Jesus is my Lord and I am not ashamed!

I was baptized today. Yes. I was baptized today, August 23, 2009 (on my friend Peter's birthday - Happy Birthday man!). I have wrestled with this decision for 13 years, and finally came to a point of surrender. Here is my story.

I made a profession of faith when I was 12 in 1985 and was baptized. Between 1985 and 1996, I am not sure if I was actually saved or not. There were times when I could look back and see fruit, but there were some very dark and sinful times too. In college, most of the time I was living a sinful life with very little to no fruit. In November 1996, I know I was saved. I finally came to a point of desperation and despair and crying out to Christ to be saved, I completely surrendered to Him. I’ve no doubt that from that moment on Jesus has been and is my Lord and Savior. Since that time, Christ has continually changed me, making me more like Him, freeing me from sin, teaching me His ways and His Word, and using me for His Kingdom and His glory. The fruit, since that time, is plentiful and a confirmation of His saving grace.

The problem is I was never baptized after being saved in 1996. Like I said, I have wrestled with this for 13 years. Of course I understand that baptism has no saving power in itself, and I am already saved by grace through Christ Jesus. But, I can't get past the fact that I have been disobedient. I think to deal with that, I convinced myself that I was saved in 1985 and there was no need for me to get baptized again. Still, every time the subject came up, I would feel uncomfortable.

Three weeks ago, our pastor preached on baptism. I listened intently to John's sermon wanting to come to a conclusion once and for all on this issue. But I actually hardened my heart, because afterwards, I felt confident that I did not need to get baptized and even told Melissa so. Still, one thing John said kept gnawing at me all week; the thought that baptism is the first act of obedience of a believer and mine might be out of order. It all hinged on when I became a Christian.

The Spirit revealed several things to me in the ensuing week. The biggest revelation is that I am not sure I was saved in 1985. I could not say with certainty one way or the other. Then I became okay with that. I became okay with not knowing. Once that happened, I knew what I had to do. I had to be baptized.

The following Sunday morning, I felt the Lord say to me that I needed to stop being disobedient and to stop being prideful and quit worrying about what people might think and submit to Him. So, I submitted – saying to Him that whatever He would have me do, I'll do. Of course, the pressure to not be baptized is ever present. After all, how can a deacon, a Sunday school teacher, GROW teacher, SALT student, praise team member, choir member and decision counselor have his baptism out of order? And what would my family (both sides) say or think. What would all the people I've taught over the years think? Christ told me to stop worrying about those things. The only important thing is that I obey Him, faithfully, no matter the circumstances or worldly accolades we may obtain or what others may think. Turns out, by they way, that every family member was supportive of this decision - answer to prayer.

John also said that the longer you wait to take the first step of obedience, the longer it is before He gives you the next step. While, I definitely see Christ's leading and blessing in my life, I cannot help but wonder if He has something for me to do that I am missing out on, simply because I have not been obedient in this very first step. So, I resolved to stop analyzing it all and just obey. That is difficult for an analytical engineer/attorney to do.

To sum up, I could not say for sure if I was saved in 1985 and that is okay. The fact that I grew so uneasy every time the subject of baptism came up leads me to believe, now, that I probably was not. Nevertheless, if I was saved at 12 years old then I am being baptized a second time - no big deal. But if I wasn't, then I have never been baptized as a believer and I needed to be baptized immediately.

It feels good to put pride aside and trust and obey Him. I feel a burden lifted. I feel joy and peace. I feel excitement to see what God has in store for me next. I also feel humbled to be a part of what God is doing. For I am just 1 of 107 today, and 1 of millions who have gone before me and will come after me all proclaiming that Jesus is Lord and Savior and we are not ashamed!
God is not only moving in my life this way but in the lives of many. Only 85 of th 107 were originally slated to be batized today. Another 22 people realized that their baptism was out of order too and came forward. What an amazing day! The entire service was nothing but baptisms. Awesome! There were more too. In the weeks leading up to this, we have already had dozens come forward to be baptized with similar stories to my own. The alter was flooded with people in prayer and making decisions today. Amazing! Jesus is Lord! He alone is Savior! To God be all glory, honor & praise!

Jason

Aggie

It's July 4th. We celebrate the birth of our nation, our freedom, our sovereignty, our Creator. We are mindful of the brave ones, who gave life and limb so that we can watch the night sky light up in brilliant, beautiful explosions under a blanket of peace of tranquility. Usually, I ponder what our Founding Fathers must think about our current state, but today, I am thinking about Aggie. Aggie, my sweet little red Cocker Spaniel. She died last night, while we were away on vacation. Our dear friends found her and notified us this morning. She was only 8 1/2. Of course, we did not expect it and we are still in shock.

Aggie and Sully were the first dogs I ever bought. I bought them for Melissa's birthday in our first year of marriage and I have been spending my money on them ever since. At six weeks old they were all ears and feet and I could fit each one in my hand. They were the absolute cutest things you've ever seen. I remember how my young beautiful bride was completely unprepared for them as they bounced around our new apartment, exploring and staining their new home.

If you knew Aggie, then you knew she was an insecure dog. I think she was weened too early. I remember how Aggie would whimper all the way to the mail box or anywhere we would walk. She would stick by Sully's side and never leave him - not for his sake mind you, for her own. You could make her pee, just by talking in a high voice. But what an athlete she was. She was fast and agile. She would run circles around other dogs to catch bugs, bubbles, balls, or whatever. She was amazing.

She taught me that sometimes people don't know what they are talking about. As she barked incessantly into the night, the advice of friends would come to mind. Just ignore it. If you don't acknowledge it she will stop. Have you ever had the battery on your fire alarm die? You konw that annoying "chirp" . . . "chirp". Yeah. That's the sound! After an hour, you start to doubt that advice, after six hours, you just want to wring the dog's and your friends' necks. :) But then she looks at you with those pleading cocker spaniel eyes - the I just want you to hold me eyes. The next day we bought a very loud fan and to this day our dogs sleep with the fan on in their "room" so that we can't hear them!

When she was just a couple of months old, we discovered the laser pointer. Of course, many pet owners use the laser pointer, but not many pets continue to chase the laser pointer 1/2 hour after the laser pointer has been put away! I blame myself for that one. I used to put red hots on the floor and shine the laser poiner on it. So, when Aggie or Sully would catch it, there was actually something there! She loved that thing.

She loved to run. One time, as she was running in circles around the room, which young Cockers do for no reason at all. All of a sudden, she ran right into a wicker footstool and got her entire head stuck! We actually had to cut the wicker stool to get her out. My distraught wife watching intently as I performed delicate surgery on the furniture trying to avoid slicing the precious puppy. No pressure!

She loved to catch bubbles. We played with bubbles outside tonight as we waited for the fireworks to start. It just wasn't the same. Even Jasmine and Austin could tell something wasn't quite right. There was no red blurr of fur chasing each bubble down before it could touch the ground. Sully was either too depressed, too hot, or without Aggie to spur him on, was just not interested. The backyard was noticeably less crowded tonight. There was a hole where Aggie used to be.

One of the hardest things is dealing with Jasmine's questions. She wants to know where Aggie is. So we told her she was with Jesus now and we wouldn't be able to see her anymore. "Why? Why is she going to live with Jesus? Why can't I see her now?" She asked. She cried, I think because Mommy and Daddy were crying, but she is sad and said she misses Aggie. She said, "It's okay, Aggie will come back tomorrow." Later she asked me, "Where is Jesus?" So, I told her. He is in Heaven. That was it for day 1. I'm sure more questions to come.

I have no regrets with Aggie. Oh sure, there is the usual thought of I wish I paid her some more attention the other day when she needed it, or I wish I still played with the laser pointer with her as much as we used to, but all-in-all, I enjoyed my time with Aggie. She brought joy to all our lives. She was a good dog and we loved her.

What I'll miss most, is the way she used to gently paw her way up onto my lap with her front paws, still standing on her hind legs. I would rub her head and ears. Then she'd turn around in my arms ready to face the world with her Daddy behind her. In that moment, all her insecurities were gone, she was a brave little puppy and she was mine. I will miss her greatly.

Purpose: To Reveal God's Word in Our Time

In this blogging age, I thought I'd try my hand at it. Those that know me, however, know that I don't do anything without purpose.

My primary purpose is to reveal God's Word. I desire to demonstrate that His Word is relevant and personal to not only my life, but all of our lives today. God's Word is sufficient for guiding us in all our ways, our thinking, our feelings and our spirituality. His Word is all one needs to come to correct decisions on family values, economics, government, warfare, welfare, health, religion, sexuality, children, and any other topic. I hope to achieve the end result, that at least one person who follows this blog will see the reality of Jesus Christ and accept Him as Lord and Savior. I also hope to encourage my fellow believers to constantly seek out God's guidance through His Word.

Secondly, my purpose is to share my thoughts about the major issues of our times. I am motivated by the fact that there are too many people in our present age who are ignorant about Christ, the U.S. Constitution, Capitalism, Federalism and Role of Government, Family Values, Rights, Property, and Wealth. There are too many ignorant and uninformed and they are dangerously voting their self-centerdness, which ultimately elected our current President and Democrat controlled Congress. Together, they are enacting all kinds of atrocities on our American and Christian way of life. So, many are even unaware that like sheep to the slaughter they are being sheared of their natural rights and freedom. Worse, they are mortgaging the rights and freedoms of our children, all the while applauding the very ones holding the shears. So, I decided to blog about our current issues as well as the principles and beliefs of our founding fathers, the reasonable propositions of the Christian faith, the necessity and goodness of a free market economy, the necessity of checks and balances in our government and federalism, and more.