James Merritt, Touching Lives television host, pastor and author’s new release, Still Standing has something for everyone, especially anyone who faces tough times because of what’s happened in our nation in recent years. Whether the reader is one of the 2.6 million Americans who lost their jobs, their homes or their middle-class way of life, Pastor Merritt’s powerful principles offer tools of hope and encouragement.
This man of God speaks from personal knowledge on topics of unfair treatment, stress, depression and more, events he experienced when he was called to pastor a new church. “…where much of the ministerial staff didn’t share his theological convictions and philosophy.”
The first of nine chapters begin with When Life Knocks You Down where he learned, “Life’s greatest lessons are learned in the midst of life’s greatest struggles.” There, six months into his new pastorate he would be challenged by a “showdown on Sunday,” similar to Wyatt Earp’s gunfight at the Okay Corral. However, Pastor Merritt would use the Bible and the power of prayer instead of guns.
Eight strategies of practical wisdom are found in chapter themed titles that begin with “When Life is…Physically Draining…Dragging you Down…Unfair…Impossible…Tempts you to Sell Out…Run…Against you…Insufferable.”
These Bible based guiding principles, he calls “winning strategies,” equip readers to face “…tough times head on” with beliefs that lead to freedom, joy, victory and renewed faith. The stories of Joseph, Daniel and Esther among others illustrate faith based responses to stress and unfair treatment. Yet, it was from such life tests that resolute character was built.
Faith-based thinking teaches:
- Storms of life test character and resolve
- Suffering shifts our gaze to God
- Find the purpose in tough times
- God wants you focused—the devil wants you finished
- Our stumbling blocks can be God’s stepping stones to God’s plan
- You and God together can handle anything
God never promised we would escape life’s difficulties, He only promised to walk through troubled water with his children. From that point-of-view some of life’s greatest blessings come disguised as trauma and tragedy, a lesson my husband and I learned in 1994.
This book carries a five out of five rating because I believe it was written for such a time as this. Although short and easy-to-read, the larger message is that “when tough times come God will fight with you” if you are willing to “share the load” with Jesus.
‘Still Standing: 8 Winning Strategies for Facing Tough Times’ by James Merritt, Harvest House Publishers, 2012, 160 Pages, 978-0736943383, $12.99
Back Cover Copy:
~~For the battles you fight every Monday through Sunday~~
Everybody faces tough times. Yet when life threatens to trip you up, push you over, or knock you down, you can stand tall. Still Standing will strengthen your resolve and improve your chances of success as you discover God’s winning strategies for tackling your tough time times head-on.
JAMES MERRITT (PhD) is a pastor, author and host of the Touching Lives television program, seen nationwide and in 122 countries. He has served as a two-term president of America’s largest Christian denomination. As a national voice on faith and leadership, Merritt has been interviewed by Time, Fox News, ABC World News, and 60 Minutes.
Twitter: @GailWelborn
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