
Jonathan is a faith and culture writer who has published over 300 articles in respected outlets such as USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, BeliefNet, Christianity Today, The Huffington Post, and CNN.com. He is author of Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet (2010), which Publisher's Weekly called "a must-read for churchgoers," and the forthcoming A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars (April 2012). As a respected Christian voice, he has been interviewed by ABC World News, NPR, CNN, PBS, Fox News, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Jonathan first entered the public eye when a classroom epiphany prompted him to organize a national coalition of Christian leaders who care about the creation, founding the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative. Since then, he's been on the front lines of pressing cultural conversations from poverty to orphan care. He is a member of the national board of directors for Bethany Christian Services, America's largest adoption agency. Outreach magazine recently named Jonathan one of "30 Emerging Influencers" reshaping Christian leadership. Known for his ability to tackle difficult issues through both the written and spoken word, Jonathan has become a sought after speaker by colleges, seminaries, churches and conferences on cultural and religious issues. He holds a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Wake Forest, NC) and a Master of Theology from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology (Atlanta, GA). Jonathan resides outside of Atlanta, GA where he serves and teaches at Cross Pointe Church. You can follow Jonathan, but please, only on twitter: @jonathanmerritt
by Jonathan Merritt
Rating: 4.1 ⭐
• 2 recommendations ❤️
As America rapidly becomes a pluralistic, postmodern society, many of us struggle to talk about faith. We can no longer assume our friends understand words such as grace or gospel. Others, like lost and sin, have become so negative they are nearly conversation-enders.Jonathan Merritt knows this frustration well. After Jonathan moved from the Bible Belt to New York City, he discovered that whenever conversations turned to spirituality, the words he'd used for decades didn't connect with listeners anymore. In a search for answers and understanding, Jonathan uncovered a spiritual crisis affecting tens of millions. In this groundbreaking book, one of America's premier religion writers revives ancient expressions through cultural commentary, vulnerable personal narratives, and surprising biblical insights. Both provocative and liberating, Learning to Speak God from Scratch will breathe new life into your spiritual conversations and lure you into the embrace of the God who inhabits them.
Is the God who created us better than the God we've created?After following Jesus for nearly two decades, Jonathan Merritt decides to confront the emptiness of a faith that's dry, predictable, and rote. In a moment of desperation, he cries out for God to show up and surprise him, and over the next year, God doesn't disappoint.In JESUS IS BETTER THAN YOU IMAGINED, Jonathan shares vulnerable stories of how he learned to encounter Jesus in unexpected ways. Through a 60-hour vow of silence in a desert monastery, he experiences Jesus in silence. When a friend dies of a rare disease, he sees Jesus in tragedy. Through confronting childhood sexual abuse, Jonathan discovers Jesus in honesty. In an anti-Christian-themed bar, he finds Jesus in sacrilege. And when he's almost kidnapped in Haiti by armed bandits, he experiences Jesus in the impossible.Though Jonathan finds himself in places he never dreamed of, he doesn't lose his way. Instead, these experiences force him back to the Bible, where he repeatedly offers fresh, sometimes provocative, interpretations of familiar passages. Along the way, he throws back the covers on the sleepy faith of many Christians, urging them to search for the Holy in their midst.Pointed and poignant by turns, Jonathan helps readers open their hearts to a mysterious God and a faith that sustains, guides, and most importantly, surprises. His fearlessly honest story invites us all to discover the messy mercy and crazy grace of a sometimes startling Savior.
Every day, major headlines tell the story of how Christianity is attempting to influence American culture and politics. But statistics show that young Americans are disenchanted with a faith that has become culturally antagonistic and too closely aligned with partisan politics. In this personal yet practical work, Jonathan Merritt uncovers the changing face of American Christianity by uniquely examining the coming of age of a new generation of Christians.Jonathan Merritt illuminates the spiritual ethos of this new generation of believers who engage the world with Christ-centered faith but an un-polarized political perspective. Through personal stories and biblically rooted commentary this scion of a leading evangelical family takes a close, thoughtful look at the changing religious and political environment, addressing such divisive issues as abortion, gay marriage, environmental use and care, race, war, poverty, and the imbalance of world wealth. Through Scripture, the examples of Jesus, and personal defining faith experiences, he distills the essential truths at the core of a Christian faith that is now just coming of age.
In GREEN LIKE GOD, Jonathan Merritt gently and insightfully observes that the bible has a lot to say about environmental problems like unclean water, material waste, over consumption, air pollution, and global warming. In fact, Jonathan writes that "in the book of Genesis, God went green and never looked back." Relying heavily on scripture, Jonathan gives the case for green living, but not because it's trendy and hip. Rather, it's part of living rightly as a believer. It's an act of obedience to our Creator-God.GREEN LIKE GOD is at once practical, prescriptive, and conversational in tone. The author looks at a number of trends with tips to help the reader wade into the world of creation care living. An appendix includes suggestions of things we can do. In addition, the book includes interviews with everyday Christians to tell the story of the journey to environmental stewardship among people of faith.This is the book that Christians are longing for and need today. Written for a new generation of Christians who are struggling with how to deal with the important issue of creation-care and green living, GREEN LIKE GOD is both highly relevant and theologically sound. It will have a profound impact on how Christians live and interact with the world today.
This celebration of individuality and inclusivity reminds young readers that what makes them different is what makes them special. Henry Higgleston struggles with being deemed an oddball by other kids at school. When his gay uncle arrives for a weekend, however, Guncle is on a mission to teach Henry that it’s what makes us different that actually makes us special. This joyful story of self-acceptance and self-love will resonate with anyone who has ever felt different.
As all kids do, Hera wanted to be an explorer. Sadly when she turned 18 she discovered that her stats and lack of skills made her fail the requirements to become one, and she went to work on a bookstore.That should have been the end of her story. But when she wins a lottery to have her level up she discovers a hidden skill and a rare one at that.The system gave her dream back, and this time she is not letting it go.##############################The story is about a world where game-like systems are the norm, Everyone has a level, status and even skills are a common thing.If your stats are good you can even become an explorer, someone that ventures inside a place called MAZE, a dungeon of sorts filled with monsters creatures and things that the regular world is missing such as magic.The story follows Hera, a woman who wanted to be an explorer but her status were too low to become one. One day she wins a raffle that allows her to level up for the first time giving her the chance to achieve her childhood dream.It's more about how things work and what you can do with them than about power or revenge.The rhythm might be a bit slow for some but that is the idea. I want to give sort of a slice of life feeling to most of it.
As all kids do, Hera wanted to be an explorer. Sadly when she turned 18 she discovered that her stats and lack of skills made her fail the requirements to become one, and she went to work on a bookstore.That should have been the end of her story. But when she wins a lottery to have her level up she discovers a hidden skill and a rare one at that.The system gave her dream back, and this time she is not letting it go.##############################The story is about a world where game-like systems are the norm, Everyone has a level, status and even skills are a common thing.If your stats are good you can even become an explorer, someone that ventures inside a place called MAZE, a dungeon of sorts filled with monsters creatures and things that the regular world is missing such as magic.The story follows Hera, a woman who wanted to be an explorer but her status were too low to become one. One day she wins a raffle that allows her to level up for the first time giving her the chance to achieve her childhood dream.It's more about how things work and what you can do with them than about power or revenge.The rhythm might be a bit slow for some but that is the idea. I want to give sort of a slice of life feeling to most of it.
As all kids do, Hera wanted to be an explorer. Sadly when she turned 18 she discovered that her stats and lack of skills made her fail the requirements to become one, and she went to work on a bookstore.That should have been the end of her story. But when she wins a lottery to have her level up she discovers a hidden skill and a rare one at that.The system gave her dream back, and this time she is not letting it go.##############################The story is about a world where game-like systems are the norm, Everyone has a level, status and even skills are a common thing.If your stats are good you can even become an explorer, someone that ventures inside a place called MAZE, a dungeon of sorts filled with monsters creatures and things that the regular world is missing such as magic.The story follows Hera, a woman who wanted to be an explorer but her status were too low to become one. One day she wins a raffle that allows her to level up for the first time giving her the chance to achieve her childhood dream.It's more about how things work and what you can do with them than about power or revenge.The rhythm might be a bit slow for some but that is the idea. I want to give sort of a slice of life feeling to most of it.
As all kids do, Hera wanted to be an explorer. Sadly when she turned 18 she discovered that her stats and lack of skills made her fail the requirements to become one, and she went to work on a bookstore.That should have been the end of her story. But when she wins a lottery to have her level up she discovers a hidden skill and a rare one at that.The system gave her dream back, and this time she is not letting it go.##############################The story is about a world where game-like systems are the norm, Everyone has a level, status and even skills are a common thing.If your stats are good you can even become an explorer, someone that ventures inside a place called MAZE, a dungeon of sorts filled with monsters creatures and things that the regular world is missing such as magic.The story follows Hera, a woman who wanted to be an explorer but her status were too low to become one. One day she wins a raffle that allows her to level up for the first time giving her the chance to achieve her childhood dream.It's more about how things work and what you can do with them than about power or revenge.The rhythm might be a bit slow for some but that is the idea. I want to give sort of a slice of life feeling to most of it.
As all kids do, Hera wanted to be an explorer. Sadly when she turned 18 she discovered that her stats and lack of skills made her fail the requirements to become one, and she went to work on a bookstore.That should have been the end of her story. But when she wins a lottery to have her level up she discovers a hidden skill and a rare one at that.The system gave her dream back, and this time she is not letting it go.##############################The story is about a world where game-like systems are the norm, Everyone has a level, status and even skills are a common thing.If your stats are good you can even become an explorer, someone that ventures inside a place called MAZE, a dungeon of sorts filled with monsters creatures and things that the regular world is missing such as magic.The story follows Hera, a woman who wanted to be an explorer but her status were too low to become one. One day she wins a raffle that allows her to level up for the first time giving her the chance to achieve her childhood dream.It's more about how things work and what you can do with them than about power or revenge.The rhythm might be a bit slow for some but that is the idea. I want to give sort of a slice of life feeling to most of it.
As all kids do, Hera wanted to be an explorer. Sadly when she turned 18 she discovered that her stats and lack of skills made her fail the requirements to become one, and she went to work on a bookstore.That should have been the end of her story. But when she wins a lottery to have her level up she discovers a hidden skill and a rare one at that.The system gave her dream back, and this time she is not letting it go.##############################The story is about a world where game-like systems are the norm, Everyone has a level, status and even skills are a common thing.If your stats are good you can even become an explorer, someone that ventures inside a place called MAZE, a dungeon of sorts filled with monsters creatures and things that the regular world is missing such as magic.The story follows Hera, a woman who wanted to be an explorer but her status were too low to become one. One day she wins a raffle that allows her to level up for the first time giving her the chance to achieve her childhood dream.It's more about how things work and what you can do with them than about power or revenge.The rhythm might be a bit slow for some but that is the idea. I want to give sort of a slice of life feeling to most of it.
As all kids do, Hera wanted to be an explorer. Sadly when she turned 18 she discovered that her stats and lack of skills made her fail the requirements to become one, and she went to work on a bookstore.That should have been the end of her story. But when she wins a lottery to have her level up she discovers a hidden skill and a rare one at that.The system gave her dream back, and this time she is not letting it go.##############################The story is about a world where game-like systems are the norm, Everyone has a level, status and even skills are a common thing.If your stats are good you can even become an explorer, someone that ventures inside a place called MAZE, a dungeon of sorts filled with monsters creatures and things that the regular world is missing such as magic.The story follows Hera, a woman who wanted to be an explorer but her status were too low to become one. One day she wins a raffle that allows her to level up for the first time giving her the chance to achieve her childhood dream.It's more about how things work and what you can do with them than about power or revenge.The rhythm might be a bit slow for some but that is the idea. I want to give sort of a slice of life feeling to most of it.
by Jonathan Merritt
As all kids do, Hera wanted to be an explorer. Sadly when she turned 18 she discovered that her stats and lack of skills made her fail the requirements to become one, and she went to work on a bookstore.That should have been the end of her story. But when she wins a lottery to have her level up she discovers a hidden skill and a rare one at that.The system gave her dream back, and this time she is not letting it go.##############################The story is about a world where game-like systems are the norm, Everyone has a level, status and even skills are a common thing.If your stats are good you can even become an explorer, someone that ventures inside a place called MAZE, a dungeon of sorts filled with monsters creatures and things that the regular world is missing such as magic.The story follows Hera, a woman who wanted to be an explorer but her status were too low to become one. One day she wins a raffle that allows her to level up for the first time giving her the chance to achieve her childhood dream.It's more about how things work and what you can do with them than about power or revenge.The rhythm might be a bit slow for some but that is the idea. I want to give sort of a slice of life feeling to most of it.
by Jonathan Merritt
by Jonathan Merritt
The Calling, Poems from a Sacred Path, a twenty-two year journey into the healing tradition of the Huichol (Wixarika) people of Mexico's Western Sierra Madre. These poems engage the world as an infinite diversity of interwoven and interdependent divine beings whose deep relationships and connections include human beings.
by Jonathan Merritt
by Jonathan Merritt
by Jonathan Merritt
Rewire Your Brain, Reclaim Your Life is the no-BS guide for Gen Zers sick of being stuck in the scroll. This isn’t another preachy self-help book — it’s a call to action. Learn exactly how to reset your brain, rebuild your focus, and start living with purpose. If you’re tired of feeling anxious, distracted, and disconnected, this book gives you the real tools to break free and take your life back — one day at a time.