Pastor Michael T

From The Pit... To The Pulpit: A Life Transformed By Grace

Pentagon Publishing 2004

         The Reverend Michael Tomlinson (known as Pastor Michael T) wasn't always a man of God. In fact, he lived many years as an enemy of the Lord spending a third of his life behind the walls of San Quentin State Prison and other California penal institutions. Michael T's story is a  riveting tale of self will run riot that included a thirty-year struggle with heroin addiction, violent crimes and other forms of lawlessness, brutality, and the insanity of the prison culture to the redemptive and transforming power of Jesus Christ in his life. He documents this journey in his book, From The Pit... To The Pulpit: A Life Transformed by Grace.

In his self-published 168-page paperback tome, Michael T paints for the reader a very graphic and disturbing portrait of his life of crime as well as the violence, hatred, racism, and the "revolving door" mentality  that is synonymous with the prison system. He also gives readers a ringside seat to that profound and sacred moment when Christ transformed his life in a solitary confinement prison cell just moments before he attempted to take his own life. 

Not only did Michael T receive new life, he received a new vision and purpose for ministry as well: founding an aftercare program for prisoners who parole from prison. The result is Jordan Crossing Ministries/Discipleship Homes in Palermo, CA, which, for the past 13 years has discipled a vast amount of men who were released from prison, jail, and off the streets. According to the Jordan Crossing Ministries website, 80% of all their graduates have successfully integrated back into society. 

Now at age 60, Michael T shows no signs of slowing down. His passion for this ministry burns with the intensity of a man half his age. These days one can find him returning periodically to San Quentin not as a consumer of correctional services, but as an advocate and bearer of good news and hope in the saving power of God. His ministry has been recognized by Chuck Colson and Prison Fellowship, talk show host Larry King, Jerry Graham (author of Where The Flies Don't Land), and the Trinity Broadcast Network, among others.

From The Pit...To The Pulpit has all the edge-of-your-seat action of a Bonnie and Clyde caper to the thrill of a Billy Graham crusade. It recaps how one of society's biggest losers came to be a winner in God's economy, rising from the seemingly hopeless pit of self-destruction to the height of God's unmerited love, mercy, and purpose.

A truly remarkable story that is not only inspiring but also "unputdownable."

Rating:  *****

- Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

From The Pit... To The Pulpit can be obtained by logging on to the Jordan Crossing Ministries website at  www.jordancrossingministries.org  or by ordering through Amazon.com at  www.amazon.com  

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