Wun Ming

I wanted to share a free online 18 minute documentary with John Piper by Crossway. It talks about the issue of racism from the perspective of John Piper’s life. He shares about the circumstances where he grew up with the issue, how God worked on him showing him the right way, and how he lives in response to the issue now. It’s very well done but I think most valuable is the insight it gives into some of the decisions behind John Piper’s life which is characterized by meditative humility before God and driven by God-given purpose.

Crossway and John Piper, you are so inspiring!

“For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street.”

- Ecclesiastes 12:5

For a great sermon on one of the ideas in the song about this world not being our home check out: Dealing With The Seasons Of Life from the series Ecclesiastes: Pre-Modern Wisdom in a Post-Modern World. Pastor Dan MacDonald talks about it I think half way into the message in his explanation of the beautifully poetic verse in Ecclesiastes above.

[12:5]

“He returned to Apple as an adviser in 1996, when the firm was in dire straits. A year later he was made interim chief executive. Asked at the time what he thought Mr Jobs should do with Apple, Michael Dell, a rival computer-maker, helpfully suggested that he should shut it down.

Mr Jobs ignored that advice. Instead he led the company on to its greatest triumphs. Among them were the creation of the iMac, which revived the firm’s ailing computer business, and the development of the iPod, which ended up transforming the music industry. But just as important as what Apple did was what it did not do. Charles Golvin of Forrester, a research firm, says that one of Mr Jobs’s greatest skills has been to decide which projects the firm should not undertake.

It has been widely rumoured, for example, that engineers at Apple were urging its boss to create a tablet computer in the early part of the decade. But Mr Jobs turned a deaf ear to their entreaties and instead insisted that the company focus on producing a smartphone. The result was the iPhone, which transformed yet another market and is still minting money. In a creative cauldron like Apple, ideas are rarely in short supply. But the skill of choosing the right ones to focus on at the right time is rare. Mr Jobs has it. Apple’s shareholders will have to hope that Mr Cook does too.”

- The Economist | Steve Jobs resigns: The minister of magic steps down| Aug 27th 2011 | SAN FRANCISCO | from the print edition

The last line of Isaiah 61:1-2a especially says something about how God works in time with seasons. It speaks of the fact that there are good years and there are bad years, but in the end it will be good for those who have found God, ultimately who God knows personally.

In Luke 4, Jesus proclaims in the synagogue that He is the fulfillment of the long awaited prophecy of the amazing things that God would do in Isaiah 61:1-2a which says,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor

He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives

And recovery of sight to the blind.

To set free those who are oppressed,

To  proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

Dear friend, may your seasons be coloured with closeness to the Lord who promises to always be your Saviour and is always faithful regardless of outwards circumstances.