One Sour Blackberry

I never owned a Blackberry device. But when the deals made them so affordable – just $49 – I was able to convince my wife to toss her flip phone and move into the smartphone world. Eventually, she moved on from Blackberry ... as did most of the world. She might now be considered among the addicted class. 

The New York Times piece on "When the Blackberry Reigned and How It Fell" displayed a brief history of the company. Discussion continues as to the future of the former hand held champion. Buy outs. Break ups. Buy backs – perhaps from the cofounders. Will it matter? (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/29/technology/when-blackberry-reigned-the-queen-got-one-and-how-it-fell.html ) 

As the Times makes note … the “co-chief executives missed the real threat: they initially dismissed Apple’s iPhone as “little more than a toy.” And all those apps available were simply too much. Too bad there wasn’t an app for how to fix Blackberry’s problem.

Having started a few small ventures – both for profit and not for profit – I feel badly when a company fails. People lose jobs, feel a lot of stress, and sometimes good products go away.

You know what? Some are predicting the demise of the church. That is not new. But maybe some of the concerns are.

Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hills Church in Seattle put out this vivid description:

"Christians are being ostracized, gay marriage is being legalized, the bandwagon has stopped carrying us and has started running over us. The church is dying and no one is noticing because we're wasting time criticizing rather than evangelizing. ... The days are darker, which means our resolve must be stronger and our convictions clearer. This is not the hour to trade in work boots for flip-flops. You didn't think you were here to kill time listening to Christian music until Jesus returned, did you?"  http://www.christianpost.com/news/mark-driscoll-christians-facing-darker-days-the-church-is-dying-105180/

Ouch! Is he right? This message came from a letter he addressed to “Christian” and was given to participants at the 2013 Resurgence Conference.

As the skies darken in our world in so many ways and so many places, our faith might well be called into question. We will be tested on the authenticity of our beliefs. The world will examine how closely we respond to larger needs than our own.

In other words, our spiritual life is on the line. We need renewal! And Driscoll sees the problem. There are no buyouts available. Hopefully, we don’t sell out. And certainly, there are no apps for that.

That’s the way WE work. For Moody Radio, I’m Mark Elfstrand.