Some of our SOLA Staff and I curated a list of our favorite Worship Music for Advent. Center your heart and soul on Christ’s coming into the world!
Be on the lookout for our Asian American 2025 Book Awards and SOLA’s Top Ten in 2025 coming soon!
Keep in touch on X and Instagram. For more, check out my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group and TGIF Playlist on Spotify. This weekly newsletter is one of the many ways you can get connected with SOLA Network. Find us on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
Aaron Lee, Editorial Curator
Enter our giveaway! This Christmas we’re giving away one of my favorite books from the year! Thanks to Lexham Press for providing, in partnership with @diveindigdeep, SOLA Network, and FCBC Walnut. 1 winner will receive this wonderful book! Read my full review.
In Four Mountains, Michael Niebauer helps you encounter God in the Bible from Eden to Zion. Using the mountains of Eden, Sinai, Tabor, and Zion, this book shows how to read the Bible by studying its symbols. Niebauer explains how mountains symbolize our home with God, water symbolizes death, and trees symbolize life. This book opened my eyes to see that there are truly so many symbols in the Bible — and studying them helps us see a bigger picture painted by Scripture.
ARTICLES FROM AROUND THE WEB
1. T. Kim: When Christmas Finds You Far from Home
“No one understands better than Christ what it means to leave the comforts of home for the gospel’s sake.”
2. Jonathan Lumley: Rejoicing in the Light Amid the Night
“So when the sun drops beneath the horizon and the bitter cold of night begins to bite at you, hold the moments of light near, for these are the very means and graces of God ordained to sustain you and provide warmth when you can no longer see.”
3. Tim Challies: You Are in the Circumstances in Which You Can Best Serve
“If there were a version of reality in which you could serve him better in different circumstances, you would be living in it right now.”
Our Books and Reviews page is your one-stop resource for all of your reading needs. It features Asian American authors and issues, recommendations, and interviews.
BOOKS, PODCASTS, MUSIC, MOVIES, AND MORE
1. Transformed Together: Ryan Kwon on Ephesians 4:25–5:14
“In this plenary message from TGC25, Ryan Kwon exposits Ephesians 4:25–5:14. He explains that God’s indicatives always lead to God’s imperatives, and the grace of God gives believers a new desire to obey God’s commands. In Christ, this leads to living out a new individual identity, a new collective identity, and a new familial identity.”
2. Francine Tan: Answering Your Questions on Guilt and Shame
“Despite feelings of guilt and shame, the Bible helps us categorize what is truly our responsibility to bear.”
3. Aaron Lee: Related Works
Book Reviews: No More Boring Bible Study by Faith Womack, Essentials of Reformed Systematic Theology by Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley, An Explication of the Shorter Catechism by John Thomson edited by S. A. Felix, In Your Light We See Light, Paul C. Uyen. Find me on Substack. Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group.
Edited by Tom Sugimura, Here We Stand: Reformation Truths for the Church Today celebrates the legacy of the Reformation and its impact in shaping our faith even to this day. In addition to Tom, the book features chapters written by Nam Park, Tranwei Yu, Geoff Chang, and Johnson Pang. Read more about the book from Tom, and be on the lookout for an author interview coming soon.
FEATURED THIS WEEK ON SOLA NETWORK
1. AA Parenting Podcast: Episode 20: Getting Parenting Support and Rhythms of Rest and Renewal
“In this episode of Asian American Parenting, Monica and Danny talk about the support parents need in raising their teenagers and children, as well as the concept of rest and renewal. They discuss the harmfulness of parents venting to their children. They also discuss the differences in the views of the concept of support, rest, and renewal in our immigrant parents versus subsequent generations of parents. Moreover, they describe ways parents can seek out support, as well as rhythms of rest and renewal, to continue in their parenting journey.”
2. Karisa You: Meeting Jesus in the Parking Lot this Christmas Season
“I often face the urge to hoard money and resources to maintain my false sense of security. If I hold onto my money, then I have a fallback option if things fall apart. However, Christ lovingly wants to be my greatest treasure and fallback option while providing the best for me. Instead of being prideful for our ability to save or for our possessions, could we make it our aim to love people generously and be like Christ?”
3. SOLA Network: Worship Music for Advent
“Although Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You has probably dominated your ears this Christmas season with its ubiquity, there are so many wonderful Christmas songs that can bless the rest of your listening this advent season. With a few days left until Christmas, we wanted to share some encouraging songs to add to your playlists to center your heart and soul on Christ’s coming into the world!”
4. Jonathan Chi: A Postgrad’s Perspective on Faith and Career
“This Christ-centered mindset is, and will continue to be, a lifelong battle. Even as I apply to medical school now, I need to daily remind myself that my striving will not open any more doors than God will already allow in His timing. But I have learned that my pursuit of career does not have to come at the cost of my faith. In fact, it is precisely at the intersection of the two that I live out my calling here on earth in perfect harmony.”
5. TGIF: Roundup for December 12, 2025
A Decent and Orderly Case for Raising Hands in Worship / Your Grades Don’t Define You: Addressing Academic Anxiety & Depression / Stop Trying to Make Advent Happen / Keeping Sovereign Grace in Gospel Partnerships / Compelling Witness: The Apostle Paul Today / Compassionate Witness: Being Hope-filled Pointers to Christ
6. SOLA Network: TGIF Subscription
Get our TGIF installments delivered straight to your inbox for free every Friday. Join today so you never miss out.
General disclaimer: Our link roundups are not endorsements of the positions or lives of the authors. Header image by David Becker on Unsplash.
Aaron Lee is our Editorial Curator. Aaron also serves as the Social Media Officer of First Chinese Baptist Church of Walnut in California’s San Gabriel Valley, home to the largest concentration of Asian American communities in the United States. Visit him online at DiveInDigDeep.com.