Hi,
Thought you would like this interview.
Vinny
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Johnson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 4:20 AM
Subject: [CCNN] Fwd: Interesting Interview
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: T.J. Northern <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Aug 2, 2006 4:59 AM
> Subject: Interesting Interview
> To:
>
> You may have read this before, but it is worth another look. Enjoy!
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
> Rick Warren Interview (Author Purpose Driven Life)
>
>
>
> You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now
> having cancer and his 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 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 in to 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."
>
> 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, i t 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 tha
> thelped
> 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
>
>
>
>
> --
> -----------------------------------------------------
> Rick Johnson
> http://360.yahoo.com/ccnnowner
> http://www.frappr.com/ccnnowner
> http://www.pandora.com/
> http://wolfgangsvault.com
> http://www.romad.com
>
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