Last Friday afternoon, in his Southern California home, Matthew Warren, the 27 year old son of Saddleback Church pastor and author, Rick Warren, took his own life.
As a parent, I can't even imagine this kind of grief. My heart breaks for Pastor Warren and his family. I pray they find comfort that only The Holy Spirit and the love of their church can provide. I pray they have the faith to know that salvation is forever, and that nothing a believer can ever do will cause God to default on the "down payment" Jesus gives us at the moment of redemption.
"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit" - Eph 1:13
A thousand years ago and a million miles from here, my church back home went through The Purpose Driven Life in small groups. I still have one of their little cardholders on my desk at work. While I didn't always agree with Pastor Warren, God absolutely has a purpose for every single one of us, and no one, no one, can thwart that purpose.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand" - John 10:27-29Not even me.
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39
May the Warrens take comfort in knowing Matthew now has the peace that eluded him in this life.
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