The Call to Love Experience: Recent Episodes
Jasmine Bellamy
Welcome to The Call to Love Experience! This podcast accompanies the live video event on Facebook and YouTube.
The Call to Love Experience is an invitation to a spiritual journey towards reorienting ourselves in Love. Join Jasmine Bellamy of Love 101 Ministries and her guests as they examine the theology and cultivate the practice of love.
Welcome to our Daily Love Practice as we endeavor to cultivate our life in love together in community.
Today, we begin with the question: What is a love practice?
The centering quote is from Eric Fromme.
Consider this your invitation to join us on Facebook and Instagram at Love 101 Ministries.
For more information check out www.love101ministries.com
Introducing The Call to Love Experience: The Monthly Communal Practice & The Daily Love Practice.
Host: Jasmine Bellamy, Founder & Spiritual Director of Love 101 Ministries which is dedicated to the theology and practice of love.
Consider this an invitation to join our beloved community on Facebook and Instagram at Love 101 Ministries.
For more information visit us at www.love101ministries.com
We’ve reached the FINALE of Season 2: The Love Practitioner Series! This time, we honor one of my greatest spiritual teachers, Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman. As a spiritual advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and former dean of chapels at Howard University and Boston University, he’s one of the most influential theologians and contemplatives you might not know about! I am joined by two incredible scholars and friends who have guided me in understanding Dr. Thurman’s work: Rev. Dr. Dwight Radcliff and Rev. Dr. Donny Bryant.Centering Scripture: Philippians 1:9-10Texts/Audio of Dr. Howard Thurman referenced in this episode:Jesus and the DisinheritedThe Living Wisdom of Howard ThurmanMeditations of the Heart
Experience the transformative power of love and empathy with Christy Vines, Founder and CEO of Ideos Institute. Christy joins Jasmine for our communal practice to engage in a conversation at the intersection of love and empathic intelligence.Centering Scripture: Romans 12:1-8Find out more about Christy and Ideos Institute at https://www.ideosinstitute.org/
Felicia Murrell shares her book, AND: The Restorative Power of Love In An Either/Or World. Centering Scripture: Ephesians 1:7-12 MSG
It's time to switch things up! Rev. Candance Greene moves from behind-the scenes to front and center, and Jasmine Bellamy takes over guest duties. This highly anticipated chat is the continuation of a 2021 interview on The Cherishedflight Podcast. Candance and Jasmine engage in a conversation about living a life of love.Centering Scripture: Ephesians 5:1-2 MSG, NKJV
Dr. Donny Bryant, a fellow love practitioner, pastor, and co-host of The Cosmic We with Barbara Holmes and Donny Bryant, joins Jasmine in this communal practice to create sacred space to hold love and grief.Centering Scripture: John 8:1-11 MSG, ESV Join our 40 day Lenten Love Practice at www.love101ministries.com
Utibe Bassey, a fellow love practitioner & business executive, and author of the LinkedIn newsletter, Love as a KPI (Key Performance Indicator), joins Jasmine in the studio to explore what it looks like to connect our theology of love to leadership and put love into practice at work.Centering Scripture: Isaiah 32:1-4 Follow Utibe on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/utbassey?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_appSubscribe to Love as a KPI (LinkedIn Newsletter)https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/love-as-a-kpi-7019456528864694272
Dr. Meryl Herr joins Jasmine in our virtual studio for The Call to Love Experience LIVE. Meryl is the Director of Research & Resources at the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary, and a contributing essayist and Project Lead of De Pree Center’s Advent Journal, Keeping Watch.This episode was recorded during week 2 of Advent. The communal conversation is centered around the beauty of the season and digs into Jasmine's essay in the De Pree Center Advent Journal, "Joyfully Anticipating Love."Centering Scripture: Mark 13:32-37 MSG & NIV"Oriented by Hope" by Dr. Meryl Herr https://depree.org/oriented-by-hope/"Joyfully Anticipating Love" by Jasmine Bellamy https://depree.org/joyfully-anticipating-love/Shout out to @brian_mclaren! Here’s the full quote mentioned in our conversation: “Whatever Christianity was supposed to be it was supposed to be about love. What would a system look like that was designed to help people become the most loving version of themselves. This is our invitation to reimagine the systems that we’ve inherited to produce a different result.”Social Media Links:Request to join The Call to Love Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1284383741765004Follow Love 101 Ministries on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/love101ministries/To view the video recording of this episode check out Love 101 Ministries on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Love101Ministries & YouTube https://youtu.be/NKKARisrCq4Love 101 Ministries mourns the loss of Elise Finch, one of its biggest supporters, who passed away suddenly on 7/16/23. We are grateful for her loving support and encouragement since our founding in 2018 and dedicate this season to her memory.
Dr. Terence Lester is the founder of Love Beyond Walls, a nonprofit organization focused on poverty awareness and community mobilization. He is the author of 3 books: I See You: How Love Opens Our Eyes to Invisible PeopleWhen We Stand: The Power of Seeking Justice TogetherAll God’s Children: How Confronting Buried History Can Build Racial SolidarityCentering Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-8
The Love Practitioners SeriesSeason 2 is all about creating space to amplify the voices of Love practitioners in various contexts!! Marilyn Batchelor and Olufemi Gonsalves, fondly known as my sisters-in-hooks, join our communal practice as we remember and center the voice of renowned scholar, cultural critic, and Love practitioner, bell hooks. This is your invitation to join us as we LISTEN, ENGAGE, and REFLECT on the theology and practice of Love.Centering Scripture: 1 John 13:14Social Media Links:Request to join The Call to Love Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1284383741765004Follow Love 101 Ministries on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/love101ministries/To view the video recording of this episode check out Love 101 Ministries on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Love101Ministries & YouTube https://youtu.be/NKKARisrCq4Love 101 Ministries mourns the lost of Elise Finch, one of its biggest supporters, who passed away suddenly on 7/16/23. We are grateful for her loving support and encouragement since our founding in 2018 and dedicate this season to her memory.
SEASON 2 PREMIERE: The Love Practitioners Series
Season 2 is all about creating space to amplify the voices of Love practitioners in various contexts!!Ashley Abercrombie joins our communal practice. She is a writer, speaker and author of LOVE IS THE RESISTANCE: Learn to Disagree, Resolve the Conflicts You've Been Avoiding, and CREATE REAL CHANGE and Rise of the Truthteller.Listen in to hear Ashley's insights on the work of Love, unlearning and relearning to Love, and her powerful exposition on forgiveness and repentance in "Woe to the Offender." Centering Scripture: Philippians 1:9-11 MSG, NIV. Also mentioned in this episode Romans 14: 10-18 NLT.
Social Media Links:
Follow Ashley Abercrombie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashabercrombie/
Request to join The Call to Love Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1284383741765004
Follow Love 101 Ministries on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/love101ministries/
To view the video recording of this episode check out Love 101 Ministries on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Love101Ministries & YouTube https://youtu.be/NKKARisrCq4Love 101 Ministries lost one of its biggest supporters, Elise Finch, who passed away suddenly on 7/16/23. We are grateful for her loving support and encouragement since our founding in 2018 and dedicate this season to her memory.
We are in the liminal space between Seasons 1 and 2. Jasmine and Candance invite members from The Call to Love Community to discuss their reflections from Season 1. Lisa Colon-DeLay, co-host of Episode 5: The Inner Life of Love and author of The Wild Land Within drops in as a surprise guest! Season 2: The Love Practitioners kicks off in September! Social Media Links: Facebook and Instagram: @love101ministries Request to join The Call to Love Facebook Community: Watch the recording of the live event and subscribe to Love 101 on YouTube
Benediction: “So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11 Message)
SEASON 1 FINALE
Dr. Kutter Callaway joins our communal practice and engages in a discussion on Love & Culture. Kutter Calloway is the William K. Brehm Chair of Worship, Theology, and the Arts; Associate Dean of the Center for Advanced Theological Studies; and Associate Professor of Theology & Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary.
This is our second examination of The Good Samaritan, but this time we center "The Hurt Man."
Listen in to hear Kutter in conversation with bell hooks, his thoughts on Jesus as the great iconoclast (Haddad), and the logic of love that he describes as absurd.
Lectio Divina: Luke 10:25-37
Referenced in this episode:
Loving Your Enemy & Neighbor? with Phil Allen, Jr. (The Call to Love Experience, Episode 9)
Salvation: Black People & Love by bell hooks
The Aesthetics of Atheism: Theology and Imagination in Contemporary Culture by Kutter Callaway and Barry Taylor
To watch the video of this episode check out Love 101 Ministries on Facebook & YouTube.
Phil Allen Jr. is a poet, spoken word artist, author of two books Open Wounds and The Prophetic Lens, film maker, PhD Candidate at Fuller Seminary, and President of the Racial Solidarity Project (RSP) .We live in a world where it is often difficult to love. How do we navigate the challenges lovingly, if we desire a deeper relationship with God, ourselves, and others? This is where the rubber meets the road. This conversation is imperative to living a life full of love. Lectio Divina: Luke 10:25-37 (MSG & NRSV)Mentioned in this episode:
"Loving Your Enemies," Sermon delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
"Nobody Talks About the Road" by Drew Jackson in Touch the Earth: Poems on the Way
Dr. Mimi Haddad, president and CEO of CBE International and adjunct associate professor of historical theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, joins me for a communal practice and conversation on gender equality, patriarchy, and the transformative power of love.
We've all been shaped by patriarchy. The word alone can be triggering and cause division. All the more reason to bring love to it.
Listen in to learn about CBE's work of elevating the dignity, agency, and value of women, their 7 year Bible project translating almost 700 passages used to demean women, their world view that leads to human flourishing and hear what Dr. Haddad has to say about the effect patriarchy may have on the voice of God.
Mentioned in this episode, What Kind of Love is That? (Season 1, Episode 1)
Lectio Divina: Luke 24:25-32- The Road to Emmaus
Dr Cindy Lee, theologian, professor, Spiritual Director, and author of Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation joins Jasmine for a communal practice and discourse on the spirituality of Love. Jasmine and Cindy discuss: What is spirituality? How does that relate to our unforming? What are the implications for Love? What is spiritual direction?
Lectio Divina: Luke 7:36-50 CEB, Alabaster in God Speaks Through Wombs 2021 by Drew Jackson
Social Media Links:
Instagram: @love101ministries, @findingeden
To watch the video recording of this live event, subscribe to Love 101 Ministries on YouTube
Looking for beloved community? Request to join The Call to Love Group on Facebook
Rev. Jacqui Lewis PhD, public theologian, Sr Minister of Middle Church, author of Fierce Love, and the host of the Love Period podcast, joins Jasmine in the studio to discuss the inner work of self-love. Jacqui and Jasmine engage in a discourse on the daily practice of loving oneself, fear as the opposition to love, truth-telling, and the spiritual practice of traveling lightly. Lectio Divina: 1 John 4:17-21 MSG
The Call to Love EXPERIENCE is an invitation to join us on a spiritual journey as we examine the theology and cultivate the practice of love.
In Episode 5: The Inner Life of Love, We shift our exploration inward to our own inner work. We acknowledge this invitation to get to know oneself may be frightening for some. You are not alone. You may want to enlist the support of a therapist or Spiritual Director. We are seeking the light of truth coupled with mercy and grace to produce healing and growth; imperatives to living a life full of love.
In this episode, Jasmine Bellamy welcomes guest Lisa Colón DeLay, a Puerto Rico-born Latina and author of the spiritual formation book, The Wild Land Within. Lisa is the creator and host of the weekly broadcast Spark My Muse, where Soul School is in session. She enjoys spiritual companioning, which we discuss during the episode. You can find her work at www.lisadelay.com
There are three parts to The Call to Love Experience: LISTEN, ENGAGE, REFLECT
LISTEN:
We begin with presence, utilizing a spiritual practice called Lectio Divina, or sacred reading. This episode's centering Scriptures is John 15:1-8, Jesus: The True Vine. What comes up for you as you listen? What word or phrase stands out to you? What questions arise from the text?
ENGAGE:
This communal practice offers us a unique opportunity to examine and engage the theology of love.
REFLECT:
We end with introspection using a spiritual practice called the Prayer of Examen to help us examine our inner life and cultivate our own love practice. God desires truth in the inward parts. And in the hidden part God will make us to know wisdom. (Psalm 51:6)
Social Media Links:
Facebook and Instagram: @love101ministries, @lisacolondelay
Request to join The Call to Love Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1284383741765004
To watch the recording of the live event and subscribe to Love 101 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EqO_ONtwVuI
Jasmine Bellamy welcomes Dr. Patrick Oden, Director of Academic Integration, Fuller Equip, and Research Assistant Professor of Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary to The Call to Love Experience. Framed by Lectio Divina and the Prayer of Examen, Jasmine and Dr. Oden engage in a communal conversation as they examine the Theology, Christology, and Pneumatology of love and their significance.Lectio Divina: John 14:15-24 CEBClosing Scripture: Ephesians 3:14- 21
In Episode 3 Jasmine Bellamy welcomes Rev. Dr. Nigel Pearce, Senior Pastor of Grace Congregational Church of Harlem, to The Call to Love Experience to examine Jesus' Farewell Discourses. Framed by Lectio Divina and the Prayer of Examen, Jasmine and Pastor Pearce engage in a communal conversation about Jesus' new commandment to love.
In Episode 2 Jasmine Bellamy welcomes Dr. Nicole Davis to The Call to Love Experience to examine 1 Corinthians 13. Framed by Lectio Divina and the Prayer of Examen, Jasmine and Nicole engage in a communal conversation about love as an invitation to spiritual awakening. Nicole Davis, PhD, is an ordained pastor, certified mediator, conflict coach, Christian life coach, and a United States Navy veteran. As a social science researcher, her areas of interest include gender inequality, organizational leadership, women’s empowerment, and family dynamics. Nicole is the author of Eve, Where Are You? Confronting Toxic Practices Against the Advancement of Women. Social Media Links: Request to join The Call to Love Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1284383741765004 Follow Love 101 Ministries on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/love101ministries/ To view the recording of the live event and subscribe to Love 101 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YWsBZZRCim0 Background music: Sunrise (Instrumental) by Matthew Hollingsworth Works cited in this episode: Doing Local Theology: A Guide For Artisans of a New Humanity by Clemens Sedmak Introducing the New Testament Its Literature and Theology by Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B. Green, Marianne Meye Thompson The First Letter to the Corinthians: Pillar New Testament Commentary by Roy E Ciampa The Lectio Divina Journal
Welcome to The Call to Love Experience! This podcast accompanies the live video event on Facebook and YouTube.
The Call to Love Experience is an invitation to join us on a spiritual journey to reorient ourselves in Love. On this spiritual journey of transformation we will be engaging scripture and spiritual practices in this communal setting to cultivate our love practice.
There are three parts to The Call to Love Experience: LISTEN, ENGAGE, REFLECT
LISTEN:
We begin with presence, grounding ourselves in this moment, quieting our mind, readying ourselves to receive as we listen to today's centering Scripture utilizing a spiritual practice called Lectio Divina, or sacred reading.
ENGAGE:
Then we examine the theology of love in the text.
REFLECT:
We end with introspection using a spiritual practice called the Prayer of Examen to help us cultivate our own love practice.
In Episode 1 Jasmine Bellamy welcomes Alexis Busetti to The Call to Love Experience to examine John 4 which chronicles Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. They wrestle with her confession: “He told me everything I ever did!” and tackle Alexis’ question: What kind of love is that?
Check out Alexis on That Makes Total Sense Podcast: https://thatmakestotalsense.com
To watch to Jasmine's sermon, What Kind of Love is That?, delivered at Grace Congregational Church of Harlem which inspired this episode: https://youtu.be/t9-LStm5HLE (She begins at 21:50 but you won’t want to miss the incredible praise and worship!)
Social Media Links:
Request to join The Call to Love Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1284383741765004
Follow Love 101 Ministries on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/love101ministries/
To view the recording of the live event and subscribe to Love 101 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NKKARisrCq4