- It wasn’t that many years ago I didn’t even know what a blog was. Oh that’s right, the word’s only 13 years old (n. abbreviation for “weblog”, a running journal posted online for all to see and comment on—often with hyperlinks.)
- It wasn’t that long ago that I would have laughed at a suggestion to blog. Course I also laughed at the idea of trading my datebook for an electronic gizmo until several back to back scheduling disasters made me desperate.
This blog is mainly for the flock of Keystone Evangelical Free Church in Paradise, Pennsylvania whom I love deeply (see my blog title). For a while now, God has been turning my “like” for the church into a love for the only thing Christ died for.
[I welcome appropriate comments but this site isn’t a democracy. I will delete ungodly or meanspirited stuff.]
Friday night we baptized 3 children and one young man in Ron & Tina Bare’s pond. Baptism is such a packed symbol: washing dirt away, dying, being buried, rising again with Christ… It’s a way of publicly flaunting the brand Jesus put on you. I know sometimes adults wonder how much children understand about the baptism they’re undergoing. Probably not a lot. Then again, I think I’ve only been really grasping its enormity in the last 10 years.
I also think that every child who goes under the waters is something of a rebuke to adult believers who’ve refused to be baptized. On Friday one of the girls being baptized was so scared her whole body shook as she told about 70 people that Jesus had forgiven her sins. Yet she went through with it.
So why is it some Christian adults postpone obeying this order Jesus gave—or ignore it altogether?
Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them (“them” are the folks who say “yes” to the gospel) in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…
Afraid of the water? Afraid of being in front of people? Afraid of…? I think of what some Christians in certain countries face when they choose to get baptized, it’s like agreeing to wear a target; from then on it’s open season and they’re the prey.
From Jesus’ day to this one, baptism has been the treasured mark of a believer. I’d love to brand some more on October 15, 2010, our next baptism. Maybe the adults will outnumber the children!
[I welcome appropriate comments but this site isn’t a democracy. I will delete ungodly or meanspirited stuff.]
Friday night we baptized 3 children and one young man in Ron & Tina Bare’s pond. Baptism is such a packed symbol: washing dirt away, dying, being buried, rising again with Christ… It’s a way of publicly flaunting the brand Jesus put on you. I know sometimes adults wonder how much children understand about the baptism they’re undergoing. Probably not a lot. Then again, I think I’ve only been really grasping its enormity in the last 10 years.
I also think that every child who goes under the waters is something of a rebuke to adult believers who’ve refused to be baptized. On Friday one of the girls being baptized was so scared her whole body shook as she told about 70 people that Jesus had forgiven her sins. Yet she went through with it.
So why is it some Christian adults postpone obeying this order Jesus gave—or ignore it altogether?
Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them (“them” are the folks who say “yes” to the gospel) in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…
Afraid of the water? Afraid of being in front of people? Afraid of…? I think of what some Christians in certain countries face when they choose to get baptized, it’s like agreeing to wear a target; from then on it’s open season and they’re the prey.
From Jesus’ day to this one, baptism has been the treasured mark of a believer. I’d love to brand some more on October 15, 2010, our next baptism. Maybe the adults will outnumber the children!
Baptism is so cool. It really brings us back to the roots of what we believe and lets us physically act on them.
ReplyDeleteLove the new blog, Keith! ~Jan Thies
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