Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

Articles

You Are What You Do – Audiobook

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As a podcaster, recording an audiobook was such a fun experience. If you find that you don’t have the time to sit down and read, I know that you’ll love listening to the truths inside of my newest book.

If you aren’t already on Audible, click here to get a free trial and download my audiobook for free. Otherwise, click here to see all the different ways you can grab a copy of the book (paperback, kindle, or audible).

Here’s the summary of You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies About Work, Life, and Love

The way that we’ve done things for centuries has been unsettled and unseated. We’re living in a new normal. And while on the surface many of these changes look like the next best thing, there’s actually a complex and fragile web of lies holding it all together:

You are what you do
You are what you experience
You are who you know
You are what you know
You are what you own
You are who you raise
You are your past

In You Are What You Do, author and Pastor Daniel Im considers these seven lies and the context that causes them to flourish. Through personable stories, research, and pastoral insight, Daniel will show you how to recognize these everyday lies in your life so that you can discover the truth on the other side. The truth that leads to freedom. The truth that moves you from surviving to thriving. The truth that will unlock a life of purpose, adventure, meaning, and destiny.

Do You Have a Culture of Co-Signers or Authorized Users?

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Everyone on your team is either a co-signer or an authorized user.

You might be familiar with the difference between the two — especially if you are a parent to a young adult, or if you’ve ever needed help building your credit. A co-signer on an account takes a shared responsibility for payment, but an authorized user simply has access to the credit line. While this is typically a financial conversation between parents and children, within this concept lies a powerful leadership lesson for anyone leading a team. Every employee is one of the two. Which would you rather have?

Would you rather have a team of co-signers or authorized users?
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In other words, are you building a culture of co-signers or authorized users? It’s quite simple to tell the difference. You know you have a team full of co-signers when everyone feels a personal attachment to your mission, vision and bottom line. And I’m not talking about individuals who have equity in your company — I’m referring to employees, not shareholders.

When you have team members who care about the soft side of culture building and organizational health — and they’re not in your HR department — you know you’ve built a team of co-signers. And when your team is willing to roll up their sleeves, double down on projects and make personal sacrifices in the face of low projections, you have a team of co-signers.

A team of authorized users looks quite different. They might be worried about the consequences of a bad quarter, but they’re not willing to go beyond their scope of work unless you talk about overtime pay or some sort of incentive. Authorized users would obviously like a positive work environment, but if something needs to be fixed, it’s someone else’s problem. And if a team member is willing to jump ship to a competitor, regardless of how much you’ve invested into them, you know they were an authorized user.

Here are three tips that will help you cultivate a culture of co-signers:

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How to Live When You’re in Transition

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If you feel like you’re living in the middle, you’re not alone.

Are you in transition? Are you living in between one thing and another? If so, then beware! Because when we’re living in the middle, we often forget the past, turn inward, and drift off course.

Here’s a message I preached at my church on living in the middle by examining how God’s people have historically navigated this tension.

https://youtu.be/qQqQ7EcpMWQ?t=2042

What COVID-19 is Revealing about Your Church

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Have you ever noticed that one of your arms is stronger than the other?

I find that most days, this goes unnoticed—it doesn’t matter if I’m lifting a box that came from Amazon, or setting up tables and chairs for an event. It’s only when I’m lifting weights at the gym—or these days in my makeshift home gym—that I recognize just how much my right arm is stronger than my left.

It’s not immediate though. I don’t necessarily notice it when I start bench pressing. It’s only when I get to my third or fourth set of reps that I start realizing the imbalance because the bar starts dipping slightly lower on my left side.

Let’s think about this for a moment.

Why do you think this is happening? Is it that my left arm suddenly got weaker? And that the weight lifting caused my muscles to deteriorate?

Or, is it that my left arm was already weaker from the outset? And when pressed, put under pressure, and tested, the true strength and health of my arm was simply revealed?

Friends, this global pandemic has not only pressed us to our limits, pressured us beyond our point of comfort, and tested us in ways that we never thought we could handle, but it’s also done the same to the church.

The church is being pressed. The church is being put under pressure. And the church is being tested.

Global pandemic or not, the church has always been a body of believers that are both scattered and gathered. We are called to scatter and share the good news of Jesus making disciples of all nations (Matt 28:18-20), but we are also called to gather regularly and be of an encouragement to one another (Hebrews 10:25). We are called to scatter and gather. Scatter and gather.

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God Will Never Give You More Than You Can Handle?!

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Did God really say that he will never give us more than what we can handle?

Are trials punishment from God? What’s the role of endurance and the testing of our faith? Is it more about our ability to do things or God’s ability to do things through us?

Here’s a message I preached at my church debunking this very myth, “God will never give you more than you can handle.”

https://youtu.be/Gb736rpV4nM?t=1847

5 Steps To Easily Increase Connection During COVID-19

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Start an online book club.

It’s super simple and a fool proof way to increase meaningful connection with others around you during this weird season of masking and social distancing.

Here are 5 steps to get started:

  1. Reach out to a few friends, or write a quick post on your favorite social media platform. It can go something like this: “Anyone up for an online book club? I’m about to read [INSERT NAME OF BOOK], and would love to discuss it with a few others.”
  2. Agree on a start date, time, and frequency.
  3. Clarify which chapters to read by when.
  4. Connect using your platform of choice (FaceTime, Instagram, Messenger, Zoom, Hangouts, Houseparty, etc.)
  5. Facilitate the discussion by sharing favorite quotes, what stood out to you, and what you are going to change in light of the chapter.

That’s it!

If you’re looking for book ideas, check out this list of 15 recommended books from LifeWay that are all on sale for under $8.

My newest book, You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies about Work, Life, and Love is on the list for only $8!!

Is God Trying To Get Your Attention?

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A couple years after getting married, Christina and I moved to Korea. Until then, though we had visited other countries, neither of us had ever lived outside of Canada. In fact, we were about to purchase our first home in Montreal, but when I got a job offer to work at one of the largest churches in the world—I’m not exaggerating, it was a church of 50,000 people—our priorities conveniently changed in an instant.

I found myself saying things like:

Isn’t this a once-in-a-lifetime sort of opportunity?

I’d be stupid to say no, right? After all, we don’t even have children yet.

This would skyrocket my career. Just imagine what this would look like on my résumé!

God has to be in this, otherwise, why else would I get such an opportunity?

I’m going to make such a greater impact there than I would here, so isn’t this a no-brainer?”

I’ve forgotten which of those phrases I said to Christina, which ones I kept hidden in my heart, and which ones I wasn’t even aware of myself, but that pretty much sums it up—and I’m not proud of it.

Within a couple months, we sold everything—including my beloved Volkswagen GTI—packed what we could in a few suitcases, stored what we could at Christina’s parents’ place, and bought a one-way ticket to Seoul, South Korea.

The plan was to stay there long-term.

Christina enrolled in Korean lessons, was working with me at the church, and started her Masters in Counseling. I was pastoring, finishing up graduate school, and teaching English on the side. Life was good and things were fruitful. In fact, they were so fruitful that a year after we moved to Korea, we became a family of three!

So with our baby girl, we decided it was time to grow up and move out of our furnished apartment in the party district. We wanted to lay down roots, so we found a nice little two-bedroom apartment and furnished it ourselves. We even bought an oven, which wasn’t a normal appliance for a typical Korean home. Can you tell momma bird was nesting?

Life was really good, until everything started to unravel.

And by everything, this time I really do mean everything. A few months after moving into our new apartment, we lost our jobs, our closest friends, and our home. We lost our livelihood and everything was taken out from under our feet. In short, my ladder-climbing-résumé-building-career-rocketing adventure abruptly came to an end, and we had to move back to Canada.

I was devastated.

Once the dust settled, I started wondering if we had somehow made the wrong decision. Maybe we were never supposed to go in the first place. Perhaps I incorrectly assumed that God was leading us (because of my mixed motives), when in fact, it was just a good opportunity.

I was also ashamed.

What would I say to the doubters who thought we were making a mistake to sell everything and move halfway across the world? What would I say to my parents who were leery of us going in the first place? How was I supposed to support my wife and child now that I was without a job and essentially homeless? And why did I feel like someone had just punched me in the gut, stolen my keys, and driven off with my car? After all, it’s just a job, isn’t it?

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Pivoting and Planning in a New Day of Mission

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When we moved back to Canada last year, one of the first things that I did with my wife was sign up for a gym membership. When Christina and I were figuring out which gym to join, one of the sales associates decided to go with the “personalized” approach to try to “tailor” what his gym offered to our needs.

Anyway, he started with Christina and asked her what her goals were and why she wanted to join the gym. She said things like, “I’m thinking about doing a marathon,” “I want to stay healthy,” and other reasons along those lines. With quite the approving head nod, he wrote down her answers, made a few encouraging comments, and then turned to me. How about you Daniel?

I still remember his reaction to this day. When he heard my answer, it was utter shock. In fact, he stumbled over his words—not quite as long as Prime Minister Trudeau did when he was asked about President Trump’s response regarding the protests—but it was something like that.

“Chips. I love eating chips. I also love smoking meat on my BBQ. I just love eating. That’s pretty much the only reason I’m working out.”

Alright, so what’s the point?

We ended up joining the gym that day, and for several months, I made the commitment to not go into work until I first went to the gym—even if it was for only 30 minutes.

While I didn’t hit that goal 100% of the time, I actually did quite well.

For the first time in my life, I was working out more than once a week! My body, my health, and how I physically, mentally, and emotionally felt was the best it had ever been. And then COVID-19 hit. And then the gyms closed. And then grocery shopping got a little more complicated. (But, fear not, I still had my chips!)

In that moment, instead of hunkering down and just waiting for things to go back to normal, Christina and I decided to pivot and figure out a new rhythm and routine for exercise.

Pivot. Doesn’t it seem like the word of the year?

Although it seems like everyone and their mom are using this word, it really does encapsulate what we’ve had to do over these past few months. It’s either pivot or die.

Pivot or Die.
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There’s no going back to pre-COVID days. Yes, COVID-19 will eventually fade away, but it’s so deeply changed the fabric of our society and the way “church” looks, that even when we’re gathered together again it will be different.

It’s kind of like how Jesus interacted and ministered with his disciples pre-resurrection versus post-resurrection.

Let’s think about that for a moment.

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Dear Graduate during COVID-19,

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Congratulations! What a momentous occasion that you’ve worked so hard toward. Honestly, hats off to you! I’m sorry though that it had to be in the midst of these crappy circumstances. It really does suck.

But here’s the silver lining in the midst of the interruption and disappointment of COVID-19.

You NOT being able to find that job you’ve worked so hard for might actually be a gift.

A gift?!

Yeah, a gift.

It’s a gift because you’re learning what took me YEARS to figure out…and what many people much older than you STILL don’t know.

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Creating New Habits and Rhythms

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When we left Nashville and moved back to Canada, I was resolved to fix this one thing that had eluded me my entire life.

No matter how hard I tried, I could never figure it out.

Was it that I didn’t care? Or was it just that the pain of changing was greater than the pain of staying the same?

All I knew was that if I didn’t address this one thing, it could potentially lead to the downfall of my marriage, my family, and my ministry.

Before I share this one thing that I’m referring to, I’m curious whether you have something like this in your life? Is there something that—if left unattended—could eventually undermine your life and ministry? Some part of your life that isn’t necessarily an example for others in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity? (1 Timothy 4:12)

Is there something that—if left unattended—could eventually undermine your life and ministry?
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