let's talk

HELLO BLOG-FRIENDS.

It has been too long since I've posted something of substance. I realize you much prefer the video posts, quippy lists and links to things other people are doing, but I am going to force some words on you now. Please don't hate.

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I recently had someone pray for my imagination. It was, as you might expect, rather unanticipated. Nevertheless, it proved to be an amazing experience. I have an active imagination, and use it on a very regular basis. In fact I depend on it for my livelihood. Without it I would be mentally blind. Even so, it has been a rare occasion in my life where I have done a good job of being thankful for it, let alone praying for/about it. Prayer is powerful, and I believe in and of itself is an act of imagination. Allowing God to breath his dreams into heart and mind by his Spirit.

I have since had some incredible conversations about the redemption of imagination with my friend David H. He has a deep desire to convert and redirect the imagination of our culture. It is a passion I share in a big way - as a creative, and as one who is created. Imagination's power is often misused and its beauty easily cheapened by the combination of flashy/shallow, and the seemingly unstoppable cultural trend towards lowest common denominator.

It is a challenge to be sure - one I and everyone about the ongoing work of creation must face head on, engage whole-heartedly, and never without prayerfully seeking the Creator's redemptive power in imagination.

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There are definitely some imagination-redemption things going on that I am very excited about being a part of/watching happen. I'll share just a couple, and would love to hear about any imagination-empowering opportunities you know of.

Artistic Energies - A giant cube and a big vision
Masterpiece Ministries - Helping students recognize the power of their own imaginations

I firmly believe that centering my life around the most Creative and Other there is will transform my imagination beyond the "less" that so often comes against it. I have so much more I could say, but I have to run. Sometime again soon though, let's talk.

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"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

- Romans 12:1-3 MSG