For reading and reflection

Posted on by albrooke

current reading 2From Alan Jacobs at Snakes & Ladders:

1. “Reconsidering ‘Evangelical'” [link] and

2. “Accountable” [link]

And, continuing the conversation started by LeCrae and John Piper, from Raymond Chang, The Exchange:

3. “Open Letter to John Piper on White Evangelicalism and Multiethnic Relations” [link]

(for earlier parts of this conversation — called to my attention by my older daughter — see LeCrae’s conversation at Truth’s Table [link]; and Piper, “My Hopeful Response” [link].  If someone has the link to LeCrae’s written piece, please send it to me).

R!-town

Posted on by albrooke

The-Real-Town-Murders-by-Adam-RobertsAdam Roberts’ new novel The Real-Town Murders (2017) is more like the author’s Jack Glass (2012) than The Thing Itself (2015), in that it is plot-driven and accessible rather than idea-driven and deep. Roberts entertains with insight and ironic disapproval,* producing a very enjoyable blend of SF and whodunit, with most of the social commentary safely hidden under the hood.

Recommended.

*”And the government departments are still there, of course, because that’s how the inertia of history works. They still have legally mandated and budget-supported real power. So they mostly use that power in a series of jockeyings for position.”

RLW 1947-2017

Posted on by albrooke

Robert Wears was my friend.

I am sorry, I know most of you called him “Bob,” but I met him through his wife Diane, and to me he was always “Robert.” With my wife Katherine, we four were members of a book club for the last 20-plus years. We have met more or less monthly, and read well over 200 books together.

I did not know him in his professional life, I was not a member of his family, we shared no school ties, we did not go to the same church. I interacted with him medically only once, and in that moment, as he visited me in the hospital before my abdominal surgery, he gave me permission and I threw up on him. Continue reading RLW 1947-2017

Red Sea Road

Posted on by albrooke

We buried dreamsredsea-roadjpg
Laid them deep into the earth behind us
Said our goodbyes
At the grave but everything reminds us . . .
God knows, we ache
When He asks us to go on
How do we go on?

We will sing, to our souls
We won’t bury our hope
Where He leads us to go
There’s a red sea road

When we can’t see the way
He will part the waves
And we’ll never walk alone
Down a red sea road . . . .

How can we trust
When You say You will deliver us from
All of this pain that threatens to take over us
Well, this desert’s dry
But the ocean may consume
And we’re scared, to follow You

So we’ll sing, to our souls
We won’t bury our hope
Where He leads us to go
There’s a red sea road

When we can’t see the way
He will part the waves
And we’ll never walk alone
Down a red sea road . . . .

Bridge
Oh help us believe
You are faithful, You’re faithful
When our hearts are breaking
You are faithful, You’re faithful
Oh grant us eyes to see
You are faithful, You’re faithful
Teach us to sing
You are faithful, You’re faithful, You’re faithful

And we’ll sing, to our souls
    We won’t bury our hope
Where He leads us to go
    There’s a red sea road

When we can’t see the way
    He will part the waves
And we’ll never walk alone
    Down a red sea road . . . .

No, we’ll never walk alone
    Down a red sea road
No, we’ll never, walk alone
    Down a red sea road ….

Ellie Holcomb, “Red Sea Road,” Red Sea Road (2017).