“My temptations have been my masters in divinity.”- Martin Luther In Chapter 26 (“Growing Through Temptation”) of The Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren states that on our path to spiritual maturity, even temptation may be a stepping-stone rather than a stumbling block. Temptation gives us the opportunity to do the right thing just as […]
In Chapter 25 of The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren relates the story of a silversmith who was asked how he knew when the silver was pure. He replied, “When I see my reflection in it.” Similarly, when we have been refined by trials and respond as Jesus would, people will see Jesus’ reflection in […]
Pastor Rick Warren begins Chapter 25 (“Transformed by Trouble”) of The Purpose Driven Life with the observation that life is a series of problems, as much as we might wish otherwise. Although not all of our problems will be big, all of them are significant in God’s growth process. In fact, during our darkest days […]
In Chapter 22 of The Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren states that God’s ultimate goal for our lives is character development, not comfort. God wants us to become more godly than god-like. Anytime we forget that character is one of God’s purposes for our life, our circumstances will frustrate us. Adversity has the tendency […]
Pastor Rick Warren concludes Chapter 16 of The Purpose Driven Life by asserting that your time is the greatest gift you can give someone. The essence of love is how much we give of ourselves, not what we do or provide for others. Focused attention is the most desired gift of love. When we concentrate so intently on […]
In Chapter 16 (“What Matters Most”) of The Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren states that we develop the skill of loving through regular, close fellowship with other believers. At time those believers will be irritating, imperfect , frustrating people. They may even be the people directly or indirectly responsible for our downsizing. Rick give […]
About 20 years ago, I was privileged to play harpsichord for a presentation of the Easter portion of Handel’s Messiah at Hales Corners Lutheran Church under the direction of Hib Wiedenkeller. In oratorios of the Baroque Era, the harpsichord’s primary function was to provide a steady rhythm that held all the other instruments together. Playing […]
Pastor Rick Warren concludes Chapter 12 (“When God Seems Distant”) of The Purpose Driven Life by discussing 4 ways we can stay connected with God during a “crisis without communication”, keeping our eyes on Jesus even when they’re filled with tears (author’s words are in bold type): 1. Tell God exactly how you feel. Pour […]
In Chapter 14 of The Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren notes that the deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of our pain or adversity and loving Him when He seems distant. Human friendships often are tested by separation and silence. Phillip Yancey applies this concept to our relationship with God in […]
Pastor Rick Warren (The Purpose Driven Life) concludes his discussion of steps for developing our friendship with God in Chapter 12 ( author’s words are in bold type). 5. I must choose to value what God values. Friends care about what is important to the other person. As our friendship with God deepens, we’ll care […]
Pastor Rick Warren begins Chapter 12 of The Purpose Driven Life by noting that developing our friendship with God takes desire, time, and energy. Like any other friendship, it won’t happen by accident. Rick continues with the next 2 steps. 3. I must choose to be honest with God. We must be completely honest about […]
In Chapters 11 ands 12 of The Purpose Driven Life, author Rick Warren looks at 6 secrets of friendship with God. The first 2 secrets will be covered here. We can become a best friend of God (the author’s words are in bold type): 1. Through constant conversation. Friendship with God is built by sharing […]