Episodes

James Bryan Smith has a Things Above conversation with author Sarah Clarkson. In this episode, James and Sarah discuss her book “This Beautiful Truth.” In This Beautiful Truth, Sarah shares her own encounters with beauty in the midst of her decade-long struggle with mental illness, depression, and doubt. She paints a compelling picture of the God who reaches out to us in a real and powerful way through the “taste and see” goodness of what he has made and what he continues to create amid our dark...

The thought from above in this episode is, know your enemy. James Bryan Smith explains how the enemy (the devil) tries to deceive us and what we can do to defend ourselves from him. Smith quotes from Ephesians 6:11-17 to talk about the armor of God. James talks about each piece of armor listed in the passage and explains how we can use it today. Related Episodes: 1. Sin is Slop 2. Soul Wellness 3. You are Blessed 4. Beauty, Goodness and Truth 5. Episode 00 If you are interested in donatin...

The thought from above this week is, sin is slop. In this episode, James Bryan Smith gives us two ways to help us win the battle against sin. The first is to stay focused on God, and the second is to see sin for what it is. Smith uses the story of David and Bathsheeba to explain his thought from above. James closes the episode by explaining the spiritual practice of examen and how it has helped him focus on God. Related Episodes: 1. You are Blessed 2. Conversation with Bruce McNicol and Robby...

James Bryan Smith has a Things Above Conversation with Bruce McNicol and Robby Angle. Smith asks both guests questions about their work with Trueface, and the book “The Cure.” Both Bruce and Robby will be teaching at The Apprentice Gathering 2021. Learn more and register here! Guest Biographies: Bruce McNicol: Bruce is co-contributor with Dallas Willard of The Kingdom Life on spiritual formation. Bruce is also President Emeritus of Trueface, whose mission is to equip people to experience auth...

In the second episode of season four, for the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith thought from above is; “you are blessed.” Smith begins the episode with a story about his new puppy Wesley. The thought from above came to Jim through his experience of adopting and training Wesley. Smith quotes Ephesians 1: 3-7 to help illustrate his thought from above. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ....

Season 4 has arrived! James Bryan Smith’s thought from above this week focuses on soul wellness. Smith opens the episode by saying we have a soul, and it is very needy. In the episode, James announces he finished the 4th book in “The Good and Beautiful” series. The book will be titled “The Good and Beautiful You” and comes out in the spring of 2022. Before he finished the book, James went to “Restoring the Soul” for some soul rejuvenation. It was there that he came to understand this week’s th...

James Bryan Smith has a Things Above Conversation with Casey Tygrett. Casey is back for his second appearance on the Things Above podcast. In this episode, Casey and James talk about the impact the pandemic has had on us now that we have been dealing with it for over a year. They discuss the importance of spiritual direction and the need for it in our daily lives. Casey is now working with Soulcare where he performs spiritual direction. Soulcare is a partner at The Apprentice Gathering 2021 and ...

James Bryan Smith has a Things Above Conversation with Dorothy Greco. In this episode James and Dorothy discuss her latest book, “Marriage in the Middle.” Dorothy is the author of Making Marriage Beautiful and Marriage in the Middle. Her work has appeared in Christianity Today, Missio Alliance, MOPs, Relevant Magazine, and many other publications. She also works as a professional photojournalist. Dorothy and her husband Christopher live near Boston, MA. Related Episodes: 1. Conversation with S...

James Bryan Smith’s thought from above in this episode is, “You are wanted by the Trinity.” In this episode Smith explains the importance of understanding the Trinity. Understanding the Trinity informs us that God wants to be in relationship with us. To help explain his thought, James quotes Dallas Willard “The advantage of believing in the Trinity is not that we get an A from God for knowing the right answer. The advantage of believing in the Trinity is that we then live as if the Trinity is re...

Today’s thought from above is this: God is greater than our hearts. In this episode James Bryan Smith unpacks his thought from above with a story from his childhood. Smith explains the importance of understanding our identity in order to get over our own shame. When we realize that our identity is formed with Jesus we can begin to see how much God cares for us. Jesus gave His life for you so that he could live His life through you. Smith closes the episode by saying, “Jesus is the only one who g...

James Bryan Smith has a Things Above Conversation with Dr. Scot McKnight. In this episode James talks with Scot about his latest book “A Church Called Tov” which he co-authored with his daughter Laura Barringer. Scot will be speaking at The Apprentice Gathering 2021, learn more here. Scot McKnight Bio: McKnight, author or editor of some eighty-five books, is Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lisle, IL. Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeare...

James Bryan Smith’s thought from above in this episode is: “You are already there.” Over the last several episodes; 101, 103, 104, and 106, we have been been unpacking some of the key aspects of what it means that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Smith goes on to explain that Jesus is what God is like—kind, loving, compassionate, holy and powerful. He then quotes Ephesians 2:6 to unpack his thought from above. “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly real...

Over the last several episodes we have been examining the powerful truths that come from the fact that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. In episode 101 we talked about how God is exactly like Jesus. Episode 103 focused on the thought that Jesus is holding all things together. In episode 104 Jim explained how Jesus has forgiven all of our sins, for all time. This week, James adds another thought from above to go along with those last few episodes: “Jesus lives to pray for you.” Jesus is ...

James Bryan Smith has a Things Above conversation with Susie Larson. In this episode James talks with Susie about 3 of her 17 books, “Your Beautiful Purpose”, “Prevail”, and “Fully Alive.” Throughout the episode Susie and Jim both talk about the struggles we go through in our relationship with God. They talk about the importance of living into the kingdom of God each day, and how we can overcome rogue thoughts that take us away from God. Susie Larson Bio: Susie Larson is a talk radio host, nat...

In this episode James Bryan Smith’s thought from above is: “Jesus perfected you forever.” Over the last few episodes James has been teaching about what it means that Jesus sat down at the right hand of God. James opens the episode by reading from Hebrews 10:12-14. In this passage we see that the priest has to continuously sacrifice animals to pay for the sins of the people. He goes on to say that the reason that these sacrifices “cannot take away sins” is because they could only atone for the si...

The thought from above in this episode is: “Jesus Upholds You.” James Bryan Smith opens the episode with a passage from Hebrews 1:3. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” James unpacks this passage to explain how we need Christ not only to make purification for our sins, but also to provide preservation to ...

James Bryan Smith and Kyle Strobel sit down for a Things Above conversation. In this episode, James goes through a series of questions regarding Kyle’s latest book (Co-Authored with John Coe) called “When Prayer Becomes Real.” James and Kyle discuss how we can learn to pray without ceasing, and delight in the experience of being fully known and fully loved. Kyle Strobel (Ph.D. University of Aberdeen) is a systematic theologian who teaches spiritual theology for Talbot’s Institute for Spiritual ...

In this episode James Bryan Smith’s thought from above is, Jesus is God exactly. Smith opens this episode with a passage from Hebrews 1:3. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” James unpacks this passage to help explain his thought from above. The last sentence from that passage is very important. Smith exp...

How do we increase grace? As we learned in episode 98, grace is God’s action in our lives. James Bryan Smith explains how we can increase the grace of God in our lives through spiritual disciplines. Richard Foster was the first person to explain to James about the spiritual disciplines. The spiritual disciplines (prayer, solitude, etc…) are ways we place ourselves before God so that God can transform us. In this episode, James invites you to engage in spiritual practices to help increase the gr...

Our guest for this episode is, Fr. Richard Rohr. Richard is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province. He is the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation and academic dean of the CAC’s Living School. An internationally recognized author and spiritual leader, Fr. Richard teaches primarily on incarnational mysticism, nondual consciousness, and contemplation, with a particular emphasis on how these affect the social justice issues of our time. Richard and James begin their conversat...

The thought from above in this episode is: “Create Space for Grace.” James Bryan Smith continues with his key ideas that are essential to Christian spiritual formation. These last five episodes are foundational for what this podcast is all about, setting our mind on things above. Smith begins the episode by explaining the importance of creating space for grace. Grace is God’s action in our lives. The word grace derived from its greek origin, means gift. God’s grace is a gift to us and we receiv...

James Bryan Smith’s thought from above for this episode is: “say no to say yes.” James learned this thought from above while under the tutelage of Richard Foster. Richard explained to James that whenever we say yes to something, we are also saying no to other things. Foster continued to explain to Jim that typically the things we say no to, are some of the most important things in our lives. James asked Richard how do we know what the right things are to say yes to? Richard told Jim that things ...

James Bryan Smith and John Mark Comer have a Things Above conversation! In this episode James and John talk about a multitude of topics including; sexuality, theology, spiritual formation and more. Smith and Comer both explain the impact and importance of spiritual practices and how we can integrate them into our daily lives. Both James and John close the episode with their thoughts on willpower and its effect on our day to day actions. John Mark Comer lives, works and writes in the urban core ...

In this episode, James Bryan Smith’s thought from above is: “Keep it simple, saint.” We are a few weeks into the new year and many of us have a new year’s resolution. Smith points out that 95% of all new year’s resolutions are broken by the end of January. This is an alarming fact but he follows it up with another fact that is much more inspiring. He states that when you have someone with you on your new year’s resolution your chance of success increases by 90%! Dallas Willard wrote “the will, ...