I would like to bring up some things that I have heard about the life of Steve Jobs but I don't how far to the edge this board would allow me to go.
Broadly speaking it is about his religious point of view, his hippiness and apple products. Call if it a kind of spiritual discussion.
Is this topic ok or to be restricted on this board?
Why rehash the life of a non-believer, unless it it to point the way to being others to Jesus? I do not particularly care to learn any more of how that man thought. If he was still alive and you cared to write him and try to show him the Lord, that would be constructive. Otherwise it seems you are beating the proverbial dead horse. It isn't going anywhere.
That is just my humble opinion
Better check with the mods. But as the guidelines say pray about it. Would such things be particularly Christ centered or edifying. That would be a good indicator.
Blaine
Naw, my intent with it is to discuss certain aspects of his life and how it influenced the outcome of what he did and the spiritual significance behind it all. I won't go any further unless a mod says it is ok.
Do we not think that God can't use the life of an unbeliever?
Which I think He did with Steve Jobs! I was watching 60 Minutes two nights ago and they did a piece on the iPad and children with autism who had NEVER communicated with their parents before who were suddenly using apps where they could communicate with others and they were blooming!!! How awesome is that? One parent said her autistic son (who was 27), she found out through these apps that her son loved opera music!
Creativity rains on the just and on the unjust, whether we like it or not! Steve Jobs received a lot of rain in that department.
God bless,
Lisa
I think it's reasonable to discuss this.
Compared to a lot of discussions that take place here, this one seems rather mild. Wait until we get on the other side of Thanksgiving!
Go for it... keep it Christ-centered. If it isnt the mods will let you know.
Oh, and I think Lysa nailed it too, by the way. There is a lot we can learn by examining someone's life... saved or unsaved. And a lot of unsaved people have done much "good" (from our human perspective) in the world. We dont want to give undue praise, but I think there is much we can learn.
Krispy
...this is quickly turning into a discussion about whether or not to have this discussion! lol
Only on SI.
Krispy
I too saw the 60 minutes episode about Steve Jobs. I also heard some on Fresh Air on NPR last night. Yes, I listen to some of that to get a balanced perspective of things.
Several things caught my attention about this man. He was a hippie yet he was determined to do things with technology beginning with the phone system.
Spiritually speaking he went to India in a quest to find himself. I don't remember what it was that he found through it. It was said but I cannot remember.
This guy was very determined to do his thing and through his 'ingenius' he changed so much in the world. And then his life takes a turn with cancer and looks to natural herbs for healing before he goes to the actual doctor.
( I had a friend who had cervical cancer who did the very same thing. She was entrenched in word of Faith stuff and declared GOd would heal her. That didn't come to pass)
One of the things I wonder in Steve Jobs life is this- is there a possible that the cancer Steve got was God putting a stop to what Steve was doing because in time it would eventually lead to something dangerous in regards to technology? The man seemed brilliant and seemed to be take away too soon.
Spiritually, he seemed to be searching for God but I understand he didn't trust religious systems. I am wondering what he gained by going to India? Was the inspiration for the apple products part of that trip?
Around this whole thing with Steve I ask the question, what was God doing in all of this? It seems to me in the end that Steve lost his life in much the same way that man's brain power went from 100% down to 10% so man wouldn't be a danger to himself.
What do you think?
wow it still floors me that people still put Jobs in the category of "great inventor"....listen I'm yelling this "JOBS NEVER INVENTED A SINGLE NEW TECHNOLOGY"....he took other peoples ideas packaged them and marketed them....and in India
he became a buddhist.....after a LSD trip.
We applaud Steve jobs and despise Mother Theresa. Kind of makes me wonder.
Blaine
Enochh wrote:
listen I'm yelling this "JOBS NEVER INVENTED A SINGLE NEW TECHNOLOGY
God bless you, Enochh
Lisa
Yeah, we applaud Steve Jobs over MOther Teresa becaue he and his work is more in the spotlight than what Mother Teresa did.
Do you think Steve's spirituality had any connection to his apple work? If so how so? Buddhism is a slipperly slope of ideology. It sounds so good and smooth but I wonder how much of it became an influence in his career? Maybe I am thinking too much about this because I like to know what goes on behind the scenes, if I can. I want to know how spiritual forces are at work behind the scenes.
I'm not sure what you mean, martyr. I don't know if we despise or applaud anyone. We simply place all people in their proper context.
I don't think that anyone is "praising" Steve Jobs. From what we know, he wasn't a believer (although his private life was quiet). He wasn't a theologian. He wasn't even much of an engineer. However, he was a human being...loved tremendously by God.
As someone else suggested, Jobs often improved upon others' ideas...because he lacked a formal college education to do much of the engineering or computer science work himself. However, at his vocation, he took his abilities and made the most of them. In other words, he was mostly an innovator who made technology more accessible.
I wouldn't suggest anything "diabolical" from it. After all, each of us are reading SermonIndex on a computer monitor (or phone/tablet screen). Some may even be reading it on an Macintosh computer, iPhone or iPad. Many may even listen to sermons by Leonard Ravenhill, David Wilkerson, Carton Conlon, Paul Washer, Keith Daniel or many others on an iPod. However, the technology is nothing more than a tool for our use (and the Lord's use).
Interestingly, I discovered that Steve Jobs lived only about four blocks from my wife and me. We were driving home from our favorite yogurt restaurant here in Palo Alto when we noticed a bunch of people outside of a home. I recognized the place from photos in the newspaper.
I had seen Steve Jobs at times around town, sometimes driving down the road or eating local restaurants. However, I didn't realize that he was such a close neighbor living in an unassuming home that my wife and I had walked past many times. Despite reports otherwise, Jobs always seemed congenial when I saw him around.
Oddly enough, I was at Stanford University the day of his memorial service. It was attended by many dignitaries, including a former president, congressmen, billionaires, actors, singers and CEOs. They were all gathered together in the Memorial Church that is the central hub of the Main Quad at Stanford.
Although no one announced it, I assumed that it was probably his memorial service (due to the security and limousines). I wondered what all of those visitors thought when they pulled up into the Church at Stanford, with its vivid images of Christ inside and outside and various quotes from the Word of God carved inside.
After all of this, I did regret that I didn't have the opportunity to reach out to him with a clear presentation of the Gospel.
Still, I had hoped that, somehow, God could have been able to reach him in his final days and hours. Regardless, God loved Steve Jobs as much as He loves a homeless man in the streets of Calcutta, a child in Africa, the Queen Elizabeth II, President Obama or any one of the speakers presented here on SermonIndex. The question is, however, how much do we (or they) love and long for Him.
i was shocked when i herd mother teresa set up prayer meetings and fellowshiped with hindos and all prayed together
shoked me and i was sadend when i found out
Who said anything about despising Mother Teresa?
Stating a fact about Mother Teresa, or Steve Jobs for that matter, does not equate "despising".
Fact: by their own words they both admitted they did not possess salvation. Me stating that fact does not mean I despise them. Personally I think it's horribly tragic.
Saying that I "despise" Mother Teresa for saying that is a really poor way of trying to manipulate a discussion. The world does that all the time. Share the gospel with the world and the world calls you a hater.
Now we play that game here? No... homey dont play that...
Krispy
The danger a person runs into when comparing one against another is you get into a 'who is better' mentality. Attach a religious nature to it and it adds to the drama.
Cut out the Mother Teresa aspect of this post.
Steve Jobs is what the post is about. With Steve I am more interested in his life story and not necessarily his apple stuff. I am wondering what made this guy tick and what did he see in Christianity that he didn't like or just turned him off. How much did his India pilgrammage factor into his life's work?
It is just like asking those questions about past evangelists only I am asking this question about someone who the whole world seemingly knows about because he has touched so many lives as a result of his work. Past evangelists have not necessarily done that.
Cut out the Mother Teresa aspect of this post.
Ummm... matyr brought it up... and you engaged...
If you dont want that to be part of the discussion: dont discuss it.
Krispy
DEADn wrote:
With Steve I am more interested in his life story and not necessarily his apple stuff.
The only really good things they had to say about him as a person was about his genius creativity.
God bless,
Lisa
According to 60 Minutes, he was not a giver nor a kind person. One of the men who started with them in garage wanted stock options and (I believe it was) Steve Wozniak who told Jobs, “Will you match what I give him?” and Jobs said, “Ok how about you give zero and I give zero?”
If this is true... isnt it interesting that he believed in karma! lol...
Krispy
This discussion is locked.
