It’s Pretty Awesome…
…when some of the people from Life House contact you and express that they “hope the weather doesn’t get so bad we can’t go to church” or “hope the weather doesn’t get so bad that we can’t have Life Groups”. NOW that does a pastor’s heart good! While we aren’t in control of the weather (only God is and He knows best) we are in control of our heart and our desires. We’ve been going through “The Purpose Driven Life” as a church family and some of our people are really beginning to hear the Lord and see that HE DOES have a plan and purpose for their lives. I TOTALLY CHALLEGE anyone (and I’ve heard it from ONE radio preacher and from ONE evangelist recently in person who is associated with that radio preacher) to prove to me that there is anything unscriptural about “The Purpose Driven Life”. So far, I can honestly attest that the daily devotions in the book have drawn our church family into a deeper walk with the Lord and a deeper desire for His Word. It’s awesome to stand back and watch God begin to work in the lives of our people. It’s awesome to see them begin to hunger for corporate worship and fellowship with other believers. We have been experiencing some awesome times of worship at Life House and I hope we don’t have to miss out on them tonight either. Only time will tell if we have Life Groups tonight but no matter what my prayer is….”Lord, please continue to draw the Life House Family to a deeper desire and hunger for YOU and YOUR WORD.” It’s pretty awesome!!! Pastor James
January 28th, 2009 at 9:01 am
I like the new look, by the way. Very cool! Just before we moved back to Texarkana, our church in Conway went through the Purpose Driven Life. I thought it was a great “back-to-the-basics” kind of study. A lot of people seemed to be re-engergized by the drawing back to the core of Christianity.
I’ve also recently encountered some strong criticism of the Purpose Driven nature of Rick Warren and Saddleback and don’t understand it. Some people are just unhappy, I suppose!
January 28th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I agree with Brian. And the book helps you to see that’s it’s about God and His purpose for your life, not your own. And many people think they don’t even have a purpose, they feel they can’t do anything for God. This book helps them see they can.
As for the Rick Warren matter, God knows his heart, just like He knows us all. If the man is doing something ungodly, God will deal with him on the matter. People like to talk.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Brian- I think you are right. I’ve recently heard some say that the book is “unbiblical” but I challenge anyone to show me how so. If it is – I want to know it. This is the second time I’ve been through the study and haven’t found anything in the book unbiblical – far from it. I feel that it’s seeking to bring believers back to the basics and try to help them find God’s purpose for their lives. Thanks for the comment!
January 29th, 2009 at 10:37 am
It’s unscriptural because the guy who wrote it pastors a mega-church, and everyone knows that if a church is growing like that then it must be compromising. He also wears funny, flowery shirts, which is a clear violation of Hezekiah 3:16. *grin*
Seriously, I think a lot of people – especially pastors – are jealous of the blessings God has showered upon Saddleback. Some church members have had knot-headed pastors try to force the specific methodologies of SB at their church, which doesn’t work (as RW says). They then blame RW for ruining their church while all the time the pastor should have taken principles and not specific methodologies.
When you think about it, most of the angst people have over the PDL book is really issues they have with PD Church, not Life. I’d love to hear how devoting a life to evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, ministry, and worship is unbiblical.
Funny, too, how a lot of people who slam PDC or PDL don’t have an issue with Gene Mims’ “Kingdom Principles” book, which has the same basic purpose.
Getting off my soapbox now.
January 30th, 2009 at 12:16 am
Well, here are my thoughts on the Forty Days of a Purpose Driven Life. I don’t think it is unbiblical, but I did wonder why Forty Days? Aren’t we suppose to live 365 days of our lives for Jesus? And, just because someone isn’t a big fan of Purpose Driven,doesn’t mean that they are unhappy. There are alot of articles and websites that suggest that Rick Warren is trying to have a one world religion,or worship,where everyone,all over the world,could worship together. A nice thought,but I don’t see myself bowing to an idol of sort as some religions do.
Just thought I would air my thoughts,and BTW I like the new changes on the site!
January 30th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
The main reason for “Fourty Days” is because in the Word of God many great things happened in “Fourty Days”….same as alot of other studies which aren’t even authored by Rick Warren — many of them use a “40 day” approach. Just a simple time period. YES, we should live our lives 365 for Jesus but what would be wrong with a church or people taking 40 days together to dive into a study and learn how to be a better Christian. The idea (JIMMY SWAGGERT) that Rick Warren wants a “one world government” or “government of 12″ is totally false – as a matter of fact Rick Warren is Southern Baptist! Many of those things that are said about him are just that…total gossip and hearsay. Anyway – nothing wrong with the study but up to anyone if they want to participate or not.
January 31st, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Jimmy Swaggert!?!?!? Is he still alive? Seriously… I haven’t heard that name in a LONG time.
January 31st, 2009 at 9:40 pm
PDL certainly is getting a lot of attention. I have to say that I am getting more out of the study this time than before. I don’t see ANYTHING unbiblical about it. I realize now why when I did it the first time, it was difficult. RW uses so many different versions of the Bible. That is for the individual to discern. Discernment comes with reading the Word; therefore, I am getting more out of it, and having a parallel Bible really helps, but I still don’t have a copy of The Message, and I probably won’t buy one just for this study. As long as it feeds the soul, says the truth and doesn’t cause anyone to stumble, it serves a purpose. Someone mentioned that it is a good “back to basics” study. I agree with that and that it is good for “new Christians” because it is good basics. It’s not a substitute for the Bible, nothing is, but it can help to understand some basic truths.
But, I really got on here to say thanks on behalf of my hubby. Several comments have been left about the looks of the new website. Andrew won’t take a bow. He gives all the honor to the Lord. He is working hard to get our website looking good. He is really working to make it more user friendly also. I find it amazing watching him do this kind of stuff. I want to get on the computer, do what I have to do and get off. He gets into the nuts and bolts of things. This shows how God has gifted each one of us with individual gifts and talent. I’ll pass it along to him that everyone seems to be happy with this new look and that his efforts have not been in vain.
God Bless You All