Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

Articles

Gripped by the Greatness of God (A New Season)

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I’m writing this in my new office, in a new city, with a new position (Groups Pastor), in a new church (Beulah Alliance Church). In short, my family and I moved to Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) 2 weeks ago to start this new chapter in our lives.

It’s amazing how God’s grace is so real and just how his timing is absolutely perfect. After leaving Korea, we had no idea where we were going or what we were going to do. That, in and of itself, was stressful enough, but on top of that, we had only a limited amount of money left in our savings. Thank God that we were able to stay with my parents and Christina’s parents in the meantime.

Upon leaving Korea, I was hoping that I would find a position right away and start our new life immediately, but God had different plans for us. It was really a whole bunch of silence for the next couple of months, and that time proved so valuable and crucial for God to do the work he needed to do in our lives. Plus, our daughter had the opportunity to spend months with her grandparents – something that she wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.

All that to say, I am absolutely loving Edmonton, Beulah, my new position, and this whole new chapter in our lives.

Now that the introduction is done, let me get to the meat of what I wanted to share with you. Right now, our church is going through a series entitled – “Griped by the Greatness of God.” As I was spending time reading the Bible this morning, I just wanted to share the passage that popped out to me.

He (Jesus) was supreme in the beginning and – leading the resurrection parade – he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe – people and things, animals and atoms – get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross. (Colossians 1:18-20 The Message Translation)

Why don’t you read that passage again and realize just how great our God is?

What are the two biggest struggles facing the churches in your context?

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Here’s my answer, what’s yours?

Rather than being a powerful force of Kingdom counter-culture, the churches in my context have assimilated into this consumeristic North American culture. In an attempt to reach more people with the gospel, churches have lowered the bar of commitment and incorrectly redefined what it means to be a Christian. Sure, maybe lowering the bar of commitment brings more people into the church, but as a backlash, this has created a culture of consumerism within the church. That is why churches are constantly facing a shortage of volunteers, a resistance to involvement in community, and a lack of giving. This consumeristic tendency is producing Christians who just want to receive, receive, and receive, instead of balancing the rhythms of receiving and giving. This is fundamentally wrong in so many ways; after all, did not Jesus come to the earth to serve, instead of be served (Matt 20:28)? And after being saved by grace, aren’t Christians called to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for them to do (Eph 2:8-10)?

In addition to consumerism, I believe that the second biggest struggle that churches in my context are facing is individualism. Rather than viewing loving others as a natural outflow of loving God (Matt 22:37-40), many Christians are choosing to compartmentalize their faith from their everyday life. The result of this is the astounding possibility that one’s neighbors or coworkers could be Christian, but one may never even know it. Now I am not suggesting that Christians go and preach the gospel to all their neighbors and coworkers just to make a statement about their faith, but I am suggesting that a true follower of Jesus should be living a life that is so integrated and whole, that others are able to notice something different about them. For a Christian, faith and life go hand in hand – loving God and loving others are one in the same thing.

No such thing as a "Lay" Christian

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So often, Christians create faux-categories to justify and rationalize their laziness and desire to compartmentalize their faith. We think that there are certain Christians who are “called” to be pastors, and others who are “called” to be missionaries, but what about everyone else? Well, if you’re not “called” to be a pastor or a missionary, then I guess you just fall into a third category called – “lay” Christian…where you just go to church on Sunday, sing some songs, listen to someone preach, and then go home.

When you search the New Testament, there is no such thing as a “lay” Christian. Sure, different people have different roles, but there is no such thing as a “lay” Christian as we know it today. It’s a false category! [Read more…] about No such thing as a "Lay" Christian

The Immigrant Sacrifice

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“Isn’t it ironic how after making such a huge sacrifice to immigrate to Canada, so that your children to have a better life, your son goes ahead and moves to Korea?”

While I was visiting Vancouver a few months ago, but still living in Korea, that was a statement I overheard someone tell my father. (I am now back living in Canada).

I was born and raised in Canada. My parents left absolutely everything in Korea over 30 years ago so that my sisters and I could have a better life. I even remember my father telling me how when he got off the airplane and landed in Canada, all he had was $10. And with that $10 he bought a watch and got a ride to his parent’s house, who also just recently immigrated.

When my parents moved to Canada, they had absolutely nothing…except family, love, hope for a better future, and God. They moved away from a country where they knew the language, the culture, the history, and the food, and they became aliens, mutes, and deafs in a foreign country called ‘Canada.’

They worked at grocery stores, saved every penny, and did whatever they could do in order to forge a better future for their children. They didn’t want their children to go through what they were going through. They sacrificed.

[Read more…] about The Immigrant Sacrifice

The Role of Faith in Natural Disasters

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A few weeks ago I posted on what recently happened in Haiti, but since then, the news has gone on and is now covering other stories. “Female Suicide Bomber Kills 54 in Iraq,” “China Warns US Against Dalai Lama Meeting,” “Trial Opens in Concorde Disaster,” etc.

While the world slowly forgets the disaster in Haiti, just like the world, in a few weeks forgot what happened after the Tsunami or Hurricane Katrina, people are still suffering and picking up the pieces of their lives in Haiti. Now I am glad fundraisers are still taking place and aide is still going to help relieve the disaster in Haiti, but what are we to make of all of these natural disasters? [Read more…] about The Role of Faith in Natural Disasters

Haiti and God

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By now, most of you know what happened in Haiti this past week – a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake just west of the capital, Port au Prince. The International Red Cross estimates about 3 million people have been affected by the earthquake, while approximately 200,000 people might have died as a result of the event.

After this happened, the infamous televangelist Pat Robertson said straight out that this earthquake happened because of the pact that the Haitians made with the Devil:

“Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. [The Haitians were originally] under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you will get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it’s a deal. Ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other.”

Now those are some powerful words for someone who isn’t God. [Read more…] about Haiti and God

God’s Providence Over Our New Place

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A few days ago, before heading out to go to church, I noticed some spots on our wall by the curtains. So when I looked closer and looked behind the curtains, guess what i found? Mold. Ew!

Since I was running late, I ran out the door and went to church. Meanwhile, Christina began investing the rest of our house and discovered that we had mold all over our house wherever there were curtains by the windows.

We had been praying about moving for a while, so it seemed like this was the perfect opportunity. So I contacted our landlord, and she came down right away, while Christina was home and I was at church, and she looked at the mold. Immediately, she began blaming us because we had the humidifier going and we were drying our laundry in the living room. Her solution? Just open the windows.

Great solution, eh?

Anyway, when I came home, I looked at all the mold, and Christina told me just how dangerous and harmful it was to our daughter, so I immediately went up to our landlord and demanded that she either clean the mold or we’re leaving. She chose the latter. She told me, “Sure then leave.” Upon asking her what she’s going to do about renting out our place, she replied, “That’s not your problem, it’s mine.” (I know her response sounded a bit harsh, but it wasn’t actually that bad. She understood we had to take care of our daughter).

So that night, I went to Dongdaemoon and looked at a few places. We thought, if we moved a bit out of central Seoul, we could get more space for a cheaper place. No luck. I didn’t like the places I saw. So while I was driving home, I was praying about this whole situation and then all of a sudden, God placed an impression on my heart to go look at Bogwang-dong (a location that is central Seoul and close to church). So I did.

When I got there, it was 8:40 pm and only one real estate agent was open. I parked and when I tried to go in, it was locked. So I phoned the place and one of the real estate agents answered and told me that he would be there in 10 minutes. When I told him what I wanted, he told me he knew of a couple of places. So when he came, we went to this one apartment in Bogwang-dong, and right when we entered it, I knew that this was the place.

The next day, I brought Christina to the place, and she agreed.
So we’re moving! We’re moving next Tuesday!!

Wow, what a testimony to God’s providence and his perfect will.

Missional and Organic Leadership

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I’ve been interested in the issue of leadership and how we can contextualize biblical and secular leadership principles to our churches so that more people can come to know the hope that we have in Christ Jesus.

I loved reading Neil Cole’s Organic Church a few years back as it transformed the way that I view the church. I recently picked up his book, Organic Leadership, and can’t wait to dive into it!

Ed Stetzer’s books have always been good as he is very much of an intellectual like myself, but he uses his intellectual gifts and talents for the church and for practical purposes and means. I love that and that’s what I am striving to do, as that is where I’m discovering my talents and giftings lie. One book he co-authored with David Putman, Breaking the Missional Code, is a must-read for church leaders as it practically describes how to contextualize the gospel to your immediate situation.

On his website, he recently posted a seminar he did for church leaders on missional leadership. I saw it once, and i’m definitely going to be revisiting it again and again until I can truly understand and apply the biblical principles he outlines.

Here it is,

Training for Ministry

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Today, during our 2009 Onnuri Spirituality and Leadership Conference, Richard Foster said something along these lines – “After coming to know the Lord, Paul spent three years in the desert being trained (Gal 1:17-18) – this wasn’t seminary…this was after seminary” (my paraphrase).

He went on to talk about how the Lord taught and trained Paul during those years and how as pastors, we must be ready to go through a time of “tucking away” or being trained so that God can teach us the prayer of relinquishment. Just as Paul went through that type of training, so did Jonah, David, Job, and Abraham. And who can forget Jesus (Matt 26:39), who had to learn the prayer of relinquishment in one of the most difficult ways – through facing death.

Often times, we think that going to bible college or seminary automatically grants us the God-given-privilege to pastor and lead others. What many of us don’t actually grasp is that pastoring isn’t a job, it’s pure honor and a serious, yet joyful calling. One can’t just learn in a classroom – ministry is best learned in the field, while doing it. [Read more…] about Training for Ministry

Worship Services in the Early Church

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I’m currently preaching through 1 Corinthians 12-14 to our youth ministry, Nine37, on the topic of spiritual gifts. As I was preparing my message for tomorrow’s service, I stumbled upon 1 Cor 14:26 and began wondering what worship services looked like in the early church.

1 Corinthians 14:26 NIV – “What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” [Read more…] about Worship Services in the Early Church