Things Above

James Bryan Smith has a Things Above conversation with author Michael Stewart Robb about his book, “The Kingdom Among Us: The Gospel According to Dallas Willard.” [https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Among-Us-According-Willard/dp/150648073X] Despite perennial attraction to his teachings, Dallas Willard’s theology has not been easy for his readers and colleagues to figure out or piece together. His approach to theology was an odd one. His five bestselling books on the Christian life were a “side job” to his quiet career as a professional philosopher. To what, if not to his profession, can one attribute the lasting attraction of his books? On one hand, it is Willard’s rhetorical skill and his cross-disciplinary knowledge–philosophical, psychological, biblical–regarding the central issues of human life. But more importantly, his books all proclaim a gospel which in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries can be especially hard to hear. Willard spoke of this gospel in biblical terms, “the gospel of the kingdom,” a gospel of spiritual living. The Kingdom Among Us presents a comprehensive account of that gospel.But it is much more than mere interpretation. By examining both Willard’s writings and hundreds of hours of audio recordings, Michael Stewart Robb both recovers and expands Willard’s theological vision. The book will help long time readers of Willard’s books make sense of his position in professional theology and philosophy. Robb’s reconstruction of a gospel of spiritual living will help scholars, theologians, and philosophers make sense of Willard’s “side job.” But all readers will encounter in these pages the most complete picture available of one of the giants of modern Christian spirituality. Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/things-above-donation/] Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! [https://www.friends.edu/undergraduate/theology-humanities/christian-formation-and-ministry-bachelor-of-arts/] Related Episodes: 1. False Frames [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/06/04/false-frames/] 2. Everything Okay Forever [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/05/14/everything-okay-forever/] 3. Awe Filled Appreciation [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/04/16/awe-filled-appreciation/] 4. Conversation with Ian Morgan Cron [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/04/09/conversation-with-ian-morgan-cron/] 5. Solitude [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/03/13/solitude/] The post Conversation with Michael Stewart Robb [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/06/19/conversation-with-michael-stewart-robb/] appeared first on Apprentice Institute [https://apprenticeinstitute.org].

In this episode, James Bryan Smith’s thought from above is, “Find freedom from the false frames.” This week, James talks about three false narratives that he had to change in his life. Smith uses the image of a frame to help explain his thought from above. Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/things-above-donation/] Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! [https://www.friends.edu/undergraduate/theology-humanities/christian-formation-and-ministry-bachelor-of-arts/] Related Episodes: 1. Everything Okay Forever [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/05/14/everything-okay-forever/] 2. Awe Filled Appreciation [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/04/16/awe-filled-appreciation/] 3. Conversation with Ian Morgan Cron [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/04/09/conversation-with-ian-morgan-cron/] 4. Solitude [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/03/13/solitude/] 5. Trusting and Training [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/03/06/trusting-and-training/] The post False Frames [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/06/04/false-frames/] appeared first on Apprentice Institute [https://apprenticeinstitute.org].

James Bryan Smith’s thought from above this week is, “Jesus makes everything okay forever.” In this episode, James discusses a recently-read book titled “The Thing That Would Make Everything Okay Forever: Transcendence, Psychedelics, and Jesus Christ.” [https://lexhampress.com/product/299483/the-thing-that-would-make-everything-okay-forever-transcendence-psychedelics-and-jesus-christ] The author, Ashley Lande, wrote this to describe her book: For years, psychedelics were my religion. All I ever wanted was The Thing That Would Make Everything Okay Forever, the panacea, the cure for what plagued me. From those first moments when I tasted the earthy pulp of a psilocybin mushroom, it was love. Psychedelics were my sacrament. They shot me into cathedral vaults. The promise of eternal life through chemicals glittered seductively, but hid a yawning abyss. The Thing That Would Make Everything Okay Forever tells my story of psychedelic devastation and spiritual rescue. It chronicles my trajectory from acid enthusiast to soul-weary druggie to psychedelic refugee. I finally found The Thing That Would Make Everything Okay Forever―in the last place I thought to look. Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here! [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/things-above-donation/] Learn more about the Christian Spiritual Formation degree Scholarship at Friends University! [https://www.friends.edu/undergraduate/theology-humanities/christian-formation-and-ministry-bachelor-of-arts/] Related Episodes: 1. Awe Filled Appreciation [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/04/16/awe-filled-appreciation/] 2. Conversation with Ian Morgan Cron [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/04/09/conversation-with-ian-morgan-cron/] 3. Solitude [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/03/13/solitude/] 4. Trusting and Training [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/03/06/trusting-and-training/] 5. Conversation with Alison Cook [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/02/19/conversation-with-alison-cook/] The post Everything Okay Forever [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/05/14/everything-okay-forever/] appeared first on Apprentice Institute [https://apprenticeinstitute.org].

James Bryan Smith’s thought from above today is, “Practice Awe-Filled Appreciation.” In this episode, James teaches us the spiritual practice of Awe-Filled Appreciation. James gives five examples of why this practice is helpful and how to do it independently. Related Episodes: 1. Solitude [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/04/09/conversation-with-ian-morgan-cron/] 2. Solitude [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/03/13/solitude/] 3. Trusting and Training [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/03/06/trusting-and-training/] 4. Conversation with Alison Cook [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/02/19/conversation-with-alison-cook/] 5. Two Kinds of Faith [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/02/13/two-kinds-of-faith/] The post Awe Filled Appreciation [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/04/16/awe-filled-appreciation/] appeared first on Apprentice Institute [https://apprenticeinstitute.org].

James Bryan Smith has a Things Above Conversation with Ian Morgan Cron about his latest book, “The Fix.” [https://www.amazon.com/Fix-Transformation-Well-Adjusted-Down-Out/dp/0310368545] We all suffer from a sense of spiritual homelessness–a feeling that we’re not fully at home in the world. To cope with our painful feelings and life traumas, we search for quick “fixes” that eventually become habitual, self-destructive behaviors that ultimately create more problems than they solve. As a person in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, Ian Cron is no stranger to these destructive habits. It wasn’t until he embraced the Twelve Steps that he found true freedom. He knows from personal experience that Twelve Step recovery is more than just a life-saving strategy for guiding substance users into sobriety. Everybody is addicted to something to numb the discomfort of living in a messed-up world, he says, but the good news is that if you committedly “work the steps,” you will eventually have a vital spiritual awakening that will give you an entirely new and radically beautiful orientation toward the life God has for you. If you long for sustainable healing and joy amid life’s messiness, The Fix invites you to: * Journey step-by-step through a spiritual curriculum that has helped millions overcome trauma, pain, and brokenness for over eight decades * Understand how the Twelve Steps can be a transformative tool not only for people with chemical or behavioral addictions but for anyone who wants to move beyond self-help to a spiritual awakening * Catch yourself in the act of self-sabotaging behaviors and understand how each day is a new opportunity to trade in self-willed reformation for grace-powered transformation   “My original subtitle for this book–Twelve Steps to Unscrewing Your Screwed-Up Life–was a little over the top,” Ian comments. “But anyone who has ever fallen for a quick fix (like drugs, alcohol, porn, overeating, work, religion, people-pleasing, and more) knows firsthand how our self-prescribed treatment plans derail us. They might not be as visible as empty bottles stashed inside a desk drawer, but they are just as life-complicating and soul-crushing.” With his characteristic wit and transparent self-disclosure, Ian guides us in learning how to work each of the Twelve Steps so we will finally be given a “new pair of glasses” through which we will be able to see ourselves, others, and the world in a startlingly new way–and ultimately take hold of the freedom God has been waiting to give us all along. Related Episodes: 1. Solitude [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/03/13/solitude/] 2. Trusting and Training [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/03/06/trusting-and-training/] 3. Conversation with Alison Cook [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/02/19/conversation-with-alison-cook/] 4. Two Kinds of Faith [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/02/13/two-kinds-of-faith/] 5. Michael Cusick Sacred Attachment [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/01/23/michael-cusick-sacred-attachment/] The post Conversation with Ian Morgan Cron [https://apprenticeinstitute.org/2025/04/09/conversation-with-ian-morgan-cron/] appeared first on Apprentice Institute [https://apprenticeinstitute.org].