4.5.16 Book Review “Create Vs. Copy” by Ken Wytsma
First off, I owe a huge apology to my friend, Ken Wytsma. I was supposed to read and review his new book like a month ago. I DID read it, but writing/posting the review kept getting delayed due to a lot of travel lately. (Sorry Ken!). I am on yet another airplane from Baltimore to Sacramento, California to start The Bible Tour that I’m speaking on for ChildFund International! I just returned from Senegal, Africa a few weeks ago, and am very excited to see over 3,500 children sponsored! I say all this because Ken’s new book was SO applicable to my life right now! Thank you!
I am SO happy to see someone writing on creativity, the creative process, creative-type people, and the importance of it within christian-culture! I was extremely pleased to receive Ken’s new book “Create Vs. Copy” in the mail!* In my opinion, one of the strongest lines in the new book is:
“Christians who study salvation under a microscope tend to reduce it to a single moment of forgiveness, which highlights the transaction of salvation but removes the process.” (Page 44)
Oh. My. Goodness.
These words were like freshly ground dark roast coffee beans, french-pressed and poured into a real, ceramic mug after an 8 hour international flight with only paper-cup airline coffee. (Can you tell I’ve been traveling too much lately?) From religion to business, we always put more emphasis on the “transaction” than we do on the “process”, but the process can be EVERYTHING, and I’m learning to fall in love with the process again! (It also makes everyday life, work, and travel much more enjoyable when you do so.)
I found this new book to be extremely inspiring for me, especially with lines such as,
“Fall in love with why you’re doing what you’re doing all over again. Creativity feeds on passion.” (Page 50)
“Creative leadership is what the future requires.” (Page 93)
“Pruning is as much a part of the creative process as planting. Part of creativity is choosing what to leave behind in order to move ahead.” (Page 127)
This last quote especially was very encouraging to me. In my role as a spokesperson and consultant for non-profit organizations, I live in a very fast-paced, ever-changing industry. Recently, I was fighting discouragement for some projects that I put hundreds of hours into, but in which we were only seeing minimal results. I had the realization that:
- For every successful campaign I was a part of, there were 5-10 others that failed.
- Lessons learned through the “failed campaigns” helped create “successful campaigns”.
- Sometimes what we view as “failure” is simply a step towards success.
“The bridge between imagination (dreaming up what could be) and innovation (implementing the dream) is intentional creativity.” (Page 136)
Ken speaks directly to my line of work! Often, the organizations that I work for have incredible imagination for what they want to see happen (i.e. community development in impoverished countries), and even specific innovation for how they will implement those goals (i.e. child sponsorship), but what is sometimes lacking is the creativity to move from point A to point B (i.e. how we invite and inspire an audience to sponsor a child). If I can be so bold as to piggyback on Ken’s theme, I would add that imagination and innovation without intentional creativity is simply a spreadsheet. It takes intentional creativity to bring dreams to life!
For you creative-types out there, Ken is actually offering a FREE COLORING BOOK DOWNLOAD as a companion to his new book! Click the coloring book to sign-up. 
I am very thankful for Ken’s new book, his leadership, and his involvement in the fight for social justice around our world. I HIGHLY recommend purchasing the new book, “Create Vs. Copy” today! I was also extremely encouraged to see mention of my friend, Keith Wright (former president of Food For the Hungry), in the book.
For the least of these,
Jeremy Willet
*I received a free copy of “Create Vs. Copy” from Moody Publishers in exchange for an honest review of the book, and I do not receive any compensation from you reading this review or pre-orders / purchases of the book in any way. In my role as a Child Sponsorship Advocate, I attempt to keep my eye out for new resources, books and publications in regards to justice, missions, and poverty. I was thankful for the free copy of this book, and I hope this review shows you how I was inspired by these stories.
