Great Day!

Today was a great day. I had the privilege of participating in a baptismal service at our church. For those who arent familiar with what baptism is, it is quite simple really...in the Bible Jesus calls all people to follow him. And to identify ourselves as his followers (or as a means of telling others publicly of our decision to follow him) he commands us to be baptized. The New Testament is littered with instances of people making a decision to follow Jesus with their lives and then being baptized.

Well today our church did something that we dont normally do. Following the sermon, the pastor invited anyone who wanted to be baptized to come forward and do so. We provided the change of clothes and towel if they didnt want to go home wet, oh yeah and we also provided the water.

It was a very fitting end to a sermon that our pastor preached on commitment. We were reminded this morning of what makes God vomit. Our indifference toward him. In fact he says so in Revelation 3:16, "So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit (or vomit) you out of my mouth." Ouch. And our pastor asked a question that really resonated with Kellee and me...when this week did you have to depend on God? Sadly, I had to think about that, I have most of what I need, why do I need God?

And it was these same thoughts that people were challenged with as we gave our congregation the opportunity to step forward in baptism. Between our 3 services we had 13 people come forward for baptism. Most of them not planning that when they left their house in the morning. And I had the joy of helping these people take their next step in their relationship with Jesus. It was a great day!