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Globalization Defined

February 4, 2011 By Daniel Im

If you are wanting more of an academic definition of globalization, check out the definition given by the Stanford Enyclopedia of Philosophy.

If you are wanting more of a reachable definition, read mine below:

Globalization is about being connected to others, irrespective of one’s geographical location. Globalization is lived out when an individual goes to their supermarket, which is owned by someone from another country, and buys a mango that was imported from Thailand. That individual got to the grocery store by driving in their car, which was assembled in Mexico, while listening to music, playing off their music player designed by a company in Cupertino, California, but which was assembled in China. Since the mango was so delicious, the individual tweets and facebooks, “Thai mangoes are the best!” Afterward, a farmer from Thailand sees that tweet and responds back, “thanks!” This illustration is a glimpse into globalization.

In essence, globalization is the process by which market economies have more of a direct impact on each other, nations develop more of a reliance on one another for resources, individuals from around the world begin speaking the same language, and pollution in one country affects individuals half way around the world. Consequently, the world suddenly seems a lot smaller.

How do you see globalization on a daily basis?

The Perception of Contextualization – A Response to MissionShift

January 31, 2011 By Daniel Im

I am part of a group of bloggers, who received a free copy of MissionShift: Global Mission Issues in the Third Millennium, edited by David Hesselgrave and Ed Stetzer, in order to participate in a discussion on Ed Stetzer’s website.

I am responding to Paul Hiebert’s Essay entitled, “The Gospel in Human Contexts: Changing Perceptions of Contextualization.” Here is the summary of his thesis provided in MissionShift.

Thesis: The purpose of this essay is to offer some discussion of the state of “Contextualization” as a critical aspect of missions, and of the changing perceptions of contextualization among missionaries and missions scholars. Any analysis of the current status of the Christian mission in the world must take social, historical, personal, and other contexts into account, and examine the relationships between the different contexts in which the people we serve live. In this sense this essay addresses the PRESENT of what has traditionally been termed “missions.”

I am not monocultural – never was and never have been. I’m multicultural by birth: I am Canadian and I am also Korean – I’m Korean-Canadian. I agree with Hiebert when he suggests that individuals like me “are aware of cultural differences and have learned to negotiate between two worlds in daily living.” However, I disagree with him when he suggests that individuals like me “often do not stop to consciously examine these contexts, how they shape their thinking, or the deep differences between them.” Perhaps I’m different in that I am always constantly wrestling with my Korean and Canadian cultural differences – perhaps this is because I believe that I am a ligament in the Body of Christ.

I am a ligament, what are you?

January 31, 2011 By Daniel Im

The image of a bridge, or a ligament (Eph 4:16) seems to be a good way of describing my past and the direction I sense God is leading me. Being Korean Canadian, I was born in Canada, but grew up as a Korean – eating Korean food, going to a Korean church, speaking Korean, visiting Korea – basically breathing Korean all throughout my life. In high school, God used me to be a bridge between the English and Korean speaking youth groups – I was involved with both and knew individuals in both groups. I was also involved in a city wide joint worship team, which had the purpose of uniting or bridging all the Korean speaking youth groups. I co-created a Christian club in my high school to unify all the Christians together. I also organized and ran a city-wide youth worship service when I was pastoring in Montreal. While pastoring in Korea, I co-created a network for English speaking youth pastors, where we would put on events together, pray together, plan together, and strategize together.

As the groups pastor at Beulah Alliance Church, I was part of a team that conducted a survey, which revealed the current and proposed areas of integration amongst the differing areas of ministry. I was also leading a team that consists of several pastors, in order to bring greater unity to the group life in the church. There is now one front, instead of divided fronts.

When examining my future, I believe that there are three areas that God has ingrained on my heart: church planting, pastors, and multicultural ministry.

Egypt, Tunisia, and Wikileaks – A Vote of No Confidence

January 31, 2011 By Daniel Im

My wife and I just finished re-watching Bourne Ultimatum (the third Bourne movie) and it’s ironic to actually see the fictional movie elements play out in real life. This movie, along with many others, actually echo the realities of our day. If you take a look at CBC.ca, CNN.com, or any other news station, the stories of Tunisia and Egypt will be splattered across all the headlines:

Egypt ‘cannot go back’ -Egyptian activist Mohamed ElBaradei has joined anti-government protesters at Cairo’s Tahrir Square as they defy a military-ordered…

Egyptian government orders Al Jazeera shutdown

Protesters defy curfew in Egypt

The Tunisia effect

At the bottom of these stories is really a vote of no confidence in the government. Just consider Wikileaks and Julian Assange – probably one of the greatest catalysts to this vote of no confidence in the government.

One of the central tenets of postmodernism is a lack of confidence in authority and authority structures. As a result, in our increasingly postmodern world, all these current events aren’t really that surprising.

There’s a lot to say regarding this, but let me just make two points:

The Ambitious Spiritual Leader – A Paradox?

January 29, 2011 By Daniel Im

I’ve been reflecting on the idea of ambition and if its okay for a spiritual leader to be ambitious. After all, in the secular world, ambition and leadership seem to be synonymous with success. However, if God is the one who truly chooses leaders, is ambition really that important for spiritual leadership? Is ambition even okay for the spiritual leader?

1 Timothy 3:1 – Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.

Jeremiah 45:5 – Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.

When contrasting 1 Timothy 3:1 with Jeremiah 45:5, one is presented with an interesting conundrum: It is an honorable ambition to aspire to leadership, but one should not seek great things for oneself. This seems to be a contradiction, but in light of the fact that God sees our hearts and our motives, it is not (Psalm 139:1-4). In spiritual leadership, one’s ambition needs to be for the glory of God, rather than the glory of oneself; for the Kingdom of God, rather than the Kingdom of Self. As a result, ambition can be redefined as humility within the context of spiritual leadership, since all of one’s success is credited to God, rather than to one’s self. For a spiritual leader, ambition is about striving to become the best servant, rather than striving to get the highest number of servants (Mark 10:42-45). Consequently, here is a great question to help discern one’s motives in desiring leadership: Is there any sense of prestige or privilege by having a leadership position in the church? If so, proceed with caution; if not, continue onward.

These reflections are based on my reading of Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders.

Book Review: Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach by Jane Vella

January 27, 2011 By Daniel Im

Jane Vella’s, Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach, is written for both adult learners and teachers of adults. It has the primary assumption that dialogue is better than monologue for adult education. After all, with all the life experience that every adult brings to the classroom, both teacher and fellow student will benefit significantly by dialoguing with one another. This book is basically a presentation of Vella’s Twelve Principles for Effective Adult Learning scattered with case studies and anecdotes: (1) Needs assessment; (2) Safety; (3) Sound Relationships; (4) Sequence and Reinforcement; (5) Praxis; (6) Respect for Learners as Decision Makers; (7) Ideas, Feelings, and Actions; (8) Immediacy; (9) Clear Roles; (10) Teamwork; (11) Engagement; and (12) Accountability. Using these 12 principles, Vella teaches the reader how to teach less and make more room for learning.

Instead of viewing the teacher as the one with all the knowledge, and the student as the empty vessel ready to be filled, dialogue education presupposes that both teacher and student come with knowledge and information beneficial for one another. As a result, the teacher may not actually do much formal lecturing in a class. Instead, the teacher will design the course material in a way that allows him/her to present the learning activities and then get out of the way. In and throughout the learning activities, the teacher’s role is more of a resource, facilitator, and guide.

This book has been so influential to me that I cannot imagine resorting back to more of a monologue type of education. As a pastor, I am going to be applying the principles of this book to small groups, discipleship courses, and my preaching in every way possible.

I give this book 5 stars out of 5.

Luggage Lessons – Are you processing your life experiences?

January 26, 2011 By Daniel Im

Which image best reflects your life experiences?

I recently sat through an excellent workshop by Hugh Phillips and wanted to share one of my takeaways.

He mentioned how we all have luggage, which are processed experiences, and that our luggage will yield much wisdom and some of our greatest life lessons when they are reflected upon. This is wisdom! This is praxis! Character formation best happens through our life experiences. I love how Hugh mentioned that our luggage can either make us better or bitter, and that it’s ultimately our choice.

I want my luggage to make me better, so here’s my “work luggage” – how my most recent work experiences have shaped who I am:

Moving to, living in, and pastoring in Korea: I learned how important it was to place my trust in God, rather than people. Yes, people can be trustworthy, but we are called to love people and place our trust in God. Unfortunately, we too often love God and trust people. We have it mixed up.
- Jeremiah 17:7 – “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.”
- Matt 22:39 – “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Listen to this message by Wayne Cordeiro who unpacks this concept – http://media.enewhope.org/audio/W1046.mp3

The Best Way to Empower Leaders

January 24, 2011 By Daniel Im

While I was reading, Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders (click on the link to read my book review), one of the questions I wanted answered through the book was this one, “What is the best way to empower volunteer leaders?” After all, volunteer leaders are critical to the health of a church and really, any organization that is dependent on volunteers. Personally, instead of merely delegating tasks, I have found that volunteer retention and satisfaction is higher when they are empowered to a role with responsibilities.

Why I ditched the M.Div…and am still a pastor

January 19, 2011 By Daniel Im

Back in 2009, I wrote a post entitled, “Where to go to seminary? A preliminary comparison between seminaries in Canada, the United States, and Korea.”

Since then, a lot of things have changed – especially my outlook regarding seminary and the usefulness of theological education. I touched on that topic briefly in my post, “The Future of Seminary.”

Well, after viewing some activity over those two previous posts, I thought I’d give my view as to where I think the future of seminary education is heading by explaining where I’m at. Namely, why I ditched the M.Div (Masters of Divinity) and am still a pastor.

Here it is…

Book Review: Together in Prayer – Coming to God in Community by Andrew Wheeler

January 3, 2011 By Daniel Im

Together in Prayer: Coming to God in Community by Andrew Wheeler is a great primer that explains what praying in community looks like. The book could probably be summed up in one sentence – pray to God, not to each other. If you want a good overview of everything this book has to offer, read the last chapter of the book. The appendix also has a neat assessment to determine how “prayer-friendly” your group is.

Wheeler is very systematic in unpacking what it looks like to pray in community – explaining both tips that will enhance group prayer as well as prayer practices that will actually hinder it. For example, he explains how we oftentimes direct our prayers at each other, instead of God by instructing, exhorting, sermonizing, counseling, and informing each other through our prayers. Here’s an example, “Father, may people who are far from you come to our church today. They need to hear your Word and realize their need for you, rather than pursuing their own selfish desires. They need to repent and receive Jesus as their Savior, to save them from a Christless eternity. Their lives need your touch; may they stop making excuses and come to meet you today.” Compare that prayer, which is directed more towards people than to God, with the following prayer. [Read more…] about Book Review: Together in Prayer – Coming to God in Community by Andrew Wheeler

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