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A La Carte (5/11)
- 05/11/10
- 16
The Real Reason Steve Jobs Hates Flash - Don’t be fooled by the title—this is a very important and interesting article about the future of computing. “I’ve got a theory, and it’s this: Steve Jobs believes he’s gambling Apple’s future — the future of a corporation with a market cap well over US $200Bn — on an all-or-nothing push into a new market.”
Why You Need a Technology Basket - John Dyer wants you to put a technology basket in your home. And it sounds like he’s on to something.
Testify! - Thabiti links to quite an amazing testimony of God’s saving grace.
The Biblical Languages in Life and Ministry - Bill Mounce sounds some warnings about the original languages but also an encouragement that they are worth knowing.
Denial - The Post has printed an article about denial. There are some rather intereresting spiritual implications to that particular discussion.
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Comments (16)
Hello Tim, I think you will find the post at Bill Mounce’s blog is actually a reprint of a blog post by his friend Mark Cortez. But thanks for your various links!
Re the Post article on Denial:I’ve heard it said that a measure of denial is God’s “anesthesia” to help us cope with trauma. I would agree. But when denial persists, it needs to be dealt with lovingly and honestly. God means for us to live in the real world.
Good article regarding Apple and Flash. I work for the leading cloud computing company on the enterprise side (versus the retail side) and this article hits the nail on the head. The move is going completely away from PCs. Already, the phrase “Cloud 2” is being pressed (Cloud 1 being what most of us are used to; Cloud 2 being cloud computing on the mobile web).
Microsoft doesn’t really seem to get it and is falling behind so rapidly. Here’s an article called “The End of Microsoft”: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/04/29/the-end-of-microsoft-a-door-opens…
Perhaps a little far-fetched right now, but this is honestly how leaders in the industry are thinking.
I saw an interesting Apple article that made the point that in the late 90s, when they were on the ropes, they were dependant on Microsoft’s keeping Office alive for their survival, and that when they brought back Steve, at some point, the company said “we will never, EVER be in this position again.” This explains a lot of why Apple is so against third party software that controls a huge portion of the user experience.
Now, I’m not saying this is right. But it is understandable.
That testimony of John Shores conversion was awesome! It is amazing how God can suddenly show up in someone’s life and draw them to Himself…and that He can save even the most “unlikely” people.
Committed Christian
John Shores testimony sent a chill up my spine, since he put into words a lot of what I felt one day a little over 4 years ago. When he described falling to his knees, I remembered a little bit of a verse from Isaiah:”By myself I have sworn;from my mouth has gone out in righteousnessa word that shall not return:’To me every knee shall bow,every tongue shall swear allegiance.’” (Isaiah 45:23)
Paul,What company do your work for? Will you let me kinow via my blog? My husband is a sr. manager at VMware in the Cloud architect space (I’ve done some work there too), and we’re always happy to make connections with believers in this field - ain’t too many of us! :)
Rachel - there seems to be no way to contact you on your blog. If you can ping me on mine or via email : carringtonp @ gmail.com
I too rejoiced reading Paul Shore’s story, however after reading some more of his articles at paulshore.com was disappointed at reading this from an article titled-“Christians, when it comes to homosexuality, man up”: In which he says “I want to be the very best Christian I can. And that means being as scrupulously honest as I can. And on the topic of homosexuality, that means admitting that being gay is not like any other sin, and that the Christian proscription of homosexuality is nothing less than a call for anyone who is gay to live their entire life never experiencing the physical expressions of love that all of we straight people happily accept as one of the very best things about being alive. Those two things are true, no matter how many logic-challenged pastors daring to call themselves compassionate Bible lovers claim otherwise.”
Mr. Shore thinks that unlike other sins, homosexuality “does not hurt anybody” and that “A dim-witted child could see that homosexuality isn’t the same as other kinds of sins”.
Sad to say, but we encounter more and more “Christians” who pick and choose what they believe from the Bible.
Shore’s comments on homosexuality, at least the ones you posted, are basically true. God may in fact be calling a gay person to a life of celibacy. And that’s alright. Homosexuality really is different from (some) other sins in that there’s not a direct victim. It’s similar to blasphemy, where the only “victim” is God. That doesn’t make it right, it just makes it different.
JPHWhile I appreciate the point you make in your comment, my concern is that, as Christ followers we should not soft pedal the gospel which calls to repentance (of all sins, including homosexuality). For the people out there struggling with this sin, we do them no favor by minimizing this particular sin and enforcing their helplessness in this struggle instead of providing clear biblical teaching that Jesus conquered all sin on the cross.See Ephesians 4:20-21 below.Ephesians 4:17-24 (gave the full passage for context)17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
My concern is that many Christians, churches and some denominations in our generation have not been taught/or have rejected the truth in Jesus and are teaching others themselves (some “teaching” others by making statements contrary to Scriptures on national platforms without being challenged -in a respectful way, of course).
also see Al Mohler’s post titled “Wearing the Disguise of Faithfulness” posted on .Monday, August 24, 2009:
The claim that these two contradictory understandings of the Bible’s teachings on human sexuality can coexist and be recognized as being equally faithful to the Scriptures is nonsense. Those pressing for the normalization of homosexuality must put the Scriptures through hoop after hoop of theological acrobatics. The claim that a church can both condemn and bless homosexual relationships with equal faithfulness falls false on its face. Worst of all, it sows a disastrously deadly confusion about the nature of sin — a confusion that subverts the Gospel and brings eternal consequences. Should homosexuals repent of their sin, or come to the church for the blessing of their homosexual unions? There can be no multiple-choice answer to that question… Woe unto those who cloak such decisions with the disguise of faithfulness.”
On July 16,2009 he (Al Mohler) also states: “Our response to persons involved in homosexuality must be marked by genuine compassion. But a central task of genuine compassion is telling the truth, and the Bible reveals a true message we must convey. Those seeking to contort and subvert the Bible’s message are not responding to homosexuals with compassion. To lie is never compassionate-and their lie leads unto death.”
Yeah, I mostly agree with all that. My point is that Shore is not speaking falsehood in the way he describes homosexuality. What’s false is likely his eventual conclusion, i.e. that God calling someone to a life of celibacy would be cruel and unfair, ergo God must not ever do such a thing because God is not cruel or unfair.
God called people to get torn apart by lions; for him to call someone to a life of celibacy doesn’t seem especially cruel.
JPHI’m curious, since your last statement is pretty profound and I have not thought of that or ever heard it said, how would you “speak the truth in love” to a gay colleague who argues that the church doesn’t even have it together because some believe homosexuality is a sin and others (who are much louder and forceful) say it’s not a sin. And of course the usual logic of Bible infallibility does not work with most unbelievers. What kind of things could you say in response? Thanks in advance for your response.
It depends on what their objections are, I guess. I feel a fair amount of empathy toward those struggling with homosexuality, given my own struggles with (hetero)sexual purity. I’m not really living triumphantly in that regard at the moment.
If the objection is that people are “born that way” and its unfair of God to ask us to behave in a manner contrary to how we’re “wired”, then I’d point out three things:
1. Some people are also born with a genetic proclivity toward depression, addiction or rage. They undergo therapy, counseling, and sometimes take medication for the sole purpose of behaving in a manner contrary to their natural inclination. Perhaps we shouldn’t view “behaving in a manner contrary to one’s natural inclination” to be such anathema. For instance, consider heterosexual men. For most heterosexual men, one could argue that their “natural inclination” to have sex with as many attractive women as possible, but most resist this natural inclination on a daily basis.
2. While I’m not willing to exclude the possibility that some people are “born gay”, i.e. a genetic or chemical basis, I’m also not willing to accept the notion that all homosexuals were “born gay”. As with other behaviors, environment almost always plays a part. Some people may have a genetic disposition toward alcoholism, but never end up becoming an alcoholic because of the environment in which they were raised, the values they were taught to accept, etc. Likewise, some people frequently abuse alcohol who are likely not genetically predisposed to addiction issues. For instance, they may have depression and are using alcohol as a means of coping. It seems highly likely, to me, that while many homosexuals have some genetic or chemical predisposition, some probably don’t. For them, therapy and counseling wouldn’t represent an attempt to overcome genetics or behave in contradiction with the “way they were born”. It would actually represent a return to the “way they were born”.
3. What does it mean for some circumstance to be “unfair”, with respect to God? Look at Job. Dude was pretty much doing everything right. He loses his entire family, his fortune, his prospects, and his health. To me, the whole point of Job is that God doesn’t “owe” us squat. In particular, he doesn’t “owe” us a life in which we’re free to gratify our sexual desires. Consider the young heterosexual married person whose partner becomes physically incapable of engaging in sex of any kind. Does the “unfairness” of his/her imminent lifetime of celibacy necessarily imply that God must approve of adultery (or divorce) for those in his position? Of course not.
Another way to look at unfairness, by the way, is to actually affirm it. Consider it as a side effect of living in a fallen creation. It was “unfair” that generations of men and women lived and died as slaves in the colonial United States. This grieved God. It’s “unfair” that children get leukemia and die when they’re seven years old. This grieves God. Similarly, you can agree with the homosexual who laments the unfairness of God denying him the freedom to be sexually gratified. Like with juvenile leukemia, I’m sure God grieves at whatever genetic issue predisposed this individual to same-sex attraction, thereby complicating (and perhaps, ultimately, precluding) his full participation in God-ordained human sexuality.
wow, those are all well stated and and well reasoned points that I will utilize ( prayerfully and hopefully with humility), in my encounters with folks that may be receptive to hearing the gospel, but of course I can see how I need to apply this to myself first, over sin in my own life.
Point #3 is especially awesome- God doesn’t owe us squat!I’ll remember that one the next time I want to feel sorry for myself!
Thanks for the responses, they are very helpful to me.
If you know folks who’ve walked away from the lifestyle, I’m sure their insight is loads more useful than anything I have to say. A female friend of mine at church put it this way (paraphrased): “At some point I just had to decide which I loved more: Jesus, or the lifestyle. I chose Jesus, even with the understanding that it might mean a lifetime of celibacy.” (She’s now married and, I think, has a kid.)
I think its important to emphasize that, in the context of sexuality, repentence doesn’t equate to a total lack of temptation and/or desire. Again, consider the married man who rejects lust and adultery, and who lives out that conviction. Does that mean he’s magically without any sexual attraction to women other than his wife? Of course not. Does it mean he’s free from all temptation? Of coruse not. Does the fact that he experiences sexual attraction toward someone other than his wife make him an adulterer? Nope. It’s all in how he reacts to it. Same thing with homosexuals. Repenting doesn’t mean one’s same-sex attraction immediately disappears and is replaced by opposite-sex attraction. That may happen eventually, or it may not. Either way, God’s still God.
Notably, neither does repentance require that one embrace, part and parcel, the current evangelical attitude toward homosexuality and homosexuals. I don’t have a ton of experience with this, but I suspect a fair number of homosexuals equate “leaving the lifestyle” with “becoming a politically conservative culture warrior”. I humbly submit that the former need not imply the latter.