Episodes

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, ...

The thought from above in this episode is: “Give thanks in all circumstances.” Following up on his last episode, James Bryan Smith takes a deeper dive into appreciative thinking vs depreciative thinking. He begins with a quote from Adrian van Kaam to help explain his thought from above. “The way we look at our lives determines how we live.” How we choose to view our lives will in turn impact how we will live them out. What Smith argues for is that we need to live with a constant sense of gratitu...

The thought from above for this episode is: “Rejoice always.” James Bryan Smith takes a deep dive into the works of theologian and priest Adrian von Kaam, to help explain his thought from above. In this episode, James explains the difference between appreciative thinking and depreciative thinking and how we can avoid the latter to help our spiritual growth. Smith closes the episode with a reference to the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” to help further explain his thought from above. Adrian van K...

Emily P. Freeman is back for her third Things Above Conversation! In this episode, James and Emily have a series of questions they ask each other about podcasting, spiritual formation, and life during the pandemic. Emily was able to be in the studio for this conversation because of her new teaching position at Friends University. Emily is an instructor in our Masters program for Christian Spiritual Formation and Leadership at Friends University. She has loved working in the masters program and i...

James Bryan Smith has a Things Above conversation with Cindy Bunch about her book “Be Kind to Yourself.” During their discussion they talk about the importance of spiritual direction and the impact of social media in our lives. Do you have a favorite spiritual practice? Cindy and James give their top three spiritual practices and explain why they work so well. Cindy Bunch is associate publisher and director of editorial at InterVarsity Press, where she has worked for more than thirty years. She...

James Bryan Smith is very excited to announce the republished and expanded edition of his book “Room of Marvels.” In this episode James tells us the story of how “Room of Marvels” came to be and how it helped him deal with the death and grief in his life. He also offers this thought from above: “You are an unceasing spiritual being with an eternal destiny in Gods great universe.” In the book a Christian author goes to a retreat center to grieve his recently deceased loved ones. He had just expe...

The thought from above this week is, “you are destined for glory.” James Bryan Smith opens the episode with a quote from the movie “Jerry Maguire” where Jerry yells, “show me the money!” Smith explains the meaning behind the quote and how it is actually a cry for authenticity and connection and not for money. He goes on to show us comparisons in the Bible that further explain his point. The first comparison comes from the book of Exodus. “Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” (Exodus 33:18...