Dear God

Guess what!!!!

Guys! Guess what! I have gotten baptized!!!!!!!!!! And I'm just bursting with excitement!!!! I can't contain my joy!! And my "little" sister got baptized too! And I was just so happy, I got really emotional, especially because I was helping her with her testimony. And, just seeing her love for God, and seeing that she understands the power of prayer... It's truly a wonderful thing. We don't normally talk a lot about it, we talked briefly after camp, sort of as a "life walk" but that was it. And it was just astounding hearing about her growth... It was very encouraging. And I got to meet her counselor, who helped her to make the decision.

So, based off of this, I guess I'll talk about baptism. I wasn't planning to, I was just gonna share the news but, this is an important topic!

Firstly, what is baptism? Well, my church and I does not believe in baby baptism. Baptism is outwardly identifying yourself as a follower of Christ. Babies do not understand the concept of salvation, so it has no true meaning to them. Now, there are different types of baptism. Ours is different from the ancient Jews, which is different from Jesus' baptism. The ancient Jew's baptism, was more of a circumcision. The parents way of dedicating their child to God. At my church, we don't baptism them, we just have a baby dedication. Jesus' baptism identified Him as the Christ. We are not Christ, so ours is different.

Should we get baptized. That depends. Are you saved? Do you believe? If yes, the please do so. It is a commandment by God to be baptized. If not, don't. It's similar to communion, if you are saved do so, you're identifying yourself as a believer and for communion, as one body of Christ. If you are not, again, it holds no meaning, so please do not.

Acts 8:35-38 says "Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, 'See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?' Then Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may.' And he answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him."

So you see, you need to believe with all your heart, then you may.
Here's the thing, don't get baptized if you are not saved (I cannot emphasize that enough), because it is identifying yourself as a follower of Christ so if you're not saved, it has no meaning. Baptism does not save you. As I write this, I am still not baptized. Am I saved? Yes. If I needed to be baptized in order to be saved, then it would become a works based salvation. We cannot be saved by our works. Only Jesus' work on the cross can save us. All we need to do is believe. Whatever we do, it won't be enough to repay our debt. It's only through God's grace that we can have salvation.
Anyways; here is the testimony I used for my baptism. I will admit, I didn't say everything, that was going on, and is going on, but it does cover a huge majority of my struggles.

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I grew up like many others in the church - in a Christian home where both of my parents love God and try to obey His commandments. All my life, I've heard about how God loves us but as sinners we cannot be with Him in heaven. I don't know if I accepted Christ because my parents did, or what. I do know, I did not really understand the gospel and took it very lightly. It was actually at Day Camp, and Aunty Jenny was teaching the missionary story. I remember that at the end, she asked if anyone would like to accept Jesus as their savior. Being slightly older, and understanding it much better, I decided to accept.

Unfortunately, my walk with God was a constant mix of spiritual highs and lows. It was actually last year that I really began to doubt my faith. I had lots of questions like "How do I know the Bible is real/true?" or "How can I be absolutely certain about my faith?" I got really excited to hear that the topics were going to be covered in church. However, the way they proved the scriptures were true was by using more scripture. That... didn't really help much, since to me; it was circular reasoning. So, I kept wondering, but I never bothered to look up the answers myself.

As I doubted, I began to ignore the things I should have been clinging to, like praying and reading my Bible. That led to me feeling completely abandoned by everyone, people at school, at church, and at home. I even felt like God had abandoned me. I was so wrapped up in my feelings; I didn't notice when people were reaching out to me. I constantly felt like everyone was too busy with other people in their lives to even pay attention to me. My thoughts went something like: No one notices me. I'm untalented. I feel invisible. I'm not good enough. Me, me, me, I, I, I. All of these thoughts were a more twisted form of pride. I am not good enough? Well, truth is none of us are. We are all sinners; none of us are good enough to get to heaven. That's why God had to send his Son to die on the cross for us. It is only Jesus who was able to resurrect from the dead, thus saving us from our sins and becoming the mediator between God and us. I messaged a friend about this, and she gave me a challenge. For two weeks, instead of thinking about what others can do for me; try to think about what I can do for others. It has helped me immensely to remember that the world does not revolve around me, but instead should revolve around God. That we should get out of the way and let God take over.

At CBM, the theme verse was "He must increase, I must decrease. John 3:30" It has taken me quite a while to realize that I wasn't letting Him increase in my life. Even when I knew that I wasn't allowing Him to do so, I didn't want to admit that I was trying to promote me. In a more twisted way, I was trying to put myself on that pedestal, and say, "Guys! I'm up here! Notice me!" when it should have been me at the base, saying, "Guys! Look at God! See how amazing He is?! See how wonderful He is?!

Yet, God still sought to comfort me in my prideful misery. I had heard that God loves us, and He will always be there for us, but this year it really stuck. Pastor Pink told us to stick our hands in the air and say "God will never leave me. God will never forsake me." From Hebrews 13:5b. That really hit me. I wasn't alone. Even when all others fall away, God never would. It was in those moments, late at night, reflecting, that I began to actively seek Him out. Before, I'd often have questions, but I never looked up the answers myself. Now I began to crave the Word, something I'd pray about but would never act upon. It felt amazing to be able to just talk with God about my troubles, hopes, and dreams. He is always there. He always understands us, and He alone knows us better than we know ourselves.

So why do I want to get baptized? Well, I have thought about it for a couple years. Actually, one of my counselors at the junior high camp talked with me about it. She asked why I had not. What was I waiting for? I had reasons, but I knew they weren't adequate. I didn't tell her what they were, I just shrugged. I wasn't scared of sharing my testimony. Strangely, I have very little fear when it comes to public speaking. So what was I really waiting for? I was waiting for that life changing moment. In so many other testimonies the person had had a huge life changing moment. One person had depression. God helped her through that. Another had taken drugs. God helped him through that. Then there was me. Me, who lived a sheltered life, had not made any 180 degree turn, and in all honesty; did not have a great passion for Christ. Well, I know I have it now.

My counselor told me baptism is a commandment, using Matthew 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." I said I'd think about it, and pushed it to the back of my mind. Every so often it'd pop back up, but I'd ignore it. A couple months before camp, I finally thought about it. I was leaning towards getting baptized, but I was still hesitant. Then at camp, Pastor Pink told the story of Abraham. And he emphasized on these few words in the story. Early the next morning. God had given a commandment that Abraham should sacrifice his son. And he did not wait. He could have said "Oh, God did not tell me when to do it. So I'll just wait and go at lunch, or in a couple days." Early the next morning meant he went and did it immediately. He was willing to obey God's commandment and sacrifice his son straightaway. So why should I wait to get baptized? If I truly love God, I will obey his commandments. Baptism is one of his commandments, so it's time for me to obey it. It's time for me to give an outward proclamation of my faith. It's time for me to give up everything, follow him, and get baptized. Thank you.

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If you want, the baptism is on YouTube. Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zk0tXOO9v0