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Hey everyone! So glad to have found this community. You will find my wife Kellie on here as well. I grew up in the Christian faith, learned all the “right” things, regurgitated all the “right” things, got degrees in all the “right” things, became a pastor and preached all the “right” things. Then I woke up and became more honest about myself, about the world, and about faith. I realized the Jesus I was preaching was one that Jesus wouldn’t know. My wife and I began to realize the value of questioning the answers. We originally thought that the answer to those questions was house churches, but as we found answers more questions came about, and we realized that our belief systems were becoming so radically different that we would not fit or really be accepted in any kind of church setting necessarily. I especially began to realize that many of the things I was taught to believe, I never really believed deep down in the pit of my soul. As my “God” gets bigger, our circle of close friends potentially gets smaller. Honesty is a very lonely place to be. So looking forward to connecting with all of you, and thank you!
Charles,
Welcome to the group. The great thing about TLS is that we are all on a journey with no stated end-goal expect for spiritual (and self) discovery. As such there is no concept here of some people being farther along than others. Each person brings their own unique background and set of experiences that we can all learn from. Some are deconstructing from one background and re-constructing into something different. Others may have already deconstructing and are content to stay deconstructed without coming to be something different. Many have the attitude that we have our whole life to figure things out so take your whole life to figure them out and enjoy the journey. Personally, I was not raised religious so I’ve never had to deal with the fear and guilt some have, but I have had to deal with being socially ostracized at various points in my life and feeling that I needed to hide my religious beliefs (or lack there-of). It is great that there is a community here where theological subjects can be discussed where people won’t judge you.
AnonymousHi Charles – So glad to have you and your wife Kellie join this amazing, accepting, loving community! I just wrote a response to your wife so I’m not going to repeat it all again. But just wanted to welcome you as well! Being here is like experiencing a huge breath of fresh air – that just goes on and on and on.
Welcome…I would love to hear the story of your journey. I find it fascinating when people in ministry have such a radical conversion and your insight will be so valuable. Excited to have you and your wife join us
Thanks everybody for your support! Hmmm, my story. My story is very long and complicated LOL. The early story of my exodus from the church is in my book. I don’t mind sharing it, but it is a lot to share here. Maybe I can do a potluck convo with you all and David sometime. Our journey began with reading certain books such as Pagan Christianity, Mere Churchianity, and some others as well. I honestly wasn’t ready to leave yet because of the income, but the financial struggles of the church I pastored prompted the elders to conveniently turn up the heat, and much of the heat was directed at antagonizing my wife. Eventually they gave me a formal written document detailing a “shape up or ship out” plan based on my performance (or lack thereof). The main driver was very clearly the money though. The writing was on the wall and I stepped down. There is much more, but that is the gist. Shortly after that Rob Bell’s book Love Wins came out, and I actually liked it, but did not broadcast it. This part is not in the book, but I have thought about writing a follow-up someday. I realized that deep down, the doctrine of Hell had always disturbed me, and I couldn’t balance it with a loving God. And then there is the death of Jesus, which apparently isn’t really powerful enough to save everybody (according to traditional evangelicalism). So that is the journey I have been on. I have a lot more to share, but I think I may talk to David about doing a HANGOUT sometime. If any of you are on Facebook, I am in the group on there, so feel free to friend request me.
AnonymousThought I would chime in here too…. I am his better half… just kidding, honey.
It is so nice to meet everyone on here…. I feel like there is so much to say and not sure where to begin!
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