S2 E44 - Now I Broke My Computer

I keep breaking things. This time, it was my computer. I have tried and tried with Windows computers, but they all seem to give out after just a few years. So finally, after asking for some help from some computer experts, I made the switch to a Mac - something I had shrugged off for years. My friends, I am NEVER going back! I didn't realize how good it can be, my MacBook Pro is far superior. I just wish I had made the switch sooner. Well...this is not all that different than our journey to faith. We all had heard about Jesus, but we simply shrugged it off. We were content where we were. But when everything kept failing around us, and nothing seemed to work, we humbled ourselves to consider what we had always rejected. And once you taste and see that the Lord is good, and how far superior life in Christ is, you will NEVER go back. 

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Transcript

Hey everybody, and welcome back to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! I’m your host BJ Sipe – I’m a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In this podcast we take everyday, ordinary events and explore how they can teach us extraordinary, eternal truths. I’m so glad that you joined me for this episode. Now, let’s open up our minds, our hearts, and our Bible’s together. 

I think I have a problem, because I just keep on seeming to break things lol. Of course, last week we discussed how I broke my shovel off into the ground, and it gave us an opportunity to talk about the condition of our hard hearts & being molded by God. However, something a whole lot more important and expensive broke yesterday than a shovel. Do you remember a few weeks back my moments of panic as my computer went through something called the “infinite boot loop” where it would just stay on the restart loading screen and not change? Well, I was sitting in the coffee shop yesterday, finishing up some work on some video editing I needed to get done for a summer lectureship I am a part of when my computer just…shut off. At first I thought, well that’s odd, I sure hope my work over the past 10 minutes was saved or else I’m going to lose that time having to redo it. Well, it turned out to be a whole lot worse than that. As it turned back on, it went back into the infinite boot loop for a second time in the past month. I couldn’t believe it. I just sat back and wondered what was I going to do now? I called one of our elders and he suggested taking it back to the same place that had serviced it and reset it last time, and that perhaps they could help me or give me some advice on what to do. I did just that. Upon arrival and explaining what was going on (again), the computer service tech told me at this point, I probably needed to just get a new computer. Ugh. Not what I was hoping to hear, this was about to become a nightmare. As we visited, I told him the different kinds of things I do for my work with sermon prep, class prep, my podcasting and videos, and asked if he had any suggestions. Without hesitation, he responded and said, “You need to get a MacBook Pro.” Again, not what I wanted to hear. I have always been a Windows guy, and learning a new operating system was not something I was eager to do this week. But he’s the expert, so I thought I would run his suggestion by two more guys. One of them is an old friend Jarrod Nettles who formally worked for Apple, and the second is none other than our friend Brady Cook from Diakonos Marketing. I got on the phone with each of them, explained my situation, and asked what they thought I should get. They both had the exact same answer: a MacBook Pro, M1 chip, 16+ gig of RAM, and a large solid-state drive. It was now three against one for getting a Mac. So, I started calling around just to see what I can find. As it turns out, these are the most in demand computer in the country, perhaps even the world right now. To get one with all of the specs that I wanted by ordering it online, it was not going to be until late July or early August until I actually had it delivered. That was not an option. My next step was to call the nearest Apple store and speak with a representative to see what they had in house. I explained what I was looking for, and at first my heart sank. There were only two that were available for in store pick up…one was in Indianapolis, the other was in Cincinnati. I was going to have to drive 2 ½ to 3 hours each way to get what I needed yesterday. I did some more digging, before finally the representative I was transferred to in Cincinnati said, “Oh wait, there is a 13.3” MacBook Pro with the M1 chip, 16 gigs RAM, and a terabyte SSD in Lexington, KY. There is one left.” I immediately asked to be transferred, got on the phone with a rep in Lexington, and 5 minutes later made the purchase over the phone. I got the last MacBook Pro in the state of Kentucky. As I drove to go pick it up, I was wondering to myself exactly what I had gotten myself into. I’ve always heard for years about how superior Mac was to Windows, but I just always let it go in one ear and out the other. I was happy where I was, until recently. I got tired of having computer after computer break down after only a year or two, I just had to try something different. I walked into the store, sat down at a learning desk, and started to learn how to navigate my new Mac. And let me tell you guys…I am NEVER going back to a Windows PC! This thing is just screaming fast! The operating system is so user friendly, and the way it has been designed from its navigation to layout is superior in every single way. After having been using it now for 24 hours, I am just kicking myself for not having made this move earlier in my life. I could not be happier than I am now with what I have, and I’m grateful to the ones who continued to steer me in the right direction of where to turn when I was looking for answers. 

You know, my journey from Windows to Mac is really not all that different from our journey away from the world and coming to Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 2:1-3, we are reminded of the place from which we came. We read, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.” This is the place that every single one of us began. The only god that we knew was our own appetite, selfishly living each day in our sin and ignorant of the path of righteousness. Perhaps you had been told by others about Jesus, about how wonderful and incredible it is to be a child of God, but it passed in one ear and out the other. You were completely content to remain exactly where you were, carrying on in the desires of your flesh. And yet, maybe your story now becomes a little bit more like mine, because it’s a story of frustration. No matter where you turned, no matter what you tried, nothing seemed to work. Joy, peace, and love were not found through my worldly pursuits, and as soon as you thought you found something that would bring you contentment and make you feel whole, it left you with an even bigger hole in your heart. That is until finally our will broke, and in our search for answers, we reached out and asked someone, “Where am I supposed to turn to now?” That moment is different for all of us. For some of you, maybe it was after yet another failed marriage. Maybe it was after losing your job because of your unethical behavior. Maybe it was as the jail cell closed behind you. Whatever that moment was, finally, we humbled ourselves enough to be willing to consider another way, a way we had always rejected and thought nothing of. And that way is THE Way. We read in Romans 10:13-15, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” For those of us that are in Christ, we believed because someone directed us to him. In our search for answers, someone else who had experienced the goodness and faithfulness of Christ pointed us to him and shared with us his love. I am forever grateful to those who shared the love of Jesus with me, from my parents to my peers or other teachers. And let me tell you my friends…I am never going back. It is hard to describe how far superior life in Christ is to life outside of Christ. You will experience a love, joy, peace, contentment, and purpose that you never thought was possible. It won’t always be easy, and learning discipleship will take time, patience, and mentorship, but it will be beyond worth it. If you’ve been putting Jesus off, stop. You’ll wish you would have come to him sooner. O, taste and see that the Lord is good! And once you do, you will never, ever go back. 

Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode, and I would invite you back every Tuesday for a brand-new episode each week. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for occasional announcements and special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, please if you’re able to be sure to share it with someone else that you think could benefit from it as well. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.