Tim Chastain, 1951-2019
After a lifetime of scholarly and deeply personal exploration of his Christian faith, Tim Chastain started the Jesus Without Baggage blog in 2013 and posted articles regularly until his passing in June 2019.
The blog was a very important part of his life, and he greatly prized his interaction with commenters. For this reason, Tim’s family is preserving the blog’s online presence, including the comment threads. However, since the family will be unable to monitor the blog, the comment function on all previous posts is now disabled.
Tim’s expert interpretation of Christianity and the Bible was complex, insightful and unique to him. Tim’s family hopes that you will be able to benefit from continued access to the articles on his blog and his responses to commenters.
Jesus Without Baggage 
I’m so sorry for your loss. I’m thankful for Tim’s presence in the Christian blogging community. He will surely be missed!
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You’re right Lily…
I won’t cover I’m wonder how those last months were looking…
And, maybe We should to follow the path he started? We shouldn’t to let this mission to die with him. Don’t You think so?
I want all of the people who will visit this blog to debate about it. Our religious ideologies are similar to Tim’s… We can to continue his mission, right?
Why not? We are all been visiting this blog for the reason. For the reason which was the similarity of our ideologies.
And I’m sure Tim is now in Heaven… Maybe he wants us to continue this blog.
What do You think about this Lily?
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Wait! What? Our precious Tim is dead?
That is sad. Very sad. I loved that guy so much, I loved a lot of things he said… I was wonder why Tim isn’t posting anything. And now… He passed away… Very sad…
Black Fox will miss Tim.
To the Tim’s family, don’t let this blog to die with him, please.
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I so enjoyed reading Tim’s blog. He brought a deeper understanding of Christianity to me. My deepest condolences, Drew to you and your family.
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I too am very sorry for your loss. My husband and I learned so much from Tim. He was such a lovely and wise and encouraging man. He even took the time to answer personal questions. He will be missed by the community, but how much more by his family. May God strengthen and bless you all.
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Sending love and support to your family at this difficult time. I haven’t followed the blog closely….I discovered it relatively recently. But it’s been helpful to hear Tim’s insight and thoughts. Thank you for leaving it accessible. I’m sure there are many who will benefit as time goes by. Sending love and praying for God’s peace in this moment.
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I am devastated by this news. I heard about it a couple months ago on Facebook. I had been messaging the Facebook page before that because I feared the worst. Tim will be greatly missed, as his clear and sincere thoughts have helped me and so many others greatly. I know that Tim had hope, and I have that same hope. I hope that the family can recover and be comforted during this time.
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Drew, Thanks! And to your family for sharing Tim with us. Look forward to seeing him soon enough.
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This blog meant more than I can express to me in my faith journey and it was a pleasure to read his work.
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I’m sorry for your loss. Tim was insightful and whether you agreed with him or not and vice versa, was willing to look at various perspectives on Christianity and to provide evidence for the ones he believed and make others who shared his faith or not, think and in some cases examine their Christian faurg to strengthen in it. My condolenscences to your family.
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I echo Lily’s sentiments. I’m sorry for your loss, and he will surely be missed dearly. But I am definitely thankful for all he’s done.
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Thank you, Drew and family, for your decision to allow JWOB to remain a source of sustenance and insight for those of us who struggle to follow Jesus in the days of the American Empire, as his first disciples struggled to follow him in the Roman. I could get wordy here, but instead let me simply link to something previously posted that sort of says it all, both about Tim and his amazing blog.
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My heart is so sad. My deepest sympathies. Tim was very kind.
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Reblogged this on Lucky Otters Haven and commented:
I was saddened by this news. Tim had a great blog, and always focused on Jesus’ message of love and hope instead of the legalistic, hellfire and brimstone rhetoric of so many other Christian preachers today.
Tim’s blog gave me comfort in times of stress, and explained difficult religious concepts in a very down to earth and easy to understand way.
Rest in Peace, Tim.
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Well done, good and faithful servant
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I completely agree. I’ve missed the posts lately, and he had made reference to dealing with health matters. I’m so sorry for his loss, both for his family, for myself, and for all his readers. I recommended his blog frequently.
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So that’s why it’s been so quiet lately. 😦 Thanks for keeping it online and I’m sorry for your loss.
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Thanks, family, for letting us know. My sympathies for your loss. From time to time, Tim commented on my blog, and I appreciated that.
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I have enjoyed and benefited from Tim’s insights over the past several years. I will miss him. My sympathy to his family.
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I am so sorry for your loss of Tim. He will be truly missed. His wisdom was healing and provided me with a much needed new perspective on my faith as I struggled with leaving my church and searching for another. His blogs gave so much insight to so many people. May your family be blessed and comforted beyond measure during your grieving.
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Holding you close in my thoughts and prayers.
Love always.
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I am so sad to hear this. Tim introduced me to a new way of viewing things, and for that I am so grateful. My condolences to you.
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I’m so very sorry for your loss. While I never met Tim in person, I considered him a friend based on our online interactions. He has been a blessing for so many people and will be sorely missed. The world is a bit emptier today with Tim’s passing. Blessings to Tim’s family.
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I’m sorry. I always valued Tim’s posts.
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Like so many other people here, I am also very sorry to hear about your loss. Tim put a lot of work into this effort and it is obvious that he touched a lot of people. His entire family will be in my prayers this week.
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Tim was one of my best friends in the world since college when we began questioning dogmatic teachings and trying to get to the essence of the message of Jesus. We compared notes over the decades and discovered we had reached many of the same conclusions. Where we had not both studied the same topics, we found each of our ideas meshed well with the other’s. I’m glad I was able to help with the graphics for Tim’s blog. I continue to think of topics he would be interested in, but we had our last long talk a month or so before his final decline.
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I am terribly sorry to hear about Tim’s passing. I did not know or realize he had been ill again. Praying for Marilyn, Andrew and family.
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I’m so sorry to hear this. In many ways his faith journey paralleled my own, and he was one of the main inspirations for me to start blogging about matters theological myself. My deepest sympathies to all those he leaves behind.
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Just come across this website – wish I had found it before so could have thanked Tim for serving so many of us (there are a growing band of Christians I know who are exactly where Tim described things on the Home page).
I shall be alerting my fellow travellers to this website. It will be a great help as we explore questions and issues in our Chrysalis Group (based on Alan Jamieson’s Spirited Exchanges).
Thank you so much for it – please keep it going
John, Brighton, UK
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Rest in Peace Tim. I am thankful I found this blog. My sincerest condolences to you and your family, Drew
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Pingback: Tim | Flying in the Spirit
Tim has meant so much to me in working out my faith. And I would think this is true for many. I deeply grieve his loss and pray for his family in their grief. May Tim’s hope in Christ be realized now beyond our poor ability to imagine.
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My condolences to Drew and family. Your dad was a very special man who touched many lives in a positive and encouraging way. He was an example to many of us on how to live in and express God’s love to all. Now he is in that love in a new way, face to face. Thank you for leaving JWOB up as a reference as well as ongoing conversation. Hopefully we can continue in the spirit that Tim did in his responses to all who commented on his posts.
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Tim will be missed. JWB was a haven for pursuit of theological truth. His comments and discussions showed deep theological understanding and sincerity. I enjoyed these very much.
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In a preceding post, Sojourner hopes that we here at JWOB can “continue in the spirit that Tim did….” I don’t know how long this farewell thread will allow us to talk with one another, or whether there might be some other way for those of us who loved Tim’s internet ministry to continue the conversations that drew us together and deepened our faith, but I do know that Tim would want that to happen. So here’s a poem, published today on “Journey With Jesus,” which seems to express Tim’s beautiful, baggage-free message about following our risen Lord. I include a brief bio of the poet, perhaps even more spiritually uplifting.
Small Deeps
From Edwina Gateley, There Was No Path So I Trod One (1996, 2013)
We are too complicated.
We seek God here, there and everywhere.
We seek God in holy places, in books,
in rules, regulations, rites and rituals.
We seek God in pomp and glory and ceremony,
in relics and statues
and visions and shrines.
We seek God in Popes and Fathers and saints.
Ah, like lost bewildered children,
we seek outside the God
who waits to be found
in the small deeps
of the human heart.
Born in Lancaster, England, Edwina Gateley’s educational experiences have awarded her a Teacher’s Degree from England, a Masters in Theology from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and certification as an HIV counselor in the State of Illinois. From 1981 to 1982, Edwina lived for nine months in prayer and solitude in a hermitage in Illinois. In 1983, she spent over a year on the streets of Chicago, walking with the homeless and women involved in prostitution. Within these two experiences were the seeds of her ministry that would be realized in 1983 when she founded a house of hospitality and nurturing for women involved in prostitution. …Edwina is currently writing, leading retreats for abused and marginalized women, and serving as “Mother Spirit” for Exodus, a program in Chicago for women in the second phase of recovery from prostitution.
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It was a privilege to know Tim through this blog, his kind hearted goodness being a great inspiration and a lesson to me. I do and shall miss his regular comments and wisdom. I hope family and friends shall have great memories until meeting him again.
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Thank you, Tim. You’ll be greatly missed. I am deeply saddened by this news, and I pray that your work goes on to help so many others in their flight from the baggage so many of us carry. God bless. May you forever be at peace in the hands of Our Lord and Savior.
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