Prayers for Norman

A missionary with a heart for the broken

Those of you who have been paid subscribers for awhile may have met Norman Bowman. A missionary to Spain since 1982, he has also been an ardent supporter of my writing for many years.

Norman and Gwen Bowman

Nearly a year ago, he began conversations with Seedbed Publishing about having my books translated into Spanish. And though he rarely leaves comments on this site, he and I have had numerous email interactions regarding the pervasive sexual brokenness on all continents, where the greatest challenges lie, and what God seems to be doing.

For the past six months, he has faced a variety of physical challenges, but most recently he’s been battling Squamous Cell Carcinoma. After enduring 40 radiation treatments, the cancer soon returned. The next series of treatments will be with immunotherapy. Please join me in praying for this man of God.

In the past, I’ve had Zoom sessions with paid subscribers to share ideas and gain personal feedback about the blog. Some Tsunami Supporters may remember a Zoom conversation where Norman described the centuries of sexual perversion found prevalent in one ancient Spanish city. His voice cracked and tears trickled as he recounted the sexual depravity of the Spanish people. A colleague later commented: “That’s what we need when it comes to sexual deviancy: more tears!”

Norman models that kind of love. And he is forever scouring church history for truth and light.

In our correspondence about the sexual brokenness of our times, he referenced the abuse scandal and coverup in the Southern Baptist Church which hit the news in May of 2022. An extensive report on an alleged coverup was presented at their annual meeting. Since that time, a federal investigation has ensued.

Commenting on this, the latest of many scandals within the Bride of Christ, Norman states the following:

. . . which, of course, immediately uploads the blazing headlines invading our mind space - the SBC meltdown after 20 years of denial - (and more, of untold, undiscovered cases). So, now there will (finally) be, at least, SOME efforts to address this issue across the religious landscape of ministries placed "on guard" by these revelations. And it MUST be addressed as "an issue."  Nevertheless, I see it as a symptom and not a cause.

After drawing parallels to the abuse of power during the Clinton presidency which he had studied in a book entitled: Below the Beltway: Money, Power and Sex in Bill Clinton's Washington, he identified that same abuse of power within contemporary Protestantism:

Because we all face this in ministry over and over, endlessly, I have pondered this issue many times . . . . The real issue is power. Money and Sex - out of control - become means of accessing power, become the road to power. These are "power games" that wear out eventually, one way or another, unless there is "something more" which we can never get enough of - POWER!  If we, or the SBC, or whomever, knuckle down and "get serious" about sexual abuse and coverups, it will give us the illusion that we are really "dealing with" THE issue. But these abuses, both financial and sexual, are symptomatic of other things below the surface that if not unearthed will surface again.  Margaret Heffernan deals with this in her book: Willful Blindness.  A stunning read! 

It is now clear that the SBC exercised willful blindness "by the book."  But THAT happened because of people who were engulfed in the issue of power, so that, what really happened was an abuse of power, specifically, of God-given authority, which is, basically, the original sin in Genesis. Let's face it, we are all pretty much power mongers, it's just that some, or most of us, have been groomed and educated to dress it up . . . or down . . . or willfully blind ourselves to what others can see, but we cannot - willful blindness.  

And how can we deal with the issue of power, control freaks that we are?  Another seminar?  Another plethora of books and "summits" that will come out of this, now public, scandal?  Yes, these endeavors need to happen. A response is being demanded. But until we address the issue of personal and institutional power head on, we are not addressing the root issue.  And there is a reason:  How do you measure power, or its abuse?  We need to have noses like Pinocchio's, but applied to the abuse of power. 

There was a flurry of publishing back around 2,000 on power, its use, and abuse, but the issue faded, like so many others.  And now, here it is again, but camouflaged in sexual terms and stories. Defining the use, misuse and abuse of power is very difficult. And when defined, dealing with it is even more complicated, because, in the end - no matter the extent of the problem, someone is going to have to speak truth to power, and we ALL know and intuit how that will go down!  NOT!

The whistleblower gets trounced, even when it is ME speaking truth to ME . . . the fight turns vicious quickly, OR the sloth of denial smoke screens it all . . . and it's not soooooo bad after all!!! I'm just human like everyone else!

"Get thee behind me, Satan!" And my sinful, pride-anchored self, too!! My inner chaos cannot, and will not deal with it! Therein lies the juggernaut, or better said, the "juggler knot." This issue is a show stopper, Mark.  Because it is HARD to deal with, and because we are all slothful, and fearful, and in the end, we just put it off.  

But the church fathers did NOT put it off. They went for the jugular vein straight on, and right up front, first thing.

I am deep into the pastristics.  My life has changed, for the good, and especially in this area.  It's a combination (not just one or the other) of apophatic (via negativa) and cataphatic (via positiva) prayer and spiritual discipline. What a wealth of wisdom and practice that we have ignored totally to our peril.  Again, pride, somehow has moved our current tradition far away from the Father's practices of dealing with the sinful self, and also of living their union with God and His life IN THEM!  (Italics all his!)

Again, this is all to give you a sense of this man and missionary. Pray with me for his full recovery!