Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

Multiethnic Ministry

what exactly is sin?

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Sin – you’ve probably heard the word before, but what is your definition of it?

According to Oxford dictionary, sin is “an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.”

If you go to Church, sin is typically defined as “disappointing God,” or “disobeying God,” or “breaking his rules.”

This is what Soren Kierkegaard in Sickness onto Death says,
“Sin is building your identity on anything but God.”

But what exactly does that mean? In short, we all have people, things, reputations, etc. that we feel like we need to have. For example, a certain job, a specific title, a specific type of girlfriend/boyfriend, etc.

We all have things that we feel like we need to have.

However what happens when we actually get those things? Timothy Keller says that “you’ll be[come] enslaved to it.” Furthermore, “when you actually get it, it won’t actually satisfy the hole in your heart, and if in anyway you fail it, it’ll curse you for the rest of your life.”

Consequently, rather than considering sin as breaking a set of rules, what if we began viewing sin in the same way Soren Kierkegaard does? “Sin is building your identity on anything but God.”

What would change?

Here’s another question – How do you view sin

blessings from God

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I just read an awesome and insightful entry by Pete Wilson, which you can check out here.

The following are my thoughts on a similar topic:

We are blessed. Having the technology, time, and money to access the internet and view this post means that you are blessed. I probably don’t even have to convince you regarding how much you are blessed. Just look at the clothes you’re wearing, the things in your house, the fact that you have a roof over your head, the people in your life, etc.

As a result, there are a few different types of people. There are those who don’t even consider themselves blessed, in comparison to others, and have this insatiable desire for more. These people don’t feel like they have enough as it is, and are always thinking about what else they could buy.

On the other hand, there are those who consider themselves blessed, but still want more regardless.

We hear and read about all the people in the world who are suffering. The fact that one child dies every five seconds from hunger related causes (that’s 16 000 children everyday). The fact that 12 million people have been orphaned by AIDS, across sub-Saharan Africa, by the end of 2005. The fact that 10.1 million children died before they reached their fifth birthday in 2005. And the fact that approximately 30 000 people go to bed hungry everyday.

Sure we read and hear about these facts, but is our heart moved? Are we compelled to act? Maybe…maybe not.

I believe that if we do the following and make a paradigm shift in our thinking, our actions will follow suit:

[Read more…] about blessings from God

healing power of God

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Does God still heal people today?

Watch this short clip – it’s a testimony to what God still does today.

I believe that God still heals people today. However, we need to understand that God doesn’t just heal us for the sake of healing us. He will heal us, of whatever we have, whether it’s a sore thumb or cancer, IN ORDER TO ____________ (fill in the blank). God always has a reason. We may never discover the reasons, but he always does have them. We may even discover one of the reasons, but God is so much more multi-dimensional than us. Even when we think he has healed us in order to do ________, he might have even healed us in order to ___________, _____________, _________________, etc.

My prayer is that you will be encouraged through watching this clip and that you would discover the ways that God has been pursuing you your whole life. I pray that you would understand and experience the almighty power of God.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/aZ_ny8hMgRY&hl]

am i asian or am i western?

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In many Asian cultures, false humility is rampant. Helen Lee, in Growing Healthy Asian American Churches, describes false humility to be “humility in the guise of deference.” For example, in a situation when a person is asked to perform a respectable task, many Asians will automatically reply with a humble “no,” even though they know that they are more than competent to do the task. In the same situation, a Westerner would typically jump at the opportunity to get ahead of the pack. Why is there such a difference? What’s the motivation?

Many Asians do this, Helen Lee states, “to avoid potential conflict or embarrassment.”

In other words, many Asians (mostly Confucian-based Asian Cultures) are influenced by the motto – “The nail that sticks up gets nailed down.” However, the motto in the West is – “The early bird gets the worm.

That’s all fine and good, but what about people like me? I’m neither Asian nor Western – I’m both! So how do I reconcile these seemingly contrary qualities?

Well, as a Korean-Canadian, the Asian side of me seems to be much more dominant than the Western side. In other words, my soul hates conflict and doesn’t like to stand out, but my brain knows that I need to put my foot forward if I want to thrive in this Western culture I live in. So is there a constant battle going on within myself? Is there this constant struggle between my Asian “ness” and my Western “ness”? Do I have symptoms of schizophrenia??

Haha…no’p!

Here is how I reconcile it: Instead of placing my foundational identity in my Asian “ness” or in my Western “ness”, I place the roots of my identity in Christ Jesus. I find my identity and my acceptance in Him. After that, I do whatever I need to do to thrive (notice that I’m saying thrive and not survive) and work in excellence.

Thus, although I hate conflict, when I know that someone or something needs to be confronted, I will suck it up, and I will do it. When I know that there is a significant opportunity to advance my knowledge or my experience, I will put my foot forward and volunteer myself. Is that because I am more Western than Asian? No, I don’t think so. I believe it’s because I’ve learned to mold the two cultures into one – a uniquely Korean-Canadian Daniel Sangi Im.

What about you?

understanding our culture

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I just read a great post from murphy24p about the relationship between culture and church.

He had these four categories “un-churched,” “de-churched,” “over-churched,” and the “churched.” As I was reading this post, I noticed that the centre point of his discussion was how individuals related to the church. Then I wondered, what would these relationships look like if we placed the cravings of the human soul as the centre point?

Here are my categories:

The Unreflective: These individuals have an understanding of the Church and Christianity that is based mostly on second-hand knowledge. In other words, their perception of the Church and Christianity is from pop culture, weddings, and funerals. Therefore, they never go to church, nor examine the claims of Christianity because they believe they already know what it’s all about.

The Hurt: These individuals have personally been hurt by Christians and/or by Churches. As a result, they see Christians and the Church as a bunch of hypocrites. They resonate with Karl Marx in believing that “religion is the opium of the masses.”

The Seeker: These individuals are more in tune with their self-identity and realize that they have these unquenchable cravings and thirsts in their life. As a result, they seek to quench these cravings in any way that they can, including through the examination of Jesus Christ.

The Sojourner: These individuals realize that life does not end when they die, but that there is eternal life through Jesus Christ. As a result, they see their time on earth as temporary and mission-oriented. There is more to life than this.