Awesome Message from Rick Warren

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 another 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. 

 

 

Remembering SNL @ “Out Of The Box and thinking of Awesome things to come……..

First of all we thank God for such an Awesome hangout “Out Of The Box”.Next we are thankful for all of the people who help make this possible. The First United Methodist Church of Hillsville is Youth Friendly! Then we thank all those who plan and carry out the ministry and that would also include me. It takes hours to plan, practice, prepare and pray before the ministry ever takes place. Thank you Praise Band, Sound Man, Worship Leader, Preachers, Teachers and Youth Leaders.

Don’t forget to hug some of these people when you see them and say thanks!

Ronnie

 

 

We officially have a new President

It is official, Barak Obama has been sworn into office. Here is my prayer for our new President.

God, I pray that you will surround our new President with a hedge of protection from violence and any other evil force that may raise it’s hand against him. I pray for his wife and children that they will have safety and lead lives of normalcy. I pray that our new President will work hard and have your blesing in getting this Country back to helping those who cannot help themselves. That he will find ways to help children across this Country and across this World who are dying from hunger related issues everyday. I pray that he will work toward peace for this Country and others. I pray that he will fight to protect the unborn. I pray that he will be a man who will study your Word and takes it to heart as his mission in life. I pray that through his leadership all people will be treated fairly. I pray that you will give him wisdom and insight to to this great job that you have called him to do.

Amen

We are bankrupt as a society and I mean that Spiritually

I don’t believe this Country is broke monetarily but it is definitely broken morally and spiritually. I am committed to praying for our new leaders and I have high hopes that things will improve economically and in all aspects. However, I am stunned that this could be allowed to happen when so many people are starving to death every day, so many people are homeless, so many people live in poverty.

Ronnie

 From the Church Report Online

Inaugural May Cost $150 Million, Most Expensive Ever

Unemployment is up. The stock market is down. Let’s party.

The price tag for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration gala is expected to break records, with some estimates reaching as high as $150 million. Despite the bleak economy, however, Democrats who called on President George W. Bush to be frugal four years ago are issuing no such demands now that an inaugural weekend of rock concerts and star-studded parties has begun.

 

Obama’s inaugural committee has raised more than $41 million to cover events ranging from a Philadelphia-to-Washington train ride to a megastar concert with Beyonce, U2 and Bruce Springsteen to 10 official inaugural balls. Add to that the massive costs of security and transportation — costs absorbed by U.S. taxpayers — and the historic inauguration will produce an equally historic bill.

 

In 2005, Reps. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., and Jim McDermott, D-Wash., asked Bush to show a little less pomp and be a little more circumspect at his party.

 

“President Roosevelt held his 1945 inaugural at the White House, making a short speech and serving guests cold chicken salad and plain pound cake,” the two lawmakers wrote in a letter. “During World War I, President Wilson did not have any parties at his 1917 inaugural, saying that such festivities would be undignified.”

 

The thinking was that, with the nation at war, excessive celebration was inappropriate. Four years later, the nation is still at war. Unemployment has risen sharply. And Obama pressed Congress to release the second half of a $700 billion bailout package in hopes of rescuing a faltering banking industry.

 

Obama’s inauguration committee says it is mindful of the times and is not worried people will see the four days of festivities as excessive.

 

“That is probably not the way the country is going to be looking at it,” said committee spokeswoman Linda Douglass. “It is not a celebration of an election. It is a celebration of our common values.”

 

Douglass said the campaign sought to keep costs down by having the same decorations at each of the 10 balls, eliminating floral arrangements and negotiating prices on food.

 

“Those at the Obama administration are trying to be reflective of the climate,” McDermott’s spokesman, Mike DeCeasar, said Saturday.

 

The festivities began Saturday with a speech at Philadelphia’s historic 30th Street train as Obama’s trip began.

 

Sunday’s concert at the Lincoln Memorial includes performances by Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks and others. Denzel Washington and Queen Latifah will read historic passages. HBO paid $2.5 million for the exclusive rights to broadcast the concert.

 

Monday, the inaugural committee is hosting a national day of service, followed by three “bipartisan dinners” and a concert at the Verizon Center honoring military families. The Disney Channel will broadcast the concert, which includes performances by teen stars Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers, as part of a $2 million deal that also gave ABC the exclusive rights to broadcast one inaugural ball.

 

The television deals allowed the committee to recoup about $5 million of the $15 million production costs for the televised events, Douglass said.

 

Security and transportation costs are being paid by taxpayers. And with millions of tourists expected to descend on Washington for Tuesday’s inauguration ceremony, Bush declared a state of emergency, allowing the district to recover some costs for the event.

 

The inauguration committee is paying for 10 stadium-style screens to broadcast the inauguration ceremony on the National Mall. It is also hiring garbage and recycling services and renting thousands of portable toilets for what one supplier called “the largest temporary restroom event in the history of the United States.”

 

Obama has pledged transparency in his inauguration fundraising. He has disclosed inaugural donors as the fundraising continued, though he is not required to do so until after the ceremony.

 

Many of the fundraisers are well-known moneymen and women in Democratic circles. Those leading the list raised at least $300,000. They include two of Obama’s top campaign fundraisers: Louis Susman, who retired this month as vice chairman of banking giant and government bailout recipient Citigroup, and billionaire Hyatt hotel heiress Penny Pritzker.

 

  

We should attend more funerals

On Monday January 19th I had the awesome opportunity to help officiate in the Celebration of Johnny Kidd’s going to his eternal home in Heaven.

Johnny was a great man who lived life in such a way that we can look to him as an example. Johnny always had words of encouragement, a smile and an outstanding attitude.

My greatetst memory of Johnny is when several years ago we were having an event in our church with a contemporary worship band and several people were not happy with the volume nor the type of music. I remember being nervous about all that and then I looked up and Johnny was in the back dancing.

King David danced before the Lord with all his might and I believe that today Johnny is dancing before the Lord with all his might.

We should attend more funerals because it is one appointment that none of us will miss. It will also help us keep perspective on what is important in life.

I thank God for the life and testimony of Johnny Kidd.

Ronnie