Posted on 02/12/2005 6:49:09 PM PST by P-Marlowe
Excerpts from Rick Warren's
The Purpose-Drivenâ Life
What On Earth Am I Here For?
It's not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will not make sense.
Planned For God's Pleasure
Bringing pleasure to God is called "worship." It is the first and primary purpose of your life. The Bible says, "The Lord is pleased with those who worship him and trust his love."1 Anything you do that brings pleasure to God is an act of worship.
Depending on your religious background, you probably need to expand your understanding of "worship." You may think of church services with singing, praying and listening to a sermon. Or you may think of ceremonies, candles and communion. Or you may think of healing, miracles, and ecstatic experiences. Worship can include these elements, but worship is far more than these expressions. Worship is a lifestyle.
Your spiritual family is even more important than your physical family because it will last forever. Our families on earth are wonderful gifts from God, but they are temporary and fragile, often broken by divorce, distance, growing old and inevitably, by death. On the other hand, our spiritual family -- our relationship to other believers -- will continue throughout eternity. It is a much stronger union, a more permanent bond, than blood relationships. On earth, it is called fellowship.
Often we act as if relationships are something to be squeezed into our schedule. We talk about finding time for our children, or making time for people in our lives. That gives the impression that relationships are just a part of our lives along with many other tasks. But God says relationships are what life is all about.
Biblical fellowship is being as committed to each other as we are to Jesus Christ! God expects us to give our lives for each other. It is God's second purpose for your life.
Four of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship to God while the other six deal with our relationship to each other. But all of them are about relationships! Later, Jesus summarized what matters most to God in two statements: love God and love people. After worship, learning to love others is the second purpose of your life.
Created to Become Like Christ
From the very beginning, God's plan has been to make you like his son, Jesus. This is your destiny, and the third purpose of your life. God announced this intention at creation: "Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image and likeness.'"2
God's ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ. Becoming like Christ does not mean losing your personality or becoming a mindless clone. God created your uniqueness, so he certainly doesn't want to destroy it. Christlikeness is all about transforming your character, not your personality.
--more--
Excerpts from The Purpose-Drivenâ Life/page two
Let me be absolutely clear - You will never become God, or even a god. That prideful lie is Satan's oldest temptation . . . This desire to be god shows up every time we try to control our circumstances, our future and people around us. But as creatures, we will never be the Creator. God doesn't want you to become a god, he wants you to become godly -- possessing his moral character.
God formed every creature on this planet with a special area of expertise. Some animals run, some hop, some swim, some burrow, and some fly. Each has a particular role to play, based on the way they were shaped by God. The same is true with humans. Each of us was uniquely designed, or "shaped,"to do certain things. You were shaped to serve God. Your service is called your "ministry"and it is the fourth purpose of your life.
Only you can be you. God designed each of us so there would be no duplication in the world. No one has the exact same mix of factors that make you unique. That means no one else on earth will ever be able to play the role God planned for you. If you don't make your unique contribution to the Body of Christ, it won't be made.
Serving is the opposite of our natural inclination. Most of the time we're more interested in "serve us"than service. Immature people say "I'm looking for a church that meets my needs and bless me,"not "I'm looking for a place to serve and be a blessing." We expect others to serve us, not vice versa. But as we mature in Christ, the focus of our lives should increasingly shift to living a life of service. What matters is not the duration of your life, but the donation of it.
God is at work in the world, and he wants you to join him. This assignment is called your mission. God wants you to have both a ministry in the Body of Christ and a mission in the world. Your ministry is your service to believers, and your mission is your service to unbelievers.
The mission that Jesus had while on earth is now our mission since we are the Body of Christ. What he did in his physical body, we are to continue as his spiritual body, the church. What is that mission? Introducing people to God! The Bible says, "Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also."3
When you became a believer, you also became God's messenger. God wants to speak to the world through you. Paul said, "We speak the truth before God, as messengers of God."... Your Life Message has four parts to it: Your testimony: the story of how you began a relationship with Jesus; Your life lessons: the most important lessons God has taught you; Your godly passions: the issues God shaped that you care about most; The Good News: the message of salvation
1 Psalm 147:11 CEV
2 Genesis 1:26 NCV
3 2 Cor. 5:18 TEV
BTW has anyone actually read the book?
I've read it.
Another excellent book is 'Why You Can't Stay Silent" by Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family. It is about a Christian's responsibility to step out in faith to make a difference in the world, especially when it comes to confronting evil and corrupt government. He is not impressed, at all, with John MacArthur (sp?). Thinks he is too compliant when it comes to obeying government officials. Not a fan of Cal Thomas, either.
Oh yes. Rick was my pastor before I moved.
Also check out The Purpose Driven Church. It's excellent.
Yes, it's replacing the Bible in many progressive evangelical churches. In some churches, people call studying Rick Warren works "Bible study."
That's not good. Rick definitely never intended for his book to replace the Bible.
"Not a fan of Cal Thomas, either."
He's been annoying and disappointing, lately. I don't know anything about that book, but I had to chime in with that. I don't even remember what it was he said/wrote that annoyed me, but I was most annoyed.
"progressive"
Yep. Anything "progressive" seems to be loony.
I think that may be anecdotal hyperbole. Can you show me one congregation in the nation that has substituted Rick Warren's book for the Bible? Nearly every church has a web site. If what you said has any truth to it, then surely you can find one.
Read the intro to the book and you will see that indeed, he would like for it to at least be on the same level as the bible. He wants to you interact with the book, make it come alive, and such.. sigh
Well maybe that was hyperbole too. ;-)
We've heard that. We've also been called a cult. Usually by people who have never been to a Saddleback service.
I don't see that at all. Can you point me to the relevant paragraphs?
Really?
I don't have a copy. I've never read the book.
Could you be so good as to get your copy and then post exactly what Rick Warren said that led you to believe that?
So where do you go to church now? Do they even have Churches in Seattle?
I'm not talking about officially. I'm talking about excitement. In my own church even the Bible is often so weakly translated, like in The Message version or Living Bible, that it's lost its impact. And quotes from the Warren books begin to replace scripture in the bulletins. Christians used to be excited about their own discoveries in the Bible. Now, they rarely make discoveries in the Bible unless they are directed by a Christian expert or popular speaker.
Yes, there are a few, believe it or not. I read somewhere that Washington is the most unchurched state, and it shows.
We did find Grace Community Church in Auburn that we've been attending, but we're still not settled. (I guess Saddleback spoiled us.) Tomorrow we visit a new one in Tacoma. I can still access the Saddleback services on the internet, but there's no substitute for the fellowship of bricks and mortar.
Bringing pleasure to God is called "worship."
No where in Scripture is this a definition of "worship" - he bases this "prinicple" on a paraphrased version of the Bible called "The Message." I like Eugene Peterson, but his paraphrase distorts thr actual text constantly.
Additionally, his theology is about an inch deep. His formulaic prayer for salvation is "Jesus, I believe in you and receive you into my life." No mention of sin, repentance, redemption...
In his writing on the church, he advocates a dialectic approach: encourage unbelievers (anti-thesis) to move believers (thesis)to compromise on their "aboslutist" believes to change the Church (synthesis). Folks - that is just WRONG.
For a critique of Rick Warren's book/campaign see this link
When I get the chance I will read the book with an open mind. I find nothing posted in the excerts of the book I disagree with. I will note nothing can be substituted for the Word of God (The Bible).
Have you ever attended a Saddleback service?
And let me know how it goes. :-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.