| View Blog
|
|
|
|
| My Baptism |
|
I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior back in 1978 with my wife at our home here in Texas. But I did not get baptized until almost two years later. I had been baptized as a child in a Methodist Church but it had been a ritual as opposed to a personal confession of faith in Christ and a conscious entrance into God’s family of believers. It was in November and I was attending a men’s retreat at Eagle Mountain Lake in Fort Worth, Texas. The speaker, a local Pastor of a church in South Fort Worth, was right in the middle of his study when God spoke to my heart. It was if God said, “You have desired to be baptized. There is the Pastor and there is the water. Why do you wait?” I stood up right in the middle of the Pastor teaching and said, “Excuse me, I know this sounds crazy, but I believe God just told me I was supposed to be baptized.” It was pretty cold outside and I figured they would all think I had lost it. The Pastor just stopped and stared at me with this smile on his face and then said, “That is a word form the Lord. I will meet you down by the water.” I went back to my cabin, trying to figure out what I would wear and took my old duffel bag that I had thrown some clothes in..turning it upside down and shaking out the contents. At the bottom of the bag fell out an old white robe that I had not seen in years. So about 15 minutes later I was standing at the edge of the lake with the Pastor. It was so cold. Another good friend, who is a professional photographer, was sitting up on the ridge with his Nikon and telephoto lens. The Pastor and I began to edge in the water until we were almost to our waist. We were both shaking terribly in the cold water. He laid his hands on my shoulders and we both began to pray. Suddenly…the water began to turn warm. I opened my eyes and looked at him and asked, “Am I imagining this…or is the water getting warm.?” He said, “It sure is!!” We both started laughing. I splashed him and he did the same and before you know it we were laughing and splashing each other like little kids. Those on the shore thought we were both nuts. My photographer friend on the ridge could see a ring of steam had formed around us….and it showed up in the pictures. He sure was excited about those pictures. The Pastor began to pray again and finally I was baptized as a public proclamation of my faith in Christ. I remember as I came out of the water…the blues were bluer…the greens were greener. There was clarity that I had that was more than just visual perception but was deep in my spirit. I felt a peace that truly passed understanding. I was not saved by my baptism. Actually I only got wet. But as I identified with Christ in His death and His resurrection, God continued in me that process of sanctification. Baptism is an outward expression….. of an inward work. I was saved by faith not in what I did…but by faith in what Christ did for me 2,000 years ago on Calvary. I was baptized in obedience to both His word and the leading of His Holy Spirit….and that peace I now experienced was a fruit of that obedience.
|
|
Posted by journeyman on 2009-10-04 06:35:14 | Rating: | Views: 28
|
|
| |
|
|
Email This to a Friend 