Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

books

Top Quotes on Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller

By

As many of you know, this year I’ve committed to reading/listening to as much of Timothy J. Keller as possible.

It hasn’t gone as well as I thought. Partly because I’m writing my next book (I wasn’t anticipating this), and also because I like reading broadly. So instead of one year of Keller, it might end up being a few years of Keller.

In any case, I previously listed my favorite quotes here for Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters.

I’ll do the same for Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work, my latest Keller read.

  • “The Bible begins talking about work as soon as it begins talking about anything—that is how important and basic it is.”
  • “In the beginning, then, God worked. Work was not a necessary evil that came into the picture later, or something human beings were created to do but that was beneath the great God himself. No, God worked for the sheer joy of it.”
  • “The book of Genesis leaves us with a striking truth—work was part of paradise.”
  • “Work is as much a basic human need as food, beauty, rest, friendship, prayer, and sexuality; it is not simply medicine but food for our soul.”
  • “Without meaningful work we sense significant inner loss and emptiness. People who are cut off from work because of physical or other reasons quickly discover how much they need work to thrive emotionally, physically, and spiritually.”
  • “According to the Bible, we don’t merely need the money from work to survive; we need the work itself to survive and live fully human lives.”

[Read more…] about Top Quotes on Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller

Top Quotes on Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller

By

As many of you know, this year I’ve committed to reading/listening to as much of Timothy J. Keller as possible (click here to learn more about the books I’m reading/listening to and why).

I likely won’t do this for every Keller book I read/listen to, but Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters was so incredibly rich, that for personal learning purposes, I wanted to revisit the book and pull out the quotes that punched me in the face. On a few of them, I’ll add some commentary.

[Read more…] about Top Quotes on Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller

A Year (or Two) to Study Timothy Keller

By

I’ve discovered that if I’m not reading, I’m not learning. And if I’m not learning, I’m not growing. And if I’m not growing, I have no right to be leading.

This was the opening line to an article I wrote a couple years ago on why everyone should be reading multiple books at the same time.

With the number of books I now listen to on Audible (get 2 FREE audiobooks), and the number of podcasts I am subscribed to, the only thing I’d add to that quote (a couple years later) is the word listening.

I’ve discovered that if I’m not reading or listening, I’m not learning.

Click To Tweet

As a discipline, I typically read and listen pretty broadly (there are five categories I generally stick to) in addition to my daily Bible reading. However, this year, I wanted to try something different.

I’m going to cut down the volume of reading/listening that I do in other areas to focus on a specific person.

In years past, Lesslie Newbigin has been that guy for me. In the area of missiology and missional life, he is the one who has most informed my thinking and practice. I’m not about to abandon him, but I did want to spend a year (or two) going deep into the theology, thinking, practice, and disciplines of another individual—Timothy Keller.

From a distance, I’ve always respected him. In fact, I’ve led multiple groups through his excellent Reason for God book and small group study. However, a couple months ago, when I met him in person through a leadership event that Ed Stetzer and I convene twice a year (CPLF), I was blown away.

[Read more…] about A Year (or Two) to Study Timothy Keller

Unity vs Uniformity: A Key Issue for Urban Ministry

By

urbanministry

Is your mission to fulfill God’s purpose? Or is it your fame within God’s purposes?

This is a valid question for every Christian leader, but as Dhati Lewis states in his book, Among Wolves: Disciple-Making in the City, it’s especially important for leaders in the urban context.

What is Urban?

As sociologists Gottdiener and Hutchinson explain,

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, more than 3 billion persons—about half of the world’s population—lived in urban areas. By 2030, this number is expected to increase from 3 to more than 5 billion persons—some 60 percent of the total world population. This will be the first urban century in human history.

In the face of this emerging reality, Dhati and his team—through the church he’s planted, and the ministry he leads—have developed a strategy for indigenous disciple-making in the urban context. They’ve done this by embracing both density and diversity in the city context, and by creating a culture of effective disciple-making.

By 2030, 60 percent of the world is expected to live in urban areas.

Click To Tweet

Urban ministry is not the same thing as inner city ministry to the homeless.

Ministry to the homeless that happens in the inner city is definitely urban, but there are other dimensions that must be taken into account. For example, when a neighborhood is undergoing gentrification, you’ll have a ton of socioeconomic diversity.

Extreme poverty can be right beside extreme wealth.

For example, a family who has owned their house for generations may be forced out of their gentrifying neighborhood because they can’t pay the rising property taxes. Sure they might make a lot on the sale of their home, but where will they move? Their life and community are right there…and it has been there for decades. Is that fair just because some developer wants to build condos and make a quick buck?

Complex issues like gentrification and the mixing of socioeconomic classes are one of the many reasons Dhati defines urban as a combination of two words: density and diversity.

[Read more…] about Unity vs Uniformity: A Key Issue for Urban Ministry

Questions to Find Your Calling

By

calling

“If time and money were no object, what would you do with your life?”

I forget who first asked me that question, but when they did, it was a defining moment for me. Well, it eventually became a defining moment for me. In the moment, it was just plain annoying.

I didn’t want to do the hard work of thinking. I wanted someone just to tell me what my plot in life was. I wanted someone to tell me what I was good at, so that I could just do that, and be done with it. I wanted to copy what made others successful, hoping that following their paths would do the same for me.

Boy, am I ever glad someone asked me that question. It’s what has partially catapulted me down the road to where I am today and the deep honor and privilege I have to serve pastors and church leaders.

I often return to what Sun Tzu, the Chinese general, military strategist, and author of The Art of War wrote. Let me paraphrase him,

If you know your enemy, you’ll win half of the battles. But when you know yourself, you’ll win the other half. [1]

Just imagine the implications if we spent as much time discovering the unique ways that God has wired, gifted, talented, and called us, as we do reading biographies, copying the “successful,” and mimicking models? Investing in yourself is time never wasted.

Investing in yourself is time never wasted.

Click To Tweet

The Power of the Right Questions

I love what Peter Drucker wrote about the importance of questions,

Answers are important; you need answers before you need action. But the most important thing is to ask…questions.

In order to find your calling in life, take a moment and prayerfully answer the following questions from my friend Todd Wilson’s new book, More: Find Your Personal Calling and Live Life to the Fullest Measure:

  1. Am I willing to move and go wherever God wants me to go?
  2. Am I willing to work with whomever God wants me to work?
  3. Am I willing to go whenever God asks me to go?
  4. Am I willing to do whatever God asks me to do, regardless of consequences?
  5. How can I expect God to send me and use me if I’m not really willing to go? [2]

[Read more…] about Questions to Find Your Calling