Have you ever had one of those moments where God hits you with a Mac Truck? I mean one of those moments that brings clarity and direction to your life?
For me, last week was one of those moments. While at Catalyst West, I heard fantastic speakers… but it was something the unannounced Rick Warren said off the cuff that reached out and captured my heart.
Rick said…if you want to know my agenda??? If you want to know what Rick Warren is about???? Here it is…
“I’m addicted to changed lives.”
Rick went on to say… “I’ve discovered that in order to win people to Jesus Christ…you can only win friends…not enemies.” Let me repeat that… “I’ve discovered that in order to win people to Jesus Christ…you can only win friends…not enemies.” WOW! So simple but so profound!
Kind of reminds me of how Jesus lived and rolled.
Why do you think the Christian community struggles with this approach so much?
I think that the Christian community struggles with this approach so much because for the most part the Christian Community wants to be active and see a multitude of those far from God come to God, and in ways have a tendency to be aggressive and when not received by some try to strong arm them with our words and biblical versus about how wonderful Jesus is and what Jesus has done for others and ourselves, instead of letting our actions speak louder than our words of how wonderful Jesus is and what Jesus has done and is doing for our lives.
Cahill,
Great feedback and great advice!
Buddy – this is long but a friend sent it to me and I wanted to share. Awesome words by Rick.
> 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
> > not?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 an other 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, 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.?
> > God’s Blessings on you today.
From past experience, I think we (as Christ followers) often surround ourselves for the most part, with other believers. This is wonderful in many ways but for me, my world had become too small. How can you reach out to friends who are non-believers when you basically surround yourself with just believers? I love my Christian friends but continue to ask God to broaden my territory (prayer of Jabez).