Divine Nobodies: Shedding Religion to Find God (and the unlikely people who help you)

Divine Nobodies: Shedding Religion to Find God (and the unlikely people who help you)

What does a Hip-Hop artist, Waffle House waitress, tire salesman, and disabled girl have to do with discovering spiritual truth? What if embracing authentic Christianity is a journey of unlearning? Welcome to Jim Palmer's world! Don Miller meets Anne Lamott meets Brian McLaren in this tale of shedding religion and plunging into uncharted depths of knowing God. Jim Palmer, emergent pastor, shares his compelling off-road spiritual journey and the unsuspecting people who became his guides. "Perhaps God's reason for wanting me," writes Palmer, "is much better than my reason for wanting him. Maybe God's idea of my salvation trumps the version I am too willing to settle for. Seeing I needed a little help to get this, God sent a variety pack of characters to awaken me." For all those hoping there's more to God and Christianity than what they've heard or experienced, each chapter of Divine Nobodies gives the reader permission and freedom to discover it for themselves. Sometimes comical, other times tragic, at times shocking, always honest; Jim Palmer's story offers an inspiring and profound glimpse into life with God beyond institutional church and conventional religion. "I am tempted to say that Jim Palmer could well be the next Donald Miller, but what they have in common, along with an honest spirituality and extraordinary skill as storytellers, is a unique voice . . . Divine Nobodies is a delight to read, and it was good for my soul to read it." -BRIAN MCLAREN Author of The Secret Message of Jesus "You hold in your hands an amazing story of a broken man finding freedom in all the right places-in God's work in the lives of some extraordinarily ordinary people around him. You will thrill to this delightful blend of gut-wrenching honesty and laugh-out-loud hilarity, and in the end you'll find God much closer, the body of Christ far bigger and your own journey far clearer than you ever dreamed." -WAYNE JACOBSEN Author of Authentic Relationships Jim has a Master of Divinity degree and was a successful Senior Pastor before he left institutional church and organized religion to explore new dimensions of his relationship with God. Since 2005 he has been chronicling his journey beginning with Divine Nobodies: Shedding Religion to Find God (and the unlikely people who help you), and then Wide Open Spaces: Beyond Paint-by-Number Christianity. His most previous book is, Being Jesus in Nashville: Finding the Courage to Live Your Life (whoever and wherever you are). After leaving church ministry Jim led a non-profit agency for at-risk kids, and later served as the U.S. Director of Education for International Justice Mission, an international human rights organization based in Washington, D.C. In addition to writing, Jim is an adjunct professor of religion and ethics. He offers spiritual direction and coaching, and leads non-religious spirituality retreats and workshops. His current focus is The Religion-Free Bible Project, an endeavor of recreating the Bible in a voice that is free from religious bias, and free to fully express its profound and inclusive message for all humankind.   Jim and his family reside in Nashville, Tennessee. Divine Nobodies Shedding Religion to Find God (and the unlikely people who help you) By jim palmer W Publishing Group Copyright © 2007 Jim Palmer All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8499-1398-3 Contents Pseudo-Introduction...........................................................................ixReal Introduction.............................................................................xix1. Touched by a Drummer (Saint Kit) Knowing God.............................................12. Hip-Hop Geography (Extreme Doug) Straight Up.............................................173. Waffle House Theology (Wanda the Waitress) Calling.......................................334. Death to the Phantom (Worthless Grace) Identity..........................................475. What the Sheep Do We Know!? (The Kids of Silent Rocks Farm) Openness.....................556. The Black Hole of Intimacy (Laddie the Dog) Depression...................................677. Don't Mess with the EAMC (Mr. Adams, ASE Certified) Institutionalism.....................778. Pride and Prejudice (My Gay Friend Richard) Wholeness....................................899. Daughters (Jessica, an American Girl) Parenthood.........................................10110. August 7, 1959-July 22, 2000 (Father of Four) Belief.....................................11311. (E) None of the Above (Jill, the Flaming Swim Teacher) Politics..........................12912. Sex, Lies, and Paratroop Deployment (Rescued Varsha) Worldview...........................13913. The Great Reversal (Father Jeff) Religion................................................15114. Left Behind (Dominique, the Abandoned Boy) Scars.........................................16315. Where the Rubber Meets the Road (Rick, the Tire Salesman) Overflow...........