Things Above

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) Related episodes: 1. The Last Word 2. Second Birth 3. Be Mindful 4. God’s Beloved 5. Greater Than Our Sins The post Christ Plus Nothing Equals Everything appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

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 experiment with a soul-training exercise to help overcome temptation. It’s called “Play the Tape.” When you play the tape, what you’re doing is remembering your experience with giving in to temptation and how you felt afterward. You recall how it led to nothing good. You also recall your feelings of regret. When you play the tape, you also have the opportunity to remember your experience with NOT giving in to temptation. You felt good, didn’t you? You felt strong. That’s because you were walking in the light, as John said. And it felt right because you are a child of the light. C.S. Lewis put it like this: “A man who gives into temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later.” Lewis is alluding to playing the tape. In those early moments of temptation, the sin may look enticing. But if you play the tape, you remember what happens in ten minutes, or an hour later, you can see it for what it is. And awareness is our best weapon in dealing with temptation. Key verses include Romans 7:15, 1 Corinthians 10:13, James 1:12-14, Ephesians 4:26 Related episodes: 1. Forgiveness: The Way to Freedom 2. Epiphanies From a Guitar Part 1 3. Epiphanies From a Guitar Part 2 4. Christ is All Around Us 5. Desiring God The post Overcoming Temptation appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

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 our heart suffers and our type’s fixation is how our mind tells our heart, “This makes sense, keep doing that.” Understanding these aspects of the Enneagram provides helpful insights about yourself, as well as others. You can explore more on the Enneagram and its impact on our spiritual formation by reading Chris’s book, “The Sacred Enneagram.” If you missed the first part of this conversation, be sure to check out the episode from April 10. 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. Chris will be leading an intensive workshop at The Apprentice Gathering on September 26, 2019. Register here. Related episodes: 1. Things Above Conversation with Chris Heuertz 2. Conversation with Josh Larsen 3. Things Above Conversation with Brian Zahnd 4. Conversation with William Paul Young 5.Conversation with Emily P. Freeman Part 2 The post Conversation with Chris Heuertz Part 2 appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

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 Spiritual Growth. He says, “It seems that most believers have difficulty in realizing and facing up to the inexorable fact that God does not hurry in his development of our Christian life. God is working for and from eternity! So many feel they are not making progress unless they are swiftly and constantly forging ahead.” If we were to grow rapidly, we might begin to believe it was due to our own strength. However, God wants us to know that, without Him, we have no strength. Some of the greatest characters from the Bible, such as Moses and Paul, waited years for God’s strength to be formed in them before they were able to accomplish great things. In other words, our souls take a great deal of time to mature. Dallas Willard said, “Our souls are massive, and they grow slowly.” When we understand and accept this, we receive the patience we need to trust the process of maturity and growth. Related episodes: 1. Finality of the Cross 2. Forgiven to be Filled 3. Eternal Life Now 4. The Mystery of the Incarnation 5. God’s Love The post Practicing Patience appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

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 by quoting Revelation 3:20 which says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in, and with dine with them, and they with me” Hallesby explains why this verse is so central to how we understand prayer. He writes, “To pray is to let Jesus come into our hearts. It is Jesus who moves us to pray. He knocks in order to move us to pray. It is not our prayer which draws Jesus into our hearts. It is not our prayer which moves Jesus to come to us. All Jesus needs is access. He enters in of his own accord. And he enters wherever he is not denied admittance.” What a beautiful thought. When we are moved to pray, are we aware this comes from Jesus himself? It is amazing how subtle Jesus is. He knocks, ever so gently. Praying lets Jesus into our needs because it gives him permission to employ his powers in the alleviation of our distress. So the question for today is, Will you give Jesus access to your needs? Related episodes: 1. Jesus is Praying for You 2. Identity 3. Second Chances 4. Living Godward 5. Things Above Conversation 2 The post Moved to Pray appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

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 once wrote, “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Following Dallas Willard’s emotional funeral, Jim recalls reading a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer about the pain of grief that we feel for the loss of those we love and the desire for it to go away. But Bonhoeffer counsels against making the pain go away. He writes, “Nothing can make up for the absence of someone we love, and it would be wrong to try and find a substitute; we must simply hold out and see it through. That sounds very hard at first, but at the same time, it is a great consolation, for the gap, as long as it remains unfilled, preserves the bond between us. It is nonsense to say that God fills the gap; God does not fill it, but on the contrary, God keeps it empty and so helps us to keep alive our former communion with each other, even at the cost of great pain.” Key verses include 2 Corinthians 12:9 Related episodes: 1. Spiritual Mirror 2. Shame 3. Worry 4. Hope 5. Episode 00 The post The Gift of Pain appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

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: Christ is your life. Jesus is the true and genuine source of life, not just for Christians but for everyone. Earlier in Colossians, Paul also said, “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” From this it’s clear: Jesus is not only the source of everything, but all things are held together by him. In addition to the giver of our biological life (bios), Jesus is the giver of our spiritual life (zoe). We receive zoe when we receive Jesus by faith: “But these are written that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31). The life we were designed to possess (true, eternal life) is a gift from Jesus for this life, not merely the next. Many Christians miss this and consequently miss out of the richness of life here on earth. So, what is the source of life? It’s Jesus. Key verses include Colossians 3:4, John 1:1-3, Colossians 1:16-17, John 20:31, John 10:10 Related episodes: 1. Jesus Holds Everything Together 2. Spiritual Mirror 3. Episode 00 4. God’s Love 5. Episode 01 The post Source of Life appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

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 Enneagram” and the impact it can have on our spiritual formation. Enjoyed this conversation? Listen to other Things Above Conversations here: 1. Things Above Conversation with Brian Zahnd 2. Things Above Conversation with Chris Heuertz 3. Conversation with Chris Heuertz Part 2 4. Conversation with Jen Pollock Michel 5. Conversation with Emily P. Freeman Part 2 The post Things Above Conversation with Chris Heuertz appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

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.” Related episodes: 1. Wired for Worship 2. Practicing Patience 3. Overcoming Temptation 4. Christ Plus Nothing Equals Everything 5. Already Present The post Second Chances appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

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 lead us to say, wow, which is to say, will lead us to worship. Smith goes on to explain that because our joy naturally overflows into praise we are wired for worship. To watch the sermon by John Ortberg click this link. If you would like to view other sermons from the series “Practice not Perfect” by John Ortberg click this link. Related episodes: 1. God’s Joyous Being 2. Source of Life 3. Second Chances 4. The Gift of Pain 5. Moved to Pray The post Wired for Worship appeared first on Apprentice Institute.