For the month of May, I will dive into the SOLA archives and feature articles specific to Asian American issues in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This week, read Reversing the Generational Exodus by Hanley Liu.
May is also Mental Health Awareness Month. We published What Depression Has Taught Me. This article contains honest learnings from an anonymous writer who has struggled with depression most of their young adult life.
Will you be writing anything this month regarding AAPI or mental health issues? If you would like your work to be on my radar, please tweet me @musicgoon or email me at aaron@musicgoon.com.
Link Roundup
1. Anthony Lee: A Reflective Post on Abortion
FCBC Walnut member and and third year osteopathic medical student Anthony Lee takes to his blog to answer a friend regarding abortion.
2. Ruth Moblard De Young: A Reluctant Missionary
“Ken Lee’s journey to fulfill his calling as a missionary in Japan was unusual and challenging. Born in 1959 as Ha-Jin, Lee was the fourth son of a struggling atheistic family in South Korea, a country still recovering from the Korean War. With Ha-Jin’s birth, nine people lived in their small house.”
3. Jonathan Hayashi: What is “Biblical Grief” for Christians Walking Through Sorrows?
SOLA contributor Jonathan Hayashi asks a fundamental question in the midst of sorrow: What is proper grieving from a biblical standpoint?
4. Christine Gordon: Putting a Theology Degree to Work in Unexpected Places
TGC shares a story of the needs for theologically trained women in ESL ministry, student ministry, and writing ministry.
5. Albert Mohler: Taiwan Becomes First Asian Nation to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage: What’s Behind the Headline
“Once again, what we see is the use of the courts in order to trump the will of the people in Taiwan. And we also see the fact that the Western elites are now ready to cheer Taiwan as getting on the right side of history, and going down in history is the first Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage.”
Weekend Recommendations
1. Russell Moore: Why Every Christian Should Care about Adoption
“In this episode of The Crossway Podcast, Russell Moore shares about his own family’s adoption journey—and how it impacted his view of the gospel. He reflects on the way God changed his heart with regard to adoption, helping him come to see it as important for all Christians—even those who never end up adopting a child themselves.”
2. Tony Reinke: Why You Probably Need a Digital Detox
“In this interview, Tony Reinke, the author of 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You and Competing Spectacles: Treasuring Christ in the Media Age, reflects on how to do a digital detox, why we should be careful with our social media habits, and what the massive success of the new Avengers film can teach us about our media saturated world.”
From SOLA
1. Tim St. John: The Grace of Counseling
“Three simple, yet perhaps relationally challenging ways we can share this grace [of counseling] with each other.”
2. Adrian Pei: Love Me for Who I Am (Not What I Can Do)
“What have I really done to deserve something like this?” It was so difficult for me to accept it, that I actually tried to come up with a list of different things I had done for my friends that earned me what I was receiving.
But then I realized, these friends weren’t trying to repay me for favors! They simply knew me as a person and loved me for that. In that moment, I felt richer than ever before – to know this was what love and friendship were about. It’s not something we have to prove. It’s not something we have to compete for. It’s abundant and free for all to experience and embrace!”
3. Tony Thomas: Models of Ethnicity in the Local Church
“I proposed that we need a lot more ‘nuance’ than we currently have in thinking and talking about ethnicity inside the local church. […]Let’s consider a continuum of church models going from ethnic-specific to multi-ethnic while also identifying strengths, cautions, and questions for consideration in each.”
4. Anonymous: What Depression Has Taught Me
Honest learnings from an anonymous writer who has struggled with depression most of their young adult life.
5. Zack Bolen: Words of Advice for Worship Leaders
“We are meant to be ministers of reconciliation—not condemnation, not creating separation—bringing people together.”
6. Thank God It’s Friday: Weekend Roundup
In case you missed it, here is our roundup from last week. Why Christianity Quit Growing in Korea, ‘Secret science’ and the arrival of gene-edited babies, Seeking God for International Student Ministry in China, Reclaiming Friendship in the Social Media Age, How Motherhood Mimics the Cross.