Rick Warren
"Purpose Driven Life " author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick answered these questions:
WHY ARE WE HERE?
People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.
HOW SHOULD WE LIVE?
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
HOW SHOULD WE HANDLE DIFFICULTIES?
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,"which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.
It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.
HOW SHOULD WE HANDLE MONEY?
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
HOW SHOULD WE HANDLE TIME?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
Rick Warren
Monday, May 26, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
"THE FIGHT AGAINST "NORMAL"
CONVICTED TO GLORY?
Whether or not the e-mail I received was about me or not (I know it is), it has definitely made a profound impact on me. I feel convicted "as my title suggests" to do something great, like I am going to be a part of something that has a very profound impact on the world. Yet my struggle is not against the idea, my struggle is against the world of "normal" For the last few decades, many of us have grown up believing that we are going to be the next great athlete, politician, or whatever and be rich and famous. Of course one's life should be based on God's will and whatever he says should guide you.
Many people aren't Christians and while they feel convicted to do something about their dreams, they often lose focus, compromise, and never realize their dream. So it is obvious, then, that human nature (or Satan, whichever one it is), actually opposes the idea of doing something incredible, especially in God's name or Christ's name. This also is my struggle. There is a part of me that wants to be normal, like everyone else, have the same dreams and such, but I know I am different.
I always have been and I know that. Hearing the voice of God is my biggest fear, because a) what He says is often difficult to do and b) because it always puts me out of my comfort zone.
The other thing I always want is confirmation that it really is God talking. In a world that demands proof and evidence it is difficult, especially as one in the faculty of science, to take anything right away as truth and fact because it becomes natural as a scientist to question everything and believe nothing is certain.
Probably my most pressing question is, "What exactly do you want me to do God?" I have no clue as to what God truly wants to do. This undoubtedly has to do with me not wanting to hear from God on account that what He says will be difficult. I know what I want to do, and that is finish my time at the Medical School and join the military for 4 years so I can pay off School, then become a missionary doctor in Eastern Africa, and return back to Canada after an unknown number of years and go into federal politics. It all sounds good, but is it really from God? because as all of us know making plans without God will get us nowhere.
The other problem is it sounds so good that I think it is from God, but it may not be. One last problem is that I don't know what God wants me to do right now. I am in Waterloo University, going to classes, writing tests, and the most pressing question is will I be able to relax? I know leisure is from God (What is a Feast?), but is there something I should be doing for God when I am not doing school work? And what exactly is it that I should do?
I know for one thing that I want to be able to be in the company of fellow Christians, but I find it difficult at this late of a date (I'm going back to Calgary in about two months) and without transportation to really want to seek out other Christians because I know I am going to be separated from them again.
That about sums it up as to where I am at. I thank you both for your time and for the knowledge and wisdom you have imparted to me. I pray that I will put it to good use.
Adam
Whether or not the e-mail I received was about me or not (I know it is), it has definitely made a profound impact on me. I feel convicted "as my title suggests" to do something great, like I am going to be a part of something that has a very profound impact on the world. Yet my struggle is not against the idea, my struggle is against the world of "normal" For the last few decades, many of us have grown up believing that we are going to be the next great athlete, politician, or whatever and be rich and famous. Of course one's life should be based on God's will and whatever he says should guide you.
Many people aren't Christians and while they feel convicted to do something about their dreams, they often lose focus, compromise, and never realize their dream. So it is obvious, then, that human nature (or Satan, whichever one it is), actually opposes the idea of doing something incredible, especially in God's name or Christ's name. This also is my struggle. There is a part of me that wants to be normal, like everyone else, have the same dreams and such, but I know I am different.
I always have been and I know that. Hearing the voice of God is my biggest fear, because a) what He says is often difficult to do and b) because it always puts me out of my comfort zone.
The other thing I always want is confirmation that it really is God talking. In a world that demands proof and evidence it is difficult, especially as one in the faculty of science, to take anything right away as truth and fact because it becomes natural as a scientist to question everything and believe nothing is certain.
Probably my most pressing question is, "What exactly do you want me to do God?" I have no clue as to what God truly wants to do. This undoubtedly has to do with me not wanting to hear from God on account that what He says will be difficult. I know what I want to do, and that is finish my time at the Medical School and join the military for 4 years so I can pay off School, then become a missionary doctor in Eastern Africa, and return back to Canada after an unknown number of years and go into federal politics. It all sounds good, but is it really from God? because as all of us know making plans without God will get us nowhere.
The other problem is it sounds so good that I think it is from God, but it may not be. One last problem is that I don't know what God wants me to do right now. I am in Waterloo University, going to classes, writing tests, and the most pressing question is will I be able to relax? I know leisure is from God (What is a Feast?), but is there something I should be doing for God when I am not doing school work? And what exactly is it that I should do?
I know for one thing that I want to be able to be in the company of fellow Christians, but I find it difficult at this late of a date (I'm going back to Calgary in about two months) and without transportation to really want to seek out other Christians because I know I am going to be separated from them again.
That about sums it up as to where I am at. I thank you both for your time and for the knowledge and wisdom you have imparted to me. I pray that I will put it to good use.
Adam
Monday, May 12, 2008
WHAT TO BELIEVE
The following is a statement of belief by one of the professor's at Waterloo University that he sent to me after getting to know one of the young man formerly of Desert Stream, who is now attending Waterloo University.
Hello Glenn,
Jesus Christ is the creator and sustainer of the universe and each creature in it, that he is infinitely large and infinitely small, hence the most intimate.... of beings, to which each of us his creatures has access. He was before, has always been within, and will be after time.
He is my life.
He is the only way to God, for as he said, "No man comes unto the Father but by me."
I am quite orthodox in my Christian faith, I accept responsibility for my sins, and the consequences thereof, and I acknowledge that my only hope is confession, repentance and forgiveness by Jesus Christ, on the basis of his incarnation, life, crucifixion and resurrection. His life and death for my sake is the basis of my forgiveness.
My life is an ongoing daily challenge in spiritual growth, which means in compassion for my fellow creatures, in meditation and prayer, and in the use of the gifts and talents and training which Jesus Christ has given me. I completely trust that God in Christ is the judge of all the earth, that he is both entirely just and entirely merciful, that he knows the inmost thoughts of each of us his creatures, that his Holy Spirit dwells within those who are his disciples, warning, encouraging, comforting, leading, protecting.
I believe in the fellowship of believers, which I have experienced in my travels across the world, a fellowship independent of race or culture or age or language or education or intelligence or worldly rank.
Christ is my life.
John North
Hello Glenn,
Jesus Christ is the creator and sustainer of the universe and each creature in it, that he is infinitely large and infinitely small, hence the most intimate.... of beings, to which each of us his creatures has access. He was before, has always been within, and will be after time.
He is my life.
He is the only way to God, for as he said, "No man comes unto the Father but by me."
I am quite orthodox in my Christian faith, I accept responsibility for my sins, and the consequences thereof, and I acknowledge that my only hope is confession, repentance and forgiveness by Jesus Christ, on the basis of his incarnation, life, crucifixion and resurrection. His life and death for my sake is the basis of my forgiveness.
My life is an ongoing daily challenge in spiritual growth, which means in compassion for my fellow creatures, in meditation and prayer, and in the use of the gifts and talents and training which Jesus Christ has given me. I completely trust that God in Christ is the judge of all the earth, that he is both entirely just and entirely merciful, that he knows the inmost thoughts of each of us his creatures, that his Holy Spirit dwells within those who are his disciples, warning, encouraging, comforting, leading, protecting.
I believe in the fellowship of believers, which I have experienced in my travels across the world, a fellowship independent of race or culture or age or language or education or intelligence or worldly rank.
Christ is my life.
John North
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