> (''Rick Warren, author of "A Purpose Driven Life")
> You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren
> has with his wife now having cancer and him having
> "wealth" from the book sales.
>
> 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 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 years in eternity. This is
> the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal of 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, 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 for which you can
> thank God.
>
> 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 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.
>
> 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.
> You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren
> has with his wife now having cancer and him having
> "wealth" from the book sales.
>
> 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 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 years in eternity. This is
> the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal of 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, 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 for which you can
> thank God.
>
> 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 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.
>
> 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.
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