[I recommend completing “Knowing God’s Voice” before beginning this study.]

Col 1:16 speaks of Jesus
     1.   Jesus was creator of everything that exists.
     2.   On earth, see Jesus using wide variety & unique methods to meet needs; healing the
     sick, paying taxes, etc.

Creativity Quiz (True/False)
     1.   To be creative means imagining or doing something completely new.
     2.   Only the experts can create anything meaningful.
     3.   Only a gifted minority of people are creative.
     4.   Creativity borders on insanity.
     5.   If you really have creative ability, someone will discover you and recognize your
     talents.
     6.   Ideas are like magic:  you don't have to work for them.
     7.   Creative thinking is nice but impractical.
     8.   Creativity means complexity.
     9.   The best way has already been found.

          All above statements are false.

Not all creative ideas are original
     1.   Albert Einstein
               a.   spent much of his time working in Swiss patent office.
               b.   stimulated by thinking and creativity of others.

     2.   Dale Carnegie
               a.   helped millions live happier, more successful lives.
               b.   "The ideas I stand for are not mine.  I borrowed them from Socrates.  I swiped
          them from Chesterfield.  I stole them from Jesus.  And I put them in a book.  If
          you don't like their rules, whose would you use?"

Many creative people were not "experts"
     1.   Eli Whitney
               a.   invented cotton gin.
               b.   was a school teacher.

     2.   Samuel Morse
               a.   invented telegraph.
               b.   was an artist.

     3.   Robert Fulton
               a.   invented steamboat.
               b.   was an artist.

Creativity can improve with age
     1.   George Bernard Shaw
               a.   dramatist, critic, essayist; one of the most important literary figures of the
          1900's.
               b.   won Nobel Prize for literature at age 69.

     2.   Thomas Jefferson
               a.   developed many innovative ideas and gadgets (visit Monticello).
               b.   most of them after he retired, in his 70's and 80's.

     3.   Alexander Graham Bell
               a.   perfected the telephone at 58.
               b.   solved problem of stabilizing airplanes in his 70's.

     4.   Benjamin Franklin
               a.   produced one of his greatest works of writing at 84.

     5.   A study:
               a.   examined 1,000 creative achievements.
               b.   average age of creator when creativity occurred:  74.
               c.   the more we use our creative abilities, the better they become.
               d.   age & maturity can provide greater insight.

Creativity is no accident
     1.   Definitions
               a.   purist form of creativity is God's:  ability to create something out of nothing.
               b.   man's creativity is really inventiveness:  combining existing things in a new
          way.
               c.   we'll use "creativity" in general sense.

     2.   In this series:
               a.   we will learn to draw on God's creative abilities.
               b.   we will learn to overcome our limitations and preconceived ideas.
               c.   we will learn to apply creative abilities to real situations.

What kind of creativity?
     1.   Not about painting pictures, writing music or inventing machines.
               a.   About every-day activities.
               b.   Innovative solutions at work, at home, wherever you are.

     2.   Learned by training & experience, certain ways are effective.
               a.   Proven methods work, spend lots of time learning & refining them.
               b.   When "this" situation exists, use "this" method.
               c.   Humans think by association, that's how our brains work, so the "cookbook"
          method of problem solving is natural.
               d.   But may be a more effective way for any given situation.
               e.   If you do things the world's way, the natural way, you may get good results.
               f.   If you do things God's way, the supernatural way, you'll get superior results &
          more consistently effective results.
               g.   Question:  Are you satisfied with good results, or would you prefer superior
          results?

     3.   Right perspective
               a.   This is not rejecting traditional methods for the sake of doing something new.
               b.   Not rejecting what other people say just because I think my ideas are better.
               c.   Those approaches are based on self-centeredness, "What I want or think is
          better."
               d.   This is about being sensitive to God, being willing to follow him if he says to
          do something differently.

Journaling an integral part of this series
     1.   Journaling is simply writing out your prayers & God's answers.

     2.   How can you journal about "secular" things?
               a.   If you define "secular" as something completely irrelevant to your relationship
          with God, there is nothing secular in your life.
                         i.   Col 3:17
                         ii.  Col 3:23
               b.   If you can ask God to help you make a wise business or financial decision, you
          can write it down.
               c.   Key:  learning to rely on God in every aspect of your life.

     3.   Difficulty trusting what God says
               a.   Accept that as natural (sinful nature, but natural)
               b.   If you need to, try an experiment:
                         i.   Skip what God says in your journal, do it the way you think best; record
               the results.
                         ii.  Next time, do it the way God seems to say; record the results.
                         iii. Compare results.  Did you do any worse doing it God's way?
                         iv.  Allow the results to convince you.

Conclusions
     1.   God knows the best way to solve every problem & meet every need.

     2.   You would be wise to depend on God's solutions.

     3.   Purpose of this study:  show you how.
                            Supplement

Creativity & Change
     1.   often linked together
     2.   creativity often need to respond successfully to change
     3.   creativity results in change

We all change
     1.   Major physical change:  growing up
               a.   anyone who didn't change physically after birth, considered deformed, stunted,
          handicapped.
     2.   Major mental change:  education.
               a.   anyone who didn't change intellectually after birth, considered retarded.
     3.   Major spiritual change:  godliness
               a.   anyone who didn't change spiritually after salvation, considered carnal.

We are all creative
     1.   Creativity needed to respond successfully to change.
     2.   Our creative responses are based partly on who we are
               a.   Type of character/personality.
               b.   5 people faced with identical situation, each is likely to respond differently or
          have different reason for his response.
     3.   Our creative responses also are based on our experience.
               a.   training, personal experience, role models, peer pressure.
     4.   Anyone who is not creative in observable way, considered unimaginative, stuck in rut.
               a.   Tend to do only what they have done before, whether successful or not.
               b.   Creativity/change involve risk — uncertainty, fear, stress
                         i.   All change is stressful, even pleasant change
                         ii.  Feel safer, more comfortable to stay with existing situation.
                         iii. Someone who is generally fearful resist change, not willing to be
               creative.

Your environment is constantly changing
     1.   New opportunities, new products, new technology, new dangers, new problems.
     2.   Tendency is to compare current situation with a previous one, remember how you
     solved or adapted to the previous situation and how successful you were, then decide
     what to do about current situation.
     3.   As environment changes, however, so does your list of resources.  You may have
     resources can use in current situation, didn't have in previous ones.
     4.   Purpose of course:  introduce you to resource you may not have used in past, show you
     how to use this resource in wide variety of applications.

"The only person who likes change is a wet baby."
"I'm not creative" is a self-fulfilling prophecy.