This book is an extension and a companion piece of my last book, STILL! The Church Culture Clash. The first lays out the problem and challenges. This one further addresses the solution—the SPARK! that penetrates the STILL! They are inseparably linked together.
This writer has been privileged to serve under some great leaders. One stands out tall among them—Paul A. Rader, the 15th General of The Salvation Army. Someone once asked me how I would describe his leadership style in a word. The word that immediately came to mind was Genesis. General Paul Rader ® is a Genesis person. For our purposes here, 'person' and 'leader' are interchangeable, as the one spontaneously flows into the other.
What are the attributes of a Genesis person? Does everyone possess them? If so, how do we detect them and spark the Genesis person within? To do so, we'll employ what this writer has formulated as "The Rader Detection System" as the response to these questions.
The present international leader of The Salvation Army, General Lyndon Buckingham, continues this Genesis theme by challenging us with some important revolutionary questions:
"I believe there is a spark of creativity and innovation in all of us just waiting to be unleashed. The space is there for me to create, but am I taking advantage of it? To what extent am I promoting creativity and innovation in my current role? How do I become too cautious?"
"What knocks the creative, innovative, imagination out of many of us and how do we rekindle it and unleash it for the glory of God again?"
In the final chapter, he answers these questions with "some practical suggestions for consideration," thereby delivering a blueprint for "mainstreaming creativity and innovation within our Salvation Army movement" (and applicable for any church movement). No sneak-peeking, please.
