The problems we have now are the problems mankind has always endured. From war, famine, disease, and natural disasters, this 21st century of our Lord holds just as many challenges for the human race as the previous twenty centuries. In such trying times it is easy to be overtaken by the demons of despair. Fans of Rick Warren, however, can draw inspiration and hope once again from a personage like Warren. He has the potential to be the pastor that will make the God-fearing world his flock and lead us to a new era full of Christ’s love and spiritual wholeness.
Everywhere we hear negative, empty, or confusing messages. Rick Warren understands how tired you are of slogging through another day for another dollar, buying fancy clothes that don’t make you feel wrapped in Christ’s love or being told at your church to turn your back on your Christian brothers. Rick Warren had been spreading the Good News about Christ’s love at his Saddleback Church for years when the Spirit moved him to share the Word in written form.
The Purpose-driven Church alerted the nation and world to a spirit on fire for Christ. When Rick Warren’s The Purpose-driven Life arrived in 2002 with a message of hope for those who felt downtrodden by the modern world. The Purpose-drive Life has, in the short time since its publication, moved over 25 million companies, already making it the best-selling hardcover book of all time. Rick Warren was born January 28, 1954 to a preacher and his wife, and sits at the head of the fastest growing church in the nation. He holds numerous honorary doctorates as well as a Masters in divinity and a doctorate in ministry.
Rick Warren practices what he preaches. He has been happily married for over thirty years, has three children and two grandchildren (and counting). He does not accept payment from Saddleback Church and donates 90% of his income from book sales to charity—practicing what he calls “reverse tithing.”
