Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

leadership

Preface to the Korean Version of Planting Missional Churches

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The book I co-authored with Ed Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches (2nd edition), is now in Korean! A huge thanks to 설훈 and 요단출판사 for their work to translate our book.

I had the opportunity to write a new Preface for the Korean edition. Here’s what it says in English:

I am who I am today because of church planting. My love for Jesus is stronger, my faith is rooted deeper, and I believe my ministry has experienced a greater measure of fruitfulness because of the church plant I grew up in, and the church plants I’ve been a part of.

My parents (Byongnam and Soonim) immigrated to Canada in the 1970s from South Korea. They brought their faith in Jesus, their love for the church, and their desire to start afresh and anew to Canada. Because of a desire to be in community and on mission, they helped plant the church that I grew up in, The Philadelphia Church of Vancouver.

Growing up, I didn’t know anything else. Of course you would start new churches to reach new people. Of course you would sacrifice your time, talent, and treasure to help the church grow. Of course you would have people over to your house to fellowship, worship, study the Bible, and pray. Of course you would be incredibly welcoming and evangelistic to reach the lost. Of course life would revolve around the church.

I didn’t know that Christians lived any other way. I didn’t know that for many Christians, faith is a once or twice a month commitment if it suits their schedule. I didn’t know that some could call themselves Christians simply for the social benefits that it gives them. I didn’t know because church planting was my all and everything.

The first two churches I served in were church plants. The third church was a global church planting church. And the church that I’m now the Lead Pastor at, Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, Canada, has planted over 30 churches in its 100 year history.

I love church planting because it’s one of the most powerful means of spreading the gospel. Ed Stetzer and I are convinced that church planting is, and will always remain, a key part in the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

Now while Ed and I worked on this book together, we’ve chosen to write the rest of the book in first person and in Ed’s voice. However, since I’m a second-generation Korean Canadian, and this is the Korean translation of the book, we decided that I, Daniel Im, would write the preface.

So before we get into the book, let me end this preface with a story about a heroic church planter.

He rises up early in the morning—earlier than anyone else like Jesus did (Mark 1:35)—to pray and seek God’s face for the salvation of his city. He single-handedly raises more than enough finances to cover all of his church plant’s expenses for five years because of his earnest faith in our Father who gives us our daily bread (Matthew 6:10). His church plant quadruples in size every single year because of his anointed preaching and dynamic worship services (Acts 2:41-47). Every month, he plants church after church after church because the fields are ready for harvest and he’s cracked the code on rapid multiplication (John 4:35).

Do you know anyone like that? Is this who you want to become? This person sounds incredible, don’t they? Intimacy with Jesus and fruitfulness in ministry—what else would you want as a pastor?

The only problem is that it’s a myth!

Now let me clarify before you close this book, or throw it away.

I’m not saying that intimacy with Jesus and fruitfulness in ministry is a myth. I’m saying that the individualistic heroic church planter who single-handedly accomplishes and grows their church plant because of their own skills and abilities is a myth! Growing spiritually and ministering effectively is not a solo endeavour. And the key to success isn’t charisma and a master plan. 

The path to planting missional churches that multiply for God’s glory is one that can only be taken together with others, with Jesus as the Head, and the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. And that’s the path that we want to take you on in this book. So let’s get started.

Daniel Im

Edmonton, Canada

If you are interested, you can pick up a copy of the book here.

My Pledge as Lead Pastor of Beulah

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I’m humbled and honoured that this past weekend, I became the Lead Pastor of Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, Alberta.

If you’ve been following along with our journey, you know that for Christina and I, the journey started back in November 2018 when God began unsettling our hearts.

To learn more about the backstory of our journey back to Edmonton—and how we discerned that this was God’s calling over our lives—take a look at these two articles:

  1. The Most Important Question When Discerning Your Next Steps
  2. The Difference Between an Opportunity and a Calling

So on May 15/16, 2021, more than two and half years later, the transition officially took place as I received the baton of leadership from Pastor Keith, who has been a role model in integrity and Jesus-centred, Jesus-honouring, and Jesus-loving leadership for the past 30 years.

Here’s a highlight reel from the weekend (the full service can be viewed at the bottom of this article):

https://youtu.be/sVwxLC1UB2o

As I was preparing for the service, Brent Trask who is our regional District Superintendent for the Alliance in Canada, asked me to carefully consider making a pledge to Beulah as their new Lead Pastor. As I prayerfully considered the words he sent me, I decided to study the Scriptures and make them my own, so that I could sincerely commit myself to live by them.

In sharing my pledge to Beulah with you, I humbly ask that you would take a moment to pray these over me, but also consider what sort of commitment you are making to your church and those around you.

Here it is:

As I am strengthened by the Holy Spirit and directed by Jesus Christ who is the Head of his church, I pledge:

  • To never let the word of God depart from my mouth and to meditate on it day and night so that I may be careful to observe everything written in it
    • Joshua 1:8 CSB – “This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.”
  • To guard my heart and give careful attention to my own hidden life with God
    • Proverbs 4:23 CSB – “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.”
  • To be a man of integrity, with no gulf between my public and private life
    • 1 John 1:6-7 CSB – “If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
  • To maintain moral, doctrinal, and sexual purity
    • Matthew 5:18-19 CSB – “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
    • 1 Timothy 4:16 CSB – “Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
  • To assist in leading Beulah in an attitude of dependence upon God and his Word, trusting him to empower, fill and protect me
    • 1 Peter 5:2-4 CSB – “Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
  • To lead with the towel, not the sceptre, serving the spiritual needs of Beulah and the greater community as best I can
    • Matthew 20:28 CSB – “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
    • Philippians 2:7 CSB – “Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man,”
  • To preach the word of God in season and out of season
    • 2 Timothy 4:2 CSB – “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching.”
  • To lead us to know Jesus deeply and be known by Him fully
    • Philippians 3:8-11 CSB – “More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.”
    • Psalm 139:23-24 CSB – “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.”

Thank you!

Here is the full service:

https://youtu.be/l6AW9OF3WnM

Why You Might Be Feeling Busy

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Are you busy?

I’m not asking whether or not your calendar or plate is “full.” I’m asking whether you feel busy, rushed, or hurried deep within?

One researcher discovered that many Christians fall into a vicious cycle of busyness that leads to distraction from God:

  1. “Christians are assimilating a culture of busyness, hurry and overload, which leads to…
  2. God becoming more marginalized in Christians’ lives, which leads to…
  3. A deteriorating relationship with God, which leads to…
  4. Christians becoming even more vulnerable to adopting secular assumptions about how to live, which leads to…
  5. More conformity to a culture of busyness, hurry and overload. And then the cycle begins again.” [1]

This year, I want to challenge you to actively resist that.

That impulse inside of you, which makes you believe you are what you do. That whisper inside your head, which causes you to think your worth comes from your output. And that voice from our culture, which glorifies the busy and vilifies the idle.

That. That thing. That impulse. That whisper. That voice. In 2021, let’s together resist THAT.

I love how Ruth Haley Barton puts it in her book, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership,

When we keep pushing forward without taking adequate time for rest and replenishment, our way of life may seem heroic, but there is a frenetic quality to our work that lacks true effectiveness because we have lost the ability to be present to God, to be present to other people and to discern what is really needed in our situation. The result can be “sloppy desperation”: a mental and spiritual lethargy that prevents the quality of presence that would deliver true insight and spiritual leadership…When we are rested, however, we bring steady, alert attention that is characterized by true discernment about what is truly needed in our situation, and the energy and creativity to carry it out.[2]

The path to resisting that, is not found in holidays, vacations, or getting away.

Freedom from busyness is not found in holidays, vacations, or getting away.
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The path to resistance is the Sabbath—one day a week where we are not doing what we have to do, but a day where we get to be. It’s a day to rest, a day to rejoice, and a day to worship.

The Sabbath is that day—once a week—where we are reminded that we are not human doings, but human beings, and that God is God, not us.

The Sabbath is that day where we remember that God did not rest on the seventh day because He was tired, but because He knew how much we needed it. And heck, if HE RESTED, what excuse do we have not to?

The path to resistance is the Sabbath—one day a week where we are not doing what we have to do, but a day where we get to be.
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I love how Mark Buchanan describes the Sabbath in his book, The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring the Sabbath,

Sabbath is that one day. It is a reprieve from what you ought to do, even though the list of oughts is infinitely long and never done. Oughts are tyrants, noisy and surly, chronically dissatisfied. Sabbath is the day you trade places with them: they go in the salt mine, and you go out dancing. It’s the one day when the only thing you must do is to not do the things you must. You are given permission— issued a command, to be blunt—to turn your back on all those oughts. You get to willfully ignore the many niggling things your existence genuinely depends on—and is often hobbled beneath—so that you can turn to whatever you’ve put off and pushed away for lack of time, lack of room, lack of breath. You get to shuck the have-tos and lay hold of the get-tos.[3]

Wow. Sabbath is that day once a week where we get to “shuck the have-tos and lay hold of the get-tos.” I love that.

Sabbath is that day once a week where we get to ‘shuck the have-tos and lay hold of the get-tos.’
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Here’s the thing though. It will be nearly impossible to start practicing the Sabbath, unless you first edit the other six days.

Did you catch that? You can’t just add the Sabbath onto your proverbial list of to-dos. If you take that approach, the Sabbath will feel more like a burden than a blessing.

Practicing the Sabbath is a re-orientation to life, a re-orientation to ministry, a re-orientation to priorities, and a re-orientation to grocery shopping, vacuuming, and all the other “have-tos” of life. We must edit the other six days before we can start practicing the Sabbath.

We must edit the other six days before we can start practicing the Sabbath.
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So this year, what do you need to move to the other six days, so that you can observe the Sabbath?

I’ll leave you with a few words from Ruth Haley Barton on this matter,

Sabbath keeping is the linchpin of a life lived in sync with the rhythms that God himself built into our world, and yet it is the discipline that seems hardest for us to live. Sabbath keeping honors the body’s need for rest, the spirit’s need for replenishment and the soul’s need to delight itself in God for God’s own sake. It begins with the willingness to acknowledge the limits of our humanness and then to take steps to live more graciously within the order of things.

And the first order of things is that we are creatures and God is the Creator. God is the one who is infinite; I, on the other hand, must learn to live within the physical limits of time and space and the human limits of my own strength and energy. There are limits to my relational, emotional, mental and spiritual capacities. I am not God. God is the only one who can be all things to all people. God is the only one who can be two places at once. God is the one who never sleeps. I am not. We can’t remind ourselves of this enough. This is pretty basic stuff, but many of us live as though we don’t know it.[4]

Let’s ensure that this is the year we have a weekly rhythm of being still and knowing that He is God by practicing the Sabbath.

*My article here was originally published on January 27, 2021 on Impactus.

[1] Ruth Haley Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, 118.

[2] Ruth Haley Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, 120.

[3] Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God, Location 1443.

[4] Ruth Haley Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, 122.

Before Changing Things In Your Church, Read This First!

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Everything has changed.

Okay, maybe not everything, but doesn’t it sort of seem like everything’s different?

Sure, there are the in-your-face differences like masks, social distancing, online school, and the run-for-the-mountain reflex when someone sneezes, but more than all of that, I find it’s the subtle differences that scare me the most. Things like that subtle anxiety when someone gets too close or the crowd is too large, or that subtle knot in your stomach when you wonder whether your church auditorium will ever be full again. Subtle things like that…

Now at some point in the future, I’m quite certain the in-your-face differences will come to an end and life will return to some semblance of normal, but what about those subtle differences…?

We’re in the middle of some permanent changes to the way we feel, think, and live.

Culture post-COVID is not going to be the same as culture pre-COVID, so what can we do today, since we’re in the middle of it all?

What can we do today to better prepare ourselves to reach our neighbourhoods and cities tomorrow, once COVID is a thing of the past? Especially if you’re a church leader?

What can we do today to better prepare ourselves to reach our neighbourhoods and cities tomorrow, once COVID is a thing of the past? Especially if you’re a church leader?
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Isn’t the answer to introduce change?

Yes, it certainly is. But where to start?

In my book, No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that will Transform Your Ministry, I talk about change this way:

Any change you try to implement in your church has one of three fates. 1) It’ll never get off the ground because it will be seen as a bacteria, virus, or foreign matter and subsequently be rejected. 2) The change will happen, but because it doesn’t fit into your vision, strategy, and values, you will inevitably end up changing things again. 3) The change will move you closer to the vision, strategy, and values that God has called you to embrace because you started with discernment by using the three steps for introducing change.


Here’s where most church leaders get things wrong.

We get so excited about the change—or some program that we’ve seen work elsewhere—that we completely forget that we’re introducing this change into a living, breathing, organism (the church) made up of living, breathing, organisms (people).

What I don’t want to do is tell you what you need to change, or even give you a few suggestions on things to change. Instead, I want to advise you to pause, take a step back, and assess what kind of culture your church currently has: Are you a Copy Cat Church, Silver Bullet Church, Hippie Church, or an Intentional Church?

Once you figure this out, your path forward will be abundantly clear.

Pause, take a step back, and assess what kind of culture your church currently has.
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In the first chapter of No Silver Bullets, I’ve included a full explanation of the Influences Matrix (above diagram), and also a few assessments that will help you discern where your church is at, so that you can figure out where you need to go.

Instead of trying to copy and paste all of that into this post, I thought it’d be better just to give you all of that for free. So if you click here, you can download the first chapter for free to discern where you’re at and what needs to change as we adjust to our new post-COVID reality of life.

Friends, don’t waste this pandemic.

Please see it as an opportunity to be a student of your church, so that you can prayerfully discern what needs to change moving forward, in order for your church to be a sign, instrument, and foretaste of the kingdom of God in your neighbourhood, town, or city.

Don’t change things until you first start here.

Don’t waste this pandemic. Please see it as an opportunity to be a student of your church.
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The Role of Mentors in Healthy Leadership Succession

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Two years ago, Christina and I started our journey back to Edmonton by first praying and seeking God’s face for His will and His ways.

In addition to saturating this entire process in prayer, we also sought the counsel of others who had gone before us in making similar transitions. After all, it says in Proverbs 15:22, “Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

While this might seem like I’m just name dropping, I want to take the time to publicly acknowledge and thank those who have invested in us through prayer and wise biblical counsel, as we sought God’s will and ways to enter into this succession process at Beulah Alliance Church.

I know I’m going to miss some people, so I apologize in advance, but a huge thank you to Todd Adkins, Ed Stetzer, Eric Geiger, Kevin Peck, Josh Patterson, Kevin Queen, TJ Tims, Chris Freeland, Ron Edmondson, Matt Boda, Brent Trask, Phil Kniesel, Sean Morgan, Carey Nieuwhof, Bill Willits, Gregg Matte, and Brent Dolfo.

This past year in particular though, Dave Stone has been instrumental in my life.

As a humble and godly leader who has been on both ends of healthy succession, I couldn’t think of a better pastor to mentor me and guide our church and leadership through this process. At Southeast Christian Church, he followed Bob Russell, a 40 year founding pastor, then, after 13 years, he passed the leadership baton to Kyle Idleman.

As I’ve been preparing to step into this Lead Pastor role, Dave has been a deep well of wisdom who has been walking with us closely. One of the things that he graciously agreed to do was to speak to our broader church family to help us understand what healthy leadership succession looks like.

Here’s his message:

https://youtu.be/aOpA0ZgMm4w?t=2260

Thank you for praying for Christina and me, and our broader church family as we continue this succession process over the next few months.