Rick Warren Interview on life

[Guest guest]

Rick Warren interview (please read this -- it's excellent!)This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren , "Purpose Driven Life " author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California .In the interview by Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said: People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life ispreparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants usto be with Him in Heaven. 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-upact --the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will doforever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until youfigure 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 reasonfor this is that God is more interested in your character than yourcomfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your lifehappy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal oflife. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife 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 atall 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 alwayssomething good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. Ifyou focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which ismy problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get ridof 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 my wife 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. 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 meinstantly 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 foryour own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God whatHe wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave metwo different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm72. 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 upfoundations 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 Istarted the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able toserve 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)?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 Youbetter

....God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's moreinterested 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

Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.

Get amazing travel prices for air and hotel in one click on FareChase

[Guest guest]

He just says in all, doesn't he? Thank you for posting that, I

printed and saved it, after I read it to my husband.

Cherie

>

> Rick Warren interview (please read this -- it's excellent!)

> This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick

Warren ,

> " Purpose Driven Life " author and pastor of Saddleback Church in

California .

> In the interview by Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

>

> People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a

nutshell, life is

> preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God

wants us

> to be with Him in Heaven. 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. 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.

>

> This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also

the

> toughest, with my wife 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 my wife 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.

> 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)?

> 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

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously

low rates.

>

> ---------------------------------

> Get amazing travel prices for air and hotel in one click on

FareChase

>