Download Dark Clouds Deep Mercy Mark Vroegop Joni Tada 9781433561481 Books

Product details Paperback 224 pages Publisher Crossway (March 21, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1433561484

Dark Clouds Deep Mercy Mark Vroegop Joni Tada 9781433561481 Books Reviews

• I am about halfway through this book and have found it to be deeply encouraging. Vroegop gives a language about how to talk to God in your deepest pain. I first learned about lament when I walked through infertility and I think it’s such a needed message in the church. This book is a wonderful guide to lament. It’s useful for your own personal lament or to help understand lament as you may walk with someone through a dark season.
• Powerful
• I plan on buying extra copies of this book to hand out to my friends, family and small group. A great read on an often avoided subject.
• In Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy Mark Vroegop walks through the steps of lament (turn, complain, ask, and trust). This book is broken up into three parts Part 1 Learning to Lament Psalms of Lament (Psalm 77, 10, 22, 13), Part 2 Learning from Lament Lamentations, and Part 3 Living with Lament Personal and Community Applications.
  
  Lamenting is something the Western church isn't familiar or comfortable with. Rather than express our emotions, we brush them to the side, hide or ignore them. We'll do anything but face the hurt we feel, and we feel uncomfortable crying out to God. 
  
  "To pray in pain, even with its messy struggle and tough questions, is an act of faith where we open up our hearts to God. Prayerful lament is better than silence. Giving God the silent treatment, it is the ultimate manifestation of unbelief."
  
  This book shows you that lamenting is a prayer of anguished hope that leads to trust, and worship. When we lament, we bring our sorrows to God and pour ourselves out. Lamenting helps us deal with our emotions, trust God, and heal so we don't become bitter or angry.
  
  Here's one of the lamenting prayers from the first part of the book, so you have an example
  
  "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you withhold the blessing of a child from us? How long will we cry to you—how many more days, months, or years will pass with our arms remaining empty? How much longer will we struggle to rejoice with those who rejoice while we sit weeping? But I have trusted in your steadfast love. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me! Thank you, Father!"
  
  This book is very short (<300 pages), saturated in scripture, and very helpful and practical. This is a book you'll need to check out!
  
  I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
• 5 years ago my twin sister was one of 4 fatalities in a church bus crash on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Dark clouds of grief rolled in that night for many families. I have sense purchased 25 copies of Pastor Mark Vroegop's book which spotlights the healing that Biblical lament can provide. It is now one of my top favorite books on working thru grieving!
• This book has some really good information about laments, but it was a little wordy and I think it might have been better if it had been about three or four chapters within a section in a book about types of prayer. Paring the wording down where he got to the point a bit quicker and with a page showing the clear progression of the laments might have made it faster to grasp. Still, it's well researched and shows a type of prayer that many people don't really understand and in some cases don't even know about. Well worth reading.
• “Dark Clouds – Deep Mercy” can open the eyes of the reader to discover the redeeming grace of lament in our struggles and disappointments in life. The book is divided into three parts
  1. Part 1 introduces and defines lament using writings from the Psalms to illustrate the content and process of lamenting.
  2. Part 2 helps the reader learn to lament through the book of Lamentations and examples from the writings of the prophet Jeremiah.
  3. Part 3 helps the reader living with lament, using personal applications.
  The final section of the book includes a conclusion, three helpful appendices, an extensive Bibliography, a general index, and a scriptural index.
  Along with the many specific lessons I learned through the reading, I especially appreciated the reflection questions at the end of each chapter and the “Learning to Lament Worksheets included in Appendix three.
  Mark Vroegop understands grief and the process of mourning. He writes with compassion, empathy, drawn from in-depth lessons he has learned through the study, anguish, and reality of loss.
  “Dark Clouds – Deep Mercy” is a book that is helping me in my journey with grief — highly recommended.
• Good title that combines the spiritual (Christian perspective) and the practical (suggestions for how we may mourn and lament loss). Well-written and full of good insights, the book includes the author's own experiences with lamenting and examples in the Bible where people also mourned over loss.
  
  Good and sobering read and encouragement to approach God in mourning instead of acting like everything is okay when in reality everything is not okay. Good encouragement and will be a helpful future reference.