Episodes

In this Things Above Conversation, James Bryan Smith interviews author Emily P. Freeman about her latest book, The Next Right Thing. People average 35,000 daily decisions. Some of those decisions can really wear us down, which leads to the problem of chronic hesitation and decision fatigue. Emily’s book helps the reader make decisions with clarity, with confidence and with God. If you have trouble making decisions, because of either chronic hesitation you've always lived with or a more recent on...

It’s not abnormal for people to wonder, where is God? Maybe life isn’t turning out the way you hoped. You’ve lost a job or a loved one or your sense of purpose. And this causes us to feel alone, or at least very distant from God. If you feel distant from God, it begs the question, who moved? It turns out, God is already present. In Psalm 139, the psalmist says: 7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in S...

In the latest Things Above conversation, James Bryan Smith talks with Jen Pollock Michel about her latest book, Surprised by Paradox. Among many things, they explore the depths of topics, such as paradox, awe, certainty, mystery, and calling. They even share a couple of jokes about a paradox that you won’t want to miss. Surprised by Paradox invites us to recognize that, in a world filled with ambiguity, many of us long for a belief system that provides straightforward answers to complex question...

In this episode, James Bryan Smith explains this glorious thought: "Christ plus nothing equals everything." Jim goes on to explain that when we allow other things in our life to take the place of "nothing" in the formula it will not equal everything. Key Verses include (1 Cor. 2:3-5) (1 Cor. 13: 1-3)

Temptation can lead to real problems. In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith discusses the nature of temptation, then offers and unpacks six facts about temptation that can help you overcome it. 1. Everybody is tempted. 2. God is not the one tempting us. 3. Temptation itself is not sin. 4. Being tempted does not mean you are a bad person. 5. Temptation does not come from outside of us, but from our own desires. 6. There is always a way out of temptation. You can experimen...

In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith continues a conversation with Chris Huertz about the Enneagram by exploring the holy ideas and virtues of each type. These components offer a map to our soul. Holy ideas are the first truths we have to tell ourselves. Virtues are our unobstructed views of reality. In regards to the Enneagram, our basic fear tells us things will never be okay. We contend with fear in two ways: Our type’s passion and fixation. Our type’s passion is how...

If patience is a virtue, why are we in such a hurry? When it comes to our faith, this can be really frustrating. In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith discusses our frequently unmet expectations when it comes to spiritual growth and how we can understand God’s timing in our lives. Because the truth is, slow growth offers us eternal strength. Most of us are in a hurry when it comes to our spiritual growth. Miles Stanford wrote about this in his book, Principles of Spiritu...

People tend to rely on their own effort in times of need – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. For some reason, praying to Jesus is often a last resort. In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith discusses our common approach to problems and offers a much better way of dealing with them – through prayer. One of Smith’s favorite books, simply titled “Prayer” by Ole Hallesby, offers some basic truths about prayer that have greatly shaped his prayer life. Hallesby starts b...

It is safe to say that no one likes pain. In fact, when we experience pain, most of us do all we can to remedy it. In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith says that, while pain is not something anyone wants, pain is a necessary part of life. Pain alerts us to something that is wrong and something that needs to be healed. This is true for us physically, emotionally and spiritually. Another benefit of pain is that it can lead to the development of our character. C.S. Lewis o...

In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith talks about a time when he saw a bumper sticker that read, “Fishing is my life.” After giving this some thought, Jim surmised this man believed his source of existence is fishing itself. This was not hyperbole. It was a statement of being. The reality is, fishing did not bring him into existence, nor does it continue to make his heart beat and his lungs breathe. In Colossians 3:4, Paul uses the same phrasing as the bumper sticker: Ch...

In this episode James Bryan Smith sits down with speaker and author Chris Heuertz, for a Things Above Conversation. Chris and his wife Phileena served with the Word Made Flesh community for nearly 20 years, working for women and children victimized by human traffickers in the commercial sex industry. His vocation has taken him to over 70 countries working among the most vulnerable of the world’s poor. In their conversation, James and asks Chris about his recently released book, "The Sacred Ennea...

Why do bad things happen to good people? Does God cause Suffering? In this episode, James Bryan Smith unpacks the passage from Luke 13: 1-9 to help find an answer to these questions. During his time in seminary, James met a man named Ben who taught him a valuable story about the grace and mercy of God. We are all in need of second chances, big or small, but each day Jesus says to us “Come follow me.”

The thought from above for this episode is: we are wired for worship. In this episode James Bryan smith unpacks a sermon from his long time friend John Ortberg. Smith explains that we have become so jaded to the joys and wonders of our life that we have nearly lost the capacity to say wow. So many of us live as if God has not done anything for us today. This kind of thinking will never help us. It is not what we were designed for. Deep inside of our souls we are longing for that which naturally ...

In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith offers this thought from above: God is the most joyous being in the universe. Unfortunately, this seldom enters our minds. Instead, we imagine that God is mad about everything. This false narrative is influenced by a gospel narrative that tells us Jesus took our beating to quell God’s insatiable anger. In the Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard offers a better narrative that is also very true. Dallas says, “It is a great and important ...

Are you satisfied with your prayer life? In this episode James Bryan Smith explains this glorious thought: Jesus is praying for you. Smith references Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8:34, and 1st John 2:1 to help explain this glorious thought. He goes on to explain that Jesus is taking our prayers and sanctifying them. The pressure is off for us to create “perfect prayers” or be perfect in our prayer. Through Jesus our prayers are perfect and sanctified.

How can we understand beauty through the lens of Jesus? In episode 30 of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith sits down for a conversation with pastor Brian Zahnd, who has authored books, such as ‘Water to Wine,’ ‘Beauty Will Save the World’ and his latest work, ‘Postcards from Babylon.’ Jim and Brian draw from the collective wisdom of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Dostoyevsky, Thomas Aquinas, Dallas Willard and Mary Oliver as they discuss the importance of beauty in our Christian faith and in ...

Our external behaviors, actions and accomplishments are what much of the world uses to judge us. In many cases, outsiders’ opinions shape our identity. In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith explores the unhealthy ways our identity is shaped and offers another way to understand our identity – a life that is in Christ. The world says our identity is determined by our behavior, leading to a host of problems. Unless we are directly affirmed for who we are and not what we do,...

What does “blessed” mean and how do we know if a person is “blessed”? In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith unpacks Psalm 1 and the blessed life. It turns out, the blessed person is someone who is under God’s blessing, in which God affirms this condition. It also means happy or fulfilled, indicating a strong, positive feeling. Finally, it indicates being intrinsically right, where our inner world is aligned. What is the condition that leads to this blessing? The psalmist...

In this episode, James Bryan Smith explains the difference between guilt and shame. Shame is feeling bad about who we are. Guilt, in contrast, is feeling bad about what we have done. Guilt can be healthy because it allows us to make amends or change our behavior. However, shame is always bad. Smith explains that shame is an act of self-betrayal because we are God’s beloved. The most fundamental thing about our nature is not sin - it is goodness, beauty, and truth. Smith concludes that what preve...

People have a tendency to fear God largely because of our sins. At the heart of our fear lies the narrative that our unfaithfulness to God makes us unlovable by God. This is nothing new for humanity. Ancient Israel struggled with this same fear. In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith explores this false narrative by unpacking a passage from Isaiah 43 and offers this glorious thought: God’s love is greater than our sins. You see, Israel was afraid their unfaithfulness resu...

In this episode, James Bryan Smith has a conversation with author and pastor Greg Boyd about the transformational process of “mind discipleship.” Greg also describes his childhood journey and the struggles he faced at home and at church. Ultimately, this was very healing, as he moved from deep feelings of helplessness and hopelessness to an even deeper understanding of God’s love through the cross. For the first time in his life, Greg was able to see God’s loving, self-giving, and humble charact...

In this episode James Bryan Smith explains this glorious thought: You are God’s beloved even in your worst moments. The world we live in today is based on comparison, Smith explains that when we live into this culture of comparison we begin to reject ourselves. We begin to think that we are not good enough to be God's beloved. In order to believe that we are God's beloved we need a power greater than ourselves, the Holy Spirit. Smith goes on to explain that our belovedness is not based on what w...

Our daily activity sometimes causes us to miss the best moments in life. We get lost in our thoughts and fail to see God who is in our midst. In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith shares a heavenly thought: Be mindful that God is with you in all you do. In his book, Discipline and Discovery, Albert Edward Day offers some words about God's presence with us: "Did you ever encounter, on the street, a friend whose physical eyes looked at you without seeing you? You walked ri...

Have you discovered that worrying is a healthy way to deal with the future? Yah, me neither. Jesus has something better in mind. In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith tells us that worrying does nothing positive for us. However, it does come with several negative consequences. Jesus teaches us that worrying is something we can live without. In Matthew 6:27, Jesus asks, “And can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Worrying does nothing positive, bu...