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T H E D E V I L S A I D , “ A L L T H E S E T H I N G S I W I L L G I V E T O Y O U ” • M a t t h e w 4 : 9The “kind of life God wants” people to have isNEW LIFE. New life, not just a better life in a fallenworld. Need it be said that the epistles of the NewTestament talk not about experiencing success, butabout being faithful—irrespective of circumstances(cf. Hebrews 11:36-40).Let us consider a couple of alternatives to RickWarren’s acronym, “Plant worldly churches, Equippurpose driven servants, Assist the poor to becomepurpose driven, Care for those who accept RickWarren’s teachings and Educate the next generationof Warrenites” or alternatively, “be Popular withthe world, be Egalitarian to everyone except thosewho hold fast to the biblical line, be Accepting ofIslamic propaganda, Collaborate with the world, bean Enemy of God and His Word”.From$UCCESStoSIGNIFICANCEC W MI N T E R N A T I O N A LC A M Pseduction16FayekIskanderFayek—born inEgypt now lives inSydney, Australia—a leadingauthority on Islam,will contrastMuhammadwith Christ.Other messages onISLAM by Fayek and/or otherspecialist speakersEarly registration advisedSee centre pages for booking formor visit the CWM Camp web page at:www.cwmfellowship.org/camp2007.htmlSunday 9 toSaturday 15September 2007K I N G S C L I F F EA U S T R A L I ABy PAUL PROCTORIWAS again reminded last week ofjust how far the perceived church hasstrayed from the Great Commissionupon reading an article published inthe Baptist Press (BP) entitled: Mid-lifeadults can move from ‘Success to Significance.’ Itbegins by quoting the renowned and now deceasedbusiness management guru Peter Drucker, whosecelebrated concepts and principles came not fromscripture but reportedly from his own observationsand life experience—pragmatic precepts that havebecome the very leaven of today’s church, with thehelp and influence of men like Bob Buford, authorof the book, Halftime. 1The BP article’s writer, Don Beehler, quotedDrucker as having said:“… people now have two lives—life one andlife two.... They are over prepared for life oneand under prepared for life two…there is nouniversity for the second half of life.”He then poses the question: “What exactlydid Drucker mean by two lives?” followed by asuggested interpretation given later in the articlefrom “successful” real estate developer, LloydReeb:“I came to the realisation that each of thebuildings I had built would one day be torndown and be forgotten”, Reeb said. “I beganto re-evaluate life in view of God’s definition ofsuccess rather than my own, and made someserious changes.”So, now, instead of our lives being assessedscripturally as either lost or saved—obedient ornot—it is suggested that we divide them into twoearthly parts: a pursuit of “success” (part 1) and apursuit of “significance” (part 2) under the impliedpremise that the latter is God’s definition of theformer—that the pursuit of significance somehowhas redeeming qualities because it is motivated bybenevolent intent rather than brazen materialism.1 The book—http://www.halftime.org; The author—http://wwwhalftime.org/bobsnotesThe article goes on to say:“The ‘halftime’ concept centres on thegrowing number of people like Reeb who reachmid-life and discover that the pursuit of successisn’t enough. They want their second half of lifeto really count for eternity.”As presented here, “the pursuit of success” isn’tconsidered sinful, rebellious or even contradictoryto the Christian life—just “not enough;” but notenough for what? Our egos? When our pockets areoverflowing, isn’t that about all there is left to fill?And the alternative is what? Pursuing significance?Did Jesus say: “Be significant, for the Kingdom ofHeaven is at hand?” What is the eternal value inthat? Sounds significantly self-centred to me; butthen I was taught that the biblical alternative torebellion was repentance and that what Jesusdemonstrated in the upper room with the basinand towel was that we are to be servants, notsignificant. Then again, I guess the role of servant isa little hard on one’s self-esteem—or if you prefer,one’s self-significance.“Our goal is to cast a vision for church leadersto reach the greatest untapped resourcethat sits in front of them every Sunday—halftimers, marketplace leaders and individualswith experiences, gifts and callings to serveGod,” Reeb said.Cast a vision? Unless that’s the name of some fancynew fishing lure, I’d say we’re getting into pointedhats and flying bats here. Come on folks—let’s putthe crystal ball away. Are we God’s resources orGod’s redeemed? My dictionary defines “resource”as somebody or something “that can be used as asource of help or information.” Since when does theLord need my help or information? If I understandthe scriptures, it is WE who are in need of helpand information—not God. All He wants is ourobedience.…Reeb began speaking to men and womenaround the country about using this period oftheir lives to pause and to redirect time, talentand treasure into something fulfilling and lastingfor Christ…