Methodist Blogger Profile: Gerry Charlotte Phelps

Rev. Gerry Phelps

In brief, I am an ex-agnostic, an ex-university teacher, an ex-far-left radical and an ex-con.

That came about when I was arrested for armed robbery on March 22, 1969, while teaching economics at the University of Houston. (The money was to fund an anti-war newspaper. I was an activist for civil rights for black people and against the war in Viet Nam.) I was sentenced to 35 years.

In prison, God convinced me that he existed and I became a Christian. Later he called me to “preach good news to the poor.” After paroling to California in 1976 I went to seminary and was ordained an elder in the UMC. I pastored 3 churches (1 Hispanic) which all grew rapidly; and taught my method of “fruitful church growth” to pastors in 2 states.

Also, I started and ran 2 large homeless shelters in Bakersfield and San Jose, and a charity in Austin to help people exit welfare. All had high documented success rates. In the process, I moved from left to right politically.

Though not actively pastoring a church, I consult and write. My story can be read, for free, at http://www.outoftheironfurnace.blogspot.com/. I am presently posting a book, “Up and Out”, based on my experience in helping the poor “up and out” of their distress, so that people working with Katrina refugees can have a quick, field-tested resource on how to do it.

I live in Austin near my son and his family. At present, I am blogging, working on two books and trying to publish two more. My blogs are http://www.gerrycharlottephelps.com/ and http://www.anotherwitness.blogspot.com/. My organization, which focuses on strategies for Christianizing the nation, has a blog at www.crises.us.

Why do you blog?
As a way to serve the Lord and to make a difference

What has been your best blogging experience?
Hearing from many old friends

What would be your main advice to a novice blogger?
Try to contribute something useful to build the Kingdom; and try to post often.

If you only had time to read three blogs a day, what would they be?
Oh gosh. How could I read only three a day?? But I guess I would start with Hugh Hewitt, Wesley Blog and Real Clear Politics (and go on from there!)

Who are your spiritual heroes?
St. Paul, Martin Luther and John Wesley. They not only evangelized, but discipled and organized their believers into churches, and supervised the churches.

What are you reading at the moment?
“The Wisdom of Crowds”, James Surowiecki, to learn about how majorities often know better than the experts. Fascinating. And very hopeful for majority rule and democracy.

“Under the Influence: How Christianity Transformed Civilization,” Alvin J. Schmidt. Scholarly, interesting, a strong case. About all the good things Christianity added to civilizations through the centuries.

“The Wealth and Poverty of Nations” (NY Times bestseller), David S. Landes (of Harvard). Makes the case that not only has Christianity been responsible for most of the prosperity of the world, but Protestant Christianity in particular. He illuminates the foundational causes of national and global prosperity and poverty, by country and by region. Cultures are shaped by their religions, and economies are shaped by their cultures. No question.

And “The Winning of the West, Vol. 2” Teddy Roosevelt. I carry it in my car to read when I am trapped somewhere. Robust, respectable scholarship. The little-known story about why the young United States did not end at the Allegheny mountains. The country west of them was won, in a war of strategic and tactical genius, by a few formidable, badly outnumbered frontiersmen against the Indians, British and French, while Washington was fighting the British along the coast. Astonishing story.

What is your favorite hymn and why?
This is hard! But ultimately, “Amazing Grace.” Not only because it was the testimony of the converted slaver-runner who wrote it, a “wretch like me,” but also because it meant so much to the women I knew in prison. I find it deeply moving.

Can you name a major moral, political or intellectual issue on which you have changed your mind?
The only non-lengthy way I can answer this is to say that I would be hard pressed to find any on which I had not changed my mind! That comes from moving from Christian to agnostic to Christian again, right to left to right again, etc., etc.

What philosophical thesis do you think is most important to combat?
The conceits that science has proved Christianity false, and that God does not exist; and that modern scholarship has debunked the Bible.

If you could effect one major change in the governing of your country, what would it be?
It would be to re-establish legislative limits on the courts, to ensure that courts would refrain from changing the constitution by their rulings, rather than by the constitutionally-required ways for changing the constitution.

If you could effect one major policy change in the United Methodist Church, what would it be?
To make it more democratic, through equal representation at General Conference for all UMC members. At present, UMC members in some parts of the country get more votes, in relation to their numbers, than members in other parts. Making representation equal for all members would help bring the UMC into line with the views of a majority of its members. And also end domination of that majority by a minority.

What would be your most important piece of advice about life?
That nothing makes life work out better than trying to stay inside the will of God. And that if people knew what that was really like, they’d line up!

What, if anything, do you worry about?
Those I love who are not saved, or are saved but far from God.

If you were to relive your life at this point, is there anything you’d do differently?
I would not have turned from God to agnosticism.

Where would you most like to live (other than where you do now?)
It does not matter. I have been happy with wherever the Lord has plopped me down. And the natural beauty of every kind of country I have seen just amazes me.

What do you like doing in your spare time?
Walk. Finding different comfortable spots with a beautiful view, available food and restrooms, in which to read. Be with family and friends. Music. Write. Being around people who break me up. Being outdoors.

What is your most treasured possession?
The Bible I had in prison, a gift sent in by my mother. The names and dates of all my converts, then and since then, are written inside. Sometimes I read the list and thank God for the joy and the privilege of it.

What talent would you most like to have?
Thinking faster on my feet. My best responses usually come hours later, after I get home.

If you could have any three guests, past or present, to dinner, who would they be?
Oh, this question is not fair! Three guests? One dinner? No, seriously, I can’t get by on just that many. I would settle for three guests at a time, but would want to have more dinners – with three at each. (Could I make up for it by trading off another question or two?) Anyhow, here is who, and why:

Dinner one: Churchill, Roosevelt and Chang Kai Sheck. Conversation: how did WWII look to them as it was forming? How did they plan it? Choose strategies? How did they win despite so many wrong moves?

Dinner two: Truman, Gen. Marshall, Gen. McArthur: how did they manage to drain the Nazi poison out of the German population, and the imperialist/superiorist poison out of the Japanese population, and transform them into democracies? Even friendly ones?

Dinner three: Reagan, Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II: how did they work together to bring down the USSR dictatorship? What problems did they face? How scary was it, with the “nuclear assured destruction” looming if they made a bad mistake? What worked best?

Dinner four: St. Paul, Martin Luther and John Wesley: how did they manage all that evangelizing and discipling and church-forming and supervision? What do they think about what we are doing? What would they suggest?

Dinner five: C. S. Lewis, Henry Morris and Michael Novak (with Philip Johnson and Paul Johnson as alternatives): Their strategies and tactics on apologetics. Where they think we are headed and what their suggestions would be for better apologetics now.