Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

Daniel Im

Underneath the Surface of Disney’s Hit Song, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”

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Over the past month, have you caught yourself singing a song about Bruno?

Or, I guess to put it more accurately, not talking about Bruno? Because of the enormous popularity of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Disney’s 2021 film, Encanto, this song has stayed on the Top 10 Billboard chart for weeks in several countries.

Now the purpose for this article isn’t to talk about the “magic” in this movie (and to go down that rabbit hole). Rather, it’s to address the ways that the songs and themes in this movie are actually perpetuating lies about our identity—and feeding us (and our children) lies about ourselves.

When I wrote You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies About Work, Life, and Love, I was attempting to shine a spotlight on seven different lies about our identity—and how to discover the truth on the other side. Now the thing about these lies is that they don’t actually seem harmful on the surface—they just seem more of a matter of fact than anything. But when you dig underneath the surface, and begin unpacking how these lies are shaping your relationships, your understanding of self, and your emotional, physical, and spiritual health…you start realizing that these lies aren’t as harmless as they appear to be.

Now just to be clear, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is musical genius. My family and I couldn’t stop listening to the song because it’s so catchy, fun, and mesmerizing musically. But the more I listened to the song, the more I realized that it was the music and not the lyrics that I fell in love with.

Why shouldn’t the family talk about Bruno? Why is it okay to expel someone from the family? Why don’t people know the actual reason he was ex-communicated? And how in the world can someone survive in the walls of a house?! (Sorry for the spoiler).

I recognize that yes, this is just a movie, but could songs like this be unintentionally feeding our children lies about their identity like “you are what you do” and “you are your past”?

In the movie, we see that Abuela, the matriarch of the family, had cultivated a culture where lies like those ones were the core source of everyone’s identity. Because of her past—both the death of her husband and the way her house came to be—her whole family was living proof that “you are your past.” And when you consider the way that everything revolved around an individual’s gift, what other message than “you are what you do” was being communicated to the one with the gift and everyone around them? No wonder Mirabel’s sister, Luisa, was crumbling under the surface from the pressure placed on her.

Oh and let’s not forget the lie that made the hit song, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” possible! Because Abuela believed the lie that “you are who you raise,” there was no way she could allow Bruno to reflect back on her in anyway…hence the reason no one talks about Bruno!

So What?

Friends, this is why I wrote You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies About Work, Life, and Love. I wrote it to help us recognize the lies that our culture is subtly feeding us about ourselves. The book—and this article—are not indictments to boycott this movie or our culture. Rather, they are pleas to become more discerning about what messages we’re subtly listening to and letting shape who we are and how we live, work, and love.

If you haven’t yet picked up a copy of the book, I’d be honored if you would do so either by going to Amazon or checking out my book page to learn more about it.

A Pattern for Prayer

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If you were to describe your prayer life with three words, which of the following three words would you use?

Here are a few that you can choose from:

Brief, dusty, faithless, abiding, fresh, faith-filled, duty, boring, lacking, privilege, courageous, fulfilling, me-centered, depressing, fickle, others-centered, joyful, persevering

It’s interesting how differently we all view prayer, isn’t it?

In the church I grew up in, prayer was dependence, it was surrender, it was pleading, it was passionate, and it was a duty. Daily, there were early morning prayer gatherings at the church. Weekly, the congregation would come early before the service started to pray and prepare their hearts. And annually at youth retreats, the prayer time went for hours.

In fact, when Christina and I first moved to Seoul, Korea to pastor there, we were staying in a guest room at the church, until we found an apartment. The next morning, I remember being awoken to, what sounded like, thousands of people talking…which I later discovered was actually the case because thousands of people were talking to God at the early morning prayer service!

The congregation we served in Korea understood that spending time with God was the essence of prayer, as David Benner describes:

Spending time with God ought to be the essence of prayer. However, as it is usually practiced, prayer is more like a series of e-mail or instant messages than hanging out together…It should not be a surprise that the result is a superficial relationship.

Spending time with God ought to be the essence of prayer. – David Benner
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They understood the importance of spending time with God together with others. They didn’t see prayer as a duty which must be performed. They saw prayer as a privilege to be enjoyed.

And as E.M. Bounds so aptly put it, “a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.”

Prayer is a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty – E.M. Bounds.
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How about you? How do you currently view prayer? And how do you want to?

In Philippians 1:3-8, Paul presents a pattern for prayer: to pray with thanksgiving, joy, and perseverance.

I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-8 CSB)

This pattern for prayer isn’t a rigid structure for prayer, nor is it comprehensive. Rather, it’s more of a pattern that describes Paul’s prayer life—and I believe that this pattern is one that we should reflect on, and measure our prayer life against.

1. Pray with thanksgiving

Instead of grumbling, Paul chose to give thanks. He didn’t allow his circumstances to lead his response. Instead, he saw his circumstances through the lens of who he knew God to be, as revealed through the Scriptures.

He knew that God was in control, even if his circumstances felt out of control. He knew that God was faithful, even if things felt uncertain. He knew that God was always present, even if he felt abandoned. And he knew that God saw him and was always with him. In other words, instead of looking around, Paul looked up and he gave thanks.

2. Pray with joy

The interesting thing about joy is that you can’t choose it. You can make yourself laugh, and you might even be able to make yourself feel happy, but you can’t choose joy. This is because joy is a fruit of the Spirit and evidence that you have a personal relationship with God and are filled with the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22; Rom 14:17).

In other words, joy isn’t circumstantial. Joy is a result of the gospel. You don’t experience more joy when everything feels certain. Joy is not a result of a better job, a better relationship, better health, or a better address. Joy is a result of having and cultivating a personal relationship with Jesus.

Joy isn’t circumstantial. Joy is a result of the gospel.
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This is why you can grieve and still rejoice, why you can have joy in the midst of sorrow, and why you can have nothing, yet possess everything.

3. Pray with perseverance

Perseverance is something that was cultivated in Paul’s heart and prayer life because he did life together with the Philippians. As Paul regularly practiced gathering, growing, giving, and going together with the Philippians, he grew in perseverance with them. And as their bond strengthened with one another, they went from being acquaintances to co-workers.

We see evidence of this because the Philippians never turned their backs on him. While he was in prison, they supported him in prayer and with financial support. They weren’t ashamed of him—even though imprisonment would’ve brought great shame in that time. Instead, they supported him as he shared the gospel with his captors, fellow prisoners, and judges over him.

So in conclusion, what needs to happen for your prayer life to be marked with thanksgiving, joy, and perseverance?

My dear friends, let us “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess 5:16-18 CSB).

*My article here was originally published on September 8, 2021 on Impactus.

How to Actually Make Friends (these days…)

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These days, isn’t it so easy to make friends?

All you have to do is click “confirm” or “add” and you’re done! You now have another friend. Long gone are those awkward “getting to know you” conversations. All you have to do is scroll through their feed, like their photos, post a couple comments, and in no time you’ll be getting hundreds of friends saying happy birthday to you annually.

As blatantly sarcastic as I’m being, if you were to be brutally honest with yourself, I’m sure there’s been a moment when you’ve called a Facebook friend an actual friend—even though you’ve never actually seen them face to face. Or you at least know someone who has done this.

Is this what friendship has come to? Why does it seem so hard to make genuine friends? And keep them?

I know we often use busyness as an excuse for not making or cultivating friendships—I’ll be the first one to admit to that—but have you ever considered the consequences of delaying the formation of genuine friendships?

Have you ever considered the consequences of delaying the formation of genuine friendships?
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To answer that question, let’s take a look at James 5:13-14. While this passage is often quoted when someone is sick and is needing the healing touch of Jesus, I also believe it has a deep measure of insight to the topic at hand.

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. (James 5:13-14 CSB)

What do you think James is getting at when he’s asking, “Is anyone among you…?” Do you think he’s just asking whether or not you are aware of what’s going on around you? Whether you are connected enough to others to know and notice if anyone among you is suffering?

While I recognize that there are some people—like my wife Christina—who can intuitively sense and feel the emotions of others, I’ve lived long enough to know that this doesn’t come naturally to everyone. I actually need to know that something is going on in someone’s life to be able to do something for them and be a friend for them.

To know this requires several things:

  • It requires me to lift my head up, get out of my own little world, and take my headphones off.
  • It requires me to begin eating with others, asking questions, and listening—both to them and to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to know what to say and what not to say.
  • It requires me to go earlier and stick around longer, so that I can have conversations with others beyond whatever meeting I’ve come to.
  • It requires me to budget a little bit more to eating out, so that I can go out to lunch with others after church, or go out to coffee with my neighbours and coworkers.
  • It requires the use of a slow cooker when I have others over, so that I can have more time to listen, talk, and engage with others when they come over.
  • And it also requires me being okay with my home—and not obsessing over how it looks, what type of floor I have, or even how clean it is.

In other words, to know whether something is going on in someone else’s life, I need to first be present and be a friend—something that just doesn’t happen overnight!!

So let me ask you a few questions:

  1. Is anyone among you suffering? Instead of just telling them to go and pray, what if you were to go and pray with them?
  2. Is anyone among you cheerful? Instead of just being happy for them, what would happen if you celebrated with them?
  3. And is anyone among you sick? Instead of just saying that you’ll pray for them, what would happen if you were to drop off a meal for them? Visit with them over FaceTime or Zoom? And also help mobilize the elders of your church and prayer team to pray for them?

In today’s world where it’s so easy to “use” people and treat them as a means to an end, let’s resolve to be the kind of people who can easily answer the question, “Is anyone among you…?”

*My article here was originally published on January 5, 2021 on Impactus.

Goodbye and Hello – My Old and New Podcast

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Goodbye New Churches Q&A Podcast. Hello 1 Ministry Question Podcast. 

THANK YOU to everyone who listened to the banter, interruptions, and occasional nuggets of wisdom between Ed Stetzer, Todd Adkins, and I on the New Churches Q&A Podcast. It was an honor to serve all of you church planters, pastors, and leaders over the last 6 years with 619 episodes downloaded 1.5+ million times from 172 countries. 

So, what’s next?

Well, in the same way that every church planter eventually needs to just call themselves a pastor, Todd and I (along with Dan Iten) have decided to take the same Q&A format from the New Churches podcast and bring it over to a brand new podcast for ALL ministry leaders. 

It’s called the 1 Ministry Question Podcast and it’s for anyone leading within the local church. Our new podcast seeks to provide you with practical strategies, actionable ideas, and often templates and exercises to help you and your team grow. 

  • Episode 1: How to recruit new volunteers
  • Episode 2: How to onboard new volunteers
  • Episode 3: How to continue to grow spiritually as a pastor or leader
  • Episode 4: How do you prevent burnout?

I hope you can check it out everywhere you get your podcasts. Just search for “1 Ministry Question Podcast” or head on over to:

Preface to the Korean Version of Planting Missional Churches

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The book I co-authored with Ed Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches (2nd edition), is now in Korean! A huge thanks to 설훈 and 요단출판사 for their work to translate our book.

I had the opportunity to write a new Preface for the Korean edition. Here’s what it says in English:

I am who I am today because of church planting. My love for Jesus is stronger, my faith is rooted deeper, and I believe my ministry has experienced a greater measure of fruitfulness because of the church plant I grew up in, and the church plants I’ve been a part of.

My parents (Byongnam and Soonim) immigrated to Canada in the 1970s from South Korea. They brought their faith in Jesus, their love for the church, and their desire to start afresh and anew to Canada. Because of a desire to be in community and on mission, they helped plant the church that I grew up in, The Philadelphia Church of Vancouver.

Growing up, I didn’t know anything else. Of course you would start new churches to reach new people. Of course you would sacrifice your time, talent, and treasure to help the church grow. Of course you would have people over to your house to fellowship, worship, study the Bible, and pray. Of course you would be incredibly welcoming and evangelistic to reach the lost. Of course life would revolve around the church.

I didn’t know that Christians lived any other way. I didn’t know that for many Christians, faith is a once or twice a month commitment if it suits their schedule. I didn’t know that some could call themselves Christians simply for the social benefits that it gives them. I didn’t know because church planting was my all and everything.

The first two churches I served in were church plants. The third church was a global church planting church. And the church that I’m now the Lead Pastor at, Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, Canada, has planted over 30 churches in its 100 year history.

I love church planting because it’s one of the most powerful means of spreading the gospel. Ed Stetzer and I are convinced that church planting is, and will always remain, a key part in the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

Now while Ed and I worked on this book together, we’ve chosen to write the rest of the book in first person and in Ed’s voice. However, since I’m a second-generation Korean Canadian, and this is the Korean translation of the book, we decided that I, Daniel Im, would write the preface.

So before we get into the book, let me end this preface with a story about a heroic church planter.

He rises up early in the morning—earlier than anyone else like Jesus did (Mark 1:35)—to pray and seek God’s face for the salvation of his city. He single-handedly raises more than enough finances to cover all of his church plant’s expenses for five years because of his earnest faith in our Father who gives us our daily bread (Matthew 6:10). His church plant quadruples in size every single year because of his anointed preaching and dynamic worship services (Acts 2:41-47). Every month, he plants church after church after church because the fields are ready for harvest and he’s cracked the code on rapid multiplication (John 4:35).

Do you know anyone like that? Is this who you want to become? This person sounds incredible, don’t they? Intimacy with Jesus and fruitfulness in ministry—what else would you want as a pastor?

The only problem is that it’s a myth!

Now let me clarify before you close this book, or throw it away.

I’m not saying that intimacy with Jesus and fruitfulness in ministry is a myth. I’m saying that the individualistic heroic church planter who single-handedly accomplishes and grows their church plant because of their own skills and abilities is a myth! Growing spiritually and ministering effectively is not a solo endeavour. And the key to success isn’t charisma and a master plan. 

The path to planting missional churches that multiply for God’s glory is one that can only be taken together with others, with Jesus as the Head, and the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. And that’s the path that we want to take you on in this book. So let’s get started.

Daniel Im

Edmonton, Canada

If you are interested, you can pick up a copy of the book here.