James Bryan Smith has a Things Above conversation with Dr. Amy Carey and Anna Carey about their book, “Claimed by God.”

Claimed by God helps you remember your identity as a daughter of God through thirty statements about the joy, confidence, and hope that God has instilled in you. These declarations are grounded in Scripture and supported by guided prayers that fuel your assurance, strength, and gratitude for God’s unchanging love. Together they enable you to believe beyond what you can see in front of you.

In each chapter, you will

• speak the declaration in an act of faith,
• read the Scripture passages,
• draw near to God in a closing prayer, and
• memorize the declarations that speak to your heart.

These declarations aren’t meant to stay on these pages. As you make them a part of your daily routine, you can declare God’s promises over yourself as you start your day or as you drift off to sleep. Speak truths over your circumstances in moments of fear or doubt. If you need wisdom or discernment, make these words your prayer, inviting God’s provision into each situation.

As you allow truths from God’s Word to permeate through your being, you’ll find yourself closing in on your God-given identity, calling, and destiny. God has so much in store for you. With Claimed by God, step forward in faith and live according to his hope-filled promises.

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Recent Episodes:
1. The Hope of Glory
2. In Christ
3. Conversation with Keas Keasler
4. Formation Writers Guild
5. Conversation with Liz Hall and Kelly Kapic

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James Bryan Smith’s thought from above this week is, “Christ in You, The Hope of Glory.” In this episode, Smith continues his three-part series on the book of Colossians.

Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here!

Recent Episodes:
1. In Christ
2. Conversation with Keas Keasler
3. Formation Writers Guild
4. Conversation with Liz Hall and Kelly Kapic
5. No Condemnation

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James Bryan Smith’s thought from above in this episode is, “You are in Christ wherever you are.” Smith starts a three-part series on the book of Colossians. In this episode, he focuses on the first chapter of Colossians and explains the meaning behind the phrase “In Christ.”

Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here!

Recent Episodes:
1. Conversation with Keas Keasler
2. Formation Writers Guild
3. Conversation with Liz Hall and Kelly Kapic
4. No Condemnation
5. Spiritual World

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James Bryan Smith has a Things Above conversation with Dr. Keas Keasler about his book, Kingdom Apprenticeship – Dallas Willard’s Formational Theology and Missional Vision

A Groundbreaking Analysis of Dallas Willard’s Theology of Spiritual Formation

Dallas Willard’s formational theology begins with the claim that the aim of God in human history is the formation of a community of loving persons apprenticed to Jesus—and ends with the promise that such apprenticeship prepares us to share in God’s governance of the cosmos.

This apprenticeship to Jesus is the path to human flourishing, the renewal of the church, and the healing of the world.

In Kingdom Apprenticeship, Keas Keasler offers the first comprehensive study of Willard’s theology of spiritual formation. He argues that while the three D’s of disciples, discipleship, and disciplines made Willard famous, his formational theology is much deeper than that. Willard’s unique grammar of transformation is grounded in ordinary life, for it is in our present reality that we are trained to participate in God’s eternal purposes.

Mining Willard’s philosophical works, theological writings, recorded lectures, and unpublished papers, Keasler shows:

• Willard’s theology serves as a practical curriculum for spiritual growth, offering a remedy for the character crisis we see in the church and in society.
• Apprenticeship to Jesus is both for growth in Christlikeness and preparation for reigning with God in the fullness of his kingdom.
• Spiritual formation is not secondary or supplementary to God’s mission; it is its very strategy.

Against the drift of modern theology into abstraction, Willard calls the church back to a clinical theology—one aimed at the transformation of character through an interactive life with God. Formation and mission, contemplation and action, inner renewal and outward vocation—all are inseparably linked in Willard’s vision.

Kingdom Apprenticeship offers a fresh and urgent call: to recover apprenticeship to Jesus as the heart of the Christian life—and the hope of the world.

Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here!

Recent Episodes:
1. Formation Writers Guild
2. Conversation with Liz Hall and Kelly Kapic
3. No Condemnation
4. Spiritual World
5. Conversation with Dr. Kelly Flanagan

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James Bryan Smith and Emily P. Freeman announce the launch of the Formation Writers Guild. The guild is a year-long guided journey for writers who sense a vocational call within the field of Christian spiritual formation and want to deepen their faith, develop their craft, and expand their reach through publication. Listen to learn all about the vision and mission behind the Formation Writers Guild and apply today!

Learn more about the Formation Writers Guild here!

Click here to apply to the Formation Writers Guild!

Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here!

Recent Episodes:
1. Conversation with Liz Hall and Kelly Kapic
2. No Condemnation
3. Spiritual World
4. Conversation with Dr. Kelly Flanagan
5. The Gospel Is Bigger

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James Bryan Smith has a Things Above conversation with Liz Hall and Kelly Kapic about their book, “When the Journey Hurts.”

Transform Your Suffering with Tools from Theology, Psychology, and Spiritual Formation

We don’t like pain.

So, we find creative ways to go around it. We try to ignore, minimize, or deny our suffering, but we’re still left hurting. The twisting and defiling work of sin on this world is overwhelming and shatters our assumptions about ourselves and our place in the world. And yet, the path forward is through suffering. Our afflictions present an opportunity to encounter God and allow him to redeem our suffering.

Drawing on six years of research, When the Journey Hurts untangles common misconceptions about suffering, instead helping you find meaning in it. The authors integrate theology, psychology, and spiritual formation to provide actionable steps and tools that teach you how to suffer well in relationship with God and others.

This book introduces seven key practices to help you uncover meaning in your suffering, equipping you to engage with suffering in a healthy, faithful way:

• Identifying with Christ’s suffering
• Lament
• Surrender
• Forgiveness
• Gratitude
• Memento mori (remembering our mortality)
• Weaving our story of suffering into God’s story

Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here!

Recent Episodes:
1. No Condemnation
2. Spiritual World
3. Conversation with Dr. Kelly Flanagan
4. The Gospel Is Bigger
5. God Is Joyous

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James Bryan Smith’s thought from above this week is, “There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.” In this episode, James explains his thought from above, recalling a story about trust and how we can eliminate fear when we have trust.

Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here!

Recent Episodes:
1. Spiritual World
2. Conversation with Dr. Kelly Flanagan
3. The Gospel Is Bigger
4. God Is Joyous
5. God is Looking for You

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James Bryan Smith’s thought from above this episode is, “We are living in a spiritual world.” This week, James explains how we are all spiritual beings living in a spiritual world. He uses his mornings to practice consonance, which helps him live out his thought from above.

Interested in donating to the Things Above Podcast? Donate here!

Related Episodes:
1. Conversation with Dr. Kelly Flanagan
2. The Gospel Is Bigger
3. God Is Joyous
4. God is Looking for You
5. Conversation with AJ Swoboda and Nijay Gupta

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