Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

Church Multiplication

Book Review: Creating a Missional Culture – JR Woodward

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JR Woodward is an American church planter, organizational leader, entrepreneur, author, academic, and leader. His foremost interests are in missional theology, missional leadership, theology and film, spiritual formation, and organizational dynamics (see his website for a full biography).

The main argument (thesis) in Creating a Missional Culture is that the unseen culture of a church is what most powerfully shapes its ability to grow, mature, and live missionally, more so than its vision, strategy, and plans (Location 211). Woodward supports this thesis through four sections that each address a different aspect of that powerful unseen culture.

In the first section, he talks about the force of culture in life, society, and in churches. He then addresses how leaders need to be aware of just how powerful culture is in shaping their leadership style and the life of a church. He concludes this section by introducing the concept of polycentric leadership: leaders as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor, or teachers.

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Book Review: Exiles: Living Missionally – Michael Frost

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Michael Frost is the vice principal of Morling College, the founding director of the Tinsley Institute, the co-founder of the Forge Mission Training Network, and an author of several books, including The Shaping of Things to Come. He is a leading voice in the missional church movement and an internationally recognized Australian missiologist.

The thesis of Exiles is that following Christ in today’s world requires a critique of and departure from the culture of Christendom and the greater empire. In order to do that, Frost exhorts his readers to embrace their identity as exiles living on foreign soil – “as a pesky, fringe dwelling alternative to the dominant forces of our times” (10). This is a book that will empower all Christians to embrace a Christ-centered faith that is lived out through a missional lifestyle in the everyday rhythms of life. [Read more…] about Book Review: Exiles: Living Missionally – Michael Frost

Book Review: The Great Omission – Dallas Willard

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In The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship, Dallas Willard magnificently preaches a simple and basic message on discipleship, of which is commonly missing and misunderstood in many churches today.

I love the way that he breaks down the misconception that there are different levels in being a Christian, since this is the exact problem that has made discipleship an option, rather than a baseline requirement for being Christian (i.e. this is the great omission that he is talking about). I appreciate the fact that he is not just calling Christians to change, but that he is actually expanding the scope and call to all people by emphasizing that following Christ is “the fulfillment of the highest human possibilities” (Location 312).

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Hitting Restart: A Different Perspective on the New Year

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Hitting Restart
Don’t you ever wish there was a restart button on life?

When we search through the Scriptures, there is a profound moment where the absence of a restart button sunk in and all the consequences of a particular choice began to appear. It was a moment when full perspective was gained, and this man…Judas Iscariot… realized what he had done to Jesus.

Although we all may agree that Judas wished there was a restart button on life, have you ever wondered why Judas would do such a thing? Why did he betray Jesus? His rabbi? His teacher? What did Jesus ever do to him to deserve this?

By listening to this sermon, that I preached at Beulah Alliance Church on Dec 29/30, 2012, we might find a clue as to why Judas might have done it. And really, it’s probably not what you think. It’s deeper than that – perhaps Judas betrayed Jesus because there was something deep within him that was dictating his life.

Check out this message to learn more.

Hitting Restart – Daniel Im.mp3

Is relocation required for urban ministry?

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IMG_5578
A picture I took in downtown Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics

Did you know that in 2010, slightly over half of the world’s population lived in major urban centres, but that by 2050, the estimate is 70%?

What are the implications of this massive shift? Well, this scale of an urban migration can often lead to the separation of families due to work and a loss of a communal identity. It can also lead to ecological challenges, increasingly concentrated areas of poverty, and a decrease in family support systems.

Thus, cities need to be on our radar, since this massive shift IS happening.

Doing ministry in the city is going to be an increasingly talked about issue in the 21st century, but is it actually necessary to move into the city? Or is it possible to have an effective and fruitful ministry in the city, while living in the suburbs and just driving in?

Ray Bakke, in his book, A Theology as Big as the City (click here for a book review), has a strong view on this issue. He deeply believes that there is no substitute for “the conscious relocation of Christians to set up residency and witness in the midst of the evil” in the cities. He even goes as far to say that there exists a relationship between the preservation of urban communities and the presence of the godly.

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