil and Roots

You Might Also Like