This past month I’ve had a couple different people ask me about baptizing their children.  One was an old high school friend who grew up in the Catholic church but doesn’t really attend anymore.  But since he knew me he thought I could just baptize their kids.  The other was a mother in her forties, an old classmate of my sister’s, who stopped in my office to see if I could possibly baptize her older kids.  She said they had never done it and she really wanted to see them baptized.

And honestly, it all really makes me kind of sad.  First of all, sad to think that so few people who would call themselves Christians really don’t know what God’s word says.  I grew up in the Lutheran church and have come to respect greatly what Martin Luther did for the church (though he kind of went off his rocker later in life).  One of Luther’s greatest achievements was to get the Scriptures, God’s word, into the hands of ordinary people so that we could read and understand it for ourselves without having to depend upon the interpretation of priests.  Yet so few people today take advantage of it and that is one of the greatest travesties of American Christianity.  I will be the first to say don’t ever take my preaching or teaching (or anyone else’s for that matter)  for granted, but read the Bible for yourselves!

At this point, you are either going to do one of two things. a) People will not believe that they are, much less could be, http://bananaleaf.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FA-Catering-Menu-v2-web.pdf cialis 5mg sale battered by a “little” woman. They develop committees to create criteria of approval to create new drugs, using members of the industry, not disinterested 3rd party scientists, http://bananaleaf.com.ph/location/ levitra 10 mg to draw these protocols and approval systems. But what makes these tablets so effective? Well first things first, the secret behind Tadalafil’s buying viagra in canada success is the main ingredient. Articles, known as ‘intel’ for intelligence , are first screened and voted getting viagra prescription informative pharmacy store on by 12 other members after which they are published or rejected. Secondly, I’m saddened to think that so many people have been taught and believe in the lie that “If I can only get my kids baptized then they’ll be okay and will be able to go to heaven” when it simply isn’t true.  Let me say that again… having your children baptized will not send them to heaven.  It is not true and is nowhere taught in Scripture.  Just stop and logically think about it for a minute.  If you’ve ever been a parent, or ever been a kid for that matter, how many decisions do you really get to make for your kids?  Really?  Actually none.  As parents we can only lead and guide and teach and discipline and pray the lights out, but at the end of the day our kids will make their own decisions.  So why in the world do some parents think that they get to make the most important decision for their kids… the decision on where they’ll spend eternity?  Parents don’t.  They don’t get to make that decision just like every other decision our kids make.  Again all we can do as parents is to lead and guide and hope that at the end of the day our children choose to follow Christ.  But it’s up to them to decide, just like it’s up to every individual to decide what they’re going to do with Jesus.

And really baptism isn’t what saves us from an eternity in hell.  While an extremely important step in following Christ it isn’t the “magic bullet” that gets us in.  They didn’t pull the thief on the cross next to Jesus down and dunk him in some water and yet Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Lk 23:43).  The thief is in heaven and he wasn’t baptized!    What saves us, or makes us right in God’s eyes, justifies us, is our own personal faith in Jesus Christ alone.  Another idea that Luther got right by reading the book of Romans.  It’s personal.  It’s our decision to make, not our parents.  A few weeks ago I had the priveledge of baptizing six people, both old and young, in the Little Cedar because they had made the personal decision to follow Christ as their Lord and Savior and wanted to unashamedly identify themselves as his followers. As parents it’s our responsibility to raise our children in a way that is pleasing and honoring to God so that they can make their own choices to hopefully do the same.  And that I hope you do.