Posted on 12/05/2017 7:37:41 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Jim Palmer, a former evangelical pastor who once served in ministry at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago and went on to preach the power of faith to hundreds as lead pastor of his own church in Brentwood, Tennessee, is now the vice president of the Nashville Humanist Association, which promotes humanism and a secular state.
Palmer, 53, told The Tennessean that his journey away from faith in God was triggered about 20 years ago by two devastating events. He said his faith was shaken when he learned that a church staff member was beating their spouse. It then suffered another blow when a woman encouraged by his sermons believed her unborn child diagnosed with a fatal disorder would live. The mother blamed herself when her child died soon after birth.
"That triggered, 'How can I preach this stuff?'" Palmer said. "Beneath the appearance and the surfaces of people's lives there was a level of suffering and brokenness for which my theology did not touch."
In his journey away from faith, the former pastor also lost his marriage.
Despite the loss of his faith and his family, however, Palmer is forging ahead with his belief that there is no God and has now placed his faith in humanity.
"I'm still going to plant my flag down on the belief that we are who we've been waiting for. There is no God in the sky who is going to rescue us," he told The Tennessean. "We've got to pull up our big boy and big girl panties and be human beings."
Palmer, along with Kay Overlund, 34, another former Christian, came together to found the Nashville Humanist Association in August.
Despite Nashville's reputation as the "Buckle of the Bible Belt," some 21 percent of Nashville residents are unaffiliated with any religion, according to the PRRI American Values Atlas.
And Palmer and his team of humanists are seeking to unbuckle the city.
"While it's true that our city is often referred to as the 'Buckle of the Bible Belt' for being a hub of Christian fundamentalism, there is also a fast growing secular community in the Music City and Middle Tennessee. The Nashville Humanist Association aims to connect that community together in meaningful, enriching, empowering and productive ways," the Nashville humanists say.
"Humanism encompasses a variety of views such as atheism, agnosticism, rationalism, naturalism, and secularism. As humanists, our outlook on life attaches prime importance to being human. We stress the value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems," they argue. "Outside the framework of religion or supernaturalism, Humanism affirms our ability and responsibility to lead meaningful, ethical lives capable of adding to the greater good of humanity and working toward a world of less suffering and more flourishing."
Palmer became a Christian when he was in high school, then went on to seminary in Chicago to deepen his faith. After his spiritual unraveling, however, he is now teaching a course about Life After Religion.
"I find that there are many people who leave religion behind but still struggle with finding and experiencing true peace and liberation and happiness and I see that one of the reasons why that is, is that even after one leaves the externals of religion behind there is often a very deeply rooted religious pathology that's persistent in people's lives," he said in a discussion of the course.
"Certain ways of thinking about ourselves and life and other people and these beliefs and mindsets, these narratives that have been indoctrinated into us can be very saboteurial into our journey of wanting to be at peace with ourselves and to live a life of liberation," he said.
Palmer, who is a member of The Clergy Project, an organization that supports religious leaders who no longer believe in God, hosted a screening of a documentary about the organization called "Losing Our Religion" at the Metro police department's West Precinct on Sunday.
Sorry, but that doesn’t have a theological basis either.
Christ never EVER promised you or anyone good things in this world, he was worried about your status in the next. God has his plan, and it isn’t some giant scaled scoreboard.... Feel Good Theology, and its various derivatives are heresy.
I didn’t say that He’s passive-aggressive.
That’s why it means when you say “God allowed”. You turn something he didn’t do (i.e. Intervene) into an action for which you have established blame.
Say you are driving down the road and you run off into the shoulder. Then you turn to your passenger and ask “Why did you allow me do that?”. It’s the same thing.
Instead, think of it this way: Bad things are going to happen because Satan is the ruler of this world.
How about *you* think of it this way: God pro-actively gave each of us free will and some people choose to do evil which affects others.
Except in extreme cases, satan can't force us to do anything, but we can choose to listen to him.
Oh - and God's in my driver seat, not me. Thank goodness.
Sorry, but that doesnt have a theological basis either.
If his faith was contingent on the behavior of others, then he never had faith in Jesus to begin with.
And yes, the gospel DOES touch people at their deepest needs. But if people refuse that, it does not invalidate the message. It goes to show that there are wolves in sheep’s clothing and maybe he was preaching a false gospel instead of one that could actually help people.
But you find out where you went wrong and repent of it. You don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.
He’s probably upset that a Father allowed his Son to die a horrible and excruciating death [on the Cross] because of what others have done.
“That’s not the way he’d do it”, I bet he would say.
(Snicker, Snicker!)
Exactly, brother.
Jesus will lose none that the Father has given him:
“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” John 6:39
And this is what happened to the Earth dweller:
“And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: “ Matthew 13:3-7
Bad things happening to good people has always existed. This world is not meant to be heaven. The early Christians were willing to be martyred rather than deny their faith - the first ones because they had seen the risen Christ with their OWN eyes. Our faith is in the Creator and sustainer of the universe not fellow sinful humans.
Well stated!
That’s what I call these people now, Earth Dwellers. “ Straight from Revelation and Psalm 2...screaming at the skies, booing God in the DNC, kicking prayer and God out of schools in 1962, abortion of millions since 1974...lies and the father of lies is ramping things up because these times are festering and await His rapture.
Well said,
An yeah its from the book of Revelation, the earth dwellers are those where every thing they desire, need or have is all right here on this Earth.
These humanists/atheists all believe they’re just going to die and that is the end of it, they seek death, so that when evil times come exactly as prophesied and with events even they themselves have heard was coming, they don’t know how to respond or where to turn from this black hole they created for themselves, this is why it says in Revelation Chapter 9 “and death will flee from them”
It’s clear you havn’t been to many WC services or, read any of Bill’s books.
“New Age practices?” Which do you refer to?
“False doctrines?” Which ones?
Your post is is a mish mash of vague generalities.
Cite specific examples - otherwise you end up sounding like MSM soundbites.
My advice is to go where you are fed.
I tend to doubt any “church” with “community” in its name is preaching sound doctrine.
I believe there is a special place in Hell for those who turn believers away from Jesus.
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