Kingdom Harbor

As a boy, I wanted to be secure. As a teen, I wanted to belong. In my twenties, I wanted to be respected. In my thirties, I wanted to be faithful. Now in my mid-forties, I just want to be happy in my own skin and joyful in my calling. That’s my inner work these days with my spiritual director. 

We believe in doing the hard work of “soul formation” at MainStreet. Around here, you’re weird if you do not have a therapist. Spiritual direction is encouraged. Huddles at their best call one another to face the “thing” rather than avoid it. 

The primary weapon we wield in the spiritual battle and interior work is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. We “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15) and “we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). We try to walk in the light of God’s truth by immersing ourselves in God’s Word.

But words alone are not enough. 

Cramming Bible verses and doctrinal truths into our brain doesn’t automatically change our heart, attitude, behavior and self-perception. I know from experience. God has wired us for a deeper, more multi-sensory experience of Him and approach to spiritual transformation. The Word became flesh and blood in Jesus, and “we have heard” and “seen with our eyes” and “our hands have touched…the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). God’s Law etched on stone tablets wasn’t able to change human heart in Moses’ day any more than the ink printed on the pages of your Bible (alone) is able to change you today. Bold claim for a “bible guy”, I know.

Many of us know the Bible’s promises, but don’t experience God in a dynamic way. Our prayer life is dull. We’re bored singing worship songs while others dance with hands in the air. We’re brought to tears watching a Hollywood movie, but feel nothing reading the Bible. We feel bad. We want a more dynamic faith. But we’re stuck. We ask, “What’s wrong with me?”

It’s time to come to our senses—literally. 

This May we’re going to spend a few Sundays exploring how Western Christianity forgot how important our imagination is in spiritual transformation and experiencing God. Beginning with a sermon by Greg Boyd on May 5, we’ll explore the role imagination can play in prayer and moving us toward a more multi-sensory experience of God and spiritual truth. 

This series is personal for me. I’ll be sharing how God has deepened my faith and guided me through difficulties by way of visions, sacred images, and imaginative prayer. I watched this sermon by Greg Boyd some 15 years ago, and I’m still coming back to it today! I can’t wait to share it with you. (Read his book on this topic called Seeing Is Believing.)

Back to my inner work and desire to be a more joyful servant of God. This past year, God gave me a word/phrase and an image that captures the person He is inviting me to become as I yield to the Spirit and do the inner work. Using AI technology, I recently had fun creating the image above that beautifully captures this self I am moving toward. I call it my imago vita, or “image for life.” Like a personal “life verse” to guide my way,  this image is framed in my study as a daily reminder of who God is making me. 

In this series, we’ll invite you to seek God for your own imago vita, and use AI to generate your own special image to print and frame if you wish. Perhaps we’ll spend a Sunday sharing our images and describing what they mean—wouldn’t that be fun?! Join us the next three Sundays at 5pm at St. Martin’s. MAY 5, 12, & 19