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| In the interview by Paul 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.
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, 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."
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. 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.
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. "
In Him,
*Rick Warren* | | |
| this totally sucks. i've been working on the library webby for too long and it's still not done. when will the windows stop closing themselves on me? and when will they stop sporadically unsaving my work?????!! gaaaaaahhhhhhh and now, apparently the colours are too washed out!! aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! i'm losing my hair!! and my eyesight!! aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!! mymy. i really don't cope well under stress at all :( sigh. ok. i go rest then hit the comp again. gah. gah. gah. GAH. | | |
| When there are too many words, what was once worth mulling over seems overdone, and further discussion only seems like a dreary burden as opposed to a means to a peaceable end. I pray the words we exchange is not out of a desire to boost self image or to put forth whatever 'grievances' done to us by the structure. I also pray that the discussion will not be a mere diplomatic exchange of what is right and wrong but a true discussion of passions and desires for change to be brought about. Last but not least, I pray for unity in the body of Christ  Ephesians 4:1-16Unity in the Body of Christ 1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8This is why it says:
"When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men." 9(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. | | |
| triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun: A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th. Thirteen people, pledged to eliminate triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number 13, today tried to reassure American sufferers by renting a 13 ft plot of land in Brooklyn for 13 cents . . . a month.
-- Daily Telegraph, January 14, 1967 Past disasters linked to the number 13 hardly help triskaidekaphobics overcome their affliction. The most famous is the Apollo 13 mission, launched on April 11, 1970 (the sum of 4, 11 and 70 equals 85 - which when added together comes to 13), from Pad 39 (three times 13) at 13:13 local time, and struck by an explosion on April 13.
-- "It's just bad luck that the 13th is so often a Friday", Electronic Telegraph, September 8, 1996 Triskaidekaphobia is from Greek treiskaideka, triskaideka, thirteen (treis, three + kai, and + deka, ten) + phobos, fear.
In Christian countries the number 13 was considered unlucky because there were 13 persons at the Last Supper of Christ. Fridays are also unlucky, because the Crucifixion was on a Friday. Hence a Friday falling on the thirteenth day is regarded as especially unlucky.
Some famous triskaidekaphobes1: - Napoleon
- Herbert Hoover
- Mark Twain
- Richard Wagner
- Franklin Roosevelt
1. Source: "It's just bad luck that the 13th is so often a Friday," Electronic Telegraph, September 8, 1996 Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for triskaidekaphobia | | |
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