Thank God it’s Friday
This is excerpted from my TGIF column at SOLA Network.
Articles From Around The Web
1. Dr. Julia Lee: Honoring Our Elders
“When churches have ‘family ministries’ as part of their staffing and programming choices, they usually subconsciously envision who counts as a ‘real’ family, and who does not. Frankly, this is idolatry. Single parents, older parents with adult children who have returned home, childless couples, roommates who are chosen family together, single adults, individuals estranged from their families for various reasons, families struggling with children with various special needs, divorced and widowed adults – these are all forms of families too. And, if we claim we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, then they are all part of our family, of my family, as well.”
2. Tim Challies: A Key Discipline: Observe Without Judgment
“I might not agree with all of these decisions even after gaining the necessary interpretive facts, but in every case, I have had an opportunity to learn and to grow in my respect for other Christians and the way they’ve wrestled through the issues and come to their decisions. And so, because my tendency is always to judge before carefully observing, I have trained myself instead to observe without judgment.”
3. John Piper: When Are Good Grades Good Enough?
“The Bible simply does not tell a student how many hours to study and how much Christian service to do or how much time to spend cultivating friendships. A healthy person recognizes the complexities of such questions and humbly seeks a transformed mind and heart, which is able to spontaneously and without fixations and obsessions make healthy choices.”
Books, Podcasts, Music, And More
1. Isabel Ong: A Boy, A Heron, and A Grief Befriended
“Like Mahito’s intrepid adventures in the dreamscape, grief takes us on a bewildering journey. We chart its confounding contours, venturing into dark caves and weathering rocky waves, all so we can find ourselves again—different, and maybe unrecognizable, but still shaped and formed through relationships with Jesus and with other believers in Christ.”
“While there’s no denying the importance of reading foundational texts in the history of philosophy and theology if aspiring to the life of the mind, my counsel doesn’t start with the ‘classics’ or the ‘essentials.’ My advice? Just jump in. Start in the middle. Because the middle is your beginning.”
3. Aaron Lee: Related Works
Book reviews: Daily Doctrine by Kevin DeYoung, Advent for Exiles by Caroline Cobb, Embracing Advent by Jen Ludwig. Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group.
Featured This Week On SOLA Network
What good is the Gospel to the Asian American high schooler? In The Jesus I Wish I Knew in High School: Asian American Edition, Kevin Yi and Rooted Ministry apply the good news to the unique challenges and pressures that come with being an Asian American teenager.
2. Hannah Wang: Finding Warmth in God During the Chill of Fall
As the season progresses, make sure to continue to spend intentional time with the Lord and rely on Him. Remember His faithfulness, and wait on His timing. He strengthens those who put their trust in Him and is currently working in your life even if you cannot see it at the moment.
3. David Lee: Teens (and Parents), Test Your Time on TikTok
Despite what is being preached in our feeds, you are not your social media presence, you are not your engagement metrics, you are not your data, you are not your bio, you are not the sum of your followers. You could strip away all those things, get rid of every device, delete every account, unsubscribe to every service, and who you are to God would be exactly the same: his beloved child whom he purchased with the blood of his Son.
4. TGIF: Roundup for October 18, 2024
How the Internet Made Vibes More Important than Arguments / Tiny House Living / Great Gifts but Little Faithfulness / Women’s Ministry / Do You Feel Forsaken? Our Hidden Hope in Darkest Pain
5. SOLA Network: TGIF Subscription
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