Rick Warren

“When God wants to make a mushroom, he does it overnight, but when He wants to make a giant oak, He takes a hundred years. Great souls are grown through struggles and storms and seasons of suffering. Be patient with the process.”

“Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not at all surprised by your birth. In fact, he expected it.”

“God is never in a hurry, but he is always on time.”

“We're always just one decision away from disaster." "When you lack wisdom,ask God who gives generously to all."James1:5”

“Your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts.”

“The New testament commanded to love each other, pray for each other, encourage each other, admonish each other, greet each other, serve each other, teach each other, accept each other, honor each other, bear each other's burdens, forgive each other, submit to each other, be devoted each other, and many other mutual tasks. This is biblical membership!”

“Great opportunities may come once in a lifetime, but small opportunities surround us every day.”

“Authenticity is the exact opposite of what you find in some churches.”

“Nothing shapes your life more than the commitments you choose to make.”

“Pretentiousness repels but authenticity attracts, and vulnerability is the pathway to intimacy.”

“God is always more interested in why we do something than in what we do. Attitudes count more than achievements.”

“In Eden, worship was not an event to attend, but a perpetual attitude.”

“The key to friendship with God, he said, is not changing what you do, but changing your attitude toward what you do.”

“It is a fatal mistake to assume that God’s goal for your life is material prosperity or popular success, as the world defines it. The abundant life has nothing to do with material abundance, and faithfulness to God does not guarantee success in a career or even ministry. Never focus on temporary crowns.”

“You're only as sick as your secrets.”

“Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”

“The deepest level of worship is praising God inspite of pain, trusting Him during a trial, surrenderingwhile suffering, and loving Him when He seems distant.”

“As long as you do things for God, you are a Hall of Famer in heaven's list.”

“Without God's glory, there would be nothing.”

“The way you see your life shapes your life.”

“Knowing your purpose prepares you for eternity.”

“Knowing your purpose motivates your life.”

“Knowing your purpose focuses your life.”

“Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life.”

“God never does anything accidentally...”

“It's not about me.”

“You discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

“You didn't create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for.”

“You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.”

“You must begin with God.”

“You only believe the part of the Bible you do.”

“Spiritual emptiness is a universal disease.”

“There's a Grand Designer behind everything. Your life is not a result of random chance, fate, or luck. There is a master plan. History is His story. God is pulling the strings.”

“Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.”

“Those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it.”

“Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment.”

“Happy moments, PRAISE GODDifficult moments, SEEK GODQuiet moments, WORSHIP GODPainful moments, TRUST GODEvery moment, THANK GOD”

“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.”

“In all my travels, I've never seen a country's population more determined to forgive, and to build and succeed than in Rwanda.”

“The more God gives you, the more responsible he expects you to be.”

“Character is both developed and revealed by tests, and all of life is a test... You will be tested by major changes, delayed promises, impossible problems, unanswered prayers, undeserved criticism, and even senseless tragedies.”

“The closer you live to God, the smaller everything else appears.”

“Fellowship is a place of grace, where mistakes aren't rubbed in but rubbed out. Fellowship happens when mercy wins over justice.”

“You also know you’re surrendered when you don’t react to criticism and rush to defend yourself. Surrendered hearts show up best in relationships. You don’t edge others out, you don’t demand your rights, and you aren’t self-serving when you’re surrendered.”

“We’re not completely happy here because we’re not supposed to be! Earth is not our final home; we were created for something much better.”

“The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That’s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point—ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose.”

“Unfortunately, we forget the cruel details of the agonizing sacrifice God made on our behalf. Familiarity breeds complacency. Even before his crucifixion, the Son of God was stripped naked, beaten until almost unrecognizable, whipped, scorned and mocked, crowned with thorns, and spit on contemptuously.Abused and ridiculed by heartless men, he was treated worse than an animal.Then, nearly unconscious fromblood loss, he was forced to drag a cumbersome cross up a hill, was nailed to it, and was left to die the slow, excruciating torture of death by crucifixion. While his lifeblood drained out, hecklers stood by and shouted insults, making fun of his pain and challenging his claim to be God.”

“While it is wise to learn from experience, it is wiser to learn from the experiences of others.”

“The only group large enough to handle," the world's biggest, "problems is the network of millions of local churches around the world. We have the widest distribution, largest group of volunteers, local credibility, the promises of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the inevitability of history.”

“Maturity is produced through relationships and community.”