Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

Books

Book Review: The Next Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah

By

Soong-Chan Rah is the Milton B. Engebretson Assistant Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. He has experience in church planting, as well as campus ministry experience. He also serves on several boards, such as the Catalyst Leadership Center, and he has involvement across many organizations, such as the Boston Ten-Point Coalition. His upbringing as a Korean American second generation immigrant is deeply reflected in his life work as portrayed in this book.

The thesis of this book is that Christianity, in the United States, needs to be released from the captivity of the white, Western American culture, in order for the gospel to spread effectively into the future. Rah accomplishes this feat by organizing his book into three different sections.

[Read more…] about Book Review: The Next Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah

Book Review: Creating a Missional Culture – JR Woodward

By

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.

[Read more…] about Book Review: Creating a Missional Culture – JR Woodward

Book Review: Exiles: Living Missionally – Michael Frost

By

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

By

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).

[Read more…] about Book Review: The Great Omission – Dallas Willard

Book Review: Primal Leadership – Goleman, Boyatzis, McKee

By

The following is an analytical book review of Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee’s Primal Leadership.

The thesis of Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee’s Primal Leadership is that it is neither a high IQ nor masterful skills that truly make a leader – the key essence is a high level of emotional intelligence.

This emotional intelligence helps leaders create resonance, which is “a reservoir of positivity that frees the best in people” (Location 46). Leaders can do this by moving between the six different leadership styles, while also increasingly growing in the four emotional intelligence domains. If leaders grasp these truths, then the impact across their lives, teams, organizations, and society will be revolutionary. [Read more…] about Book Review: Primal Leadership – Goleman, Boyatzis, McKee