Essentials I - Baptism

Baptism for remission of sins by immersion is required for salvation.

For me, this one is a "no-brainer" and right at the top of the list. The New Testament is full of references to baptisms and tells us that we must be baptized to be saved. There is no getting around it and no getting into heaven without it. (Please, spare me the wild, extreme "what if's" that seem to come after a statement such as this).

Let's start with Mark 16:16

"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not
believe will be condemned."

After Peter preached to the multitude at Pentecost in Acts 2, Acts 2:37-39 tells us that the people there asked "what shall we do?" and the answer was clear "Repent and be baptized". Paul went on to say that this was for "...you and your children and for all who are far off..." telling US that this commandment was for us.

Some might use the passage about Paul and Silas in prison in Acts to prove otherwise. Acts 16:29-34 asks the question "what must I do to be saved?" Paul says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved", but what happens next? "...then immediately he and all his family were baptized..." Paul took them at that "late hour" and baptized them, they were baptized as part of their step toward salvation.

Enough said here, this is really basic. God requires us to be baptized, to die to our old self and come up new.

Essentials

A WORK IN PROGRESS... I will be updating this list as I am studying.

OK, so my wife and I are "testing the waters" by visting a Christian Church. Decidedly, this is not the same as looking for a different Church of Christ congregation. When looking for another congregation we can assume some basics about a congregation. Some "common ground" consistent with other Churches of Christ. The other stuff we have looked for were things that (for the most part) were "nice to have".

Looking at a different Church as made us examine this in a whole different way. We have to start from the beginning. We have made a list of the things a that are "essential" and why. This is an "exercise" that we have not had to go through before, but I believe it will be very rewarding. In this series, I will document this list.

Should be interesting...

BTW, these are in NO PARTICULAR ORDER.

Reinvention II

What do you do when you realize you are at a cross road of your life and you know which way you need to go, but it's different than what you would have done before, different than your parents, different than (many of) your friends, different than the teaching of a hundred preachers you have listened to in 10,000 sermons...

...and you finally feel peace...

...you finally feel confident and more sure about your direction than in the hundreds of cross roads before it...

What do you do?

You take the first step and grasp God's hand like a child holding on to daddy's hand while taking those first steps, like you felt when mommy was pushing you on your bike for that first time...

You hang on and take the first step, looking forward, knowing that God is holding right back. You feel his warm, strong, secure hand and you know that he knows EXACTLY where he is going and that he will not let you go the wrong way. Just like your dad, expertly moving through a crowd holding your hand, leading you through what seems to you as utter chaos to the right place. As long as you hold on to his hand.

The questions from friends and family will come later, but you already know the answers...

Reinvention...

Full Circle

So, the other day I'm in the theater and "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" is starting on the screen. The big "Star Wars" comes on the screen and the text is moving up the screen setting up the story...and I get goose bumps...

But, not necessarily for the reason that George Lucas had in mind. You see, it was then that it hit me that 29 years ago, I watched the same opening for the first time as a 13-year-old. It was amazing then and it was amazing now...because sitting next to me was my 9-year-old son and my 16-year-old son. Wow...

As the movie went on and all of these "loose ends" kept on tying themselves up in my head (like, how Leah ended up in the middle of the Rebels and how Anakin ended up in a big, black suit) I kept thinking that the movie and my Star Wars experience has come full circle. I started it alone as a very young and overwhelmed teenager and ended up a 42-year-old father of two boys. The last experience was just as cool (or more so) than the first.

Full Circle.

Suddenly, skydiving doesn't seem so scary...

I'm almost 42 years old and I have done a lot of things in my life. Over the past few years I have even pressed the percieved bounds of my own inhibitions to try some pretty cool stuff. Besides whitewater rafting (which I didn't blink an eye at), I have (seemingly) shaken my fear of flying and heights are no longer the terrifying to me and I now love rollercoasters.

Now I have another life experience to contemplate as I grow older. Another thing that as I was doing it I wonder if I was going to die.

It seemed simple enough, my son and some friends wanted to go see "Three Days Grace" in concert at the Speed Street 600 Festival in downtown Charlotte. I like their music and thought it would be fun. It was, but I had no idea...

It wasn't until we actually arrived at the stage area and we started to make our way towards the stage that the first "pangs" of wonder started to appear in my head. The kids wanted to get close to the stage while the act before Three Days Grace was playing, so we started that way. We ended up about 15 feet away from the stage...CENTER stage. I really started to wonder when my son said to me "we may not be able to stay here". Huh?

What I saw all around me for the next 2 1/2 hours was hard to believe. I knew about this stuff, but never thought I would actually see it up close. I'm honestly shocked that no one was killed or severly injured. When you "surf" the easy part is getting up and getting passed around (I didn't DO this but saw a lot of it) it's when you fall...about 7 feet straight down, usually on your head.

When the band started playing and the crowd behind us started surging (actually, shoving) their way forward I thought we would be crushed. Luckily, between me and few other big guys we held them back long enough for them to loose interest in it.

I've been to a lot of concerts, but this is REALLY loud. It was still fun, very exhilarating and a bit scary at moments. In the end I was soaked in sweat and my ears were ringing for about two days. But I was glad that I went.