{"id":13407,"date":"2020-09-18T19:30:44","date_gmt":"2020-09-19T00:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=13407"},"modified":"2020-09-18T19:30:44","modified_gmt":"2020-09-19T00:30:44","slug":"book-review-weep-with-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=13407","title":{"rendered":"Book Review | Weep with Me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.test\/content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Weep-with-Me.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13408\" width=\"277\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Weep-with-Me.jpg 553w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Weep-with-Me-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Weep-with-Me-357x550.jpg 357w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Weep-with-Me-324x500.jpg 324w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 277px) 100vw, 277px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Lament starts with a humble posture. \u00a0It communicates: \u201cI\u2019m here. I\u2019m sad too. \u00a0Let\u2019s talk to Jesus, because we need his help.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Weep-Me-Lament-Racial-Reconciliation\/dp\/1433567598\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=weep+with+me&amp;qid=1600475100&amp;sr=8-1\">Weep with Me<\/a><\/em> by <a href=\"http:\/\/markvroegop.com\/\">Mark Vroegpop<\/a> is one of the most helpful books I have read lately on the topic of gospel focused racial reconciliation.  I picked up this book late this summer when I noticed the foreword was written by Thabiti Anyabwile, a pastor that I have a lot of respect for.  Over the course of this past summer, our nation has seen renewed racial strife that is heartbreaking.  I had lunch mid-summer with a dear friend that is farther down the path than I am&#8230;a mentor for many years&#8230;and she pointed me to the fact that the Lord had given her the word lament.  Lament means to truly take on another&#8217;s pain and anguish.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since that conversation with my friend, I&#8217;ve read several Scriptures related to lament and recognize that lament isn&#8217;t just a general sadness or consternation, but it is a feeling that goes much deeper to the soul.  Lament is something that you marinate in so that you can learn, understand, and be changed.  My heart breaks for what I see taking place in our nation, but I truly lament the sin in my own heart that could just as easily lead to what I see playing out on the TV screens.  Lord Jesus, come quickly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vroegpop&#8217;s pastor heart is very evident in this book.  It is a great balance of gentleness with accountability.  There are several things that I read that I won&#8217;t be able to forget&#8230;and can no longer claim ignorance about.  My prayer after reading this book is that the Lord would soften my heart to &#8220;weep with those who weep.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Romans 12:15-16 \u201cWeep with those who weep. &nbsp;Live in harmony with one another.\u201d P. 22\n<\/li><li>Prayers in pain lead to trust\u2014together. &nbsp;Tears, love, and unity replace misunderstanding, distrust, and hurt. &nbsp;We get glimpses of a heavenly unity. P. 23\n<\/li><li>I\u2019ve cited material I\u2019ve found helpful, but you should not assume that I agree with everything a particular author writes if his or her work is listed in the bibliography. &nbsp;Exploring racial reconciliation requires balance and wisdom to listen to different viewpoints while still charting a biblically faithful path forward. P. 23\n<\/li><li>Christianity looks stunning to the world and most emulates Jesus when our identity and unity in the gospel are more foundational than any other identity\u2014including our ethnicity. P. 24\n<\/li><li>Lament starts with a humble posture. &nbsp;It communicates: \u201cI\u2019m here. I\u2019m sad too. &nbsp;Let\u2019s talk to Jesus, because we need his help.\u201d P. 34\n<\/li><li>Simply stated, a lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust.\n<\/li><li>The goal of a lament is to recommit oneself to hoping in God, believing his promises, and a godly response to pain, suffering, and injustice. P. 37\n<\/li><li>Laments acknowledge the reality of pain while trusting in God\u2019s promises. P. 37\n<\/li><li>Basics of lament\n<ul><li>Turn to God\n<\/li><li>Complain\n<\/li><li>Ask\n<\/li><li>Trust: Confidence in God\u2019s trustworthiness is the destination of all laments. P. 40\n<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Racial reconciliation is a process. &nbsp;Lament can be redemptive. &nbsp;I have found it helpful to think about lament in the context of a fivefold path: love, listen, lament, learn, and leverage. P. 41\n<\/li><li>\u201dThe Psalms allow us to listen in on the soul\u2019s anguish; the spirituals do the same.\u201d Dante Stewart p. 47\n<\/li><li>Lament gives us a way to vocalize the complicated emotions connected to racial reconciliation. P. 49\n<\/li><li>Spirituals, like lament psalms, identify with pain while pointing people to hope. P. 56\n<\/li><li>Four Ways Spirituals Help Us\n<ul><li>A Broader View of History\n<\/li><li>Humble, Respectful Listening: James 1:19 \u201cquick to hear, slow to speak, slow to get angry\u201d\n<\/li><li>Honoring the Depths of Sorrow\n<\/li><li>Personalizing Lament: Lament opens a door for us to walk together under the banner of Jesus. P. 59\n<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Lament is a helpful starting point. &nbsp;It can bridge the divide of mistrust and sensitivity. &nbsp;If we\u2019ll commit to loving one another, listening to each other, and lamenting together in the body of Christ, racial reconciliation can start to happen. P. 74\n<\/li><li>\u201dThe Bible tells us to weep with those who weep; it doesn\u2019t tell us to judge whether they should be weeping.\u201d H.B. Charles, Jr. p. 79\n<\/li><li>God doesn\u2019t redeem at a distance. P. 80\n<\/li><li>We empathize not because we fully understand but because we have been freely loved by Christ. P. 82\n<\/li><li>Lament is the prayer language of empathy. P. 82\n<\/li><li>Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Psalm 44:24-25\n<\/li><li>O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast. &nbsp;They crush your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage. Psalm 94:3-5\n<\/li><li>Empathetic lament creates a community. P. 83\n<\/li><li>Lament pulls the pain close. P. 86\n<\/li><li>Racial reconciliation is possible only in the context of relationships. P. 88\n<\/li><li>You have seen, O Lord; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me! Psalm 35:22\n<\/li><li>Lament could be a way to end our silence. P. 97\n<\/li><li>Six Reasons Why We Choose Silence:\n<ul><li>Fear\n<\/li><li>Uncertainty\n<\/li><li>Wounds\n<\/li><li>Ignorance\n<\/li><li>Selfishness\n<\/li><li>Racism\n<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Silence can become a passive weapon of superiority. P. 100\n<\/li><li>How Lament Helps\n<ul><li>It Acknowledges the Brokenness of the World\n<ul><li>Pain births lament. &nbsp;It deals honestly with the real world. &nbsp;Lament candidly identifies the brokenness around us and in us. &nbsp;It acknowledges the gap between God\u2019s design for the world and our experience. &nbsp;Lament is the way the Bible talks about life in a sinful world. P. 102\n<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>It Refuses to Remain Silent\n<ul><li>Lament is the voice of grief when we\u2019re tempted to remain silent. &nbsp;It helps when we don\u2019t know what to say. P. 103\n<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>It Seeks God\u2019s Help\n<ul><li>Laments keep looking to God. P. 104\n<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Silence isn\u2019t merely hurtful; it can be complicit. P. 105\n<\/li><li>\u201dWe lament and repudiate historic acts of evil such as slavery from which we continue to reap a bitter harvest, and we recognize that the racism which yet plagues our culture today is inextricably tied to the past.\u201d Resolution in Racial Reconciliation, Southern Baptist Convention (1995) p. 109\n<\/li><li>I acknowledge by sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, \u201cI will confess my transgressions to the Lord,\u201d and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Psalm 32:5\n<\/li><li>Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Psalm 51:2-3\n<\/li><li>\u201dI don\u2019t need all white people to feel guilty about the 1950\u2019s and 60\u2019s\u2014especially those who weren\u2019t even alive. &nbsp;But I do need all of us to suspect that sin isn\u2019t done working it\u2019s way through society. I do need all my neighbors\u2014especially from my brothers and sisters in Christ\u2014to recognize that no sin has ever been eliminated from the world and certainly not eliminated simply with the passage of time and a willingness of some people to act as if it was never there.\u201c Thabiti Anyabwile p. 122\n<\/li><li>Lament empowers Christians to express sorrow over sin so reconciliation can begin. P. 123\n<\/li><li>Lament is the language of exiles. P. 135\n<\/li><li>Lament provides a path to rise above the discouragement. P. 135\n<\/li><li>If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. &nbsp;When I thought, \u201cMy foot slips,\u201d your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. Psalm 94:17-18\n<\/li><li>\u201dMost African Americans have had at least two lifealtering experiences that are burned into their memory\u2014the moment they realized they were black and the moment they realized that was a problem.\u201d Eric Mason, p. 149\n<\/li><li>As lament becomes a more familiar step in your response to hurt, it can help to prevent the poisonous mist of bitterness from infecting your life. &nbsp;Lament validates a painful experience without making it your identity. &nbsp;Michael Card says: \u201cWe all carry deep within ourselves a pressurized reservoir of tears. It takes only the right key at the right time to unlock them&#8230;In God\u2019s perfect time, through lament, when these tears are released, they can form a vast healing flood.\u201d P. 154\n<\/li><li>Lament drops an emotional anchor in the character of God. P. 155\n<\/li><li>I will never forget this awful time&#8230;Yet I still dare to hope. Lamentations 3:20-21\n<\/li><li>In the midst of a social media frenzy about a racial topic, Bryan Lorritts tweeted a helpful caution: \u201cDon\u2019t just be prophetic in your denunciations of racism, also be pastoral. &nbsp;We need prophetic courage and pastoral conversations.\u201d P. 167\n<\/li><li>When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 1 Peter 2:23 p. 175\n<\/li><li>What\u2019s next?\n<ul><li>PERSONAL\n<ul><li>Rehearse the biblical vision: Memorize Paul\u2019s words about Christian identity in Colossians 3:5-11\n<\/li><li>Practice lament\n<\/li><li>Build relationships\n<\/li><li>Grow in your understanding\n<\/li><li>Engage where you are\n<\/li><li>Don\u2019t stop\n<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>CORPORATE\n<ul><li>Teach biblical unity in diversity\n<\/li><li>Model lament\n<\/li><li>Mourn together at critical moments\n<\/li><li>Create venues for dialogue\n<\/li><li>Intentionally celebrate and create diversity\n<\/li><li>Advocate for change\n<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lament starts with a humble posture. \u00a0It communicates: \u201cI\u2019m here. I\u2019m sad too. \u00a0Let\u2019s talk to Jesus, because we need his help.\u201d Weep with Me by Mark Vroegpop is one of the most helpful books I have read lately on the topic of gospel focused racial reconciliation. I picked up this book late this summer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,14,25,16,23,28,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-study","category-book-review","category-education","category-family","category-generosity","category-integrity","category-leadership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Weep-with-Me.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}