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Harold Kim and David Nam
Joshua Harris’ announcement that he was no longer a Christian reverberated throughout the Christian world. (Note: Harris was one of the speakers for SOLA Conference 2017.) Harris, who was most famous for his I Kissed Dating Goodbye book that typified purity culture, announced on Instagram in July that he and his wife were…
John Jae Lee
I was driving back home on the northbound side of the freeway. I didn't know that just minutes before, a driver had entered the freeway via an off-ramp in an attempt to escape police and was now driving against traffic. But that’s when I saw a car barreling towards me. To avoid a head-on collision, I swerved. It was too late. The car…
Moses Y. Lee
I don’t know when or how it happened, but I picked up many lies about the Christian faith as a college student, lies that took years to recognize and repent of. Though it’s been almost a decade since I graduated, I’ve noticed many Christians in college today tend to believe these same lies. Though certainly not unique to students…
Aaron Lee
This week we continued our college month with articles from collegian Aly Lee (This is Not Us? Thoughts from Charlottesville) and college pastor Francis Chow (Back-to-School Exhortations). Just in time for wedding season, Pastor Ben Shin published Pick Your Battles - his final installment in the AA Guide to Premarital…
SOLA Network
We are pleased to announce two new members to our SOLA Editorial Board. Tim St. John and Moses Y. Lee will be contributing articles and curating content for our website. Tim St. John serves as the counseling pastor at Lighthouse Community Church in Torrance, CA. He's a graduate of the Master's Seminary (M.Div, Th.M) and…
Francis Chow
“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, and obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord.” - D.A. Carson. This quote from has stuck with me ever since the first time I read it. Much of spiritual growth in the Christian life happens by way of hundreds…
Judy Lee
Sports is a topic that’s about as foreign to me as Ancient Greek. But I have lots of friends who care about it. Sports are a source of local pride and a cultural bridge across continents. Whether seen live in a megastadium for millions or streamed into living rooms, the latest games and scores bring people together. Participating…
Ben Shin
The goal of this series has been to try and understand some of these cultural dynamics that Asian Americans go through that may be overlooked in the many books on the subject of pre-marital counseling and marriage. For the final installment, I will now give some advice on how to resolve some of these tensions that we’ve…
Aly Lee
The events of August 11-12, 2017 radically shaped my perception of my school and America. They left a lot of fear in my heart and a lot of questions for the Lord as I packed my bag semester after semester to return to this place with a deep history of hate. That being said, the Lord has been incredibly gracious to this community…
Aaron Lee
We kicked off our College Month by releasing a SOLA Starter Kit for College Students. Send it to your friends and family who are starting college and may have never heard of SOLA. Concluding her series on fashion, Judy Lee wrote Rescuing Fashion From Consumerism Through a Gospel Perspective. Continuing his AA Guide to…
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Hannah Chao
August means it’s almost time for school to start again. So here at SOLA, we will be featuring articles to help college students stay faithful to the Gospel as they transition back into the academic year. To kick off our College Month, we’d like to recommend 5 articles to introduce (or reintroduce) our SOLA website and show…
Daniel K. Eng
I’ll never forget the time I was really irked at the graduation ceremony of an elite American university. In one of the speeches, a university administrator acknowledged one of the graduates, who was a fifth-generation graduate of this esteemed institution. The crowd cheered. I was horrified. Even if we can set aside the…
Ben Shin
In this post, I’d like to discuss some of the challenges related to the relational dynamics of the different families prior to marriage and the wedding ceremony. This will include “family matching,” approval of different vocations, and the transfer of authority from the father and mother to the husband and wife. These issues…
Judy Lee
On April 24, 2013, Rana Plaza, a building that housed garment factories in Dhaka District, Bangladesh, collapsed. 1,134 people were killed, most of them workers who produced clothes for the fast fashion industry. Following this disaster, a group of advocates banded together to fight the devastating consequences of the…
Aaron Lee
Following up on Hannah Chao’s article, Burdens and Truth: Inspired by “The Farewell,” this week we shared excerpts from two essays from Fred Mok and Heidi Tai on Telling Our Stories of Asian American immigrants and their families. Contribute your own essay about your immigrant family by emailing us at hannah.chao@sola.network. Many articles…
SOLA Network
The stories of Asian immigrants and their families have started to become more culturally mainstream with the rise of films like Crazy Rich Asians and The Farewell. But for those of us who are descended from migrants, these stories have surrounded us. We lived with our grandparents or parents as they spoke with accented…
Ben Shin
Now that we’ve discussed some aspects of family relationships when it comes to premarital counseling, let’s get more specific. I want to examine two Asian dynamics that influence the upcoming wedding ceremony — the honor-shame dynamic and the concept of collectivist thinking — and how they might play out in wedding.…
Patreeya Prasertvit
There is something about the “big moments” of life that excites me and draws me nearer to the Lord. I have an increased awareness of my dependence on Him, I end up praying more, and everything becomes more significant. Whether it is a big decision, a season of transition, an opportunity to do something that scares me…
Jiwon J. Lee
I recently spoke at a high school, and more than 90% of the students said that they used their phones more than four hours a day. A majority of the room used it for more than seven. Every day our youth consume content and seek value from video clips, filtered photos, and text alerts. Their attentions are scattered in a search for…
Aaron Lee
It was a big week on the website! Hannah Chao was inspired by the new movie, The Farewell, Benjamin Shin began Part 1 of The Asian American Guide to Premarital Counseling, and Judy Lee answered the question “Can You Be a Christian Fashion Influencer?” I led music last Sunday at FCBC Walnut. Fittingly, my first entry for…
Aaron Lee
This is an adaptation of 10 Easy Ways To Blow Your Influence As A Leader … Without Even Trying from CareyNieuwhof.com. It is easy for worship leaders to neglect our influence. We focus on fifteen minutes of singing and fail to see our ministry is more than music. We must be aware that our actions leave an impact…
Judy Lee
The term “influencer” has surged with the rise of social media. Companies have taken over platforms like Instagram by sponsoring popular bloggers, who have the chance to make money and gain followers through brand collaborations and #ads. Can Christians be a part of this influencer world? We all know there isn’t a…
Ben Shin
A few years ago, a friend contacted me and asked for a resource in premarital counseling that would be specific to some of the unique cultural needs of an Asian-American couple. I thought about this for a while and realized that I was not familiar with such a curriculum (I’m still not). I explained to him that I typically use…
Hannah Chao
Is it morally acceptable to tell your grandmother that she is healthy even when she is dying of Stage 4 cancer? That’s the question asked in Lulu Wong’s film The Farewell, which opened nationwide last weekend, and is based on an actual lie in her family. In the film, Billi (Awkwafina) is shocked when she finds out her grand…
Aaron Lee
I will lead the singing at FCBC Walnut this Sunday, so I shared part two of 10 Easy Ways to Blow Your Influence as a Worship Leader with our music team. I hope it benefits my fellow SOLA readers who are also worship leaders. This week on the website we published three articles connected around the theme of youth and the younger generation…
Chris Li
Every time I go up to the pulpit (which is just a music stand), I try to swing for the fences. Sometimes a sermon connects with students but other times, I feel like I strikeout. Why? I believe that teenagers have changed and research proves it. Gen Z is defined by Barna as anyone born from 1999-2015 and they are like no generation…
Fred Mok
God is big. But in line with his gracious nature, he doesn’t always speak loudly. Hearing his voice can be difficult especially when I’m in the midst of fighting with myself. I have many voices going on in my head: the snarky contrarian, the positive Christian idealist, the relentless egomaniac, the compassionate shepherd, the curious…
Daniel Greenhouse Kim
Imagine you are a teenager. It’s Thanksgiving Day at your grandparents’ house (it’s always at your grandparents’ house). Although your family is quite large, there aren’t any kids your age because your parents are a lot older than your aunts and uncles. So you semi-play with your younger cousins, watch TV, or check your phone…
Charlie Y. Kang
Did you enjoy going to your school’s Christian club? I know I didn’t when I was in high school. We sang the same song every week. There was no schedule. We had a volunteer youth pastor who was nice, but I can’t remember anything else about him. The irony of it all is that now I’m that hopefully nice youth pastor that…
Aaron Lee
Welcome to the 20th installment of our weekly roundup! I am a music leader at FCBC Walnut, and I recently shared part one of 10 Easy Ways to Blow Your Influence as a Worship Leader with our teams. I hope it benefits my fellow SOLA readers who are also worship leaders. God Cares About Your OOTD is Part 1 of a three-part…