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 >