Sunday, June 10, 2007

A full day.

Well, like I said earlier, it was a good morning.

The Baby Dedication with little Olivia mewing as she slept and I gently dabbed some oil on her forehead and prayed over her, to Hillary's watery baptism.

Throw into that mix a couple of my sisters and my mom came up, and Dad was conspicuous by his absence.  He would have been pleased with the day too.

But the best part of the day?

Was just how much God was in the house.

I mean of course he's there every week, but there are days when the connection between heaven and earth is just thinner and it's easy to find him.

Today was such a day, and he was pleased.

So, a couple of pictures taken from video captures. That explains the quality.

(Click to enlarge.)



Marc, Dixie, and Olivia



Hillary telling her story



Answering some questions.



Kneeling for prayer.





Prayer of Anointing.



The Baptism.







Taking her place in a long long line of witnesses down through history who have indicated their inner decision to follow Christ, with the outward sign of Baptism.

A good day.

10 comments:

  1. Quick question then - do you not baptise by immersion?

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  2. Morning Toni,

    Yep, we do baptise by immersion.
    And we baptise by pouring.

    That decision is made in the process of meeting with the candidate and talking to them about what Baptism is about, and hearing their hearts.

    I'd say most of the baptisms I've done have been immersions, but lately the pouring/anointing mode has been increasing.

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  3. Curious. Why would someone choose pouring?

    Thanks Randall.

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  4. For some people they have a family history which they would like to honour and usually those would be immersed. For some it's mobility related or health concerns. But for all who would choose pouring they would not see more "value" to the immersed baptism. In other words, it wouldn't make any difference to them.

    In this case it turned out to be more important that the larger church would be able to participate in the celebration, rather than have only a few make the trip up to the lake to participate.

    It was, "An outer indication of an inner decision" She shared in her story. And she wanted the church to be witnesses to her public declaration of a change of heart and spirit.


    Both have been a part of my history, and theological education. So I'm good with it. I too would see baptism as an act of obedience, and a public indication of a changed heart.

    I have always been moved and impressed with the solemnity of the pouring method. And I love the aspect of anointing that flows from that model.

    For what it's worth anyway.

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  5. I was taught that immersion was the only proper (Biblical?) way to baptize. I was never told exactly why this was the case---as I recall, the Gospels don't say that John was dunking people in the Jordan, just that he was baptising them. Anyway, I don't mean to start a debate here.

    I was quite moved by the whole thing. A immersion baptism is quite something when done in a lake or river, but in modern churches I find it somewhat, I don't know, sterile (for lack of a better word), especially when it involves putting on white clothes. Often the tank is on a raised platform and the baptizee is always obscured from the congregation.

    With Hillary's pouring, I found it quite moving to see her kneel there, unobscured and humble, in front of God and the congregation. It was quite refreshing, really.

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  6. It was a good morning. It was especially good to hear Hillary's clear statement of her decision to follow Jesus.

    Re dunking, pouring, sprinkling, etc. I really don't think God cares alot. I've heard it said that the Holy Land had very few places with water deep enough for full immersion.

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  7. Don't worry. I regretted asking the question as soon as I hit 'enter'.

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  8. that steve reid guy looks so hot.

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  9. You may have been in the trees too long AngMark Jolie...


    But yeah, he is hot.


    :)

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