Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

thoughts

Living and Drifting when in Transition

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Have you heard about The World’s Toughest Race?

It was a 671 km race over 11 days in Fiji that involved paddling, sailing, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, rappelling, climbing, and canyoneering. That’s the equivalent to 16 marathons, but multiplied exponentially in difficulty! When you watch the first episode, everyone is absolutely stoked, excited, and revved up to compete. Of the 60 teams from 30 countries, some have been training for months, and others for years.

During the race, the top teams slept only a few hours a day, if even. In fact, one team who dropped out in the middle only slept four hours in four days. Others stopped in the middle because of hypothermia or infections. Some just couldn’t go on because of pure exhaustion, others dropped out because of physical, mental, and emotional fatigue. And for most, it all happened in the middle.

What is it about the middle?

Don’t you find that we often quit in the middle? We get scared, and then we quit. We run out of money, and then we quit. We run out of time, we’re not serious enough, we lose interest, we settle for being mediocre, or we just focus on the short term instead of the long term…and then we quit. And doesn’t all of that usually happen when we’re in the middle?

If there’s anyone who knows anything about living in the middle, it’s the Israelites! For 40 years, they lived in between their life of captivity and the Promised Land—that’s 40 years in the middle. As time passed—and as they got used to living in the middle—something interesting happened. They began to drift.

Their longing for the familiar led to a longing to quit because they began forgetting all the ways that God had miraculously rescued them from their former life of slavery. And eventually, their gratitude drifted into mumbling, their thanksgiving drifted into grumbling, and their hope drifted into despair. In other words, when the Israelites were living in the middle, they forgot the past, began turning inward, and eventually drifted off course.

Has this ever happened to you?

As the Israelites slowly started forgetting their past and taking their eyes off of God, their God-worship was replaced with idol-worship. And even though they boldly declared that they would never have any other god beside the one True God (Exodus 24:3), they still bowed down to an idol—all because they drifted.

As we see all throughout the Scriptures, and in fact, all throughout the news as well, our natural tendency is to drift because our hearts are full of idols. With the Israelites, I know that Aaron made a golden calf (Exodus 32:1-6)—which is kind of why Moses flipped out—but that was simply a physical expression of what the people had already fashioned in their hearts and were already bowing down to. Even before they asked Aaron to make an idol for them, the Israelites had already started living for and worshipping the idol of comfort, the idol of comparison, and the golden calf of me, myself, and I.

When we’re in the middle, our natural tendency is to drift because our hearts are full of idols.
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When they were in the middle of leaving behind a life of slavery and moving toward a life of freedom, their hearts wandered and they drifted. They forgot what God had done and how he had miraculously rescued them through signs and wonders. And as a result, they began turning inward, and they eventually drifted off course.

Do you find yourself in the middle of something right now? In transition? Or living in between?

If so, then beware because you will most likely end up drifting when you’re in the middle—just like the current that will take you down a river, or the tide that will take you back to shore, or push you further out. When we’re in the middle, our natural tendency is to drift, unless we are proactive and intentional to paddle the other way! And these days, while you might not necessarily create and bow down to a golden calf while you’re in the middle, your heart will often drift to an idol that you’ve previously secured yourself to, or bowed down to in the past.

When we’re in the middle, our natural tendency is to drift, unless we are proactive and intentional to paddle the other way!
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What is that for you?

Is it work? When you are in the middle, do you have a tendency to just bury yourself in work to distract yourself? Or is it perhaps leisure and trying to have fun and fill yourself with experiences? Or maybe it’s alcohol or drugs to help you relax and forget? Or perhaps it’s pornography because it makes you feel like you’re in control?

Instead of letting yourself fall into a tried, tested, and true tactic of the evil one, I urge you to do what some of the Israelites did once they recognized that they drifted—repent. Lay down your pride, confess your mistakes, and come humbly before Jesus because he cares for you.

If you’ve drifted and find yourself bowing down to an idol from your past, my prayer is that you would be overwhelmed by the unchanging compassion and grace of Jesus. And that the guilt or shame that you are experiencing would be replaced with the abounding faithful love and truth of Jesus as he washes over and forgives your iniquity, rebellion, and sin. Because here’s the truth: there’s nothing you can ever do to make Jesus love you less, and there’s nothing you can ever do to make Jesus love you more. His love is ever constant, ever present, and forever unchanging—even when we drift off course.

There’s nothing you can ever do to make Jesus love you less, and there’s nothing you can ever do to make Jesus love you more.
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*My article here was originally published on February 11, 2021 on Impactus.

A Pattern for Prayer

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If you were to describe your prayer life with three words, which of the following three words would you use?

Here are a few that you can choose from:

Brief, dusty, faithless, abiding, fresh, faith-filled, duty, boring, lacking, privilege, courageous, fulfilling, me-centered, depressing, fickle, others-centered, joyful, persevering

It’s interesting how differently we all view prayer, isn’t it?

In the church I grew up in, prayer was dependence, it was surrender, it was pleading, it was passionate, and it was a duty. Daily, there were early morning prayer gatherings at the church. Weekly, the congregation would come early before the service started to pray and prepare their hearts. And annually at youth retreats, the prayer time went for hours.

In fact, when Christina and I first moved to Seoul, Korea to pastor there, we were staying in a guest room at the church, until we found an apartment. The next morning, I remember being awoken to, what sounded like, thousands of people talking…which I later discovered was actually the case because thousands of people were talking to God at the early morning prayer service!

The congregation we served in Korea understood that spending time with God was the essence of prayer, as David Benner describes:

Spending time with God ought to be the essence of prayer. However, as it is usually practiced, prayer is more like a series of e-mail or instant messages than hanging out together…It should not be a surprise that the result is a superficial relationship.

Spending time with God ought to be the essence of prayer. – David Benner
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They understood the importance of spending time with God together with others. They didn’t see prayer as a duty which must be performed. They saw prayer as a privilege to be enjoyed.

And as E.M. Bounds so aptly put it, “a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.”

Prayer is a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty – E.M. Bounds.
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How about you? How do you currently view prayer? And how do you want to?

In Philippians 1:3-8, Paul presents a pattern for prayer: to pray with thanksgiving, joy, and perseverance.

I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-8 CSB)

This pattern for prayer isn’t a rigid structure for prayer, nor is it comprehensive. Rather, it’s more of a pattern that describes Paul’s prayer life—and I believe that this pattern is one that we should reflect on, and measure our prayer life against.

1. Pray with thanksgiving

Instead of grumbling, Paul chose to give thanks. He didn’t allow his circumstances to lead his response. Instead, he saw his circumstances through the lens of who he knew God to be, as revealed through the Scriptures.

He knew that God was in control, even if his circumstances felt out of control. He knew that God was faithful, even if things felt uncertain. He knew that God was always present, even if he felt abandoned. And he knew that God saw him and was always with him. In other words, instead of looking around, Paul looked up and he gave thanks.

2. Pray with joy

The interesting thing about joy is that you can’t choose it. You can make yourself laugh, and you might even be able to make yourself feel happy, but you can’t choose joy. This is because joy is a fruit of the Spirit and evidence that you have a personal relationship with God and are filled with the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22; Rom 14:17).

In other words, joy isn’t circumstantial. Joy is a result of the gospel. You don’t experience more joy when everything feels certain. Joy is not a result of a better job, a better relationship, better health, or a better address. Joy is a result of having and cultivating a personal relationship with Jesus.

Joy isn’t circumstantial. Joy is a result of the gospel.
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This is why you can grieve and still rejoice, why you can have joy in the midst of sorrow, and why you can have nothing, yet possess everything.

3. Pray with perseverance

Perseverance is something that was cultivated in Paul’s heart and prayer life because he did life together with the Philippians. As Paul regularly practiced gathering, growing, giving, and going together with the Philippians, he grew in perseverance with them. And as their bond strengthened with one another, they went from being acquaintances to co-workers.

We see evidence of this because the Philippians never turned their backs on him. While he was in prison, they supported him in prayer and with financial support. They weren’t ashamed of him—even though imprisonment would’ve brought great shame in that time. Instead, they supported him as he shared the gospel with his captors, fellow prisoners, and judges over him.

So in conclusion, what needs to happen for your prayer life to be marked with thanksgiving, joy, and perseverance?

My dear friends, let us “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess 5:16-18 CSB).

*My article here was originally published on September 8, 2021 on Impactus.

How to Actually Make Friends (these days…)

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These days, isn’t it so easy to make friends?

All you have to do is click “confirm” or “add” and you’re done! You now have another friend. Long gone are those awkward “getting to know you” conversations. All you have to do is scroll through their feed, like their photos, post a couple comments, and in no time you’ll be getting hundreds of friends saying happy birthday to you annually.

As blatantly sarcastic as I’m being, if you were to be brutally honest with yourself, I’m sure there’s been a moment when you’ve called a Facebook friend an actual friend—even though you’ve never actually seen them face to face. Or you at least know someone who has done this.

Is this what friendship has come to? Why does it seem so hard to make genuine friends? And keep them?

I know we often use busyness as an excuse for not making or cultivating friendships—I’ll be the first one to admit to that—but have you ever considered the consequences of delaying the formation of genuine friendships?

Have you ever considered the consequences of delaying the formation of genuine friendships?
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To answer that question, let’s take a look at James 5:13-14. While this passage is often quoted when someone is sick and is needing the healing touch of Jesus, I also believe it has a deep measure of insight to the topic at hand.

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. (James 5:13-14 CSB)

What do you think James is getting at when he’s asking, “Is anyone among you…?” Do you think he’s just asking whether or not you are aware of what’s going on around you? Whether you are connected enough to others to know and notice if anyone among you is suffering?

While I recognize that there are some people—like my wife Christina—who can intuitively sense and feel the emotions of others, I’ve lived long enough to know that this doesn’t come naturally to everyone. I actually need to know that something is going on in someone’s life to be able to do something for them and be a friend for them.

To know this requires several things:

  • It requires me to lift my head up, get out of my own little world, and take my headphones off.
  • It requires me to begin eating with others, asking questions, and listening—both to them and to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to know what to say and what not to say.
  • It requires me to go earlier and stick around longer, so that I can have conversations with others beyond whatever meeting I’ve come to.
  • It requires me to budget a little bit more to eating out, so that I can go out to lunch with others after church, or go out to coffee with my neighbours and coworkers.
  • It requires the use of a slow cooker when I have others over, so that I can have more time to listen, talk, and engage with others when they come over.
  • And it also requires me being okay with my home—and not obsessing over how it looks, what type of floor I have, or even how clean it is.

In other words, to know whether something is going on in someone else’s life, I need to first be present and be a friend—something that just doesn’t happen overnight!!

So let me ask you a few questions:

  1. Is anyone among you suffering? Instead of just telling them to go and pray, what if you were to go and pray with them?
  2. Is anyone among you cheerful? Instead of just being happy for them, what would happen if you celebrated with them?
  3. And is anyone among you sick? Instead of just saying that you’ll pray for them, what would happen if you were to drop off a meal for them? Visit with them over FaceTime or Zoom? And also help mobilize the elders of your church and prayer team to pray for them?

In today’s world where it’s so easy to “use” people and treat them as a means to an end, let’s resolve to be the kind of people who can easily answer the question, “Is anyone among you…?”

*My article here was originally published on January 5, 2021 on Impactus.

Just One More

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There’s a fun little children’s book entitled Just One More by Jennifer Hansen Rolli where a little girl named Ruby continues to ask for just one more thing…

It’s cute because after continually asking for just one more minute of sleep, one more push on the swing, and one more scoop on her cone, she realizes that maybe one more is just too much.

How many of us live the same way?

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Germs, UV Sanitizers, and Spirituality

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korea-sanitizer

When I used to live in Korea, my wife and I bought a UV sanitizer to sanitize the bottles and toys for our firstborn. Here’s a picture of the box.

It’s fascinating that this company has effectively advertised that germs are from the Devil. Interesting, isn’t it?

When’s the last time you’ve seen a product in North America advertised in a spiritual manner?

We’re talking about worldview here. When I lived in Korea, I noticed that spirituality was much more on the forefront of people’s minds, than it is here in North America.

Now what does a UV sanitizer–with a picture of the devil on it–have to do with church leadership?

The answer is…everything.

When’s the last time you’ve read Ephesians 6?

For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. (Ephesians 6:12 HCSB)

Ultimately, the biggest obstacle to living a vibrant life in Christ isn’t your overbooked schedule, stressful children, or finances…it’s Satan.

In C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, he mentions that one of Satan’s strategies is to try to make it look like he actually doesn’t exist.

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