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TGIF: Roundup for April 28, 2023

We are proud to introduce Joey Chen, Enoch Liao, and Jason Tarn as new SOLA Council members. All three leaders have influential voices in the Chinese heritage church in America. In fact, Enoch and Jason are currently working with other leaders to host the first Chinese Heritage Church Collective on May 2-4, 2023. 

SOLA Network strives to influence the emerging generation of Asian Americans and those who lead them. In addition to visiting our website, we encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel and Podcast feed.

This newsletter is one of the many ways you can keep in touch with us. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more, check out my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group and TGIF Playlist on Spotify. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram

Aaron Lee, Editorial Curator

Enter to win these excellent books! Where can we find rest from a selfish and sinful world? In An Island of Grace, Christopher Wright writes on redeeming love in the book of Ruth. Read my review. Do the Ten Commandments apply to Christians today? In Ten Words from God, Gordon J. Keddie gives an exposition of the Ten Commandments. Read my review. Thanks to Crown & Covenant for providing these books for our giveaway, in partnership with my newsletters for @diveindigdeep and FCBC Walnut.


Articles From Around The Web

1. Daniel Jung: Beef and Belief

“Beef explores a broader cultural norm within the American church: the expected finality of a testimony.”

Related: Gaining a Voice: The Asian American Church in Context with Dr. Esther Chung-Kim

2. Sam Beh: What Keeps you Going when Ministry gets hard?

“What keeps me going when ministry gets hard? It’s that I want to dwell in the joy of the Lord as I live into his will for my life.”

Related: The Hardest Question for Pastors and Church Planters by Fred Mok

3. Daniel Brueske and John Lee: True Servanthood in the Footsteps of Jesus

“We believe that the term ‘service,’ as applied to the mission of Jesus, must be understood in a nuanced and refined manner. Its overuse in our era has cheapened the concept. But in Jesus’s case, ‘service’ meant embracing the most shameful and despised fate of his time—death on a Roman cross.”

Related: Comfort for Weary, Bruised, and Broken Gospel Servants by Sam Wan

The SOLA College Writing Cohort is our new writing cohort for college-age students to receive mentorship and training as young Christian writers. Editorial Board member Soojin Park will personally be leading this initiative, and she is very excited at the prospect of nurturing the next generation of Asian American thinkers and writers who will help encourage and edify the Church!


Books, Podcasts, Music, And More

1. Irene Sun: A Recipe for Teaching Your Child Biblical Theology

“The Lord has given us parents visible things to teach our children his invisible attributes. In eating and drinking the Lord’s provision (visible), we taste and see his grace and mercy (invisible).”

Related: Sharing Biblical Theology With Kids: An Interview with Irene Sun by Aaron Lee

2. Kirkus Reviews: Sam D. Kim Talks About ‘A Holy Haunting’

“Like the iconic song by the Beatles, the journey of faith is like a long and winding road. My book, in short, is a memoir about the many complexities intertwined in our faith journey.”

Related: From Doubt to Faith: Book Review of “A Holy Haunting” by Aaron Lee

3. Aaron Lee: Related Works

Book Reviews: ESV Expository Commentary Vol. 5: Psalms – Song of Solomon by Crossway. Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group.

Check out the new edition of our SOLA Network Magazine! Download it for free and share it with your friends as a great way to be introduced to the work we do at SOLA Network.


1. SOLA Network: Announcing New SOLA Council Members for 2023

“We are proud to introduce Joey Chen, Enoch Liao, and Jason Tarn as new SOLA Council members. All three leaders have influential voices in the Chinese heritage church in America.”

2. Aaron Lee: A Message of Hope: A Book Review of “Shame” by Esther Liu

“Does shame cast a dark shadow over your life? Then you should check out Shame by Esther Liu. In less than 100 pages, this 31-day devotional explains what it means to be truly known and loved. The book will renew your mind and reshape your heart in regards to countering shame.”

3. Renee Zou: What Comes to Mind When You Think of Heaven?

“Fellow Christian, we are destined for the new heavens and the new earth. God is longing to bring us home. Are we longing for the same?”

4. Jason Min: Why Do We Sing At Church?

“Given the rapidly increasing popularity of worship movements like Hillsong, Bethel, and Jesus Culture, many wonder whether the church today has placed too much weight on the role of music in corporate worship. But I would argue that our view of music in the church – specifically congregational singing – is not weighty enough.”

5. TGIF: Roundup for April 21, 2023

Walking with Children and Teens Through Doubts About Christianity / CNN: A viral scene from Netflix’s ‘Beef’ nails a very specific religious experience / The Irresistible Peril of Publishing / On Spurgeon the Pastor, with Geoff Chang / Contextualization and the Old Testament with Dr. Jerry Hwang

6. SOLA Network: TGIF Subscription

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General disclaimer: Our link roundups are not endorsements of the positions or lives of the authors.