Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Goals for September 2021


The Moonlight School. Suzanne Woods Fisher. 2021. [February] 320 pages. [Source: Review copy]


When Twilight Breaks. Sarah Sundin. 2021. [February] 365 pages. [Source: Review copy]


The Barrister and the Letter of Marque. Todd M. Johnson. 2021. 412 pages. [Source: Review copy]



The Librarian's Journey: Four Historical Romances. Patty Smith Hall, Cynthia Hickey, Marilyn Turk, Kathleen Y'Barbo. 2021. [October] 352 pages. [Source: Review copy]


The Weight of Memory by Shawn Smucker. [July] 304 pages. [Source: Review copy]


Rediscovering Holiness by J.I. Packer. 2021. 384 pages. [Source: Review copy]


The Heritage of Anglican Theology by J.I. Packer. 2021. 384 pages. [Source: Review copy]


Enjoying the Bible. Matthew Mullins. 2021. 224 pages. [Source: Review copy]


Holier Than Thou: How God's Holiness Helps Us Trust Him. Jackie Hill Perry. 2021. 192 pages. [Source: Review copy]


The Whole Story for the Whole Family. Michael Kelley. 2021. 448 pages. [Source: Review copy]


Fix Your Eyes. Amy Gannett. 2021. [October] 240 pages. [Source: Review copy]




© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

August Reflections

Bible Reading 

In August I read Matthew 17-20 thirty days in a row.
In August I read Psalms 107-118 thirty days in a row.
In August I finished reading the NASB 2020 using a very modified Professor Horner plan.
In August I began reading the HCSB using a very modified Professor Horner plan.
In August I finished the Old Testament in the 1611 KJV and made good progress in the New Testament. (I think I'll be finishing it in a week or possibly two.)
In August I began the Power 60 reading plan in the BSB on the YouVersion app.

Books Reviewed at Operation Actually Read Bible

40. The Way of the Father. Michael W. Smith 2021 [May] 208 pages. [Source: Review copy]
41. Yours Truly, Thomas. Rachel Fordham. 2019. 320 pages. [Source: Review copy]
42. Man of Sorrows, King of Glory: What the Humiliation and Exaltation of Jesus Mean for Us. Jonty Rhodes. 2021. [June] Crossway. 160 pages. [Source: Review copy]
43. The Cryptographer's Dilemma. Johnnie Alexander. 2021. [August] 256 pages. [Source: Review copy]
44. Fighting Words Devotional: 100 Days of Speaking Truth into the Darkness. Ellie Holcomb. 2021. [October] 248 pages. [Source: Review copy]
45. Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe. Voddie T. Baucham Jr. 2021. [April] 270 pages. [Source: Library]
46. The Seeds of Change (Leah's Garden #1)Lauraine Snelling. 2021. [June] 336 pages. [Source: Review copy]
47. What Is God Like?Rachel Held Evans. Illustrated by Matthew Paul Turner. 2021. 40 pages. [Source: YouTube reading of the picture book + Amazon preview]
48. Let It Be Me. Becky Wade. 2021. [May] 378 pages. [Source: Review copy]
49. Pudge and Prejudice. A.K. Pittman (aka Allison Pittman). 2021. [January] 346 pages. [Source: Library]
50. Ordinary Hazards. Nikki Grimes. 2019. 325 pages. [Source: Library] 
51. The Silver Shadow. Liz Tolsma. 2021. [May] 256 pages. [Source: Review copy]
52. A Cowboy for Keeps. (Colorado Cowboys #1)Jody Hedlund. 2021 [January] 341 pages. [Source: Review copy]
53. The Vanishing at Loxby Manor. Abigail Wilson. 2021. [January] 336 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Bibles Reviewed at Operation Actually Read Bible



© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Monday, August 30, 2021

53. The Vanishing at Loxby Manor


The Vanishing at Loxby manor. Abigail Wilson. 2021. [January] 336 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence from the prologue: "Impetuous. Risky. You needn't hold back now, Piers. I know precisely what's ticking in that mind of yours."

Premise/plot: The Vanishing at Loxby Manor is a gothic suspense novel set during the Regency in England. Charity Halliwell, our heroine, has made plans to stay with old family friends while her parents visit her brother in America. The Cavanaghs are old, old family friends. Piers, the oldest son, at one time held her whole heart with no reservations. But his heart wasn't technically free to give in return. Circumstances out of his control interfered with what might have been an offer of marriage. Now that she's returned from a five year stay in Ceylon, she's hoping to slowly but surely find a place for herself in England once again. Perhaps one day--in the far distances--she could find herself a position as a governess. Meanwhile, she wants to RELAX with her friends for a little while. 

But soon after her arrival at Loxby Manor, well, all chances of rest and relaxation vanish....along with the literal vanishing of Selene Cavanagh. The two have a brief conversation. Charity loans out a black cloak and a brooch. Selene sneaks out of the house for a clandestine meeting...and never returns. 

Charity and Piers work together to try to find out what happened....where did Selene go??? Did she elope with someone? Was she kidnapped? Is she being held hostage? Or is she....dead????

My thoughts: Though this is published by a Christian publisher, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one to ANY reader who enjoys gothic mysteries OR Regency romances. It is ALL suspense/mystery/horror/thriller. No preaching, I promise. 

I think my favorite part was that it kept me guessing. I did NOT see the twists and turns in this one. Perhaps other readers might? Certainly every reader is different when it comes to piecing together clues. But I thought it was well done. The gothic atmosphere was perfect. All the little details click into place by the end and it was quite satisfying. You don't recognize as you're reading all the little things that will come together to create quite a big picture. 



© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Friday, August 27, 2021

52. A Cowboy for Keeps


A Cowboy for Keeps. (Colorado Cowboys #1) Jody Hedlund. 2021 [January] 341 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: "Stop or we'll shoot!" A dozen feet up Kenosha Pass, three robbers with flour sacks over their heads blocked the way, their revolvers outstretched.

Premise/plot: Greta Nilsson is taking her younger sister, Astrid, to Colorado in an attempt to manage--possibly cure--her consumption. She is going as a mail order bride. However, the stage coach she's traveling on is robbed, and the man she's supposed to marry is believed to be dead. So what's a young, desperate woman supposed to do in such a situation? Mr. Steele (who lives in the town and was traveling back home on the stage coach) has an idea. He approaches, Wyatt McQuaid, a local rancher (or would-be rancher) with a proposition. If he will "do the right thing" and marry this stranger who's awfully pretty and sweet, he'll help Wyatt pay for the cattle he (desperately) needs to make his ranch a success. The two wed that very day...

But Wyatt feels the only decent thing to do is to keep the relationship platonic for a couple of months until they know they will suit. He wants her to have the freedom to leave with Astrid if she decides thats for the best. She's a bit confused as to why he is leaving their marriage with a big old question mark. But maybe he knows best? 

Will these two get their happily ever after? Will their marriage of convenience prove a love match?

My thoughts: Halfway through this novel--there about--and I'd have sworn on a stack of Bibles (not really) that this would be a five star read. It was DELIGHTFUL. I didn't have any doubts that I would end up loving--no adoring--this book. It seemed like a sure enough thing. 

I honestly DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. 

Imagine a juggler juggling five balls. Everything is under control. It's a little tricksy here and there. But he's managing to keep all balls in the air. Now throw an additional four or five balls at him without any warning. All the balls FALL down. There's no graceful recovery. 

The original balls were: Wyatt, Greta, Astrid, the secret arrangement with Mr. Steele, and the uncertainty of Astrid's health. What you've got here is enough--a just right amount--of tension for the story. 

The chaos-for-the-sake-of-chaos balls were: the VILLAINOUS neighbor, a not-so-dead-after-all groom, financial strain and stress, the need for his younger brothers and sister to come live with them in the spring, Astrid running away from home. 

IT was an unnecessarily melodramatic MESS of a novel after all those additional elements were added...I suppose for the sake of "tension" or "good storytelling." 

OR you've probably heard the line about throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. It's like the author was throwing EVERY possible plot device or cliche at the wall to see what would stick. And possibly the things that didn't stick were wildfires, arson, earthquakes, avalanches, kidnapping, and flooding. But the truth is TOO much ended up sticking. And instead of their being just the right amount of tension--will they, won't they--in this romance, it's a ridiculous mess. 


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

51. The Silver Shadow


The Silver Shadow. Liz Tolsma. 2021. [May] 256 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: “What is this?” Balding Joe Ward, his light-colored hair curling over his ears, smacked his copy of the Denver Post against his desk. A whiff of newsprint filled the city editor’s office.

Premise/plot: Polly Blythe works at the Denver Post newspaper. She covers the society pages--and hates it, mostly. She wants to cover REAL news, not sensationalized society fluff pieces. The novel is set in Denver, Colorado, circa 1900/1901. The city is about to experience a series of attacks--muggings-- targeting women. As Polly becomes interested in the case and covering it--off and on--the attacker seems to focus on HER specifically. Will she live long enough to see him arrested and charged with his crimes?

As a journalist she is seeking information--inside information--and one of her sources is a handsome police officer, Edwin Timmer. These two will work closely--perhaps not by his choice, at first. Can he protect the woman he's coming to love?

My thoughts: The Silver Shadow is the eleventh book in the True Colors series. These books are usually based on true crimes from American history. This book is very loosely based on a true crime case in Denver at the turn of the century. In reality, that criminal was never caught. In the novel, we get everything tied up neatly with ribbons and bows. 

If you enjoy mystery and suspense with your romance, this one might suit well. It wasn't personally my favorite and best from the series. There were a couple of things that irritated me about The Silver Shadow.

What bothered me most was the red herring. For two-hundred pages it is hinted sometimes strongly, sometimes weakly, that the criminal is...well...I won't share his name for obvious spoiler reasons. Something BIG happens. And then it's revealed like in the last two chapters that it was RANDOM person whom we've never met. Since we've spent some of almost every chapter inside his head, it seems tricksy to have it turn out to be RANDOM DUDE as opposed to red herring. Granted, about halfway through I was like this is most likely a red herring because all directions are pointing straight to him. Still I was looking for any indication that it was someone else--anyone else--and the clues never really pointed anywhere (else). It was just frustrating as a mystery to have nothing to work with but misdirection. 

Another thing that bothered me was learning at the end of the novel that in reality the criminal was never caught, never arrested, never put on trial, and that essentially the whole book has been misdirection. 



© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Monday, August 23, 2021

50. Ordinary Hazards


Ordinary Hazards. Nikki Grimes. 2019. 325 pages. [Source: Library] 

First sentence: I read somewhere that names penetrate the core of our being, and I suppose, this is as good a time as any to confess my name is not the only lie I’ve ever lived with, but Nikki is the first invention for which I accept full responsibility. 

Premise/plot: Nikki Grimes’ newest book is a memoir written in verse. Ordinary Hazards tells her story—the darkness and the light in her growing up years. 

My thoughts: I have loved, loved, loved Nikki Grimes’ work in the past. I have always found her work to bring on the feels. Her characters are more often than not, oh-so-humanly drawn. Her writing realistic, but often with a strong foundation of hope. No matter how dark, how tough, how painful, there is still reason to hope; where there is life, there is hope. 

This memoir is an amazing read. I think perhaps most enjoyed by those that have read her previously. But perhaps not. Maybe this would encourage readers to pick up her other books and seek out everything she’s written? 

Recently a school district in Texas (Leander Independent School District) removed Ordinary Hazards from its "secondary school book club reading lists." You can read about it here. I have not read ALL the books on the "removed" and "paused" lists. I do not know for certain what "removed" means. If it is simply removing from a recommended book club list, or if it is removal from classroom libraries, or if it is removal from the school library. If it means removal from the school library, that is truly sad and a bit terrifying. 

I can only guess that Ordinary Hazards was removed because of so-called inappropriate content. But truly if that is the case, then people have lost the ability to read critically and in context. That wouldn't surprise me. But it does sadden me.

I say so-called inappropriate content because IN CONTEXT one wouldn't judge it that way. Or have to judge it that way. 

First things first, it is a MEMOIR. It is Nikki Grimes' autobiography. This is HER story. She's sharing real events and real emotions with readers. There is depth and substance to her HONESTY. This book is *real* and leads to *feels*.

Sure, there's alcohol and drunkenness in Ordinary Hazards. But it is her mother. There is no way, no how anyone could read those scenes and think hey, drinking alcohol is the best thing ever. Or wow, now I have life goals. There is PAIN and CONFUSION and HEARTBREAK. Because her mother can't overcome this addiction. And perhaps doesn't even see the addiction as addiction. Nikki Grimes isn't the first and won't be the last child to have an alcoholic parent. What message are we sending to teens when we say, you can't talk about that? 

Sure, there's drug abuse. But it is a cousin. And it terrifies her. At the time this occurs in the memoir, she hasn't even started school yet. She's helpless to control her situation. She's completely reliant on a mother who has some major blind spots. It's HEARTBREAKING to read about.

Sure, there's mental illness. Nikki's mother suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. What we get is Nikki's childhood perspective reconstructed and imagined. It is honest and reflects the pain and confusion and terror she felt as a result of her mom being unstable and unable to really be there, be there. But mental illness exists whether we acknowledge it or not. Whether it's kept buried in shame--deeply buried and barricaded--or whether it's brought out into the light. Keeping quiet about it doesn't make it go away. Again, I have to ask, what message are we sending to teens when we say, you can't talk about that?

Sure, there's child abuse and abandonment. Her father is absent. Her mother is, well, a mess. Her mom is so desperate financially that she's leaving her daughters with strangers as babysitters. Too checked out to check up on them....as she should. Nikki and her sister end up in foster care. She wasn't the first and won't be the last to experience childhood trauma. What message are we sending to teens when we say, you can't talk about that? 

Sure, there's sexual abuse. When Nikki leaves the foster care system to return to live with her mother, she is placed in the house with a child molester--her mom's boyfriend/partner. It is TRAUMATIC and painful. It leads to confusion, anger, bitterness, shame. But Nikki didn't ask for this--no child would. She is not to blame for someone else's action. To silence her story is a crime. Again, Nikki wasn't the first and will not be the last child to be molested, abused, traumatized. What message are we sending to teens when we say, you can't talk about that?

This is a MEMOIR. There are those that would SILENCE her story just because it contains "unpleasant" and "uncomfortable" details that like it or not happen in the real world every single day. It takes bravery and strength to step up and speak up. Do we really want to reinforce the notions of shame and dirtiness? To send the message, if this happens to you--it is too dirty, too shameful, too inappropriate, too immoral to talk about. Keep silent. Keep it to yourself. 


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Thursday, August 19, 2021

Fourth Impressions Of Professor Horner


My last Professor Horner modification came at the very end of May. I spent the summer reading the NASB 2020 using this third modification. For the most part it was LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. I will be making a few modifications for the future. 

The reading is still a bit uneven. But I can't puzzle out a way to solve it AND still read thematically AND still have five bookmarks in the Old Testament. I will always end up reading the twelve minor prophets more often then any other book. 

1) The Law -- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
2) The Prophets: Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel
3) The Twelve Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
4) The book of Psalms
5) The writings: Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Chronicles, and 2 Chronicles
6) Matthew, Hebrews, James, Jude
7) Mark, Romans, 1 and 2 Peter
8) Luke, Acts
9) 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon
10) John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

6. NASB Large Print Reference Bible


NASB Large Print Ultrathin Reference Bible, 2020 text. 1472 pages. [Source: Gift]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

This is my second time reading the NASB 2020. The first time I read the NASB 2020, I read the kindle edition. This time I read an actual physical copy of the NASB 2020. I read the Large Print Ultrathin Reference Bible published by Lockman. It released in August of 2020. 

Here's what YOU need to know:
  • The font size is 10.
  • Line matched typesetting
  • Two column text
  • Center column cross references
  • Paragraph formatting
  • Black Letter Text
  • 2 Ribbon Markers
  • Full set of translation footnotes
  • Color maps
My method for reading was a modified Professor Horner Bible reading plan. 

1) The Law -- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
2) The Prophets: Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel
3) The Twelve Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
4) The book of Psalms
5) The writings: Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Chronicles, and 2 Chronicles
6) Matthew, Hebrews, James, Jude
7) Mark, Romans, 1 and 2 Peter
8) Luke, Acts, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians
9) Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon
10) John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation

I really LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the look and feel of this Bible. I thought it was the absolutely perfect weight. That is proportions of weight and font size were perfectly balanced. 

Do I love the NASB 2020 more than the NASB 1995 or 1977??? Probably not. But I don't dislike it either. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

49. Pudge and Prejudice


Pudge and Prejudice. A.K. Pittman (aka Allison Pittman). 2021. [January] 346 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: IT IS A TRUTH UNIVERSALLY ACKNOWLEDGED that a teenage girl in possession of a double-digit jeans size must be in want of a diet. I’m just not a part of that universe. All my life—my chunky, pudgy, soft-bellied life—I’ve always found something I needed more than a smaller waist. Like to read more books, to learn more words, to know the personal satisfaction of guessing the grocery total before the cashier beeps through all the produce. You know, things that matter. 

Pudge and Prejudice is a young adult adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It is set in Northernfield, Texas, in 1984/1985. 

For some that little teaser would be enough persuasion. But you probably still have questions. After all, it's not as if all adaptations of Pride and Prejudice are well done and/or successful and/or clean.

Is it worth reading? Yes. A thousand times yes.

Is it clean? A few kissing scenes. Some handholding. But yes, it is clean.

Does the adaptation work? YES. It works not because she keeps every single detail the exact same as the original but because she makes it her own.

The basics:  Elyse Nebbitt (aka 'Pudge) is our heroine. She has an older sister, Jayne, who is a junior in high school. Lydia (13) is in eighth grade. She has two Littles: Mary and Kitty aged 6 and 8. They don't enter into the story often so I'm not sure which is six and which is eight. On moving day, Jayne and Elyse meet Charlie Bingley and Billy Fitz two high schoolers that have volunteered to help them move in. It is love at first sight for Jayne and Charlie--these two seemed to be a destined match. But Billy Fitz and Elyse don't necessarily form a good first impression of the other...

There were a million little details that make this one oh-so-magical. I loved, loved, loved it.

 Quotes:

To the universe, being thin means being right. In my case, it would mean my mother was right, and boys were right. If I’ve learned nothing else in my fifteen years, it’s this: I would rather stand my ground in all my wrongness than step one foot into someone else’s idea of right, even if it means I’m sometimes left standing alone.
Then September of my Sophomore year, 1984, my entire universe changed. 
 
Somehow, after six hours in the car, Jayne managed to look beautiful, her blonde hair in symmetrical, fluffy feathers, her skin miraculously sweat free, her clothes unrumpled to catalog perfection. Some would think this would conjure up some sort of jealous spark in me, but it’s really more of a sense of wonder. Being jealous of Jayne would be like being jealous of a butterfly, who has no more control over its beauty than Jayne does. Everything about Jayne is effortless. Not just her beauty, but her kindness, her goodness. In a way, we are everything each other is not, so we stick together in our weak spots. And that’s important, because in this family, you need a hand to hold in our spinning vortex of chaos.
The moment the big truck turned onto what Mom called “our” street, Jayne and I each rolled down our windows, trying to guess which would be “our” house. There was no sign out front, and since it was the middle of the day, plenty of driveways were empty. But then, the huge truck with all of our worldly possessions drifted to a stop, and Dad hopped out with all the fanfare a middle-aged man could muster. Mom pulled precariously into the narrow drive, and we were home.

Then, from out of nowhere, a sound I never expected to hear in Northenfield, Texas. The rumbling car motor, yes, that was common enough, but singing out over it was the sound of an electric guitar. As it came closer, I realized it wasn’t just any guitar, but Neal Schon’s. As in, Journey, and we were hearing the unmistakable guitar solo of “Don’t Stop Believin’.” In only a matter of seconds, we could put the music together with a car—Camaro, late seventies model, midnight blue. Sweeter than sweet. And, shock of all shocks, it came to a screeching, rumbling, rocking stop right behind our U-Haul.
There are those moments when you get the opportunity to stop and have a short talk with yourself and say, “Hey, self! Remember this. Make a note. Get rid of the brain space you’re using to remember your lines from the fourth grade play and make room.”
This was one of those moments. The music played on to the end of the song, then disappeared when the engine cut. The doors opened, and two boys got out. One looked like sunshine—blond, curly-all-over hair, tall, thin, green IZOD shirt with the collar popped. The boy with him, everything opposite. Dark, straight hair, parted in the middle and feathered to the sides. Jeans, Ramones T-shirt, Converse high tops. Jayne and I set our soda cans on the Joggling Board and stood up, because it was pretty obvious they were headed to the front porch. The dark one hung back a little, but Preppy Boy took one look at my sister and smiled like a kid who’d found a Transformer under the Christmas tree. A new boyfriend for Jayne? Well, that would be a matter of 5, 4, 3, 2....1. 

ONE OF THE GREAT IRONIES of being the chubby girl on the scene: you literally take up more space than any other person around, and yet you are somehow invisible. To be fair, the minute Charlie Bingley (Green IZOD Shirt Boy) met Jayne Nebbitt, the entire neighborhood could have been swallowed up by muddy underground aliens and neither of them would have noticed a thing.

And so we worked. Keeping priorities straight, we unearthed my boom box and found a Top 40 station to keep the music going. REO Speedwagon, The Cars, Billy Idol—aka everything our father would forbid us to listen to if he were home. The boys were the souls of efficiency, with Charlie motivated to impress Jayne, and Billy motivated to get away. My sister and I helped, too, of course. Jayne knew exactly where every box and chair and lamp should go, so she kept to the front door and foot of the stairs, pointing and directing and encouraging. I was more of a workhorse, running back and forth with whatever I could easily carry.


TWO WEEKS AND SIX DAYS LATER—Thursday night, right during the first fifteen minutes of Family Ties—the phone rang, and Mom answered it. Nothing extraordinary there—Mom almost always answers the phone. It’s easier that way, for all of us. Otherwise, we’d spend the first five minutes of every conversation letting her know exactly who was on the other side of the line and what they wanted. Plus, Family Ties was one of the few shows that met with parental approval and had a cute actor. No ringing telephone could compete with Michael J. Fox, not even in Lydia’s anticipating ears.
Still, when we heard Mom’s long, lyrical Hellooooo, Mrs. Bingley, Jayne and I tore our eyes away from the Keatons on the screen. Mom walked out of the kitchen, stretching the yellow phone cord all the way into the living room, and mouthed MRS. BINGLEY, as if the neighbors three doors down didn’t hear just who had dialed our number a few minutes before.
I muted the TV, grateful for the first time in my life that I had no such option for my mother. Still, her side of the conversation was too cryptic for true comprehension, even if its volume made me wonder if she somehow thought Mrs. Bingley was deaf. Or ninety. Or both. All Jayne and I heard was, Yes, Yes, Of course, Indeed, and a finale about something being our pleasure before Mom scuttled into the kitchen, hung up the phone, and returned with an expression that could only be described as triumphant.
Jayne, it seemed, through the powers of Mom’s compliant negotiations, had a babysitting job.
Now, I must explain that for girls like us, meaning girls without access to a family’s unlimited credit card, babysitting jobs are the absolute key to functioning normally within our society. Movie tickets, new jeans, cassette tapes, magazines, lip gloss—all those things cost money, and until you’re old enough to snag a paper hat and make shakes at Dairy Queen, that money comes from sacrificing the occasional weekend to take care of somebody’s kid.
It’s a delicate thing, being new in town. Establishing clients, building trust. It’s one of the best reasons to go to church, so you can hang around the nursery looking trustworthy. Or a girl can take a stroll around the neighborhood, chase a ball that some kid kicks into the street, return it with a smile, and hope a parent pokes a head out the door for an introduction.
But there are rules. One being that you don’t babysit the younger siblings of your friends, because that just reinforces the fact that you need money more than your friend does, because otherwise, well, why isn’t she babysitting? And Two, you really, really don’t babysit the younger sibling of a cute boy. One that you like. And one who might possibly like you back. Now, I—of course—have never had the opportunity to put this rule to the test, and it was too late to bring Mom up to speed on the delicacies of booking.
As if all of this wasn’t enough to justify the look of horror on Jayne’s face, Mom’s further explanation had us clutching each other’s hands for support. To spare anyone the inconvenience of shuttling back and forth to deliver the girl, Jayne would ride the bus—the BUS—to the Bingleys’ house after school the next day. And stay there for the entire afternoon and evening.
We might not have been the richest kids in school, but we were lucky enough to live within walking distance, sparing us the daily humiliation of climbing those steep steps of shame to be hauled back and forth on some dilapidated yellow monster vehicle. The bus was for kids who had neither the car nor connection to get a ride.



© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Monday, August 16, 2021

48. Let It Be Me


Let It Be Me. Becky Wade. 2021. [May] 378 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Mom and Dad are not my biological parents. Leah Joanna Montgomery blinked slowly, then squinted at the DNA test results displayed on her computer screen, straining to digest the information displayed there.

Premise/plot: Leah Montgomery is a math teacher dreaming of earning her Ph.D. She's spent the last ten years raising her younger brother, Dylan. Her dad is long, long gone. Her mom is long gone. She likes thinks regular--logical, precise, predictable. So when she's surprised by the DNA results, she's flustered. Soon flustered becomes a way of life--much to her dismay and displeasure. As she is actively seeking out how she got switched as a newborn baby (not so she can meet her birth parents just so she can reason out how everything played out twenty-eight years ago), she's also possibly maybe feeling attraction for the first time ever. 

Sebastian Grant is a pediatric heart surgeon who has been pining away for the angelic woman who stopped at the scene of his car accident. Though he's never really had time or energy to date or fall in love, he knows that this mystery woman whom he spent a few minutes with before the ambulance arrived is his one and only true love. When not preoccupied with this mystery woman, he listens to his best friend, Ben Coleman, talk endlessly about his coworker--a math teacher--whom he's head over heels in love with. They've known each other two years and he's never actually flirted with her--not even once. 

When Sebastian sees THE ONE again it's to quickly arrive at the conclusion that his dream woman is one and the same with Ben's dream woman. Of course this means that Sebastian can't ask her out on a date even if Ben doesn't have any actual plans on asking her on a date any time soon.

My thoughts: This was my first time reading a full-length novel by Becky Wade. Let It Be Me is the second in a series. It's entirely possible some of the characters also made appearances in the first novel in the series, Stay With Me.

I wanted to enjoy Let It Be Me more than I did. I've only ever heard positive things about Wade's writing. 

I was disappointed. I thought it was over-written and saturated in melodrama. (Yes, I realize using the word saturation to describe the melodrama is in itself a bit over-written and melodramatic.) The book reminded me of the 1991 film Soapdish. (And I don't think it was meant to...at all.) 

I do think Leah is a neurodivergent heroine. I do think she's on the spectrum. I think this accounts for the social awkwardness of the dialogue. (Leah herself would be the first to admit that when it comes to social interactions, she's a bit awkward and unsure. She prefers bluntness and directness.) 

I am willing to explain away some of the writing style as Wade's living inside the character of Leah. But I really don't know how to explain away the rest. I never knew that verbs, adjectives, and adverbs could be so annoying and obnoxious. 

The story is melodramatic and a bit busy. I think there were too many stories trying to be told within one novel. I felt a bit of a disconnect with all the characters. 

Quotes:
  • A metaphorical ghost reached past her skin and squeezed her organs in a cold, tight fist.
  • Scintillating conversation concluded, he slunk toward the kitchen.
  • She gazed out the expanse of windows on the front size of her rectangular box of a home. The large panes of glass overlooked a steep, wooded valley with a creed at its base. On this seventh day of May, the crisp, vivid green of the trees blanketing the north Georgia Blue Ridge contrasted with the cheerful orange azaleas blooming in her front planting bed.
  • The ghostly fist that had a hold of her insides squeezed harder.
  • The story of her conception was well known to her and somewhat south of disappointing.
  • He spun and scanned the people in his field of vision.
  • Dark satisfaction curved his lips.
  • "You're going to be just fine," she said. He was not going to be just fine without her.
  • It was like he'd been walking through time in a space suit that kept out joy.
  • Sebastian jerked off his sunglasses and pushed them into the chest pocket of his lightweight gray-and-white checked button-down.
  • His eyebrows knit.
  • The woman extended a hand and poured change into a customer's palm.
  • His breath left him.
  • Everything was suddenly sharper than it should be--his determination not to let her go again, sounds, the color of her sweater. 
  • He was about as interested in metaphors as he was in farmers markets. But she could talk to him about metaphors for days, and he'd drink every word.
  • Disappointment snarled inside him, prowling for an outlet.
  • Love had vibrated through every cell of her adolescent self. And over the seventeen years since, that love had proven deep and staunch, the most unchanging aspect of her life.
  • A sheen of tears misted her eyes.
  • Lifting her head, she consciously relaxed the muscles tension had seized.
  • She'd been working to metabolize her genetic truth.
  • Silence exploded inside Sebastian's car.
  • Sebastian Grant strode into view, walking purposefully from the parking lot toward the entrance doors, looking for all the world like a man unfettered by anyone else's opinion of him.
  • He entered, his chin swinging the direction of Magnolia Perk. She lifted a hand in greeting. He closed the distance, his charisma imposing.
  • His surgeon's hands were large with short, clean nails, and blunt fingertips. Even though relaxed, his fingers communicated proficiency.
  • What in the world was happening? This felt like a pleasurable menstrual cramp even though the relationship between cramp and pleasurable was a non sequitur. 
  • A blush glided up her cheeks. She neutralized it by drawing in air and common sense.
  • Like a tugboat, his mind pulled him to Leah.
  • Within Sebastian, something fundamental went completely still.
  • Dylan's hair fell around his head more rakishly than usual.
  • She suspected he'd donned his gray T-shirt after picking it up off the floor. Its neckline revealed his thin, pale clavicles.
  • The window behind Dylan framed him with color. On this warm, bright evening in June, wisps of cloud had snagged their hems on the peaks of her valley.
  • Her face radiated pragmatism.
  • She'd thought about Sebastian Grant often over the past few days, because thinking about him caused delight to rumble within her like kernels of corn about to pop.
  • Trees conspired to crowd out most of the starry sky.
  • The papers within had turned beige and brittle with age. A smattering of mold splayed across the top right edge.
  • His body roared in response, and he had to lock his teeth together to keep from saying, Don't fall in love with Ben. Please don't.
  • When Leah arrived home from Atlanta that evening, her house welcomed her with silence and a lingering whiff of pineapple from her unlit candle.
  • The deliciousness of the first bite liquefied her spine.
  • Sebastian laughed, then took an unrepentant sip of his drink.
  • Opulent minutes spun, one into the next.
  • She could feel the hammer of her heart, hear the hitch in his inhalations. 
  • A tornado had formed within Sebastian back when Dylan had told him Leah's location.
  • After a night of shredded sleep, Sebastian woke to gray weather and a black mood.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday, August 15, 2021

47. What Is God Like?


What Is God Like? Rachel Held Evans and Matthew Paul Turner. Illustrated by Ying Hui Tan. 2021. 40 pages. [Source: YouTube reading of the picture book + Amazon preview]

First sentence: What is God like? That’s a very big question, one that people from places all around the world have wondered about since the beginning of time. And while nobody has seen all of God (because God is far too big for any of us to fully see), we can know what God is like.

I saw a friend mention this book on FaceBook with a link to a United Methodist pastor reading (all of it) aloud. At the time I wasn't planning on doing anything but listen. After all, I don't have a copy of the book in hand. I was not sent the book to review. No one is expecting me to cover the book. I could merrily go about my business. But. The book is unsettling. And one of the most unsettling things about it is that the reception is so positive. As of the writing of this "review", there are 379 ratings on GoodReads and 330 of them are 5 stars! (33 are 4 stars. 9 are 3 stars. 2 are 2 stars. Only 5 are 1 star.) There are so few negative reviews of this one. So few reviews that mention the warning and danger signs within. 

What is God like? That is THE question being asked and answered in this picture book. It's a solid question. No doubt about it. This question is FUNDAMENTAL to anyone who reckons themselves to be religious or spiritual. She argues that the question is universal, and it is. It is as universal as you can get. 

How you answer the question "What is God like?" matters. It does. It's a question worth wrestling with. It's a question you may spend hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades wrestling with. It doesn't matter how old or how young you are--at some point you may very well ask yourself WHAT IS GOD LIKE?

And it's because the question is so fundamental and foundational that the answer is so crucial and critical. 

Evans answer is Christ-less. Think about that. How can a Christian answer the question What is God like without mentioning the name Jesus Christ? 

I think the book is Christ-less because Evans never once uses the Bible either as source or support. I'll try to clarify the best I can. I'll back up a bit. Where can any human being find the answer to the question What is God like? Has God by chance revealed himself to humans in some way? Has God himself in fact spoken? The answer is yes and yes. We have the Word of God...and the Word of God. That is we have both the Holy Scriptures and Jesus Christ, himself the Word of God. We have big questions and we can go to a big book. We can seek and find...in Scripture...the answer to the question What is God like? We don't have to rely on instincts, gut feelings, emotions, or whimsy. In fact, we shouldn't rely on those! We cannot know God apart from God's self-revelation in His Word. Now without a doubt the heart is an idol-making factory. From the very beginnings we humans have been making, remaking, molding, shaping "god" into a "god" of our own liking and making. Each person can easily have an idol named MyGod. Think of it like a Build a Bear Workshop. We can pick and choose the attributes and characteristics we want, and discard anything we don't want. We can make the comfiest-coziest-snuggliest god that makes us feel awesome about ourselves. 

You might think. Okay, you're exaggerating. You're surely not suggesting that she is suggesting that the readers imagine God any way they like. I give you the end of her book...

What is God like? That’s a very big question, one that people from places all around the world throughout all time have answered in many different ways. Keep searching. Keep wondering. Keep learning about God. But whenever you aren’t sure what God is like, think about what makes you feel safe, what makes you feel brave, and what you makes you feel loved. That’s what God is like.

Evans' book doesn't set about answering the question What is God Like? by using the Bible as her guide and reference. It is an ear-tickler of a read. So open-ended and non-specific and safe-for-everyone-no-matter-what that it couldn't possibly offend. Well, mostly. There are still some that hold to the Bible as the Word of God and Christ as THE way, THE truth, THE life. But this is a book for the masses that don't care if Christ is missing. Which begs the question...why is Christ missing and no one caring? Because people have lost sight of why Christ came. Christ is not needed as a Savior and so he's not worth mentioning in her book. 

I wouldn't go so far as to say that every sentence is completely and totally wrong. But I think that's a matter of a stopped clock--a clock that has stopped keeping time--being right at least twice a day. If you happen to look at it at just the right moment. Or perhaps the better comparison would be if you set about to paint a picture of an elephant, but you happened to leave off the big ears and the trunk. Sometimes enough is left out that what remains is lacking and insufficient. 

The book answers the question with poetic language, imagery, metaphors. Her narrative is spiritual-sounding, life-affirming, feel-good-on-the-ears. Evans is sharing HER God with readers without fact-checking if HER God is one and the same with the God revealed within the pages of the Word of God, the Bible. And she's asking her readers to do the same. The way she's answering the question leads me to believe the real question is either a) What is YOUR God like? OR b) Who do YOU think God is? 

She closes the book urging her readers to "Keep searching. Keep wondering. Keep learning." But she doesn't once point them to the place where they can find REAL answers. Instead she points them inward. 

I'll close with some John Calvin, because why not?!

And let us not take it into our heads either to seek out God anywhere else than in his Sacred Word, or to think anything about him that is not prompted by his Word, or to speak anything that is not taken from that Word. (146)
The theologian's task is not to divert the ears with chatter, but to strengthen consciences by teaching things true, sure, and profitable. (164)


Saturday, August 14, 2021

Who are star ratings for?

While I don't personally state how many stars I'm giving a book in the review itself (on the blog review), I do give star ratings that can be found in other places (GoodReads, NetGalley, my own spreadsheet). Star ratings by their very nature can have some drama attached now and then. Today I thought I would seek to give my perspective on the question: Who are star ratings for?

Authors. I would imagine that star ratings would be very important to authors. The higher the average of stars a book has, the more appealing it might be to potential readers--so the theory goes. Yet. I can't personally get caught up in an author's feelings and reactions when I am rating a book. Why? Because if every single book received five stars--all books past, all books present, all books future--then the five star rating would become useless to me and to a lesser extent useless to others as well. Giving out five stars rating no matter what, always, always, always, would be hypocritical and unfair. 

Readers who have read the book. One of the first things that I personally do after I've read and reviewed the book is to go on GoodReads and read other reviews. I love reading across the ratings. I will purposefully seek out reviews from all five ratings--one star, two stars, three stars, four stars, five stars. I will actually read reviews and take into account other perspectives and views. I hardly ever change my own view or change my rating of a book based on another's opinion. But I like seeing how others who have actually read the book reacted and responded to the book. ON occasion I read a review and I am like DID WE READ THE SAME BOOK???? How can our points of view be so different when the words on the page were the same??? But at the same time that's part of the fun of it: READING IS SO SUBJECTIVE. Cookie cutter opinions are not what I would expect or desire. GoodReads does allow you to sort by star rating. 

Readers who have NOT read the book. When a book has come to my attention--perhaps it's on sale on Amazon, perhaps it's on order at the library, perhaps I've read a review on another blog, perhaps it's an author I've always meant to read but haven't yet--I will go and seek out reviews. Again I will read reviews from all five ratings. I don't just look for the five stars. I don't automatically read three or four five star reviews and go THIS IS THE BOOK FOR ME. I AM GOING TO LOVE IT SO, SO, MUCH. That's not how I approach ratings OR reviews. I look for clues in the reviews. You can sense which ones are "real" and which ones are "fake." And by real I mean people who have read the book and thought about it. And by fake I mean people who haven't read the book and are just looking for drama. I don't mean the "real" ones are the ones that agree with me and the "fake" ones are the ones that I disagree with. Again, you don't have to agree about a book to tell that a person has actually read it, thought about it, lived with the book. 

I have found one star reviews helpful; two stars reviews helpful; three stars reviews helpful; four stars reviews helpful; five stars reviews helpful. I look beyond ratings to the content of the review. Which, for me, is KEY to all of this. Knowing YOURSELF and recognizing in reviews things that will indicate if the book is for you and not for you. 

Last but not least, MYSELF. I rate books for myself. I need all the help I can get differentiating the books I read. When you factor in 100+ books each year and multiple the years--no DECADES--that you've been reading, the ratings go a long way. True story, sometimes I have to look at GoodReads to see if I've read a book or not. I can have zero memory of reading it. Yet GoodReads can tell me, YES, you read it and you rated it 3 stars. That isn't the only reason. I do a fairly decent job remembering which books I've read in the past six to twelve months. It is helpful with best of lists and nominating books. I know not everyone creates a favorite reads of the year post--I love doing it. And I know not everyone nominates books for the Cybils....(which is for children's books and young adult books)....but I do. 

At the end of the day what I'm asking of myself and what I'm asking of others is one thing: HONESTY and AUTHENTICITY in rating. Telling me honestly, genuinely, authentically what your gut response is to a book in terms of STARS. I find that more helpful than the generic EVERY BOOK GETS 5 STARS NO MATTER WHAT approach. And I hope that authors can get that. For five stars to mean something truly special--this reader truly thought my book was great, amazing, wonderful, fantastic--it has to be sincere. 




© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Friday, August 13, 2021

46. The Seeds of Change


The Seeds of Change (Leah's Garden #1) Lauraine Snelling. 2021. [June] 336 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: I truly hate that man.” “Lark, you know Ma said we should never hate anybody.” Larkspur’s sister Forsythia, third of the Nielsen daughters, spoke out of the side of her mouth, the way they had learned so as not to be heard by anybody else. Especially in church. Forsythia had spent a good part of her young life trying to keep her older sister out of trouble.

Premise/plot: The Seeds of Change is the first in a new series by Lauraine Snelling. Larkspur, Forsythia, Delphinium, and Lilac are sisters heading west. Lark, the oldest, will be posing as CLARK, for safety. The decision to head west and join a wagon train came quickly. In fact, this decision isn't without some protest from some of the sisters! But circumstances have arisen that throw the girls safety into question. Life on the trail will be challenging--though these girls have been raised to do just about everything--shooting, throwing knives, etc. But what happens when they reach their destination? Can the girls make a new start?

My thoughts: I tend to love books about pioneers heading west via wagon train. The stories are always tough and full of some drama--expect no less here, life on the trail could be DEADLY. 

I think my favorite part was the family adopting the kids--including a newborn--who became orphaned on the wagon train. I loved, loved, loved seeing Forsythia take on the role of mother.

I loved Forsythia's romance with the doctor (from the wagon train). 

This is the first in a series and I think that's a good thing. If this was a stand alone I'd probably be a bit disappointed. We've got a good start to a plot--but not a full plot. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Thursday, August 12, 2021

45. Fault Lines


Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe. Voddie T. Baucham Jr. 2021. [April] 270 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: 1989 was a banner year. Not because the World Wide Web was invented, the Berlin Wall came down, Nintendo came out with the Gameboy, and I met and married the woman of my dreams. Those were all big, but four other things happened in 1989 that were at least as big—things that shaped the current war being waged in our midst. Harvard Law professor Derrick Bell and some colleagues held a conference in Wisconsin, where Critical Race Theory was officially born.

Chances are you already have an opinion about this book before you've even picked it up. The book certainly can be seen as controversial by some. The topic is as current, relevant, and hot-topic as you can possibly get. The book is about Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, Social Justice, and Black Lives Matter (the organization).  

The book goes above and beyond when it comes to presenting and explaining terms, unpacking definitions and philosophies, following through with the logical outflow of those ideas and views, asking (and answering) hard questions, and providing a history of the ideas that form this 'new' worldview. Perhaps readers may disagree with his conclusions here and there, but it's hard to disagree with his presentation when he is quoting generously from the opposition. He is using their terms, their vocabulary, their definitions, their own words to present the key ideas that form the worldview being discussed, dissected, analyzed, unpacked, critiqued. 

Baucham specifically focuses on how CRT is effecting and impacting the evangelical church. It isn't just society and culture and the world at large being effected by this worldview. It is effecting the church--the local church, the body of churches within denominations, official doctrines within specific denominations,  Christian organizations that carry a lot of weight and influence (aka Big Eva). He is essentially--to sum it up quite briefly--saying you can't hold onto the gospel as presented in the Word of God while also holding onto CRT (or Social Justice or BLM). You can't have your cake and eat it too. Because the two are at odds. The two being "at odds" is an understatement. The two are at war. 

What is being attacked are some of the essential doctrines of the church--doctrines clung to since the Reformation. Like the doctrine that the BIBLE IS SUFFICIENT. The Bible does not need help from social sciences, from philosophy, from science, from ethnic experience to be interpreted, rightly divided, understood, comprehended. One does not need to read the Bible with the lens of Critical Race Theory in order to be properly read, understood, interpreted, taught, proclaimed. One does not need to read the Bible with the lens of feminism. Whatever lens the modern world--the modern culture--is throwing at the church saying ASSIMILATE TO OUR WORLDVIEW OR ELSE BE DEEMED BACKWARD, ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY, SMALL-MINDED, BIGOTED, HATEFUL--the church should reject. The church does not need to watch the news to make sense of Scripture. The church should be grounded and rooted in the Word of God. No matter the currents of the world philosophies or world views, the church should be built on a strong, solid, unchanging foundation.

The book is part memoir--he shares his experiences--part sociology--he does have a degree in sociology and has experience teaching sociology--and part theology--he has pastored churches for decades.  

  • Thought Line
  • Introduction
  • Chapter One: A Black Man
  • Chapter Two: A Black Christian
  • Chapter Three: Seeking True Justice
  • Chapter Four: A New Religion
  • Chapter Five: A New Priesthood
  • Chapter Six: A New Canon
  • Chapter Seven: The Ground Is Moving
  • Chapter Eight: The Damage
  • Chapter Nine: Aftershock
  • Chapter Ten: Restoration and Mitigation
  • Chapter Eleven: Solid Ground
  • Appendix A: The Dallas Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel 
  • Appendix B: Original Resolution on Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality
  • Appendix C: SBC Resolution 9 on Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality
Quotes: 

  • It is not a stretch to say we are seeing seismic shifts in the evangelical landscape.
  • Growing ethnic tension is a problem—but it is not the main problem. While troubling, it is no match for the truth of the Gospel and the unity it creates among those who embrace it. In fact, such tensions represent an opportunity for Christ’s followers to demonstrate the truth of Paul’s words:
  • For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. (Ephesians 2:13–16)
  • Ethnic tensions are only a problem for Christians who forget this truth or subordinate it to a competing ideology (whether that be on the left or the right). When that happens, a fault line appears: those on one side “press the text” of the Bible, while those on the other see that approach as short-sighted and insensitive. The problem is not ethnic tension, but the fundamental assumptions that drive our assessment of and subsequent approaches to it.
  • Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the current struggle is that it mischaracterizes Christians that way too. On one side are “compassionate” Christians who are “concerned about justice.” On the other are “insensitive” Christians who are “not concerned about justice.” This is wrong.
  • I have pursued justice my entire Christian life. Yet I am about as “anti–social justice” as they come—not because I have abandoned my obligation to “strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14), but because I believe the current concept of social justice is incompatible with biblical Christianity.
  • This is the main fault line at the root of the current debate—the epicenter of the Big One that, when it finally shifts with all its force, threatens to split evangelicalism right down the middle. Our problem is a lack of clarity and charity in our debate over the place, priority, practice, and definition of justice.
  • God clearly condemns injustice. He is also clear in His condemnation of falsehood and lies. The most succinct statement of this is found in the Decalogue.
  • Falsehood and lies are reprehensible because they not only harm those to and/or about whom they are told, but they also blaspheme the very character and nature of the God Who is truth (John 14:6), whose very Word is truth (Psalm 119:43, 160; John 17:17), and whose very essence is that of “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). Moreover, God is clear about His attitude toward falsehood and its implications:
  • There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16–19)
  • There are falsehoods in the current cultural moment that tick every one of these boxes. As such, these falsehoods must be confronted.
  • Beyond confronting falsehoods in general, our pursuit of justice must also be characterized by a pursuit of truth. Much has been said recently about seeking justice, and I could not agree more. However, we must be certain that we pursue justice on God’s terms. For instance, we must bear in mind that “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established” (Deuteronomy 19:15, cf. Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28). This is critical in our quest to adhere to the Lord’s admonition that “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:15). How much of our current debate about justice is rooted in these principles?
  • At the epicenter of the coming evangelical catastrophe is a new religion—or, more specifically, a new cult. While some may consider the term “cult” unnecessarily offensive, it happens to be the most accurate term available to describe the current state of affairs. 
  • In no area does God require me to walk in a level of righteousness for which the Scriptures do not equip me—including any and all aspects of justice.
  • “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3–4). What could possibly be beyond the scope of “all things that pertain to life and godliness”?
  • The general theme of the current CSJ movement within evangelicalism is a covert attack on the sufficiency of Scripture. People are not coming right out and saying that the Bible is not enough. Instead, high-profile pastors get up and speak about the ways in which modern sociology texts have done for them what the revelation of Scripture has been unable to do.
  • At least three realities should give us pause when men who have been studying and teaching the Bible for many decades proclaim that they have come to some life-altering revelation that has not been derived from Scripture.
  • First, the Bible is the Word of God. Paul says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” In other words, the Bible is not merely the words and speculations of men. Nor is it dependent upon the words or ideas of men for its authority. Unlike the texts in the new antiracist canon, the Bible carries the authority of God Himself.
  • Second, the Bible is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:17). In other words, since race is undoubtably a “righteousness” issue, the Bible is profitable for teaching those who are ignorant about race, rebuking those who are in sin concerning race, correcting those who are in error about race, and training everyone who is pursuing righteousness in regard to race. To put a finer point on it, there is not a book in the world that is better suited to address men on the issue of race than the Bible. That is not to say that there is no help to be found in other books. It is, however, to say that they are not essential.
  • Third, the Bible is sufficient. The Bible is the only canon through and by which “the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17). This includes the work of race relations of any and every kind. It is the Bible—not sociology, psychology, or political science—that offers sufficient answers not only on race, but on every ethical issue man has faced, or will ever face.
  • As we saw earlier, the term “antiracist” is loaded. It has a very specific meaning—part of which includes the idea of works-based righteousness. White people are not called to look to God for forgiveness. They are not told that Christ’s blood is sufficient. No, they are told that they must do the unending work of antiracism. And this work must be done regardless of their own actions since the issue at hand is a matter of communal, generational guilt based on ethnicity.
  • We are right to pursue justice, peace, and unity (Micah 6:8; Romans 12:18; John 17:20–21). That is not the fault line. 
  • If we are to survive this catastrophe, we must understand it. We must understand what the fault lines are. We must also know where they lie.
  • Racism is real. Injustice is real. No matter how many times I say those things, I still will be accused of turning a blind eye to them—not because I deny them, but because I deny the CRT/I view that they are “normal” and at the basis of everything.
  • I wrote this book because I love God more than life, the truth more than others’ opinion of me, and the Bride of Christ more than my platform. My heart is broken as I watch movements and ideologies against which I have fought and warned for decades become entrenched at the highest and most respected levels of evangelicalism. I want this book to be a clarion call. I want to unmask the ideology of Critical Theory, Critical Race Theory, and Intersectionality in hopes that those who have imbibed it can have the blinders removed from their eyes, and those who have bowed in the face of it can stand up, take courage, and “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
  • I am not a social justice warrior, but I believe God meant it when He said, “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:17). But I don’t believe He called me to use the government as a proxy. God calls His people to be His hands and feet in this regard. Believing this transformed my life and that of my family to the tune of adopting seven newborns in nine years as an expression of our pro-life commitment.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible