Hot Summer...Cool Baptism

As summer winds down, the days are getting shorter and the chill of Fall is just around the corner.  The weather this summer has been incredible and because of one warm morning - I got to do something I’ve never done before.  Let me give you a little background:

I’ve made a habit for almost 20 years of running in Mill Creek Park.  Some of you have been part of that journey for me.  I’ve run with my wife, run with my kids, run with my dog, run with Dave Dravecky after his arm was amputated, and most recently a couple of very cool guys have been my companions.  One actually is a friend of my daughter’s from the high school days and the other is from here at Old North.  We’ve been meeting at 6:30 AM, logging a few miles, praying for each other, and then getting on with our days.   We talk about wives, lives, movies, kids, TV, food and many of the things that the Bible says are important.

Throughout the spring and summer, the idea of baptism has come up and it led to some interesting discussions about salvation, commitment, obedience, and obviously whether or not baptism by immersion is really as important as many of us think. The discussions waxed and waned over a few months.  Then quite unexpectedly, one morning Mike told me that he’d been reading Acts and realized that, “They took baptism very seriously, didn’t they?”;  and asked if he could be baptized “right here, right now”.  So that’s exactly what we did – we walked down the trail to Mill Creek itself, took off our shirts and shoes, and waded in.  After talking about the significance of Christ in his life and the act of obedience of baptism, I immersed him in the warm waters of that early morning.  It was one of the most significant baptisms I’ve ever experienced.

All of this reminds me that the Holy Spirit is the one who takes God’s truth and convicts our hearts.  He is the one who prompts us to obedience.  He moves in the stillness of the morning, as well as in the restlessness of our souls.  He will always exalt Christ and always teach obedience to God’s truth.

As summer winds down, I encourage you to listen…and obey!

Brent Allen