Not a Camouflaged Soul

Author: Jon Wellman

  • Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep…

    As I was going to bed last night, I thought about the prayer that we teach our kids…

    Now I lay me down to sleep,

    I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

    And if I die before I wake,

    I pray the Lord my soul to take.

    I didn’t know why it popped in my head at the time. Then I began to think about it…What an AWFUL prayer! And I’ve prayed it with my son! Many of you have, too! Read it again carefully.

    First of all, God promises to be our shelter, our refuge, and our strength. We don’t really have to ask Him by rote every night. But that isn’t the worst of it.

    If we think that we need to remind God to take us to heaven when we die (God forbid), we better pray fast if we see a car heading straight for us at a busy intersection!

    God, remember me? That car looks like it’s gonna hit me! When it does, make sure I’m heading off this rock to heaven, ok? Thanks! Amen.

    Worse yet is the implication that last phrase makes. We only get saved once. Period. This prayer seems to be a reiterated prayer of salvation that we rehearse with our kids. It might be easy to remember, but it is false.

    I’m sure the author had good intentions when writing it. But we MUST guard against false teaching infiltrating our homes at all costs, regardless of the intent. As the guardian of sound doctrine and priest of my home, I will never make the mistake of praying this with my kids again.

  • Belated

    I’m a little bummed today. I missed my own birthday.

    I didn’t make a big deal out of it because, in all honesty, I forgot about it. No gifts… well, one gift, but I’ll come back to that later.

    I’m more disappointed in myself than anything. I should have made a bigger deal out of it. Two days ago was the anniversary of the most important day of my life.

    My SPIRITUAL birthday. The day I became a child of God and began following Jesus Christ.

    This post is a confession. I SHOULD have been excited. The fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took upon Himself the sins of the world, and died a death I could never imagine to pay my sin debt should have brought me to my knees. But I completely forgot.

    It is in my sin nature to take for granted what Jesus did for me. To diminish its importance, its relevance. To be nonchalant.

    July 5, 1981. I have been following Christ for 29 years. 29 years!

    Please know that this truly grieves me. I didn’t even realize it until this morning. I can’t remember what reminded me, but I wish it had happened Monday.

    I received the greatest Gift ever given that day. I received the gift of eternal life and a relationship with God. The same Jesus that died for me also died for you. Don’t let another day go by without accepting Him as Savior. Here’s how I did.

    Praise God for forgiving me.

  • Useful: Plan Ahead

    Useful: Plan Ahead

    This is an updated version of a post from NoCamo 1.0 on October 8, 2009.

    Twitter is a never-ending source of information and nonsense (my tweets tend to the latter). That said, every now and then there is a gem to be found. And often those gems are not even meant to be gems.

    As I have said before, I am a tennis fan. However, the only tennis star I follow on Twitter is Andy Roddick. Early this morning he said this:

    good news is i started serving good in practice today bad news is its 3 days too late

    I did a little digging. He was referring to a loss to qualifier Lukasz Kubot in the first round of the China Open on October 6th. His serve was broken a number of times and was a key factor in his losing the match.

    How many of us can relate? How many of us regret not being better prepared for what comes at us? How many of us wish we knew then what we know now? How many of us have needed to make changes in our lives, only to run out of time?

    I have known many seasons in my life where I knew I needed to prepare for something, but never got around to it. Whether it has been studying for a test, paying a bill, or writing a card, I have always had a problem staying on top of what needs to be done. Procrastination has been (and continues to be) a struggle in my life. I know what needs to be done, but put it off. Then, when I need to be finished with a task or prepared for an eventuality, I’m empty-handed. Useless.

    As believers and followers of Christ, we need to be ready for whatever occurs. We need to be prayed up BEFORE hardships come. We need to be studying the Word BEFORE we are confronted at work about our beliefs. We need to establish moral safeguards in our lives BEFORE we face sexual temptation. We need to be known for our honesty BEFORE our honesty is questioned. We need to plan ahead.

    Do you think Andy knew his serve was suspect before he went into that match? Definitely. We all know our problem areas, too. We know what our hot button issues are… what temptations ensnare us the easiest… what deficiencies could be problematic if they were scrutinized. We all need to periodically take a close look at what we need to do. And then do it while we still can.

    I am committing to make the changes God wants me to make when He wants me to make them, because He is always preparing me for SOMETHING. If you know Him, He has a plan for you, too.

    Get ready.

    (By the way, that post came out of me easier than most. SOMEBODY needs to read it. I know I needed to write it. Pass it along.)