baptism

Yesterday our Paul was baptized in Lake Crescent, like his brother and Dad before him. We'd waited a year or so to make sure he really understood what it meant since he just turned 9. Our little church is Christian and Missionary Alliance and on a good Sunday has about 130 folks at a service. There must have been about 100 at the baptism to celebrate as one man, a teenager, and five children were baptized in that very beautiful but cold lake.

Lake Crescent is in Olympic National Park here in Washington and is almost 700 feet deep in places. The baptisms were at the shallow end of the lake in a little cove with several ducks and one goose swimming around. The sun was out but it was cool - sometimes we have to build a campfire to keep those baptized folks warm - but yesterday we didn't. I like the lake setting as it is more akin to what Jesus experienced at his baptism.

Sometimes I wish I'd been baptized like that instead of in a choir robe in a warm Baptist baptistery in Kentucky years ago. But it doesn't matter where it's done - only what it means. And our pastor said one very interesting thing. The only time in scripture when the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit appeared together was at the baptism of Jesus.

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."
Matthew 3:16-17