Steve was an amazing man by any standards. He achieved goals that most can’t even dream of. It’s true to say that he had a profound effect on many millions of lives, including my own, and has left behind him, a legacy that will endure for some time.

Steve was capable of making hard decisions. It takes guts to do what he did, and far-seeing vision to bring into being the things we now take for granted in everyday use. He achieved the American dream to the nth degree, came from a fairly normal background, dropped out of school, was a millionaire in his twenties, became a billionaire later. It’s not rags to riches, it’s an ordinary kid to riches.

Some of the decisions he made must have been tough to make, but there was one that was easy. Yes, one was very easy, but he missed it. Steve chose to follow Buda instead of Christ. Repeatedly chanting  mantras may well bring some sort of hypnotic peace, but it does squat for the really important stuff…What happens after! In spite of his wealth, and his prowess as a CEO. In spite of his visionary lifestyle that has had such an effect on many of us, he has fallen foul of this principle:

“For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and yet lose his soul.”

Steve could have had it all, God is not against wealth, but Steve did as he always did, he chose to go his own way. I can only hold on to the hope that he called out to the Lord at some point, for the Lord is gracious…

“For all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

If you have read the book of Acts, you will be familiar with this man’s adventures, it started when Jesus met with him on the road to Damascus. A life changing encounter for Saul, who became Paul. He was tireless in his service to God, no matter what the world threw at him, and it threw a lot at him, he carried on working. One time, they stoned him and left him for dead outside the city…He got up and went back in…What kind of man was this? Shipwrecks, flogging…You name it, he got it, and still he carried on.

We can be tempted to look on Paul as some kind of super hero, but he wasn’t. His own words tell us that he came with trembling, not with confidence. A true man of God, and an inspiration to all of us who strive to follow our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Paul wrote a sizeable chunk of the New Testament and eventually gave his life for his love of God. What a man and would that I were more like him.

Well, the truth is, I am like him, though not in ways that I can shout about. There is a passage in Romans that identifies Paul with ‘the rest of us.’ Read on.

Romans 7, 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but that I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing.

24 What a reached man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Hard to believe that this mighty man of God went through all this stuff, just as we also go through it. You see, I am like him, and probably, you are too. So let’s all praise God for this next verse…

Romans 8, 1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Wow, what a God we serve. If, like me, you find yourself doing stuff you hate, and not doing stuff that is good, take heart, you are in good company. Paul also struggled with sin.

Praise be to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Colin.

It saddens me that he died so young, cancer is a terrible thing. My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Steve was a visionary and an innovator. He lived the American dream…Not a lot to a fortune of ten billion; not bad by anyone’s estimation.

He’s had an impact on my life as he must have had on countless thousands around the world. I currently have three Mac computers working for me, and am waiting for another to be delivered as I type!

My profession: music recording and general sound editing has been transformed beyond belief by computers, and Mac are way the best in this field…

Cheers Steve, nice one.

Should we Christians start to fight back? I know it goes against the grain, but we surely have enough ammo to hit back against these stupid insult/offence laws that everyone is using against us.
Should we march into the police station every time the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, is blasphemed? I wonder what the police would do if we did…March into the BBC and demand they stop transmitting TV programmes? Well, let’s face it, an awful lot of them are offensive!
How about the atheists? Should we complain when Dawkins opens his mouth? And how about those buss adverts from the humanisits? Surely that are offensive.
In truth, we have far more to be offended at than any other social group in this country. We are belittled, scoffed at, insulted and legislated against. Falsely accused, wrongfully arrested and taken to court for simply being Christian.
Should we start to fight back?

The thing is, UK, we have a problem! Actually, we have several, but they all stem from the one root cause. We are in serious need of good government. It’s true…For the last however many decades, we have been governed by people of low moral character. They have fiddled expenses, committed adultery, passed laws that actually attack our own national religion.

They have promoted perversion, well, one form of it. One party has embraced a maker of porn films and celebrated their liberality! They have all bowed to the bankers and continue to allow the financial institutions to rip us off at every turn. They allow the oil companies to make obscene profits whilst ripping us off at the pumps. They ignore the gas and electric companies ripping us off. They display no caring for the British people.

They consistently lie to us.

They consistently break their promises to us.

They demonstrate clearly that they care only about money.

They are doing everything possible to offload their responsibilities (like the NHS to German industry).

They are doing everything they can to get out of paying for services the people require.

Yes, UK, we have a problem. It’s lousy government!

It’s a time for the deluded and the deceivers to get together and ‘say’ things, none of which have any basis in truth or reality. It’s a time for peacocks to strut their stuff in front of the TV cameras and spout lots of hot air that no-one in their right mind would believe.

It’s a time for broken promises to be made, and lies told about future intentions that NEVER come to pass. A time for laying down plans in readiness for the U-turn to come. What a waste of time and money these fiascos are. I don’t know about you, but I’m not amused by it.

I wonder if we will ever have a ‘good’ government? Judging by what we see and hear during conference season, I seriously doubt it!

Police in Lancashire have marched into a Christian cafe and banned the owner from displaying Bible verses on a flat screen in his cafe. They claim it is against the law…Crap! They claim it may cause offence though they don’t say who they so-called offended party might be.

1. Atheists: do we now have Athephobia? If so, why are they not banning expressions of Islam? They wouldn’t dare!

2. Humanisits: are we talking about Humaphobia? The humanisits are against any expression of religion, believing only in themselves. Some track record there to admire!

3. Islam: we are already branded Islamaphobes, but the truth is, Islam holds Jesus Christ in very high esteem. A special place has been reserved for him by their Prophet.

Makes you wonder what ‘party’ these coppers belong to: atheists, humanisit, homosexuals or Islam. If the police would be as diligent about real crime as they are becoming about this phobia gone mad nonsense, they might actually be worth the money they cost us!

Ok, enough from me, I’ll hand you over to the latest pair of buffoons…Attenborough & Dawkins!!!

Can you believe that they are so upset about teaching creationism in schools. Those nasty Christians are really upsetting their plans to deceive the upcoming generation like they have deceived the current one. They don’t want creation taught in science class because it’s a religion…No, they want evolution taught in science class even though it is also a religion. Comical aren’t they. They really deserve a drum roll and a round of applause…The best comedy duo I’ve heard in years. Shame the BBC (biased broadcasting crap) haven’t signed them up for a late night stand up show…If they do, I want my finder’s fee!

There is absolutely NO scientific proof of evolution. You have to ‘believe’ in it by faith! It’s a religion…A false religion. It is NOT science.

I foresee a great future for these guys. Here’s to you, David and Dicky, you absolute prats!

Well, here we are in 2011 and the stink is back! Yes, you can smell it from all over the country, a stench of decay, immorality, perversion and corruption…Just to name a few. The problem is that this time the sewage is inside Westminster, not the Thames. What we need is for someone to pull that great chain in the sky and flush the lot of them into the sewer where they belong. Fat chance I know, but I can dream.

There was a time when this country stood for integrity and common decency…No longer. We have been betrayed by The Big Stink, and they show every sign of continuing the downward path.

Lord, please pull the chain!