Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

Articles

What Hurry Does To Your Soul

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A few weeks back when Christina and I were sabbathing (I’m not sure if it’s a verb, but it should be!), I was reading Soul Keeping by John Ortberg.

Let me share a quick excerpt from the book that floored me. It’s an interaction that John Ortberg had with Dallas Willard, when John was serving at Willow:

Many years later I had moved to Chicago. Entering into a very busy season of ministry, I called Dallas to ask him what I needed to do to stay spiritually healthy. I pictured him sitting in that room as we talked. There was a long pause — with Dallas there was nearly always a long pause — and then he said slowly, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” I quickly wrote that down. Most people take notes with Dallas; I have even seen his wife take notes, which my wife rarely does with me.

“Okay, Dallas,” I responded. “I’ve got that one. Now what other spiritual nuggets do you have for me? I don’t have a lot of time, and I want to get all the spiritual wisdom from you that I can.” 

“There is nothing else,” he said, generously acting as if he did not notice my impatience. “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. – Dallas Willard
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Do you feel hurried?

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Money, Conflict, and Marriage

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A few days ago, my wife and I launched a weekly FB Live show called After Hours with Daniel and Christina Im!! It is an opportunity to connect, to ask your parenting and marriage questions, and to be reminded weekly that we are in this marriage/parenting marathon together! 

This week, we discuss:

  • How knowing your money personality can save you and your spouse a lot of heartache, tears, and frustration
  • How the Enneagram gives you the language to both express how you feel and understand how your spouse is feeling during a conflict
  • And we answer a listener’s question: “What advice do you have for online/long distance dating?”

Watch this inaugural episode, “Money, Conflict, and Marriage,” on our brand new YouTube Channel! (and please subscribe too, since we’re just getting started 😅)

If you want to join us live, be sure to head on over to our Facebook page every Tuesday at 9 PM MT. 

https://youtu.be/nA6c0VPgBu0

How Our Brains React in Crisis

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Yesterday on a podcast, I heard Dr. Henry Cloud share a profound insight on the way our brain reacts during crisis—like the global pandemic that we’re all living through at the moment. Here’s my attempt at a summary and paraphrase.

Generally speaking, our brains make maps about how to do life.

For example, when we are hungry and want to eat a sandwich, our brains have a map that will show us how to get out of our chairs and walk to the fridge. But let’s say, someone rearranged the furniture in your living room over night, and the next time you were hungry, a couch was blocking your way. In this instance, your brain will actually register this as an ERROR according to neuroscientists.

Generally speaking, our brains make maps about how to do life.
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When this happens, your whole system amps up. And for a moment—when your system is really amped up—you lose emotional, spiritual, psychological, and physical functioning and you are thrown off. However, once you recognize that it’s just a couch and that you can walk around it, your body begins to go back to normal. 

Right now, we are living in an ERROR.

Because of this global pandemic, our entire lives are registering on our brains—with red lights twirling around and sirens blasting—ERROR ERROR ERROR.

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Do You Believe These 3 Lies of the Side Hustle Culture?

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The side hustle. 

To some, it’s something to do in your spare time that’s more productive than binging on Netflix or Disney+. To others, it’s the new credit card. And for everyone else, it’s become the new normal. After all, if you don’t have one, you’re likely funding someone else’s.

The allure of the side hustle is that it promises a life of freedom and flexibility—or control.
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The allure of the side hustle is that it promises a life of freedom and flexibility—or control. It goes something like this:

“You have unlimited earning potential, so if you want to go on a trip, just gig for a few hours.”

“Want that new outfit? Sell a few things.” 

“Want the latest phone? Hustle for it. After all, everyone has free time that they waste, so just use that time and earn some extra cash. Be productive! You’re in control, so make it happen—rise and grind and get it done.”

Experts are calling this the gig economy and in 2019, according to a study commissioned by Upwork and Freelancers Union, 35 percent of the American workforce was a part of it — up from five years prior. That means 57 million Americans were self-employed in a part-time or full-time capacity getting paid for their time, skills, possessions or expertise. To give you some perspective, that’s more people than the entire populations of Canada, Liberia, Greece and Puerto Rico combined! 

57 million Americans are a part of the gig economy.
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What’s so surprising about it all is just how rapidly the gig economy has grown. I mean, can you believe that 68 percent of all gig workers surveyed joined the gig economy in the last five years? You see similar trends in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, where the growing gig economy continues to affect normal everyday life.

Although the news is covering how the gig economy can be both positive and negative to your mental health — or how Uber and Postmates are suing the State of California to stop the new AB5 Gig-Worker law — no one is talking about the unintended consequences that this rapid shift in culture is silently ushering in.

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Bold Confidence

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I love seeing the world through the eyes of my 5 year old son.

When we’re together, he feels like he’s invincible. When he’s with me, he has the confidence to stand up to anyone—regardless of their size or age. It’s like he thinks he’s superman or something.

It’s like something inside of him changes when he knows that I’m there. He stands a bit taller, walks with his head up, and isn’t afraid to speak. It’s as if there’s this bold confidence that seems to well up from within him when he knows that I’m there…together with him.

I think this is what the David is referring to here in Psalm 27. Here are the first six verses.

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Be Rooted

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Doesn’t it feel like everything’s different?

I know everything isn’t actually different, but doesn’t it feel like it is? In this season of uncertainty, it sure feels like we’re dealing with the aftermath of an earthquake, tornado, hurricane, AND a tsunami. Not OR a tsunami, but AND—all of these things put together.

I wonder what God’s up to?

Doesn’t it kind of feel like He is exposing our roots? That he is exposing what kind of soil we’re planted in? Exposing where we are getting our nutrients from? And exposing how deep our roots actually are?

What is God doing in your life? What is He exposing? What is He up to?
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For some of you, everything’s been turned upside down. You’ve been completely pulled out of the soil, thrown up into the air, beaten around and around and now you are lying bare on the ground. Finances, work, school, children, relationships, loneliness.

For others of you, yes things have obviously been shaken, but by and large, you’re still smooth and steady. And the rest of us are somewhere in-between.

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A Vicious Cycle

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Are you familiar with the parable of the rich fool? I’d tell it myself, but Jesus does it better.

A rich man’s land was very productive. He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”

What I love about Jesus’ parables is that they’re as applicable today in the 21st century, as they were in the 1st century. And what’s amazing is that the more you dig, the more you’ll find—this is true for the entire Bible. For example, while the crowds listening in on Jesus would’ve been shocked by the story, it’s likely for different reasons than us. Here’s why.

On the surface, it seems foolish that the man would first tear down his barns before building bigger ones. Perhaps his older barns were dilapidated? Or maybe he didn’t have enough land for additional barns? Both seem unlikely because this man was already rich, even before his year of plenty, which means he likely took care of his property.

And it’s not like we’re talking about Manhattan here, so the fact that he already had more than one barn shows us that he likely had room to build more. So why didn’t he just add on to his additional barns? And if he was already rich, why didn’t he give some of his crops away?

While these are the questions that naturally come to mind for a 21st century reader, Jesus’ initial listeners would’ve been shocked for different reasons.

Try reading through the parable again and counting how many times the rich man uses the personal pronoun. And did you notice to whom he was speaking?

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In Doers We Trust?

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Blank stare. Tossed hair. And a longing to be elsewhere.

If you’re up for it, let’s play a game of “Guess Who?” It’s simple. Just try and guess who I’m looking at right now.

Hangry, irritable, and unable to focus.

Is a picture of someone forming in your mind? Here are a few more descriptors: Piles of dirty laundry, protein bar wrappers in the trash, and a cup of coffee that’s been warmed up one too many times.

If you guessed a prisoner, an executive, or a working parent, you’re close, but not quite there yet. If you guessed yourself, you’re closer, but that probably means one of two things—you’re either sleep deprived or a doer.

Recently, one of the largest online marketplaces for freelancers ran an ad campaign in New York subways plastering up headshots of doers and excerpts from their interviews. They called this campaign, “The Year of Do,” with the catchy tag line, “In Doers We Trust.”

Here’s the excerpt from the ad I’m looking at, “You eat a coffee for lunch. You follow through on your follow through. Sleep deprivation is your drug of choice. You might be a doer.”

Apparently doing has become a badge of honor. A status symbol. And the way to define ourselves.

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7 Lies The World Tells Us, 7 Biblical Truths That God Tells Us

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Did you know that there’s a YouVersion Bible Reading Plan to go along with my newest book?

It’s seven days long and a great way to dig deeper and reflect on the 7 biblical truths that are on the flip side of the 7 lies that the world is shouting at us.

I want to invite you to start this reading plan today, and perhaps you can invite a few friends to join you while you’re at it!

Click here to get started.

A New (or Ancient) Way of Addressing the Lies of our Culture

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The gig economy affects everyone and everything. It’s the new normal and it matters.

But as I’ve been sharing over the past few weeks, it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. The seven lies of the gig economy all hold a critical role in the way that you see yourself, but they are not the way to see yourself because they all come up short.

They’re incomplete precisely because they’re half-truths. As a result, there are unintended consequences behind each and every one of them.

This is why you can’t let any of these lies become the primary lens through which you view yourself, and also why we’re so particularly vulnerable to these lies.

Living according to the lies of the gig economy is like living in chains.

It’s tiring.

It’s a grind and a hustle just to try and keep up. And it’s actually a fool’s game because you will never feel caught up.

Living according to the lies of the gig economy is like living in chains.
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