“Reconciled” is the theme for SOLA Conference 2020 and registration is now open! View our conference page, watch Pastor Harold Kim share about this year’s theme, and meet our plenary speakers, Kim Kira, Watson Jones III, and Owen Lee.
Our monthly SOLA Newsletter is scheduled to be sent out next Friday. Stay connected with us and subscribe today. As always, if you have a link to share, tweet me @musicgoon or email me at aaron@musicgoon.com.
Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram as we will be sharing some season-specific articles leading up to the holiday. And on behalf of the SOLA digital admin team, I would like to wish our readers a very merry Christmas.
Articles From Around The Web
1. Christopher Yuan: He Made Them Male and Female – Sex, Gender, and the Image of God
Writing for DesiringGod, author and Moody Bible Institute professor Christopher Yuan shares how self-perceptions and cultural expectations must submit to Scripture. My healthcare background brings me to this article, and my artist eyes were opened after reading this sentence: “Sex is a category of God’s handiwork — his original and everlasting design.”
2. Faith Chang: Common Trials Are Still Trials
SOLA Network contributor Faith Chang, who recently shared 3 Reasons The Church Needs Asian American and Other Minority Voices, wrote for The Gospel Coalition on how common, hard things are meant to humble us and bring us to our heavenly Father. Chang has parenting in mind, but she speaks encouraging truth to anyone going through a difficult season.
3. Daniel K. Eng: The Forgotten Figure in the Nativity Scene
Daniel K. Eng, SOLA editorial board member, wrote for The Gospel Coalition and helps us see 3 reasons why Joseph is a hero of the faith. One aspect of Joseph’s life that is highlighted is adoption, which holds a special place in my heart.
Books, Podcasts, Music, And More
1. CityAlight: Jesus, Strong and Kind (feat. Colin Buchanan)
The new song from Sydney’s CityAlight is “for God’s children of all ages” and almost made me cry. I plan to start singing it at FCBC Walnut soon.
2. Steven Lee: Walk in Wisdom Towards Outsiders
Steven Lee, Lead Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church North Campus, preaches a 35-minute sermon from Colossians 4:2-6 in the Bethlehem College and Seminary Chapel.
3. Aaron Lee: Book Reviews
This week I reviewed Shaped by God by John Piper and Redemptive Reversals and the Ironic Overturning of Human Wisdom by G. K. Beale.
Featured This Week On SOLA Network
1. David Larry Kim: How Can I Be Generous With My Time When I’m So Busy: A Christmas Reflection
“As much as Christmas reminds us of how limited our finances are, it also reminds us of how limited our time is. In fact, most people would agree that time, not money, is our most precious resource. If you lose, spend, or waste money, you can get it back or earn it. But once your time is spent, you’ll never get it back. So how can we be generous with our time if it is in such short supply?”
2. Tony Thomas: Two Burning Buildings: A Call for Ethnic-Specific Mission
“I am a South Asian (specifically, Indian) American who by God’s grace is a follower of Jesus Christ. And one of the things I have wrestled with over the years is whether it is “OK” for me to have a heart, and not only that, but to be specific in outreach, for my own ethnic group?”
3. Mitch Kim and Hannah Chao: Grafting Two Churches Together: An Interview with Mitch Kim
Mitch Kim was enjoying being the lead pastor Living Water Alliance Church, a small but growing Asian American congregation in Wheaton, Ill. Then he got a phone call from a leader within his church’s denomination. Would he be open to merging with Blanchard Alliance Church, a large but slowly declining majority white church that hadn’t had a permanent senior pastor for years?
4. Sophia Lee: Requesting Wisdom: A Journalist’s Search for Discernment
“On Monday, the day I originally wrote this column, I turned 32. When I graduated from college years ago, the dean of my journalism school gave a speech that I’ve mostly forgotten. But I still remember one statement: ‘People think they’re paying journalists for their objectivity. That’s not true. They’re paying them for their judgment.’”
5. TGIF: Roundup for December 13, 2019
In case you missed it, here are some headlines from last week: Stir the Imagination – One Sermon at a Time, and What If I‘m Not the ‘Submissive’ Type?
6. SOLA: TGIF Subscription
Get our weekly TGIF weekend roundups delivered straight to your inbox for free. Subscribe today so you never miss out.
General disclaimer: Our link roundups are not endorsements of the positions or lives of the authors.