We wanted to spice things up for the Winter 2026 edition of The Drawing Room and that calls for chili. Not just any chili, but “Brooking’s Chili King,” the unique brand of chili served at the greasy spoon restaurant down on Euclid Avenue made famous by UK basketball coach Adolph Rupp. He frequented the hole-in-the-wall spot across the street from Memorial Coliseum so often they gave him his own booth. The joint closed in 1991, but the secret recipe was published by the Lexington Herald Leader, and Larry’s wife Tina mixed up a batch of Brooking’s that helped fuel the evening. Jeff Parr added the spaghetti base, cheese and sour cream toppings, and topped it all off with cakes from Spalding’s Bakery. De-lish!
Brooking’s Chili wasn’t the only way we stirred the pot. The dozen attendees also enjoyed meaty discussion on a variety of topics:
- Icebreaker question: If you had a time machine, would you go back in time or into the future? Where to? Why? Interestingly, all 12 attendees said they would go back in time, though the time periods ranged from biblical times to last week.
- Creating a Buzz: We love to hear about the quirky hobbies of Drawing Room members, and Peter D’Sousa shared about his beekeeping adventures. Bees are a remarkable demonstration of the wonder of God’s creation. Thanks, Peter, for the bee-utiful presentation.
- A Biblical Worldview of Immigration & ICE: With the goal of finding a topic that would stir the pot and produce diverse perspectives from our homogenous group of men, Larry moderated (or perhaps ignited) a discussion on the hot topic of immigration and ICE. The heart of The Drawing Room is to bring a bring a biblical worldview to a world of interesting topics. But if a side goal is to also avoid making The Drawing Room an echo chamber, the segment was a success. See the Appendix below for a summary of Larry’s proposition.
- The Great Books: Dr. Jeff Parr gave a presentation on the Great Books of the Western World, a set of 54 volumes originally published in 1952 by Encyclopedia Britannica. He owns a complete set and passed around some volumes. View a list of the Great Books volumes and works.
- An Out-of-this-World Website: We periodically share cool websites, and The Size of Space really puts the vastness and complexity of God’s creation into perspective.
- A First-Class Second Act: Recently retired from a career in wealth management, David Parks is now investing his life in a truly global enterprise—helping to plant a church in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Providing a stellar example of how to turn “retirement” into a renewed mission, David now spends several months a year working on-site at the church in Halifax, helping with everything from setting up chairs to preaching. Great job, David!
- Are You an Unbiased Reporter? Larry lamented the death of objective journalism, the Fourth Estate. We all know about the liberal media and how hard it is to find true, balanced, unbiased reporting. We shared a few news sources that do a fairly good job (the first three have a biblical worldview): World (The World and Everything in It), The Pour Over, Christianity Today Daily Briefing, 1440, and Reuters. But Larry then challenged the group to evaluate their own bias in reporting The Good News and helping the world interpret current events and culture through a true biblical worldview. Are you biased by the Republican or Democratic parties? Do you follow thought leaders or the Holy Spirit? Are you checking The Source for wisdom from above (James 3:17) rather than earthly sources?
The next Drawing Room will be Thursday, June 4, 2026. Let Larry know if there’s a topic you would like to suggest!
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Appendix: A Biblical Worldview of Immigration & ICE
Below is the proposition that Larry used to frame our discussion on “A Biblical Worldview of Immigration & ICE“
Whereas the Bible commissions us to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19),
Whereas God has blessed America in a way that attracts many internationals to move to the United States, making it highly efficient to disciple them without the need to send missionaries across the world,
Whereas God has commanded His people to not oppress the sojourner (Exodus 23:9; Zechariah 7:10), but to treat them as natives and love them as yourself (Leviticus 19:33–34), give them food and clothing (Deuteronomy 10:19–19; Matthew 25:35), and otherwise show them hospitality (Hebrews 13:2), since we Americans are all immigrants (except Native Americans),
Whereas God has also ordained the institution of government to “bear the sword” and for denizens to be subject to the governing authorities (Romans 13:1–7), establishing the “rule of law” that helps make our nation attractive,
Therefore, for the sake of the Gospel, I am in favor of allowing virtually unlimited legal immigration into the United States and am also in favor of preventing and correcting virtually all illegal immigration so that legal immigration can be better maximized.
Far more impressive than the marvelous menu is the magnificent mansion which now serves as the new venue for The Drawing Room, the exquisite home of Dr. Jeff Parr. Everything about the breathtaking new setting—kitchen, dining rooms, and drawing room—is spectacularly grand. Thank you, Jeff, for your gracious hospitality in hosting The Drawing Room.
