|
Greetings all! I’m writing two days before Ash Wednesday. I’ll be driving out of state on Wednesday to give a talk at a church in Oklahoma City, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to find another church before my lecture that offers an Ash Wednesday service sometime in the afternoon. I’m entering this Lenten season busy and tired, hopeful that fasting and penitence gather my fractured gaze and point it toward the passion of Christ. By way of reminder, what follows is a rundown of my work over the last month and a preview of what’s to come. Let’s get to it. News Nothing big at present, but one or two small things in the works that I might be able to share in next month’s newsletter. Writing Three things published in February. First, a review of Wesley Hill’s new book on the resurrection: Second, a review of Ross Douthat’s new book on being religious: Third, an essay on filling in the gaps of one’s reading, self-teaching as self-help, and an entire generation raised on the internet: Appearances Last month I gave two public lectures on spiritual formation in a digital age: Gainesville, Florida (February 12), and Spokane, Washington (February 19). The former was at the Christian Study Center there run by the incomparable L. M. Sacasas, the latter at Whitworth University, hosted by my dissertation doppelgänger Derek Taylor. This coming Wednesday, March 5, I’ll be speaking on the same topic at Memorial Road Church of Christ, Edmund, Oklahoma, at 6:30pm. About a month later, on Wednesday, April 9—just a few days before Palm Sunday—I’ll be giving a talk in Houston at the Church of St. John the Divine. The title is “Why the Church is the Reason God Created the Universe.” Come out and say hi! On February 13 I joined Trevin Wax’s Reconstructing Faith podcast for an episode titled “Reading the Bible When Nobody Reads." Trevin’s doing really neat work with this series. I recorded another podcast a couple weeks back that’ll go up any day now, and I’m currently scheduling one more for sometime this month. Expect info in the next newsletter. Blog A little more activity on the blog this month, though a ton of activity on the micro blog. That’s the place to check for what I’ve been reading and thinking about day to day. On the mezzo blog, I wrote about: Links Some of my favorite reads over the past month: Forthcoming Sometime this month expect a long theological essay from me on baptism in Christianity Today. In addition, the April issue of First Things will contain an opinion essay on magisterial Protestantism—in mailboxes by month’s end, online maybe one or two weeks before that. Otherwise, nothing else is imminent, so far as I’m aware. I have a lot in the hopper due out between late spring and early fall: on conspiracy theories; on the alien phenomenon; on theological interpretation; on A.I. and pedagogy; on the American religious scene; and more. Including in some outlets I’ve never published in before! As ever, thanks for reading. Peace, Brad
|
