by Sam | Apr 13, 2021 | Inspiration, Teaching
by Josh Kim Do you know that you’re called to be a leader? You may not have an official leadership position or title. You may not be the front lead person of an organization. But you are called to lead because leadership is ultimately using your influence to impact the world around you. And whether you realize it or not, you have influence and use it every day within your family, amongst friends, at work, at school, and more. The level of influence looks different for each person but we all have influence in different capacities and in different contexts. We are all called to be leaders. However, as followers of Jesus, we are not only called to be leaders but spiritual leaders. People use influence for all different purposes and agendas. But as followers of Jesus, God gave you a mandate to lead to bring influence and advancement to His kingdom wherever you are and whatever you do. That is the main difference between leadership versus spiritual leadership. And I want to encourage you to embrace the mandate of being a spiritual leader because spiritual leadership is needed in our cultural moment. But before we get specifically into spiritual leadership, let me share further general thoughts on leadership so that we are all on the same page. LEADERSHIP IS INFLUENCE First, leadership is transforming. It’s the ability to lead others and achieve goals to ultimately transform the world around us. Banning Liebscher says, “Leadership is the instrument God uses to draw the greatness out of you and bring change to the world around you.” It’s not an instrument...
by Sam | Jun 30, 2020 | Reflection, Teaching
by Josh Kim What if I told you that slower is better than faster. You might look at me perplexed. “Slower would get me fired from my job…” Waiting is better than hurrying. You might roll your eyes. “If only people can drive faster…” Single-tasking is better than multitasking. You might be annoyed. “I never have enough time…” In our day and age, slow is disapproved while fast is glorified. As a result, being overbusy has become the hallmark of success. Hurrying is the new speed of life. And multitasking is an expected life skill where we must get more things done in the same amount of time. Alicia Britt-Chole describes the modern world as following: “Ours is a hurried age in which speed is defied and waiting is demonized. Ours is a cluttered age in which noise is the norm and images constantly clamor for our attention. And in our hurried and cluttered age, faster has become synonymous with better, and experience has become a substitute.”1 As a result, we are busier, more hurried, and more distracted than ever. Our fast lifestyle is the norm. CONSEQUENCES OF FAST But while fast produces productive results according to the modern world, how does it affect us as individuals? What does it to our souls? How does it affect our emotional health? Psychologists and mental health professionals, Rosemary Sword and Philip Zimbardo, describe a new modern disease on the rise known as hurry sickness. Here are a few definitions: “A behavioral pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness.”2 “A malaise in which a person feels chronically short of time, and so...
by Sam | Dec 17, 2019 | Teaching
by Josh Kim Growth is the process of committing to become better versions of ourselves everyday. And as followers of Jesus, it’s also about becoming more like Him. Yet because growth doesn’t happen automatically, it must be a core value in our lives. It must be actively and intentionally cultivated through choices we consistently make! Perhaps that is why Apostle Paul describes growth in the Christian life as the “fruits of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23). All to say, we must have a passion to grow. VALUE OF FEEDBACK One of the skill sets or tools that will help us to grow is the practice of feedback. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, feedback is defined as “the transmission of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process.” For many of us, feedback can have a negative connotation because our experiences with feedback are connected to, or associated with, events, relationships, or processes that did not go well. However, when done with wisdom and grace, feedback can be one of the most helpful tools as it helps us better understand our blind spots, how others experience us, our constraints, our strengths, our areas of improvement, our gifts/talents, and more. Read through the book of Proverbs and you’ll see the value and gift of feedback in a person’s life: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” (Proverbs 12:15) “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” (Proverbs 11:14) “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22)...
by Sam | Dec 3, 2019 | Guest Blogger, Inspiration, Teaching
by Michael Kang Dreams are powerful. A dream can shift a moment, it can even shift history. Sadly, many dreams don’t get the chance of being birthed because of fear, but what I believe is even more sad is when we don’t believe we are allowed to dream! There can be a host of reasons as to why a person doesn’t dream, but one thing I realize a person doesn’t dream is because they are told not to dream. People are told that they have to follow a plan and that is the right thing to do and let me clarify, you and I are to follow the plans of God and build His Kingdom, but what I am believing as I get older is that the Kingdom of God is built on the dreams of the saints who walk with God! We are in a season of church history where I believe God is unleashing His people to dream and the dreams will reveal a unique expression of church which only reveals new facets of God’s glory. Every dream in God is a reflection of a unique display of God’s glory and this is the time we don’t rinse and repeat what was done, but appreciate what has happened as we forge a new era of the Kingdom! To start you off in your dream journey with God, I wanted to go through a brief roadmap of the pitfalls and lessons from the story of Joseph in Genesis. May the unpacking of this story spur you on to contribute into the Kingdom what is already buried deep within...
by Sam | Nov 12, 2019 | Inspiration, Reflection, Teaching
by Samuel Won I love watching movies of all different genres, especially in the theater. There’s just something about experiencing a brand new film on the big screen with immersive sound that gets me every time. I love it so much, that I actually don’t mind going by myself (don’t judge me!). However, when I do go, I don’t watch just any film. It’s usually one that I have been anticipating for a while. I know exactly what I want to watch, and I go for it. Yet, I can’t say the same when it comes to streaming services. Like I said, I love movies, but I feel paralyzed by the plethora of options available on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and now Disney+. It’s not because I can’t find anything good, but rather quite the opposite. There’s just too many good films! I don’t know what I want to watch first, as a result, I don’t watch anything at all. Before I know it, I have reverted to watching something familiar like The Office because of my own indecisiveness… Anyone else have a hard time making a decision like me? Now obviously choosing what movie to watch is quite insignificant in the grand scheme of life, but what happens when you need to make a decision for your career or for your family? Many times the reason why decisions are so hard is because it isn’t always black or white nor is it good versus bad. Instead they are tough choices that need to be made between multiple good options that have the potential to change the trajectory of...
by Sam | Aug 6, 2019 | Inspiration, Teaching
by Josh Kim In the Gospels, Jesus’ disciples are witnessing miracles left and right by being with Jesus. Matter of fact, even the disciples experience miracles themselves when Jesus sends them out with power and authority. After they return in Luke 11, we come across an interesting moment between Jesus and His disciples. Rather than asking Jesus to teach them how to heal better, cast out demons more effectively, or perform greater miracles, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Now the disciples aren’t the brightest group. They often miss Jesus’ point and misunderstand a lot of things. But they’ve been around Jesus long enough to observe that Jesus got up early in the morning to pray, sometimes prayed all throughout the night, and even withdrew from the crowds to prioritize being with the Father instead. When they connect the dots, they realize that it was Jesus’ lifestyle of prayer that empowered Jesus to do all He did. And in the same way, they too will have to learn to establish a lifestyle of prayer like Jesus if they are going to continue doing the will of God – healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons (Matthew 10:8). RHYTHM OF PRAYER But if I’m being honest, as much as I know the significance and importance of prayer, it’s hard for me to establish a life of prayer. Some of the challenges are about not being consistent (time and place) as well as not being persistent. But one of the challenges I recognize in people stuck in prayer is not knowing how to pray...
