February 1969 was just like any February in my life up to now, at least that is what I thought. I was a freshman in high school and I found myself on a Young Life retreat at a Salvation Army Youth camp in southern Ohio. I had been attending Young Life, a Christian youth outreach that met weekly, since school started in September 1968. Also, I went every Thursday morning to Teen Breakfast Club, a youth outreach ministry of College Hill Presbyterian Church. I can still remember the Assistant Pastor, Dr. R C Sproul speaking many times. That church was also big into Young Life and helped sponsor clubs in high schools all over the Cincinnati area. Growth in Young Life groups mushroomed. We did not know it at the time but we were part of the Jesus Revolution and we were all Jesus People!
Well, that February in 1969 I became a Christian and to say the least it changed the whole trajectory of my life. I became very involved in Christian music and felt God calling me to ministry. One of my best friends and I paired up to create a guitar-playing singing duet called Bob and Doug. I know the name was lame but it worked for Simon and Garfunkle.
One of the things that were popular in the late sixties and early seventies was coffee houses, especially Christian coffee houses for us Jesus People. Most of the time the focus was live music, food, coffee, and Bible studies. Such good memories of The Back Door sponsored by College Hill Presbyterian Church, Friendship House sponsored by Wyoming United Methodist Church, and The Jesus House (not sure about the name of the church or the actual name of the Coffee house, my little gray cells are fewer in number so we will for now just call it “The House”).
One Saturday night at The House, Bob and I had just finished our last set of music. It was getting close for The House to close up. I was chatting with one of the pastors of the church that sponsored The House and was telling him that I had been Baptized as an infant but really wished I could be baptized again by immersion now that I had actually become a Christian. He said “ I will baptize you if you want. I have heard you sing several times and give your testimony. I am confident that you are a Christ follower, and besides the baptistery is full of warm water for a Baptism tomorrow. We always keep it ready for baptisms anytime.”
The next thing I know I am standing in warm water in my clothes. The pastor asked me to give my testimony to everybody. I turned to look out towards what I thought would be an empty auditorium to find that it was packed with people from The House. The next thing I know the pastor is baptizing me. When I came up from being under the water, all I could hear was loud clapping and cheering. I climbed out of the baptistery to a warm dry towel being held by the pastor’s wife.
The pastor then asked, “Does anyone else want to be baptized?” Three hands shot up in the air. By the time we were done over a dozen people were baptized. I was getting ready to leave the church and this guy came over to me and handed me a beautiful shiny steel cross on a necklace chain. “Hey brother, welcome to the family.” The cool thing is they welcomed me to be baptized and I didn’t even attend the church. They were simply family. That is the way it was during the Jesus Revolution..I never was in the church again. Someday in heaven when all my little gray cells are healthy again perhaps I will remember the pastor’s name and once again thank him.
Let me clarify a couple of things. I do not believe that if you become a Christian and you’re baptized as an infant you should get baptized again. That was my choice that I did. Nor do I believe you have to be Baptized by immersion. Please be clear you are not saved by Baptism. You are saved by faith not by works. Baptism is something that you do, it is a “work”. You are not saved by “works”.
No comments:
Post a Comment