The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? »

Dr. Rick Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, is the author of the New York Times #1 best-seller The Purpose Driven Life. With over 10 million copies sold since its release in October, 2002, the book received the ECPA 2003 Book of the Year Award. Warren also wrote the Gold Medallion Award-winner The Purpose-Driven Church, with over one million copies sold in 21 languages. Other books by Rick Warren include The Power to Change Your Life, Answers to Life's Difficult Questions, Planned for God's Pleasure, and Personal Bible Study Methods. Dr. Warren is also the founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community which serves and mentors those in ministry and features Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox, a weekly email newsletter with 85,000 pastors subscribing. Rick and his wife, Kay, began Saddleback Church as a small group in their home in January 1980. The church now averages 17,000 in attendance each weekend, lists over 60,000 names on the church roll, and, through its numerous resources and Purpose-Driven Church seminars, is having a worldwide impact. The Warrens live in Trabuco Canyon, California. They have three children and a dog.

"Rick Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, one of America's largest and best-known churches, shows you how to lead a Purpose-Driven Life. This Miniature Edition™ wil"

Publishers Weekly

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. (Oct.) Forecast: Warren's The Purpose-Driven Church has sold more than a million copies for Zondervan, and has spawned a whole ministry as churches try to implement its principles for growth. Expect high sales for this long-awaited follow-up, which has an initial print run of just over 500,000 copies. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

A Journey with Purpose 9
My Covenant 13
WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?
Day 1 It All Starts with God 17
Day 2 You Are Not an Accident 22
Day 3 What Drives Your Life? 27
Day 4 Made to Last Forever 36
Day 5 Seeing Life from God's View 41
Day 6 Life Is a Temporary Assignment 47
Day 7 The Reason for Everything 53
PURPOSE #1: You Were Planned for God's Pleasure Day 8 Planned for God's Pleasure 63
Day 9 What Makes God Smile? 69
Day 10 The Heart of Worship 77
Day 11 Becoming Best Friends with God 85
Day 12 Developing Your Friendship with God 92
Day 13 Worship That Pleases God 100
Day 14 When God Seems Distant 107
PURPOSE #2: You Were Formed for God's Family Day 15 Formed for God's Family 117
Day 16 What Matters Most 123
Day 17 A Place to Belong 130
Day 18 Experiencing Life Together 138
Day 19 Cultivating Community 145
Day 20 Restoring Broken Fellowship 152
Day 21 Protecting Your Church 160
PURPOSE #3: You Were Created to Become Like Christ Day 22 Created to Become Like Christ 171
Day 23 How We Grow 179
Day 24 Transformed by Truth 185
Day 25 Transformed by Trouble 193
Day 26 Growing through Temptation 201
Day 27 Defeating Temptation 209
Day 28 It Takes Time 217
PURPOSE #4: You Were Shaped for Serving God Day 29 Accepting Your Assignment 227
Day 30 Shaped for Serving God 234
Day 31 Understanding Your Shape 241
Day 32 Using What God Gave You 249
Day 33 How Real Servants Act 257
Day 34 Thinking Like a Servant 265
Day 35 God's Power in Your Weakness 272
PURPOSE #5: You Were Made for a Mission Day 36 Made for a Mission 281
Day 37 Sharing Your Life Message 289
Day 38 Becoming a World-Class Christian 297
Day 39 Balancing Your Life 305
Day 40 Living with Purpose 312
Appendix 1: Discussion Questions 320
Appendix 2: Resources 323
Appendix 3: Why Use So Many Translations? 325
Notes 327