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Thank God It’s Friday: Weekend Roundup For August 30, 2019

This August we focused on the Christian life in college. As we close out the month, I included two links in our roundup regarding education specifically for Asians and Asian Americans. You will also find three powerful testimonies and an article on how technology and social media is providing a new kind of prosperity gospel.

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Next week we are launching our Thank God It’s Friday Newsletter so you can get our TGIF weekend roundups delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today to receive our first issue next Friday. And if you have any links or recommendations to share, please tweet me @musicgoon or email me at aaron@musicgoon.com.


Link Roundup

1. Becket Cook and Brett McCracken: From Gay to Gospel: The Fascinating Story of Becket Cook

“Cook took them up on the invitation and visited Reality L.A. the next Sunday, where he heard the gospel and gave his life to Jesus. He never looked back, trading his gay identity for a new identity in Christ.”

2. Thomas Tarrants: I Was a Violent Klansman Who Deserved to Die

“Yet at the height of my segregationist fervor, God showed me mercy.” A testimony published at Christianity Today.

3. Steven Chin: Who First Showed Steven Chin the Beauty of Jesus?

A testimony from Steven Chin, senior pastor of the Boston Chinese Evangelical Church. The church has more than 1,100 adults in seven congregations using three languages.

4. Pauline Tan: Going to School in China

A look at Asian third culture kids (TCKs) and the importance of education in Asian culture.

5. Julie J. Park: An Uneven Playing Field: The Complex Educational Experiences of Asian Americans

An essay published on the American Council on Education blog provides a deep dive into institutionalized racism, advantages co-existing with oppression, and educational inequality.

6. Ian Harber A New Kind of Prosperity Gospel

A perceptive take on how fame and escape are the idols of those invested in social media.


Weekend Recommendations

1. Won S. Kwok: Won Kwak on What Others May Not Know About Asian Believers

In this 3-minute video, “FTC.co asks Won Kwak, Lead Pastor of Maranatha Grace Church in Fort Lee, NJ: “What do many evangelicals generally not know about their Asian brothers and sisters?”

2. Heidi Tai: The Greater Story

SOLA contributor Heidi Tai and her husband, Mikey, have launched “a podcast discussing film and tv and how they echo the greater story that we know in the gospel.” Their first two episodes are on The Lion King and Spider-Man: Far From Home.

3. FCBC Walnut: The Psalms of Ascent

My home church, FCBC Walnut, just completed our 15-sermon summer series on the Psalms of Ascent. We collected them in a playlist so you can watch them on YouTube.

4. Aaron Lee: Book Reviews

I reviewed two resources on my blog – The Book of Psalms for Worship and The Westminster Larger Catechism. Both are from Crown and Covenant Publishing.

5. Hannah Chao: Hannah’s Writing Tips

SOLA editor Hannah Chao provided her top three tips for writing on her newsletter.


From SOLA

1. Lisa Wong: Where Do Kids Belong in Church?

“As a chatty children’s minister, I have conversed far and wide on the topic of where kids belong in church. Some folks say kids belong with adults, worshiping God and learning His Word together. Others say kids belong in a children’s program, worshiping God and learning His word with their peers. With either model, a church can fulfill biblical goals that relate to children’s ministry: making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), teaching the next generation to love and obey God (Deuteronomy 6:7), and growing to maturity as a church (Ephesians 4:11-16).”

2. Nick Wong: 3 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started College

“In these two years, I’ve already seen how much God has grown me. Many of my early pursuits were in vain, as I would chasing after things that could never satisfy. But God has used those experiences to graciously give me wisdom and teach me how to live a life that pleases him.”

3. Judy Lee: Do Church Sports Count as Fellowship?

“Every summer, my church gathers at a park and plays friendly matches of soccer, tennis, and frisbee for a weekend of sports and fellowship. It’s great to see our community come together while having fun and getting active. But is it really fellowship? Does playing sports together count, or is there more to it?”

4. Young W. Yi: How Free Can We Be in College?

“On my first night out with friends during my freshman year in college, I came back to my dorm at 3 a.m. I remember thinking, “Wait a second, my parents aren’t here to yell at me about coming home so late! If this is what the next four years will look like, then this is going to be great.” A rush of what felt like true freedom from my parents got me even more excited about being in college.”

5. Thank God It’s Friday: Weekend Roundup

In case you missed it, here are some headlines from last week: The American Missionary and the Uncontacted Tribe, A Love Letter To My American Father’s Chinese Accent, His Mercy Is More, and Before “Crazy Rich Asians,” YouTubers Paved the Way for Better Asian Representation.

6. SOLA: TGIF Subscription

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