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Dr. Tony is back with Mary Balfour, and he brings the hinge of the whole book: Peter and Cornelius. It is the longest story in Acts, and Luke tells it with such care, repeating the visions again and again, because he does not want anyone to miss the point. God is doing something enormous, and he is doing it on purpose. A Roman centurion, a Gentile, an enemy of Israel, turns out to be a man of deep prayer and generosity. Meanwhile Peter is up on a rooftop, hungry, when a sheet full of unclean animals drops from heaven and a voice tells him to eat. He refuses, three times, until the message finally lands: what God has called clean, you must not call profane. The animals were never really the point. The people were. Dr. Tony walks Mary Balfour through how the Holy Spirit works on both ends of this story at once, and how Peter moves from “here is who I am and what I have never done” to “here is who God is and what God has done.” At the center sits the line that holds the entire gospel: God shows no partiality. Or in the older, more literal phrasing, God is no respecter of persons, no accepter of faces. God’s welcome is not based on how we look or talk or dress or even how we believe. We keep trying to make faith about our character when it was always about the character of God, the One who loves and accepts everyone. By chapter 11 the Spirit has fallen on the Gentiles, Peter asks the only honest question left, who was I to hinder God, and in Antioch the followers of Jesus are called Christians for the very first time. A story that is easy to say and hard to live, then and now. As always, remember that we love you, but most importantly, God does. Readings for next week: Acts 12 Links mentioned in this episode: - Dr. Tony’s notes on Acts 10-11 (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Acts-10-11.pdf) - Dr. Tony’s notes on the Acts of the Apostles (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Introduction-to-Acts-Acts-1.pdf) - Dr. Tony’s notes the First Century Church (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/First-Century-Christianity.pdf) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast)

This week we keep moving through the Book of Acts, landing on chapters 8 and 9, two stories that together say something radical: nobody is outside the reach of God’s love. Not the outsider, and not the enemy. First comes Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, a man who was both a racial and a sexual minority, welcomed and baptized on a desert road. This is the moment the gospel breaks past Jerusalem and the Jewish community and starts heading for the ends of the earth. Every non-Jewish Christian today traces back through that act of welcome. Then comes Saul, a man who approved of killing Christians, knocked off his horse and remade into the church’s greatest missionary. His story, and the courage of Ananias and Barnabas who dared to receive him, becomes a picture of reconciliation strong enough to hold hope even for those the world has written off as the worst of the worst. Along the way the conversation turns honest about the modern church: the fear of people who are different, the reflex to cancel over disagreement, and the temptation to lean on titles and resumes rather than our true identity as one simply belonging to Jesus. As always, remember that we love you, but most importantly, God does. Readings for next week: Acts 10-11 Links mentioned in this episode: - Dr. Tony’s notes on the Acts of the Apostles (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Introduction-to-Acts-Acts-1.pdf) - Dr. Tony’s notes the First Century Church (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/First-Century-Christianity.pdf) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast)

Today we’re joined by The Rev. Sara Ardrey-Graves, Associate Dean of Spiritual and Professional Formation at the School of Theology at Sewanee. We turn to Acts 6-7, the calling of the first deacons, and the story of Stephen, the church's first martyr. It begins with a very practical crisis. Widows are being overlooked in the daily distribution of food, and the community has to figure out how to share the work. From there the conversation moves to Stephen himself, who serves quietly, without seeking attention, and then stands before the council and speaks the truth no matter the cost. As always, remember that we love you, but most importantly, God does. Readings for next week: Acts 8-9 Links mentioned in this episode: - The Rev. Sara Ardrey-Graves (https://theology.sewanee.edu/faculty-staff/sara-ardrey-graves-3/) - Dr. Tony’s notes on the Acts of the Apostles (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Introduction-to-Acts-Acts-1.pdf) - Dr. Tony’s notes the First Century Church (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/First-Century-Christianity.pdf) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast)

Today we’re joined by the Rev. Rob St. Germain-Iler, Associate Rector with Mary Balfour at  Church of the Epiphany. We talk about pressure to keep up with everyone else's generosity, a hunger to look holy, and what the fear that swept the church afterward tells us about the cost of honesty in community. Fr. Rob brings a startling real-world parallel from prison ministry, including Christian gangs with serious requirements for membership and one unforgettable "Christian Ninja" who evangelized through sheer intimidation. It leads somewhere genuinely moving: a former gang member who met Jesus behind bars and turned the very tactics that once served fear into tools for the gospel. From there the chapter turns to the apostles themselves, arrested, flogged, and ordered to stop, who walk away rejoicing and keep right on preaching. Mary shares her grandmother's charge to keep serving God no matter your age or your circumstances, and the group sits with a theme that only intensifies from here as the story of Stephen comes into view: following Jesus has always asked for courage, and it has never promised it would be easy. As always, remember that we love you, but most importantly, God does. Readings for next week: Acts 6-7 Links mentioned in this episode: - The Rev. Rob St. Germain-Iler  (https://www.epiphanyguntersville.org/our-story-1) - Dr. Tony’s notes on the Acts of the Apostles (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Introduction-to-Acts-Acts-1.pdf) - Dr. Tony’s notes the First Century Church (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/First-Century-Christianity.pdf) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast)

We continue through Acts of the Apostles this week, working through chapters 3 and 4 as one continuous scene: a healing that leads to a sermon, a sermon that draws a crowd, and a crowd that lands the church in front of the authorities for the very first time. It starts at the temple gate, where Peter and John, still keeping the Jewish hour of prayer, meet a man who has been begging there for forty years. He asks for money. Peter has none to give, but offers something the man never thought to ask for, healing in the name of Jesus. From there Alan and Mary Balfour dig into a theme that runs through both chapters: Peter refuses to take the credit and points every eye back to Jesus, a sharp contrast to a world full of people happy to claim the spotlight for themselves. Then the tone shifts. Peter's talk of resurrection rattles the Sadducees, the apostles are arrested, and the religious leaders find themselves amazed that these ordinary, unschooled men will not stop speaking. When the believers gather to pray, they don’t ask for safety or wisdom. They ask for boldness. We sit with what that kind of courage costs, and Alan closes with a line from Sam Houston about risking the consequences that captures the whole thing. As always, remember that we love you, but most importantly, God does. Readings for next week: Acts 5 Links mentioned in this episode: - Narrative Project Storytelling Fellows (https://thenarrativeproject.org/fellows) - Dr. Tony’s notes on the Acts of the Apostles (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Introduction-to-Acts-Acts-1.pdf) - Dr. Tony’s notes the First Century Church (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/First-Century-Christianity.pdf) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast)

Today we’re joined by the Rev. Dorian Del Priore as we dive into Acts 2. When we think of Pentecost, we often imagine dramatic pyrotechnics, wind, and tongues of fire. But what if the real miracle of Acts 2 wasn't just the spectacle, but the radical community transformation that followed? Join us as we explore how the early church navigated growth, conflict, and genuine fellowship…and why modern churches might need to step away from over-programming and get back to the basics of eating together, sharing stories, and loving one another. Readings for next week: Acts 3 Links mentioned in this episode: - The Rev. Dorian Del Priore (https://www.holycrossep.org/staff/the-rev-dorian-del-priore/) - Dr. Tony’s notes on the Acts of the Apostles (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Introduction-to-Acts-Acts-1.pdf) - Dr. Tony’s notes the First Century Church (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/First-Century-Christianity.pdf) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast)

Today we’re joined by Dr. Tony as we dive into the Acts of the Apostles. Consider this your field guide before the road trip from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Turns out the first Christians didn’t know they were Christians. The word shows up exactly twice in the whole New Testament, both times in Acts, and those early believers still thought of themselves as Jews who happened to believe the Messiah had shown up. Dr. Tony walks us through why that ambiguity matters, why Luke quietly wrote a third of the New Testament, and why the book might just as easily be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit, or the Acts of God. Then it is straight into chapter one: the ascension as the world's best movie sequel recap, a church of 120 that should make every pastor breathe easier about attendance, the disciples asking exactly the wrong question at exactly the wrong moment, and the very first order of business, replacing Judas by casting lots. Along the way there is honest talk about division, barriers that do not fall easily, and the stubborn good news that we are not the first people to try to mess this operation up. As always, remember that we love you, but more importantly, God does. Readings for next week: Acts 2 Links mentioned in this episode: - Dr. Tony’s notes on the Acts of the Apostles (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Introduction-to-Acts-Acts-1.pdf) - Dr. Tony’s notes the First Century Church (https://www.stmartininthefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/First-Century-Christianity.pdf) - How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth, by Gordon Fee (https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-read-the-bible-for-all-its-worth-dr-douglas-stuart/) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast)

Season six of the Bible Love Podcast is on the horizon, and Alan and Mary Balfour sit down to talk about what's ahead. Starting next week, we're diving into the Book of Acts, working through it chapter by chapter all the way to the end of the year. Expect conversations about the birth of the early church, the growing pains of organizing a community, and how the questions the first Christians wrestled with still land squarely in our lives today.

The Rev. Richard T. Lawson III joins the us to reflect on vocation, discernment, and his election as Bishop of Alabama. After 25 years in parish ministry, he didn’t initially imagine himself called to this role. Over time, that began to change through the encouragement of clergy, friends, and family, along with trusted voices who helped him see that calling does not always arrive as certainty. The conversation centers on how deeply this call is tied to Alabama as home. Richard describes the emotional weight of returning to the diocese, reconnecting with family, and stepping into a ministry that feels both personal and vocational. He also reflects on the public vulnerability of the discernment and election process, especially while serving a parish he loved, and the trust it required from both him and his congregation. As the discussion unfolds, Richard speaks about what he is learning from moving across the diocese and encountering churches of very different sizes and contexts. He describes this as a powerful reminder of the many ways the Holy Spirit is at work. The episode closes with a broader reflection on vocation itself: that discernment begins with listening, that no calling is too small, and that God’s direction is often revealed not only through theology and prayer, but also through family, memory, desire, and the quieter currents of a person’s life. Prayer for Mission (Morning Prayer, the Book of Common Prayer, pg 100) Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole  body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Links mentioned in this episode: - The Rev. Richard T. Lawson III (https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2026/02/02/alabama-elects-richard-t-lawson-iii-its-13th-bishop) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast

It started with the Sound of Music. A little girl watching the Reverend Mother and thinking, that is who I want to be, and then feeling genuinely disappointed when Maria left the convent to marry a widower with seven children. Some callings announce themselves early. Sister Hannah, Prioress of the Community of St. Mary,  grew up Baptist, fell in love with the Roman Catholic sisters running her middle school, assumed Protestant nuns simply did not exist, spent five years as a clinical dietitian, and kept finding herself wanting to pray with her patients rather than talk to them about nutrition. A hospital chaplain introduced her to the Episcopal Church. A female rector was the first she had ever seen. A Google search for Episcopal convents near me led her to Sewanee, Tennessee, and the Community of St. Mary. The rest, as they say, is formation. This week Alan and Mary Balfour welcome Sister Hannah to the Bible Love summer vocation series for a conversation that covers everything from the difference between a master's in nutrition and a master's in theology (ecclesiology is harder than organic chemistry, it turns out) to what a postulant wears and why the full habit is reserved for preaching and retreats. The convent has Instagram. Many bishops don't know Episcopal nuns exist. Sister Hannah is working on both problems. The heart of the conversation is discernment, and Sister Hannah brings three principles she returns to again and again: find a trusted elder who knows you well enough to tell you what they actually see, work with a spiritual director who makes space rather than gives answers, and practice silence long enough to hear something. Five minutes is a fine place to start. The Community of St. Mary also runs an internship program for college students and recent graduates, and the outcomes, including at least one Methodist minister's son who discovered his calling in wilderness therapy and now takes troubled teenagers skydiving, suggest that simply giving young people space and permission to explore can change everything. Prayer for Mission (Morning Prayer, the Book of Common Prayer, pg 100) Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Links mentioned in this episode: - The Community of St. Mary (https://www.communityofstmarysouth.org/) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast)

Today we’re joined the Rev. Anna Page a chaplain and Captain in the United States Army. Anna Page went to high school thinking about ROTC as a way to pay for college. An Army scholarship took her to Wellesley, ROTC took her to MIT, and an instructor suggested she look into the Chaplain Corps. Then she walked into St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Wellesley and saw a woman presiding at the altar for the first time. Two callings found each other and have been inseparable ever since. This week Mary Balfour sits down with the Rev. Anna Page, Episcopal priest and Army chaplain, for a conversation about one of the least understood vocations in the church. A military chaplain carries two distinct roles at once: religious leader, providing sacraments, pastoral counseling, and worship for service members, and religious advisor, counseling commanders on ethics, morale, and the spiritual health of the unit. Rev. Page currently works on flight lines alongside helicopter pilots in an aviation battalion. You go where the people are. Prayer for Mission (Morning Prayer, the Book of Common Prayer, pg 100) Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Links mentioned in this episode: - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast

At age 12, Curtis Almquist had a dream that he was supposed to be a monk. He also considered astronaut, FBI agent, garbage collector, and brain surgeon. It took decades before he found the community where he wept in a guest house room and knew, from both gratitude and fear, that this was the one. Thirty-eight years later, Brother Curtis is a monk with the Society of Saint John the Evangelist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he will tell you, with complete honesty, that he is still working on becoming one. This week Alan and Mary Balfour welcome Brother Curtis to the Bible Love summer series on vocation for a conversation about monastic life, spiritual direction, and what it actually means to follow a calling over the long haul. Brother Curtis prays seven times a day, leads retreats, walks alongside people in one-on-one spiritual direction, and does prison ministry and advocacy. He also describes himself, with characteristic candor, as someone who is completely devoted to Jesus, except when he's not, and on some days can be a real terror. His brother monks will confirm this. The heart of the conversation is vocational discernment, and Brother Curtis comes to it not as someone with answers but as a keeper of questions. What is the desire of your heart? What is the downside of pursuing this path? Have you tested this calling before? How do you make significant decisions? He asks these questions not to redirect people toward a predetermined answer but to help them find their own truth, with the help of people who love them enough to tell them the hard thing. Prayer for Mission (Morning Prayer, the Book of Common Prayer, pg 100) Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole  body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Links mentioned in this episode: - Society of St. John the Evangelist (https://www.ssje.org) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast

Today Mary Balfour talks with Breanna Carter, Director of Racial Healing and Pilgrimage for the Diocese of Alabama. They talk about ministry, vocation, and how we’re all called to God’s work. Prayer for Mission (Morning Prayer, the Book of Common Prayer, pg 100) Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole  body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Links mentioned in this episode: - Breanna Carter (https://www.dioala.org/racial-healing/) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast

A woman stopped her in a hospital hallway and said: what you do is not a job. What you do is a ministry. CJ Van Slyke had been a nurse, a licensed counselor, a Red Cross mental health specialist deployed to flood zones, a Haiti mission worker, and a volunteer at a women's overnight shelter. She had been doing the work for years before she had a name for it. The name, it turned out, was deacon. This week Mary Balfour sits down with her friend the Reverend Deacon CJ Van Slyke for a conversation about one of the most ancient and most misunderstood vocations in the church. A deacon is ordained to serve, specifically to carry the needs of the world into the church and the ministry of the church out into the world. CJ describes it as being called to work in the margins, in uncomfortable places, and still finding joy there. Not to fix things. To be present. They talk about what it actually takes to become a deacon, including four years of theological education, a year and a half of discernment, psychological testing, oral and written exams, and an assignment process that CJ compares to joining the military. They talk about immigration advocacy, food deserts, free laundry ministry in a low income neighborhood in Woodlawn, six acres of native plant restoration, and what it means to be the eyes and ears and feet on the ground for a congregation trying to figure out who its neighbors are. CJ said no for a long time. She didn't want people telling her what to do. Then a friend took her to a listening session and she was just in, immediately and completely. That turn, from resistance to recognition, is one the guests in this summer series keep describing in different words. At some point you stop trying to lift the burden yourself and discover it has already been lifted. In retirement, CJ is still on the pastoral care committee, the outreach committee, and the grants committee. She serves at the altar at least once a month. The joy, she says, has not gone away. She hopes it never does. Prayer for Mission (Morning Prayer, the Book of Common Prayer, pg 100) Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole  body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Links mentioned in this episode: - The Rev. Deacon CJ Van Slyke (https://www.ssechurch.org/clergy-staff-1) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast)

It started with a Presbyterian chaplain who had no agenda. Just an open door, sixty minutes a week, and the grace to let a despairing sophomore be exactly who he was. That gift, given freely in the early 1970s, set in motion forty-eight years of ordained ministry that Paul Roberts Abernathy has never once regretted. This week Alan and Mary welcome Paul to the Bible Love summer series on vocation for a conversation that ranges from a dream on the precipice of a hill, to the difference between discernment and decision making, to what it means to listen so well that people trust you with the stories they carry alone. Paul draws a distinction that has shaped everything: discernment, from the Latin, means to separate and see what choices exist. Decision making means to cut off. Conflate them, he says, and you will make the worst mistakes of your life. Do the first thing honestly, and the second thing tends to take care of itself. We also hear about three confessions of faith in the Gospel of John, why they all happen at moments of gravest disappointment, and what Thomas meant when he said not just "my Lord" but "my Lord and my God." And Alan shares a story from a Race and Reconciliation Commission meeting in South Carolina in 2018, when a nervous joke met a simple sentence: you're here for a reason. Paul remembers the room. Alan has never forgotten the words. Forty-eight years in, Paul Roberts Abernathy is still reading his Bible every day, still finding things he has never seen before, and still listening to whoever walks through the door. Nothing we have been given, he says, has been given to us to keep. Prayer for Mission (Morning Prayer, the Book of Common Prayer, pg 100) Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole  body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Links mentioned in this episode: - The Rev. Paul Roberts Abernathy (https://stmatthewsepiscopal.org/welcome/clergy-staff-vestry) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast)