Thank God it’s Friday
This is excerpted from my TGIF column at SOLA Network.
Articles From Around The Web
Connie Leung Nelson: Wisdom for Parents Deep in the World of Sports and Extracurriculars
“For whatever reasons families choose to go deep into the world of high-level sports, we can be sure that the many benefits of sports for adolescents are a major factor. But at what point do athletics become more of a taskmaster than a gift for the family? Drawing boundaries around where to spend time and resources on sports and extracurriculars is a part of discipling our kids to know and grow in Jesus.”
Samuel H. Lee: Serve the Meal: Why Preachers Must Trust the Word
“At its heart, preaching rests on a theological conviction: God has chosen to work through His Word. Scripture is not merely information about God; it is the instrument through which the Spirit confronts, exposes, and renews His people. The preacher’s task, therefore, is not to compensate for Scripture’s weakness but to faithfully serve its power.”
Joel Cho: How I Think About AI in My Medical Practice
“Machines are machines and humans are humans, no matter how much technology develops. Only human beings have been made in God’s image with the inestimable privilege of being invited into a covenantal relationship with the Creator and with one another. In medicine, the provider-patient relationship mirrors this covenantal reality. No matter how well AI may mimic or surpass human beings in technical execution, its “relationship” to human beings will remain ontologically different.”
Newsletters, Books, Media, and More
Obbie Tyler Todd: ‘Religious Affections’: Textbook of the American Soul
“One of the primary reasons Religious Affections has enjoyed such longevity in the American mind is that it seeks to answer a question with which many Americans are preoccupied: What is true religion?”
Russell Moore: Andy Crouch on Why Technology Can’t Cure Loneliness
“This conversation asks: ‘What is the life we’re actually looking for?’ And in a moment when many of us feel exhausted by the digital world we’ve built around ourselves, Andy offers a hopeful answer.”
Aaron Lee: Related Works
Substack: Reflections After VBS. Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group. Find me on Substack. Keep in touch on X and Instagram.
Featured This Week on SOLA Network
“In part 2 of this series on adolescent research, scripture and Asian American parenting, Danny and Monica look at recent research on unstructured social media use in teenagers and its impact on their mental health. They consider aspects of unstructured and structured time in the lives of teenagers as well as how parents and teenagers can redeem in godly ways structured and unstructured time in the lives of teenagers. They also consider where church, faith, and youth group fit in the lives of Christian teenagers.”
SOLA Network: A Freedom that Isn’t Free: A Book Review of A Hard Freedom
“A Hard Freedom was a difficult, yet rewarding read. Chung folds in personal stories with robust research detailing current events. By the end of the book and aside from being moved by individual stories, I developed an appreciation for the work that Crossing Borders NK has done and continues to do. Theirs is the hard work of compassion. To choose to be with people who may not appreciate what you’re trying to do to help them, and to stay even when your heart is re-broken.”
Jason Ho: V Is for Vulnerability
“This is the beauty of the gospel – the good news of God’s grace. It declares a believer’s righteousness but is also at work in our daily sanctification. In our vulnerability we are not looking to muster up more strength, to be seen, or to host pity parties. Rather, we look to the transforming work of the gospel, we look to the one who we are becoming, we look to Jesus.”
TGIF: Roundup for June 26, 2026
The Mirage of the Influencer–Pastor: Why “Gig Eva” and Its Churches Fail / The Church in China: Learning to Fly in a Birdcage / Pastoral Discouragement Is Normal: Wisdom from Charles Spurgeon / Your Calling Is a Zigzag / Why Today’s Christians Should Care about C. S. Lewis’s Adulterous Affair
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