My wife carried the same Bible for ten years. It’s the Bible she carried when she first got saved.
That thing is tore up. Falling apart. Chunks of Genesis are missing. I finally convinced her to commit to a new copy of the Word of God. But her attachment to that Bible was special.
There is something about a well-worn Bible. (more…)
This is an updated version of a post from NoCamo 1.0 on December 28, 2009.
I feel like, in many ways, this entire website is my testimony. Every thing I write is because my God was gracious enough to send His Son to die for me, and He gives me every reason to proclaim Him.
But I feel led, for the first time on NoCamo, to tell HOW He saved me.
I accepted Christ in July of 1981 at my mother’s bedside. I was five years old. I felt the Holy Spirit’s tug on my heart during church one night at the small, independent Baptist church my family attended in Flatwoods, KY. I was too afraid to go up to the front with everyone watching.
A few nights later, I couldn’t sleep. I knew I needed to be saved. I went in to my mother’s bedroom (I believe my father was at work. He was a railroad engineer.). She led me to Christ. I was baptized a few months later.
That night began a walk with Jesus that, in spite of me, continues to this day. I have made plenty of missteps along the way, and proven many times that I am unable to earn salvation through good works.
Jesus forgave me of all my sins. He made me a new creation. I know without a doubt that I have a home in heaven waiting for me, and I cannot wait to see my Savior face to face.
How about you? Do you know Jesus? Has there ever been a time when you accepted Him as your Savior?
A new year is coming (some say a new decade, but that is a discussion for another day). But none of us are guaranteed the opportunity to see it. Today will be the last day of life for some. And, possibly any minute now, Jesus will split the Eastern sky and take His children home.
Today is the day to accept Christ. Proverbs 27:1 tells us not to boast about what we’ll do tomorrow. Make the best decision you could ever make. Begin your eternal life today.
If you need someone to talk to, please email me. Also, check out the About Him page.
I had a bit of a scare last night. I must have fallen asleep on my arm, and the fingers of my left hand went numb. It happens.
Problem: it lasted over an hour and lingers as I write this the next morning.
Now, I knew it was probably nothing serious. I wasn’t trying to be melodramatic. But when it is after midnight and something like that happens, the mind tends to race. Many diagnoses ran through my head as I vigorously shook my hand, trying to get some feeling back. Nerve damage? Circulation problem? Heart attack?
As a pianist, guitarist, and worship leader, I cringed at the thought of not being able to play music again. I actually pictured what ministry would be like without the ability to play.
Then I thought back to earlier in the evening. I was out on visitation, and I got to give the Gospel to a 72-year-old Korean War vet who is a self-professed loner and skeptic. He didn’t follow Christ, but he did sincerely respond to what I said.
I then realized what I have always known but perhaps never fully embraced (or needed to embrace anew). If I were to lose my voice completely today, God would still have a purpose for me. If I lost the ability to use my hands, my legs, my sight, my hearing… God be glorified.
My problem is that sometimes I think I have something to offer Him, when, in reality, all I have to offer is what He bestows. My Creator gives me what I need to do what He wants me to do.
Dr. Ergun Caner once said that God’s call on a person’s life is for a specific task in a specific place for a specific time. And the way He equips us is specific. That’s why being dissatisfied with our lot in life or with the tasks before us amounts to doubting God. If God put you in the situation you are in, can you trust that it going to “work together for good?”
At least I’m able to type, if nothing else. Still a little tingly.
10/25/09
UPDATE: All feeling came back into my fingers this past Thursday. Glory to God! I told the praise band this morning that, now that my hand is fully functional, I cannot blame my temporary condition for wrong notes. They are to be blamed on the room temperature. Sometimes it is too cold to play the right notes. Or too warm…
Not a Camouflaged Soul 