One of the joys of being in ministry and in particular in missional ministry in a 4 year old church plant like we are - is baptisms. Yesterday I was part of 7 more baptisms in our new nifty portable baptism tank that we recently got. The church building we are meeting in didn't have a baptismal so we got the portable one that we can set up. You can see it in these photos that Liz and the photo team took of how we are setting it up in the room we are in. 
But what is the joy for me is meeting with those I am baptizing in advance and hearing their stories, how God has been working in their life, how different people were used in by God in their lives, how the church has been a part of their story etc. It seriously is one of the things that keeps me going when I can feel blue or not wanting to be in church leadership. I think they were all in their 20's, one might have been in their 30's that was baptized this time. We also always ask the person we are baptizing who they would like to do it and if there are people in their life that they want to do it, so it isn't just the "pastors" so to speak, who are doing this. So on some of them we have other people in the baptismal tank.
The stories were amazing from one person being involved in universalism and then recognizing that Jesus is the way and Savior. Someone who was almost giving up on church in general and then recently got re-energized about her faith and committed to Jesus. Someone who had a series of crazy stories from gangs, violence and all types of things as part of his story. I haven't asked permission to share his name on this blog, so I won't go into specifics but he is a big guy as in strong and someone that probably could clobber you and knock you silly if he wanted to. Yet as he shared from the baptismal that he used to have "ego" and everything was wrapped around him - and he was saying how now Jesus is the one he serves and how his own ego and self is not the center of his life anymore.
But as I was standing next to him and listening to him share some of his story, I kept thinking how crazy wonderful it is to see baptisms. Because if you think about it, what it means for someone to desire be taking following Jesus so seriously that we actually get in a tank of water (or wherever people do it) usually in front of a lot of people and get dunked entirely in water like this in this ancient ritual and sacrament. To me it shows how God works in people's lives and how this even symbolizes not only the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and our new identity in Him, but it shows humility and submission. Or why would people ever do this rather odd thing? I don't know if it sounds odd of me saying baptism is odd, but as I was standing next to each of the 7 people I was realizing how beautifully odd and wondrous baptism is.
I was teaching too yesterday, so after the baptisms I had to dash up to my office and change back into dry clothes and get back down. And in the evening gathering as I went up after the baptisms, I saw that several of the one girls friends went up to see her as she was changing in the rest room up there. As I was opening my office door, down the hallway they were going in the room she was changing in and all I could hear was cheers and laughter and joy coming from where they were. As they were so excited to see their friend baptized.
Well... I am sitting in the coffee house right now and we have a Leadership Council meeting tonight and I shall drive back to the church building now. But baptisms are definitely a wonderful, wonderful joy.
