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Give the Bible the First and Last Word in Your Life

Posted on March 5, 2013 Leave a Comment

by Rick Warren

“If you abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine.” (John 8:31 NASB, 1978 edition)

In order to build your life on the Bible, it must become the authoritative standard for your life. It must become the compass you rely on for direction, the counsel you listen to for making wise decisions, and the benchmark you use for evaluating everything.

The Bible must always have the first and last word in your life.

Many of our troubles occur because we base our choices on unreliable authorities: culture (“Everyone is doing it”), tradition (“We’ve always done it”), reason (“It seemed logical”), or emotion (“It just felt right”). Yet, what we need is a perfect standard that will never lead us in the wrong direction. Only God’s Word meets that need: “Every word of God is flawless” (Proverbs 30:5a NIV).

The most important decision you can make today is to settle this issue of what will be the ultimate authority for your life. Decide that regardless of culture, tradition, reason, or emotion, you choose the Bible as your final authority. When making decisions, determine to first ask, “What does the Bible say?” Resolve that when God says to do something, you will trust God’s Word and do it whether or not it makes sense or you feel like doing it.

Posted in: Blog, Leadership Nuggets | Tagged: Authority, Bible, Daily, Devotional, Final, give, hope, rick, warren, Word

Where was God? – Mike Huckabee

Posted on December 17, 2012 Leave a Comment

by Mike Huckabee

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR39j1KMOsE&w=560&h=315]

My Fox show monologue:

I’ve said some controversial things from time to time, but none which prompted such a backlash as when I stated that the horrific shooting in CT of school children and teachers couldn’t be blamed on God because we’ve systematically marginalized God out of our culture by removing Him from all aspects of the public square. The vicious attacks that have resulted, most of all o

f which are based on total ignorance of what I actually said have actually validated my point, but I’m quite certain that was not the intent of both the professional and amateur critics who have demanded everything from my being banned from ever speaking in public again, or wished me a slow and painful death. On that alone, I wish to acknowledge that the left has again shown that it defines tolerance and diversity as being tolerant only of that with which it agrees, and diverse only to include slight shades of the orthodoxy of liberalism to which they adhere. They abhor censorship of their own profanity, obscenities, or graphic violence, but are the first to demand that a voice that invokes the name of God to be silenced. A specific act of violence is rarely the result of a specific single act of a culture that prompts it. In other words, I would never say that simply taking prayer and Bible reading from our institutions or silencing Christmas carols is the direct cause of a mass murder. That would be ludicrous and simplistic. But the cause and effect we see in the dramatic changes of what our children are capable of is a part of a cultural shift from a God-centered culture to a self-centered culture. We have glorified uninhibited self-expression and individualism and are shocked that we have a generation of loners. We have insisted on a society where everyone gets a trophy and no one loses and act surprised that so many kids lack self-esteem and feel like losers. We dismiss the notion of natural law and the notion that there are moral absolutes and seemed amazed when some kids make it their own morality to kill innocent children. We diminish and even hold in contempt the natural family of a father and mother creating and then responsibly raising the next generation and then express dismay that kids feel no real connection to their families or even the concept of a family. We scoff at the need for mothers and fathers to make it their priority to train their children to be strong in spirit and soul and responsible for right and wrong and exalt instead the virtue of having things and providing expensive toys, games, and electronics that substitute for parenting and then don’t understand why our kids would rather have ear buds dangling from their ears, fingers attaching to a smart phone, and face attached to a computer screen than to have an extended conversation with their family at dinner. And we don’t teach them there is a Creator God who sets immutable rules, a God who is knowable, and to whom we are ultimately responsible. Instead we teach that God was not involved in our origins, that our very lives are biological happenstances and in fact are disposable should they be inconvenient to us, and that any outrageous behaviors are not sin, but disorders for which we should be excused and accommodated. I realize my viewpoint sounds out-dated and archaic, but when that world view was the foundation of our nation’s social contract, we got in trouble at school for talking in class, chewing gum, pulling a girl’s pigtails, or slouching in our school desks. We took guns to school, to be sure, but they were in the gun racks of our trucks and we used them to hunt before and after school. It never occurred to us to use them to murder our teachers and fellow students. So yes, I can stand the contempt and criticism of the left. I’ll gladly accept their scorn as they substitute creative language with a steady stream of profanity-laced tirades that I’m an idiot, a throwback to the past, and a person who should be forever silenced. But when we as a nation feared God, we didn’t fear that a 20 year old with a high powered rifle would gun down our children in their schoolrooms.Please SHARE this post on Facebook to help me spread this message. Thank you!

Posted in: Blog | Tagged: Children, Connecticut, Elementary, God, Hook, hope, Huckabee, Killer, Laws, Mike, prayer, Sandy, School, Shooting

Celebrate Your S.H.A.P.E.

Posted on October 28, 2012 Leave a Comment

by Rick Warren

“Oh, yes, you shaped me first inside, then out …. You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit… Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” (Psalm 139:13-16 MSG)

God never wastes an experience. Romans 8:28 reminds us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (NIV).

At Saddleback, we help people consider five areas of experience that will influence the kind of ministry they are best shaped for:

Educational experiences: What were your favorite subjects in school?
Vocational experiences: What jobs have you enjoyed and achieved results while doing?
Spiritual experiences: What have been the meaningful or decisive times with God in your life?
Ministry experiences: How have you served God in the past?
Painful experiences: What are the problems, hurts, and trials from which you’ve learned?
Your S.H.A.P.E. was sovereignly determined by God for his purpose, so you shouldn’t resent it or reject it. “What right have you, a human being, to cross-examine God? The pot has no right to say to the potter: ‘Why did you make me this shape?’ Surely a potter can do what he likes with the clay!” (Romans 9:20-21 JB)

Instead of trying to reshape ourselves to be like someone else, we should celebrate the S.H.A.P.E. God has given to each of us.

Understanding your S.H.A.P.E. builds self-esteem. There’s an epidemic of low self-esteem in our society today. Most people do not like themselves. One reason, studies have shown, is that more than 50 percent of all people are in the wrong jobs. I believe that genuine self-esteem — as opposed to pop psychological self-esteem — is built on two biblical truths. It’s not about raising yourself up by your boot straps or thinking positively or the “I’m OK; you’re not so hot” philosophy. Genuine self-esteem is built on your relationship with Jesus and knowing what he created you for.

Posted in: Leadership Nuggets | Tagged: Celebrate, Daily, hope, Inspiration, Purpose, rick, shape, traced, warren, with, your

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