Last week we announced this year’s SOLA Leaders’ Dialogue. We seek to equip pastors and church leaders to thrive and aim to address various aspects of becoming healthy leaders. Tim St. John from Lighthouse Community Church will be speaking on cultivating emotional health. Michael Lee from All Nations Community Church will be speaking on cultivating organizational health. And Harold Kim from Christ Central Southern California will be speaking on cultivating relational health. Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 24th from 9:30AM – 12:00PM at Living Hope Community Church in Brea, California. Register for free and RSVP on our Facebook event page.
Our month-long focus on college is coming to a close. Gabe Lee, college group pastoral intern from my home church, FCBC Walnut, shared 3 Lessons Learned as a Pastoral Intern at an Asian American Church. We also published a piece by Shades Valley Community Church pastoral assistant John Kegley: College Freshman, Commit to a Church.
Our monthly SOLA newsletter has been redesigned and relaunches this evening. We will share statistics from the website, behind-the-scenes resources, and announce a series of giveaways. Subscribe today to stay up to date so you never miss out. If you have any links or recommendations to share, please tweet me @musicgoon or email me at aaron@musicgoon.com.
Link Roundup
1. Frank Shyong: Chinatown without Chinese grocery stores, and the delicate balance of ethnic communities
Writing for the LA Times, Frank Shyong offers an intimate look at how grocery stores, owners, customers, and landlords shape the past and form the future of ethnic communities and urban culture.
2. Glenn Herr: Those Were the Good Old Days, Right?
Glenn Herr has 30 years of experience living and serving in Hong Kong and China. He shares his reflections after reading Rachel Kleppen’s article, “Netflix Is Making It Harder to Be a Missionary.”
3. Rebecca Randall: Digital Bibles Help Men Read More But Retain Less
Writing for Christianity Today, Rebecca Randall reflects on a new report from the Journal of Religion, Media, and Digital Culture. Personally, I love using both physical and digital Bibles. It is wise to know where and how to work on better Bible reading, comprehension, and application.
4. Esau McCaulley: Why it matters if your Bible was translated by a racially diverse group
Rev. Dr. Esau McCaulley is the assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and writes this perspective piece for the Washington Post. He tweets, “I do believe that it matters that we have women and people of color involved in Bible translation for the good of the whole church.”
5. Trevin Wax: Kanye West, Justin Bieber, and What to Make of Celebrity Conversions
Trevin Wax writes for the Gospel Coalition and shares how celebrities help us see ourselves.
Weekend Recommendations
1. Brett McCracken: The Best New Worship Songs of the 2010s
You can listen to Brett McCracken’s selections on the TGC Spotify playlist or Apple Music playlist. Many of my favorites are included: My Worth Is Not in What I Own, The Lord Is My Salvation, He Will Hold Me Fast, and Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor.
2. Nancy Gutherie: Stephen Um on Teaching Micah
“In this conversation, Stephen Um—senior minister at CityLife Church in Boston and author of Micah for You—helps teachers understand the legal setting of the book of Micah with its charges, witnesses, evidence, verdict, sentence, and mercy. Um explains the difference between biblical justice and modern understandings of social justice, as well as key themes and images in Micah such as shepherds, kings, and mountains.”
3. Won Kwak: When to Stop Counseling Someone
“FTC.co asks Won Kwak, Lead Pastor of Maranatha Church in Fort Lee, NJ: “How do you know when to stop counseling someone?”
From SOLA
1. Owen Lee: Work Life: The Redemption of Work
“The Gospel doesn’t just give you the power to be a “good person” at work. It also gives you the power to do your work in a new kind of way. In other words, the Gospel doesn’t just impact how you behave as a person at work — it also impacts how you actually do the work itself.”
2. John Kegley: College Freshman, Commit to a Church
“What I now realize, however, is that my faith wouldn’t have grown nearly as much if I’d church-hopped during my college experience. Committing to a church changed my life. God used regular, mundane, and unglamorous commitment to a church to grow and strengthen my faith in significant ways. And promises to do the same for you through your regular commitment to a church.”
3. Gabe Lee: 3 Lessons Learned as a Pastoral Intern at an Asian American Church
“I have been a pastoral intern at the church I grew up in for two years now . During this time, I have felt like a rubber band being stretched slowly. God is constantly challenging me, showing me just how powerful He is, how gracious He is, and how loving He is. God never stops working to display His glory. He just keeps on going — the Energizer bunny that never stops drumming. Here are three lessons God has taught me these past two years.”
4. Tim St. John: 5 Dangerous Demands of Anxiety and How to Defeat Them
“Giving in to the demands of anxiety is similar to telling someone having a panic attack to hold their breath. If we address anxiety in the wrong way, it could be deadly. In the end, all our anxieties want to deceive us into building our own kingdoms and pull us away from seeking the Kingdom of God. Thankfully Christ rescues us again and again. May we each see the active love of God toward us in Christ today and treasure the sufficient grace he promises.”
5. Thank God It’s Friday: Weekend Roundup
In case you missed it, here are some headlines from last week: Russell Moore on Pornography, 4 Reasons for Christians to Dance podcast episode with Irene Paek, Netflix is Making it Harder to be a Missionary, and What Does Your Dad Do?
6. SOLA: TGIF Subscription
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