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Author
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Topic: What Is A Purpose-Driven Life to Americans?
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bygrace
Advanced Member
Member # 4847
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posted
"Never let a book take the place of the Bible, drink from the well, not from the streams that supposedly run from the well".
Posts: 162 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Eduardo Grequi
Advanced Member
Member # 3984
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posted
The only book we should embrace daily is the Holy Bible. I PERFER THE KJV OR NKJV. I won't go into the reasons behind the KJV. But I do read and speak and write many languages.
CHRISTIANS must hide and memorize the word of God. PSALMS 119:11 read it!!!!!
I always believe an OLD TIME HYMINAL makes a good praise book.
I was listening to a message on the Christian Radio station and it was Dr. Stanley who said it. THAT ONE OF THE PROPHECIES OF END TIME "IS THE INFORMATION AGE". Anyone can write a book, but not anyone can rise from the dead. MOST people and sadly even Christian fall into this ""THAT If I write a book, I will be aproved and accepted"
Do Christians in general have a desire to be noticed Do they walk because Jesus has walked or do they see their Jesus as a spectacular, charismatic, sales person for a New Age Society.
Posts: 771 | From: Belvidere, IL | Registered: Oct 2004
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KJV MAN
Advanced Member
Member # 1905
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posted
Thanks for the response on the PDL. It's sounds like what I feared it was. I have read where thousands of churches and millions of folk were embracing this book.
If a preacher says in church if you are too embarassed to come down and perform a public admission of faith , stay in your seat and fill out a card ; something rotten is going on! When Christ saved me , I wasn't ashamed and as a matter of fact , I went and told anybody who would listen what my Saviour had done for me!!!
Most of the people that I know who has taken the class will say this book is the greatest thing they have ever studied and was center in their lifes' at the time! I will add that the churches doing this in my area are very liberal in their doctrine and I'm forced to look at what they do a little closer especially when I'm invited to a service they are sponsering!
I'm going to ask to borrow (I'm not wasting hard earned money on this garbage or give them another stat to add to their total) a copy of his book and go a little deeper but off the top , It sounds like bad fruit! Thanks for you well researched response! God bless!!!
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BIBLE-Basic Instuctions Before Leaving Earth!!!!
Posts: 81 | From: Tennessee | Registered: Aug 2003
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helpforhomeschoolers
Advanced Member
Member # 15
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posted
Hi KJV Man: It is good to hear you around for a change! I appreciated your comments on apostasy and I liked the 'We are just picky about what we eat" comment the best. Amen!
I appreciate your testimony about the Easter Service; I was at his website after easter and he had front pager banner news about how 30K had come to Christ there this weekend. Then the small print was that this many had signed these cards that you speak of.
There has been a lot of discussion about this book here and a lot of slain saints for opposing the country's most influential preacher.
I think that we could very well be seeing the movement that will bring about the union of protestant Christiandom with the RCC and perhaps even Islam and the world.
It is said that many many from secular society are embracing the PDL not just Christians.
Here is a look that I posted in another thread that gives an example of what is wrong with this book; in summary it is completely devoid of soild doctrine. In the book he contradicts himself as much as he contradicts the scriptures; he uses a huge number of Bible versions so that he can manipulate scripture to fit into his sentence constructions and he uses scripture with out any regard for contextural consistency. In my opinion the book is trash and the movement dangerous. Lastly, he relies very heavily on The Message - which I refuse to even call a Bible.
Here is the look that I posted in another thread:
Let me give you some examples of the false teachings that are given in the PDL that are contrary to scripture:
From page 22:
speaking of our births, Warren writes: "He custom made your body just the way he wanted it."
Are you telling me that God created children with birth defects and addictions to alcohol and missing members because he wanted exactly this?
NO!!!!! these things are born in us because of SIN! God allows this and God does use the things that the enemy means for destruction to bring about God's will and purpose and glory thus destroying the works of the enemy. But God does not create us defective because he wants us defective!!! This is blasphemy! We are born defective because of sin.
pg 30 "Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life."
Does it? I think that the Bible does teach that knowing HIS purpose in Christ does give meaning to our lives. Is that not what the scripture says when it says that he who finds his life shall lose it and he who loses his life for Christ shall find it. Is not our life HID in Christ? Christ's purpose which is God's purpose is to destroy the works of the enemy which is what we are before those who are chosen to covenant with God are born again. We are indeed born with a purpose and it is God's purpose that we would die to sin and live to Christ that we would die, so that Christ would be manifest in us and then when this flesh where sin lives turns to dust and we are given glorified bodies that God might be all in all.
pg 242: "All of our abilities come from God. Even abilities to sin are god-given; they are just being used or abused"
Is this so? Is the ability to lie God given, or is it a product of sin given to us from the liar that is the father of lies? How is it that God who cannot lie has given us the ability to lie?
God created man in his image; but God did not create God. God created something that was less than God because God can not be God and create God...God is not created. Man because he was not God did sin and after that all men that were born were born with sin and in the image of man and the ability to lie and to sin are had in that we are not God.
But God has provided that he can beget us again that we can be born OF God who cannot sin and does not sin and thus when this flesh is shed in death and returns to dust and we have glorified bodies God can be all in all.
God does not give us the abilities that we use for sin, such as the ability to walk in the flesh, this is ours because when we are born we are born of man and not of God.
Only Christ had the ability not to sin because only Christ was born to man, but of God. This is why we must be re-born. So that we too having been born to man and of man, can become born of God.
Warren says: "since your natural abilities are God given they are just as important and as 'spiritual' as your spiritual gifts. The only difference is that they were given to you at birth."
Really! Tell me, were the natural abilities of the craftsmen that built the temple as important as their annointing and filling of the Holy Spirit? This is hog wash! I have the natural ability to speak, is that as important as the gift of hearing what God would like me to speak that is Holy Spirit imparted? I dare say it is not as God used an AAs to speak to Balam!
Warren says: "God gives some people the ability to make lots of money. Moses told the Isrealites, 'remember the Lord your God, for it is he that gives you the ability to get wealth.'People with this abilityare good at building businesses, making deals or sales, and reaping a profit. If you have this business ability, you should be using it for God's glory."
Now, first of all, the scripture says God gives the POWER to get wealth...not the ability.
Look at this scripture in context:
16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Clearly, this scripture teaches that it is not our natural ability that God has given us to get wealth!!!! It is POWER that he has given us. How does he give this power?
You can see in acts 2:43-47... he gives us favor with those who have this world's wealth and this world's wealth is in the hand of the enemy. God takes from the enemy's kingdom spoils and puts the wealth of the wicked in the hands of the righteous that he may establish his covenant with then. Just as the Isrealites were given favor of the egyptians that they brought their goods to them to carry out of egypt.
Secondly, I have the ability to be successful in business, I have many business skills and have expereinced much success in business. But that does not mean that this is GOD's purpose in my life. My life is not about me. It is about him.
Moses did not have to ability of a great speaker, but God's purpose was that he speak to Pharaoh and so God annointed him and gave him Aaron.
Paul had the ability of a tax collector and he was a good tax collector, but this is not what God had purposed in his life from before he knit him in the womb, being an Apostle was.
Anything that we do, we indeed should be doing to the glory of God, but to imply that if we discover our natural abilities, we have some how discovered our purpose in life, is not sound doctrine, it is pop psychology! God often uses people who have no natural ability to do something that they could not in their natural ability do BECAUSE God wants HIS Glory to be seen in what is done. We must decrease HE must increase!
Not by man's might but MY spirit says the Lord God Almighty! God uses the foolish things in this world to confound the wise. God uses an AAs that cannot speak to speak. God uses a man who is slow of speach to speak to a King of Egypt! God uses a lowly carpenter to Rule his kingdom.
It is not about what we have been born with in the natural, it is about the SPIRIT of God and HIS majesty, and there is no way that you can use scripture to show that the natural abilities of man that are born to him through sin and Adam are as spiritual or as important as the spiritual gifts of God and our natural abilities may have nothing in this world to do with GOD's purpose in our lives, which is what the spirit leads us in.
Warren says: "What I am able to do, God wants me to do."
Again, God wants to do through you what you could not do with out God and there are many many things you are able to do that God wants you to have no part of doing! This is not sound Doctrine this is not even Godly principle that warren teaches it is psychobabble!
Warren says: "To discover God's will for your life, you should seriously examine what you are good at doing and what you are not good at. If God has not given you the ability to carry a tune, he is not going to ask you to be an Opera Singer. God will never ask you to dedicate your life to something you have no talent for."
The Bible says that the way you know the will of God is to not be conformed to this world, but that you be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove (demonstrate) what is the perfect will of God.
What warren is giving does not renew the mind, it conforms the mind to the humanistic values of the world and Satan and it will never allow anyone to drive themselves to GOD's purpose in their lives.
God will most likely call you to do exactly what you cannot of your natural ability do. Because God wants to be glorified in you and in your obedience to HIS will, you will be glorified by him.
God does not need our skills he needs our obedience. He can annoint you to do anything he wants you to do and consistantly in the scripture he does show this.
Some of the apostles were fishermen, but I do not think that the abilities of a fisherman equip him to be fishers of men.
I could go on through this whole book and show you hundreds of times that Warren contradicts himself and the scripture. The book is humanistic, psychological hog wash and the reason it is so successful is because it feeds itching ears.
Man does not want to hear, repent, obey, follow, lay down. Man does not want to hear you are a sinful wormy work of the devil himself that needs to repent and be humbled and reborn. Man does not want to hear that you can do nothing on your own and all the good in the world you can create is worthless, that is why you need a savior.
Man wants to hear exactly this that warren is giving and that is exactly why the Bible says that the path that leads to destruction is broad and there be MANY that go down it.
Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Does it surprise you that the very next words that follow this are : Beware of False prophets that are wolves in sheeps clothing?
If a man tells you he speaks by the Spirit of God and what comes out of his mouth is a lie... you can bet that it is not the Spirit of God that is speaking.
Satan doth come as an angel of light and not a man in a red suit with a pitchfork. The beast has a number and it is the number of a man. Not of some freakish looking TV style ghostly demon, but a man.
When Jesus spoke to the 12 and said I have chosen you and one of you is THE DEVIL, he was speaking to men. And when Jesus said Get behind me Satan, He was speaking to Peter. Hello, does anybody have ears to hear?
Esteem NO man above that which is WRITTEN, this is what the scripture says.
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002
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KJV MAN
Advanced Member
Member # 1905
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posted
May I ask what is your honest opinion of this book and teaching? I do not know alot about this and haven't studied the topic. I was invited to attend a class of this 40 day whatever but turned it down because I knew nothing of this guy or his doctrine! I thanked him but declined to jump into this study!
I have heard a negative report of a church that had fallen in love with this book and one man said he thought it was turning the preacher soft. He stated that cards are now being passed around for the attenders that were embarassed to come down and seek salvation? Hope he was not being totally honest but who knows today!!! I do know for a fact that at an Easter play , I attended , no altar call was given but cards were passed with the offering plates to fill-out if you had gained salvation through the production of the play or if you wanted to join the church , you could fill out the back of the card! Whether they followed up with a meeting to see if you had truly accepted Christ as Saviour before they were allowed membership...can't answer this! It wasn't a typical service either and haven't attended during a morning or night service so I can't say that it's always like that either. I know they have no altar in the church. Which I've heard people argue against that also...I like an old fashioned altar myself!!!
Just would like to hear if anyone knows truly what fruit is being produced from this study! I'm neutral because of lack of knowledge!
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BIBLE-Basic Instuctions Before Leaving Earth!!!!
Posts: 81 | From: Tennessee | Registered: Aug 2003
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Eduardo Grequi
Advanced Member
Member # 3984
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posted
What does a purpose driven life mean to me!
1) When I get up for the beginning of my day and spend my quiet time with my Lord!
2) When my children can look back inspite of the seperation of 5 years and say thanks Dad, you've been there!
3) When my wife and I will renew our vows for the third time, because she loves me! That made my day!
4) Knowing that I live my life based on a factual book the Holy Scriptures, which is just as much as God because He inspired it and ordained it so!
5) Because I have and belong to an internet of believers and I appreciate everyone of you! Thanks Christian BBS. There is a song called,"I WILL SEE YOU IN THE RAPTURE SOME SWEET DAY ![[clap2]](graemlins/clap2.gif)
6) And tomorrow when I see my doctor and I trust God that my cancer would not have come back!
7) When it is all said and done, I want my family to know both christian and blood related that I am not ashamed my Lord Jesus who is my Saviour and Messias
Falam met oh-ka-hru El Shaddai, Toda-SImone Tovei
(Speak with the Lord in Spirit, Worshipping His mercy!
Posts: 771 | From: Belvidere, IL | Registered: Oct 2004
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helpforhomeschoolers
Advanced Member
Member # 15
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posted
What Is A Purpose-Driven Life to Americans?
May 17, 2005
(Ventura, CA) – Religious books have become a publishing phenomenon in the past decade, and no religious book (other than the Bible) has generated more attention – or sales – than Rick Warren’s bestseller, The Purpose-Driven Life. More than 20 million copies of the book have been sold, and millions of people have been exposed to Purpose-Driven church programs, classes and resources. After all the reading, teaching, and conversation on the topic, exactly what do Americans perceive their purpose in life to be?
That was the question posed to a random national sample of 1003 adults surveyed by The Barna Group. One particular response was provided by nearly half of the population, and only two other options were mentioned by at least one out of every ten people.
Family First
More than four out of every ten adults – 44% – said their top priority in life is having a satisfying family life. This was nearly three times as popular as the second-most common response and more than four times as prolific as the third-most popular reply.
Women were much more likely than men to list family as their top priority (48% versus 39%, respectively) even though family was the top ranked priority among men by a three-to-one margin. The presence of children in the home was also a big differentiator: 58% of the adults with a child under 18 in the home listed family, compared to only 35% of those without children in their household. There was also a regional distinction, as a majority of adults in the Midwest listed family (52%), while about four out of ten adults elsewhere did so. Economics were related to people’s views, too: 55% of adults with a college degree and annual earnings exceeding $60,000 put family in first place, compared to 44% of those in the middle socioeconomic ranges and only 36% of those in the downscale bracket (i.e., no college degree and a household income below $20,000).
Religious leanings were a factor in people’s choice. While a majority of Catholics (58%) and mainline Protestants (51%) placed family at the top of their list, only 19% of evangelicals did so.
Interestingly, almost half of the adults (47%) who have been divorced indicated that a fulfilling family life was currently their highest priority.
Faith Foremost
The second-most common life priority, listed by 18% of all adults, was that of understanding and carrying out the principles of their faith. Again, women were more likely than men to list this emphasis (22% versus 14%). Adults in the 40 to 70 age group were much more likely than younger adults to prioritize faith (21% versus 14%). Not surprisingly, residents of southern states were more likely to list faithful living on top, but residents of the western states were equally likely to do so (19%) while people in the Northeast and Midwest lagged (15% in each region). African-Americans were the ethnic group most prone to prioritizing their faith focus (24%), while Asian-Americans were the least likely (12%).
Evangelical Christians, who comprise just 7% of the adult public, were the one of the few population segments to place a faith-based lifestyle at the top of the list. Almost six out of ten evangelicals (59%) did so, which was double the percentage of non-evangelical born again Christians who followed suit (27%). Just 12% of the Americans aligned with a faith other than Christianity said living their faith principles was their highest priority. About one-quarter of Protestants chose this pursuit (26%), which was nearly four times the percentage of Catholics who did so (7%).
Other Interests
The only other priority named by at least one out of every ten adults was having good friends. That commitment characterized the desire of 10% of the public. It was particularly common among people 60 or older (16%), downscale adults (18%), men (13%, versus 7% among women), and single adults (mentioned three times as often as it was among married adults).
Less common priorities included earning a comfortable living (8%), consistently having significant influence on other people’s lives (7%), achieving success (6%), and enjoying leisure experiences (2%). Although respondents mentioned a variety of other options, none of those was listed by at least 2% of the population.
Priorities Across Faith Segments
There were substantial differences in the priorities of people according to their faith commitments. For instance, evangelicals were the only faith segment to place personal consistency with their faith principles as their highest priority. In comparison, non-evangelical born again adults were 52% more likely to list family life than spiritual consistency. Notional Christians – i.e., people who describe themselves as Christian but are not born again – were seven times more likely to list family life than spiritual life as their emphasis. Notional Christians represent nearly half of the adults attending churches on a typical Sunday, but only 7% said their spiritual life took precedence over all else. Similarly, people aligned with non-Christian faith groups were four times more likely to list family as to list spiritual consistency.
Catholic adults were nine times more likely to name family life as they were to identify spiritual consistency as their top priority. In fact, living in harmony with their spiritual principles ranked a distant fifth among Catholics, trailing the development of good friendships, achieving success and leading a comfortable lifestyle, as well as family satisfaction.
The only group besides evangelicals for whom faith rated first was those who have an “active faith”: that is, they attend church, read the Bible and pray during a typical week. Overall, 39% of the active faith adults said their faith commitment was tops, compared to 35% of this segment who listed family first.
The survey also showed that the size of the church congregation a person is associated with had no bearing on people’s likelihood of placing faith at the top of the list. About one out of every five church-goers cited living in concert with their faith as their utmost desire. However, the larger a congregation is, the more likely a person is to identify having a satisfying family life as their supreme purpose. Adults who attend small congregations (i.e., 100 or fewer people) stood out as being much more likely than people from larger congregations to seek significant influence in other people’s lives.
People who do not attend church at all were considerably less likely than average to cite faith-based living as a priority (6%) and were more likely than average to mention a desire to earn a comfortable living or to have good friends.
Interestingly, adults who regularly have times of prayer and Bible study with their family were more likely to prioritize carrying out their faith principles than to prioritize have a satisfying family life. It appears that part of the satisfaction gleaned from their family life may be through their shared faith experiences.
Challenges for Religious Leaders
The survey data raise some important red flags for religious leaders, according to researcher George Barna. “It’s wonderful that family and faith were the top ranked priorities listed by Americans. The survey results raise some questions, however, about the faith commitment of many church-going and born again adults. One must wonder,” he continued, “if the struggles evident in so many marriages and parent-child relationships are connected to the fact that people are generally more interested in pursuing a fulfilling family life than in understanding the principles for meaningful living that may help shape such a family experience.”
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002
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