Interview with Rick Warren

RICK WARREN, AUTHOR OF “A PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE’ 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 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

Jesus Christ: Savior and Lord

“Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

This is the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ: He came to die for our sins and He was raised on the third day. All this was prophesied in the Old Testament and was fulfilled in Jesus’ life.

Today as we reflect on the events 2,000 years ago that brought us salvation, may we hear, understand and believe that Jesus alone can save us and anyone else who puts their faith in Him as Savior and Lord.

- Pastor Albert Clavo, Lighthouse Christian Community

Pastor Albert

Seven Last Words at Paranaque City Jail

As part of the observance of the Holy Week, the Christian service providers at Paranaque City Jail held a Worship service for the inmates today, April 8, 2009. The Last Supper was led by Bro. Ramon Yap of the Lighthouse Christian Community of Alabang, Muntinlupa City. Pastors and workers from different Christian Churches in Metro Manila and Cavite expounded on the 7 last words of Jesus on the cross.

1st Word - "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!"

2nd Word - "Today you shall be with me in Paradise!"

3rd Word - "Woman, behold thy son! .... Behold thy mother!"

4th Word - "My God, my God! Why have You forsaken Me?"

5th Word - "I Thirst!"

6th Word - "It is Finished!"

7th Word - "Father, Into Your Hands I commend My Spirit!"

Group picture of the preachers and inmate leaders.

Hossana!

“Hosannah!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosannah!”

These were the words that the crowd was shouting as Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. They acknowledged Him as King. They waved palm branches and laid their coats on the ground. These were all acts of worship, and rightly so, for Jesus deserved their worship.

Triumphant entry of Jesus to Jerusalem

But just a few days later, the same crowd was shouting, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” What happened between Palm Sunday and Good Friday? Where were the adoring crowds?

All this shows how fickle people can be. As long as their ‘Messiah’ was healing the sick and raising the dead and feeding the multitudes, they worshiped Him. But when Jesus began to talk about suffering, paying the price, laying down one’s life, they deserted Him.

What about us today? Are we followers of Christ only on good days? Do we worship Him only on Palm Sunday but desert Him on Good Friday?

May it never be! May we be part of the few who stuck to the end, even at the risk of life, to serve the only one who deserves our life. As Peter said after the crowds left, “Where else will we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.”

- Pastor Albert Clavo, Lighthouse Christian Comunity

Pastor Albert