With all the excitement going on, I almost forgot to mention our 1-year anniversary of this TGIF column! After many churches held their first live-streamed worship service and an entire week of social distancing, I am even more thankful to connect with you here at SOLA Network.
We continue to publish devotions written by women about The Women Jesus Loved in honor of International Women’s Day (March 8th), Women’s History Month in the United States, and the Lenten season. Current contributors include Hannah Chao, Heidi Tai, Tia Kim, and Grace Lung.
On the latest episode of our SOLA Network podcast, I spoke with FCBC Walnut’s Pastor Hanley Liu. We talk about how our church is responding to COVID-19, how Christians should think about it, and what we can do to plan and prepare. Listen on YouTube, Spotify, or Podcasts. Send me your questions on Twitter or Instagram.
Articles From Around The Web
1. Heidi Tai: Too Privileged to Panic?
A confession and call to consider the weak in a pandemic.
2. Mark Collins: Pastoring Amid Pandemic: Counsel from a Pastor in China
Writing for 9Marks, Mark Collins, a pastor and church planter who has been ministering in Asia for 18 years, is praying for an awakening in China.
3. Thomas Hwang: Why I’m Thankful to be Connected to a Local Church in a Time Like This
Writing on his personal blog, Thomas Hwang shares 3 thanksgivings as well as 3 personal burdens for the local church during our ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
4. Moses Y. Lee: What the Early Church Can Teach Us About the Coronavirus
Plagues, epidemics, and mass hysteria is nothing new for the Church. The Christian response to the Coronavirus is love and trust in God with joy.
Books, Podcasts, Music, And More
1. SOLA Network Podcast: COVID-19 with Pastor Hanley Liu
We talk about how our church is responding to COVID-19, how Christians should think about it, and what we can do to plan and prepare. We hope it encourages you as we navigate this together in our local churches. Listen on YouTube, Spotify, or Podcasts.
2. Spotify: TGIF Playlist
Featuring the songs Great is Thy Faithfulness, Christ is Mine Forevermore, Before the Throne of God Above, and more.
3. Aaron Lee: Book Reviews
A Holy Pursuit by Dianne Jago, Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ by Thomas Schreiner, Journeys of the Apostle Paul edited by David Bomar, Ever in Thy Sight by Abraham Kuyper, Born Again: The Evangelical Theology of Conversion in John Wesley and George Whitefield by Sean McGever, and the ESV Bible with Creeds and Confessions from Crossway.
Featured This Week On SOLA Network
1. Hannah Chao: COVID-19 Stress Disorder and How Jesus Loved Martha
“I’ve gotten shorter with my kids (who are now home with me every day), I get distracted more easily, and I sometimes have a pit in my stomach that won’t go away, even after a big dinner. I think I have COVID-19 stress disorder. And I think the world does too.”
2. Min Lee: Making Disciples in Children’s Ministry Amid COVID-19
“But when the church is closed, how do we give them Jesus? How can we replicate what kids experience at church, right in their own home? What would be the best way to not only share a Bible story, but provide discipleship with the same small group teacher they see week to week? What can we do to communicate to parents that our vision is still, “A church for kids to call home” and that we absolutely love the kids?”
3. Heidi Wong: How COVID-19 Exposes Us
“This virus has exposed what my “givens” are. The things I had felt entitled to with no basis. It has made me reflect and consider what is truly necessary versus what I think I need.”
4. Heidi Tai: Bleeding and Bankrupt: A Story of Faith
“In many ways, women’s health is still a taboo and foreign topic. How do you explain an invisible battle? How do you answer the hundredth person who asks when you’re finally going to have a baby? How do you grieve an intangible loss? For months, I felt like I was stuck in a
pit of grief and guilt, until one day, the Bleeding Woman showed up to pull me back into the light.”
5. TGIF: Roundup for March 13, 2020
In case you missed it: Taking Church Online in a Coronavirus Age, Believers in East Asia Grow in Faith During Coronavirus Outbreak, and The ‘Sir’ Unlike no Other.
6. SOLA Network: TGIF Subscription
Get our TGIF installments delivered straight to your inbox for free every Friday. Subscribe today so you never miss out.
General disclaimer: Our link roundups are not endorsements of the positions or lives of the authors.