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 […]
Pastor Rick Warren concludes Chapter 10 of The Purpose Driven Life by listing 7 characteristics of surrender. 1. When you surrender your life to God through the power of the Holy Spirit, you will experience peace, freedom, and God’s power in your life. 2. Victory comes through surrender. Paradoxically, surrender doesn’t weaken you, it strengthens […]
In Chapter 10 (“The Heart of Worship”) of The Purpose Driven Life, author Rick Warren discusses 3 barriers that block our total surrender to God. These barriers are significant because surrender is the heart of worship. 1. Fear- the opposite of fear, trust, is an essential ingredient of surrender. Surrender to God is not possible […]