Post by Richard on Jun 1, 2006 23:06:11 GMT -5
Here is part of an interview Rick gave, which gives a balanced view
of how all of us should face the good and bad circumstances that
generally exist in our lives simultaneously. Rick said, “People ask
me, what is the purpose of life? And, I respond, in a nutshell,
life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and
God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to
stop, and that will be the end of my body--but not the end of me. I
may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions
of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress
rehearsal.”
“God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in
eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that
out, life isn’t going to make sense. Life is a series of problems.
You are either in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're
getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that
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. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not
the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ
likeness.”
“This past year has been the greatest year of my life, but also the
toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that
life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go
to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind
of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have
something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good
things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to
be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there
is always something good you can thank God for.”
“You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,
"which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest
ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto
God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers
of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or
make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet
God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping
other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to
people.”
“You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For
instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15
million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a
lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't
think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you
to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to
do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two
different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians
9 and Psalm 72. First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would
not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary
from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative
we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the
poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I
added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I
started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be
able to serve God for free.”
“We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions?
Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt?
Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's
purposes (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the
side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done
today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put
me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in
what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not
human doings.”
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
WHERE CAN I FIND COMFORT?
go2mro.c.topica.com/maaeQQwabqXsobcWBktbafpLP7/
MRO CHAPEL SERVICES
Now you can enjoy listening to live recordings of our Busch and Cup
track chapel services.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
go2mro.c.topica.com/maaeQQwabqWa3bcWBktbafpLP7/
THANK YOU! IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2006, MRO RECEIVED $1,121 AS A
RESULT OF YOUR PARTNERSHIP!
MRO and Office Depot have partnered to allow 3% of your personal or
company purchases to be rebated to MRO as a tax deductible
charitable contribution! Why not allow an existing business expense
(office supplies) to further benefit an organization that does so
much to help others? No matter if it is for your business or
personal use, MRO will get the rebate!
It is simple to register! By phone, call 800.424.8138 and ask to
speak with Gwen Howard or send an email to <a
href="mailto:gjhoward@go2mro.com">gjhoward@go2mro.com</a>.
*Quarterly donation statements will be provided by MRO.
FAN OUTREACH AT THE TRACKS
Raceway Ministries, along with MRO and our Ambassadors, provide
information and activities for the fans and their families
throughout the race weekend at all tracks that the NEXTEL Cup Series
frequents. Please check out the outreach efforts taking place this
weekend.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
go2mro.c.topica.com/maaeQQwabqWa7bcWBktbafpLP7/
MOTOR RACING OUTREACH ASSOCIATION
The Motor Racing Outreach Association (MROA) is designed to be an
organization of people and ministries committed to providing quality
care and trauma response who align themselves with Motor Racing
Outreach in accordance with our doctrinal statements, philosophy of
ministry, mission and vision to impact the world for Christ. Members
will come primarily from a common interest in motorsports, but can
also include persons and organizations from other fields of ministry
opportunity.
of how all of us should face the good and bad circumstances that
generally exist in our lives simultaneously. Rick said, “People ask
me, what is the purpose of life? And, I respond, in a nutshell,
life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and
God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to
stop, and that will be the end of my body--but not the end of me. I
may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions
of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress
rehearsal.”
“God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in
eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that
out, life isn’t going to make sense. Life is a series of problems.
You are either in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're
getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that
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. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not
the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ
likeness.”
“This past year has been the greatest year of my life, but also the
toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that
life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go
to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind
of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have
something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good
things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to
be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there
is always something good you can thank God for.”
“You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,
"which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest
ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto
God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers
of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or
make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet
God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping
other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to
people.”
“You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For
instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15
million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a
lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't
think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you
to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to
do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two
different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians
9 and Psalm 72. First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would
not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary
from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative
we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the
poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I
added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I
started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be
able to serve God for free.”
“We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions?
Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt?
Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's
purposes (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the
side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done
today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put
me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in
what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not
human doings.”
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
WHERE CAN I FIND COMFORT?
go2mro.c.topica.com/maaeQQwabqXsobcWBktbafpLP7/
MRO CHAPEL SERVICES
Now you can enjoy listening to live recordings of our Busch and Cup
track chapel services.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
go2mro.c.topica.com/maaeQQwabqWa3bcWBktbafpLP7/
THANK YOU! IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2006, MRO RECEIVED $1,121 AS A
RESULT OF YOUR PARTNERSHIP!
MRO and Office Depot have partnered to allow 3% of your personal or
company purchases to be rebated to MRO as a tax deductible
charitable contribution! Why not allow an existing business expense
(office supplies) to further benefit an organization that does so
much to help others? No matter if it is for your business or
personal use, MRO will get the rebate!
It is simple to register! By phone, call 800.424.8138 and ask to
speak with Gwen Howard or send an email to <a
href="mailto:gjhoward@go2mro.com">gjhoward@go2mro.com</a>.
*Quarterly donation statements will be provided by MRO.
FAN OUTREACH AT THE TRACKS
Raceway Ministries, along with MRO and our Ambassadors, provide
information and activities for the fans and their families
throughout the race weekend at all tracks that the NEXTEL Cup Series
frequents. Please check out the outreach efforts taking place this
weekend.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
go2mro.c.topica.com/maaeQQwabqWa7bcWBktbafpLP7/
MOTOR RACING OUTREACH ASSOCIATION
The Motor Racing Outreach Association (MROA) is designed to be an
organization of people and ministries committed to providing quality
care and trauma response who align themselves with Motor Racing
Outreach in accordance with our doctrinal statements, philosophy of
ministry, mission and vision to impact the world for Christ. Members
will come primarily from a common interest in motorsports, but can
also include persons and organizations from other fields of ministry
opportunity.
