Trusting God's delays
by Rick Warren
If you ever find yourself in God’s waiting room, pacing around and waiting – for an answer, a change, a breakthrough, a miracle – you need to stop and remember something: God knows best. More than that, he’s never late, never in a hurry, and always right on time. When there’s a delay in your life, the best thing you can do is simply trust him to do what’s best.
A real encouragement to me over the years has been this verse from Habakkuk 2:3: “These things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient. They will not be overdue a single day.”
When I started Saddleback Church, I had no idea that it would take 13 years of delays before we would get land and it would take nearly 15 years before we would build our first building. This church was running more than 10,000 in attendance before we built our first church building. No church in America has ever gone that long or grown that big without a building. God had his delays in mind from the start.
At the very first service I stood up and said, “Someday we’re going to buy at least 50 acres of land. But we’re not going to do it for the first five years because we’re going to put all our money into people and programs.” I’ve always been more interested in building people than building buildings. So for the first 15 years we used 79 different buildings. We’d outgrow one, we’d move into another.
But on the fifth anniversary of the church I said, “It’s time to start looking for land. If you have background in real estate financial development, show up at my office tomorrow night.” The next night, 13 men showed up. Half of them I didn’t know. I said, “Let’s go around the room and you tell me why you should be on this task force to find land for Saddleback.”
The first guy said, “My name’s Tom. I buy all the sites for K-Mart.” The next guy said, “My name’s Dick. I'm vice president of First Interstate Bank.” Lyle, the next guy, was in home building. He said, “Last year I closed $91 million in land acquisitions.” We continued around the room and I discovered I had 13 incredibly powerful leaders there. I said, “This isn’t going to be a very long meeting.” I turned around and wrote “50 acres” on the board. I said, “I believe God wants us to go after at least 50 acres. It is your job to find it. Thank you for coming. Meeting dismissed!”
A week later they came back. They’d found one of the last remaining pieces of property in the Saddleback Valley. It was 72 acres of cow pasture – for $7.2 million. They said, “You want to go after it?” I said, “Of course!” You never say no just because something’s impossible.
We put $10,000 down on a $7 million piece of property. We didn’t have a lot of brains, but we had a lot of faith. Over the next year, we got the zoning changed, the use permit, the water rights, we got them to allow a church to be built on it. But we couldn’t find anybody to loan us money to buy it and build it. Finally, after about a year and a half the owners came to me and said, “We want you to start putting up $20,000 a month, non refundable, to keep the escrow open.” I said, “I can’t do that. I can’t gamble our people’s offerings. We’ll have to drop out of escrow and when we get the financing we’ll come back and buy it.” We dropped out of escrow and the next day that property was bought by a shopping center. We lost a year and a half of time and $100,000. I was down!
It took us a year to find the next piece of property out here in the canyon. It was 300 acres, and 200 of it went straight up the mountain – it was totally unusable. We went to the owner and said, “We’ll buy the front hundred acres for $6 million.” He said, “If you do that I’ll give you the back 200 for free just as a tax write-off.”
We went back to the folks and said, “We need to raise money now to buy the land.” We did a financial sacrificial giving campaign called “Possess Our Land.” During a 60-day period of prayer, fasting, and serving, our people planned for a big offering. And on that day we got half a million dollars cash given in a single offering – which was incredible for a little church – and commitments for $2.5 million more to be given over the next three years.
Some people took on second jobs to give more. Some canceled vacations. People gave their pensions and retirement plans. People gave their diamond wedding rings. Some sold their homes and bought smaller homes and gave the equity. I know people who sold their television set to be able to give. Our staff gave their life savings.
So we had half a million in cash and $2.5 million in commitments. I went back to the owner the next day and said, “We’re ready to close!” He said, “I’ve changed my mind. I'm raising the price to $8 million.” My heart sank. I looked to God and said, “What am I supposed to tell the people next Sunday? They’ve worked, prayed, sacrificed, and given all they’ve got.” I said, “God, You’ve got a problem. It’s not my problem because it’s not my church. You keep bringing all these people in so what are you going to do with them?”
Two days later, a third piece of property came up for sale out in the canyon – 113 acres offered at three and a half million dollars. The same amount of land for half the price. That was the cheapest piece of land I’d ever seen in Orange County. Seven developers bid on it and four offered cash. I went to the owner of the property and asked, “What would it take to sell to the church? We don’t have all cash.” He said, “If you can close the deal by the end of the year then I’ll sell to the church.”
He said that in October. I went back to the people and asked, “We’ve either got to raise more money in the next 60 days or we lose this piece of property. What do you want to do?”
The people said, “Let’s go for it!” and in the last 60 days of 1987 the people of Saddleback church gave an additional $1.2 million. And we closed the deal.
Remember: Delays are not necessarily denials. God’s ways are always better than ours – and his timing is perfect.
Until next week,
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The Great Commission: starting where you are in your life mission
by Rick Warren
You're welcome to take this article - written to church members - and adapt it to your own needs.
"You don’t have to go very far to find your Samaria. It’s right next door."
Everybody’s life mission is unique, and only you can fulfill your life mission. The moment you become a believer, the moment you step across the line and give your life to Jesus Christ, God has an assignment for you.
Many of the parts of your life mission are unique, but there is one part of your life mission that we all have in common.
It’s this: God wants you to tell other people about what’s happened to you. He wants you to share your testimony, your lifestyle, and your witness.
In other words, He wants you to share the Good News. The Bible says it like this in Acts 20: "The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to tell people the good news about God’s grace."
Once I become a Christian, a major part of my life mission is to invite people into God’s family.
Jesus said in John 20:21 - "As the Father has sent Me, so am I sending you.”
What has He sent us to do?
The Bible tells us in Acts 1:8 - "You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, in Samaria and in every part of the world.”
This is a very, very important verse: it not only tells us what we’re supposed to do; it tells us where we’re supposed to do it.
First, it says, "You will be My witnesses.”
Have you ever watched a courtroom trial? You know what a witness is - a witness is somebody who shares from personal experience. "I saw this ... I heard that … I watched that ….”
Witnessing does not mean you have to be a theological expert. It doesn't mean you have to be pastor or preacher. It simply means you share what God is doing in your life.
Besides, people expect pastors to talk about Jesus. But when your pastor talks about Jesus Christ, some people think, “Well, he's just the paid professional. He's the paid salesman. Of course, he's going to talk about God.”
On the other hand, when you talk about what God’s done in your life, you are demonstrating that you're the satisfied customer! Who has more credibility—a paid salesman or the satisfied customer?
You are the authority on your life. Nobody else can share your witness. If you don’t do it, that part of your life message will never be heard on this earth.
And that’s a tragedy. If you don’t say it, nobody else is going to say it for you. We are to witness and share what God has done in our lives and what’s happened to us since we became believers.
Where are we to do it? We’re told to take the message to four places:
“In Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and in every part of the world.”
What does that mean? Am I supposed to get on a plane and go over to Jerusalem to share my faith?
No. Remember when the disciples were hearing these words from Jesus, where were they? They were in Jerusalem.
Here’s the point. Start where you are.
What’s your Jerusalem? It’s your family, your friends, and your co-workers. That’s your Jerusalem. You start with the people closest to you. You don’t have to go somewhere else first. You start with the people in your own sphere of reference.
Then it says you go to Judea. Judea was like the county. What is your Judea? At Saddleback, we live in Orange County, with 2.5 million people.
And may of them still need to hear the Good News, and, no doubt, there are many in your Judea who also need to hear the Good News.
Then Jesus says you’re to go to Samaria. That’s like the county next door. But the Samaritans were culturally and ethnically different from the disciples. The third place you take the message is to people of a different culture, language, ethnic group than you.
Do you know anybody who speaks a different language than you do? Since I live in Southern California, I can tell you that there are 187 different languages spoken within driving distance of my church!
My point is - you don’t have to go very far to find your Samaria. It’s right next door. Have you ever been to a fast food restaurant? There’s your Samaria!
Then Jesus says go to “the ends of the world.” For hundreds and hundreds of years, Christians couldn’t obey that part - literally - because the ability to travel was extremely limited. In fact, for many years the human race didn’t even know the world was round.
But today, there are many opportunities for believers to go on a short-term trips that lead them to the “ends of the world”.
Our goal at Saddleback is to encourage every member to have at least one overseas experience.
So that’s the mission. Start with your Jerusalem. Move on to Judea. Then to Samaria - and then to the ends of the world. While you’re there, share the Good News. Invite others into God’s family!
Pastor, again, you're welcome to take this article - written to church members - and adapt it to your own needs.
Until next week,
by Rick Warren
You're welcome to take this article - written to church members - and adapt it to your own needs.
"You don’t have to go very far to find your Samaria. It’s right next door."
Everybody’s life mission is unique, and only you can fulfill your life mission. The moment you become a believer, the moment you step across the line and give your life to Jesus Christ, God has an assignment for you.
Many of the parts of your life mission are unique, but there is one part of your life mission that we all have in common.
It’s this: God wants you to tell other people about what’s happened to you. He wants you to share your testimony, your lifestyle, and your witness.
In other words, He wants you to share the Good News. The Bible says it like this in Acts 20: "The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to tell people the good news about God’s grace."
Once I become a Christian, a major part of my life mission is to invite people into God’s family.
Jesus said in John 20:21 - "As the Father has sent Me, so am I sending you.”
What has He sent us to do?
The Bible tells us in Acts 1:8 - "You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, in Samaria and in every part of the world.”
This is a very, very important verse: it not only tells us what we’re supposed to do; it tells us where we’re supposed to do it.
First, it says, "You will be My witnesses.”
Have you ever watched a courtroom trial? You know what a witness is - a witness is somebody who shares from personal experience. "I saw this ... I heard that … I watched that ….”
Witnessing does not mean you have to be a theological expert. It doesn't mean you have to be pastor or preacher. It simply means you share what God is doing in your life.
Besides, people expect pastors to talk about Jesus. But when your pastor talks about Jesus Christ, some people think, “Well, he's just the paid professional. He's the paid salesman. Of course, he's going to talk about God.”
On the other hand, when you talk about what God’s done in your life, you are demonstrating that you're the satisfied customer! Who has more credibility—a paid salesman or the satisfied customer?
You are the authority on your life. Nobody else can share your witness. If you don’t do it, that part of your life message will never be heard on this earth.
And that’s a tragedy. If you don’t say it, nobody else is going to say it for you. We are to witness and share what God has done in our lives and what’s happened to us since we became believers.
Where are we to do it? We’re told to take the message to four places:
“In Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and in every part of the world.”
What does that mean? Am I supposed to get on a plane and go over to Jerusalem to share my faith?
No. Remember when the disciples were hearing these words from Jesus, where were they? They were in Jerusalem.
Here’s the point. Start where you are.
What’s your Jerusalem? It’s your family, your friends, and your co-workers. That’s your Jerusalem. You start with the people closest to you. You don’t have to go somewhere else first. You start with the people in your own sphere of reference.
Then it says you go to Judea. Judea was like the county. What is your Judea? At Saddleback, we live in Orange County, with 2.5 million people.
And may of them still need to hear the Good News, and, no doubt, there are many in your Judea who also need to hear the Good News.
Then Jesus says you’re to go to Samaria. That’s like the county next door. But the Samaritans were culturally and ethnically different from the disciples. The third place you take the message is to people of a different culture, language, ethnic group than you.
Do you know anybody who speaks a different language than you do? Since I live in Southern California, I can tell you that there are 187 different languages spoken within driving distance of my church!
My point is - you don’t have to go very far to find your Samaria. It’s right next door. Have you ever been to a fast food restaurant? There’s your Samaria!
Then Jesus says go to “the ends of the world.” For hundreds and hundreds of years, Christians couldn’t obey that part - literally - because the ability to travel was extremely limited. In fact, for many years the human race didn’t even know the world was round.
But today, there are many opportunities for believers to go on a short-term trips that lead them to the “ends of the world”.
Our goal at Saddleback is to encourage every member to have at least one overseas experience.
So that’s the mission. Start with your Jerusalem. Move on to Judea. Then to Samaria - and then to the ends of the world. While you’re there, share the Good News. Invite others into God’s family!
Pastor, again, you're welcome to take this article - written to church members - and adapt it to your own needs.
Until next week,
Does spiritual growth just happen?
by Rick Warren
Many churches act as though spiritual growth is automatic once a person is born again. They operate with no organized plan for following-up new believers and no comprehensive strategy for developing members to maturity. They leave it all to chance.
They assume that Christians will automatically grow to maturity if they attend church services. All we need to do is just encourage people to show up at meetings and the job will get done.
Obviously, this isn’t true.
Spiritual growth doesn't just happen once you're saved, even if you attend services regularly. Our churches are filled with people who’ve attended their entire lives, yet they're still spiritual babies.
Spiritual growth must be intentional
Spiritual growth is not automatic with the passing of time. The writer of Hebrews sadly noted, "... though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again." (Heb. 5:12)
Millions of Christians have grown older without ever growing up.
The truth is that spiritual growth requires a commitment to grow. A person must want to grow, decide to grow, and make an effort to grow.
Discipleship begins with a decision. It doesn’t have to be a complex decision, but it does have to be sincere.
When the disciples decided to follow Christ they didn’t understand all of the implications of their decision. They simply expressed a desire to follow him. Jesus took that simple but sincere decision and built on it.
Philippians 2:12-13 says, "... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
Notice that it says "work out” - not "work on” - your salvation. There is nothing you can add to what Christ did for your salvation. Paul is talking about spiritual growth in this passage to people who are already saved.
The important thing to note is that God has a part in our growth but so do we. We must make an intentional effort to grow.
Becoming like Christ is the result of the commitments we make
We become whatever we are committed to - without a commitment to grow, any growth that occurs will be circumstantial, rather than intentional. Spiritual growth is too important to be left to circumstance. It needs to be intentional, not incidental.
Spiritual growth that leads to maturity begins with the kind of commitment described in Romans 6:13: "... give yourselves completely to God - every part of you - for you are back from death and you want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes.”
Spiritual growth is not a private matter
Some of us hesitate to commit ourselves to developing an intentional plan of growth for our members because we believe spiritual growth is a personal and private matter. Rather than interfere, we choose to allow each person to develop in his own way at his own rate.
This is an aberration from the truth. The idolatry of individualism has influenced even the way we think about spiritual growth. So much of the teaching on spiritual formation is self-centered and self-focused without any reference to our relationship to other Christians. This is completely unbiblical and ignores much of the New Testament.
The truth is that Christians need relationships to grow. We don’t grow in isolation from others. We develop in the context of fellowship. Over and over again in the New Testament we find this basic truth: Believers need relationships with each other to grow!
Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another ….” God intends for us to grow up in a family.
As I've stated several times in this column, the most significant growth toward maturity we've EVER seen at Saddleback was during 40 Days of Purpose.
In those 40 days, we baptized 671 new believers, added almost 1,200 new members, and increased our average attendance by 2,000. Those 40 days transformed our church and mobilized our members in ways we never dreamed possible.
Consider joining us for 40 Days of Purpose this fall. The campaign runs October 11 through November 23, but the registration deadline is July 1. For more information, call 1-800-SADDLEBACK or visit www.PurposeDriven.com.
Until next week,
by Rick Warren
Many churches act as though spiritual growth is automatic once a person is born again. They operate with no organized plan for following-up new believers and no comprehensive strategy for developing members to maturity. They leave it all to chance.
They assume that Christians will automatically grow to maturity if they attend church services. All we need to do is just encourage people to show up at meetings and the job will get done.
Obviously, this isn’t true.
Spiritual growth doesn't just happen once you're saved, even if you attend services regularly. Our churches are filled with people who’ve attended their entire lives, yet they're still spiritual babies.
Spiritual growth must be intentional
Spiritual growth is not automatic with the passing of time. The writer of Hebrews sadly noted, "... though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again." (Heb. 5:12)
Millions of Christians have grown older without ever growing up.
The truth is that spiritual growth requires a commitment to grow. A person must want to grow, decide to grow, and make an effort to grow.
Discipleship begins with a decision. It doesn’t have to be a complex decision, but it does have to be sincere.
When the disciples decided to follow Christ they didn’t understand all of the implications of their decision. They simply expressed a desire to follow him. Jesus took that simple but sincere decision and built on it.
Philippians 2:12-13 says, "... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
Notice that it says "work out” - not "work on” - your salvation. There is nothing you can add to what Christ did for your salvation. Paul is talking about spiritual growth in this passage to people who are already saved.
The important thing to note is that God has a part in our growth but so do we. We must make an intentional effort to grow.
Becoming like Christ is the result of the commitments we make
We become whatever we are committed to - without a commitment to grow, any growth that occurs will be circumstantial, rather than intentional. Spiritual growth is too important to be left to circumstance. It needs to be intentional, not incidental.
Spiritual growth that leads to maturity begins with the kind of commitment described in Romans 6:13: "... give yourselves completely to God - every part of you - for you are back from death and you want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes.”
Spiritual growth is not a private matter
Some of us hesitate to commit ourselves to developing an intentional plan of growth for our members because we believe spiritual growth is a personal and private matter. Rather than interfere, we choose to allow each person to develop in his own way at his own rate.
This is an aberration from the truth. The idolatry of individualism has influenced even the way we think about spiritual growth. So much of the teaching on spiritual formation is self-centered and self-focused without any reference to our relationship to other Christians. This is completely unbiblical and ignores much of the New Testament.
The truth is that Christians need relationships to grow. We don’t grow in isolation from others. We develop in the context of fellowship. Over and over again in the New Testament we find this basic truth: Believers need relationships with each other to grow!
Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another ….” God intends for us to grow up in a family.
As I've stated several times in this column, the most significant growth toward maturity we've EVER seen at Saddleback was during 40 Days of Purpose.
In those 40 days, we baptized 671 new believers, added almost 1,200 new members, and increased our average attendance by 2,000. Those 40 days transformed our church and mobilized our members in ways we never dreamed possible.
Consider joining us for 40 Days of Purpose this fall. The campaign runs October 11 through November 23, but the registration deadline is July 1. For more information, call 1-800-SADDLEBACK or visit www.PurposeDriven.com.
Until next week,
Use your uniqueness in service to God
by Rick Warren
You don't have to travel very far until you discover that God loves variety. Did you know he made more than 300,000 species of beetles alone? Would you call that creative overkill? Don’t you think the world could have gotten along just fine with only 50,000 species of beetles? So why did he make so many? Because he loves variety.
He likes variety in people, too. Have you ever taken a second at the airport to watch the parade of peculiar people walking by you? There’s proof right there that God loves variety. He made every single one of those individuals. He made you!
Psalm 139:13 (GN) says this: "You (God) created every part of me. You put me together in my mother's womb." In the Living Bible, verse 14 says: "Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous." Job 10:8a (GN) says: "Your hands formed and shaped me."
From these verses, we learn that God himself intentionally made each of us who we are. The Scripture teaches three foundational truths about you:
You are unique. It’s true. There's not anybody in the world like you. There never has been, and there never will be. When God made you, he broke the mold. God does not create carbon copies; he only creates originals. If you were to search the whole world, you wouldn't find two people who had the same footprint or fingerprint or voiceprint. Each person is unique. Why did God make you different from every person who's ever lived? Why did he go to all that trouble? Because he wants you to know how much you matter to him.
You are wonderfully complex. How many of you married somebody who is wonderfully complex? The fact is, each of us is so complex that many times we are a mystery to ourselves. Have you ever acted in a certain way that surprised you? Have you ever said something and later thought, "What was I thinking when I said that?" Have you ever felt a certain way and later thought, "Why do I feel this way? What's happening to me?" We are mysteries to ourselves. Have you ever been in a group and it seems that everybody reacted one way to a circumstance, and you found yourself reacting in the exact opposite way to everyone else in the group? Inside you think, "What's wrong with me?" There's nothing wrong with you, you're just unique.
Sometimes you just have to admit, "I don't know why I feel this way. I don't know why I said that. I don't know why I thought that." But God does. You are unique, and you're wonderfully complex.
You were shaped for a purpose! The Bible tells us that God created everything in the world for a purpose -- and that includes you. You're not here by accident. You're not just taking up space. God made you for a reason. You were designed by God, and it was his idea to make you. It's not a mistake. You were planned before birth. God did not simply sit down at a computer and randomly access a bunch of components and throw it all together and then wait to see what popped out. The Bible clearly teaches that you were purposefully and personally planned and designed by God. His loving hand made you exactly the way you are. You're not an accident. God had a plan in the genetic codes of your life. He didn't just throw it all together. You are you because God wanted you to be you. Your uniqueness is what God wants you to offer to the world.
God gave you unique spiritual gifts, a unique heart, unique abilities, a unique personality, and a lifetime of unique experiences so you would make your own unique difference in the world. The way you’ve been put together affects every area of your life -- your relationships, your career, your finances, your retirement, your enjoyment, your hobbies, and your recreation. And it absolutely affects your ministry.
Who you are is fixed, stable, enduring, and constant. Your unique shape does not change. As you go through different stages in life, you may have different expressions, but your shape demonstrates itself very early and continues with you for a lifetime. If you were pulling pranks as a little child, you'll probably still be pulling pranks at 85. If you were wheeling and dealing in third grade at recess, trading marbles, when you're in the rest home you'll probably be wheeling and dealing in bed pans. It's in your nature to be a wheeler dealer! If, as a little child, you had a caring heart for hurting animals -- maybe you fixed a cat's paw or a broken wing on a little bird -- the rest of your life you're going to be caring for hurting people and hurting animals. You're made that way. It's fixed. You never get tired of doing what you're shaped to do. You don't get bored with it. No matter how many satisfying experiences you have, you're always ready for another one. Why? God made you that way.
The fact is you can't be anything but you. It's all you can be. There's no escaping it. If you enjoy doing something over and over, you'll repeat it. It becomes a pattern in your life. And though you may try to be like somebody else, eventually your real self will spurt through.
The next time you see a snowflake, consider this fact: There are 18 million snowflakes in a single cubic foot of snow -- and not one of them is like another. We may not be able to tell them apart, but God can. And he loves variety.
If he went through all that trouble to make unique snowflakes, why should we be surprised that he took the time to make each of us unique? I pray you use your uniqueness to impact our world.
Until next week,
by Rick Warren
You don't have to travel very far until you discover that God loves variety. Did you know he made more than 300,000 species of beetles alone? Would you call that creative overkill? Don’t you think the world could have gotten along just fine with only 50,000 species of beetles? So why did he make so many? Because he loves variety.
He likes variety in people, too. Have you ever taken a second at the airport to watch the parade of peculiar people walking by you? There’s proof right there that God loves variety. He made every single one of those individuals. He made you!
Psalm 139:13 (GN) says this: "You (God) created every part of me. You put me together in my mother's womb." In the Living Bible, verse 14 says: "Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous." Job 10:8a (GN) says: "Your hands formed and shaped me."
From these verses, we learn that God himself intentionally made each of us who we are. The Scripture teaches three foundational truths about you:
You are unique. It’s true. There's not anybody in the world like you. There never has been, and there never will be. When God made you, he broke the mold. God does not create carbon copies; he only creates originals. If you were to search the whole world, you wouldn't find two people who had the same footprint or fingerprint or voiceprint. Each person is unique. Why did God make you different from every person who's ever lived? Why did he go to all that trouble? Because he wants you to know how much you matter to him.
You are wonderfully complex. How many of you married somebody who is wonderfully complex? The fact is, each of us is so complex that many times we are a mystery to ourselves. Have you ever acted in a certain way that surprised you? Have you ever said something and later thought, "What was I thinking when I said that?" Have you ever felt a certain way and later thought, "Why do I feel this way? What's happening to me?" We are mysteries to ourselves. Have you ever been in a group and it seems that everybody reacted one way to a circumstance, and you found yourself reacting in the exact opposite way to everyone else in the group? Inside you think, "What's wrong with me?" There's nothing wrong with you, you're just unique.
Sometimes you just have to admit, "I don't know why I feel this way. I don't know why I said that. I don't know why I thought that." But God does. You are unique, and you're wonderfully complex.
You were shaped for a purpose! The Bible tells us that God created everything in the world for a purpose -- and that includes you. You're not here by accident. You're not just taking up space. God made you for a reason. You were designed by God, and it was his idea to make you. It's not a mistake. You were planned before birth. God did not simply sit down at a computer and randomly access a bunch of components and throw it all together and then wait to see what popped out. The Bible clearly teaches that you were purposefully and personally planned and designed by God. His loving hand made you exactly the way you are. You're not an accident. God had a plan in the genetic codes of your life. He didn't just throw it all together. You are you because God wanted you to be you. Your uniqueness is what God wants you to offer to the world.
God gave you unique spiritual gifts, a unique heart, unique abilities, a unique personality, and a lifetime of unique experiences so you would make your own unique difference in the world. The way you’ve been put together affects every area of your life -- your relationships, your career, your finances, your retirement, your enjoyment, your hobbies, and your recreation. And it absolutely affects your ministry.
Who you are is fixed, stable, enduring, and constant. Your unique shape does not change. As you go through different stages in life, you may have different expressions, but your shape demonstrates itself very early and continues with you for a lifetime. If you were pulling pranks as a little child, you'll probably still be pulling pranks at 85. If you were wheeling and dealing in third grade at recess, trading marbles, when you're in the rest home you'll probably be wheeling and dealing in bed pans. It's in your nature to be a wheeler dealer! If, as a little child, you had a caring heart for hurting animals -- maybe you fixed a cat's paw or a broken wing on a little bird -- the rest of your life you're going to be caring for hurting people and hurting animals. You're made that way. It's fixed. You never get tired of doing what you're shaped to do. You don't get bored with it. No matter how many satisfying experiences you have, you're always ready for another one. Why? God made you that way.
The fact is you can't be anything but you. It's all you can be. There's no escaping it. If you enjoy doing something over and over, you'll repeat it. It becomes a pattern in your life. And though you may try to be like somebody else, eventually your real self will spurt through.
The next time you see a snowflake, consider this fact: There are 18 million snowflakes in a single cubic foot of snow -- and not one of them is like another. We may not be able to tell them apart, but God can. And he loves variety.
If he went through all that trouble to make unique snowflakes, why should we be surprised that he took the time to make each of us unique? I pray you use your uniqueness to impact our world.
Until next week,
Why Does God Allow Evil?
by Rick Warren
The horrific mass murder of innocent Americans leaves all rational people shocked, angry, grief-stricken and numb. Our tears flow freely and our hearts carry a deep ache. How could this happen in our nation?
As mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors and coworkers begin to share their stories of the horror, this tragedy will become even more personal. As it becomes more personal, it will become more painful, and as our pain deepens, so will the questions. Why does God allow evil to happen? If God is so great and so good, why does he allow human beings to hurt each other?
The answer lies in both our greatest blessing and our worst curse: our capacity to make choices. God has given us a free will. Made in God's image, he has given us the freedom to decide how we will act and the ability to make moral choices. This is one asset that sets us apart from animals, but it also is the source of so much pain in our world. People, and that includes all of us, often make selfish, self-centered and evil choices. Whenever that happens, people get hurt.
Sin is ultimately selfishness. I want to do what I want, not what God tells me to do. Unfortunately, sin always hurts others, not just ourselves.
God could have eliminated all evil from our world by simply removing our ability to choose it. He could have made us puppets, or marionettes on strings that he pulls. By taking away our ability to choose it, evil would vanish. But God doesn't want us to be puppets. He wants to be loved and obeyed by creatures who voluntarily choose to do so. Love is not genuine if there is no other option.
Yes, God could have kept the terrorists from completing their suicidal missions by removing their ability to choose their own will instead of his. But to be fair, God also would have to do that to all of us. You and I are not terrorists, but we do harm and hurt others with our own selfish decisions and actions.
You may hear misguided minds say, "This must have been God's will." Nonsense!
In a world of free choices, God's will is rarely done! Doing our own will is much more common. Don't blame God for this tragedy. Blame people who ignored what God has told us to do: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
In heaven, God's will is done perfectly. That's why there is no sorrow, pain or evil there. But this is earth, a fallen, imperfect place. We must choose to do God's will everyday. It isn't automatic. This is why Jesus told us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
The Bible explains the root of evil: "This is the crisis we're in: God's light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness ... because they were not really interested in pleasing God" (John 3:19, Message Translation). We're far more interested in pleasing ourselves.
There are many other questions that race through our minds during dark days. But the answers will not come from pollsters, pundits or politicians. We must look to God and his Word. We must humble ourselves and admit that each of us often choose to ignore what God wants us to do.
No doubt houses of worship across America will be packed in the coming days. In a crisis we cry out for a connection with our Creator. This is a deep-seated, universal urge. The first words uttered by millions on Sept. 11 were "Oh God!"
We were made for a relationship with God, but he waits for us to choose him. He is ready to comfort, guide and direct us through our grief. But it's your choice.
Churches and ministries may reprint this article with the following attribution: Used by permission of Pastors.com, c. 2001.
Article by Rick Warren
by Rick Warren
The horrific mass murder of innocent Americans leaves all rational people shocked, angry, grief-stricken and numb. Our tears flow freely and our hearts carry a deep ache. How could this happen in our nation?
As mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors and coworkers begin to share their stories of the horror, this tragedy will become even more personal. As it becomes more personal, it will become more painful, and as our pain deepens, so will the questions. Why does God allow evil to happen? If God is so great and so good, why does he allow human beings to hurt each other?
The answer lies in both our greatest blessing and our worst curse: our capacity to make choices. God has given us a free will. Made in God's image, he has given us the freedom to decide how we will act and the ability to make moral choices. This is one asset that sets us apart from animals, but it also is the source of so much pain in our world. People, and that includes all of us, often make selfish, self-centered and evil choices. Whenever that happens, people get hurt.
Sin is ultimately selfishness. I want to do what I want, not what God tells me to do. Unfortunately, sin always hurts others, not just ourselves.
God could have eliminated all evil from our world by simply removing our ability to choose it. He could have made us puppets, or marionettes on strings that he pulls. By taking away our ability to choose it, evil would vanish. But God doesn't want us to be puppets. He wants to be loved and obeyed by creatures who voluntarily choose to do so. Love is not genuine if there is no other option.
Yes, God could have kept the terrorists from completing their suicidal missions by removing their ability to choose their own will instead of his. But to be fair, God also would have to do that to all of us. You and I are not terrorists, but we do harm and hurt others with our own selfish decisions and actions.
You may hear misguided minds say, "This must have been God's will." Nonsense!
In a world of free choices, God's will is rarely done! Doing our own will is much more common. Don't blame God for this tragedy. Blame people who ignored what God has told us to do: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
In heaven, God's will is done perfectly. That's why there is no sorrow, pain or evil there. But this is earth, a fallen, imperfect place. We must choose to do God's will everyday. It isn't automatic. This is why Jesus told us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
The Bible explains the root of evil: "This is the crisis we're in: God's light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness ... because they were not really interested in pleasing God" (John 3:19, Message Translation). We're far more interested in pleasing ourselves.
There are many other questions that race through our minds during dark days. But the answers will not come from pollsters, pundits or politicians. We must look to God and his Word. We must humble ourselves and admit that each of us often choose to ignore what God wants us to do.
No doubt houses of worship across America will be packed in the coming days. In a crisis we cry out for a connection with our Creator. This is a deep-seated, universal urge. The first words uttered by millions on Sept. 11 were "Oh God!"
We were made for a relationship with God, but he waits for us to choose him. He is ready to comfort, guide and direct us through our grief. But it's your choice.
Churches and ministries may reprint this article with the following attribution: Used by permission of Pastors.com, c. 2001.
Article by Rick Warren
Little faith+Big God=Huge results
by Rick Warren
[The boy's father said,] "... If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!" Jesus said, "If? There are no 'ifs' among believers. Anything can happen." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, "Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!"
(Mark 9:22-24, Msg)
Is it possible to be filled with faith and doubt at the same time? Yes!
You can have faith that God wants you to do something and still be scared to death. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is going ahead and doing what you’re called to do in spite of your fear.
You have to begin with the faith you already have: it may be just a little, but you start there. A beautiful example of this is the story of the man who brought his sick son to Jesus in Mark 9. Jesus looked at the man and said, “I can heal your son. If you will believe, I will heal him.”
The father then makes a classic statement: “Lord, I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief.”
Have you ever felt like that? “Lord, I have some faith. But I also have some doubts.” This man was filled with faith and doubt, yet despite his honest doubts, he went ahead and asked Jesus for a miracle. And he got his miracle – Jesus healed his son.
No matter how weak or how frail you think your faith is, it’s enough. Pastor, it’s enough to get you through what you’re facing, and it’s enough to complete the vision God has planted in your heart.
Matthew 17:20 says, “If you have faith as small as the mustard seed, nothing will be impossible to you.” That’s not a lot of faith; in fact, it's just a little faith. But what else does that verse teach? “If you have faith as the mustard seed, you can say to the mountain, ‘Move’ and it will be moved.”
Mustard seed faith moves mountains. Don’t get this reversed. We like to read this verse backward. We want it to say, “If you have faith like a mountain you can move a mustard seed” – as if it takes enormous faith to do a very little task.
Everybody has faith. You had faith this morning when you ate your cereal -- faith that your spouse didn't put poison in your granola! Ha! You had faith when you sat down in your computer chair -- faith that it wouldn't collapse.
Everybody has faith; the difference is what you put your faith in.
Sometimes people will tell me they don’t want to join Saddleback until all their questions are answered; or they don’t want to make a commitment to Christ until they understand it all.
It's not uncommon for a pastor to tell me he doesn't want to start a new ministry until all his doubts are cleared up.
But that's not the way it works. If that was the way to approach ministry, it wouldn’t take any faith at all.
Instead, God wants you start with the faith you have, and based on the example of the mustard seed, you don’t need a whole lot of faith to do great things for God. You just need a little.
So here’s a trustworthy equation:
Little faith+Big God=Huge results
You take your little faith;
“Lord, I believe! Help me with my unbelief!"
And you put it in our big God,
And then he'll show you how he works out huge results.
Until next week,
by Rick Warren
[The boy's father said,] "... If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!" Jesus said, "If? There are no 'ifs' among believers. Anything can happen." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, "Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!"
(Mark 9:22-24, Msg)
Is it possible to be filled with faith and doubt at the same time? Yes!
You can have faith that God wants you to do something and still be scared to death. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is going ahead and doing what you’re called to do in spite of your fear.
You have to begin with the faith you already have: it may be just a little, but you start there. A beautiful example of this is the story of the man who brought his sick son to Jesus in Mark 9. Jesus looked at the man and said, “I can heal your son. If you will believe, I will heal him.”
The father then makes a classic statement: “Lord, I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief.”
Have you ever felt like that? “Lord, I have some faith. But I also have some doubts.” This man was filled with faith and doubt, yet despite his honest doubts, he went ahead and asked Jesus for a miracle. And he got his miracle – Jesus healed his son.
No matter how weak or how frail you think your faith is, it’s enough. Pastor, it’s enough to get you through what you’re facing, and it’s enough to complete the vision God has planted in your heart.
Matthew 17:20 says, “If you have faith as small as the mustard seed, nothing will be impossible to you.” That’s not a lot of faith; in fact, it's just a little faith. But what else does that verse teach? “If you have faith as the mustard seed, you can say to the mountain, ‘Move’ and it will be moved.”
Mustard seed faith moves mountains. Don’t get this reversed. We like to read this verse backward. We want it to say, “If you have faith like a mountain you can move a mustard seed” – as if it takes enormous faith to do a very little task.
Everybody has faith. You had faith this morning when you ate your cereal -- faith that your spouse didn't put poison in your granola! Ha! You had faith when you sat down in your computer chair -- faith that it wouldn't collapse.
Everybody has faith; the difference is what you put your faith in.
Sometimes people will tell me they don’t want to join Saddleback until all their questions are answered; or they don’t want to make a commitment to Christ until they understand it all.
It's not uncommon for a pastor to tell me he doesn't want to start a new ministry until all his doubts are cleared up.
But that's not the way it works. If that was the way to approach ministry, it wouldn’t take any faith at all.
Instead, God wants you start with the faith you have, and based on the example of the mustard seed, you don’t need a whole lot of faith to do great things for God. You just need a little.
So here’s a trustworthy equation:
Little faith+Big God=Huge results
You take your little faith;
“Lord, I believe! Help me with my unbelief!"
And you put it in our big God,
And then he'll show you how he works out huge results.
Until next week,
Use your influence to tackle HIV/AIDS
by Rick Warren
Two years ago HIV/AIDS was not on my agenda; it was not even a blip on my radar. I'm a pretty focused person, so I've essentially invested my vocational life in two things: building a model of a healthy local church and training other pastors to do the same. I don't know a lot of things, but I do know how to equip and mobilize pastors. So, HIV/AIDS was not on my agenda at all until God spoke to me in a very audible way –through my wife.
A couple of years ago Kay picked up a TIME magazine that said, "12 million orphaned in Africa because of AIDS." We now know that number has risen to over 14 million.
And that magazine article grabbed the heart of Kay – a suburban, white Bible teacher in Southern California, shaking her world and turning it upside down.
Over the years I've learned that when God speaks to my wife I'd better listen! And then, in my personal devotions, God said to me, "You MUST care about this issue! You must care about it because I care about it."
In the past year I've been thinking a lot about what I call "the stewardship of influence." I don't believe God gives you influence for your own ego or fame or your own benefit. I believe he expects us to use whatever influence he gives for the benefit of others.
For instance, one passage of Scripture that means a lot to me is Psalm 72, a prayer of Solomon. When he wrote it, Solomon was the most influential man of his day. He was not only the king, he was the wealthiest man alive, and the Bible tells us that he was also the wisest man who ever lived.
In his prayer Solomon says, (I am paraphrasing here) "God you have blessed me with both affluence and influence, and I ask you to increase that even more. But not for my benefit. Here's why I want you to bless me with greater influence: So that I can save the children of the needy, rescue those who are hurt from oppression and violence, deliver the needy who cry out, take pity on the weak, and help the afflicted who have no one to help them. I will save the needy from death, for precious is their blood in your sight. Yes, I will defend the afflicted among the people."
Friends, if anyone could be called afflicted in our world today – it is those who are dying of HIV/AIDS!
To me, Psalm 72 says that the purpose of influence is to speak up for people who have no influence: the needy, the oppressed, the prisoner, the orphan, the widow. All the people included in the five major groups that the Old Testament commands us to care about. We must care! It's not optional. And we must do more than care. We must do something about the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is raging across Africa.
I believe God gets the most glory when, in his name, we take down the biggest giants. That's what little David did with Goliath. Since HIV/AIDS is the biggest giant on our planet right now, then there's got to be some Davids out there who can take it down for God's glory. When the giant of HIV/AIDS falls, we want God to get the glory. That is what should motivate us all in this ministry. In Isaiah 49, God says he wants his glory to be global. Our objective is the global glory of God.
In the coming months, you will hear more about the PEACE plan, a Saddleback initiative to tackle five of the greatest giants plaguing our world today. One of those giants we will be tackling will be diseases and sicknesses like HIV/AIDS.
Because the HIV/AIDS pandemic is so enormous and so complex, it is easy to become discouraged and paralyzed – and to keep delaying action. But these times require action!
And the bottom line is this: Are we going to love people the way Jesus does?
Fulton Sheen – the great Catholic bishop – once visited a leprosy colony, and he walked up to a man sitting on the ground who had a number of serious skin diseases. The man's body was oozing with puss and putrefied sores, and as Bishop Sheen leaned over to talk to him, the chain of the crucifix he was wearing broke and his crucifix fell into an open sore on the man's leg.
Bishop Sheen said he was so revolted by what happened, his first response was to jump back. But, he said, "All of a sudden I was overwhelmed with compassion for this person. So I reached into the sore and took up the cross." I think that is the finest definition of Christianity I've ever heard. "Reaching into the sores of life – where people are broken, hurting, dying, poor, hopeless – and taking up the cross."
What is going to mobilize the church to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic? Not statistics!
I'll tell you what will: When people really understand how much Jesus loves people with AIDS!
How much does Jesus love people who have AIDS? Just look at the cross! With arms outstretched and nail-pierced hands, Jesus says, "This much! This is how much I love people who have AIDS!"
In Matthew 25, Jesus made it very clear that one of the things we're going to be judged for when we stand before him is how we treated other people! "I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. Naked and you clothed me. Sick and in prison and you visited me." We must treat people as if they were Jesus himself.
That is what it's all about.
Until next week,
by Rick Warren
Two years ago HIV/AIDS was not on my agenda; it was not even a blip on my radar. I'm a pretty focused person, so I've essentially invested my vocational life in two things: building a model of a healthy local church and training other pastors to do the same. I don't know a lot of things, but I do know how to equip and mobilize pastors. So, HIV/AIDS was not on my agenda at all until God spoke to me in a very audible way –through my wife.
A couple of years ago Kay picked up a TIME magazine that said, "12 million orphaned in Africa because of AIDS." We now know that number has risen to over 14 million.
And that magazine article grabbed the heart of Kay – a suburban, white Bible teacher in Southern California, shaking her world and turning it upside down.
Over the years I've learned that when God speaks to my wife I'd better listen! And then, in my personal devotions, God said to me, "You MUST care about this issue! You must care about it because I care about it."
In the past year I've been thinking a lot about what I call "the stewardship of influence." I don't believe God gives you influence for your own ego or fame or your own benefit. I believe he expects us to use whatever influence he gives for the benefit of others.
For instance, one passage of Scripture that means a lot to me is Psalm 72, a prayer of Solomon. When he wrote it, Solomon was the most influential man of his day. He was not only the king, he was the wealthiest man alive, and the Bible tells us that he was also the wisest man who ever lived.
In his prayer Solomon says, (I am paraphrasing here) "God you have blessed me with both affluence and influence, and I ask you to increase that even more. But not for my benefit. Here's why I want you to bless me with greater influence: So that I can save the children of the needy, rescue those who are hurt from oppression and violence, deliver the needy who cry out, take pity on the weak, and help the afflicted who have no one to help them. I will save the needy from death, for precious is their blood in your sight. Yes, I will defend the afflicted among the people."
Friends, if anyone could be called afflicted in our world today – it is those who are dying of HIV/AIDS!
To me, Psalm 72 says that the purpose of influence is to speak up for people who have no influence: the needy, the oppressed, the prisoner, the orphan, the widow. All the people included in the five major groups that the Old Testament commands us to care about. We must care! It's not optional. And we must do more than care. We must do something about the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is raging across Africa.
I believe God gets the most glory when, in his name, we take down the biggest giants. That's what little David did with Goliath. Since HIV/AIDS is the biggest giant on our planet right now, then there's got to be some Davids out there who can take it down for God's glory. When the giant of HIV/AIDS falls, we want God to get the glory. That is what should motivate us all in this ministry. In Isaiah 49, God says he wants his glory to be global. Our objective is the global glory of God.
In the coming months, you will hear more about the PEACE plan, a Saddleback initiative to tackle five of the greatest giants plaguing our world today. One of those giants we will be tackling will be diseases and sicknesses like HIV/AIDS.
Because the HIV/AIDS pandemic is so enormous and so complex, it is easy to become discouraged and paralyzed – and to keep delaying action. But these times require action!
And the bottom line is this: Are we going to love people the way Jesus does?
Fulton Sheen – the great Catholic bishop – once visited a leprosy colony, and he walked up to a man sitting on the ground who had a number of serious skin diseases. The man's body was oozing with puss and putrefied sores, and as Bishop Sheen leaned over to talk to him, the chain of the crucifix he was wearing broke and his crucifix fell into an open sore on the man's leg.
Bishop Sheen said he was so revolted by what happened, his first response was to jump back. But, he said, "All of a sudden I was overwhelmed with compassion for this person. So I reached into the sore and took up the cross." I think that is the finest definition of Christianity I've ever heard. "Reaching into the sores of life – where people are broken, hurting, dying, poor, hopeless – and taking up the cross."
What is going to mobilize the church to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic? Not statistics!
I'll tell you what will: When people really understand how much Jesus loves people with AIDS!
How much does Jesus love people who have AIDS? Just look at the cross! With arms outstretched and nail-pierced hands, Jesus says, "This much! This is how much I love people who have AIDS!"
In Matthew 25, Jesus made it very clear that one of the things we're going to be judged for when we stand before him is how we treated other people! "I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. Naked and you clothed me. Sick and in prison and you visited me." We must treat people as if they were Jesus himself.
That is what it's all about.
Until next week,
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