Rick Warren's Online Community for Pastors and Church Leaders
If you want to start a heated debate among a group of Christians, just bring up Paul’s admonition that wives should submit to their husbands. But that debate is a distraction from the bigger issue: All Christians must submit to Jesus.
Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer has convinced me that the number one reason so many of us are stuck …
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By Buddy Owens
I remember only two things about my college biology class: the broken clock that hung on the wall behind my professor’s desk and this definition of culture: “A colony of microorganisms or cells grown in a specially prepared nourishing environment.” Sounds like the church, doesn’t it? Each congregation is a colony …
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The writer of Proverbs 6:16-19 lists seven sins the Lord hates, but new Barna research seeks to uncover the sins current mankind loves.
While the Lord is said to hate "a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, …
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We’re showing you this letter from Rick to the Saddleback Staff for a couple of reasons.
First, it is reflective of the way Rick communicates to the staff.
He says things in a positive way and conveys his own sense of excitement about the things that are happening at the church.
He gives tangible examples that show success, and …
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Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
Regret is a painful thing. We look back on the foolish things we have done and the good things we have left undone. We lament wasted years, wrong attitudes, hurts inflicted on others, missed opportunities.
Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse, spent years caring for patients in their last days. She identified …
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It’s important to encourage attenders to join your church — because they’ll never grow spiritually without a commitment to live out what the Bible teaches while in a relationship with others.
As you encourage church membership, it’s important to keep in mind these five unspoken needs prospective members are looking for your …
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For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2 (NIV)
How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? Have you already given up on them?
One of my friends made these resolutions to guarantee success --
I won’t lose ten pounds this year.
I commit to watching the …
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We should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:6–7 (NIV)
When my oldest son was two years old, he’d sometimes push away food, making a face and saying, “I can’t like it.”
“I can’t like it” implies my son didn’t have a choice, as if he’d been pre-programmed …
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Fill the Valley with Ditches
One of the more obscure miracles that Elisha performed was the miracle of the ditches. Technically, of course, as in all miracles, he did not do anything. It was all by the hand of God.
“And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’ For thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not …
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By Roger S. ("Sing") Oldham
NASHVILLE (BP) -- The apostle Paul charged Timothy to establish prayer as the top priority in his life and ministry ("first of all," 1 Timothy 2:1). If our churches are to experience spiritual renewal and our nation is to experience spiritual awakening, [we] must embrace this same priority in our churches …
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