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Weep with Me - A Call to Lament
I am a third generation U.S. citizen.
Both sets of my grandparents worked tirelessly to gain access to this country, fleeing Greece, and Germany during times of war and political unrest. They entered the country through New York, but over time migrated to the Pacific Northwest. My up-bringing was not affluent, and racial diversity was present within my neighborhood. Although not fueled by faith, my parents sought to teach my brother and I that all life has value, and that the color of skin does not define or devalue a person. Even as a child I remember being inspired by those who led the civil rights movement, and moved by their immense bravery to fight for freedom and equality among all people. Reading the book Weep with Me, helped further my understanding of past racial injustices, and open my eyes to the current pain that is underway in my minority friends and family.
With the conversation of racial reconciliation being so prevalent in our culture today, I have felt at a loss for what to do and how to respond.
Weep with Me, helped me pinpoint my own feelings of frustration about racial injustice.
It brought me to tears as I read the pain of my minority brothers and sisters, and convicted me as a white mediterranean female in the U.S.
I have often struggled with feeling culturally accused of racism just because I am white. News outlets and social media do not make it easy for racial harmony to happen whether in the church or not. However, I appreciated Mark Vroegop intentionality, as he specifically spoke to all believers and offered a gospel-centered perspective through which racial reconciliation can begin. Through my reading, I felt convicted as he identified and offered lament as the first tool we are to use while facing racial injustice as a whole. He called majority believers to repentant of personal, generational, and societal sin by using the outline of lament. Through this lens we can empathize with our minority brothers and sisters, and end our silence that causes deep divide.
As a pastors wife, mom, friend, and family member of minorities, I believe this book to be a helpful agent of change in our society today.
It does not speak to the current riots, statistics, or political opinions that can often overtake the racial reconciliation conversation. Rather, it teaches us to pray for the deep seeded injustice in our country, and calls us to leverage our voice for those who are hurting and need the hope of the gospel. Weep with Me offers clear teaching on how to lament, how to weep with those who weep, and how to invoke change in our churches and communities by befriending minority brothers and sisters, and being a voice for justice both in the church and on the streets of our communities.
I pray this book gets into the hands of every believer, and that God uses it to convict hearts, renew hope, and invoke change in our unsettled society.
For more information or to find the book, click the image below.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through the Crossway Book Review Program in exchange for an honest review.
Top 3 Marriage Books, Hands Down
We are smack-dab in the middle of wedding season.
We started off the spring with no weddings to attend, and a pandemic quarantine. By the end of May, three weddings were on the books between August 1st and September 30th. It’s an exciting time to see friends and cherished family members get married, but it’s also a fantastic time to seek after God’s heart in marriage.
In the midst of all the excitement, we were asked to do some premarital counseling, and I’ve loved recently re-reading these books (some of them, I hadn’t picked up since we got married 9 years ago). So here’s a few of my favorites that we recommend to newlyweds, and why they are SO worth the read.
Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs is practical, to the point, and so countercultural in today’s world. It has radically transformed my own marriage, and is well worth the read. If you have access to Right Now Media, they also have a 10 session video series that is worth watching!
The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller is hands down the best theological, gospel centered book on marriage. It covers less practical “how to’s” but replaces it with such a biblical foundation on the purpose of marriage. I haven’t found a Keller book I don’t like, and this one is no different. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through this two summers ago in pre-marital counseling with another couple. Go snag this one, quick!
Happily Ever After - Finding Grace in the Messes of Marriage is one of my all time favorite devotions. If you’re married, it’s one you’ll come back to again and again to help re-center your marriage on Christ. If you’re getting married soon, or just want to understand married people—read it. It gives such a great broad overview, with practical advice, in quick easy to read gospel-centered devotions.
Resources for Racial Reconciliation
In case you haven’t seen it, I posted this blog stating that I feel at a loss in the midst of the racial tension in our country. My feelings led me to conversations, and other peoples words on the matter. Although I’m still at a loss figuring out how to stop the systemic evil I see around me—I hope these resources provide biblical insight into the racial reconciliation that needs to happen.
Racism and Corporate Evil
Tim Keller’s perspective on systemic evil and racial reconciliation.
Leonce Crump
A Pastor and activist providing resources on the gospel and race.
The Gospel Coalition
An article on how we should respond.
Woke Church by Eric Mason
A book about how the church needs to respond to injustice and racism.
The Gospel Coalition
An article on how to talk about sin to those around us who don’t believe it exists.
Desiring God
An article on how to confront the sin of racism.
Bloodlines by John Piper
A book about how every race is welcome in the kingdom of God.
Be the Bridge
An organization committed to racial reconciliation through a biblical lens.
Desiring God
An article about the desire to belong.
Desiring God
A podcast that answers the question, “What can we learn from the Black Lives Matter movement”?
Crossway
An article about how the church should confront social justice.
The Bible Project
A look at biblical justice.
COVID-19 - The Best Resources
Friends,
Life as we know it has changed for many of us. All across the globe we are shut in, “social-distancing”, and praying that this pandemic won’t continue to get worse. Some people are battling lay-offs, others are struggling with anxiety and depression, while some are just trying to keep the kids happy and healthy . I personally have had some good days and some bad, as our state is currently under a “stay at home” order from the Governor. The links below have offered resources that have been so encouraging to my soul. I pray they offer you the same as we look for opportunities to share the hope we have in Christ.
I will continue to post resources here as time goes on, so be sure to check back regularly. You can also find two other pieces I’ve written on Coronavirus here and here. If you need more one on one support, I encourage you to to check out my Counseling Recommendations.
Coronavirus and Christ
Written by John Piper specifically for the times we’re currently in. Crossway and Desiring God are offering all downloads for free!
Ligonier Ministries
Listen to free teaching series by R.C. Sproul via the app or online!
The Gospel Coalition
Gospel-Centered articles on the Coronavirus, and how we can handle all that’s going on.
Crossway
Crossway is providing free books, articles, podcasts, printable scripture verse cards, and Bible reading plans to get us through quarantine.
Coronavirus And The Church
Ed Stetzer, Rick Warren, and the team at the Billy Graham Center came together to create an entire website of resources for you.
Desiring God
John Piper, and the team at Desiring God will be regularly posting resources on the pandemic, suffering, and how we can find our joy amidst such pain.
Counseling Recommendations
Ever since I started discussing my journey of counseling,
(Find that post here), I have had people repeatedly ask me for my counseling/coaching recommendations.
Counseling has totally rocked my world, and changed my life. It has been one of the most painful years since starting this journey, and yet also one of the most freeing. For the first time in my life, I believe I’m learning how to wrestle with my sin. How to submit my feelings to the Lord, and how to walk in more joy.
Counseling is not easy. It is usually the last thing I want to do on a Thursday afternoon. I regularly walk away with homework, and (possibly) a few tears. However, it is in those moments that I am reminded of my great need for a Savior and His glorious grace. It is in those moments that my pride is put to death, my sin and hurt, and shame is revealed, and hope is bestowed in my confession and repentance.
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34: 17:-18
I get to walk away from each counseling session poured into, reminded of the gospel, and with more work to do. Our hearts and minds cannot change apart from the Word and work of God. Counseling pushes me to take part in loving the Lord with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind. It has challenged me to examine relationships, behavior patterns, unbelief, fear, doubt, shame, anger, hurt, and joy. It has pushed me deeper into the Word, deeper into books, and deeper into the heart of Christ, as each week reveals my utter despair without Him. Counseling is such a helpful tool in healing relationships. Counseling and community are great gifts that God has given us—but at the end of the day, Christ is the redeemer of His people and He is the great and wise counselor of my soul. It is His work on the cross that changes us from the inside out.