Jim Palmer's Blog, page 18

Dear Jim (and all Christian leaders): Time to pull our heads out

It is an epic mistake to assume that the traditional teachings of the Christian church accurately represent who Jesus was and what he was about. Jesus got a raw deal in the Christian religion. People have been trained to understand Jesus within a faulty religious framework. Outside that framework, a very different picture emerges. For example, Jesus did NOT: start the Christian religion; view human beings as “sinners”; die in order to rescue people from God; or establish a spiritual hierarchy of “clergy” and “laity.”

The Christian religion taught people to look up into the sky to find God and Jesus there, while Jesus himself told people to look within themselves. The salvation of our world is not going to fall down out of the sky, and heaven is not a city of gold beyond the clouds. The salvation we are waiting for and the heaven we imagine is not somewhere over the rainbow but inside each of us! Jesus said this 2,000 years ago before he was hijacked by the Christian establishment. This is why I wrote Inner Anarchy. I am in this for the birth of a new age and world, and I believe humankind is ready. However, there are false worldly and religious beliefs, mindsets and ideologies that are ruling us from within, and blocking the way forward. Buried beneath all those layers of beliefs, mindsets and ideologies is the only true source that has the power to get us out of this mess but right now we’re stuck. Inner Anarchy was meant to be a case of dynamite to blast a decent-sized hole through all the BS so we can get out, and save ourselves and the world. Look, I know I’m coming down pretty hard on the Christian religion in all this. I’m the first one to admit that I myself was the Christian leader who was guilty of preaching a powerless gospel and keeping people locked up in a mentality and belief system that leads nowhere. It doesn’t have to be this way! Christian leaders everywhere need to pull our heads out of our asses and start realizing that WE (as in, I’m including myself) have been blocking the way for everyone and now need to be at the front of the line, leading the jail break to freedom. This is the Jesus we claim we represent!!

Is Jesus dead or alive?

“Where is Jesus?

Is he dead and gone? Is he alive? If so, where is he? In heaven? And what and where is heaven exactly? Is he coming back? How? When? Why?

The Christian religion teaches that Jesus died to atone for the sins of the world, rose from the dead, and will return one future day to perform God’s final judgment. But twenty centuries later, there is still no Jesus. Why the delay? Where is he?

The world has assumed that the Christian religion represents the life, message, and teachings of Jesus. But that view is changing.”

- Jim Palmer, Inner Anarchy

Jesus is not in the sky

The above picture pretty much sums up why the world is in the mess that we are. People are gazing up into the sky, thinking God is located up there somewhere, along with our salvation, power, guidance, freedom, and well-being.

The Christian religion taught us to look up into the sky to find God and Jesus there, while Jesus himself taught people to look within themselves. This is one of the false mindsets I wrote about in Inner Anarchy: “Jesus often spoke of the necessity of his death, which upset his closest followers. Jesus explained that his death was a necessary step to shift their attachment from the physical Jesus to his Spirit—that higher spiritual presence inside them. Unfortunately, the Christian religion has failed to make this shift; they pay homage and place the focus on the physical Jesus but have not turned toward or manifested that higher spiritual presence within them.”

The salvation of our world is not going to fall down out of the sky. Heaven is not a location with streets of gold above the clouds. The salvation we are waiting for and the heaven we imagine is somewhere over the rainbow is inside each of us! Jesus bore witness to and demonstrated this 2,000 years ago, and then we proceeded to hijack his message and called it “Christianity.”

Why our religious hang-ups are killing us

The world is as it currently exists is being ruled by false, powerless, and corrupt mindsets, beliefs and ideologies. We’ve progressed about as far as we can inside the parameters of those mindsets and ideologies. There is nowhere else left to go! Now what? We have to dethrone and tear down every single one of these false mindsets, beliefs and ideologies. Hmmm. Where are all these mindsets, beliefs and ideologies operating? Societal institutions? Religions organizations? Government? Mass media? Educational system? NO! I’ll tell you where they are – in your head! Yes, that’s right – YOUR head… and mine. The revolution has to start with you… me… first. Jesus said, “Take out the log in your own eye before you get too self-righteous about the speck in someone else.” In other words, dethrone and tear down the false mindsets that are ruling within you, before you get all worked up about these mindsets are in others.

We get nowhere by swapping out a bunch of old mental God/religion ideas with a bunch of a new and improved ones. This is not a battle of beliefs, doctrines, and ideologies. The inner anarchy I am taking about is an epic shift in source – shifting from that mental religious/worldly reasoning in our head, and shifting to the Spirit-awareness/consciousness dimension within us us. This is how Jesus said we would find this “kingdom” he talked so much about.

What I’m talking about here is different. It’s going to require some new ways of being and operating. What typically happens is that people try to pour new wine into old wineskins. It doesn’t work. What I wrote in Inner Anarchy was not intended to be a new belief system but many people will relate to it this way because it’s what we know and how we do things. We’re not quite sure how to relate to something that doesn’t work like a belief system. This is not about adopting and debating more enlightening beliefs and doctrines blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The inner anarchy I’m describing is about operating from a different source altogether. Unfortunately, religion cut many people off from that source. The future of our world depends on finding our way back to it.

Many people have so many religious hang-ups that they have difficulty accessing what’s real in their deep feelings. In fact, just the mention of “feelings” causes warning sirens to sound because of the way we have been programmed by religion. As I wrote in Inner Anarchy, there is a very real persona or Spirit consciousness within us. Don’t let the words trip you up. It’s not some woo-woo weird thing. It’s actually a very natural reality, which is why Jesus said you must become like a little child to grab a hold of it. Unfortunately, religion has cut people off from this place. When we start operating in that reality we will find it is a very free atmosphere where people’s facades come down, and we are free to express it and share in it together.

Are we up shit creek? (and how to get out of it)

People get stuck in all this heady/mental stuff, which is often the mindsets, beliefs and ideologies that have been programmed into us by the world and religion. So many people are still under the authority of that old world. Changing out or adding new and improved heady ideas and beliefs about God doesn’t change anything. Most of it is still coming from the same old powerless world. However, there is another world, realm, reality, “Kingdom” that is within us. It is a different authority, consciousness, source and dimension. This is the Spirit and Kingdom Jesus said is within us – the same Spirit and Kingdom that was within him. This dimension and awareness opens up and bubbles up through our deep feelings. I’m going to do a Jim Palmer paraphrase of something Jesus said: “We are all up shit creek until we start to link up on this deeper level – that Spirit within us.”

The grace movement (and why it is NOT finished)

I’ve been pondering the various “grace” movements. The focus is on the idea that “it is finished,” and everyone is okay with God because of what Jesus did.

In my view, this fact is rather self-evident. Humankind has never been separated from God. Jesus said, “I am the truth,” which is God and humankind as one. The life, source, and Spirit of Jesus runs through us all. So far, so good.

And yet, I’m a bit concerned about the “it is finished” mentality, and how it is sometimes applied.

Finished? This world is a frickin mess! Does our current situation seem “finished” to you? It’s not enough to say that we are all good with God, and can  kick back now and wait for Heaven. The reality is that it is NOT finished in a very essential way. The shoe that still has to drop is turning toward the life, source, and Spirit that is within us and lifting it up out of ourselves and into the world. The “finished” part is not what the physical Jesus did 2000 years ago, but what the “Jesus-Spirit” within us must do now.

This is not a time for basking in our divine acceptance, which has always been the case. The part that needs to happen is accessing that heaven dimension within us, and bringing it out into the world. Even if we are successful with the inner anarchy of dethroning the mindsets, beliefs, and ideologies ruling within us, we still are not going anywhere until we lift that Spirit up out of us. We access that dimension in and through our deep feelings. It’s the way we experience the Spirit opening up inside us. This is why I wrote Inner Anarchy. It’s time to take that step together now!

When Jesus said, “It is finished,” he was telling the world that there was nothing more for him to give. The text in John 19 says, “He bowed His head and gave up his spirit.” Gave up his spirit where? To/in us! This was the transition that had to take place – from the physical Jesus to the Jesus-Spirit within us, and us that lifting that Spirit up out of ourselves and into the world.

Yes, it’s true that for Jesus it was “finished,” but for us it’s only just begun.

Time to fly FFR – Feeling Flight Rules

There are two kinds of aircraft navigational systems – VFR and IFR.

VFR (visual flight rules) is where one makes tracking decisions based on what they can visually see and then act accordingly. It is reliant upon having a clear horizon view. The other is IFR (instrument flight rules) where we cannot see a clear horizon, or what is up ahead, so we fly on instruments that tell us what our position is, and we fly according to that information.

Most of us operate our lives under IFR guidance systems. That means our course is already plotted, or programmed into our minds and we automatically react accordingly. Our reactions are very predictable. Almost like robots – we know how various people will react before they open their mouths. We are on an auto pilot ruled by systems that are fixed in our minds, and they are far from being infallible. There is no universal agreement among the various system designers either, which only drive us humans apart. Many of the parameters we use to keep us on a straight and level course, are, at best, only guesses. We regularly spin out when things get complex!

So, I have a suggestion. How about trying VFR? Actually, many people are doing this today. They are attempting to switch off their auto pilots and fly hands on. They are taking over their own lives and attempting to “fly” a course based on what they can see with their eyes and senses. But this is dodgy because there are times where visibility gets very cloudy and we can easily spin out again. What gives? Now what? We don’t want to go back to the IFR system.

How about this: FFR! Feeling Flight Rules! This is where we become conscious of that mind/Spirit deep within us so when we run into a situation that requires us to make an in-flight decision we ask ourselves, “Now what do I truly feel?”

It bubbles up from within and that’s what we acknowledge and that is where we head. When we fly FFR we are plugged into that life/source/Spirit deep within us, and it leads us out of the cloud, the murkiness, the turbulence of this crazy world to wide open skies of happiness, love, peace and life forever.

Just reach down and turn on that switch to connect yourself with those deep feelings… and fly!

Advent (What are we waiting for?)

Today marks the first Sunday of Advent. The word ‘Advent’ derives from the Latin word meaning coming. In the Christian religion this is understood in terms of the “Second Coming” of Christ. The theme of readings and teachings during Advent is often the preparation for the “Second Coming” while commemorating the first coming of Christ at Christmas.

My question this morning is: What are we waiting for???

Advent anticipates the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. 2000 years ago Jesus bore witness and demonstrated the truth, which is that the life-giving Spirit – the same Spirit that was within him – is in us. Why are we waiting for what we already have? What’s left to do is to lift that life and Spirit up out of us and into the world. That’s the “Second Coming” this world is waiting for and needs.

With the typical way Advent is practiced, the Christian religion has us standing around helpless, looking into the sky waiting for Jesus to come back. The reality is that Jesus never left in terms of his Spirit being with and in us, and what we must do now is lift that Spirit out of us.

Here’s another Latin word – animaduertere. It means “to take action.” That’s the season we are in now – not Advent, but Animaduertere. It’s a season to stop waiting and to take action. It’s a season of inner anarchy. It’s a season of tearing down those false mindsets that have been ruling within us. It’s a season to turn to that deep-feeling life, Spirit, and source within us, and to lift it out of us into the world. It’s a season of true and authentic togetherness – speaking what we feel deep inside of us to one another in our own words. The waiting is over! It’s time to birth that Kingdom Jesus spoke of. This is the second coming the world is waiting for. This is why I wrote Inner Anarchy – to wake us up out of waiting mode, and embolden us to take action mode.

The Theory of Everything (and the big questions that face us now)

Last night we went to see The Theory of Everything – a film about the life of physicist, Stephen Hawking. It was a great movie. Fascinating. Eddie Redmayne as Hawking and Felicity Jones as Jane were phenomenal.

Steven Hawking once said, “All of my life, I have been fascinated by the big questions that face us.” I am not a physicist but I share this same interest. This is why I wrote Inner Anarchy. There are big questions facing humankind in a time when our world is under great strain. The answers we most desperately need are not going to be found by looking up into the stars, but only by looking inside ourselves. This is what Jesus said 2000 years ago, and it is still true today.

Inner Anarchy is a hard-hitting book and pulls no punches. When you’ve been living in a comfortable dream, the truth can be difficult to swallow. But we have to wake up! We are asleep in a dream that is killing us and every living thing. Though the message in this book is not without controversy, especially for the religious crowd, it is a message that every person can sort out for themselves, whatever your religious or spiritual background may be or no religious belief at all. Please consider reading it and sharing it with your friends.

The book is currently available on Amazon.

Here’s some additional info about the book.

The big questions facing humankind and our world can only be answered by looking inside ourselves, and by lifting up what we find there out of ourselves and into the world. This is going to require a real and authentic togetherness that is growing among us. This is an appeal to speak the truth that is deep inside you – lift it up and speak it to one another in your own words.

This world is not too far gone to be transformed by love. I believe in my heart that we are on the brink of birthing a new age and world. That age and world exists right now in our heart.

10 mindsets to set on fire

10 mindsets that rule us from within that we must tear down to the ground:

1. I am separated from God.

2. I am inherently bad.

3. I can’t trust what I feel deep inside me.

4. This world is hopeless and beyond transformation.

5. I have to die to get to heaven.

6. There are people and groups in this world who are the enemies.

7. There is no possibility or basis for uniting people together as one.

8. Whatever I do ultimately makes little difference.

9. One day the answer and solution will fall down out of the sky.

10. I lack the capability and power to birth a new reality.