With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, we have asked several friends of SOLA to write pieces that speak into various related topics. Jamie Yoo began with When to Seek Professional Counseling. We also shared new pieces by Matthew Fang and Michael Park from the Young Writer’s Cohort. They were asked to write about a season of suffering or a really difficult trial and share what they learned through it.
Last week we published a recap and thanks for our 2024 Asian American Leadership Conference! In case you missed it, we launched our new book, A Letter to the Asian American Church, at the conference. Find a sample, links to purchase, and a free discussion guide at sola.network/book.
It was great to see so many of you at our AALC! Let’s keep in touch on Twitter and Instagram. For more, check out my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group and TGIF Playlist on Spotify. This newsletter is one of the many ways you can stay connected with SOLA Network. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Aaron Lee, Editorial Curator
Enter our giveaway! Thanks to Banner of Truth for providing, in partnership with @diveindigdeep, SOLA Network, and FCBC Walnut. 1 winner will receive these excellent books! Links open to my reviews.
- Sermons on Ephesians: What did Calvin find captivating about God’s redemptive work in Christ? In Sermons on Ephesians, John Calvin exposits the great book of Ephesians. Preached on Sundays in Geneva in 1558-59 when he was 49 years of age – this book is a significant part of Reformation history. While I have read The Institutes, this was the first book I can recall having read of Calvin’s sermons. This series on Ephesians is exemplary.
- Gospel Ministry: How can the pastor best serve his people? In Gospel Ministry, John Owen addresses the minister and members of the Church. Readers will be persuaded with Owen’s optimism, and find encouraging refreshment. The church is championed, and Christ is exalted.
Articles From Around The Web
1. N. Gray Sutanto: 5 Principles for Reading Herman Bavinck
“Studying Bavinck’s works encourages us to be patient, capacious, and voracious readers, helping us to avoid polarization and to develop a kind of principled pliability that can engage any idea with charity without sacrificing conviction. These principles should aid and encourage readers to pick up the premier neo-Calvinist theologian for themselves.”
2. Ruth Chou Simons: Don’t Waste Your Season
“A tree will be fruitful in due season when it chooses to be deeply rooted from the beginning.”
3. Heidi Tai: Love is No Longer My God
“God is Love—the essence of every longing, the source of every desire, and He demonstrates it in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)”
Will you join us in embracing the call for the Asian American Church? The collective voices in our new book argue that there is underappreciated beauty, diversity, joy, benefit, and place for the Asian American church. Asian American leaders need to joyfully embrace the call to serve the Asian American church, not only for the emerging generation but for the broader church. Find a sample, links to purchase, and a free discussion guide at sola.network/book.
Books, Podcasts, Music, And More
1. Serena Wang: Good News for Taylor Swift (and Other Tortured Poets)
“On The Tortured Poets Department, Swift seeks a certain kind of love. Here’s where it can be found.”
2. Justin Wong: Teach Teenagers About the Real Jesus: A Word for Youth Ministers About #goals
“In the Asian community, we so desperately want our students to study hard and make the grades in order to succeed. We put them through test preps and study groups. All of those are good gifts from a good God. But if the end goal is success by human standards, then we have missed the mark. Offering anything less than the real Jesus sets our students off on a path far from the heart of God. Hear the lesson from this rich young man.”
3. Aaron Lee: Related Works
Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group.
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.
Featured This Week On SOLA Network
1. Jamie Yoo: When to Seek Professional Counseling
“One helpful way of looking at counseling is seeing it as having a wise conversation partner. The book of Proverbs recognizes the value of having multiple counselors and advisers, for different people can provide different insights and perspectives on our situation (Proverbs 15:22, 20:18). When we converse with wise people, we ourselves grow in wisdom (Proverbs 13:20). And heartfelt counsel from someone who cares for us is likened to the sweet fragrance of perfume that brings delight to our hearts (Proverbs 27:9).”
2. Matthew Fang: Laments from a Brain Tumor Survivor: When will the Pain End?
“Therefore, if your plan requires my tumor to return, may Your will be done. If I am to live a life of pain, may my suffering be used for Your glory. I will not stop delighting in You. I will not stop following You. I will keep believing that your grace is sufficient for my soul. Declaring these statements hurts, but I can’t help but smile at the tears welling in my eyes. Is this true joy, O Lord, to finally taste and see that you are Good?”
3. Michael Park: Suffering with Sexual Sin
“We’ve gotten ourselves in a mess with sexual sin, haven’t we? We’ve had our fair share of running around in the mud and tainting ourselves with a mess that we don’t know how to clean up. Here is the invitation from the father: RUN BACK HOME…As you find that rest in him, he has a brand new life prepared for you, a completely paid-for life that’s better than anything you have ever experienced.”
4. TGIF: Roundup for May 3, 2024
YOLO Is the New Epicureanism / Gospel Encouragement for the Parent of a Lonely Child / “Argentina, 1985”: Generations Serving Together for Justice / How to Persevere in Life’s Wilderness / Are Parents to Blame for Prodigals?
5. 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 Colin + Meg on Unsplash.