First Person with Wayne Shepherd

First Person: Senate Chaplain Barry Black

Retired Navy Admiral Barry Black, Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, who grew up in poverty, talks about his role as a pastor on Capitol Hill and gives his perspective about the blessing of adversity. Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company: FEBC National Processing Center Far East Broadcasting Company P.O. Box 6020 Albert Lea, MN 56007 Please mention FIRST PERSON when you give. Thank you!

Duration:: 23m
Broadcast on:: 01 Jul 2011
Audio Format:: other

Retired Navy Admiral Barry Black, Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, who grew up in poverty, talks about his role as a pastor on Capitol Hill and gives his perspective about the blessing of adversity.

Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:
FEBC National Processing Center
Far East Broadcasting Company
P.O. Box 6020
Albert Lea, MN 56007

Please mention FIRST PERSON when you give. Thank you!

I grew up where there were prostitutes and drug pushers where domestic violence was a spectator sport. And yet, out of that toxic pathology, God brought not only me, but my seventh sibling. Hi, everyone, and welcome to this week's edition of First Person, introducing you to people who have experienced God's leading and faithfulness. I'm Wayne Shepard, and our guest today is the distinguished chaplain of the U.S. Senate, Barry Black, and you'll meet him in just a moment. We've archived all First Person interviews on the website, firstpersoninterview.com, so if you'd like to go back and listen to any previous conversation here in the program, all you have to do is log on to firstpersoninterview.com and click on the archive for the complete list of audio files. And since we've been on the air, we've had a wide variety of guests join us, each with their own unique story. So I hope you'll explore the audio archive at firstpersoninterview.com. And then if you're on Facebook, you'll also find our first person page, which will give you even more information each week. We're found at facebook.com/firstpersoninterview. Admiral Barry Black served in the U.S. Navy for 27 years, and since 2003, he's been the chaplain of the U.S. Senate. He's the author of From the Hood to the Hill, His Story of Overcoming Poverty, and a new book which we'll talk about today, The Blessing of Adversity. Chaplain Black takes his job very seriously. Wayne, I am the pastor for 100 senators and the members of their families and approximately 7,000 other people who make up the Senate side of Capitol Hill. So I not only offer an invocation as each Senate session convenes, but I advise senators regarding the ethical dimensions of the issues they are debating in the chamber. I officiate at weddings and funerals and facilitate for seasonal observances. I do hospital visits. I am, in short, the pastor for a mega church, a 7,000 member congregation. And that's quite a congregation there. How long have you been in the position? I will be in the position eight years in June. And I'm guessing you love what you do. It is a dream job. The opportunity to have a front row seat to history is a dream job. Well, without naming names, of course, help us understand the spiritual climate on Capitol Hill. Well, Wayne, Paul said in Philippians chapter four, all the saints salute you, particularly those in Caesar's household. He was probably talking about the emperor Nero. So if Nero had saints in his household, you can rest assured that there are spiritually fit lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Every Wednesday, we have a prayer breakfast in which 20 to 25 senators from both sides of the aisle meet. And they sing hymns, they hold hands and pray. And one of the senators talks about his or her face pilgrimage. It's a wonderful experience. Every Thursday, nine or ten senators, again from both sides of the aisle, gather in one of the hideaway offices, and I teach them the word of God. So the fact that so many lawmakers would take an hour or two out of their busy schedules to take advantage of the outreach of the chaplain department of the U.S. Senate, that truly indicates to me that there are saints on Capitol Hill. I was recently on the hill on the other side, on the house side, and met with several house members who said the same thing that they're involved in Bible studies and prayer meetings on a regular basis. I guess that shouldn't surprise us, but I wonder if it doesn't surprise some people. Well, I think if you base your view of the Senate on what you see on television, that it may be surprising. But the fact is that a number of the senators once desired to pursue the ministry and instead pursued the broader ministry of working in the legislative branch. Indeed, there are people who know God, who have a personal relationship with Him, and that personal relationship influences the way they do business for their country. Your life story is the stuff that inspires all of us as Americans, and you and I've talked about that before, but I'd like for you to give us a brief sketch because you didn't come to the position you have in life now automatically. God prepared you in many ways and in lots of circumstances. Let's talk about that. You grew up in Baltimore? I grew up in southwest Baltimore. I grew up where there were prostitutes and drug pushers. I grew up where domestic violence was a spectator sport. You could sit on your front steps and watch someone being beaten by his or her spouse. I say her because sometimes it was the female who was doing the beating. I was touched at least three times in my boyhood inappropriately by strangers, adult strangers. During the weekend, I would hear the staccato bark of what I thought sounded like firecrackers and later learned that it was actually gunfire from the drug wars. My neighborhood was literally the epicenter of crime and pathology in Baltimore. And yet out of that toxic pathology, God brought not only me but my seven siblings. We matriculated at Christian schools from grade one all the way through college. We had an extremely supportive church which supplemented the money that we didn't have for tuition. You know, my mom did the best she could, but they would supplement the deficits. And they were outstanding role models who helped extricate my family and me from an airtight cycle of poverty. What about your father? My father was absentee. He was, for some time, a long-distance truck driver. Rarely so, he had a severe problem with alcohol. And for many years, he was an alcoholic toward the end of his life. He accepted Jesus as his savior and that turned his alcoholism around. And he died a Christian, so that's an amazing story in itself. But he was not around very often. And so my mother pretty much had to rear my seven siblings and me by herself. I'm guessing that when you think of those days now and think of that old neighborhood, that you've have found ways to give back in some ways. What ways have you given back? Well, I still attend the same church in the inner city that I grew up in and I always will attend that church because I want to support the people who have made possible the work I now do. I have had the opportunity of delivering the eulogy at the funerals of so many of my mentors and the mentors of my siblings and my mother's mentors. Many of them live very long lives. I think just in the mercy of God, he stretched them out into their 90s and at least three centenarians out of the eight or nine women who really blessed my mother's life. And so these were ordinary women at the lower wrong of the socio-economic ladder on the lower wrong. And here's the chaplain of the United States Senate delivering the eulogy at the funeral. I overheard one person leaving the church saying, "I didn't know how Bertha was famous. How did she get the chaplain of the Senate to deliver the eulogy at her funeral?" I've been able to do that and also been able to go back to the old neighborhoods and to talk with young people, to mentor young people, and to try to develop scholarship programs, a number of scholarship programs. I'm also involved in an organization called the US Dream Academy that targets at-risk inner city young people, particularly the children of the incarcerated. My dad was incarcerated for a while and so I really identify with that. And that organization has been a great blessing to the young people in the inner city, teaching them the academic skills that they lack in order that they can be competitive on scholastic assessment tests and escape the cycles of poverty. You mentioned mentors. It's very important to you growing up and it sounds like they're important to you now as a mentor to others. Challenge us a bit about that. We all can be mentors, right? Well, Acts 13, verse 36 says, "And David, after he had fulfilled the purposes of God for his life and his generation, fell asleep and was laid to rest with his fathers. I believe that each of us should seek to fulfill the purpose of God for our individual lives in our generation. The way to do that is to make sure that you pass the baton to the generation who is coming behind you. It's to be a mentor. And David said, "Lord, let me live long enough so that I can be able to tell your mighty acts and your mighty deeds to the generation that is coming behind me." And that's what mentoring is all about. So it's one of my favorite things to do. And I think you ought to not just wait for someone to ask you to help them, but you ought to be intentional in your reaching out to those. And you know, who really needed. There was a man in my neighborhood, Wayne, when I was growing up. He was a Spanish teacher and he invited any young person who was interested in learning Spanish to come to his house once a week. And the Spanish that I learned in that man's home enabled me to eventually be an interpreter for the commanding officer when we were in Spain on my ship. And that really helped my upward mobility in the Navy. I became an Admiral, to some extent, because of the contribution made by that mentor when I was like eight or nine years of age in my neighborhood. And so that's what it's all about. Success without a successor is a failure. When we come back, we'll talk with Chaplain Barry Black about his book, "The Blessing of Adversity" here on First Person. Next week, we'll talk with musician and writer Michael Card. I would love for people to say, you know, at the end of my life, to say, you know, not, oh, wow, that was a great song, but to say, yeah, I engage with the Bible differently because, you know, I cross paths with this guy, that would be a great thing. You'll hear a candid conversation with Bible teacher Michael Card, whose music and books continue to feed our soul with God's Word. That's next week here on First Person. U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black is our guest on First Person today, and his newest book is titled, "The Blessing of Adversity." So I had to ask him about that provocative title. Well, Wayne, "Blessing" means the bestowal of a gift. Adversity means misfortune. So the idea that the bestowal of misfortune is a positive that will make you scratch your head. And yet, James chapter 1, verses 2 through 4 says, "count it all joy when you have different trials because trials create perseverance and perseverance produces maturity." So James is suggesting that there is a blessing in adversity, and the blessing is significant enough that we ought to celebrate our troubles. Count it all joy, he says, when you have these trials. I'm glad we learned earlier of your background because some people may say, "Well, what adversity can a man in a position like you have?" We all have adversity regardless of our position in life, and you certainly have had your share. Can you talk about a time in life when it really seemed to puzzle you and maybe even cause you to doubt a little bit? Well, I have a chapter called, "Deal with the Silence of God." There was a time in my life, probably the low point when my mother walked into a hospital and was given the wrong medication, and it killed her. And I cried out to God and just asked, "Why?" and God said, "Nothing." And the dark night of the soul that comes when we have to deal with God's silence, that is an adversity that often will make us cynical and make us just throw in the towel when it comes to religion. And one of the things I discovered was that God is listening even when he doesn't speak. That was just so helpful. I constantly cried out to him. I cried out to him in anger, quite frankly, like Joe. I cried out to him, and eventually he was able to get me through that trauma and to get me through that difficulty. So I think that for many of the listeners, not hearing from God when you desperately need to hear from him is the most exasperating season of their lives. And I think that learning how to deal with his silence, learning as a woman in Matthew 15, a thyroid phonetian woman who had a demon possessed child, and she cried out to Jesus and said, "My daughter, my daughter." And the Bible says, "And he answered her not a word." And the Bible shows us how this woman persevered through his silence until he indeed did speak. And I became a much stronger person of faith because of that ordeal and I would have been had I not gone through it, but even more importantly, I was able to share my experience with a woman who had lost two of her daughters, beautiful girls, young girls, in a tragic accident. And when I shared with her the kahina, I had gone through and how God had brought me out of that thing, it was a blessing to her. As 2 Corinthians 1, 3 and 4 says, "The God of all comforts comforts us so that we can comfort others with the comfort where we have been comforted." That's a very interesting point because naturally we might feel that we are disqualified somehow if we are going through something ourself and perhaps even have had a doubt from time to time that that somehow makes us ineligible to help others just the opposite is true. It qualifies you. I had a PhD in psychology, I have one, and I thought I was a pretty good grief counselor. I didn't learn anything about grief counseling until my mother died. And one of the best things a person can do when someone is hurting is, first of all, a lot of listening. And then identify the areas in the hurting person's life that you can identify with and that God brought you through and just share your story. That is one of the most powerful things that you can do. In fact, the idea for my book was conceived when I was in the hospital with a marine dying of cancer and the aggressive nature of the disease had so changed my friend, I barely recognized him when I came into the hospital. I had nothing that I could say. Another young man physically fit came by and started talking about the fact that he had the same cancer five years earlier and talked about the spiritual resources that brought this new, this fit young man through them. And it was like hooking my friend up to an inspiration machine. I have never seen that kind of metamorphosis. And that's when I thought about the blessing of adversity. The idea for this book was conceived in a hospital room where a PhD in psychology was doing nothing and a man walking by who had gone through the same cancer could describe the symptoms. He said, "Your food tastes like cardboard, doesn't it?" I'm thinking, "Where is this guy coming from? He looks like the pitcher of help, a pitcher postcard for the Marine Corps." He said, "It's the malnutrition that will kill you before the chemo and the radiation." And he went on and on and on. It was like he was breathing new life into my friend. And nine months later, my friend was out of the hospital back in uniform. And I saw him at a hail and farewell ceremony as he transitioned to a new command. That's a great story. Isn't it just like God, though, to turn things around like that? What an awesome God we serve. And I tell you, it makes me love him more and more because Romans 828, in everything, he is working for the good of those who love him. So the question in my season of adversity is, "Do I love him?" And if I don't, I better learn how to love him and focus on loving him because he turns negatives into positives for those who love him. That's why 1 Thessalonians 5 tells us, "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you in Christ Jesus." And yet we are human, we get down, but you advise us to celebrate our troubles when they come along. You write about that in the blessing of adversity. Explain yourself if you would, sir. Well, I recommend it first of all because James does count it all joy, he says, when you run into trouble. That's a pretty good counsel. I recommend it also because it honors God when you celebrate your troubles. You do what Paul and Silas did in that Philippian jail in Acts 16. They had a prayer meeting that caused the earth to shake and they're changed to fall off. The 22nd Psalm, Wayne says, "Our God inhabits the praises of his people." So we have the old saying, "When praises go up, blessings come down. Moreover, Proverbs 18, 21 says, "The power of life and death is in your tongue and you will eat the fruit of it." So when you celebrate trouble, you are sending out positive seeds. You're sending out positive words and you're going to reap a bountiful harvest. And that's why you need to guard your tongue because murmuring and complaining, that dishonors God. Let me ask just one more question and I'm sure you're asked this very often. How do you advise that we pray for our nation? The Bible says that we should pray for our nation's leaders. For one thing, that we can live quiet and peaceful lives. And the problem is many times, if the leader is not from our side of the aisle, we're reluctant to pray. But I think, based upon my interaction with legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government, that our leaders need wisdom. And James 1 5 says, "If we lack it, God will give it to us." So we need to pray that God's wisdom, God will shower our leaders with wisdom. I also think that we ought to pray that God will give His Spirit to our leader. They desperately need the guidance of God's Holy Spirit. And Luke 11 13 says, "If we, being evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more is our Heavenly Father eager to give His Holy Spirit to those who will ask Him?" I think particularly those leaders who are people of faith, that they need God's Holy Spirit. And then I think finally, praying and asking God to give our leaders favor. The 5th Psalm verse 12 says, "The righteous are surrounded with the shield of God's favor." And much success in this world is not about what you know, but whom you know, and whether or not those people know you favorably. Daniel 1 says, "God gave Daniel tender love and favor with the Prince of the UNIX, a chief administrator for Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon." And as we interact with other countries, if God will give our leaders favor, doors will open. That will mean prosperity to this nation, that will mean peace to this nation, and we will be able to live that quiet and that peaceful life that Paul suggested we ought to be praying for. It was a distinct pleasure to speak with U.S. Senate chaplain Barry Black, who serves on Capitol Hill. We're grateful for people like him there on the Hill. If you missed any portion of today's conversation, you can come to our website for a replay. Today's interview, as well as all previous first-person programs are archived online at firstpersoninterview.com. Click on the archive button for the list to choose from. Again, that's firstpersoninterview.com. A word of thanks to those of you who listen each week, and if you'd like to respond to any program, the quickest and easiest way to do so is to look us up on Facebook and post your comments there. Just go to facebook.com/firstpersoninterview.com Again, facebook.com/firstpersoninterview. In addition to listeners, we'd like to thank the radio stations that now carry first-person each week. This is a very simple one-on-one kind of conversational program, and we're thankful for the many stations that now provide the airtime. Next week, a great friend joins me. Michael Card and I will talk about his music and his books, and I hope you'll join us then. Now with thanks to my friend and producer, Joe Carlson, I'm Wayne Shepard. We'll see you here next week for First Person. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]