If you are one of the 40 million people who purchased Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, and you are craving more, then get in line folks, because your dreams have come true! Rick Warren has created a glossy, oversized quarterly magazine that is chock full of all things Purpose-Driven. I mean, this thing is loaded! And it delivers Rick Warren o’ plenty: Rick on Life’s Mission. Rick on Obama. Rick on getting spiritually connected. Rick on answering your questions. Rick on Bible study. Rick, Rick, Rick. And Kay is in there, too (Kay is Rick’s wife), rolling just like Dr. Phil and Robin. Well, actually it seems like all of Rick's congregation over at Saddleback Church were invited to participate in one way or another, too. Open the cover of The Purpose Driven Connection, and it’s like you enter a Rick-Warren-Wonderland.
Aside from the Rick-centric articles, there are many other inspirational stories of hope by every-day normal folk, right alongside professional journalistic coverage of some pretty dramatic life-changing tales. Beautiful, stylish photography and graphics are tastefully interspersed throughout. Then, all of this is topped off with several editorial columns written by the Who’s Who of the most notable and recognizable names in Christian publishing: Max Lucado, Bill Hybels, and Anne Graham-Lotz. The heft of this publication will keep you busy for hours.
But wait! There’s more! The magazine also comes with a DVD bible study guide, and tools to get you plugged into an online community. Practically everywhere in this magazine are invitations for the reader to visit the Purpose Driven Connection website and “Tell us your story!” There is a huge effort being made here to create something that is much more than just a magazine, but to build an interactive community of believers, who can encourage and support one another to live out their faith in new and exciting ways.
I was one of the 40 gazillion who read the Purpose Driven Life book several years ago, long after the book had launched into the trajectory of it mega-sales arc. I mostly bought it because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. My own humble opinion of the book was that it is a fine inspirational read, but, well, it’s not like it changed my life or anything. The material is certainly spiritually helpful, but it is also very... simple, I guess would be the word. It is written at about a seventh-grade level. But that is probably also the great secret to why it sold 40 million copies. (Note to self: dumbing down material = more Christian book sales). That, along with the title (killer title, Rick!). It intuitively appeals to practically every human being on earth.
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1 - Michael Levy
" Your deepest fear is the shallowest illusion."_ Michael Levy