CREATIVITY

CREATIVITY

“Quality of Life Series”

10/19/06

LEADER: Creativity = to invent, to come up with a new way of presenting ideas, concepts and useful things.
Creative people have a way of always keeping life interesting, innovative and invigorating.
FROM: The Benefits of God’s Gift of Creativity By Paul Fritz EXCERT

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=36616

HAVE SOMEONE READ: QUOTE #1

http://www.entwagon.com/cgi-bin/quotes/quotes.pl?cat=Creativity&id=2

“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”
Edward De Bono 1933-, British Writer On Thinking Process

HAVE SOMEONE READ: QUOTE #2

http://www.entwagon.com/cgi-bin/quotes/quotes.pl?cat=Creativity&id=2

“The essential part of creativity is not being afraid to fail.”
Edwin H. Land 1909-1991,

American Scientist, Inventor of the Polaroid Camera & Co.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “To Be Creative”

Joyce Brothers in Homemade, January, 1987.

http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/c/creativity.htm

The most important way parents can help children be creative is to teach them not to fear failure. To be creative, people need to explore and try new things. Also, children need to learn to tolerate being laughed at. Creative people are willing to risk criticism and aren't afraid to be different. Trap: Stressing success. Children whose parents have emphasized achievement over exploration are more inclined to try only things they know they do well. These activities make them feel secure in their abilities, but they don't lead to fulfilling success.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: QUOTE #3

http://www.quoteland.com/topic.asp?CATEGORY_ID=38

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."

Scott Adams, cartoonist behind the national favorite Dilbert

HAVE SOMEONE READ: QUOTE #4

http://www.entwagon.com/cgi-bin/quotes/quotes.pl?cat=Creativity&id=2

“A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.”
Frank Capra 1897-1991, Italian Film Director

HAVE SOMEONE READ: QUOTE #5

http://www.entwagon.com/cgi-bin/quotes/quotes.pl?cat=Creativity&id=2

“A truly creative person rids him or herself of all self-imposed limitations.”
Gerald G. Jampolsky, American Psychiatrist, Lecturer, Author

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “Mental Blocks”

Roger von Oech, A Whack on the Side of the Head, p. 9, quoted in

Swindoll, The Quest for Character, Multnomah, p. 200.

http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/c/creativity.htm

Mental blocks to creativity:

1. The right answer.
2. That's not logical
3. Follow the rules
4. Be practical
5. Avoid ambiguity
6. To err is wrong
7. Play is frivolous
8. That's not my area
9. Don't be foolish
10. I'm not creative

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “Creativity And Innovation” #1

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=35345

Let me share with you a few of my least favorite phrases:
* "We’ve never done it that way before"

ANSWER: Why not? or "There’s a first time for everything"
* "We tried that once and it failed"

ANSWER: Then let’s figure out why it failed and try again
* "It can’t be done"

ANSWER: It can be done.
Are you a possibility person? Are you a person who sees obstacles and labels them "challenges to overcome"? Do you tend to see difficulties or opportunities? When you hear a new idea, do you immediately think of ten reasons why it’s impossible, impractical, inadvisable - or do you start thinking of how it could be made to work?
We can be possibility people. This is not some "power of positive thinking." We believe in a big God who calls us to accomplish big things, and who gives us the resources to do them. We believe that when God calls us do something, He makes it possible. He provides the tools, the people, the finances, the skills, the opportunities - everything we need.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: QUOTE #6

http://www.entwagon.com/cgi-bin/quotes/quotes.pl?cat=Creativity&id=2

“Creativity, as has been said, consists largely of rearranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know. Hence, to think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.”
George Kneller – Author

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “Rock Solution”

Bits & Pieces, October 15, 1992, pp. 9-10.

http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/c/creativity.htm

When St. Petersburg, one of the most splendid and harmonious cities in Europe, was being laid out early in the eighteenth century, many large boulders brought by a glacier from Finland had to be removed.

One particularly large rock was in the path of one of the principal avenues that had been planned, and bids were solicited for its removal. The bids submitted were very high. This was understandable, because at that time modern equipment did not exist and there were no high-powered explosives. As officials pondered what to do, a peasant presented himself and offered to get rid of the boulder for a much lower price than those submitted by other bidders. Since they had nothing to lose, officials gave the job to the peasant.

The next morning he showed up with a crowd of other peasants carrying shovels. They began digging a huge hole next to the rock. The rock was propped up with timbers to prevent it from rolling into the hole. When the hole was deep enough, the timber props were removed and the rock dropped into the hole below the street level. It was then covered with dirt, and the excess dirt was carted away.

It's an early example of what creative thinking can do to solve a problem. The unsuccessful bidders only thought about moving the rock from one place to another on the city's surface. The peasant looked at the problem from another angle. He considered another dimension -- up and down. He couldn't lift it up, so he put it underground.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: QUOTE #7

http://www.entwagon.com/cgi-bin/quotes/quotes.pl?cat=Creativity&id=2

“Creative activity could be described as a type of learning process where teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.”
Arthur Koestler 1905-1983, Hungarian Born British Writer

HAVE SOMEONE READ: QUOTE #8

http://www.quoteland.com/topic.asp?CATEGORY_ID=38

"An inventor a man who looks upon the world and is not contented with things as they are. He wants to improve whatever he sees, he wants to benefit the world."

Alexander Graham Bell 1847-1922 Inventor

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “Johnson & Johnson”

Three Minutes a Day, Vol. 27, Christopher Books.

http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/c/creativity.htm

When we think of creativity, we tend to picture a composer or an artist at work on a masterpiece. But creativity is simply a new approach to anything. Earle Dickson, an employee of Johnson & Johnson, married a young woman who was accident-prone. Johnson & Johnson sold large surgical dressings in individual packages, but these were not practical for small cuts and burns. Dickson put a small wad of sterile cotton and gauze in the center of an adhesive strip to hold it in place. Finally, tired of making up these little bandages every time one was needed, he got the idea of making them in quantity and using crinoline fabric to temporarily cover the adhesive strip. When the bandage was needed, the two pieces of crinoline could easily be peeled off, producing a small, ready-to-use bandage.

The firm's president, James Johnson, saw Dickson put one of his homemade bandages on his finger. Impressed by its convenience, he decided to start mass-producing them under the name Band-Aids. Dickson had been looking for a way to handle a small problem, and in the process he invented a useful new product.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “Great Composers”

Ernest Newman, in Bits & Pieces, September 1990.

http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/c/creativity.htm

Great composers do not set down to work because they are inspired, but become inspired because they are working. Beethoven, Wagner, Bach, and Mozart settled down day after day to the job in hand with as much regularity as an accountant settles down each day in his figures. They didn't waste time waiting for inspiration.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “A Mind Stretched”

Bits & Pieces, April 29, 1993, pp. 5-7

http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/c/creativity.htm

A mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.

During periods of great change, answers don't last very long but a question is worth a lot. The word question is derived from the Latin quaerere (to seek), which is the same root as the word quest. A creative life is a continued quest, and good questions are useful guides. We have found that the most useful questions are open-ended; they allow a fresh, unanticipated answer to reveal itself. These are the kind of questions children aren't afraid to ask. They seem naive at first. But think how different our lives would be if certain questions of wonder were never asked. Jon Collins of Stanford's Graduate School of Business has compiled the following list of questions of wonder:

· Albert Einstein: What would a light wave look like to someone keeping pace with it?

· Bill Bowerman (inventor of Nike shoes): What happens if I pour rubber into my waffle iron?

· Fred Smith (founder of Federal Express): Why can't there be reliable overnight mail service?

· Godfrey Hounsfield (inventor of the CAT scanner): Why can't we see in three dimensions what is inside a human body without cutting it open?

· Masaru Ibuka (honorary chairman, Sony): Why don't we remove the recording function and speakers and put headphones in the recorder? (Result: the Sony Walkman.)

Many of these questions are deemed ridiculous at first.

Other shoe companies thought Bowerman's waffle shoe was a "really stupid idea."
Godfrey Hounsfield was told the CAT scan was "impractical."
Masaru Ibuka got comments like: "A recorder with no speaker and no recorder -- are you crazy?"
Fred Smith proposed the idea of Federal Express in a paper at Yale and got a C.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “Physics Question”

Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, 1987, Word Books Publisher, pp. 183-185.

http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/c/creativity.htm

Sometime ago, I received a call from a colleague who asked if I would be the referee on the grading of an examination question. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, while the student claimed he should receive a perfect score and would if the system were not set up against the student. The instructor and the student agreed to submit this to an impartial arbiter, and I was selected. I went to my colleague's office and read the examination question: "Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer."

The student had answered: "Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower the barometer to the street, and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of the rope is the height of the building." I pointed out that the student really had a strong case for full credit, since he had answered the question completely and correctly. On the other hand, if full credit were given, it could well contribute to a high grade for the student in his physics class. A high grade is supposed to certify competence in physics, but the answer did not confirm this. I suggested that the student have another try at answering the question. I was not surprised that my colleague agreed, but I was surprised that the student did.

I gave the student six minutes to answer the question, with the warning that his answer should show some knowledge of physics. At the end of five minutes, he had not written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said no. He had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one. I excused myself for interrupting and asked him to please go on. In the next minute, he dashed off his answer which read: "Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then using the formula S = 1/2 at2, calculate the height of the building."

At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He conceded, and gave the student almost full credit. In leaving my colleagues' office, I recalled that the student had said he had other answers to the problem, so I asked him what they were.

"Oh, yes," said the student, "there are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer. For example, you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of a simple proportion, determine the height of the building."

"Fine," I said. "And others?"

"Yes," said the student. "There is a very basic measurement method that you will like. In this method, you take the barometer and begin to walk up the stairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units. A very direct method. "Of course, if you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum, and determine the value of 'g' at the street level and at the top of the building. From the difference between the two values of 'g', the height of the building can, in principle, be calculated.

"Finally," he concluded, "there are many other ways of solving the problem. Probably the best is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows: 'Mr. Superintendent, here I have a fine barometer. If you well tell me the height of this building, I will give you this barometer."

At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think ... and to explore the deep inner logic of the subject in a pedantic way, as is often done in the new mathematics, rather than teaching him the structure of the subject.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “Raising Your Creative Quotient” By Gary Gonzales

http://www.ctlibrary.com/5447 Christianity Today 10/07/06

“Creativity is far less subjective and ethereal than some make it sound.”
—Gary Gonzales

Someone once asked William Barclay how he had become such a prolific writer. The key, he said, is learning to apply the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair.

Creativity is far less subjective and ethereal than some make it sound. As much a function of our habits as our "genius" or inspiration, creativity takes discipline.

To enhance your creativity, know your moods

Perhaps you've heard the old saying about diet: "Mornings are gold, lunch is bronze, and dinner is lead." Well, the same applies to personal energy levels.

A few months ago, a lay leader handed me a newspaper article outlining the body's daily rhythms. It underscored how, for most people, mornings provide peak energy and concentration. Quick recall and analytical reasoning are strongest in the a.m.

Conversely, the infamous "afternoon grogs," the inability to focus, hits from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., with a short reprieve from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., especially in recall.

By evening most people are downshifting, except for the late-night geniuses who hit their creative stride from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Knowing this, I safeguard morning hours for the challenges of praying, studying, writing, and creative thinking. I no longer feel guilty when my engines are revving low. I pace myself, husbanding my energy for creative times.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “Legacy” By Brent Nidiffer and Jamie Shell

http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200106/20010608_legacy.html

At age five, he wrote an advanced concerto for the harpsichord. Before he was ten, he had published several violin sonatas and was playing the best of Handel and Bach from memory. Soon after his twelfth birthday, he composed and conducted his first opera. He was awarded an honorary appointment as concert-master with the Salzburg Symphony Orchestra and within a few years, was hailed as the pride of Salzburg. When he died at the age of thirty-five, he had written forty-eight symphonies, forty-seven arias, duets, and quarters with orchestral accompaniment, and more than a dozen operas. He is credited with some 600 original compositions in all!

Even so, Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Amadeus Theophilus Mozart lived most of his life in poverty and died in obscurity. His sick widow seemed indifferent about his death. A few friends made it to the church for his funeral, but a storm prohibited their going to the graveside for his burial. The location of his grave thus became virtually impossible to identify. No shrine marks his resting place. Why? Partially because of his excesses that robbed him of relationships and depleted his physical energies, partially because he was ahead of his time with his music.

For all his faults and excesses, Mozart left behind a legacy that far out lived his contemporaries. Why? He shared his God-given gifts through his music. Mozart’s legacy is his music, not his life. But, imagine how much more powerful Mozart’s influence would have been if he had been less prone to excess and to indiscretion; if he had only learned to deal with human relationships as well as he had the wonderful relationships of notes, harmonies, counter melodies, orchestration, and time signatures. What would have happened if he had lived as well as he composed!

In Matthew 25:21, Jesus describes the reaction of the Father if we wisely use the gifts, abilities, and resources he entrusted to us: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things." God is praising a life of character that utilized the opportunities, gifts, and resources that were shared with them. This person’s understanding of God and his generosity, this person’s willingness to take risks to honor God and his trust, and this person’s faithfulness in handling what was shared earned the Father’s approval: “Well done!”

The legacy of Mozart is the enduring gift of music he shared and the tragedy of a great talent whose life and personal influence were cut short by his own failures. What we share with others of our talent, creativity, resources, energy, insight, love... is only part of the legacy we leave behind. The other part will be found in the people we impact, and those we impact through our influence upon them. Let’s couple the use of our gifts and our character together. Let’s live today, using what God has given to us and entrusted in us, so that our legacy is, “Well done!”

HAVE SOMEONE READ: QUOTE #9

http://www.entwagon.com/cgi-bin/quotes/quotes.pl?cat=Creativity&id=2

“The whole difference between construction and creation is this; that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists.”
Charles Dickens 1812-1870, British Novelist

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “The Painter’s Pallette”

http://www.sermonillustrator.org/illustrator/sermon3b/painters_palette.htm

The room was redolent; with smells of paint, thinner, and turpentine. Sunlight shone brightly into the bay windows encased on all four sides of the enclosure, ensuring 'perfect' lighting at all times. This was a wondrous room, befitting an artist of his renown.
Completed portraits sat as sentinels along the walls and hung on every inch of space the room afforded. He smiled as he surveyed his completed works. There, before his eyes, were the miracles of his life's work, his creations, perhaps not perfect to the eye of other beholders, but to him, sublime. Slowly he walked around the room, pausing before each checking for flaws or blemishes overlooked.
After circling the perimeter, satisfied with all, he proceeded to the center of the room. He scrutinized the prepared canvas, searching for anything that might hinder his creative flow. Then, he moved on to the table that held unopened tubes of paint, an empty palette, and all the brushes needed for this project.
He picked up the clean and empty palette, then paused. He began speaking, as though to himself. Yet, he knew he was not alone. It always helped his creativity by speaking aloud that which he envisioned beforehand. Each word helped the 'birthing' process along.
Next, he opened his paints. Carefully, he chose his colors: brown, black, white, blue, green, and yellow, all forming a circle (which to him represented the circle of life). In the center of the circle, he placed a dab of red - dark, bright - like blood.
The next step, he referred to as the gestational stage. Using a charcoal pencil, he sketched in lines, shapes, and forms - shadowy, embryonic illusions - hinting at what was to come. After completing this step, he once again paused. Tilting his head first right, then left, he reached out his finger to smudge a few lines here and there. These smudges would represent the imperfect world into which his creation would be born.
He finally picked up the paint-laden palette. From here, his masterpiece would emerge. With black, he filled in the outline; still speaking, to his unseen audience, the story of his vision for the incomplete portrait he told. He regaled how the brown represented the dirt from which man stems. Hills and valleys, the difficulties we all face, he designed in carefully. Against a blue sky, he added gray clouds for the overcast days ahead. He painted in green grass and trees to remind others, each spring, a renewal takes place. A sun of vibrant yellow reflected the glory of each new day.
At first glance, it appeared to be a background he was painting. But upon closer inspection, the features of a face were taking on a more realistic form. He, then, blended all the colors together and painted in the more distinguishing features.
First, he painted in eyes, soulful and wounded, yet able to sparkle with life and joy. A nose, turned up in disdain or looking down on someone, but also classic when not affronted. The mouth turned up in a winsome smile, but could just as easily frown in despair. Cheekbones; high, low or sunken, they changed mysteriously on their own. A pair of ears that would hear or, perhaps not. Finally hair, again mysteriously, that changed color, texture, and length with each new glance.
Now, the painter's palette lay devoid of all color. As he gazed upon his nearly completed work, he beamed, exuberantly, pleased with his creation.
He put the final touch to the portrait, His palm print that left a bright red spot representing both His name and the blood He shed in order to purchase the canvas. In addition, on the back He gave the portrait a name - YOURS - written in the same red signifying the blood He shed for YOU.
You see, you came forth from "The Painter's Palette" and the artist is none other than Jesus Christ, Himself. He drew you in His mind and heart long, before you actually came into existence, and spoke you into being, along with the Father and Holy Spirit. He considers you a masterpiece. Regardless of past or present circumstances, you are His creation and, in you, He takes delight. What you perceive as blemishes, He believes, only enhances your beauty. Since He is the artist, will you trust and accept yourself as He does? To Him, you are a perfect portrait.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: Genesis 1:26-28,31

And God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.' So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.' -- And God saw every thing that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “Beginning”

http://www.cfdevotionals.org/devpg99/de991029.htm EXCERPT

Five exciting days happened, one right after the other. Void, emptiness and then BOOM!! ~Light~ ~Air~ ~Dry land and vegetation~ ~Sun, moon and stars~ ~Fish and fowl~ ~Animals~ All of these spoken into being by an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present God. He was setting the stage for His most precious creation of all -- man and man's beloved helper, woman.

Everything was perfect. God saw that it was good. I often wonder if some of the colors of the plumage on the birds, and some of the varieties within the species are visible signs that He was having fun. A duckbilled platypus? "Let us make these colors work together on that bird." God's paintbrush swept across time and space and it was so.

Then in His final act, the Lord God in His triune presence spoke and moved and fashioned His very purpose for creation. And it was very good. All for the man whom He loved for all time. He formed man from the dust, made woman from man's rib and told them that the whole earth was theirs to romp in, work in and multiply in. It was very good.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “God Created Man”

http://www.todayintheword.org/GenMoody/default.asp?SectionID=ABECA3F4F745454090BB3C5F613C9CE7&month=08&day=08&year=2004

Human creativity is often inspired by God’s creativity--creativity is part of His image in us. Creativity is the first of His qualities that we see in action, and it certainly dominates the context of today’s verse. Creativity is also at the core of the first specific task or responsibility God gave to Adam: naming the animals. God brought the animals to him “to see what he would name them” (v. 19). It’s instructive that Adam’s first act of stewardship over creation was imaginative--how much fun he must have had pondering the snail, the ostrich, and the hippopotamus!

Another purpose was to look for a suitable partner for Adam, but none could be found in the animal kingdom. So God made Eve from one of the man’s ribs, and Adam had one more name to give. For the first time we hear what it is--“woman”--and learn the reason--because “she was taken out of man” (v. 23). As Adam obediently exercised his linguistic creativity to name the animals and Eve, He reflected the glory of his Creator.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “God’s Creativity” #1 By Jeffery Aneslmi EXCERPT

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=33611&page=2

Science tells us that we came to be by an accident of nature. They tell us that we evolved from a lower form of life. They say that one-day for no particular reason, life began.
We are taught about survival of the fittest, how man basically made it to the top of the food chain. We are told that though natural selection the traits that we needed evolved and the ones that we did not need died out.
Today I am not here to argue about how we got here per se, but I want you to think about something with me as we continue to look at the Attribute of Our Awesome God. The first three attributes we looked at (omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience) are attributes that God alone possesses.
Today I want us to consider another attribute of God, the attribute of creativity.
If we indeed did evolve and if indeed the traits that we needed to survive surfaced to the top, there are a few questions that science cannot answer.

Where did our appreciation for art, music, literature, poetry evolve?
Where did love evolve?
What does an appreciation for beauty have to do with survival?
Where did our creative ability evolve?

When you look into the animal kingdom, you do not see creativity. Robins sing the same song, Blue Jays sing the same song. Beavers build the same kind of dam.
Spiders of the same type build the same type of web. Birds of the same type build the same nest. Animals do not exhibit creativity.
Birds do not create new music; they sing the songs that were ingrained into their mind by the creator.
Animals do not have the creative abilities that man has. Our God is creative. Look around you, we all do not look the same, we all do not think or act the same.
One of God’s attributes is His creativity.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “God’s Creativity” #2 By Jeffery Aneslmi EXCERPT

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=33611&page=2

The way the God created everything reflects His creativity.

Isaiah 45:18 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens "I am the Lord, and there is none else.”

He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, But formed it to be inhabited. Design is involved in creativity.
God created everything with a designed purpose.

Look at the human body and marvel at God’s creativity.

· The eye. The retina, about one square inch of tissue inside the eye has over 100 million light-receptor cells. These fat cones and slender rods convert light into electro-chemical energy enabling a person to see. The eye is a delicate camera that takes 196 color photos per second. It has its own light meter, protection, cleaning equipment and self-repairing abilities.

· The ear. The ear did not happen by accident. The outer ear collects sound waves from the air and funnels them to the eardrum. The waves cause the eardrum to vibrate. The eardrum can sense frequencies that move the eardrum only one billionth of a centimeter. Vibrations are mechanically transmitted and amplified through the three connecting bones in the inner ear. The mechanical vibrations enter a fluid in the inner ear. The waves are converted into nerve impulses by the 24,000 auditory receptor cells in each ear. The auditory nerve transmits these to the brain, enabling a person to hear. The ear also provides us with balance.

· The heart beats about 100,000 times per day pumping 5.8 tons of blood per day, enough to fill a 4,000 gallon tank car. The entire circulatory system includes passageways totaling about 60,000 miles. The heart is self-lubricating, high capacity and self-regulating.

· Our skeleton makes up one-fifth of our body weight, yet because of its’ design, it is more flexible and stronger for its size than if it were made of steel or wood. A man’s thighbone is strong enough to support the weight of a small car.

· The brain, our skeletal structure, our hands. This took creativity.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “God’s Creativity” #3 By Jeffery Aneslmi EXCERPT

(All these examples come from Lynn Gardners book “Christianity Stands True” College Press 1994)

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=33611&page=2

Look at the variety:
How would you like life if everything was the same, what if we all looked the same, all animals looked the same, there was only one color, we had to eat the same thing all the time. What if we all looked exactly alike?
God shows His creativity in the variety of His creation.
God also shows a sense of humor in some of the things He made. Think about the variety of trees, plants, foods, animals, climates, and landscapes.
The Venus flytrap is an example of creativity. It is a plant, which is an intricate trap with long bristles around its edges. It gives off a sweet smelling odor that entices its prey. When an insect is tempted into the center of the plant and touches

the trigger hairs, the trap snaps shut within one half second capturing the insect.
The archer fish is interesting also. It has complex eyes that bulge out farther than those of a normal fish so it can focus both eyes on a single object. It pushes its bony tongue against the groove in the top of its mouth. Water is brought in through a quick snap of the gills and shot through this barrel and spouted at insects above the water. Allowing for water refraction and wind velocity the archer fish hits with accuracy an insect two or three feet above the water. An evolutionary scientist writing in the Scientific American expressed perplexity about the archer fish. He said the ability to spout was not necessary to its survival so it was difficult to account for its development by natural selection.
God could have made one thing and multiplied it, but God exhibits His creativity by the variety of creation.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “Creativity And Innovation” #2

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=35345

· Consider all the forms of natural beauty in the world. Who created mountains, valleys, rivers, oceans, beaches? Who created sunsets? Light and color?
* Consider all the different kinds tastes and smells and sounds. Who created music?
* Consider the method that God came up with for human reproduction. Makes you wonder what He’s working on next, doesn’t it?
Just look at the diversity of the natural world. If we want to be like God, we must value and enjoy diversity.
* There are at least 350,000 species of beetles [If I were creating beetles, I probably would have stopped at 100,000]
* More than 230,000 species of flowers and flowering plants
* 4,629 species of mammals (from the Bumblebee Bat, 2 grams, to the blue whale, 110 feet long. / 190 tons).
Consider the diversity in size, from tiny subatomic particles with names like quarks, muons, and neutrinos all the way up to the Milky Way galaxy, containing 200 billion suns with a diameter of 100,000 light years. There are approx. 125 billion galaxies in the universe.
Consider the incredible complexity of creation, not only the complexity of individual organisms from the cellular level on up, but also the complexity of the way they all interact and inter-relate within an ecosystem.
The Bible begins with the creation of the "heavens and the earth" and ends with the creation of the new heavens and new earth which are to come.
We value creativity because we are inherently creative
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." -- Genesis 1:27
God is a creative being; we are made in His image; therefore, we are inherently creative. This is not a matter of being "gifted," there is no gift of creativity. It is a matter of expressing the creativity that we all inherently possess.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “Creativity And Innovation” #3

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=35345

The image of man
When you look in Genesis 1:26, we find that God created man in His own image. God could have created us in any image that He wanted to, but He chose to create us in His image. This does not necessarily mean that we look like God, but that we are created in His likeness, we have an eternal soul, we have intellectual capacities, we have free will. We can love and appreciate beauty.
In the introduction I asked where our appreciation for art, literature, music came from? Where did our creativity come from? Why don’t we build the same kind of house like a bird or sing the same songs like the birds?
It is because we did not evolve, but God created us in His image. This should be the starting point of understanding ourselves, the fact that we are created in the image of God, we are God’s children.

HAVE SOMEONE READ: “Prayer For The Working”

Thanks to Tidbits DAILY Devotional tidbits-request@mlists.net

http://www.sermonillustrator.org/illustrator/sermon2c/prayer_for_the_working.htm

"Lord Jesus, as I enter this work place, I bring your presence with me. I speak Your peace, Your grace, and Your perfect order into the atmosphere of this office.
I acknowledge Your Lordship over all that will be spoken, thought, decided, and accomplished within these walls. Lord Jesus, I thank You for the gifts you have deposited in me.
I do not take them lightly but commit to using them responsibly and well. Give me a fresh supply of truth and beauty on which to draw as I do my job.
Anoint my creativity, my ideas, my energy, so that even my smallest task may bring You honour. Lord, when I am confused, guide me. When I am weary, energize me Lord, when I am burned out, infuse me with the light of the Holy Spirit.
May the work that I do and the way I do it, bring hope, life, and courage to all I come in contact with today. And, Oh Lord, even in this day's most stressful moments, may I rest in You.
In the mighty Name that is above all Names, in the Matchless Name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus, I pray, Amen

LEADER: “Creativity And Innovation” #4

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=35345

When you think about it, all of the advances mankind has made are a result of someone using the gift of creativity that God blessed them with.
Our awesome God has displayed His creativity in nature and in you.
God created you and He created the plan of salvation.
God has gifted each one of you with a tremendous amount of creativity and potential.
Let us be challenged to tap into that creativity and find new and exciting ways to serve the Lord…to use our potential for God and His glory.
God created you, God wants the best for you.
Have you ever thought about how creative God is? Next time you are outside take a moment and look at what God has done.

LEADER: Another definition of creativity is:

Using the abilities and gifts God has given us to do His work

FROM: “Creativity” By Paul Fritz

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=36615

LEADER: His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Matthew 25:21

STOP AT 10 TILL FOR

PRAYER REQUESTS AND PRAISES:

CUT AND DISTRIBUTE FOR READING:

QUOTE #1

“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”
Edward De Bono 1933-, British Writer On Thinking Process

QUOTE #2

“The essential part of creativity is not being afraid to fail.”
Edwin H. Land 1909-1991, American Scientist, Inventor of the Polaroid Camera & Co.

“To Be Creative”

QUOTE #3

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."

Scott Adams, cartoonist behind the national favorite Dilbert

QUOTE #4

“A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.”
Frank Capra 1897-1991, Italian Film Director

QUOTE #5

“A truly creative person rids him or herself of all self-imposed limitations.”
Gerald G. Jampolsky, American Psychiatrist, Lecturer, Author

“Mental Blocks”

Mental blocks to creativity:

“Creativity And Innovation” #1

Let me share with you a few of my least favorite phrases:
* "We’ve never done it that way before"

ANSWER: Why not? or "There’s a first time for everything"
* "We tried that once and it failed"

ANSWER: Then let’s figure out why it failed and try again
* "It can’t be done"

QUOTE #6

“Rock Solution”

QUOTE #7

“Creative activity could be described as a type of learning process where teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.”
Arthur Koestler 1905-1983, Hungarian Born British Writer

QUOTE #8

"An inventor a man who looks upon the world and is not contented with things as they are. He wants to improve whatever he sees, he wants to benefit the world."

Alexander Graham Bell 1847-1922 Inventor

“Johnson & Johnson”

“Great Composers”

QUOTE #9

“A Mind Stretched”

A mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.

· Albert Einstein: What would a light wave look like to someone keeping pace with it?

· Bill Bowerman (inventor of Nike shoes): What happens if I pour rubber into my waffle iron?

· Fred Smith (founder of Federal Express): Why can't there be reliable overnight mail service?

· Godfrey Hounsfield (inventor of the CAT scanner): Why can't we see in three dimensions what is inside a human body without cutting it open?

· Masaru Ibuka (honorary chairman, Sony): Why don't we remove the recording function and speakers and put headphones in the recorder? (Result: the Sony Walkman.)

Many of these questions are deemed ridiculous at first.

Genesis 1:26-28,31

“Beginning”

“Physics Question”

"Fine," I said. "And others?"

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE:

'Mr. Superintendent, here I have a fine barometer. If you well tell me the height of this building, I will give you this barometer."

“Raising Your Creative Quotient”

“Creativity is far less subjective and ethereal than some make it sound.”
—Gary Gonzales

Someone once asked William Barclay how he had become such a prolific writer. The key, he said, is learning to apply the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair.

Creativity is far less subjective and ethereal than some make it sound. As much a function of our habits as our "genius" or inspiration, creativity takes discipline.

To enhance your creativity, know your moods

Perhaps you've heard the old saying about diet: "Mornings are gold, lunch is bronze, and dinner is lead." Well, the same applies to personal energy levels.

Conversely, the infamous "afternoon grogs," the inability to focus, hits from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., with a short reprieve from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., especially in recall.

By evening most people are downshifting, except for the late-night geniuses who hit their creative stride from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

“God Created Man”

“Legacy”

“The Painter’s Pallette”

He shed for YOU.
You see, you came forth from "The Painter's Palette" and the artist is none other than Jesus Christ, Himself. He drew you in His mind and heart long, before you actually came into existence, and spoke you into being, along with the Father and Holy Spirit. He considers you a masterpiece. Regardless of past or present circumstances, you are His creation and, in you, He takes delight. What you perceive as blemishes, He believes, only enhances your beauty. Since He is the artist, will you trust and accept yourself as He does? To Him, you are a perfect portrait.

“God’s Creativity” #1

“God’s Creativity” #2

The way the God created everything reflects His creativity.

Isaiah 45:18 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens "I am the Lord, and there is none else.”

Look at the human body and marvel at God’s creativity.

· The brain, our skeletal structure, our hands. This took creativity.

“God Created Man”

“God’s Creativity” #3

“Creativity And Innovation” #3

“Creativity And Innovation” #2

Consider all the forms of natural beauty in the world. Who created mountains, valleys, rivers, oceans, beaches? Who created sunsets? Light and color?
* Consider all the different kinds tastes and smells and sounds. Who created music?
* Consider the method that God came up with for human reproduction. Makes you wonder what He’s working on next, doesn’t it?
Just look at the diversity of the natural world. If we want to be like God, we must value and enjoy diversity.
* There are at least 350,000 species of beetles [If I were creating beetles, I probably would have stopped at 100,000]
* More than 230,000 species of flowers and flowering plants
* 4,629 species of mammals (from the Bumblebee Bat, 2 grams, to the blue whale, 110 feet long. / 190 tons).
Consider the diversity in size, from tiny subatomic particles with names like quarks, muons, and neutrinos all the way up to the Milky Way galaxy, containing 200 billion suns with a diameter of 100,000 light years. There are approx. 125 billion galaxies in the universe.
Consider the incredible complexity of creation, not only the complexity of individual organisms from the cellular level on up, but also the complexity of the way they all interact and inter-relate within an ecosystem.
The Bible begins with the creation of the "heavens and the earth" and ends with the creation of the new heavens and new earth which are to come.
We value creativity because we are inherently creative
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." -- Genesis 1:27
God is a creative being; we are made in His image; therefore, we are inherently creative. This is not a matter of being "gifted," there is no gift of creativity. It is a matter of expressing the creativity that we all inherently possess.

“Prayer For The Working”