Things Above

In this episode, James Bryan Smith’s thought from above is, “We all long to be loved.” Smith picks up where he left off the last episode, talking about the longings of our souls. In this episode, James talks about three more longings of our souls: the need to be wanted, the need to be loved without condition, and the need to live an undivided life. Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! Related Episodes: 1. Spirituality & Longings 2. Conversation with Jeff Crosby 3. The Turn 4. Greatest Treasure 5. Conversation with Ann Voskamp   The post Longing To Be Loved appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

James Bryan Smith’s thought from above this week is “Your spirituality is what you do with your longings.” Smith is starting a four-part-episode series about spirituality and our souls. In this episode, James examines the relationship between our spirituality and the longings of our souls. Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! Related Episodes: 1. Conversation with Jeff Crosby 2. The Turn 3. Greatest Treasure 4. Conversation with Ann Voskamp 5. The Emotional Life The post Spirituality & Longings appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

James Bryan Smith has a Things Above conversation with author and publisher Jeff Crosby. James and Jeff discuss Jeff’s book, “The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longings of Our Hearts.” For over fifteen years, writer Jeff Crosby has been searching for a language of the soul–a way to articulate our deepest longings. Through the years, he gathered clues from within global music styles, from different cultures, from his own Christian tradition and its sacred texts–and from deep within himself. Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! Related Episodes: 1. The Turn 2. Greatest Treasure 3. Conversation with Ann Voskamp 4. The Emotional Life 5. The Good Life The post Conversation with Jeff Crosby appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

James Bryan Smith’s thought from above this week is, “Everything turns on the turn.” In this episode, James explains the meaning behind this thought from above, which he learned from Ann Voskamp. He talks about the three ways we turn when faced with difficult situations in life. Smith closes the episode with a spiritual practice that he encourages you to try. The practice is to work through these three statements: I will let go of ______ (You fill in the blank) What are you carrying? What is troubling you? What are you afraid of or anxious about? I am grateful for ______ (You fill in the blank) Name the blessings in your life (friends, family, job, health, etc…) I will focus on ______ (You fill in the blank) What is on your agenda today? How can you live fully into it? How can you bring Christ into what you are doing today? How can you live “cruciform” today? Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! Related Episodes: 1. Greatest Treasure 2. Conversation with Ann Voskamp 3. The Emotional Life 4. The Good Life 5. Conversation with Ruth Haley Barton The post The Turn appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

James Bryan Smith’s thought from above this week is, “Christ is your greatest treasure.” Following up on his first two episodes of season six, James continues to explain what it means to live a good life. In this episode, Smith talks about six areas of our life that he believes are essential to living a good life. Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! Related Episodes: 1. Conversation with Ann Voskamp 2. The Emotional Life 3. The Good Life 4. Conversation with Ruth Haley Barton 5. Abba Experience The post Greatest Treasure appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

James Bryan Smith has a Things Above Conversation with author Ann Voskamp about her book, “Waymaker: Finding the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed Of.” Ann Voskamp is a Canadian author, blogger, and memoirist on themes of Christian women’s spirituality and the author of multiple books, including the New York Times bestseller, “One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are,” as well as “The Broken Way: A Daring Path Into the Abundant Life.” Learn more about Ann on her website here. Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! Related Episodes: 1. The Emotional Life 2. The Good Life 3. Conversation with Ruth Haley Barton 4. Abba Experience 5. We Need The Church The post Conversation with Ann Voskamp appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

In this episode, James Bryan Smith’s thought from above is, “The good life is a deep, passionate, and emotional life.” Following up on the previous episode about the good life, Smith talks about the importance of our emotions concerning living the good life. James explains how our emotions are a crucial part of our life and talks about how we can live into a healthy emotional life. Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! Related Episodes: 1. The Good Life 2. Conversation with Ruth Haley Barton 3. Abba Experience 4. We Need The Church 5. Conversation with Trevor Hudson The post The Emotional Life appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

In this episode, James Bryan Smith’s thought from above is, “The good life is the obedient life.” Smith begins the episode by discussing a class he teaches at Friends University called The Good Life. In the class, he asked his students about the age-old question, what is the good life? In this episode, Smith explains how the good life is the obedient life. Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! Related Episodes: 1. Conversation with Ruth Haley Barton 2. Abba Experience 3. We Need The Church 4. Conversation with Trevor Hudson 5. Perfect Peace The post The Good Life appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

James Bryan Smith has a Things Above conversation with Ruth Haley Barton. In this episode, James and Ruth discuss her book, “Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again” In her book, Ruth offers hard-won wisdom and practical steps for developing rhythms of work and rest that bring life—to us and to the communities we lead. Ruth has been a student, practitioner, and thought leader in the area of Christian spirituality and formation for over 20 years. When she founded the Transforming Center with a few like-minded souls in December of 2002, it was based purely on a shared desire to experience deeper levels of transformation in Christ’s presence so they could discern and do the will of God. What has happened since then surprises her every day! A seasoned spiritual director, teacher, and retreat leader, Ruth was trained at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation and the Loyola University Chicago Institute for Pastoral Studies and holds a doctor of divinity from Northern Seminary. She has served on the pastoral staff of several churches and is the author of numerous books and resources on the spiritual life. Visit Ruth’s website here! Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! Related Episodes: 1. Abba Experience 2. We Need The Church 3. Conversation with Trevor Hudson 4. Perfect Peace 5. Doubting Thomas The post Conversation with Ruth Haley Barton appeared first on Apprentice Institute.

James Bryan Smith’s thought from above this week is, “You can have an Abba experience.” Smith opens the episode with the question, what is the one thing you think God most wants for you? He gives a few different answers to his question but ultimately says that what Jesus wants most for us is to experience eternal life now. Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! Related Episodes: 1. We Need The Church 2. Conversation with Trevor Hudson 3. Perfect Peace 4. Doubting Thomas 5. Conversation with Seth & Heather Thompson Day The post Abba Experience appeared first on Apprentice Institute.