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Merritt was born in South Carolina and grew up in Florida. He was rescued by God's saving grace in his early 20s, shortly after marrying his wife Yvette. Merritt & Yvette have three children, who are eagerly awaiting their next trip to the beach. In the 15+ years since graduating from seminary, Merritt has had the privilege of serving in student ministry, small group ministry, evangelism, and leadership development. Though he does not seem to receive much benefit from it, most mornings you can find him in the gym. His hobbies include softball, fishing, and hunting, and his "MUST READ" list for every Christian includes: The Gospel For Real Life (Jerry Bridges), and How People Change (Paul Tripp).
Posted by Merritt Anderson
Merritt Anderson
Merritt was born in South Carolina and grew up in Florida. He was rescued by God
User is currently offline
on Thursday, 12 April 2012
in Christian Living
The below post is from Justin Holcomb over at The Resurgence. The Resurgence is a church planting ministry and Justin serves as Executive Director of the Resurgence and leads the Leadership Development department and also serves a pastor at Mars Hill Church.
There was a woman named Kathy who swiped credit cards in a cafeteria at the University of Virginia, where I used to teach. Everyone who ate there knew her, because she emanated enough kindness to cheer up even the most discouraged students. She had a Facebook fan group with over 1400 fans, and people would go to the cafeteria just to hear her comforting words. She always delivered.
Kathy was a hit because she tapped into the human need for a comforting word. People feel tired, ugly, stupid, and unwanted, and they want to hear something different than what they think about themselves or are told by others or culture. ...
Posted by Merritt Anderson
Merritt Anderson
Merritt was born in South Carolina and grew up in Florida. He was rescued by God
User is currently offline
on Tuesday, 10 April 2012
in Theology
Christ in his passion was mocked on several occasions and each time the mockery occupied a unique place in his experience. First he was mocked by Israel, next he was mocked by the pagan world, then by a descendant of Edom, a false brother, and finally by all these together. He was mocked by the Sanhedrin, by Pilate's soldiers, by Herod and then by them all as they stood before the cross....
In the midst of this gruesome abuse our Lord stood unflinchingly, leaving himself at the mercy of his enemies, he who by a word could have destroyed them. But he maintained the omnipotence of his silence.... In his bearing in the midst of vile abuse, the Saviour left us an example that we should follow in his steps. We cannot be faithful to Christ in this world and avoid reproach and contempt, and in this our bearing should correspond in some measure to that of the master when he was so defamed.
-- Frederick S. Leahy, The Cross He Bore (pp. 58-59)
Posted by Merritt Anderson
Merritt Anderson
Merritt was born in South Carolina and grew up in Florida. He was rescued by God
User is currently offline
on Saturday, 07 April 2012
in Christian Living
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and the ham is thawing in the fridge. The special Easter haircuts are fresh, seasonal candy has been purchased for the kids, and that shirt you've been saving for the big day is all pressed. We get all geared up for Easter and this is a good thing. Is there anything more important than the full payment price for our many sins having been validated by God through Christ's resurrection? This good news is worthy of our greatest praise!
Are we to think about and meditate on Easter even when the day is in the rearview mirror? When the calendar tells us it's July could the resurrection still have significant help for Christians? What should we do with the resurrection beyond just knowing the Savior conquered sin & death? The answer is that the resurrection has a lot to say about our lives as Christians all of the time. We live in an era where some incredible resources are being made available for us to learn from. Books that are theologically informed and very well written are more and more becoming the norm. One of those books is called Lifted: Experiencing the Resurrection Life by Sam Allberry. May I encourage you to consider getting this book and enjoying Easter far beyond just one special Sunday morning.
Here is a little endorsement of the book from my friend Mike McKinley:
I was very glad to hear that my friend Sam Allbery’s book Lifted has been released in the US by P&R. I don’t know of a book that does a better job of explaining the importance and implications of Jesus’ resurrection for the “person in the pew”. I plan on having copies on hand for our church members leading up to Easter and throughout the year.
Posted by Merritt Anderson
Merritt Anderson
Merritt was born in South Carolina and grew up in Florida. He was rescued by God
User is currently offline
on Thursday, 05 April 2012
in Theology
No doubt everyone is aware that Easter Sunday is just a few days away. Because of God's grace many of us know Easter is about much more than chocolate bunnies and Reese's eggs (though Reese's eggs are hard to discount). The work Christ did (his life, death, burial, and resurrection) to make our redemption possible, is very likely to be on many of our minds as Sunday draws closer. In addition to re-reading the Gospel accounts of the Savior's willing death on the Cross and His triumphant resurrection from the grave, I would like to recommend a FREE resource that may aid in your understanding of what was taking place in those days. Right now chapter 9 from the book DOCTRINE is free online. This chapter is exceedingly helpful and faith-building as Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears go into detail about the reality that God had raised His Son on the third day! Christ's payment for our sins had been accepted! Reading this short chapter would be a significant encouragement to you heading into Sunday's Easter service.
There is another reason I am eager to commend this to you. DOCTRINE is such a helpful book that Dan & I have chosen it to be one of the main texts we will be working through during the INVEST Course starting this fall for the men & women of Grace Bible Church. This important chapter will allow you to catch a glimpse of what's coming this fall. I will be providing much more detail about the INVEST course in the coming months.
The Resurrection: God Saves, Chapter 9; DOCTRINE: What Christians Should Believe
Posted by Merritt Anderson
Merritt Anderson
Merritt was born in South Carolina and grew up in Florida. He was rescued by God
User is currently offline
on Wednesday, 04 April 2012
in Christian Living
Parenting is difficult- maybe the hardest task any of us will ever engage in. No step-by-step manual. No diagrams. No warnings for upcoming challenges. No way to gauge our progress. No crystal ball to tell us the future. If you're like me then you are often far more aware of your failures as a parent than you are of any grace for parenting. Sometimes we are left wondering how God can work in our children's lives when our efforts seem so ineffective. Below is some rich encouragement from the book "Give Them Grace" (Fitzpatrick & Thompson) that reminds us God is not limited even by our errors in parenting:
The disciples couldn't hinder the children from coming to him even though they tried.
When God calls our children to come to him, even if we haven't gotten it all right, even if we've trained little Pharisees or have a house full of prodigals, nothing is impossible for him. He can break through all our flawed methods and redeem all our frail errors. ...
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