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.
“This Kind Can Only Come Out By Prayer”
“This kind can only come out by prayer.” There is an incident recorded in three Gospels- Mark 9:14-29, Matthew 17:14-21, and Luke 9:37-45 that gives interesting perspective on miracles and prayer. It comes on the heels of the twelve disciples having been sent out by Jesus in pairs to proclaim the Gospel to the Jews and to perform miracles, previously recorded in Mark 6, Matthew 10, and Luke 9-10. During that time of healing by the disciples, they experienced great success. But upon returning to Jesus, crowds of people were following them and they were faced with the boy with the evil spirit....
Power Over Evil
May 22, 2020, 9:30 AM “I have learned nothing in 20 years that would suggest that evil people can be rapidly influenced by any means other than raw power. They do not respond...to either gentle kindness or any form of spiritual persuasion with which I am familiar.” #MScottPeck #evil My personal note: In most cases the best and most daunting exercise of raw power is the setting of a firm, immovable boundary which one may not ignore, manipulate, circumvent, or dismantle. Such power is only possible in and thru the power of God. It is the final solution for evil. The weapons God uses can...
The Virtue Of Sacrificial Love
May 22, 2020, 5:14 PM Someone wrote “the highest value in America is freedom. The highest value in the Bible is love “ The highest VIRTUE (attribute of God that originates with God and is revealed and defined by the Word of God) is LOVE that is sacrificial- that’s what we have often failed to learn. God sacrificed his own son to be the final and complete sacrifice for the sin of humanity for all time. Christ sacrificed his life, both thru his devotion to his disciples in ministry and thru his death on the cross on our behalf. (John 3:16- God so LOVED.....) We have cheapened love into...
Parting Ways
God loves diversity and created us all to live together but when sin’s corruption screwed things up Darwin’s survival of the fittest ( i.e. the strongest, loudest, with the most physical stamina and least aversion to conflict, the one with the most power -however it is defined-and ability to leverage that power ) kicked in and some “species” adapted other modalities to survive. Some of those adaptations have made it impossible now for some of them to co-habit the same environments, even the same worlds, it seems. We’ve been at war too long. Move on. Create a New World where everyone’s odds...
Memorial Day Memories
May 24, 2020, 6:14 AM Facebook covers up and places caution over the honest authentic emotions of loss and grieving the deaths of those who made the choice to stand for something good, something greater than themselves.... to love their families, their neighbors, their country, and the cause of peace and justice in a world where only brute power can subdue some evils. My Daddy, my stepgrandfather, Bill's uncle, several of my uncles... all were veterans. Some served in horrific WWII theatres overseas and suffered from the loss of many of their own friends and came home with lasting...
Bible As Personal Proclamation of Faith Or Opportunistic Prop?
6/3/2020 CBB When President Donald Trump carried and held up his Bible at St. Johns Parish Church next door to the White House, the picture drew a lot of main stream media and social media criticism that the Bible was being used as a “prop.” This feigned public outrage in defense of the Bible’s reputation and status made me laugh. I have followed news reports and surveys of Christian spiritual formation and spiritual discipline practices for most of my adult life. They are generally reported by Barna Research, Lifeway, or occasionally other groups like Pew Research. One has only to talk to...
A Reflection on “You Do You”
You Do You. “Public service announcement: “You do you” is not actually a Christian idea. “You do you” is how fallenness happened. It is too often followed by “hold my beer.” The last thing any of us needs is for me do me when Jesus has so blatantly and wisely asked me to deny me and do him.”' Quoted as seem on Twitter from @CarolynCMoore, Rev. Carolyn Moore of Mosaic UMC and Wesleyan Covenant Association) This phrase, “you do you”, on the surface and left in the realm of friendly interpersonal human relationships alone seems harmless and for those with no underhanded, hidden agenda, I...
The Wesleyan Quadrilateral: Scripture’s Revelation Is No Joke
A post seen on Twitter: People: Why should I be Catholic? Catholics: We’re the one true church! People: Nice 😎 People: Why should I be evangelical? Evangelicals: We have a personal relationship with Jesus! People: Nice 😎 People: Why should I be Mainline? Mainline: You get to T H I N K! People: 😕 The author of this little Twitter exchange thought he was being quite smart, I’m sure. My reaction to it was not particularly funny, however. What occurred to me was this: “God says: Scenario 1: “That’s tradition”. Scenario 2: “That’s experience”. Scenario 3: “That’s reason”. Each has part of the...
Titus 2’s Teaching- Not Mindfulness, But Spirit-fulness
The World’s Way Is Not The Way - Why Mindfulness Is Not Our Approach What is Mindfulness? Mindfulness” is a popular technique being used in therapeutic circles to address emotional and mental health issues these days. Increasingly, we are being asked to be more “mindful” in order to manage our thought lives. It is a meditative practice. “Mindfulness meditation is a mental training practice that teaches you to slow down racing thoughts, let go of negativity, and calm both your mind and body. Mindfulness techniques can vary, but in general, mindfulness meditation involves a breathing...
Venery And Other Lost Literary Arts
In 1971, I started college at Auburn University. It was not my first choice. I felt very much out of my element, having grown up in small rural communities and graduating in a class of 22. I felt very lost on the large campus environment in spite of the small town atmosphere in which it is nestled- "Auburn- The Loveliest Village of the Plains." It was difficult for me there. I found myself gaining a considerable amount of weight, engaged in demands upon me that were uncomfortable and often felt beyond my abilities. I worked at Ralph Draughon Library as part of work-study financial aid...