Who is John Sullivan? 
A sinner and a very grievous one at that. I am one of the most epitomally selfish human beings I know and thus the absolute antithesis of what God wishes us to be - a great irony considering how much I emphasize the selfless love God is and wishes us to become. Perhaps it is because I struggle so much that I have sought to understand the why, what and how of God's relationship with us and our relationship with Him.
I was born in New York City the first day of 1960 - a little over ten hours too late to be a tax deduction for 1959. My family is Catholic of primarily Irish and Italian ancestry although God and Church were not very important to me as a boy. God did become important to me as a young teenager although I certainly wasn't looking for Him when He found me. I had lots of questions that no one seemed able or interested to answer (perhaps it had more to do with my willingness to listen) so I decided God was not in the Catholic Church and sought Him elsewhere.
After High School, I couldn't decide if I wanted to smash atoms or sing opera so I decided to major in both Physics and Music. On the religious front, I became a member of the Worldwide Church of God. Although it held some unusual beliefs, I admired its intellectual honesty. They reasoned if one casts aside the oral tradition and follows the Bible only, then one must truly cast aside all tradition and not pick and choose from it. Thus we had some markedly different beliefs such as celebrating the seventh day Sabbath instead of Sunday, observing Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles and other biblical holy days rather than Easter and Christmas, no Heaven and Hell but rather death and resurrection and many others - different but seemingly very biblical.
After two years at the University of Rochester and the Eastman School of Music, I decided to study Theology at the Worldwide Church of God sponsored Ambassador College. Ambassador had a three year residency requirement. Between my time at Rochester and the large number of Advanced Placement classes I took in High School, I entered the four year program with three and half years of credits. I consequently had the privilege of studying Theology almost exclusively for those three years.
I had no particular career goals after graduating other than being of service to the Church with the goal of eventually serving in the ministry. So I returned to New York to help my Father start a new business in the concrete construction supply industry. It was during that ten year career that I not only learned much about business and start ups, married and started a family, but was also ordained into the ministry although not employed in the ministry.
We closed the family business during the economic downturn of the early nineties. At that point, I jumped into the world of Information Technology and moved the family to Maine where I continued to serve in the ministry while earning my own living. I started work with a few local computer shops, moved on to large corporate networks and ultimately into the world of global IT service delivery as the CTO of an early international Managed Service Provider.
It was during this period of life that, just as unexpectedly as first turning to God, I unexpectedly returned to the Catholic Church. One could say it was a very expensive 26 year digression. It really was a great blessing. It taught me to see the world through non-Catholic eyes. It allowed me to experience the holiness, the goodness and the evil that exists outside of the Catholic Church. I still earn my living in the world of Information Technology but hope to one day work full time helping others to fall in love with the beautiful and merciful God who willed us into being so that we could love and be loved.
and why does he think he has something to say?
That's a good question and one that is very important to me. I've experienced many people who think they are so important and knowledgeable as to have some to say when in reality they either benignly confuse others or maliciously exploit them. It seems quite presumptuous that I would have anything worthwhile to say. No vision or voice has commanded me to preach! No Bishop or authority has told me to go out and proclaim some message. I was very hesitant to pursue authoring and lecturing in a world already saturated with information.
However, members of my congregations repeatedly told me how helpful they found my sermons and Bible studies. After almost thirty years, the desire to help people leave the love vacuum in which most people live and know how much they are loved and to help them love in return has not grown weaker but ever stronger. Terribly confused and wanting to be neither presumptuous of the importance of my words nor self-willed in choosing how I serve God, I collected some of the more helpful sermon topics into a book, The Christian Journey, gave it to the Superior of a local Franciscan monastery and asked if it was anything worth sharing. He encouraged me that it was helpful and more substantial than much of what is commonly available for popular religious reading.
So, with that encouragement, I'll put forth the effort and leave the rest to God. I suppose one could say this is a value based program. If people find it helps them fall in love with God and be one with Him, if they find value, I trust they will support it. If my words are just so much noise, I truly hope my endeavors completely fail. If God wants it, it will succeed; if He doesn't, may it never see the light of day. I ask that you pray not for the success of this site but that it accomplish whatever God wishes. Thank you - John Sullivan