Grains of Sand

Pixabay He was a novelty, a curiosity. People were tempted to keep their distance, just as they would today if they saw a scruffy man carrying a sign announcing the end of the world. At the same time, the little “bump” that insists on knowing what is going on would drive them to linger near enough to hear what he had to say. He was John the Baptist, the desert prophet and way-paver for Christ, the Messiah. His message? “ Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near ” (Matthew 3:2). And if, and when, any of his listeners were willing to repent, “ Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River ” (3:6). Public confession of sins is something we seldom see today, but it was the prerequisite for baptism—and still should be. But there was also a post-requisite that was to follow baptism. When the religious leaders came to John, he turned on them with this accusation: “ You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repe...

Google Images To prepare the way for the coming Messiah, John the Baptist, emulating the Old Testament prophets, called people to repentance. He also called them to physically demonstrate their renewed spiritual state by being baptized. It was, to the Jewish mind, a rite of purification similar to that of the priests who were to wash themselves, dress themselves in specially prepared garments and be perfectly clean before they began their priestly duties. “ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River ” (Matthew 3: 5, 6). In some traditions baptism takes place at the same time as a person accepts Christ as his or her Saviour. In other traditions, there are intensive studies and often a waiting period between the time a person becomes a believer and the time he or she publicly confesses that faith. The arguments for or against either position are many. Personally, I suspec...

“ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age ” —Matthew 28:19, 20, NIV. Recently I took a group of people through a class meant to prepare them for baptism. After explaining to the group all the standard information about baptism, I introduced them to a second presentation. This one, I warned them, was all about the reasons they shouldn’t be baptized. Perhaps that presentation might have something to do with why only half of the group moved on to the next step in the process leading up to actually being baptized. Part of me feels badly about that—but not that bad! After all, I didn’t keep anyone out of the Kingdom since being baptized doesn’t affect anyone’s salvation. What I hope I did do was to remind those in the class that baptism  is not only a public confession of the f...

This weekend our church is hosting a spring revival for youth. Already, before the main event has started, plans are afoot for a follow-up night next Friday. I was asked to "man" one of the booths that are to be set up for this second event. The primary purpose of the booths is to focus on next steps that young people are going to asked to consider during this weekend's conference. My booth is the baptism booth. If that sounds weird to you, it does to me too. Who ever heard of a "Baptism Booth" and how does one go about setting up one of them? Then I got an idea. It's not really original. In fact the thought came to me as I was reading a synopsis of The Radical Question: What is Jesus Worth to You? by David Platt. In the book, Platt tells his readers about an incident between one of his professors and the members of the class, a sort of reverse psychology that, Platt confesses, didn't work when he tried it sometime later. But I'm going to tr...

Saying goodbye always seems to prompt important messages. As heaven prepared to receive its Lord once again, Jesus delivered a message of highest priority to His followers. " Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age " —Matthew 28:19, 20. "Go" Just cross the room, as Bill Hybels would say. None of us have to go far to find someone who doesn't know and love Jesus. Plant a seed for the Saviour. "Make disciples" Discipleship needs an object, a goal, a guru, a rabbi, a master, a God. We go with a message that leads us to a source. To make disciples we need to know well our message and the One who gave it to us. What God has done in our own lives is a powerful entry point. "Baptizing" The first step of obedience comes in the form of a public conf...