+Blog

You and I are on a journey. There’s a problem with our path… It’s littered with barriers, battles and bottomless pits. Chief among our obstacles are the many unhealthy, somewhat messy and unbelievably trashed relationships.

You may be expecting the usual Christian spiels: Just “get saved.” Just love Jesus. You can avoid suffering if you have enough faith Jesus. You need to find a good church home.

Jesus is all right with me.

It’s true. I have no problem with Jesus. I don’t have any problems with God. I do have plenty of problems with the ways that we, you and I, bend, distort and subvert Jesus’ message. I have problems with those who use Jesus as a baseball bat to pummel others. I have problems with those who are angry at others who criticize bad behavior that is labeled by some as “Christian.

If that describes you, then I want to ask your forgiveness for sounding like I’m sitting in judgement. I just want to help you break free…really free.  Not free of God or Jesus, but free in their love.

Let me be clear. I am not against the Christian church, unless it forgets the message at its core.

I am for experiencing, modeling and, as much as possible, teaching what I believe is the central theme of Jesus’ message. That message is about Reconnecting the Divine and the divinely created. It’s about Reconciling God and humanity. It’s about Rebuilding a relationship that was always intended to be. It’s a message about forgiving and being forgiven…and living in freedom.

If that’s anti-Church, then so be it.

+Me

My name is Michael.  I am married to a lovely woman to whom I refer as “Amazing Amy.”  Don’t get me
started singing her praises or I’ll have to rename the entire site in her honor.  We live in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. Amy is a training consultant / coach and former educator and school administrator. I am taking some time away from 8 years working as a church pastor to work on a few projects I have in mind and to consider how best to serve God and love my neighbor in the future.

If you want to learn more about what drives me and this site, you can read my values.

Entrepreneur, Thinker and Coffee Drinker

I love to create and am currently developing an idea for a book and a para-church non-profit to meet a need that I think I see. There are other projects in the works, too, in addition to blogging.

I have always been an avid reader who likes to analyze, synthesize, and tell the story of my conclusions. My father advised me early in my life (about age 8 or 9) to find a career where I got paid to read and tell people about what I had read.

I came by “coffee drinker” like so many others…college. Late nights meant lots of caffeine. I still want to go to sleep when the sun sets. Please, serve my coffee black. Varieties only…no flavors.  I will occasionally take cream and sugar, but I usually save that for my tea. I know… I should only have two cups per day.

+Connect

You can connect with me on the contact page, by commenting on posts, and on these social networking sites:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

You can also keep up with this site by getting the RSS feed and joining the e-mail list.

+Call to Action

You’ve read this far. I hope you share the vision that we can not only experience freeing and life-sustaining relationships with God, self and others, but also influence the process of reconnecting, reconciling and rebuilding so that others may benefit.

If you share that vision, then I urge you to find a way to take a first step toward reconnecting, reconciling or rebuilding at least one relationship.  I don’t know where you’re starting…  Wherever it is, together is a great way to go.

Blessings,
/jmt