Daniel Im's Blog, page 13

3 Must-Listen to Podcast Episodes

If you’re like me, I have a never ending list of To-Dos.

So when I can redeem my time and knock out two things at once, I celebrate! That’s why I love podcasts and audiobooks. They keep me sharp, and I don’t need to be sitting down to listen to them.

As a result, when I’m commuting back and forth from work, vacuuming/mowing the lawn, and working out, I always have my bluetooth earbuds in, growing while doing.

Here are 3 episodes that I thought you might enjoy:

Episode 300: A Glimpse Into the Lives of Ed Stetzer, Todd Adkins, and Daniel Im

For the 300th episode of the New Churches Q&A Podcast, I wanted to take it personal. So on this episode, you’ll hear our personal stories, fears, and prayers for the Church.


Episode 23: Will Porn Ruin My Marriage?

In this episode of the IMbetween Podcast, my wife and I interview Dr. Simon Sheh about pornography, the reasons behind porn addiction, and what to do if you or your spouse is addicted to porn. This is actually the second episode that we did on porn. The first one was about how to talk to your kids about porn.


Episode 265: Why People Leave Your Church

In this episode of the 5LQ podcast, Todd Adkins and I interview Scott McConnell on some fascinating research regarding why people leave churches.

Happy listening!

Subscribe to the New Churches Q&A Podcast in Apple Podcasts
Subscribe to the IMbetween Podcast in Apple Podcasts
Subscribe to the 5LQ Podcast in Apple Podcasts

Why Do We Neglect the Bible? (and what to do about it)

“The Bible ought not to be torn limb from limb, and its joints hung up like meat in the shambles.”

This last week, as I was writing a sermon on the end of Colossians, I came across these stark words from Charles Spurgeon, aka the Prince of Preachers. It’s from a sermon that he preached on December 14, 1873. Let’s keep on reading,

Beyond all other books it will bear dissection, for it is vital in every sentence and word. Since it is a mosaic of priceless gems, you will be enriched even if you extract a jewel here and there, but to behold its divine beauty you must contemplate the mosaic as a whole. No idea of the magnificent design of the entire Scriptures can enter the human mind by reading it in detached portions, especially if those separated passages are interpreted without reference to the run of the writer’s thoughts. Let Scripture be read according to the rules of common sense and that will necessitate our reading through a book and following its train of thought. Thus shall we be likely to arrive at the mind of the Holy Spirit. I say this because I may have to disturb your idea of the meaning of a passage of Scripture this morning, for a short time. But you need not be alarmed, for after I have disturbed, I shall, most probably, confirm it. I shall pull down to build up again.

The Bible is a wonderful gift from God. It’s His words to us. Simultaneously it’s history, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, and the Gospel. It’s not lacking in anyway, and does not have to be added to. It’s complete, never changing, and irreplaceable.

The Bible is a mosaic of priceless gems.
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So why is the Bible so neglected?

Why do almost nine out of ten American households own a Bible, but more than half have read little or none of it? Why do “less than a quarter of those who have ever read a Bible have a systematic plan for reading the Christian scriptures each day”? And why is it that “a third of Americans never pick it up on their own”?

This research is from a study that LifeWay Research conducted among Americans and their views of the Bible.

Is it because we don’t see the Scriptures as they truly are—as the true, inerrant, and infallible word of God? Or, as Charles Spurgeon put it, “a mosaic of priceless gems”?

Perhaps.

Among those surveyed, more than half saw the Bible as a good source of morals, while only a third saw it as true and/or life-changing.

When asked “Why have you not read the Bible more?” 27% said they don’t prioritize it, 15% said they don’t have time, and 13% said they have read enough of it.

I love research and all of this is fascinating, but here’s what stood out to me the most…

…the following responses on how people approached reading the Bible on their own:

Here’s a chart from the research (you can click on the image to read the full report).

If this is how individuals are approaching the Scriptures, no wonder the majority see it as a good source of morals. It’s like a coffee table book, or one of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books.

If all we do is read a verse here and a verse there, or a devotional where it’s 10% Scripture and 90% someone else’s reflections on that verse of Scripture, we’re doing what Charles Spurgeon so aptly said—we’re tearing the Scriptures limb from limb, and hanging up its joints like meat in the shambles.

Yes, it’s important that we dig into the meaning of each and every sentence and word, “but to behold its divine beauty you must contemplate the mosaic as a whole.” Isn’t that why Charles Spurgeon went onto say this? “No idea of the magnificent design of the entire Scriptures can enter the human mind by reading it in detached portions, especially if those separated passages are interpreted without reference to the run of the writer’s thoughts.”

When digging deeper into the research, I was surprised to see that those between the ages of 18-24 were the most likely age group to have read none of the Scriptures.

This is alarming. Especially since reading the Bible regularly while growing up was the greatest predictor for spiritual health as a young adult, according to another study by LifeWay Research.

Those between the ages of 18-24 were the most likely age group to have read none of the Scriptures.
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So what does this mean? And what can we do about it?

1. Spend time systematically reading through the Scriptures

Don’t just randomly open it up and point to a verse. Read through books of the Bible, or chapters at a time. In fact, I’d encourage you to start with Psalm 19. And here’s a sermon I preached on that passage recently.

2. If you’re a preacher, make the Bible accessible

And stop overusing Greek and Hebrew—especially when it’s unnecessary. Here’s an article I wrote on the why behind that statement and three ways you can normalize Bible reading in your church.

3. Get into community and talk about the Scriptures with others

I’ve seen many community groups/small groups/life groups/Sunday school classes (or whatever you want to call them), focus more on the stuff of life, than the stuff of Scriptures. Start with the Scriptures and you’ll end up talking about how to apply it to your life. But if you start with life, you may or may not ever get to the Scriptures.

If you would like to learn how to make Bible reading and other core spiritual practices a key part of your ministry, check out my book, No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that will Transform Your Ministry.

The WHY Behind Your Decisions

Have you ever thought through the WHY behind your decisions?

In other words, why do you make the decisions you do? For example,

If you have a Saturday open on your schedule, do you play a round of golf with your buddies, or go to the swimming pool with your children?
If a meeting is cancelled, do you catch up with your email? Check social media? Or. read the news or a book?
When the kids go to bed, do you watch Netflix? Read a book? Work on a project? Or, talk with a friend or your spouse?

These decisions are often subconscious—they’re underneath the surface. We make them without thinking. They are our habits, our defaults, our normals, or our vices.

Many of our decisions are often subconscious—they’re underneath the surface.
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Whether you realize it or not, many of these kinds of decisions have already been made for you based on your values or principles. These are the very elements that set the status quo for us.

If this is true, wouldn’t it be worth your time to do a little introspection and uncover the why behind your decisions? Your values and principles?

A while back, I came across Amazon’s leadership principles. I like how they describe them,

Our Leadership Principles aren’t inspirational wall hanging. These Principles work hard, just like we do. Amazonians use them, every day, whether they’re discussing ideas for new projects, deciding on the best solution for a customer’s problem, or interviewing candidates.

Here they are:

If you’re short on time, feel free to scroll through and skim the descriptions.

Customer obsession: Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.
Ownership: Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job.”
Invent and simplify: Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here.” As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.
Are right, a lot: Leaders are right a lot. They have strong business judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.
Learn and be curious: Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.
Hire and develop the best: Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.
Insist on the highest standards: Leaders have relentlessly high standards—many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and driving their teams to deliver high-quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.
Think big: Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.
Bias for action: Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
Frugality: Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expense.
Earn trust: Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.
Dive deep: Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.
Have backbone, disagree and commit: Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.
Deliver results: Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.

Do you have a similar set of values or principles in your church?

Though I wrote No Silver Bullets to help church leaders and pastors develop a discipleship pathway for their church, I had to include a chapter on vision, values, and strategy. If not, then the principles in my book would just end up being the very thing that I wrote against—a silver bullet.

Here’s an excerpt from page 203 about the importance of values for your church:

Though every church shares the same starting point for their vision—the Great Commandment and Commission—the way they approach it is unique. This is because every church has a unique personality—a distinct set of values. As a result, it is precisely the unique values of a church that drive which strategic trade-offs they will make to move toward their vision. This is because the church’s values act as the guardrails, riverbanks, and boundaries for their strategy. In other words, values influence the way the core system of your church runs.

For example, a church that has the value, “Kingdom multiplication,” is going to make the strategic trade-offs to set aside funds for future church planters, send out members to be a part of church-planting teams, and train staff to be future church planters or campus pastors. In contrast, a church that has “the marginalized matter” as one of their values, will make a different set of strategic trade-offs by allocating their funds for community engagement, training up their members to serve the homeless, and possibly having a strategic partnership with their local food bank.

Your values act as the guardrails, riverbanks, and boundaries for your strategy.
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Do you see how important it is to identify your church’s values?

They influence behavior and strategic decision-making. They influence the way your systems operate. They influence the strategic decisions and direction you need to make to get to your vision. They are essentially the personality of your church.

If you want to learn the four types of values in your church and get an audit to help you determine your church’s values, be sure to pick up a copy of No Silver Bullets.

Do you have a similar set of values or principles for your life?

Before Christina and I got married (during pre-marital counseling), we wrote out our values and agreed on the type of marriage we wanted to build. Here are our values:

It is our desire to exemplify and share Christ’s love for us through honoring and loving others with sincerity and devotion
We commit to keeping Christ at the center of our marriage through being joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer
We desire for our home to be a blessing and safe haven for all by practicing hospitality and showing others God’s love, compassion, and mercy
We commit to overcoming evil with good
Romans 12:9-21

12 years later, these values still stand true and guide the decisions we make and the way we spend our time (the scripture verse is actually engraved on the inside of our wedding bands). In fact, these values are precisely why we started a podcast!

We came to the conclusion that we would never have enough time to welcome into our home everyone we wanted/needed to. So while we’re still doing that, we wanted to also share our lives and Christ’s love with as many people as possible.

So back to you and back to the beginning of this article: Why do you make the decisions you do?

I hope you can take some time this week to dig into this important, yet often neglected question.

 

As a side note, we’d love to welcome you into our home by listening to one of the episodes of our podcast.

It’s called the IMbetween Podcast on marriage, parenting, faith, and everything in between. Here are a few of our recent episodes:

Episode 23: Will Porn Ruin My Marriage?
Episode 22: How to Talk to Your Kids About Porn
Episode 21: The Importance of Continuing to Ask Good Questions
Episode 20: How to Raise an Adult
Episode 19: How to Handle and Resolve Conflict
Episode 18: 10 Ways to Explore Your City (Without Breaking the Bank)

We’d also be honored if you’d subscribe and connect with us:

Apple Podcasts
Stitcher
Google Play
Instagram – @imbetweenshow
Twitter – @imbetweenshow
Facebook – @imbetweenshow

How to Get People to Serve in Your Church

William Wallace, Melinda Gates, Hitler, Elvis Presley, Billy Graham, Nelson Mandela, Bono, and Jeff Bezos.

What’s your off-the-cuff reaction when you hear those names? Do you think of similarities or differences? If you could group them together with one word, which one would you use?

Would the word “leader” come to mind?

Now you may or may not agree on how effective each one of those individuals were (or are) as leaders, but it’s clear that when they acted, people followed. They led and history is different because of it.

When leaders act, people follow. And history is different because of it.
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While William Wallace led with passion to secure Scottish freedom from the English, Melinda Gates has led with compassion to give away more money than most people can even begin to fathom. While Hitler led the Germans with an authoritarian grip, Elvis Presley led with his charisma and rolling tunes.

Haven’t you ever noticed that as quickly as you can name leaders, you are able to name different attributes that make each of them uniquely effective? This is because there is no silver bullet to leadership. There is no common set of characteristics that—when put together—produce the end result of a leader.

There is no common set of characteristics that produce the end result of a leader.
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In fact, just consider the weight of these words from Donald Clifton, the father of Strengths-Based Psychology, the grandfather of Positive Psychology, and the creator of the StrengthsFinder assessment. He was asked, just a few months before his death in 2003, what his greatest discovery was from three decades of leadership research. Here was his response,

A leader needs to know his strengths as a carpenter knows his tools, or as a physician knows the instruments at her disposal. What great leaders have in common is that each truly knows his or her strengths­—and can call on the right strength at the right time. This explains why there is no definitive list of characteristics that describes all leaders. [1]

Is every pew sitter a leader?

I guess that depends on your definition of a leader. If you agree with the often-quoted phrase, which I believe is originally attributed to John Maxwell, that “leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less,” then yes. Every pew sitter is a leader.

That stay-at-home mom is a leader because she is influencing her children
That auto-mechanic is a leader because he is influencing the customers he encounters
That single dad is a leader because he is influencing those at work and his children at home
And that 85-year-old retired marine is a leader because he can influence the next generation by discipling them and displaying what a life well lived looks like

When you realize that everyone in your congregation is a leader in their everyday life, it’s not a big leap to also see them as potential leaders in your church. In fact, I would even advocate that seeing them as potential leaders is incredibly biblical and the very first step to live out Ephesians 4:11-16, so that you can equip them for the work of ministry that God has set apart for them to do.

Your role is not to lead and do everything.

Instead, it’s to equip others so that they can lead and do the work of ministry, so that the body of Christ can be built up, so that the church can reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, so that we can grow into maturity, and so that we can go and make disciples of all nations because the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few (Eph 4:11-16; Matt 28:18-20; Matt 9:37-38).

Why isn’t the next step a spiritual gift assessment?

At this point, many church leaders often turn to a spiritual gift assessment so that they can help their congregation figure out how they’re gifted and where they should serve. And to that, I say no! Don’t do it.

I’m not saying no to spiritual gifts, and I’m not saying no to assessments. What I am saying no to is a spiritual gift assessment being the very first step to equip your congregation to lead and serve.

After all, let’s say you complete a spiritual gift assessment and your top three gifts are administration, discernment, and mercy. What in the world are you supposed to do with that? Does your awareness of having these spiritual gifts move you one step closer to serving? To know where to serve, in what capacity to serve, and how to serve effectively? Likely not.

While identifying your spiritual gifts is a beneficial exercise, there isn’t always a direct link from identification to getting plugged into the right ministry area.

So instead of starting with a spiritual gift assessment, what if you started with passion? What if you started by helping your congregants identify which ministry area excited them the most? After placing them in that ministry, you could then match them up with a role where their gifts and talents could be utilized and invested for kingdom work.

Do you see how I’m not ignoring their gifting and talents? But instead reprioritizing the order in which we approach them?

In today’s freelance economy (or gig economy) where our congregants are likely juggling more than one job, in addition to managing extra-curricular activities for children, and fighting traffic like never before, people aren’t going to serve in your church in a long-term role simply because they know their gifts (here’s an easter egg: this is the topic of my next book).

To serve, they need to have a deep conviction for the “why.”

Why does your ministry matter? What difference will they make as a result of serving in your ministry? Why is this more important than Netflix, sports, and other activities that they could be doing?

Uncovering the “why” that drives the heart and soul of your people always begins by uncovering and identifying their area of passion. And there’s no quick way to get there. There’s no silver bullet. You need to simply sit down and listen. So what processes do you have in place to do that? To listen?

To serve effectively, we need to have a deep conviction for the “why.”
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Endnotes:

[1] Tom Rath and Barry Conchie, Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow (New York: Gallup Press), 13

Routines, Busyness, and Change

I have routines. You have routines. We all have routines.

Whether it’s the way we start our days, commute to work, go to bed, or anything in between, we all have a certain way of doing things. In fact, a recent book on this topic outlined the fact that geniuses—both ancient and modern—tend to live and die by their routines.

Geniuses—both ancient and modern—tend to live and die by their routines.
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Charles Dickens took three-hour walks every afternoon, Mozart had a regimented daily schedule, and Charles Schultz, creator of nearly eighteen thousand Peanuts comic strips, had a ham sandwich and glass of milk almost every day.

So yes, we all have routines. But why? Is it superstition? Laziness? Why is it that we do things the way that we do?

Routines exist because they are the best, most effective, and efficient way to do the things that need to get done. Well, at least, at one point in time they were the best. At one point in time they were the most efficient. And at one point in time we saw first hand just how effective they were.

The same is true for the church. At one point in time, those programs made sense, but do they still today?

When’s the last time you evaluated them? Or have they just become routine? How much of your church is driven by mottos like, “Well that’s the way we’ve always done it,” or, “Don’t rock the boat,” or “What would dear sister Sally do if you changed things? Her deceased husband basically built this church.”

Change or die.

This is the decision you’ll have to make if you continue to let routines from yesteryear run your church.

The majority of churches in the West are either declining or growing at a pace that’s slower than the community they’re located in. In other words, they’re losing ground. Church has become a litany of activities and busyness. It’s become one program or one thing after another. And there’s no intentionality or movement forward in a direction that demonstrates faithfulness with what God has entrusted that church.

The solution isn’t to look down the street and copy the nearby mega-church. Nor is it to blow everything up and start from scratch. And by all means, staying the same is not an option either. There is no one silver bullet to turning around a dying church or continuing the growth of a healthy one. It takes several little improvements in different areas to add up to growth. And that’s precisely what this book is about.

In No Silver Bullets , Daniel will show you how to shift your church in a Great Commission and Great Commandment direction.

He’ll show you how to make small changes that will get you out of the very routines that are preventing your church from fulfilling it’s God given vision. And he’ll do this by helping you root it into the very fabric of your church—your discipleship pathway.

God has given you talents and God has given the body of Christ talents. So don’t be like a hamster on a spinning wheel, where you are just going around and around without any productive action. Take what God has given you, and learn from what God has given Daniel, and together make something beautiful.

Quite frankly, I’ve seen many churches who have this wide, broad, and deep list of activities.

And their people are busy. Something is always going on during the day and in the evenings. They’re constantly doing things. And they go on and on. But then you look at their impact in the community, and many have never even heard of them. Very few people are being reached for Christ. They simply don’t have a clear direction. They think that busyness is equivalent to obedience. But busyness without the right direction is poor stewardship.

Busyness without the right direction is poor stewardship.
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So gather your leadership team together and work through the small shifts that are outlined in this book. Stop producing consumers and start releasing disciple makers. Your church and your neighborhood won’t be the same without it. So my prayer is that as you read this book, you would become a better steward of that which God has given you.

Thom S. Rainer

President

LifeWay Christian Resources

This article is the foreword to  No Silver Bullets, by Daniel Im.

The Mighty Have Fallen. Don’t Join their Ranks.

My heart is heavy as I write this.

Although we’re all sinful and broken, seeing the mighty fall is painful, heart wrenching, and incredibly sobering.

It makes me want to throw up.

Especially when it involves individuals in the faith who have gone ahead of us, paved the way, ministered locally and globally, and seemed to be living a life of faithfulness to the Lord.

I guess God wanted to shine the light and reveal what was hidden.

And this time, he didn’t use a flashlight; he went for the jugular and used those outdoor flood lights you see at baseball fields.

This declaration by the prophet Daniel seems to be quite fitting for this time,

May the name of God

be praised forever and ever,

for wisdom and power belong to him.

He changes the times and seasons;

he removes kings and establishes kings.

He gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those

who have understanding.

He reveals the deep and hidden things;

he knows what is in the darkness,

and light dwells with him.

(Daniel 2:20-22, CSB)

Jesus puts it another way,

For nothing is concealed that won’t be revealed, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known and brought to light. (Luke 8:17, CSB)

Though sin might feel like a personal thing that you can hide, it will eventually come to light.

Though sin might feel like a personal thing that you can hide, it will eventually come to light.
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Jesus will reveal it.

He knows what’s in the darkness, and he is the light.

If you aren’t willing to take steps to deal with your sin today, he will deal with it for you…on his own timing. And trust me, you don’t want him to bring it to light for you.

I love what it says here in the Proverbs,

Though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin. (Proverbs 24:16, CSB)

The enemy wants to take you out.

He wants to do this because he knows that sin-induced implosions are the way to get to your spouse, your children, your ministry, your family, and your life.

The enemy uses sin-induced implosions to get to everyone in your life.
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And the enemy knows the kingdom potential that is within a family that generationally knows, loves, and serves God. It’s not about having masses of complacent and consumeristic Christians; what will cause the greatest impact for the kingdom is a few being faithful over the long haul.

So when you fall to sin (it’s not an if, it’s a when), get up!

And when you fall again, get up again.

Again and again as we read above in Proverbs 24:16.

The enemy wants to grind against your soul, wear you down, and make you feel like change is hopeless. He wants to condemn you and tear you apart.

But take heart because “there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1, CSB)!

You are never beyond the point of forgiveness or out of the reach of Christ because “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, CSB).

So if you’re living in sin, follow these two steps to get up again:

Confess your sins to Jesus because his “grace is sufficient for you,” his power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9, CSB).
But also “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed” (James 5:16, CSB).

It’s not enough to just confess your sins to God, you have to confess your sins to others as well.

This is what will bring the sin to light and loosen sin’s grip on you.

Friends, shine the light on your sin before God shines on it for you because “nothing is concealed that won’t be revealed, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known and brought to light” (Luke 8:17, CSB).

Friends, shine the light on your sin before God shines on it for you.
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If you would like to read more on this, here’s another post that I wrote to go along with this topic, Why Isolation, Boredom, and Pride are as Dangerous as Dynamite.

 

Just One More

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?

Just one more chip…
Just one more scroll through Facebook…
Just one more show…
Just one more bite…
Just one more look…

We think it’s harmless—to fill up our time, our minds, our energy, efforts, and days with another show, with more work, with extra calories, with just one more __________, but is there ever an end to it all?

When is enough enough?

And does anything in this world ever truly satisfy?

When is enough enough?
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If you’re living for just one more thing because you expect that one more thing to bring you a greater measure of joy, fulfillment, satisfaction, and __________, then I’m sorry to burst your bubble.

Once you get that one more thing, you’re going to want another one more thing, and another, and another.

Nothing in this world will satisfy that longing for one more thing, other than Jesus Christ, his love, his peace, and the hope that he freely offers you and I.

Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful. – John 14:27 (CSB)

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39 (CSB)

AI, Google Assistant, Robotics, the Church, and Your Faith

Are you paying attention to the rapid advancements in AI?

We often joke that Siri, Alexa, or Google are listening into our conversations to gather data and serve us up with targeted advertisements, but they know better and would obviously never admit to that (ask any one of those assistants if they’re spying on you to see what they say). So if they aren’t, then why does the internet increasingly feel personal and up in our business?

AI, or artificial intelligence

Recently, Google stunned the tech world (and everyone else) with their new Assistant. You can watch it in action here, but here’s basically what they showcased: the ability to call a human being and have it intelligently make an appointment for you!



Can you believe that? That wasn’t a human making the appointment for you!

Have you heard of Move 37?

A couple years ago, Lee Sedol and AlphaGo faced off in a historic Go match where the 37th move made history. If you’re not familiar with Go, it’s “an abstract strategy board game for two players, in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent.”[1] It was invented over 2500 years ago in China and is exponentially more complex than chess (fun fact: it’s one of the few games that I’ve yet to beat my dad in).

This match was partly so historical, not just because one of the world’s best Go players (Lee Sedol) lost, but because he lost to a bot. Okay, maybe “bot” isn’t the right word to describe AlphaGo, but the fact of the matter is that AlphaGo is not a human—it is an artificially intelligent machine designed by DeepMind, a London AI lab owned by Google.

Here’s the thing that made this match even more historical: in the second game for the 37th move, AlphaGo made a move that perplexed the world’s best Go players.

In fact, everyone thought that AlphaGo had made a mistake, when in fact it was actually the precise move that turned the course of the game.

You can learn more about the match and what went down in this article here, but here’s the quick summary:

AlphaGo wasn’t projected to beat the best Go players in the world for another ten years, but it did
AlphaGo learnt how to play Go by being fed 30 million moves from expert players
Then, through reinforcement learning, AlphaGo played countless matches against itself whereby it learnt new strategies and grew its neural network
“Then the team took yet another step. They collected moves from these machine-versus-machine matches and fed them into a second neural network. This neural net trained the system to examine the potential results of each move, to look ahead into the future of the game.”[2]

In other words, AlphaGo knew so much about the game, and saw so much into the future for this match, that it made a move that no human would’ve projected.

That’s scary.

A Bot that Encourages Suicide

Microsoft Little Ice (Xiaoice) is a chat bot that not only responds to your messages, but learns how to develop a relationship with you. In other words, “it learns what you like and gives that right back to you.”[3] Currently, Xiaoice is only available in China because it was shut down only a few days after it was brought to America. Since Xiaoice learns how to mirror your personality, a few users got it to say “Hitler was right. I hate the Jews” because they were pretending to be extreme racists.

What if someone was suicidal? Would this bot encourage you to commit suicide? What if you were angry and wanted to take revenge? What if you were a kleptomaniac? Would it encourage you to steal?

Friends, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is here, and it’s here to stay.

“The Fourth Industrial Revolution is marked by emerging technology breakthroughs in a number of fields, including robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, The Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing and autonomous vehicles.”[4]

What does this mean for you and your faith?

Well, regardless of where you stand in your relationship with God, the ethics of all of this need greater definition—especially in light of the Xiaoice incident. But when it comes to your relationship with God, I wonder what sort of implications AI and robotics would have?

Should churches setup counseling or prayer bots? In fact, Life.Church already has a Facebook bot for this.
What about a Bible study bot to help you dig into the Scriptures? Or this past weekend’s sermon?
How about setting up Google Assistant to receive all phone calls that come into your church?
Or a bot that engages with all visitors to your church’s website?
And what about cryptocurrency or digital currencies? Should people be able to tithe with Ether or Bitcoin?

Have you ever thought through the implications that AI and robotics have on your faith?
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Whatever this looks like for you and your church, it’s not something that we can ignore anymore. I’m not saying that we go back to Second Life and make sure our churches have a presence on all virtual reality platforms (although VR churches are kicking back up again).

What I am saying is that this is important and we need to pay attention to it.

After all, if pornography is already an issue that is preventing so many Christians from experiencing a closer relationship with God and the abundant life that Jesus promised, what sort of impact will AI and robotics have on the porn industry? On sex trafficking? On child pornography?

Oh Lord, have mercy.

 

End Notes:

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)

[2] https://www.wired.com/2016/03/two-mov...

[3] Microtrends Squared, p.161.

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_...

Change or Die: A Few Steps to Effectively Introduce Change

“It takes courage to be a change leader in the church. Opposition and resistance often come frequently and fiercely. But too much is at stake to do otherwise. . . . The choice is simple: change or die.”

Thom Rainer, in his book Who Moved My Pulpit?, couldn’t be more right in his statement here. The fact is, if there’s anything constant in ministry and in life, it’s change. (I wrote an article here on Leading Change in the Church).

If there’s anything constant in ministry and in life, it’s change.
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When it comes to introducing change, your change initiative will face one of three fates:

It’ll never get off the ground because it will be seen as a bacteria, virus, or foreign matter and subsequently be rejected.
The change will happen, but because it doesn’t fit into your vision, strategy, and values, you will inevitably end up changing things again.
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.

So what are the three steps for introducing change?
Step One: SWOT Analysis

The next time you or one of your team members comes up with a new idea, take some time before presenting it and run it through a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. This is a great way to systematically think through and discern the broader impact that these ideas will have, while keeping the unique DNA of your organization (vision, strategy, and values) at the forefront.

When you put every new idea through a SWOT analysis, you will discipline yourself and your team to design initiatives proactively around the strengths and opportunities that this new idea presents for your organization, rather than as a reaction to weaknesses and threats from inside or outside.

Step Two: Conversation Checklist

If, after putting your new idea through a SWOT analysis, you still feel strongly about the benefits that this will bring to your organization, the next step is to determine who you need to talk to in order for the new idea to stick.

List the key departments and teams, as well as the decision makers and power custodians. When introducing any change, it’s also important to consider how it will affect the influencers—whether or not they have formal authority—since they will play a crucial role in the success of the idea’s implementation. So be sure to list them as well. Also systematically think through who is going to be directly affected by this new change initiative, and how they will be affected.

Step Three: Team Idea Audit

Once you finishing listing everyone, schedule time to have a conversation with each department, team, and influencer that you marked as having a direct or indirect relationship with the new idea. When together, the focus of the meeting would be to collaborate on the idea and get their thoughts by doing a SWOT analysis together. Instead of sharing your SWOT analysis with them, do a new one together with each point person. Help them answer each quadrant by thinking through how the idea will affect their team.

Once you complete step three, and you feel that moving ahead with this idea is best for your organization, then finish this three-step process by writing out your next steps for today, next month, in three months, in six months, and a year from now.

It takes courage to be a change leader in the church.” – @ThomRainer
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These steps to discerning whether or not you want to begin the change process are important on a few levels.

First of all, they are a practical way to evaluate new ideas that will cause change in the church
Second, they provide a process to evaluate the extent to which those new ideas—take the five micro-shifts presented in No Silver Bullets  as an example—will work in your church
Third, and most important, this approach ensures that you filter every new idea through the vision, strategy, and values of your church

But there’s one question that’s begging to be asked. What are your church’s vision, strategy, and values?

Unless they capture the DNA of your church, in a manner unique from every other church in your area, you will not be able to successfully implement any lasting change.

You can’t implement lasting change without a clear set of vision, strategy, and values.
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If you’re interested in seeing and grabbing a copy of my SWOT Analysis Template, Conversation Checklist, and Ministry Area Idea Audit, see chapter six of my book, No Silver Bullets. That’s the chapter in which this article was adapted from. And chapter seven is where you’ll learn how to discover and unpack your church’s vision, strategy, and values.

Thinking of Starting a Podcast? Don’t! Until you read this…

I love podcasts. They’re informative, inspirational, (can be) fun, but best of all, they’re FREE…

…well, that is, they’re free to the listener, but they are actually quite the investment (time + money) for the host.

And that’s something that I can personally speak into.

According to a 2017 survey from Edison Research,

40% of Americans had ever listened to a podcast, which is up significantly from 11% in 2006
18-34 year olds are the largest group of listeners, making up 44% of the group, with 35-54 year olds coming in a close second at 33%
Average listeners typically tune into five podcasts per week, are subscribed to six, and mostly listen at home or while driving

Though it’s been 10+ years since I first entered the world of podcasting as a listener, I’ve actually been recording my own podcasts since 2015.

I’m the co-host of three:

New Churches Q&A Podcast: Church Planting, Multisite, Multiplication, Leadership Development, and Discipleship
5 Leadership Questions Podcast: Leadership
IMbetween Podcast: Marriage, Parenting, and Faith

And as of April 2018, I’ve recorded more than 350 episodes on the three I co-host, as well as other ones I’ve been interviewed on as a guest.

In other words, I know the cost of starting and maintaining a podcast, and it’s definitely not free for the host!

But if you’re committed to it for a certain length of time, and have determined a clear purpose and reason for doing it, then it can be a fun endeavor to undertake.

I’ll talk about equipment options below, but let me get to the reason I’m writing this in the first place.

If your goal is to share information or spread an idea, a podcast may not be the best means for doing so.

“Wait, I thought you said that podcasts were informative?”

Yes, if that’s what you’re thinking, I sure did. And yes, you definitely do get information by listening to podcasts.

But if all you want to do is talk about a topic, share information, or spread an idea, don’t use a podcast to do it. Just blog about it. It’s cheaper, easier, and quicker.

Information is everywhere. Information is cheap. And with the rise of podcasts, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out, grow an audience, and keep your listeners engaged if all you’re doing is sharing information that can be read elsewhere.

That’s why successful podcasts are about three things: Consistency + Personality + Grit
1. Consistency

While new podcasts are popping up every single minute, they’re also being abandoned on a daily basis.

Just search through a category like “marriage,” or “leadership.” You’ll find hundreds of episodes and podcasts, but when you look a little deeper, not all of them are active.

Now if you’re a celebrity or already have a significant platform, starting a podcast and standing out may not be as difficult, but if you’re wanting to start and grow your podcast from scratch, you’ll need to commit to consistency over the long haul.

After all, the idea of an “overnight success” is really just a myth anyway. Just think about the years athletes and artists grind away in obscurity before they finally get signed or rise to the limelight. If you ask them, it definitely wasn’t an overnight thing.

The idea of an “overnight success” is really just a myth.
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2. Personality

EQ is more important than IQ to successfully start and grow a podcast.

Why? It’s because the best podcasts are hosted by individuals with personality that know how to craft questions (and ask good follow up ones in the moment), engage the audience, and make you feel like family (or a close friend).

EQ is more important than IQ to successfully start and grow a podcast.
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Make you feel like family (or a close friend)…

That’s a key insight there. There are some podcasts I hate listening to, even though they have a significant following. While there are others I love, even though they are incredibly niche and focused. The key factor is whether or not I click with the host and feel like a part of their family or a close friend…

…which is definitely more of an EQ thing than it is IQ.

What about the topic?

The reason this doesn’t matter as much as your personality is because it’s assumed.

In our on-demand culture, if your topic isn’t relevant to the listener, they’re just not going to listen to it. No one is going to force them to listen to it, nor do they have to listen to it so that they can listen to the next show. It’s either play or delete. That’s it.

The best podcasts know who they’re reaching and are more focused on developing raving fans, than distant followers. They know that they’re not going to reach everyone, so instead of being a plain Jane, they decide to be themselves and go for it.

The best podcasts are more focused on developing raving fans, than distant followers.
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3. Grit

Are you focused enough to plan out your schedule? To research and purchase the right equipment? To create a website? To record, edit, and master the sound file? To write show notes? To share about it? To schedule interviews?

Starting a podcast is definitely easier than it’s ever been, but successful podcasts require gritty hosts.

It requires grit to launch a podcast, get the word out, keep it running, and grow it. For most, the podcast is going to start as a side hustle because advertisers won’t even consider sponsoring you until you have a growing and dedicated following.

It requires grit to launch a podcast, get the word out, keep it running, and grow it.
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So do you have grit?

Will you keep at it even if it’s not an overnight success and things are slow? What if you have a dedicated fan base of 100 listeners instead of the millions you hoped for, will you keep going? If not, why are you doing it anyway?

A Good Reason to Podcast

If you’re starting a podcast to become famous, you might as well play the lottery too (so that you can try to buy your way into fame if the whole podcasting thing doesn’t work) because your odds are likely the same.

If you’re starting a podcast to become famous, you might as well play the lottery.
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But if you’re wanting to do it to try something new, to learn, to grow, and to stretch yourself, it’s a worthwhile endeavor and I commend you for it! In fact, I love how Seth Godin has even created a podcasting fellowship program as a way to stretch students and those in the early stages of their career.

Equipment Options

Please, please, whatever you do, do not use the microphone on your computer or on your earbuds.

I know it’s easy and it’s cheap, but honestly you’re being lazy and your podcast won’t take off (that is unless you’re a celebrity…and if you’re a celebrity, you know better than that anyway). Bad sound is the anathema of podcasts, so no excuses.

Bad sound is the anathema of podcasts, so no excuses.
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Sure, if you’re being interviewed on someone else’s podcast, the microphone on your earbuds will do because heck, you’re being interviewed and that’s the interview sound and quality that we all expect. But if you’re the host, you need to take it to the next level.

So here are three options for equipment to help you get started:

1. Low-Cost Boot Strappers (~$150)

I’d recommend everyone to start here. The barrier to entry is low and you’ll get decent sound quality. Buy a Blue Yeti Mic, foam windscreen, and boom studio scissor arm stand. And then plug your mic into a Mac and fire up Garage Band. Record close to your mic, keep your gain levels down, and use these filters in Garage Band and you’ll be set. No one will ever know that this is your setup.

2. Mid-Tier Side-Hustler (~$500)

Buy an XLR mic (at least an SM-58 or Audio-Technica AT2020 quality), an XLR cord, a pop filter, suspension boom scissor arm stand, studio headphones, Class 10 U3 SD card, and a Zoom H6 recorder. You’re now recording directly onto an SD card, so it’s a portable setup with less of a likelihood that you’ll mess up your audio file. Afterward, you can apply audio filters onto your sound tracks and adjust levels if need be in Garage Band, Logic Pro X, or whatever else you will use to edit the tracks.

3. High-End Showman (~$1000+)

It’s getting real now. You either have cash to burn, are recording audio books, or you already have a significant podcast audience and you want to take things to the next level. It’d be the same setup as #2, but just with a better mic like a Electro-Voice RE20, Shure SM7B, Heil PR-40, and a better recorder, like the Zoom R16.

After you record, you’ll still have to create a website, upload your files to a podcasting hosting service, and then submit it to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, etc., but honestly, that’s another topic for another day. There’s a lot of information on the internet comparing services, so I’d encourage you to start there.

This is what I’ve done for my podcasts (and others that I’ve helped set up):

Create a WordPress website
Install the Blubrry Powerpress plugin
Purchase podcast hosting services with Blubrry (this has to be different than your website hosting services otherwise you’ll crash your website)
Then submit to iTunes, etc.

I hope that helps and if there’s anything I can do to help you get started, don’t hesitate to leave a comment here or reach out to me on my Contact page.

If this article was at all helpful to you, can I ask you for a favor in return?

My newest podcast is one that my wife, Christina, and I started called the IMbetween Podcast on Marriage, Parenting, Faith, and Everything in between. Can you hit subscribe, and leave a quick rating and review for us on iTunes or Apple Podcasts?

It’ll take less than one minute and be incredibly helpful in expanding our reach and growing this podcast. Remember point #3 from above? This is my grit coming out.

Also, I did this last year, but here are all the podcasts that I was interviewed on in 2017 in case you’re interested:

Episode 211: Leadership Pipeline & Discipleship Pathway – New Churches Q&A Podcast
5LQ Episode 201: No Silver Bullets – 5 Leadership Questions Podcast
Episode 03: Daniel Im & Discipleship Inputs and Outputs – Keep Asking LifeWay Research Podcast
Episode 05: Interview With Daniel Im – Unthinkable Leaders Podcast
Small Changes that Make a Big Difference – Influence Magazine Podcast
No Silver Bullets: An Interview with Daniel Im and the 5 Small Shifts That Will Transform Your Ministry – Go Outside Podcast
5 Small Shifts to Transform Your Small Group Ministry – Small Group Network Podcast
Ep.33 – No Silver Bullets, feat. Daniel Im – Pastor Talk Podcast
Silver Bullets Suck: An Interview With Daniel Im – Hardcore Church Planter Podcast
No Silver Bullets – Est.Church Podcast
Episode 24 – Church Planting – The Daily Brew Podcast
Episode 76 – Daniel Im Planting Missional Churches – Equipping You in Grace Podcast
How Churches Can More Effectively Train Volunteers – Influence Podcast
Daniel Im Interview – Project Pastor Podcast
Episode 77 – What Matt Chandler and Tim Keller’s Churches’ Transitions Mean for the Multisite Movement – Quick to Listen Podcast
An Interview with Daniel Im – The Everyday Ministry Podcast
Daniel Im on Leadership, Influence, and How Faith Impacts What Leading Looks Like – Dylan Dodson Faith and Life Podcast

If you’re interested in having me on your podcast, you can shoot me some information here.

 

Disclosure:  Daniel Im is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.