No BS Bishop

Biblical Love

I want to challenge you with what I believe is the greatest mountain climb in all of life: love. Not lightweight love. Not sentimental love. I’m talking about the kind of love that asks everything from us. The kind of love Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 13 when he says faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest of these is love. I spend time unpacking why I believe that chapter has far more to do with how we live together as human beings and communities than it does with weddings. I talk about my own relationship with scripture, why I treasure the Bible deeply, and why I also believe the Bible can become dangerous in the hands of angry and judgmental people. I share why I think Jesus calls us beyond simply being “biblical” and toward becoming people rooted in faith, hope, and radical love. Along the way, I reflect on Paul’s transformation on the road to Damascus, the importance of being willing to let go of certainty, and why love is the true measure of spiritual maturity. I talk about spiritual refugees, disappointment, discomfort, hope, and what it means to keep loving people even when it would be easier to pull away or condemn them. More than anything, this episode is an invitation. An invitation to slow down, breathe deeply, and remember that faith, hope, and love are still worth the risk. And that no matter what else happens in this world, love remains the greatest thing we have to offer each other.

We (humans) are the light of the world

This week, I want to ask you a question that has stayed with me for years. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” Well then, if we are the light of the world, why is everything so dark? That question became the doorway for this entire conversation. Not a conversation about blame or shame, but a conversation about what light is actually for. I believe we have often mistaken our role in the world. We have treated light like a weapon instead of a rescue mission. We shine it in people’s faces to expose them rather than upon their path to help them find their way home. I am convinced love is the true illumination. Love is the beam. Love is the North Star. And if darkness still surrounds us, perhaps it is because we have forgotten how to love well. In this episode, I talk about the difference between prosecutors and priests. Prosecutors expose wounds. Priests help heal them. I do not believe we are here to condemn a hurting world. I believe we are here to become radiant enough that people stumbling through fear, confusion, addiction, despair, and loneliness can finally see a path forward. I also spend time unpacking what I call the pervasive and ubiquitous inclusivity of a divine entrepreneurial love. A love that refuses exclusion. A love creative enough to meet humanity in all its complexity. A love willing to walk into the woods carrying light, not to shame the lost, but to bring them home. So take a deep breath with me. Inhale love. Exhale gratitude. And then get out there and do something beautiful. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of others. Because the world does not need more people flashing lights in each other’s eyes. The world needs people willing to illuminate the path.

Beauty

On this episode, I’m inviting you to slow down with me and think about something I believe we need now more than ever, and that is the power of beauty. Not surface beauty and not decoration, but the kind of beauty that grows out of a life grounded in love. I’ve come to believe that lesser values than love easily devolve into BS, and I’m just not willing to live that way anymore. We’re living in a moment shaped by division, anger, and a whole lot of finger pointing, and I don’t think rage is going to lead us anywhere worth going. Instead, I want to challenge you to join me in what I’m calling a beauty movement. A movement away from the ugly that’s getting done to death and toward the everyday practice of choosing love again and again. That means learning to live humanely with each other even when it’s hard. It means forgiving more than feels reasonable. It means resisting the pull to divide the world into us and them. And it may even mean letting ourselves grieve the condition of our times instead of trying to shout our way out of them. I truly believe the most beautiful thing we can do is love the people we meet today. Be present. Be kind. Let beauty shape your steps and your words and your choices. So let’s get up and go do something beautiful together, because oh baby ugly is getting done to death.

Heaven on Earth

In this episode I ask a simple question: are you going to live for love, or are you going to die by hate? I grew up in a church tradition where people were often asked to decide whether they were going to heaven or hell if they died that night. I understand the intention behind that question, but after more than fifty years of pastoral ministry, I’ve come to believe there’s a better question to ask: how are you going to live today? When Jesus taught us to pray, he didn’t teach us to pray about escaping earth and going somewhere else someday. He taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” That means heaven is something we begin living now by choosing love. In this conversation I invite you to consider changing your address today if your life has been shaped by resentment, division, or hate. Because when we live by love, we really live. When we live by hate, something inside us starts dying. If you want a different destination, then change your address today. Choose love. Choose heaven on earth.

Love Creates

In this episode I return to the foundation of everything I am trying to do here each week. Love creates value where there might not otherwise be value. The way you choose to love shapes the quality of your life and the lives of the people around you. Nobody can love the way you love, so the question becomes what you will do with that gift. I talk about three essential principles that guide this whole journey. Love creates value. Each of us has a unique fingerprint of love to offer the world. And the human condition itself is hardwired to love and to be loved. When we live into those truths we begin to see how love strengthens us emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. I also reflect on Mother Teresa’s powerful insight that there is more hunger for love in this world than there is for food. That is not sentimental language. That is a challenge to how we live right now in our homes, our relationships, and even in our nation. Love is not agreement or weakness. Love is the work that keeps us alive. So today I am inviting you again to lean into love on purpose. Do not wait for a better time or a better mood. Tell someone you love them. Choose kindness. Choose presence. Choose the holy habit of love and watch what begins to change around you.