25th May, 2016
Darren Abel
Creativity For This Generation
Interpak Books, Pietermartizburg, South Africa, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-0620668705
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"The book contains what he calls the ‘The Creativity Prayer’, a simple yet profound 130 word prayer which invites God to start to stir His creative spirit within us – ‘Inspire my imagination O! Lord,’ runs one line." |
Finding space to be creative in busy lives can be a challenge – but for the Christian who wants to step into what God’s calling them to be, taking time out to allow God to spark up your creative side is essential.
In Creativity For This Generation, Darren Abel, a New Zealand-based lay minister, unfolds the important role creativity plays in our Christian walk, looking at how the Bible narrative – and in particular stories involving some of the well-known (think Joseph) and, in some cases, much less well-known (think Bezaleel and Aholiab) characters of the Word – illustrates how God can use our creativeness to change not only ourselves but the world around us.
"The ability for creativity lives within us. God gave you rich imagination. You may not have invented or originated YouTube. That ground-breaking creativity does not happen every day. Still, keep pursuing your passions and dreams, and one day you will make a big improvement to your world, and the world of others."
Abel, who is the son of some-time Sight contributor Mike Abel, sets out some clear practices to help get those creative juices flowing – from seeking out alternative ways of looking at things to brainstorming and, importantly, spending time in prayer.
To aid the latter, the book contains what he calls the "The Creativity Prayer", a simple yet profound 130 word prayer which invites God to start to stir His creative spirit within us – "Inspire my imagination O! Lord," runs one line.
Abel also spends time spelling out some of the keys which undergird the creative mind – everything from getting enough rest to putting God first in your life – and addresses some of the issues, like distraction, which can hinder our creativeness.
He also champions the idea of "creativity hubs", bringing together a group of people with the specific idea of generating new ideas and then think about how they may proceed.
There’s some interesting facts scattered throughout – one citing a study showing that 65.4 per cent of all Nobel Prize winners between 1901 and 2000 identified some form of Christianity as their religious preference – accounting for 78.3 per cent of peace prize recipients down to 49.5 per cent of literature prize recipients.
Simply written, Creativity For This Generation, presents aides to bringing about more creativity in your life in a clear and straightforward way and is the sort of book that you’ll dip into again and again. Let those ideas start flowing!
Follow this link to buy this book – Creativity for this generation.
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