R. W. Reed

Not sure if you’ve heard the tiny blip of news that happened recently, but Kanye West is back with a new album, Jesus is King. I’ll leave a review of the album to all the “professional” critics out there – that’s not what this will be about.

When I first heard that Kanye West was coming out with a gospel album, I responded in the same way I’m sure many of you did – giving the biggest eye roll my Gary Coleman-looking face could muster.

For shame…Because now, having actually listened to it, I’m blown away. This album – to my great surprise – is 100% explicitly Christian (more so than half the stuff that gets played on the radio). He was telling the truth. It was exactly what he said it would be. And what an amazing Christian album it is! (And he has already announced another album titled Jesus is Born that will be coming out on December 25th).

So, like I said, I’m going to skip a full review. Others more inclined to music can handle that with greater ease. I’m going to be talking about one of the high points for me which was this amazing line:

Everybody Wanted Yandhi / Then Jesus Christ Did the Laundry

Supposedly Kanye’s next album was going to be titled Yandhi, a mashup between Ye and Ghandi. But somewhere on that road to producing it Kanye became a born-again Christian, which caused that project to come to a grinding halt while he switched his attention to something he was now far more passionate about.

In short, Jesus came into his life, the work of grace began in his soul, and God led him down a new path (Proverbs 3:6).

So, here I go. I’m about to do something somewhat uncharacteristic of me – draw parallels between myself and Kanye.

The past few years the darkness of this world has seeped into me more and more, to the point that I even had to resort to medication (more on that another day). And, in turn, I’ve pressed further and further into God and His Word. And He has been as faithful as He has always claimed to be. There’s nothing flashy or exciting about it, but slowly a new work was being done inside of me. Something that couldn’t be seen from the outside. Something that scripture calls the renewing of the inward self (2 Corinthians 4:16). And, with that, my priorities and desires had shifted.

I’ve lost track at this point how many people have asked me when I’m going to write the next installment in my Twin Star series. On the outset, I do sympathize. Many people spent their money and (more importantly) their time to read a book that was actually only the launching point for even more exciting things. So, without giving an explanation, I just gave everyone the same old answer: “I just can’t do it right now.”

And the reason is because several years ago, shortly after A Word Fitly Spoken was published, the same thing happened to me that has seemingly happened to Kanye. I’ll pass over the details for now because that alone will require its own 3-part post. But when it happened it was immediate. I couldn’t find it in me to continue writing the series – a true encounter with Jesus can do that to you. Things seemed to fall into place. The fog in my brain lifted and the eyes of my inner self were able to see much clearer.

And I still had the ability and the desire to craft stories. I desperately wanted to write a novel – but a much different kind of novel. One that still displayed my personal affinity toward the fantastical, but ultimately one that pointed toward Him. So, setting the Twin Star Chronicles aside and casting the sails of my creative ship in an entirely new direction, I underwent the long, grueling, painful, multi-year process of writing a new novel.

I’ve had this completed novel in my possession for several months. I’ve been working on this project for well over three years now, and there are only two people in my life that knew about it, my wife who knows everything (and I mean everything), and my great friend and oldest confidante, Sedric Kelley.

Eventually it will no longer be a document on my laptop and will be a published book for the world to read. Whether that is through a traditional or independent publishing platform remains to be seen (like being cast in a big budget Hollywood movie or acting in an indie film in Houston – it’s still doing what you love, so I’ll be happy either way).

And if I’m lucky, people will read the book.

And if I’m really lucky, they’ll enjoy it too.

But this past Friday was my first time seeing someone else also experience such a big shift in their artistic endeavors. And it was so encouraging to hear my journey over the past few years spoken by one of the most influential artists of our time:

Everybody Wanted Yandhi / Then Jesus Christ Did the Laundry

The second installment of the Twin Star Chronicles was on its way…but Jesus had other plans for me.

And who am I to argue with a King?

– R. Reed

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! “

– 2 Corinthians 5:17

(P.S. For anyone who was really looking forward to seeing what happened to Evelyn over the next three books, I’m almost certain I will actually finish the series one day – unfortunately, I just can’t put a timeline on it.)

Think About Such Things

Appearances

Everybody Wanted Yandhi, Then Jesus Christ Did the Laundry