Purpose Driven Life [Hardcover]

Pastor of Saddleback Church, a Southern Baptist mega-church in southern California with weekly attendance of more than 15,000, Warren now applies his highly successful "purpose-driven" framework, developed in the best-seller The Purpose-Driven Church, to individual experience. The same principles Warren has taught to thousands of pastors to help churches be healthy and effective can also drive lives, he says. The book argues that discerning and living five God-ordained purposes-worship, community, discipleship, ministry and evangelism-is key to effective living. His 40 short chapters are intended to be read over 40 days' time, giving readers small pieces of his purpose-discovering program to chew on. Warren certainly knows his Bible. Of 800-plus footnotes, only 18 don't refer to Christian Scripture. He deliberately works with 15 different Bible translations, leaning heavily on contemporary translations and paraphrases, as an interesting way of plumbing biblical text. The almost exclusively biblical frame of reference stakes out the audience niche for this manual for Christian living. It's practical yet paradoxically abstract, lacking the kind of real-life examples and stories that life-application books usually provide in abundance. The book has flaws editing might have fixed. People are quoted without being identified, and subheads simply repeat lines of text, which tends to make the prose sound too simple. This book is not for all, but for those needing a certain kind of scriptural rock, it is solid.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The #1 international bestseller! This 40-day spiritual journey will help you understand why you are alive and God’s amazing plan for you both now and for eternity. Winner of the Gold Medallion Book Award and Christian Book of the Year Award.

What "level of living" are you reaching for? Survival, success or significance?

Rick Warren believes God created you for a life of tremendous significance. One with a mission that fills you with energy, confidence, and satisfaction. A life with direction and impact for God’s kingdom.

A purpose-driven life.

In The Purpose-Driven™ Life, the author of the phenomenally popular Purpose-Driven Church uncovers seven essentials for understanding and fulfilling your God-given life mission:

PRIORITIZE YOUR VALUES

UNDERSTAND YOUR STRENGTHS

RESOLVE TO FULFILL YOUR MISSION

PRAYERFULLY CREATE A MISSION STATEMENT

ORGANIZE YOUR TIME

STRENGTHEN SKILLS, HABITS, AND RELATIONSHIPS

Rick Warren is often called "America's most influential spiritual leader." He founded Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, which is now one of the largest and best-known churches in the world. He also founded the Purpose Driven Movement, a network of tens of thousands of churches from all denominations in 160 countries. He has trained over 350,000 pastors worldwide. 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." Rick and Kay Warren give away 90 percent of the profits from their books to charitable causes, including their global P.E.A.C.E. plan and Acts of Mercy, which services those infected with and affected by AIDS.