The Joy

Good morning, all! It's been about a month since my last posting, and I promise to try and get better at this! I felt compelled to write after this past Sunday's church service. This past weekend, people were encouraged to come forward for an impromptu baptism for all three of the weekend services (1 Saturday night and 2 Sunday morning), and I understand 8 people came forward for Saturday night's service, while 8 also came forward for the 9:30am Sunday service my friends and I attended. I've no idea at this time how many came forward for the 11:00am service. It would truly be interesting if that number was 8 as well! Time was set aside at the end of the sermon to allow for these baptisms, and the preacher, Jeff Clark, did the baptisms himself (he normally doesn't do them).

Of the 8 baptisms that we watched Sunday morning, the very first one was so inspiring, so moving. This young man (he was either late teens or early 20's) walking into the baptismal pool with tears in his eyes for what he was about to undertake. His name was Dillon, and you could just see the joy in an aura around him as the Spirit of the Lord was totally upon him. As Jeff asked him questions, his silent weeping increased, and when Jeff asked if he had any family there to watch his baptism, he said no, that he was alone. So Jeff asked all of us to stand as his family, which increased Dillon's weeping drastically. And he wasn't alone. I had hot tears of joy running down my face, and I could see Carolyn on my left and Steve on my right both wiping at their eyes as well. I doubt there were many dry eyes in the sanctuary at all during Dillon's baptism. When Jeff had asked who the lord of Dillon's life was and had immersed him in death with Jesus and brought him back up out of the water in eternal life, the applause was thunderous and very long while Jeff and Dillon embraced and clung to each other. This is what the joy of Christ in our lives should be all about, feeling the love and adoration of our Divine Creator as well as the love and adoration of our brethren in Christ.

The remaining 7 baptisms were also very moving, but none held a candle to that first joyous baptism. To feel the Holy Spirit enter you, to reside in you, to embrace you and guide you through life, has to be the greatest joy one can feel in life. Nothing compares to it. Nothing should compare to it. Because religion has no place in the very personal relationship between ourselves and Jesus. Religion is merely a system of trying to see and be seen; to control others through power plays. But to feel the loving arms of Christ encircling you, holding you close, knowing that He sees all in your heart and loves you anyway, knowing that by trusting Him, loving Him, and following Him that He has washed away your sins, given you eternal life and joy, will hold you up when you stumble - what greater joy on Earth could there possibly be?