Rick Warren's Purpose Driven magazine

The title, Purpose Driven, and the name, Rick Warren, go hand-in-hand. They form an easily identifiable brand.

And in my opinion, it's a brand that offers top-flight spiritual resources for the nation.

Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church in California, sold over 50 million copies worldwide of his book, The Purpose Driven Life (Zondervan), and has become one of the leading evangelical voices in the United States.

The brand is now being enhanced with a quarterly magazine, Purpose Driven Connection, which hit news stands last month.

Like Warren's books and national media appearances, Purpose Driven Connection has an unwavering Biblical message packaged in savvy relevance.

In The Purpose Driven Life, Warren was able to 'pick the lock' of a consumerist culture and deposit a message of meaning and ... well, yes ... purpose. In television appearances, he is direct and engaging.

Likewise, his new magazine offers the centuries-old message of a resurrected Savior, but makes application of that message to topics as current as the economic downturn and "Have I Failed My Child?"

Purpose Driven Connection follows up on the purposes Warren wrote about in his best-seller. The magazine articles are organized within sections entitled Knowing, Relating, Growing, Serving, and Sharing. They range from "12 Ways to Study God's Word" (Growing) to "Fighting a Flood with Faith" (Serving) to "Compassion Cured Me of Atheism" (Sharing).

Besides Warren and his wife, Kay, some of the magazine's contributors include megachurch pastor Billy Hybels, authors Max Lucado and Lee Strobel, and bible teacher Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Billy Graham.

Special features include a six-lesson DVD ("40 Days of Love"), two Purpose Driven postcards, and the address for the magazine's website (just as brimming with edifying info as the magazine).

A transcript of the interview Warren did with President Obama at the Saddleback Civil Forum is included, as is the prayer Pastor Warren offered up at the Inauguration.

In short, the magazine's 144 pages are chock-full of inspirational articles and vibrant photos. Its niche is devotional literature over against the more news-and-theological thrusts of the evangelical magazine gold standard, Christianity Today.

Rick Warren --- thankfully --- has found his purpose. His new magazine is a delightful extension of that ministry.