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Daniel Im

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Life

The Obscure Link Between Instant Gratification and Change

September 19, 2017 By Daniel Im

Do you remember when it would take so long for your computer to start up, that you’d have time to brew a cup of coffee or make yourself a sandwich?

Oh how times have changed…

If we want to read a book, we can download it instantly. If we want to listen to one, we can literally press play the moment after we purchase it. If we want toothpaste, laundry detergent, or a few bananas, we can order it on Prime Now and get it within two hours. And now, with the launch of Amazon Go, we don’t even need to line up and pay the cashier at the grocery store!

Sure, this is convenient, but the unfortunate side effect is that we’ve been conditioned to need, want, and long for change.

We’re addicted to change…and secretly we love it.

Now change isn’t a bad thing in and of itself, but change for the sake of change must be avoided. It demoralizes your team, causes unnecessary stress, and is simply unproductive. However, if you have decided that change needs to take place in your life and in your ministry, following this eight-step process that I wrote about in a previous article, is critical.

Change for the sake of change must be avoided at all costs.

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Now while the likelihood of succeeding in leading change without the eight-step process—or some variation of it—is pretty low, how you view and approach change matters even more.

When burdened with a new idea, or a desire to change something specifically in your life or your church, definitely start with prayer. But don’t move straight to implementation after you say “Amen.”

We need to slow down and take a different approach.

Now I understand that this is hard to do because of our on-demand, stream-anytime, find-an-answer-to-anything, go-anywhere, and swipe-now-pay-later instant gratification culture.

[Read more…] about The Obscure Link Between Instant Gratification and Change

Taking Credit for Others Work

August 8, 2017 By Daniel Im

Have you ever taken credit for others work? For something you didn’t do? For something that wasn’t yours? 

I know I have…

In fact, I’ve never admitted the following story to anyone…ever. So here we go.

That shoe wasn’t mine. Yet I took it home and pretended that it was mine. I took credit for it. My teacher and my parents thought it was gorgeous. But the stark truth is that it wasn’t actually my work.

I’m talking about a clay model of a shoe…

Now to my defense, when I grabbed that shoe, I honestly thought it was mine. After all, it had the Nike swoosh on it and it was a high top. And while those two characteristics of a clay shoe didn’t necessarily thin the pack or narrow the options, when I grabbed that shoe, I was convinced it was mine.

Okay…I wasn’t fully convinced, since there was another shoe on the table that had the same characteristics. But surely, that ugly thing wasn’t my creation. I was definitely more talented than that. After all, doesn’t baking clay get rid of all the imperfections?

It wasn’t until another student went to the teacher, and I overheard him describe what his shoe looked like, that I realized I had taken the wrong one. But at that point, it was too late. I had already committed. And I didn’t want to say anything.

So I just kept the shoe, took credit for it, and brought it home.

While that might seem like a silly story, it revealed something about my heart, and the condition of the human heart.

[Read more…] about Taking Credit for Others Work

Why Are You So Busy?

July 11, 2017 By Daniel Im

There’s this app on my watch that reminds me to breathe.

I’m not quite sure how to turn the setting off, but a few times a day, I hear this annoyingly soothing little jingle that reminds me it’s time to breathe.

And to be completely honest, though I’ve had this watch for a while now, I’ve only done the breathing exercise once.

Why? Because it always prompts me to breathe at the worst times. I’m either in a meeting, fighting through traffic, writing, or in a conversation with someone else.

It’s not that I don’t think it’s important; it’s just that I’m too busy to breathe…

Doesn’t that sound ridiculous? I mean…how can anyone be too busy to breathe?

When I did that breathing exercise for the first time, one thing I immediately realized was just how shallow and quick my normal breaths were.

The fact is, we don’t normally breathe deeply like that, even though it’s proven to…

  • Reset our system
  • Slow our heartbeat
  • Lower/stabilize our blood pressure
  • And release toxins

You would think that those reasons would be enough to motivate us to slow down and breathe deeply, but they simply don’t cut it. Why is this the case?

According to an experiment at the University of Toronto, individuals who are paid by the hour volunteer less of their time and tend to feel more antsy when they are not working.

[Read more…] about Why Are You So Busy?

We Fail. Jesus Restores.

June 27, 2017 By Daniel Im

When have you really enjoyed making a mess?

Making a mess in the kitchen is one thing. Making a mess of life is quite another. I can clean the kitchen to the point you’d never know I was in there. But when I make a mess of my life, I can’t just wipe away the evidence—or the consequences—with a good disinfectant.

Have you ever found yourself at rock bottom?

It may have been because of an inappropriate relationship, a string of lies, or a temptation or habit that seemed to gradually take over everything in life. At that moment, you stand at a crossroad. Do you continue down the road you’re on, continuing to repeat the mistakes because the pain of changing seems greater than the pain of remaining the same? Or do you look to Jesus for a way out?

Have you ever found yourself at rock bottom?

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Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, knew what it meant to mess up. He failed in a big way. But Peter’s story also offers us encouragement and points us to the way out—a fresh start in Jesus Christ.

Let’s take a look at John 18:15-18, 25-27 from the CSB translation,

15 Simon Peter was following Jesus, as was another disciple. That disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest; so he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard. 16 But Peter remained standing outside by the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the girl who was the doorkeeper and brought Peter in. 17 Then the servant girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” “I am not,” he said. 18 Now the servants and the officials had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold. They were standing there warming themselves, and Peter was standing with them, warming himself. … 25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” 27 Peter denied it again. Immediately a rooster crowed.

Peter had been through a lot on this particular evening:

  • The last supper
  • Failing Jesus by falling asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane
  • Witnessing Judas’ betrayal
  • Fighting the temple guards
  • And watching Jesus allow Himself to be arrested and taken away

None of these events excuse Peter’s denials, but they do help us recognize that he was surely exhausted and confused. His whole world had been turned upside down. Still, after all the disciples initially ran away from Jesus’ arrest (see Matt. 26:55), Peter at least made an effort to get near enough to see and hear what was going on—as long as he could do it undetected.

Question: What emotions would you have experienced in Peter’s situation?

[Read more…] about We Fail. Jesus Restores.

5 Ways to Find Your Way Back to God

June 13, 2017 By Daniel Im

What happens when you search for God with all your heart?

According to Scripture and personal experience, you find God.

You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13 CSB)

Is there a pattern for this journey back to God? Or is everyone’s journey unique?

The answer is a resounding, yes. Yes there is a pattern, but everyone’s journey is also unique.

In Finding Your Way Back to God, Dave and Jon Ferguson have uncovered five universal awakenings that humans journey though as they find their way back to God. And as you’ll see through the stories that I’ll share from the book here, everyone’s journey is truly unique. So buckle up and get ready. These stories will help you see that as much as we need to find our way back to God, “God wants to be found even more than you want to find him.” [1]

God wants to be found even more than you want to find him.

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1. Awakening to Longing: “There’s got to be more.”

Each of the five awakenings are summarized with a prayer. Here’s the prayer for this first awakening,

“God, if you are real, make yourself real to me. Awaken in me the ability to see that you are what’s missing from my life.” [2]

Let me share with you one of the stories from the book that perfectly illustrate the way that we can find our way back to God through this awakening to longing.

Several years ago I had dinner with my friend and mentor Bob Buford. For much of his life, Bob ran a successful cable television company. After his son, Ross, tragically died, Bob came to a point in his life he called “Halftime.” He wrote a book by that title that tells how he moved from focusing on success to focusing on significance. What Bob said at dinner has stayed with me ever since: “One of people’s great fears is running out of money, but that’s not their greatest fear. Another significant fear people have is the fear of dying, but that’s not people’s greatest fear either.” He paused and said, “Deep down, our single greatest fear is to live a life of insignificance, to come to the end of our life and feel like we never really did anything that mattered. That is our greatest fear.”

Are you feeling like you are stuck in the same old, same old? Do you have a gut feeling that there’s got to be more? Author and theologian Frederick Buechner points us in the right direction when he says, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” [3]

The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.

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2. Awakening to Regret: “I wish I could start over.”

“God if you are real, make yourself real to me. Awaken in me the possibility that with you I could start over again.” [4]

In this second section of the book, there is a compelling story about Scott and Kirsten, and the changes they chose to make after awakening to regret.

[Read more…] about 5 Ways to Find Your Way Back to God

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