Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Meeting this Saturday

March 4

10 am to noon

Cornerstone Christian Church, Wyckoff, in the Barn
 (red building on the right as you enter the property)

Our Focus Point this week is:

The Practical Side of Passion 




Passion compels us as writers. This Saturday we'll talk about 
stoking our passion and writing from full hearts.

Get the encouragement you need, whether you're an accomplished writer, 
beginner or somewhere in between.

Looking forward to seeing you,
Barbara

February's Focus Point

The Diversity of God
I remember standing in front of the birds on display at the American Museum of Natural History and being overwhelmed by the vastness of God’s creativity. I thought, “If I was given the specifics of an animal that had wings for flying and a beak for eating, and told to create a bird, how many variations could I possibly contrive?” Six? Sixty? The museum exhibits 300 of the 400 species New York City attracts alone. There are almost 10,000 species of birds in the worldtropical birds and arctic birds, fish-eating birds and seed-eating birds, large birds and small birds, drab birds and outrageously colorful birds. The diversity of appearance, habits and habitat is astoundingnot even considering mammals, amphibians and fish. All of this from a wildly imaginative, abundantly creative, generous Creator God, who also made us.  
Having been made in God's image, we not only mirror His creative nature, but are gifted by Him to use our innovative skills for Him. Read what Moses said to the Israelites in Exodus 35:30-33, "See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel … and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship." 
Creativity in craftsmanship also includes crafting words. Chuck Colson wrote this about creativity in language:
The nature of Scripture itself affirms the importance of creativity in language. God did not reveal Himself through a list of essential doctrines or a schematic outline of theology. Instead, He chose to reveal Himself through the writings of a variety of authors over many hundreds of years in just about every type of literature then known to humanity. There are historical narratives, laws, poems and songs, proverbs, prophetic oracles, parables, letters, apocalyptic literature, even genealogies. In producing our own literature, we are following the example of God who gave us a rich literary heritage in His word. (The Image of God and Creativity, colsoncenter.org)
In our writing group, we have often looked at Ephesians 2:10, which calls us God's workmanship who have been created … to do the good works God has prepared for us to do.
My challenge for us today is to step out of the little boxes of time and space where we live. Let's ask the Creator, our Creator, to lead us where we’ve not yet gone and use our skills in new arenas.
Take away thought: Let’s expand our minds to be as broad, diverse and inclusive as our Creator’s.