July 28, 1998
What would you do if you owned a business and your customers complained continually that your parking lot was full of kids on skateboards? Most businesses put up signs. There is one at our local mall that says NO SKATEBOARDING IN THE PARKING LOT.
Signs like these make customers and shoppers happy, but what about the youngsters who like to skateboard? After meeting with his church board, a youth pastor in Florida came up with a novel solution. A local youth staged a protest demonstration about off limits signs that kept them from having fun. This pastor in Dunedin, Florida showed up and invited them to use the church lot. Thus began “Live Wire,” a program for skateboarders and their friends.
Each Tuesday, the church parking lot is open from 6:00 to 7:00 for skateboarding, skating, and pickup basketball. Then the church offers food and a short Bible study, followed by more games. Because they feel welcome, young people are attending the study and learning that Jesus loves them too.
Christians soon discover that the Holy Spirit is quite willing to give wisdom and creative solutions to all who ask Him for it. I recall one of our sons being threatened by two older and larger boys at school. I prayed for wisdom and God gave me an interesting idea.
I told my son to tell those two boys he would be in big trouble with his parents if he got into any fights. Instead, why not come over to our house and they could don boxing gloves and have it out in our garage?
Our son was puzzled. What if they came? I said, “Before you have your fight, I will serve milk and cookies.” He laughed and left for school. When he came home, he was laughing again. The boys decided they should be his friends and the conflict was over.
James 1 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
That sounds easy but there is one catch to it. James goes on: “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”
God gives wisdom to those who believe in Him, to those who trust that He will. We are not given the option of asking then when we get an idea, second-guess it or wonder if it is from God or if it will work. In my son’s situation, we could have let the idea “what if they come” grow into real doubt that the plan would work. Instead, we trusted that God gave the idea and since His idea’s are good, it would work. We could go ahead, placing our confidence in Him for the outcome.
God also gives practical wisdom. He knew that skateboarders need to use their skills in an appropriate place. He also knew that these young people needed to know that someone cares about them and that He also cares about them. He gave a good idea to a youth pastor who saw the problem as an opportunity to seek God’s wisdom.
Whatever the problem, our God is wise enough to give us answers. The problem may not be quickly solved, but if we trust Him, He will lead us through to an amazing resolution, one that we would not have thought of without His help.
Showing posts with label creativity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creativity. Show all posts
Friday, June 23, 2017
Friday, February 12, 2016
Where did the idea of God come from? ............. Parables 392
October 19, 1990
Have you seen the marvelous mouthwash commercial featuring a rooster who takes a swig, swishes it around, gargles, then breaks into song? What a delightful example of our incredible capacity to create. We see more of it everywhere, in art galleries, book stores, advertising, every place human hands have touched.
With this remarkable creative capacity, some conclude the idea of God is another one of our inventions. With that suggestion, some definitions are in order. First, which god is meant?
Some have observed there seems to be a force in the universe that permeates all and holds all things together. Plato and Socrates articulated this vague concept. Some have called it “god”.
Another “god” has been defined as an extension of a universal force that permeates the soul and being of all men, the so-called god-within. By this explanation, Shirley McLean claims there is a “god”, even that she is herself “god”, as do many others who embrace the religion of the New Age.
These are two concepts conceived by creative thinkers who may possibly be trying to understand a Something that they are certain exists. For them, it appears there is a god but the nature of its identity is impersonal and open to interpretation. In other words, “god” is up to human definition.
On the other hand, Christians believe there is a Being called God who created us in His image. Because of that, we have this capacity to create other things. We believe if God is someone man created, then man is god, and God amounts to little more than nothing.
Far from nothing, our understanding of God includes a universal force, that is He is infinite and omnipotent; His power pervades all of the cosmos, but He is more than a force. We know that is true because He did not leave us guessing about His nature; He revealed Himself, an element that makes Him different from man-created gods.
Why would man invent a god like this God? If we are that inventive, why not create something that is tangible, something we can see as well as worship, something that can be proven, and dissected and completely understood in any human language?
Looking at it rationally, how could we invent someone that is all we are not? We create based on what we know, observe and experience with our senses. While we may imagine things we have never seen, like roosters gargling mouthwash, we have seen roosters and we know about gargling mouthwash.
The God of the Bible is all that we are not. He is omnipotent or all-powerful. He says, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27) There are too many impossibilities in my world to imagine or invent a Being who is thwarted by none of them.
This God is also omnipresent, everywhere at once. The psalmist said, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” He is that because He is, as Jesus said, Spirit. We cannot imagine that. We can imagine a ghost roughly shaped like a human being but we cannot envision Someone who occupies all space yet is not any of the things in that space, never mind an omnipresent God who is also personal. He has no head, no feet, yet He loves us. How could we make up something like that?
God is also omniscience, or all-knowing. The psalmist wrote, “O LORD, you have searched me, and you know me. You know when I sit and when rise; you perceive my thought from afar.... You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely.... Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”
Exactly!
Have you seen the marvelous mouthwash commercial featuring a rooster who takes a swig, swishes it around, gargles, then breaks into song? What a delightful example of our incredible capacity to create. We see more of it everywhere, in art galleries, book stores, advertising, every place human hands have touched.
With this remarkable creative capacity, some conclude the idea of God is another one of our inventions. With that suggestion, some definitions are in order. First, which god is meant?
Some have observed there seems to be a force in the universe that permeates all and holds all things together. Plato and Socrates articulated this vague concept. Some have called it “god”.
Another “god” has been defined as an extension of a universal force that permeates the soul and being of all men, the so-called god-within. By this explanation, Shirley McLean claims there is a “god”, even that she is herself “god”, as do many others who embrace the religion of the New Age.
These are two concepts conceived by creative thinkers who may possibly be trying to understand a Something that they are certain exists. For them, it appears there is a god but the nature of its identity is impersonal and open to interpretation. In other words, “god” is up to human definition.
On the other hand, Christians believe there is a Being called God who created us in His image. Because of that, we have this capacity to create other things. We believe if God is someone man created, then man is god, and God amounts to little more than nothing.
Far from nothing, our understanding of God includes a universal force, that is He is infinite and omnipotent; His power pervades all of the cosmos, but He is more than a force. We know that is true because He did not leave us guessing about His nature; He revealed Himself, an element that makes Him different from man-created gods.
Why would man invent a god like this God? If we are that inventive, why not create something that is tangible, something we can see as well as worship, something that can be proven, and dissected and completely understood in any human language?
Looking at it rationally, how could we invent someone that is all we are not? We create based on what we know, observe and experience with our senses. While we may imagine things we have never seen, like roosters gargling mouthwash, we have seen roosters and we know about gargling mouthwash.
The God of the Bible is all that we are not. He is omnipotent or all-powerful. He says, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27) There are too many impossibilities in my world to imagine or invent a Being who is thwarted by none of them.
This God is also omnipresent, everywhere at once. The psalmist said, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” He is that because He is, as Jesus said, Spirit. We cannot imagine that. We can imagine a ghost roughly shaped like a human being but we cannot envision Someone who occupies all space yet is not any of the things in that space, never mind an omnipresent God who is also personal. He has no head, no feet, yet He loves us. How could we make up something like that?
God is also omniscience, or all-knowing. The psalmist wrote, “O LORD, you have searched me, and you know me. You know when I sit and when rise; you perceive my thought from afar.... You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely.... Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”
Exactly!
Friday, October 4, 2013
Guard your mind ....................... Parables 027
There is a phenomenon known as “writers’ block.” It happens periodically to authors, whereby something seems to impede the flow of ideas. It can last for a few minutes, or it can obstruct creativity for a long time.
For the present, I’ve not experienced writers’ block to any great degree. However, I do not attribute that to some superior creative skill or imaginative powers. I have no more potential in that department than anyone who writes or aspires to write.
Creativity is a God-given characteristic. Made in the image of the Creator and molded in His likeness, our creativity expresses itself in the kitchen, under the hood of old cars, in front of an easel, or on the blank walls of old buildings. Everyone creates, in one way or another.
Behind inventive activity is the faculty of imagination. We first create in our minds. Some ideas are good, but too often creative thinking is self-centered, wasted on useless pursuits, foolishness, or even evil schemes. My mind is capable of ideas that, if carried out, would be highly destructive. My imagination can pervert and twist reality, justify sin, and even call evil good. All rebellion against God begins with such sinful thoughts. No wonder He warns, “Guard your (mind) with all diligence, for out of it proceeds the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
The battle of diligently guarding my mind has shown me that avoiding evil input is the least of the problem. Foul thoughts pop up without any obvious provocation, threatening to change the course of my behavior. Trying to put them out is not always easy. Vital to their control is the principle of replacement, but again, I must be careful what replacements are used.
Many times I thank God that He has provided marvelous resources from which Christians can draw their thoughts and ideas. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says that we actually have the mind of Christ. Because of this provision, it is possible to win victories in this battle to guard what is going on inside our heads.
The Bible says that God’s thought are higher than my thoughts (Isaiah 55:9) and the psalmist says, “How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand . . . ”
Personally, I find that very exciting. Those who have the mind of Christ have the capacity to never run out of creative and godly ways to think. The challenges of writing articles, or doing anything else for that matter, become opportunities to rely on the Lord and to discover that He never stops creating.
For the present, I’ve not experienced writers’ block to any great degree. However, I do not attribute that to some superior creative skill or imaginative powers. I have no more potential in that department than anyone who writes or aspires to write.
Creativity is a God-given characteristic. Made in the image of the Creator and molded in His likeness, our creativity expresses itself in the kitchen, under the hood of old cars, in front of an easel, or on the blank walls of old buildings. Everyone creates, in one way or another.
Behind inventive activity is the faculty of imagination. We first create in our minds. Some ideas are good, but too often creative thinking is self-centered, wasted on useless pursuits, foolishness, or even evil schemes. My mind is capable of ideas that, if carried out, would be highly destructive. My imagination can pervert and twist reality, justify sin, and even call evil good. All rebellion against God begins with such sinful thoughts. No wonder He warns, “Guard your (mind) with all diligence, for out of it proceeds the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
The battle of diligently guarding my mind has shown me that avoiding evil input is the least of the problem. Foul thoughts pop up without any obvious provocation, threatening to change the course of my behavior. Trying to put them out is not always easy. Vital to their control is the principle of replacement, but again, I must be careful what replacements are used.Many times I thank God that He has provided marvelous resources from which Christians can draw their thoughts and ideas. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says that we actually have the mind of Christ. Because of this provision, it is possible to win victories in this battle to guard what is going on inside our heads.
The Bible says that God’s thought are higher than my thoughts (Isaiah 55:9) and the psalmist says, “How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand . . . ”
Personally, I find that very exciting. Those who have the mind of Christ have the capacity to never run out of creative and godly ways to think. The challenges of writing articles, or doing anything else for that matter, become opportunities to rely on the Lord and to discover that He never stops creating.
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