My baptism

[traveller]

I don't know whether to put this here or in praises or in discussion or in fellowship hall or in prayer requests.

Those of you that know me, hopefully, will understand this. If you have read my testimony, you will remember that I have no recollection of my baptism from when I was a child. None. And I have always regretted that. I think it is the second most important thing in our life. Accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior being the first. Anyway, lately, and for a long time, I've been in serious prayer about it. It had been on my heart a lot. To make a long story short, I happened upon this:

Act 8:36 And as they went on [their] way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, [here is] water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

Act 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Act 8:38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

It was one of those scriptures that was illuminated inside me. So, I was RE baptised on June 29th, at 6:00 p.m. WooHoo! Some of you may try to bust my bubble, but I don't care! I loved it! Please, know that I did not do it for any reason other than to know in my heart that I made a public declaration because I choose Jesus and that I love Him. See, I don't know what was in my heart when I was a child. I don't remember. I am told of my love for him, but I don't remember myself. It was important to me to do this knowing what is in my heart now.

I have to tell you that it was a glorious experience! There was a young man there with me. He was 14 and a senior in high school. For years he thought he HAD been baptised when he had not. His mother said that he must have had a very vivid dream tht he had, because it took her a couple of days to convince him that he had never done it. As soon as he truly realized it, he made plans to have it done. So there we were, him, with false memories of being baptised, and me, having been baptised but having no memories!!!

Stay turned for part two - - I'm running late for a lunch date!

[IslandRose]

Amen and Praise the Lord!

Though I don't agree with those who seem to get baptized everytime an opportunity arises to get back into the pool, I totally understand your desire to make a public testimony of your faith since you have no memory of having done it before.

Wish I could have been there! But when we are all rejoicing around the throne, I know we'll keep sharing these stories.

IR :il:

[Ovedya]

Congrats, Trav!!!!

I was baptised twice too!

[Bill]

I know folks that have been baptized a second time, whether it's because they don't recall, have felt like they've fallen away from the Lord and want to make a public declaration of a "reaffirmation", or so forth. I see nothing that makes it unscriptural. Those who are at the pool every time it's available, I'm not in agreement with, but in your case, Trav, there's absolutely nothing wrong with making that public testimony.

I have a baptismal certificate from 1970-something, yet I do not recall the event or what happened, etc. I recently sat in on the baptism of 2 kids that will be in my wedding this fall, and wondered...with all that I had been thru, especially my 8 or so years from '83-'91 where I was so far away from the Lord, etc., I pondered if maybe I should have done likewise as you did, Trav and been rebaptized. Guess I need to pray about it some more and the next time the opportunity arises in my church, perhaps pursue it.

[Ovedya]

I say go for it, Bill! Take the plunge!

Like you wrote, there is nothing unscriptural about being baptised a second, or even a third time, over the course of your life. Baptism is a declaration to the enemy and to the world that you are separated unto Christ. Jumping into the pool everytime you feel the fancy seems too shallow (not the pool, but the declaration), but I see no harm in reminding the powers and principalities that, "I AM THE LORD'S!"

[Ovedya]

An additional thought: The children of Israel were baptised twice.

[traveller]

WOW thanks guys! My feelings exactly! And Bill, it's worth it!! It's a beautiful thing. Pray about it and if you feel led to do it, don't put it off. Just do it.

Okay, on with the story. LOL! I've been going to that church for 10 years. Needless to say, I got a lot of "looks." Some like this some like this and some like this ! My face was like this Keep in mind, these people do not know anything about my past. It's never been brought up. They only know me for the past 10 years.

Anyway, I was soooooo excited about it that I wasn't able to sleep very well that night. I tossed and turned and cat napped. I woke up in the middle of the dark and laid there thinking about the whole baptism event. And you know what? I remembered. I remembered not my original baptism, but I remembered walking down the aisle to accept Jesus as my Savior. I remember my brother went at the same time and I remember reaching for his hand. I also remember a day or so later meeting with the pastor and he asked me why I wanted to be baptised and I said "because I am a Christian." I still do not remember the original baptism, but the LORD restored my memory of accepting Jesus!!! Praise God!! If ever the enemy wants to say anything to me about being baptised again, I can tell him that MY FATHER reclaimed my stolen memory the same exact day!!!

Okay - -I have to go re-group - - stay tuned for part three

[IslandRose]

IR :il:

[Bill]

Something about all this stuff that Trav's putting up is reminding me of the fact that there's a joyful element to our salvation...that it's not a burden to us or conforming ourselves to a set of enslaving rules and regulations (this is different than the idea of Romans 12:1-2 and 2 Cor 5:17 about renewing the mind and being a new creation in Christ). Something too about the joy of the Lord being our strength.

You go, sis LOL!

[traveller]

Baptism is a declaration to the enemy and to the world that you are separated unto Christ.

Which brings me to this part of the story. I guess I got the enemy's attention. Since the baptism, I have been slammed!! LOL! You name it, it has happened. I'm not going to tell any details here, but I need prayers family. I know exactly what is going on, and I know that my Lord will not leave me. However, I would like it if you guys would think of me and mine in your prayers.

So, even knowing that the enemy attacks afterwards, I would do it all over again! Reading what Bill just wrote is soo true. Sometimes we get so busy in our daily lives, and so caught up in this and that, that we forget the joy of our first love.

AND, being blatantly attacked by the enemy is just the proof in the pudding. LOL!! He tries to hurt me by attacking me and what he accomplishes is verifing the fact that a public declaration of faith is a powerful beautiful thing for the body of Christ, and detrimental to the enemy. Otherwise he wouldn't bother. So, my circumstances are dire, but my spirit is soaring!

What a hoot!!