Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

Daniel Im

Growing through Community over the Christmas Holidays

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We all tend to spend our holidays in different ways. Some of us spend it with our families, others alone. Some with big Turkey feasts and others with mac and cheese or bbq chicken from the grocery store. However, the one thing that stays constant throughout the holiday season is our need for community.

Although this may be a pretty funny picture of me sitting all alone, and not being a part of the party, this is how a lot of people feel throughout the Christmas holidays. In fact, for some of your small group members, your group may really be the only family they have in town.

So here is a brief list of suggestions for your group to continue to grow through community over the holidays. Feel free to consider one, two, none, or all of them.

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Our Lives In Numbers (Guest Post)

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My wife just wrote an incredible post that gives a glimpse into our lives. With her permission, I thought I’d put it here 🙂

Oh la! Feels like I haven’t blogged in ages! Our family was blessed with an opportunity to go to Banff on a district-wide prayer conference. It was a wonderful time of relaxing, enjoying nature, and meeting new people. Also, our family needed this time together.

I was talking to someone I had met about our recent journeys of what had brought us to Edmonton. She insisted that I needed to write down things in order to remember everything that God has brought us through. Thus, I started to compile a little list in my head of things I wanted to remember. I ended up realizing that it had to do a lot with numbers. So, here are a few snapshots of some numbers that hold a lot more significance than we realize.

Our Lives In Numbers:

2 – the number of times we have sold almost everything we own in order to follow God’s calling/leading. It really wasn’t easy at all!  I have learned that stuff is exactly what it is  – “stuff.” It doesn’t define who you are or what you will become if you don’t allow it to. If you hold on too tight to your “stuff,” you will soon find out that it is actually holding tight on to you.

3 – the number of months we have lived in Edmonton; a place to finally call “home.”

– is also the number of weeks we had to leave Korea. That meant selling all of our stuff, getting rid of our lease (which we had signed for a year and if we didn’t find someone to take it over, we would have had to continue paying rent or risk loosing our $10 000 deposit), packing all our remains and saying our goodbyes. In a sense, we lost what we thought was “home,” only to later realize that “home” is where our family is and ultimately in Heaven.

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Ze Frank’s Web Playroom

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I came across this fascinating TED talk about technology and social networking. If you have 20 minutes to spare, it’s pretty interesting.

I am…sent

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“I’m a plumber.”

“I’m a Conservative.”

“I’m gay.”

“I’m Buddhist.”

“I’m Canadian.”

“I’m a guitarist.”

“I’m ____________.”

What did you think when you read that list above? Sound familiar? Chances are, you’ve either said or heard at least one of those statements.

Depending on the situation we’re in, we always tend to answer these “I am” questions differently. Some individuals identify themselves based on their occupation, others in accordance with their political views, and others in regards to their sexuality, faith, or hobbies. However, none of those categories define who we are as humans. All of those things can change and/or pass away. We need to define ourselves based on the one thing that will never pass away [Read more…] about I am…sent

Marriage and Spirituality

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Ever since Christina and I got married, we have always made it a point to keep our marriage centered on God. As a result, we would oftentimes use a devotional or we would sometimes just dig into scripture together. What I’ve discovered is that the format isn’t as important as the fact that you are drawing closer to God together.

It’s fascinating to see what happens when we alter our focus just a bit.

Scenario 1: Spouses focus on each other and strengthening their relationship.

Result 1: Marriage relationship is strengthened.

Scenario 2: Spouses focus on strengthening their relationship to God together.

Result 2: Stronger relationship with God and stronger marriage relationship.

When’s the last time you prayed with your spouse? When’s the last time you talked about spiritual matters together?

Husbands: Take the initiative.

Wives: Don’t wait for your husbands to take the initiative, you take it.

I just purchased Closer: Devotions to draw couples together by Jim and Cathy Burns (http://amzn.to/agoltE) as a practical action step to draw closer to my wife by drawing closer to God together.

What steps are you taking?