Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

God

stanley cup baptism

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Upon winning the Stanley Cup, Detroit Red Wings’ Tomas Holmstrom decided to let his cousin use the Stanley Cup as a baptismal font to baptize his 7 week old daughter. Now that’s probably never been done before.

Growing up in a Korean Presbyterian Church, I was baptized as a child, and I was confirmed as a teenager. However, in the Evangelical tradition, they disagree with infant baptism because they believe baptism to be a symbol that one has made a confession of faith. As a result, since babies can’t make confessions of faith, infant baptisms are null. (My line of argument is more or less simplistic.)

This brings me to my current situation. I know that I am saved, and I have made a confession of faith through my confirmation. However, since I am currently attending a church that lines itself up with the Evangelical Tenets of Faith (as do I), is there a necessity to receive water baptism?

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

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]

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.

mosquitoes, camping, and God

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27 mosquito bites later, here I am sitting at my computer, trying to make sense of what has just happened.

I just came back from an amazing time camping with friends from my church. It was amazing to spend the day at the beach, have bbq sausages, and just talk and talk and talk over the camp fire. It was truly a memorable time. What made the whole time even more memorable was the fact that it rained and everything in my tent got soaked. It was good though, especially since I wasn’t the only one basking in wetness :p

All that said, you are probably wondering what I am trying to make sense of. It’s one thing: Why did God create mosquitoes?

Yeah, yeah, I know the whole food chain answer, and such, but really, why did God create mosquitoes? Was it to make sure we would never enjoy summer camping? Maybe it was because he wanted to teach us how to suffer through pain? Or maybe it was so that we would realize that the world doesn’t actually revolve around us to please and serve us?

Anyway, I better reapply Afterbite – viva la mosquitoes

awakened2run camping trip
awakened2run camping trip