Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

Daniel Im

Dangerous Worship

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Worship is not about a powerless people coming together to sing. Worship is dangerous because it is the children of God coming together, in the name of Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the praises of the high king of the universe. As a result, when individuals worship, they are submitting themselves completely to God. It is not to gain anything or to coerce God to give them something. However, while humans relinquish their agenda, their will, and their power, they actually exchange that for the heart of God and the power of God. Thus, the power of God is proclaimed and unleashed into this universe (spiritual and physical) through the words, prayers, and actions of the worshiper. As a result, worship is not just humans singing, but it’s spiritual warfare.


What is your definition of worship?

Sociology of the Homeless in Seoul, Korea

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There are approximately 1 million homeless individuals in Seoul, and 300 at Seoul Station, which is a major landmark in Seoul.  That’s very intriguing because the population of greater Seoul is 24.5 million people.  That means 1 in every 25 people is homeless in Seoul. Since writing this article, I have had much discussion on this statistic above. I heard this initially from a worker on the field with many years of service helping out and caring for the homeless. However, in a recent article from the Yonhap News Agency in 2011, they reported that there are 4403 homeless individuals in South Korea. This number seems a bit low to me, but then again, how is the Ministry of Health and Welfare defining “homeless?” (edited on Aug 8, 2012)

Now let’s return back to my original article.

We had an outreach to the homeless in Seoul a few weeks ago, and I noticed something very intriguing about the sociology of the homeless here.  We went to the City Hall Subway Station and discovered that there were three types of homeless, for lack of a better word, “lifestyles.”

The first type of “lifestyle” is the large-community “lifestyle” where many homeless individuals live together in community.  For example, we saw an area at the City Hall Subway Station where 20-30 homeless individuals lived together in community.  The second type of “lifestyle” is the small-community “lifestyle” where a few homeless individuals live together in community.  The third type of “lifestyle” is the individualized private “lifestyle” where the homeless live by themselves.

When I noticed all three lifestyles, I wasn’t surprised by those who lived in the large-community or even small-community lifestyle because Asian Culture is so community-focused.  However, what I couldn’t quite understand was why there were so many different dynamics between the lifestyles.

Here are my thoughts or hypothesis as to the differences:

1) The homeless individuals in the large-community “lifestyle” were a lot more forceful and demanding when we handed out the blankets to them.  It’s almost as if they knew that they somehow deserved the charity, so they wanted as much charity as possible.  As a result, I believe that the homeless who live in these larger communities have accepted their homeless condition and are more-or-less content with their identity being linked with homelessness.

2) The small-community “lifestyle” individuals are not adapting to the large-community “lifestyle” because they are possibly holding onto the hope that there is a way out of their condition.  A few minutes after giving one of our blankets to the small-community “lifestyle” homeless, I saw him scratching out the bible verse that we had taped on the case.  It almost seemed as if he was concerned with the “presentation” of the blanket because he wanted to sell it.

3) The homeless living a individualized private “lifestyle” actually turned out to be the most grateful for our blankets.  There were even a few homeless who didn’t want the blanket and suggested that we give it to others who are more in need.  Furthermore, when we gave them food, they were bowing their heads to us with gratitude – a gesture that we seldom came across with the other two “types” of homeless “lifestyles.”  My hypothesis is that these homeless are F.O.S.’s – “fresh on the street.”  In other words, they recently lost their job or some other unfortunate situation happened, which in turn, caused them to move to the streets.  As a result, they are still living in heavy shame regarding their condition.  Thus, by not associating with other homeless individuals, they are convinced that they will get back on their feet again.  Homelessness is not their identity, it’s just a temporary condition.

Has anyone else seen similiar patterns of the homeless in other cities? Please correct me if I’m wrong.

The Common Locations of the Homeless in Seoul, Korea:

  • Seoul Station
  • Ulgiroo 3Ga Station (Line 2)
  • Yeungdeongpo Goochung (Line 5) –> this station has the most homeless individuals and the majority of them will gather here at 11:00 pm to sleep.

Life in Korea: Priorities

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Upon arriving to Korea a few months ago, life has been hectic, and it’s been quite the struggle to find an opportunity to blog.  I love blogging, but life has just been overwhelming.

One of the blessings of being here and serving at Onnuri Community Church is that I get to learn from Pastor Eddie Byun.  I first met Eddie when he was my youth pastor at the Philadelphia Church of Vancouver (he was in seminary at the time).  I never thought that I would ever see or partner with him again, so it’s amazing to be here in Korea and have the opportunity to learn from him.

About a month ago, I asked him what sort of disciplines I should develop in my life if I want to grow as a Pastor.  He told me that one thing he does is to focus on a different subject each day, and to focus on learning about that subject on that given day.  Now this exercise isn’t reserved for pastors alone, but it’s useful for all people.

Here is how I’m organizing my week, and the books that I have chosen to read on the subject.

Monday: Prayer/Fasting
– Too Busy Not to Pray: Bill Hybels
– A Hunger for God: John Piper

Tuesday: Leadership
– Axiom: Bill Hybels
– Reformed Pastor: Richard Baxter
– Leading from the Second Chair: Bonem and Patterson
– An Unstoppable Force: Erwin McManus
– Envisioning an Apostolic Church: Yong-Jo Ha (The Senior Pastor of Onnuri Community Church)

Wednesday: Preaching
– Speaking to Teenagers: Fields and Robbins
– The Supremacy of God in Preaching: John Piper
– Biblical Preaching: Haddon Robinson
– The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching: Edited by Robinson and Larson

Thursday: Spiritual Warfare
– Spiritual Warfare for Every Christian: Dean Sherman
– Screwtape Letters: C.S. Lewis
– Powers of Darkness

Friday: Culture
– Third Culture Kids: Pollock and Van Reken
– Korea Unmasked: Rhie
– American/Korean Contrasts: Susan Oak

Saturday: Marriage
– Marriage Spirituality: R. Paul Stevens
– Sacred Marriage: Gary Thomas
– Every Man’s Marriage: Arterburn and Stoeker (This one I’m going to reread because I’m married now…I read the book while I was dating)

Let’s see how this goes. I’ve already done a week, I missed a few days, but on the days I did stick with the schedule, it’s been great.

I can’t wait to finish all the books on my list and add new ones.

Until next time…

Green McDonald's and Missional Living

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Reserved parking spaces for hybrid cars, tables and chairs made from recycled milk and detergent containers, and vegetative green roofs – these are a few of the 20 features that McDonald’s has conjured up to attract the eco-concious population (see Korea Times Article).

Green McDonald's

On top of that, today’s McDonald menu is vastly different from its menu 20 years ago.

Why are they changing? What’s motivating them? Is it working?

One word – culture.

It’s all about culture.

For example, 20 years ago, were large companies really concered about their carbon footprint? Of course not! And that’s why we never heard much about carbon footprints back then.  It just wasn’t a concern to the wider culture.  However, what about today? Don’t you find that it’s hard to come across many companies that aren’t “going green?”

So why does this issue matter?

Well, if Christians are to really be genuine and not hypocritical, then that means that sharing the good news of Christ is essential.  The amazing thing is that the good news of Christ is timeless, whereas the method of sharing it isn’t.

And that’s exactly it.  Culture changes! Therefore, the method of sharing the good news of Christ must change as well.

Yesterday, my wife and I finally found a place to live in Korea. After 3 days of searching, and many hours of mediocre places, we finally found a place that’s perfect for us.  We have a large living room, so we can have people over to entertain them (since the apartments are so small in Korea, it’s very uncommon to have people over), and we even have a second bedroom, so that we can house visitors.  And the location?  It’s right in the center of the international community in Seoul.

As a pastor, it’s really easy to hide in the church.  There is always an endless amount of work to do, and a countless number of Christians that need discipleship.  As a result, there is always the danger that pastors will live in a “Christian bubble,” lose touch with the culture, and become hypocrites.  In other words, the danger is that pastors will stop sharing the good news of Christ with those who don’t know it and desperately need it.

My prayer is that I would never become that kind of pastor.  Perhaps that’s why God blessed us with such an amazing place in the center of the international community in Seoul?  We’re definitely not going to be hard pressed to find people in our neighborhood who need the hope of Christ.

Our prayer (my wife and I) is that we can be like a shining city on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5).  A city on a hill that is so bright, that it dispells the darkness surrounding it.  (Isn’t it ironic how our apartment is actually on a hill?)

Ministry and Life Transitions

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3 days remain.

I only have 3 more days in Canada.

There are only 3 more days until my wife and I begin our new life in Seoul, Korea.

How did it get this way? How did we end up leaving our ministry and our life in Montreal to move to the other side of the world?  How were we so sure that this is where God was calling us? How did we know that this was God’s will for our lives?

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