Season Greetings

It's that time of the year again.
I've always loved Christmas time. As a Christian, Christmas is one of the most significant celebrations in all of human history, matched perhaps only by Easter. It is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus
Christ, the man we outrageously claim to be the Son of God; who came to earth to die for our sins so that we can be reconciled to God again.

Anyway, this years Christmas will be a particularly meaningful one for me. I'm getting baptized on Christmas day.

For those of you who don't know what that means, it's basically when a christian is dunked into water in the presence of the entire church. When he does this, magical properties in the blessed water will
transform you into a Mother Theresa like saint and you're officially allowed to rebuke people and exorcise demons. It also means that you're allowed to take a nibble at the last supper a.k.a 'super bread' that all Christians know make you float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

But jokes aside..

Baptism IS a big deal, but not in the way I talk about above. There's nothing magical about the water nor the ceremony... And there's nothing magical about the communion bread that's taken either. Baptism is merely an outward sign of what Christians believe should have already be present within - and that's the presence of God and its transforming effects on our lives. Baptism doesn't 'make' you a Christian. Baptism isn't your passport to heaven and baptism doesn't make you any better than other unbaptised people.

Rather, baptism is YOUR outward act of profession to others that you are now a follower of Christ and submit to his will. It's about you 'dying to self' aka stop living like you're the king of your own life and being 'born into christ' aka acknowledging that you actually have a Big Boss upstairs you need to love and obey with all your heart.

There was a testimony I had to give to the pastor before we could proceed... And I gave a rather emotional one...which I will not repeat now. Suffice to say that for me personally in my own walk with God, this baptism will mean a lot to me....

God has a funny way of making things work out, not in the way we want, but the way he knows is best. And that has been true for me for the past ten years of my life. If you aren't a Christian, or you don't believe in God, or you think you're doing pretty well and don't really need God to start butting
into your affairs, I urge you to start exploring. Because whether you realize it or not, the love of God is already inside and all around each and every one of us.... You just need to know how to see it.

God bless you my friend...