Day After The Fourth....The Fifth.

What an incredible 4th of July we had.
Ten men were baptized yesterday morning in the creek at Rapha.
Ten men celebrated their spiritual independence yesterday.
As we were standing in the creek preparing to baptize the first man, a snow white heron came flying down the creek and flew directly over our heads. I commented to everyone, "I guess that was the Rapha version of a white dove, a symbol of the Holy Spirit."

It is always a thrill for me to climb down the bank to that creek.
Wade out to the middle and prepare to receive each man.
As they come, they do so with many different stories from their past, not all of the them good.
But on this day, they are taking the steps to begin a new life in Christ.
One by one they made their way down into the water, and one by one we baptized each man.
Coming up out of the water, some shouted with joy, others were simply overcome by the experience.
It was a God moment.

After the baptism was over, Wayne Wimpee, Barry Hooks and I stood there in creek praying for one another. Wayne and Barry are our two elders for the church@Rapha. They had assisted me in hundreds of baptisms over the past 13 years. As I said before, we never tire of taking part in this ordinance that Jesus gave to the church.

Sunday night was another great time I got to take part in. I spoke at Celebrate Recovery North Glencoe Baptist Church. When it came time for ministry and prayer, people began to come to the front.....some to be saved...some to confess...some in need of pray and a touch from God...
Blessings on Seth Barber and everyone involved with this Celebrate Recovery.
Here it is Tuesday, the 5th, and we have to move on.
We can bask in the glow of the weekend and the holiday or we can turn our attention back to the call of Christ on our lives.
What call?
To be the person God created us to be.
To deal with our character defects, asking God to remove them and replace them with the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
To tell our story to those who haven't heard it yet.
To be salt and light in a world that has rejected Jesus.

Romans 6:4
Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised up from the day by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Instead of concentrating on "doing" for Jesus today, concentrate on "being".
If you are "BECOMING" the person Jesus created you to be, the you will be "DOING" what he has called you to do like it was second nature.

God on you.....
mb