About Me

This is in no particular order.

MRJ-profile-pic-07-28-14I’ve been in ministry for nineteen years and I’ve been a senior/solo pastor for seventeen of those years. I love it and I’m thankful everyday that I get to do this. For me it’s not a job and it’s not just a living; it’s who I am.

I’m working on a PhD at the University of Chester and I’m focusing on Paul’s theology of suffering. I promise it’s not as depressing as it sounds.

Before ministry I was in management for Chase-Manhattan and when I left Chase I was a trading analyst for JP Morgan-Chase.

I have two awesome children. My wife is much better than I deserve.

My reading outside of biblical studies and theology is mostly scifi and mysteries. I’m a Sherlock Holmes nerd and a member of one of America’s oldest Sherlock Holmes societies.

My favorite theologian is Athanasius and my favorite pastor is Calvin. My favorite philosopher is Kierkegaard.

I’m from Jacksonville, I live in Metro Detroit, but Atlanta is my adopted hometown.

Here is a link to the church where I serve.

12 Responses to About Me

  1. Joan says:

    What is your email address? I need a sample funeral sermon for an unbeliever.
    Thanks

  2. Joan:

    Thanks for commenting. You may email me at pastor (at) ziontaylor (dot) org. Look forward to hearing from you.

  3. My wife is from Kalamazoo and Alexandria VA. She still has relatives in western Michigan

  4. Please friend me on Facebook
    Kenneth Macari

  5. Paul Uwemedimo says:

    GOD BLESS YOU and your ministry and GOD BLESS others through you! I read your review of the interview between Rob Bell and Andrew Wilson (after I had watched the interview myself). I have heard a lot about Rob Bell but have never actually read any of his writings or listened to him. So I was surprised by the lack of clarity he gave about where his position came from and his persistent refusal to answer the question. I was very impressed by Andrew Wilson (whom I too had not heard of before).

    I saw you are doing a PhD in theology by research and that you like Science Fiction! I love science fiction and I like mysteries too and I am also thinking of doing a PhD in theology by research so I thought I would say hi and post something on your blog. We will have many differences since you are Reformed and I am Catholic, but you might be surprised by how much we agree on.

    In Christ

    • Thanks for reading and commenting, Paul! Yes, we might very well agree on much and we can focus on that. I pray God’s blessings on you and wisdom for you as you decide about the PhD and I pray he makes you fruitful as you minister to others.

      Grace and Peace to you,
      Michael

  6. Hai, Michael, Thanks for your article. Its sound great! God bless you and use you more.

  7. Pete Tobias says:

    Michael, so blessed how God works when I come across your blog, and then find out your in my home city Taylor, Mich. It’s probably so different now since when growing up there, through the 70’s and 80’s (note: timeline last lived there). Enjoy your teachings and articles, very informing and true to the truth of God’s Word. May God bless you and your family, your congregation, and ministry. Look forward to following you, take care and “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (Ephesians 1:3).

  8. Michael Bridges says:

    Pastor Michael:

    I read your post on how to preach a funeral sermon to a nonbeliever audience or for the deceased who was a non-believer. I found your guidance to be very helpful. I am an ordained minister who will be preaching my first funeral on Tuesday, March 22 for the deceased who I understand never confessed Christ. Can you send me a couple funeral sermons to my email mdb1194@yahoo.com.

    Thank you.

    Min Michael Bridges

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.