About the Author
Cathy Boyd Byrd invites others to join her in considering topics of interest to those on the Christian spiritual journey…..discipleship, spirituality, mental health, Christian growth, and Bible study. Cathy enjoys working with others as they transition from emotional emergency and brokenness to spiritual emergence and abundant living! Many of the topics about which Cathy writes are interrelated as experienced in her own life and in the lives of those with whom she works in counseling, teaching, and case management, and in friendships. She believes that sharing our journey of Christian growth and spirituality helps us know God and ourselves better and connects us with others!
Cathy is a Christian Educator and Life Recovery Counselor, and an ordained deacon through Christian Leaders Institute. She serves as Community Outreach MInister at Lynn Haven United Methodist Church. She is a student (disciple) of the Holy Spirit and shares with her students (disciples) the things the Lord teaches her through Bible study and contemplation, incorporating experiences interpreted through the Word, cherished traditions of her faith, and reasoning that comes from seeking the mind of Christ in accountable community. She was widowed in August 2020 after 48 years of marriage to Bill Byrd, is mother of 2 and grandmother of 5. Her journey of faith has been lifelong and continues to be an adventure with the trailblazer and guide, Jesus Christ!
Cathy is the founder and program manager for a Christian women’s residential life recovery program, Titus 2 Partnership, Inc.(www.titus2.life) in Panama City, Florida.
“Christian Yoga”: Why Are You Here?
A good friend of mine leads a Christian spiritual yoga group on Tuesdays at 5:30. Today we had a great practice! She opened with a devotional from Elijah’s troubled time after the defeat of the prophets of Baal when he ran for his life from Jezebel’s threat. After a time he came to a cave. God said, “Why are you here?” And Elijah poured out his complaint to God. God showed his power in a fierce wind, then an earthquake, then a fire, but God did not speak through those things. Even so, God’s power and authority were clearly manifest through them. Elijah stood at the mouth of the cave and...
Psychology and Faith
When I went to a secular grad school for counseling I asked my advisor if my Christian beliefs were going to be disregarded. He said "no", that I was free to express my beliefs in context with the discussions. I told him I intended to be a Christian counselor from a clergy perspective and forego state mental health licensure. He said whether I counseled from a biblical or secular perspective, the principles are the same. He told me to "take from this program what you believe is helpful and compatible with your beliefs, and set the rest aside. God will guide you to know what you need for...
Blaspheming the Holy Spirit
I got a message from a former student and friend who asked: Hi Mrs. C, when you get a chance, could you please help me understand this? I randomly came across the scripture in my Bible study yesterday after speaking with a friend about the seriousness of blasphemy but why does it say that blasphemy against the son of man a.k.a. Jesus would be forgiven with every other sin IS forgivable, yet blasphemy against ‘the Spirit’ is unforgivable? My Dad used to teach us that blasphemy is the one and only unforgivable sin. Yesterday, I was sharing that with a friend of mine and then boom out of...
Revealing Innate Idolatry
“Boston pastor Adam Mabry’s book Stop Taking Sides reminded Christians to take elections seriously, but also “trust Jesus, receive peace, and refuse the anxiety that betrays an innate political idolatry.” I never thought rabout how “anxiety betrays an innate idolatry…. “That is a helpful insight and something to be aware of in the future. Anxiety, also expressed as “worry”, suggests that we are desiring an outcome that we fear we may not get. That does seem quite contrary to trusting God who is our all-sufficient “I Am.” We still may not get what we want or had hoped for, but our Loving...
Exotic Fruits
As I sit here this morning enjoying a bowl of fresh cherries with my morning coffee, I realized I am wearing my Granny’s apron (that she sewed.) It was at Granny’s house that I got introduced to “exotic” fresh fruits like cherries, figs, pomegranates, peaches, red plums, and scuppernongs - all of them from her own yard except the cherries, as I recall. She would make jams and jellies but mostly we just enjoyed eating the fruits fresh from the yard or farmer’s market. There’s even a dark reddish purple stain on the apron bib that is likely from a fruit canning session. It makes me smile. It...
The Ill-(de)lusion of Self-Control
“William Willimon: ….the Trinity teaches us the joy of living our lives out of our control. In his resurrection, Christ forever defeated our fantasies that life is under our control. Stanley Hauerwas: Of all the ministerial practices, pastoral care may be the most corrupted by the modern North American psychological culture’s promise of self-control. People are encouraged to believe that the purpose of being born is to be free to self-construct your life as you please.” (From a conversation at ChristianCentury.org. 7/27/21) Cathy’s take: When I teach the fruit of the Spirit I tell recovery...
The Divine Dance
I received a new newsletter today from Jordan B. Peterson and found his introductory topic interesting. Here is the newsletter link and the text of the brief article that caught my eye. Mondays of Meaning - New Newsletter (mailchi.mp) Jordan B Petersen - On Determinism and Free Will "The argument "determinism vs free will” has been raging for centuries. This means that there is probably something wrong with the manner in which the question is posed (“do human beings have free will, or are we deterministic, driven purely by causal factors beyond our control?”). It is very frequently the...
“What Do People See In Others?”
I have an acquaintance who has a very childlike-faith. It is rather extraordinary considering the trauma experienced by this person in life. This person has a particularly sensitive awareness of the spirit realm and has been harassed by several demonic spirits that have been described to me in very specific terms regarding their appearance, smell, actions, and situations under which they have appeared over the course of this individual’s life. The individual was even able to sketch out roughly what they looked like. We have talked about specific fears, experiences, feelings,...
The Economy of The Kingdom of God
October 14, 2020 On filthy rags…. A bit more in-depth than a typical homily on "filthy rags"...... A theology that expects salvation to arise out of works, as is promoted by some social justice warrior evangelicals, will not convert people. That doesn’t mean that such good works aren’t useful. They are. They just won’t lead to salvation. Here’s a little illustration for you. Read Jeremiah 38. Jeremiah is thrown into a cistern with muck in the bottom after running into problems with the locals. The Ethiopian Eunuch petitions the king to allow him to give Jeremiah...
Christ’s Spirit
Christ’s Spirit 6-23-21 CBByrd Thoughts this morning….while Jesus in human flesh walked among men he both had the Father’s Holy Spirit and could recognize the Spirit when the Spirit came upon others… as he did with Peter at Caesarea and others whom he healed, saying “ your faith has made you whole” since their faith in Jesus could only have happened as a result of the Spirit coming upon them, too. In each case those individuals had been given the power by the spirit’s presence in them to recognize the Christ in Jesus. After his resurrection he had authority to not only recognize...