This is it. The final AndSons podcast. In this profoundly heartfelt conversation, Sam and Blaine look back at how this podcast came to be, what this journey has meant to each of them, and how their understanding of success has shifted over the years. This episode, originally a livestream, includes past AndSons podcast guests speaking a blessing over your life. Come, raise a glass, and celebrate the hard but timely end to this amazing chapter.

242 | Finale

How do you know when it's time to end a good thing? As the AndSons podcast nears its final episode, Sam and Blaine reveal how they knew this was the right moment to bring the series to a close. They also share how beautiful and hard it's been knowing this decision may disappoint others, facing the risk of what's next, grappling with the difference between leaving and arriving, and processing their own grief as this chapter comes to a close.Show Note: The poem excerpted at the end of this podcast is "The Journey" by David Whyte.

How do you know when it's time to end a good thing? As the AndSons podcast nears its final episode, Sam and Blaine reveal how they knew this was the right moment to bring the series to a close. They also share how beautiful and hard it's been knowing this decision may disappoint others, facing the risk of what's next, grappling with the difference between leaving and arriving, and processing their own grief as this chapter comes to a close. Show Note: The poem excerpted at the end of this podcast is "The Journey" by David Whyte.

241 | The Journey

Blaine Eldredge introduces an episode of his new venture, The Mount Vigil Podcast. www.mountvigil.org

Blaine Eldredge introduces an episode of his new venture, The Mount Vigil Podcast. <a href="http://www.mountvigil.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.mountvigil.org</a>

BONUS: The Mount Vigil Podcast

The AndSons podcast is drawing to a close but AndSons is NOT ending. In this conversation, Sam and Blaine share what's next for each of them. Sam reveals plans for the future print volumes of the magazine as well as a 2022 live AndSons event that will become a long-term video resource for young men. And Blaine introduces his new focus, named Mount Vigil. Completely distinct from AndSons, Mount Vigil is a platform to help men and women interpret the movements of the story of God and discover how to enter into a deep and alert experience of Jesus in this significant time. For more on Mount Vigil—including podcasts, articles, and videos—visit www.mountvigil.org

The AndSons podcast is drawing to a close but AndSons is NOT ending. In this conversation, Sam and Blaine share what's next for each of them. Sam reveals plans for the future print volumes of the magazine as well as a 2022 live AndSons event that will become a long-term video resource for young men. And Blaine introduces his new focus, named Mount Vigil. Completely distinct from AndSons, Mount Vigil is a platform to help men and women interpret the movements of the story of God and discover how to enter into a deep and alert experience of Jesus in this significant time. For more on Mount Vigil—including podcasts, articles, and videos—visit <a href="http://www.mountvigil.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.mountvigil.org</a>

240 | What's Next

The Wild at Heart men's team recently gathered for a new mission—to share insights gleaned from the ups and downs of their twenties. To start the conversation, Sam and Blaine invited the guys over forty (John, Bart, Allen, Morgan, Alex, JD, Justin, and Barry) into the podcast studio one at a time and asked them this question: "Looking back, what do you now wish you could tell the you of your twenties"? The advice is timely and timeless. Because every man feels both overwhelmed and underqualified during this demanding season. So imagine being around a fire-pit with these men as you take in these personal, powerful stories of those who have traveled the miles, earned the scars, and, along the way, discovered what matters most.

239 | Sage Advice for Your Twenties

In this listener-requested topic, Sam and Blaine enter the deep waters of how to know the will of God. Most arrive at this question through the problem of pain, the desire to make choices that please God, or seeking his seal of approval on an outcome we want. But what if something more is at play that requires us to ask additional questions? Like how do free will and the issue of evil factor into the equation? Does God have a single vision for our lives (so we better not blow it)—or is he inviting us to co-determine the future with him? Finally...if the Creator really does care enough to engage with us in both the daily and the major decisions, how do we enter into that with him?

238 | God's Will?

This episode features a big announcement about what's ahead for AndSons. You'll want to find some space to be fully present for this recent live stream where Sam and Blaine share what this new season looks like for them and the future of this podcast series.

237 | All Good Things

After more than 230 AndSons podcasts—that's around 14,000 minutes—on practically every topic imaginable, how could anyone distill it all down to a few main points? That was the herculean challenge given to Sam and Blaine. They accepted, and the results may surprise you. They each created a list of "3 Do's and 3 Don'ts" they felt was essential for guys in their 20s and 30s. So lean in, listen well, and do this...but not that. Show Note: Language Warning.

After more than 230 AndSons podcasts—that's around 14,000 minutes—on practically every topic imaginable, how could anyone distill it all down to a few main points? That was the herculean challenge given to Sam and Blaine. They accepted, and the results may surprise you. They each created a list of "3 Do's and 3 Don'ts" they felt was essential for guys in their 20s and 30s. So lean in, listen well, and do this...but not that. Show Note: Language Warning.

236 | Do This, Not That

We live at a crazy moment in human history. The veil of modernity has fallen away and the re-spiritualization of the world is occurring. Once again, people are being drawn to the spiritual side of things. But having one's spiritual senses opened up without allegiance to Jesus and the covering of Christianity is disastrous. The good news is we can learn how to operate in this age really well. Jesus has everything we need. But we must ask him to teach us how to respond to these sorcerers, magicians, and spiritual anarchists as they reemerge from the shadows with these ancient strategies.Show Note: This is an AndSons MetaDragon Episode. Our team calls these sorts of episodes "MetaDragon" due to their meta-focus, their intensity, and because we misunderstood something our sound engineer said one day. Esoteric? A little. But now that you know, welcome to the MetaDragon.

We live at a crazy moment in human history. The veil of modernity has fallen away and the re-spiritualization of the world is occurring. Once again, people are being drawn to the spiritual side of things. But having one's spiritual senses opened up without allegiance to Jesus and the covering of Christianity is disastrous. The good news is we can learn how to operate in this age really well. Jesus has everything we need. But we must ask him to teach us how to respond to these sorcerers, magicians, and spiritual anarchists as they reemerge from the shadows with these ancient strategies. Show Note: This is an AndSons MetaDragon Episode. Our team calls these sorts of episodes "MetaDragon" due to their meta-focus, their intensity, and because we misunderstood something our sound engineer said one day. Esoteric? A little. But now that you know, welcome to the MetaDragon.

235 | The Second Age of the Sorcerer

John Eldredge joins Sam and Blaine for this episode of the recent AndSons live stream. It's no secret that humanity is hard-pressed and beat up. But if we're going to recover from the current global trauma and understand the spiritual forces in our world, we need to first realize an essential truth. As Christians, we actually live in two worlds—the natural and the spiritual. And just as amphibians can transition easily from water to land, we need to discover how to tap into the strengths of God and his kingdom right here in the natural world around us.

234 | Body and Spirit: Christians as Amphibians

Initiation and the young man’s soul. It’s a young men’s Christian podcast. And it’s a podcast on our cultural moment, post-modernity, the millennial world. To become a great man, you have to become a good man, one day at a time. And to become a good man, you have to understand your moment. Beauty, adventure, politics, theology, psychology, and the soul, we have conversations with experts in their own terms and dive deep into topics that, if you understand them, will help you change your life. A weekly podcast.

Learn to mature your soul in your 20’s. You won’t regret it.

Superb

These guys don’t pull punches, don’t gloss and glam the topics and are a refreshing, honest voice

Honest and Real

Initiation and the young man’s soul. It’s a young men’s Christian podcast. And it’s a podcast on our cultural moment, post-modernity, the millennial world. To become a great man, you have to become a good man, one day at a time. And to become a good man, you have to understand your moment. Beauty, adventure, politics, theology, psychology, and the soul, we have conversations with experts in their own terms and dive deep into topics that, if you understand them, will help you change your life. A weekly podcast.

And Sons

Why do we keep going back to the same places? What is the value of knowing a land, a rock face, a town, when everything is about "what's next"? John (Padre) writes, "Each year we return lays down a new layer of story, and adventure, beauty and encounter. Layer upon layer, like a rich patina on a piece of heirloom furniture, or better, like the technique Rembrandt and the Old Masters used in their painting, carefully laying down dozens of layers of paint to achieve that extraordinary effect of depth and gravitas."

68 | The River

Michael John Cusick

Michael Cusick is a counselor, lecturer, and the founder of Restoring the Soul, a ministry addressing sexual addiction through deep, whole-hearted restoration. His work (including two books) centers on a pair of pressing questions: what, exactly, is our sexuality for, and what does sexual wholeness look like? Safe to say we got more than we bargained for - from a definition of sexuality rooted in the Imago Dei and the creative capacity of human beings to a short list of what not to do with sexual addiction, this conversation completely reframes sexuality and offers some direction for the guy looking to be an alive, whole-hearted man whose sexuality directs him into deep union with God.

44 | Michael John Cusick: Sex, the Soul, Addiction, and Longing for God

Know what Familiarity breeds? Perceived Familiarity. Perceived Familiarity breeds Unfamiliarity. Which breeds Disinterest, Apathy, and, yup, Contempt. This is one of the most important facts about a life with God—we must fight Perceived Familiarity. Today we’ll do that. We’ll blank the slate and tell the story, highlighting it’s many strange facets (Abraham’s fighting company of 318 men, the throw-down, single-elimination tournament with the gods of Egypt, the apocalypse after Malachi, etc), to refresh our worldview and remember just how strange this story is. Fair warning - gospel talk ensues, but hang in there: this is war for the destiny of the universe.

72 | Reorientation: The Worldview of Jesus

Allen Arnold joins Sam and Blaine in the studio this week to talk about the presence of Chaos in our lives, and the ways that God approaches it.

104 | Chaos, Initiation, and Atmosphere

Charles Stone

Dr. Charles Stone has been a student of the brain for a dog’s age and written on neuroscience across fields. It turns out, understanding human nature, physiology included, outlines a path into practices that promote make your life better. We know: not exactly a surprise but it got us thinking. Anyway, it turns out mindfulness, or being present to God in your moment, is a Christian discipline with roots reaching back millennia. In our conversation, Dr. Stone outlined a mindfulness practice that produces practical relief like happiness, gratitude, an experience of the presence of God, empathy, etc, as well as complex stuff like cognitive reserve, new neurological defaults, and a diminished fear response. One more thing. Get this: in a brain study on nuns, researchers found that nuns experienced Alzheimers and dementia about as often as other people. Surprise surprise. BUT: you wouldn’t know. The nuns didn’t show symptom of either. That’s because they had healthy brains, cultivated through practices like mindfulness and contemplative prayer and statio. When parts of their brains stopped working, other parts took over. It’s called having strong cognitive reserve, and the point is, take care of your brain now, and you’ll thank us later.

Dr. Charles Stone has been a student of the brain for a dog’s age and written on neuroscience across fields. It turns out, understanding human nature, physiology included, outlines a path into practices that promote make your life better. We know: not exactly a surprise but it got us thinking. Anyway, it turns out mindfulness, or being present to God in your moment, is a Christian discipline with roots reaching back millennia. In our conversation, Dr. Stone outlined a mindfulness practice that produces practical relief like happiness, gratitude, an experience of the presence of God, empathy, etc, as well as complex stuff like cognitive reserve, new neurological defaults, and a diminished fear response. One more thing. Get this: in a brain study on nuns, researchers found that nuns experienced Alzheimers and dementia about as often as other people. Surprise surprise. BUT: you wouldn’t know. The nuns didn’t show symptom of either. That’s because they had healthy brains, cultivated through practices like mindfulness and contemplative prayer and statio. When parts of their brains stopped working, other parts took over. It’s called having strong cognitive reserve, and the point is, take care of your brain now, and you’ll thank us later.

101 | Dr. Charles Stone: Holy Noticing : Christian Mindfulness and How to Love Your Life More

Wendell Moss

This is one of those episodes that will leave you wanting more. And maybe there is a part 2 in store for the future. Wendell Moss is a counselor based in Seattle, WA, who specializes in trauma and narrative. The cultural narratives of masculinity and race and trauma are (perhaps not surprisingly) similar and require similar acts of courage and curiosity to enter into.The books Moss recommends at the end are: Just Mercy (Bryan Stevenson), White Awake (Daniel Hill), Roadmap to Reconciliation (Brenda Salter McNeil).

This is one of those episodes that will leave you wanting more. And maybe there is a part 2 in store for the future. Wendell Moss is a counselor based in Seattle, WA, who specializes in trauma and narrative. The cultural narratives of masculinity and race and trauma are (perhaps not surprisingly) similar and require similar acts of courage and curiosity to enter into. The books Moss recommends at the end are: Just Mercy (Bryan Stevenson), White Awake (Daniel Hill), Roadmap to Reconciliation (Brenda Salter McNeil).

63 | Wendell Moss: Race, Masculinity, and Courage

I mean, does this really need a description? We all can worry about an anticipated season passing by without all the hoped-for pieces being realized. Sam and Blaine dive into postures that can help.

107 | How We Avoid Wasting Our Summer (Or Any Season)

Sam, Blaine, and Luke sit down to tell some stories from their experiences in dating from high school, into college, and eventually into marriage. This is not meant to be the official posture of And Sons on dating, but a round table where other's stories and experiences can help by way of understanding our own stories. What are the messages your story with dating is telling you, and what are the agreements you might be making over your future?The reference for the purity movement mentioned in the episode is from a lecture at Fuller, but the source is work by Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers. Her book is "Sex, God, and the Conservative Church". This episode is not about Dr. Sellers book, nor was the conversation guided by it.

Sam, Blaine, and Luke sit down to tell some stories from their experiences in dating from high school, into college, and eventually into marriage. This is not meant to be the official posture of And Sons on dating, but a round table where other's stories and experiences can help by way of understanding our own stories. What are the messages your story with dating is telling you, and what are the agreements you might be making over your future? The reference for the purity movement mentioned in the episode is from a lecture at Fuller, but the source is work by Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers. Her book is "Sex, God, and the Conservative Church". This episode is not about Dr. Sellers book, nor was the conversation guided by it.

85 | Dating; Our Stories not Our Posture

We say the Holy Spirit is our teacher. If that’s the case, it should radically inform our practices. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that trains us to react: answer the question, make a fast decision, buy, subscribe, like. Problem is, it’s hard to discern in that environment. In this episode, we explore an alternative: a question-driven relational mode. What if you didn’t have to be a pro question asker to draw out someone's heart? What if you just had to believe you didn’t know the answer? It’d be a huge relief. Sure, there are skills to refine. But at the end of the day, all we do is create an environment where the Holy Spirit can point out what he’s up to.

113 | How to Stop Reacting and Missing the Point and Ask Questions Instead

It started with an email: how did you guys learn to engage ancient languages and texts? That set us off on a treasure hunt. From OT to Hebrew scholars, pastors and our own lives, this is a toolkit on reading, framing, and understanding the Bible.Special thanks to Dr. Tremper Longman, Scott Morin and Mandy Nelson of Empowering Ranch, and Tim Thornton.

It started with an email: how did you guys learn to engage ancient languages and texts? That set us off on a treasure hunt. From OT to Hebrew scholars, pastors and our own lives, this is a toolkit on reading, framing, and understanding the Bible. Special thanks to Dr. Tremper Longman, Scott Morin and Mandy Nelson of Empowering Ranch, and Tim Thornton.

112 | Yadda Yadda Yadda - Tips and Strategies for Reading the Bible

We use terms like "God opened a door" or "closed the door" retrospectively all the time, but how do you tell in the moment if you are being invited into something or if God's not in it? How do you know if what you are experiencing is adversity and requires you to keep persisting and fighting through or if you are banging your head against a wall? How do we walk with our choices and relationships with God in unison? Sam, Blaine, and Padre sit down to throw around experiences and moments where these questions rise to the surface, and to give room for new ways of asking what might be the point of it all.

18 | Adversity and Persistence: Padre, Interpretation, and How Do You Tell When God is Calling You

If And Sons had an FAQ, one question would top the list: What do I do with what feels like Wasted Time? In this episode, we try to reframe the issue, describing wasted time in terms of the desert, the Hebrew name of which just means “God Speaks.” And, because this is And Sons, there’s plenty of distinction-making between our ability to waste time and God’s ability to redeem time, the development of a calling vs the aggregation of achievement, and a comfortable job vs and apprenticeship. It’s all real time over here, so if you haven’t heard what Blaine actually did in Grad School, or how Sam structures his life in young kid years, buckle your seatbelt.

61 | No Wasted Time

Roger Thompson

Roger W Thompson is a writer, surfer, entrepreneur and overall outdoorsman. He’s a dad, and he’s got a mobile office in a van. We reached out to Roger because his writing reveals an unusual intimacy with the American West: byways, fishing spots, bars, all that. We wanted to know: what’s it take to develop an abiding relationship with the wild? What if you don’t live near the ocean or the mountains or a river? Lucky for us, Roger has his own take on adventure. It’s not photo-worthy drama. It’s intimate attention, unto an encounter with a place and with God, and you can try that anywhere.

106 | Roger Thompson - Sage of the West

Here at And Sons there’s one question we get more than any other: How do I build conversational intimacy with God? Meaning normal, practical, chatty relationship. Hearing God is the basis for the rest of the Christian life. So of course we roped in John Eldredge to riff on steps to hearing His voice. From new categories for listening (playfulness, kindness) to basic relational skills (stress-free conversation, seeking confirmation) to stories from the field, this is one we’ll return to ourselves.

79 | The Everyday Voice of God

Aside from the intro, of course.So we’re not going to do a series on drinking, swearing and smoking, but we are interested in talking about right action—how do we decide what to do? The word profanity comes from pro-fanum, Latin, literally meaning “before the temple.” The implications are not sacred, outside the sacred, etc. It’s interesting though that God doesn’t identify as sacred. God is holy. That’s a whole different animal. In this episode, we explore a set of related concepts. First, we talk about the human inclination to destruction as revealed in three Old Testament words: khata, pesha, and avon (not English words, btw). Khata is sin, i.e. moral failure, self deception and the devouring self. Pesha is broken trust. Avon is iniquity, or crookedness, and the consequences of human failure everybody’d live with if Jesus hadn’t come.Then we talk about transformation. Jesus is all about the restoration of the human heart. It’s what Moses predicts in Deuteronomy (30, we need a circumcision of heart), what the Psalms ask for (Psalm 51, for example), the Proverbs enjoin (4:23), and the prophets Ezekiel (36) and Jeremiah (31) and Isaiah (61) and yup, others anticipate God doing. In fact, in one of the passages folks reference in regard to profanity (Eph 4:29), Paul instructs the church not to let any unwholesome/corrupt/useless/un-life-giving talk come out of your mouth. The word is sapros, and it’s the same word Jesus uses when he says that you’ll know a tree by its fruit. “Every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad (sapron) tree bears bad fruit” (Matt 7:17). What you produce comes out of who you are. This is the ultimate lesson of right action: become a transformed person (by receiving what Jesus has done and becoming his disciple) and the fruit of your life with change.

Aside from the intro, of course. So we’re not going to do a series on drinking, swearing and smoking, but we are interested in talking about right action—how do we decide what to do? The word profanity comes from pro-fanum, Latin, literally meaning “before the temple.” The implications are not sacred, outside the sacred, etc. It’s interesting though that God doesn’t identify as sacred. God is holy. That’s a whole different animal. In this episode, we explore a set of related concepts. First, we talk about the human inclination to destruction as revealed in three Old Testament words: khata, pesha, and avon (not English words, btw). Khata is sin, i.e. moral failure, self deception and the devouring self. Pesha is broken trust. Avon is iniquity, or crookedness, and the consequences of human failure everybody’d live with if Jesus hadn’t come. Then we talk about transformation. Jesus is all about the restoration of the human heart. It’s what Moses predicts in Deuteronomy (30, we need a circumcision of heart), what the Psalms ask for (Psalm 51, for example), the Proverbs enjoin (4:23), and the prophets Ezekiel (36) and Jeremiah (31) and Isaiah (61) and yup, others anticipate God doing. In fact, in one of the passages folks reference in regard to profanity (Eph 4:29), Paul instructs the church not to let any unwholesome/corrupt/useless/un-life-giving talk come out of your mouth. The word is sapros, and it’s the same word Jesus uses when he says that you’ll know a tree by its fruit. “Every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad (sapron) tree bears bad fruit” (Matt 7:17). What you produce comes out of who you are. This is the ultimate lesson of right action: become a transformed person (by receiving what Jesus has done and becoming his disciple) and the fruit of your life with change.

96 | A Profanity-Free Podcast on Swearing (aside from the intro)

Morgan Snyder

There are many things that we need in life, Maslow's Hierarchy and all that, but some things stand out on their own. Initiation is one of the big ones. It's something that probably most of us haven't experienced in our life, either in the small and specific or in the sweeping narrative of our stories. Morgan Snyder, of Ransomed Heart and Become Good Soil, takes us in to the ways that it is needed and offered.

37 | Morgan Snyder and the Possibility of Initiation

Sam Jolman

Sam Jolman is a councilor who in the last issue of And Sons Magazine explained that men need romance, not just sex. That was worth following up on, and in this conversation, Sam and Blaine dove in to hear about Jolman’s story with romance, the development of his masculine soul, and the need to understand sexuality as a capacity dependent on a man’s maturity. Men do need romance, but the ability to be a romantic and handle a relationship is developed over time, as a man chooses to engage his own heart and story, ask questions, and grow his relational capacity in his life with God.

07 | Sam Jolman: Sex and the Heart of the Romantic

In part 2 of the feminism series, Sam and Blaine jump into the history of feminism in the US. Starting with ancient Athens (of course), on through the Blackstone Commentaries and early American legal frameworks, this episode explores the legal, political, and cultural circumstances that gave rise to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd wave feminism. Our aim here is to answer a triad of enduring questions: what, exactly, is going on, where'd it come from, and how should we be responding?

22 | Feminism Part 2: The 3 Waves in Snapshots

Bart Hansen

“If your life with God doesn’t have a regular dose of adventure,” Padre says, “It’s not going to sustain the masculine soul.” That’s all well and good,  but what if you live in the city? What if you have young kids? What if any one of a hundred what-ifs make adventure difficult? To answer that question, we snagged Bart Hansen, of the Ransomed Heart team. Bart has built rockets, parasails, and airplanes, flown all over the west, and done some of the craziest things we’ve ever heard. But it turns out none of those things define his life of adventure. Nope. Instead, Bart uses three categories to explore adventure as it relates to the life of the heart: Casual, Crucial and Epic Adventure. Casual adventures are everyday outings. Crucial adventures involve the maturation of the soul. Epic adventures hinge upon the risk of love.It turns out we need all three. From swim training in a snow storm to pursuing irritating neighbors to loving the woman in your life, this is an episode everyone needs.

“If your life with God doesn’t have a regular dose of adventure,” Padre says, “It’s not going to sustain the masculine soul.” That’s all well and good, but what if you live in the city? What if you have young kids? What if any one of a hundred what-ifs make adventure difficult? To answer that question, we snagged Bart Hansen, of the Ransomed Heart team. Bart has built rockets, parasails, and airplanes, flown all over the west, and done some of the craziest things we’ve ever heard. But it turns out none of those things define his life of adventure. Nope. Instead, Bart uses three categories to explore adventure as it relates to the life of the heart: Casual, Crucial and Epic Adventure. Casual adventures are everyday outings. Crucial adventures involve the maturation of the soul. Epic adventures hinge upon the risk of love. It turns out we need all three. From swim training in a snow storm to pursuing irritating neighbors to loving the woman in your life, this is an episode everyone needs.

89 | Bart Hansen - Maturing Adventure [Explicit]

Dan Allender

It's too easy to focus on the damage of our story. Too easy to focus on what needs healing, or whats been stolen. We all have an innate glory in the image of God that we bare, which on its own should be enough to get our attention. But there's more: we bare a unique glory all our own, and we are called to witness the glory in the lives around us.

129 | Dan Allender: The Glory We Bare

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