Your Thoughts on Baptisim

[P_G]

Please this thread is for Baptist / Anabaptist and other adherants to Beleivers Baptisim ONLY. I do not want a debate on this from outside. Thanks!


OK having said that I want to gather up your thoughts on Baptisim. Why you feel scripturally in belivers baptisim. What your own personal experiance was, what was significant about the day and how it changed your life. Feel free to discuss how it is done in your church. Feel free to speak about it from a parents or grandparents perspective too. What did you experiance when you saw your offspring baptised.

I am gathering information for a booklet for baptism cantidates and for those who may have been baptised as infants and now feel the pull to be baptized as beleivers. So your testemony is going to be really a precious thing for a lot of people I pray.

Please feel free to make long posts.
Bless all of you in advance

Pastor George

 

[Crazy Liz]

I was baptized at age 14 in a Mennonite Brethren church. I actually had wanted to be baptized for some time, so it was very meaningful to me. Before we were baptized, we went through several months of instruction. What I remember about it most was the stories of the martyrs, including the execution order of Michael Sattler. I don't think this should be omitted from any Anabaptist's baptismal preparation. Then we had to give our testimony to the whole church. After each testimony, all the members were asked to stand if they accepted our testimony, that we were ready for baptism and that they accepted us into membership of the church. This was about a week or two before the actual baptism.

On the day we were baptized, the pastor read a charge to the candidates and a charge to the congregation, to which we responded. I don't remember the specific charge at my baptism, but I went to one recently where the charges emphasized the obligations of church members to one another, especially the obligation to give and receive counsel. I think in our time (more than 30 years now since my baptism) this kind of charge is really important. Baptism is not just an individual action. It is an action of the church as well, by which we are formally incorporated in the Body of Christ, accepting the communal obligations and privileges that go along with faith in Christ.

After we were baptized, the pastor laid his hands on each of the candidates and said the traditional Anabaptist post-baptismal benediction from scripture:

[bible]1 thessalonians 5:23-24[/bible]

Then we all received communion. It was very meaningful because this was the first time for those of us who were baptized.

My husband's baptism was similar, but by then we had a different pastor. He had been baptized as an infant in the Catholic Church. He had left the church in high school, then come to know the Lord in college. He was re-baptized when he wanted to join my church before we were married. He wasn't part of a class, and I don't think his preparation was as thorough as mine was, but he knew what he was doing and wanted to join the church. He gave his testimony and the church affirmed it and accepted him for baptism and membership like when I was baptized, but I don't remember the service including everything that was included in mine.

What I want to say about his baptism is that the pastor who baptized him seemed to take pride in having baptized a former Catholic. This pastor had been a missionary in a Catholic country for many years. I don't know if he had baptized many former Catholics in the US, but he certainly must have when he was a missionary. My husband and my family all felt a little embarrassed at the pastor's attitude toward him, as if it marked some great accomplishment or something, or as if he had been "saved" from Catholicism.

I think as a pastor preparing pre-baptismal materials for adults who were baptized as infants, this is something to be careful of. Try to avoid denigrating the church in which they were baptized as infants. Work through the person's attitude toward their infant baptism. Some will feel they have already been baptized, but want to do this as an accommodation to the church they wish to join. Others will have excessively negative attitudes toward the church where they were raised or baptized by nominally Christian parents who did not actually raise them in the faith. Each of these needs to be worked through on an individual basis. The pastor's own attitude will come through, and sometimes does not match the candidate's attitude. I think being open about these attitudes and the pastor making an effort to resolve them for himself, and not just for the candidate would be a helpful thing. For my husband and me, our pastor's attitude toward baptizing a former Catholic did not help.

 

[Ave Maria]

I've never been baptised although I would like to be baptised someday. I am unchurched at this point in time though and until I find a church that I am comfortable in, I don't really want to be baptised. I don't think that baptism is a requirement though it is a good thing to go through with. I just don't really feel that I am ready for baptism yet.

 

[Cright]

Wow PG...



This was a long hard road for me. I was born, baptized and raised Catholic. My mom read the bible to me every night for several years as a child, so I knew she must have know what she was talking about, and providing me with the right education.

My mom and dad's side of the family are all Catholic as many generations back as we possibly can figure out. I never doubted anything I was taught (except for transubstantiation) but I never was shown any reason to believe it either. Any time I asked a question about why we believe something, the answer was always: "you have to have faith!"

At one point I moved almost 1000 miles from home and was living in Florida. I quickly found a nice Catholic Church in my area and began to serve, teaching 6th grade Catechism. Soon after I started, I realized I had a hard time believing some of the things that I was teaching. Some of it (although this is a minor portion to me at the time) included teaching that good Catholic's get into heaven.. and baptized babies.. and ignorant people that don't know of the Church ect.

So when the semester was over I quit. I just knew I was a bad Catholic, a bad teacher, and a doubter. Was I going to hell? Will I ever quit doubting? My doubts had me so down, I began even doubting Christ and God all together. I started entertaining thoughts that my agnostic friends had shared with me.

...but God is good! He sent me through one of the worst trials of my life.. and pushed me down onto my knees, where I looked up and begged him for mercy. I knew I'd done wrong, and had been bad. I knew I didn't deserve anything better than the pain I was given, but I asked God for mercy. He delivered me.

I met a wonderful 'non-denomination' woman in a restaurant that asked me to sit with her. I found out she loved to serve our God. She wasn't Catholic (but since she was non-denomination I figured she was okay) but she was wonderful. She invited me to church with her, and since I didn't know anyone to go to church with I accepted being so grateful to have someone to go to church with.

I attended a church where they had a 'pastor' instead of a priest and people raised their hands toward God when they were singing in "worship" to Him. I thought they were a little weird, but I admired their openness which I thought was some sort of vulnerability. Everyone was SOOO nice, very pleasant people. I was amazed with the "show" they put on for their guests... because no one is really that genuinely close or in love with God.. Well, no one I knew anyway. It was really nice anyway.

Not long after that I moved home and I continued to talk to my friend for a few months... she would pray out loud on the phone with me.. Weirder yet. I was always thankful that she didn't ask me to pray out loud with her, because I might sound stupid or say the wrong thing. Even though I was always taught in my Catholic church that there's "no wrong way to pray". I was still used to praying out loud ONLY if I was praying a prayer everyone knew the words to "Our Father" "Hail Mary" ect... None the less, I was thankful for any prayers for me, because I knew I needed them.

I became roommates with one of my friends I'd know 1/2 my life when I moved home and her boyfriend went to a non-denominational church here. So we started going with him. More seeds were planted in me... I was starting to learn that people really did have personal relationships with the Lord. I attended that church for a year, all the while I was still Catholic. The entire time I attended there I thought that a non-denominational Church was a church for all denominations… not one that didn’t want the barriers of a church that professes one denomination, despite the name.

After that year, I didn’t realize what other people were trying to teach. It seemed we believed all the same things (except about Mary). I started feeling shallow again, because I told everyone I was a believer and started having doubts again. This time the doubts were not about God or Christ … although I still wasn’t sure why I didn’t doubt them. This time they were doubts about the church. The one I was attending AND the Catholic Church. I quit going to church and started to read the bible. Which, I failed miserably at understanding. So I gave up on it.. I figured, ‘hey! Maybe I know all that God wants me to know.’

Then almost a year after that my (now) fiancé came into my life. He was what I would call a “strong” believer in the bible and Christ. He pushed me to understand what I believe in and don’t believe in. He encouraged me to find my beliefs in the bible. I was challenged in a major way. I found many things in the bible that supported my beliefs such as: abortion is wrong, marriage is between one man and woman, Christ is the son of God, died on the cross for our sins, and resurrected and still living. I was challenged more when I realized that many of my beliefs contradicted the bible! OUCH! Mary’s assumption wasn’t in there. Jesus is the only priest in the New Testament, no babies were baptized, the church is the body of believers in Christ dieing for our sins, not a place to honor him. He warned us against traditions of man. WOW – my head was literally swimming in thought. It took me 4 months to feel like the sloshing stopped and another 2 to feel like I could slow down from warp speed to full steam ahead!

I finally started realizing I wasn’t Catholic anymore and it was very hard. I had to break it to my family who thought I was making a grave mistake. I had more hard decisions ahead.

During these months I went to a Lutheran Church, a Methodist Church, A Baptist Church and a “bible believing church” with Baptist roots. The latter I ended up getting baptized in and becoming a member of… and to do that I had to be baptized by immersion! OH NO!!! But I have already been baptized! Isn’t it ONE baptism for the forgiveness of sins? Eek! My (then boyfriend) submitted that you only need one baptism, but that the first one, since I had NO clue what was going on, was really more of a parent dedication and the word Baptism means immersion so it wasn’t really a baptism anyway. More study to do.. eek!
I studied the bible (biblegateway.com) for all passages containing the word baptism or immersion. I emailed a few pastors of different churches. I cried… and came to a conclusion. My boyfriend was right. (eek! Not again!! Haha)

So August 15, 2004 I was baptized with John by my side. In front of the entire congregation. The pastor asked the people who knew me to stand. John’s entire family was standing, along with a bunch of people from our bible study. My family didn’t (plain out refused) to attend. I cried on that day too.
I know my new birth came when I accepted Christ… but a renewal of that birth happened when I was baptized. I know the Lord was pleased with my decision. I suffered (mild as it might have been) persecution with a happy heart, because it is for our Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father.

What a small outward sign of faithfulness that He asks us to show our inward Love for Him. I’m so glad that I was able to do such a small thing that might make my Heavenly Father above smile!

In His name,

Carina

 

[W Jay Schroeder]

I've never been baptised although I would like to be baptised someday. I am unchurched at this point in time though and until I find a church that I am comfortable in, I don't really want to be baptised. I don't think that baptism is a requirement though it is a good thing to go through with. I just don't really feel that I am ready for baptism yet.

I side with this post. I was raised as a Quaker which do not teach baptism of water. But i was baptized last year. I did it to recommit my life to Christ. I dont think it is neccesary unless God tells you it is or you fill you need to do it for personal strentgh or to show you you did make this commitment or to show others you are commited so they can remind you of it.

 

[Iollain]

I was baptised about 6 years ago. We have to take a class because they don't want people to think that it is baptism that saves you. I'm not a person that likes crowd attention for any reason, it makes my head spin, but i told myself that this is not really about me, it is about God. None the less i still was feeling very giddy and silly, not about being baptised but about being in front of a crowd. Anyways the second i was under the water i had what i would call a vision from God, it was like i was dead. God told me that this is what it's going to be like when i die, some day He is going to take me out of this world just like that, in a second, and all the cares and foolishness, posessions of this world are not going to matter, all that will matter is how i lived for Christ. All this took place when i was under the water for a split second, when i came up i was not exactly the same person i was when i went down.

 

[SumTinWong]

Great story Iollain!

I was Baptized about a year and a half ago, but wanted to be baptized the minute I started to follow Jesus. Had to wait. I wanted to because Jesus did, and because it was something that the early church did. Basically I felt like it was my duty.

 

[Crazy Liz]

Only 159 days, 5 hours, 2 minutes, 2 seconds until Our Wedding Day!

Glad to see you moved up the date! We Mennonites don't like really long engagements.

 

[darkangel22]

i'm actually getting baptized this sunday. I was baptized before when I was little, but I was little. that's the point. I didn't know the true meaning before. so I decided that I wanted to be baptized again, because I know it's going to mean so much more. it's even more special because my godfather is doing it. he's associate pastor of the church.

 

[Andyman_1970]

I had the option to be baptized either in a church or in a creek - I chose a creek as it was the closet thing to how Jesus did it. I didn't realize it at the time, it was years later when I started to study the Hebrew roots of our faith when I discovered that my baptism met the qualifications of a Jewish mikvah...........which I thought was cool.........minus the rabbi of course.

 

[Imblessed]

I was raised Quaker, and quakers don't do baptism. They teach that "baptism" is of the Holy Spirit.

When I started going to the non-denominational(baptist) church I currently am a member of, it was difficult for me. I really wanted to be a member of the church, but one of the requirements is baptism. Yet, I've been a christian all my life, and was raised to believe that baptism was not essential, so what now?

I had to do some serious study and prayer. I didn't want to be baptised JUST to be a member, that would seem so false, and I know it wouldn't please God.

I studied all I could on baptism and decided that the church was teaching the correct view on baptism. It's an outward sign of an inward change. I really felt at this time in my life, that God was leading me to a level of christian maturity I have never posessed, so in reality, there was an inward change for me. Maybe not "the conversion", but the transfer of knowledge and love of God from the HEAD to the HEART. I was not the same christian I was growing up, I was actively growing and learning and applying christianity to my life.

So, when I was baptized this past summer, I looked at it as a re-dedication to my Lord and Savior, a statement that I am going to truly and without fear pursue God with all of me, not just a part of me.

The Lord helped me reconscile my personal issues before I was baptized, so I no longer felt I was getting baptized JUST to be able to join the church.

At this point, I'm not sure I could truly teach that baptism is a necessary part of christianity, but that it is a very important part. I would say to all new christians, "Go, and be baptized! It's a wonderful experience!" and to all "old" chrisitans "Make sure you understand the reasons and are comfortable with it, whatever decision you make"

 

[jcright]

I don't even know where to start! I feel a novel coming on...

I was raised in the Christian Science church. They do not believe in baptism at all. Long story as to why not, you'd have to study the cult to understand. Suffice it to say, it wasn't until after I broke away from the church that I was baptized.

In the beginning of 2001, I promised myself that I would learn the truths of the bible. At first, it was with the intent to prove CS correct, as time went on intent changed to prove that Christians were right. Before accepting Christ, I had to know that the bible could be trusted. Through my studies, I decided that the bible can be trusted which lead to my acceptance of Christ. After accepting Christ, I was encouraged by my mentor to get baptized. This lead to some more studying. After being duped for 28 years, I wanted to make certain that what I was being taught was grounded in the bible. In the long run, I believed that baptism was proper, but I still had some problems. First, I had to get over my stage fright! Getting up in front of so many people that I either don't know or barely know was not a comforting thought. Giving my testimony was even less comforting! My final decision was to wait on being baptized. My thought was that if I was going to get baptized, then it was going to be in a church that I felt I could call my second home because there would be my second family. This was important to me because I didn't want to just get baptized in front of just anyone, I wanted to be baptized before people that I knew, that I could call family. The problem then was finding my second home...I tend to be a perfectionist. Although I knew I would never find the perfect church, I also knew that there had to be one out there was closer to my "style". The church that I did most of my studies at was a little too legalistic for me. Most of the other churches that I went to were either too liberal or didn't believe in the same things that I believed in (ex: baptism for adults, not babies). It wasn't until 2.5 years later that I did get baptized. I found a church that was originally a baptist church but now sports a non-denominational name. At first, that worried me, but after listening to their explanation, it made sense as to why they made the name switch.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't particularily care for getting up in front of a group of people. The stage fright is quite over powering. It didn't help matters that the church I chose was bigger than most of the others that I had been at, including the one where I first started my studies. One of the things they ask that you do is to give your testimony. If you don't think you can give it yourself, then they ask that you write it out so that the pastor can read it for you...but they would like for you to do it. The 2.5 years was probably a better idea than I had originally thought because I didn't believe that my testimony was that important and therefore I didn't think it would reach anyone. I felt my story was quite bland and boring. It hadn't immediately occured to me that there are probably other people like me and that they would benefit from my story. Anyhow, I eventually decided that my story was worth telling, but I still had a difficult time with telling the story myself. There were, however, some comforts that helped me through the experience. For one thing, my favorite verse in the bible which reminds me that God is there with me and that he will help me through. The fact that Carina and my first mentor were right there helped a lot as well. What probably helped the most was taking off my glasses! Hard to be intimidated/nervous/scared/etc. when you can't see the crowd .

Along with my testimony, I was encouraged by Carina to tell why I was getting baptized. The Pastor already mentions why we should, but she felt I should tell why I thought we should. After I was done, I had a few people comment (positively) on my Sunday Service Didn't mean to preach, but apparently that's how it came out. I can only hope that there was someone there who needed to hear what the bible had to say about baptism.

Alrighty, I've already eluded to some of my thoughts about baptism...there are other thoughts that I would like to reveal as well. I waited until I could get baptized with people that I felt I could call familiy. This would contradict what is written in the bible where some people got baptized immediately...however, the times have changed. Although I perform an outward professional of faith for Jesus for the congregation, I also know that I'm not very likely to be killed for it...which is another reason I waited for so long. I would like to think that, if my life were on the line, then I would have chosen to be baptized immediately. Anyhow, I fully believe that the outward profession, although commanded, is not as necessary as the spiritual baptism. Acts 8:16 is a good example. The Samaritans were baptized but had not received the Holy Spirit. So, to me, the imporatant thing was to be baptized spiritually...after that, I can follow the command to do the public profession of faith. Since physical baptism doesn't save, then there are only two reason to do it: 1) We are told by Jesus to be baptized; 2) We do it for our fellow Christians so that they may know that we are now their brother/sister in Christ.

I don't have any kids, but I do have 3 nephews and a niece. I watched the oldest nephew get baptized about a year ago. Personally, I think he might have been too young at the age of 8...but who am I to say? I'm just glad that my sister and her husband are raising my "kids" in the Word of the Lord.

PG: One thing I would like to encourage, although I found greatly difficult, is for those that have decided to get baptized to tell their story and explain why they felt it is necessary to be baptized for no other reason than the fact that you never know who your words will help. Also, you should probably promote nose plugs...just in case

 

[wheredaluv]

I've wanted to start a thread like this for some time. (Sorry for the long post. This is something I've wanted to share for a long time)

I was raised in a Christian family. As in most Christian families, my parents told me about Jesus and wanted me to accept him at an early age. At the time, our church didn't have classes for children on Sunday and Wednesday nights. So I sat with my parents in the adult service. At each alter call, my dad would try to take me up front. Finally, at age 6, I accepted Jesus as my Saviour as my mom was tucking me into bed. From that moment came the issue of baptism.

Now at age 6, baptism can be a scary thing. Being up in front of people and being put under water by a 200 lb. man didn,t help matters much. Nevertheless my mom would constantly bring up the subject but I would always try to avoid it. I would change the subject or do some other thing to stray away from the topic.

As I grew up in the church I had seen many baptisms take place. A lot of my friends got baptized, along with my brother and aunt. This went on for many years. When I was in my late teens I began to see a lot of young children get dunked. I thought to myself, if these kids can do it why can't I. But by then I was very active in the church and was afraid of what people might think when they saw me step into the water.This went on for a little while when finally I felt the conviction to get baptized.

One Thursday I was sitting in school when I felt the Holy Spirit tugging at my heartabout getting baptized at the following Sunday's baptism. I tried to ignore it but, the tug got stronger and stronger. Finally i gave in and promised God that I would get baptized Sunday. I knew this is what he wanted me to do. All week long i heard Satan trying to talk me out of it, but I new I needed to go through with this. I was sooo nervous. My stomach was aching all week. Finally came Sunday. I couldn't think straight all day long. It was like i was in a trance. Finally it came time for baptism. After the evening service, all of those to be baptized went downstairs to change. I stood outside the room for the longest time trying to force my self to go in. The next thing I knew, there I was, changing into a baptismal robe. The lady handing out the robes told me she thought I was already baptized. I knew that most people would think the same.

After we were all changed, we met with the pastor to go over last minute details about what to do in the water. There were 8 people that night to be baptized. 3 young kids, 2 teenagers, an elderly woman, a 300 lb. woman and me. We then went up to the tank and waited our turn to be baptized. I waited as the other 7 went first and I went last. As I stepped into the water,
I heard a guy say "Andy" as if he was in disbelief. As the pastor took me by the hand and led me to the center of the tank, I could feel the warm water slapping up against my waist. I remember the pastor saying "There is no need to introduce this young man. We all know who he is." I then looked over at my mother who was crying tears of joy to finally see her son follow the Lord in believer,s baptism. This whole thing caught her off guard as I hadn't told her that I was going to get baptized.

After i was "introduced", the pastor asked me if I had accepted Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Saviour. After responding "Yes" he positioned me and I held my nose. "Andy, upon your profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in obedience to his command, I baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Buried with Him in death(down I went, way down, into the water) Raised with Him in resurrection. (after being drot back up) There I was soaking wet in front of my church family being applauded for my profession and obedience. I could feel the Holy Spirit come over me and knew God was smiling above. "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." Looking back, I know I made a big deal about nothing and wish I didn't put it off. But I feel that is what made it so special.

So on December 6, 1998, at age 19, I was baptized. What a wonderful feeling it was to be baptized. If you have never been baptized, I encourage you to do so without delay.

 

[Maeyken]

I was baptised in the Mennonite church, and it was done by sprinkling, not by immersion. I was 16 at the time, and just knew that I wanted to be baptised because it meant I was telling everyone I wanted to follow Jesus. We had weekly Bible Studies leading up to our baptism (on Easter Sunday), that went over the articles of the "Confession of Faith from a Mennonite Perspective". The Sunday before, we each gave a brief testimony (usually it's done the same Sunday as the baptisms, but since there was a bunch of us, and it was also Easter Sunday, they did the testimonies the week before to save time on Easter Sunday)

Looking back I sometimes wish I had been baptised by immersion, but at the same time I don't feel I need to be baptised again just cuz it wasn't immersion. I know some people would say that since it wasn't immersion it doesn't count, but the rest of the process was there, and water was involved (and our pastor was very liberal with the "sprinkling"!) Our pastor did the baptisms one at a time. When it was our turn, the pastor asked a couple questions (can't remember exactly what they were, but it was basically "do you agree with what we believe") then we kneeled down, and the pastor baptised us with 3 scoops of water (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Then he "extended the right hand of fellowship" to us, and welcomed us into the church. Then the congregation read a covenant: (I really like it!)
As we now receive you into the fellowship of the church, we make this covenant with you, as we renew our covenant with God:
to bear each others burdens,
to assist in times of need,
to share our gifts and possessions,
to forgive as Christ has forgiven us,
to support each other in joy and sorrow,
and in all things to work for the common good,
thus making known Christ's presence among us to the glory of God.
As we unite with each other now, may we all be joined with Christ, our Lord.

We also received a certificate of baptism, and became official members of the congregation.

 

[GreenEyedLady]

OK having said that I want to gather up your thoughts on Baptisim. Why you feel scripturally in belivers baptisim. What your own personal experiance was, what was significant about the day and how it changed your life. Feel free to discuss how it is done in your church. Feel free to speak about it from a parents or grandparents perspective too. What did you experiance when you saw your offspring baptised.

I am gathering information for a booklet for baptism cantidates and for those who may have been baptised as infants and now feel the pull to be baptized as beleivers. So your testemony is going to be really a precious thing for a lot of people I pray.

I was baptized as an infant in the RCC church. At the age of 18 I began to ask questions about the church. The more I asked the more I read the bible and the more it did not make sense to me. I left the church after getting married in the RCC when I was 22 years old. I was born again at that time but was never baptized. I prayed long and hard that God would send someone to lead us to a church HE wanted us in. One day in Germany a knock on the door from a soul winning baptist was God's call. I was baptized because I wanted to be obedient to God's calling not because I wanted to be apart of a church. The bible says, repent and be baptized. I followed this command. As my little girl was born my strong Catholic family tried everything to get me to baptize her as an infant. I told them, that if God would take her, He would not take her just to send her to hell! My own father threatened me that we would not be able to come into his home without her being baptized. I knew that once he caught a glimpse of her cute little face, that would not be an issue. I told my parents that I was going to raise her up in God's Word, not in the churches word. So I never had her baptized because I knew there was no scriptural evidence for it and that my daughter should be fully convinced in her own mind to make that decision.
I had twins 5 years later and did not get them baptized either. When I lost my sweet baby girl Cheyenne Rose 18 days after her first birthday my life came to a screatching hault. Never once did I ever think that she is in hell because she was not baptised. God took her to glorify Him, to use her death as a testimony to others and to mould our family into what he wanted us to be. After the death of my twin daughter my oldest daughter became aware of salvation and sin. She begged me to get saved. I was sore afraid to allow her to because I thought that at age 6 1/2 she might not understand all of what she was wanting to do. She kept on begging me and when she told me she did not want to go to hell, I knew she knew. She was saved by walking the isle by herself and then baptized 2 weeks later. Both desisions were made by her and she walked the isle by herself. That was the most important thing for me.
GEL

 

[ZiSunka]

I was baptized as an infant, but of course I don't remember it. I was only 22 days old and I my first memory is from when I was about 6 to 8 months old.

I was rebaptized, a Believer's baptism, in 2000 in the Stillwater River near Dayton, Ohio. My neighbor, also a Believer, dunked me. It was a cold, cold day! But I wanted it to be done then because I knew she was leaving the country and wouldn't be back until it was much too cold for an outdoor baptism. I chose to be baptized in a public park because I believe baptism should be a public declaration of faith.

I was a Believer for 12 years before I was finally baptized.

I had wanted to be baptized for all 12 years but I kept running into people who said my infant baptism was enough and I didn't need to do it again. Or that baptism is not essential to the faith, so why bother. Or that baptism is a private matter between me and God so it was essentially a shower, so just go home and take a shower and that would be my baptism. Or that it shouldn't be done in a public park because that is immodest.

I don't know why, but my spiritual life changed after the baptism. God started working on things that only frustrated me before. It's like I was marking time for 12 years and didn't get to start running the race until I was obedient to his command to be baptized. He has given me my ministry, my purpose since then. He made it possible for me to carry out that ministry. He has shown me that everything, even the bad things, are worked out according to His purpose for me, one of The Called, someone who loves Him. They don't usually work out for my selfish reasons like I would like them to be, but for His higher purposes, and that always turns out better than what I would have settled for.

 

[PSETranslator2]

I think you should not be baptised as a child but as a person who knows God and has accepted him in his or her's heart. I think you should only be baptised once