It’s A Wonderful Life

            Thanks, David Pardue, for chastising me for not sharing a story yesterday! I hope you want mind, but today I am actually going to repeat a story I passed along a couple of months ago.

            As all of you know, Steven Jobs tragically lost his battle to cancer (and its complications) yesterday. The first computer I was blessed with was a brand new MacPlus that the Austin Avenue Church bought for my Argentina work back in 1989. I loved that computer. Since then, I, along with virtually everyone else on the planet, have been positively impacted by Jobs’ genius.

            However, were it not for one decision, this would have never happened. In an IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE sort of way, I want you to imagine… what if?             Here’s the story I told back in August, which I have seen confirmed many times since:

            I read in the Tyler paper this morning something interesting. Star Parker wrote about an unwed mother, a college student, who decided to put her child up for adoption. The year was 1955—pre-Roe v Wade.

            You know her son today—his name is Steven Jobs.

            I think today we are all grateful to that young mother.

A Spiritual Hacker

Charlie Miller is a hacker. He finds ways to break into other people’s computers. He does this to help companies protect their computers and software.

Over the past few years, Charlie has made it a habit of breaking into Apple Macs. Charlie owns a Mac book Pro, and iPhone, and four Apple computers. He loves them. That is why he hacks – he wishes to show the vulnerability of Mac products.

Once Charlie gets inside the computer, the integrity of the host computer is compromised. Left unchecked, Charlie can control the computer’s output until it shuts down.

Reading about this, I could not help but think about a spiritual hacker. He looks for every entry point he can find in a person. No matter how small the portal, if there is an opening, he is going to get inside. Then, he seeks to spread his virus. He would be especially pleased to destroy the host.

Peter tells us to watch out for this hacker, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

That is sound advice from the apostle Peter. We can protect ourselves from this spiritual hacker by walking with God, getting into his word, meditating upon his word, praying, practicing other spiritual disciplines, fellowshipping with other Christians, partnering with our families in our spiritual walk, and through many more strategies. May God help us keep the devil out.