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.
Theology of Works- Part II
I had written on about my own evolving personal “Theology of Works” in another post in response to the NYTimes’ article on Bart Campolo’s loss of faith and establishment of what some have called a “church of atheism”. Today I continue those thoughts: Someone critical of my approach to recovery (for herself, in particular) observed that Methodists "worship" John Wesley. How obtuse can one's vision and hearing be? In an effort to not present things that I teach in a dogmatic way, I will often say...."John Wesley observed”…..or “John Wesley's take on this is"....as opposed to other...
Theology of “Works”- Part I
From the Facebook page of Cathy Byrd on 1/3/17, commenting on a news article about Bart Campolo’s abdication from Christianity and his new “Church of Atheism”……exalting friendship, community, and being and doing good: Tony Campolo's son, Bart, has eschewed Christianity for secular humanism...being good without God. This article references a Tennessee pastor, Ed Stetzer, who suggested that Bart's parents were at least partly responsible for not having assured that he had a personal relationship with Christ, emphasizing instead simply the notion of community, friendship, and doing good. I...
Reflecting on Confession and Scapegoating the Church
Oh, my! Jill Carattini reads my mind! I awoke this morning with a strong sense of wanting to express an observation I have had recently about people who criticize the church or drop out of being part of it because people there have hurt their feelings. I have been as offended by people within the church at times as anyone else. But I do not attend church BECAUSE of other people. I attend because of my relationship with Christ and Christ having established the church as the means by which he would continue his work in the world. Although Christ IS perfect, his people and his instituted church...
Oh, That’s Just Cathy….
For about the umpteenth time in my life, I have participated in a Myers-Briggs personality inventory. We did it in conjunction with a workshop on Radical Hospitality with church volunteers, along with a Spiritual Gifts inventory. These are two key components in evaluating a believer's understanding of her call to ministry, defined by S.H.A.P.E (spiritual gifts, "heart" or passion, abilities, personality, and experience).. Rev. Rick Warren made this popular as a part of training volunteers in his book "The Purpose Driven Life" about 15 years ago. Our students at Titus 2 go through this...
Living Amends…..Walking the Talk
"Living amends".....walking the talk. A lot of people in recovery feel regrets, surrender resentments, and make apologies during Steps 8&9 in the Twelve Step process. That is one's personal responsibility. In recovery, however, you cannot determine or demand that another person's response to the amend meet your desires or expectations. Some will accept it. Others will not. And some will simply "wait and see." Their response is not your responsibility. Your requirement is to be faithful to God's call to make the amends. Then let it go. If someone chooses not to be reconciled in...
Completed Love
Thinking about God's standard for Perfect Love and the desire to be perfected in such love as we grow: 1 Corinthians 13: 3-13 (From The Message) 3 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.... 4-7 Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the...
A Christian’s Rationale for Why One Should Leave an Abuser Sooner Rather Than Later
(CAUTION: I realize this may be a controversial subject and not everyone is going to see it this way. I have worked with women from abusive backgrounds and in abusive relationships long enough to have heard a few of their reasons for staying or going back. In the long run, none of them make any sense to me biblically.) A significant part of Titus 2's program involves discussions of co-dependency, personal self- identity, self-worth, and boundaries. A co-dependent mindset may cause one to feel the need to "rescue", "save", or be a "mother", "best-friend", "confidant" or "savior" in...
Why Do You Love Me? How Do You Love Me?
I am amused by some of the sappy memes about "love" that people post proclaiming how this or that love relationship is "forever"...like romantic relationships (which may be the 3rd one of the year or an on again/off again relationship), or a family relationship like mother/daughter, father/son, siblings, or BFFs.....when the individual's own life is a testimony to the fact that such relationships for them are not "loving." They are better described as lust....or codependent need....or people-using self-interest based ethics at work. It makes me cautious about even using the word...
On Wellness the Way God Intends
On Wellness the Way God Intends Cathy Byrd January 15, 2017 As perspectives on wellness in the most recent issue of The Interpreter magazine of the The United Methodist Church note, we are three-part beings- possessing “body, mind, and spirit”. Whenever one wants to refer to the holistic nature of people we generally see that phrase –“ body, mind, and spirit”. Google that phrase and you’ll find a multitude of references to it. It is prolifically infused throughout our culture. As I learned more about what motivates and characterizes human behavior, I...
Through the Bible in a Year- Thoughts on the Final Session on Revelation
A group was discussing Revelation as part of its final "Through the Bible in a Year" study...It was speculated that the beast that rises from the dark, fearsome, and unknown abyss of the sea (that gets its authority and direction from the dragon) and the beast of the land that rises up to serve the beast of the sea, represent forces at work in the world most all of the time and that are especially observable in the world now. One observed that the beast of the sea is likely a philosophy that is anti-Christian, secular humanistic, and militant in its persecution of Christ (propagated by and...