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October 11, 2004
My Christian Testimony and Baptism
I was baptized and become a member at Kossuth Street Baptist Church Sunday, October 3. As part of that, Pastor Whipple had me write up a testimony and share parts of it before I was baptized. Since part of baptism is a public acknowledgement of my faith, I thought it made sense to also post it here on my personal blog. If anyone has any questions just email me.
Overall, I would describe my testimony and walk with Christ as slow and steady growth. There have definitely been times of difficulty but I can look back now and see how the Lord has protected me or used those times to teach me certain lessons.
I was raised in a Christian home and God provided a lot of good examples for me growing up. As a child, I enjoyed going to church but it was mostly because I enjoyed playing with my church friends. When I was in third grade, I received a Bible from my church. I remember reading it some and a few years later I understood that Jesus' death had paid the price for my sins. Without him, I wouldn't be allowed into heaven. There was more to being a Christian than just going to church, there was a purpose behind it all. Soon after that I asked to be baptized. I grew up in a United Methodist Church, but I asked to be baptized by my grandfather, a pastor in the Missionary church.
After my baptism, I remember reading my Bible more but I read it in the same way that I would read my social studies textbook. Some of the stories were interesting, some of it made sense, and some of it didn't. When I was in 8th grade I attended a youth rally. After listening to the speakers and talking with my youth pastor, I realized that Christ wanted to have a personal relationship with me. There was so much more to being a Christian than just learning some stories. After the youth rally, there was a big change in my life. I really began to seek after God, wanting to learn more, wanting to be more involved in this growing relationship I had with Him.
One of the more confusing times in my life was half way through my freshman year at Purdue. I was at a different school than Jessica, I was in a world that was totally different than the small town I grew up in, and for the first time in my life I not only wasn't one of the smartest students, I was on the verge of failing a couple classes. I was really confused why God had led me to Purdue. Then I realized that I hadn't truly consulted God when I made the decision to come to Purdue. From that point on, my life changed and prayer become a priority. Something that was to be done at all times, not just during times of trial. For the first time in my life, I turned my entire life over to God.
Deciding to be baptized and become a member of Kossuth has been another very confusing time. This time the confusion hasn't been because of me disobeying God but I really felt God placing specific obstacles in my path. Jessica and I have attended Kossuth for quite some time; first attending services, then becoming involved in an ABF, and finally in a small group. We both felt God calling us to become more involved in the church and to do that we really should become members. As I described previously, I feel I had a believer's baptism but it was by sprinkling and not immersion. As I also mentioned previously, I was baptized by my grandfather. Not only was I worried that being baptized again might offend my Grandpa, I was concerned it would be wrong by God's standards. If baptism is a symbol of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, I shouldn't need to be baptized twice. Christ's one death on the cross was sufficient for everyone's sins and so is one baptism. Also, my Grandpa was a pastor in a Mormon area of the country and had told me stories of people being baptized dozens of times in place of their unbelieving family members. Those stories threw up all sorts of flags to me when I realized I would need to be baptized again. Pastor Scott guided me to scripture that helped to answer my questions about the purpose, meaning, and mode of baptism. God also put me in a small group with Brandon Paschal. Brandon and I had been accountability partners for a few months and one week I shared with him what I had been learning. He said he had also been baptized by sprinkling and gone through some of the same issues. Overall, this experience has been really neat to see how God has taken me from a place where he was leading me in two seemingly opposite directions (join Kossuth but don't accept immersion without further study) but has provided the resources I needed just when I needed them.
I now believe that there is no place in the Bible that strictly mandates how a baptism must be performed, but that baptism by immersion is the much clearer and more explicit mode. Baptism by sprinkling symbolizes the cleansing of Christ's blood, but baptism by immersion symbolizes the cleansing and also the death, burial, and resurrection more fully. Not being baptized would not prevent my salvation, but is being done as a public act of obedience to God and to this local church.
As my relationship with God has grown over the years he has continued to reveal different facets of himself. God is creator of all things, God is a friend that desires a personal relationship, God is a dependable father, and God has a plan for me. I can't say exactly at what point I was saved or when I became a Christian. At every milestone, my previous faith has seemed so inadequate. I pray that there are many more milestones in my life and that my current faith seems equally inadequate.
Posted by mikel at October 11, 2004 06:35 PM
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