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Losing God
paperback
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- Length: 170 pages
- Published: September 30, 2008
- Imprint: IVP
- Item Code: 3620
- ISBN: 9780830836208
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Other Retailers:
Amazon*
Christianbook.com*
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It was the perfect irony. To lose God at a missions conference.
What's worse, Matt Rogers will tell you, is that it all felt like fate. Years later, even after Matt's depression subsided, the feeling of being forgotten had not left him. So he knew he had to write it down.
Recounting his own experience with depression, Matt Rogers explores the question of how, in a world of suffering, we can call God good. This challenging question can manifest itself as a conspiracy of doubt, so that our emotions and our intellect come under attack. Without appealing to easy answers, Rogers offers understanding and a ray of hope for those who suffer from depression, encouraging them never to give up.
"With unflinching honesty Matt Rogers tells his story of struggle, doubt and depression, which lasted for four long years. He shows us throughout this compelling narrative that we are complex beings--physical and emotional as well as spiritual. As Rogers points out again and again, our theology should line up with this complexity and thus address the whole person. I was strangely comforted by the book, for I saw Jesus reaching out to the lost, including those who live in the darkness of depression. I am grateful to Rogers for reminding me of that comforting truth."
"Depression is far more common in our churches than many of us realize, and too often our churches unintentionally make the suffering even worse. In Losing God, Matt Rogers courageously tells the story of his depression with unflinching honesty, theological insight and deep human sensitivity. The book will bring hope to those who carry the weight of depression . . . and it will help the rest of us to share and lift the emotional burden others carry instead of adding to it. A needed book, beautifully written, from a promising new writer."
"Profound, disturbing and hopeful. Matt Rogers has something to say, and he says it in a way no one has."
If you have personal experience battling depression, here you will find a "fellow struggler" who can offer hope. If you are a pastor or counselor dealing with these issues secondhand, this may be a useful resource as it gives you a window into the fear and darkness of someone who has been there.
[This book] comes highly recommended for anyone out there in the church who believes that depression isn't real.
This is a good book - a tale of how a young man walked through the darkness of depression and came out the other end in chastened light.
I love Matt's honesty and vulnerability.
It has been a while since I read a book that really grabbed my gut and wouldn't let go. In recounting his struggles with both clinical depression and profound doubt, Rogers is painfully honest, insightfully introspective and very helpful. I think this book could be enormously helpful for people in the midst of depression or other similar conditions. The author writes pastorally, recounting his own hurts while at the same time trying to encourage othyers in the midst of similar struggles. On a broader level, I also want to urge young Reformed types to read this book.
Losing God gives a blimpse into the troubled psyche of the severely depressed. But it is also a journal of finding release from its clutches, a roadmap through it and, hopefully, to the brighter hope Matt Rogers has found.
CONTENTS
Preface
1. Losing God
2. Rejected by God
3. The Dark Side of Sovereignty
4. Sustaining Graces
5. Isolation
6. Search for a Cause
7. The Wisdom of Mentors
8. Signs of Light
9. Embracing Mystery
10. After the Storm
Appendix: Steps Toward Healing
Questions for Personal Reflection
Questions for Group Discussion
Acknowledgments
Notes
