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Purpose Driven Blog

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I have started reading The Purpose Driven Life several times. So far I have not managed to finish it. I got to thinking that perhaps if I blogged my way through the 40 days of the book I could find motivation to keep reading it. So starting tomorrow I will attempt to blog my way through the book.

I have some preconceptions that it is only fair I lay down from the beginning.

  1. I have read The Purpose Driven Church. I also attend a purpose driven church loosely modelled on Warren’s model (we like to think we have adopted only the best parts of the model) and thus am quite familiar with many of the purpose driven principles.
  2. I am a bit nervous about Rick Warren. Though my fears are, thus far unfounded, I find it hard to believe that a book that sells as well as The Purpose Driven Life can contain Orthodox, Christian content. That may be pessimistic, but memories of the Prayer of Jabez are still fresh in my mind. It probably does not help that the back cover features Bruce Wilkinson’s praise for the book.
  3. I know that Warren uses every conceivable Bible translation and paraphrase in this book. I find it exceedingly difficult to work that way so will be cross-referencing every Bible verse with my trusty NASB (or possibly my equally trust NKJV). I may even pull my NIV off the shelf every now and then!
  4. I do not know what audience Warren is trying to reach. I am guessing that his audience is Christians, but for all I know he may be trying to reach unbelievers.

There we have it. Hopefully the next 40 days will prove interesting as I dive into the book. I intend follow through the course and learn what Warren (and hopefully God) would like to teach me. But to be fair I am going to read critically (as I always attempt to do) and will examine the book from a Reformed perspective.

To facilitate this series, I have created a new category specifically to contain my Purpose Driven Life blog entries.


  • A La Carte (June 11)

    We lost the baby / The Bible is cessationist (and wondrous!) / Thinking about Eastern Orthodoxy: a primer for evangelicals / Virtue signalling in the church / What is God’s providence? / Restlessness / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Conform

    You Can Conform to Christ Even if You Don’t Conform to Me

    One of the aspects of the Christian faith that I find particularly perplexing is the freedom God gives his people to obey him in different or even opposite ways, so that one person’s obedience is another person’s disobedience. Even as two people take the same action, one might be obeying him and the other disobeying…

  • A La Carte (June 10)

    Does prayer make a difference? / Portrait of an abortionist / Pushing back against the black tax / Bring your whole self to work / Blessed are the weak / When service isn’t a transaction / A pastoral analogy / Bill C-9 will soon be law in Canada / and more.

  • A La Carte (June 9)

    Thawed embryos, reproductive rights, and the grey marshlands of ethical ennui / 14 World Cup stars who follow Jesus / The God of small churches / How a critical theorist influenced the sexualization of everything / When culture trumps strategy / Fasting and feasting / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Six Counsels for a Sending Church

    Sacrificial obedience to the One who sends is what it will take to reach every language. Join us October 14 to 16 in Dallas–Fort Worth for The Lord Who Sends as we reflect on God’s word and the lives of missionaries who followed the Great Commission.

  • The Two Kinds of Content You Consume

    The Two Kinds of Content You Consume

    At some point we all began to refer to articles and video as content. And today we are drowning in it! Here is a simple filter for telling content created to serve you apart from content created to serve its maker.