creative thinking | Craig T. Owens

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Are You Out Of Your Mind?

June 17, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

I love this thinking thought from James William Fulbright—

“We must dare to think ‘unthinkable’ thoughts. We must learn to explore all the options and possibilities that confront us in a complex and rapidly changing world. We must learn to welcome and not to fear the voices of dissent. We must dare to think about ‘unthinkable things’ because when things become unthinkable, thinking stops and action becomes mindless.”

After you have identified the negative thoughts and you have started thinking creatively, you have to be able to take it further. You have to be able to think unthinkable things.

Too many times we don’t let our minds begin to go into “unknown” places, so we look at everything through the lens of what we’ve experienced in the past. Our thoughts are “in our minds.” When Albert Einstein began to propose that there were more dimensions to our universe than scientists had previously thought, people had a hard time following his reasoning. Even those in the scientific community thought he was “out of his mind.”

One of Einstein’s favorite books was called Flatland. In this book, Square lives in the two-dimensional world that Sphere came to visit. Because Square’s world only has length and width (no height), he can only see the part of Sphere that was on his level. As Sphere moves through Flatland, Square can see different parts of him, but he can never see all of him at the same time. If Sphere moves above Flatland, Square can still hear his voice but cannot see his shape.

So, too, with us. Many times we only perceive what moves through the “line of sight” we have previously experienced. We are—so to speak—in our minds.

But look what God has in store for you—

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him. (1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT)

So here’s how Scripture teaches us to pray—

I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.(Ephesians 3:16-20 NLT)

God wants to do infinitely more than you can ask or think. He wants to show you new dimensions of His greatness and His love—notice that Paul goes out of his way to list four dimensions (wide, long, high, deep) even though we live in a three-dimensional world.

Here’s the question: are you OUT of your mind or IN your mind? In other words, are you only looking for things that you know can happen, or are you believing God for things that are completely OUT OF YOUR MIND?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Corinthians, Albert Einstein, apostle Paul, creative thinking, Ephesians, Flatland, imagination, James William Fulbright, quotes, thinking, thought life. 6 Comments »

Get Your Mind Out Of That Rut!

June 16, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

“Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.” —Apostle Paul (Romans 12:2, The Message)

It’s important to think about your thinking—to analyze why certain thoughts are swirling through your mind. But after you identify unhealthy thoughts, you need some creative thinking to be able to move your life in a new direction. This requires a whole new set of thinking skills that are called critical thinking.

Stephen Brooking described it this way, “Critical thinkers are continually exploring new ways of thinking about their lives…. Critical thinking is complex and frequently perplexing, since it requires the suspension of belief and the jettisoning of assumptions previously accepted without question.”

What have you accepted without question?
What have you become so well-adjusted to that you simply accept it?
Are there things you do just because it’s always been done that way?
Are there some things that you won’t try because it’s never been done that way?

Two warning signs in your thinking are always and never. With the exception of God, everything changes. So when you start thinking in terms of always and never you are essentially saying, “Nothing changes. And I’ve got everything figured out.” This is mind-in-the-rut thinking!

You’ve probably heard this before but it is valuable enough to be repeated—If you always do what you’ve always done you’ll always get what you always got.

If you need a change in your life, start with a change in your thinking. Ask God to help you think in new ways. In talking to His people about what He had done for them in the past God said it was time to think in creative ways—

But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. (Isaiah 43:18-19 NLT)

Don’t let your thinking stay stuck in a rut. Allow God to help you jettison the old ways of thinking and expand your horizons. God will give you greater creativity if you ask Him.