Purpose Driven Life, The
The most basic question we all face is "Why am I here?" Self-help books suggest we should look within, but real meaning comes from fulfilling God's purposes for putting us on earth. This book will help you understand God's incredible plan for your life. 22 million copies in print!
Purpose Driven Life, The
A Groundbreaking Manifesto on the Meaning of LifeThis book will help you understand why you are alive and God's amazing plan for you--both here and now, and for eternity. Rick Warren will guide you through a personal 40-day spiritual journey that will transform your answer to life's most important question: What on earth am I here for? Knowing God's purpose for creating you will reduce your stress, focus your energy, simplify your decisions, give meaning to your life, and, most importantly, prepare you for eternity.The Purpose-Driven Life is a blueprint for Christian living in the 21st century--a lifestyle based on God's eternal purposes, not cultural values. Using over 1,200 Scriptural quotes and references, it challenges the conventional definitions of worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism. In the tradition of Oswald Chambers, Rick Warren offers distilled wisdom on the essence of what life is all about. This is a book of hope and challenge that you will read an
[Publisher]
It All Starts with GodFor everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, . . . everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.Colossians 1:16 (Msg)Unless you assume a God, the question of life''s purpose is meaningless.Bertrand Russell, atheistIt''s not about you.The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It''s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That''s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point-ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life''s purpose. The Bible says, "It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone''s life is in his power." Contrary to what many popular books, movies, and seminars tell you, you won''t discover your life''s meaning by looking within yourself. You''ve probably tried that already. You didn''t create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for! If I handed you an invention you had never seen before, you wouldn''t know its purpose, and the invention itself wouldn''t be able to tell you either. Only the creator or the owner''s manual could reveal its purpose.I once got lost in the mountains. When I stopped to ask for directions to the campsite, I was told, "You can''t get there from here. You must start from the other side of the mountain!" In the same way, you cannot arrive at your life''s purpose by starting with a focus on yourself. You must begin with God, your Creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You were made by God and for God-and until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.Many people try to use God for their own self-actualization, but that is a reversal of nature and is doomed to failure. You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not your using him for your own purpose. The Bible says, "Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life."I have read many books that suggest ways to discover the purpose of my life. All of them could be classified as "self-help" books because they approach the subject from a self-centered viewpoint. Self-help books, even Christian ones, usually offer the same predictable steps to finding your life''s purpose: Consider your dreams. Clarify your values. Set some goals. Figure out what you are good at. Aim high. Go for it! Be disciplined. Believe you can achieve your goals. Involve others. Never give up.Of course, these recommendations often lead to great success. You can usually succeed in reaching a goal if you put your mind to it. But being successful and fulfilling your life''s purpose are not at all the same issue! You could reach all your personal goals, becoming a raving success by the world''s standard, and still miss the purposes for which God created you. You need more than self-help advice. The Bible says, "Self-help is no help at all. Selfsacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self." This is not a self-help book. It is not about finding the right career, achieving your dreams, or planning your life. It is not about how to cram more activities into an overloaded schedule. Actually, it will teach you how to do less in life-by focusing on what matters most. It is about becoming what God created you to be.How, then, do you discover the purpose you were
[Publisher]
Rick Warren
Dr. Rick Warren is a pastor, author, global strategist, theologian and philanthropist. He's often been named "America's most influential spiritual leader" and "America's Pastor." Calling him a spiritual entrepreneur, Forbes magazine said, "If Warren's ministry was a business it would be compared with Dell, Google, or Starbucks in impact."
As a pastor, Warren founded Saddleback Church in Orange County, California in 1980 with one other family. Today, it is one of the largest and best-known churches in the world and one of America's most influential with approximately 22,000 weekly attendees, a 120-acre campus and over 300 community ministries and support groups for families, single parents, prisoners, addicts, those with: HIV/AIDS; depression; MS; Parkinson's; Autism and many others. On one occasion the church fed 42,000 homeless people - three meals a day - for 40 days.
He also leads the Purpose Driven Network of churches, a global coalition of congregations in 162 countries. More than 400,000 ministers and priests have been trained worldwide, and almost 157,000 church leaders subscribe to the Ministry ToolBox, his weekly newsletter. His book, The Purpose Driven Church is listed in "100 Christian Books That Changed the 20th Century." Forbes magazine called it "the best book on entrepreneurship, management, and leadership in print."
His online interactive community, Pastors.com, provides sermons, forums, and other practical resources for pastors - including archives of a bi-weekly newsletter that is sent to more than 100,000 pastors and ministry leaders.
Dr. Warren and his wife Kay are passionate about global missions and what he calls attacking the five Global Goliaths - spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, and illiteracy/poor education. His goal is a second Reformation by restoring responsibility in people, credibility in churches, and civility in culture. The solution is The Peace Plan, a massive effort to mobilise Christians around the world into an outreach effort to attack these five global giants of today by promoting reconciliation, equipping servant leaders, assisting the poor, caring for the sick, and educating the next generation.
As an author he wrote the #1 all-time best-selling hardback in American history, The Purpose Driven Life, with over 30 million copies sold worldwide. He has also written The Hope You Need: From The Lords Prayer; Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods: Twelve Ways You Can Unlock God's Word; and God's Answers to Life's Difficult Questions.
As a theologian, Dr. Warren holds a B.A. from California Baptist University, a M.Div. from South western Theological Seminary, and Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. He has lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Judaism, the Evangelical Theological Society, and numerous seminaries and universities. He is known for explaining theology in understandable ways and his books have been translated into more than 50 languages. Dr. Warren says he teaches theology without using theological terms and telling people it is theology.
As a global strategist, Dr. Warren advises leaders in the public, private, and faith sectors on leadership development, poverty, health, education, and faith in culture. He has been invited to speak at the United Nations, the World Economic Forum in Davos, the African Union, The Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, TIME's Global Health Summit, and numerous congresses around the world. TIME magazine named him one of "15 World Leaders Who Mattered Most" in 2004 - and in 2005 one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World". Also, in 2005 U.S. News and World Report named him one of "America's 25 Best Leaders."
As philanthropists, Rick and Kay Warren give away 90 percent of their income through three foundations: Acts of Mercy, which serves those infected and affected by AIDS; Equipping the Church, which trains church leaders in developing countries; and The Global PEACE Fund, which fights poverty, disease, and illiteracy.
Dr Warren and his wife reside in Southern California. They have three children and four grandchildren.
- Publisher.
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