Ask the chick getting baptized

Bosda: The pool’s not THAT deep, dude :stuck_out_tongue:

Musicat: This is a very good qestion & one I’ve spent some time thinking about before I felt ready to answer, so I thank you for asking it. At Baptism, God gives you a small measure of His Spirit. It is a gift from Him to help you grow & continue to change into what He wants you to be. It’s not a spell, it’s a gift. The ritual of Baptism brings with it this gift. We follow Jesus’s example in this way.

Baker: thanks for your imput! :slight_smile:

moorland: Awww thanks so much, honey! I hope so, too!

Congratulations! I’ve never actually met anyone from the CoGI or related churches in the Worldwide Church of God tradition. I did watch the broadcasts & get the literature, however. Btw- to all the Hell questions- this tradition teaches that at the Last Judgement, after a final opportunity to know Christ & follow God’s Way, only those who steadfastly refuse get obliterated & cease to exist- no ongoing torture in Hell.

I was baptized. In a baptismal, specifically designed for the purpose no less.

I was a pre-teen, and at the time a bit skeptical about the terms of this ceremony. “So, once I do this I get into Heaven automatically? What if I get really mad one day and kill a guy or three? What then?” All I got was nonsensical gibberish. “You don’t go to Heaven if you do horrible things”, was the gist of it.

So, any Christian that hasn’t been baptized yet goes to heaven, right? So do those that have been, right? If this is the case, isn’t a baptism just a formality? I don’t get it.

The whole concept of a Baptism was a huge turning point in my life in terms of my views on religion in general. I’ll stop there, because talking to people about getting into religion is acceptable and commendable, but mentioning anything that even questions religion is both trolling and blasphemous.

The immense majority of Churches observe the Sabbath; most do it on Sunday and some are more strict than others (the RCC has no problem with someone “moving” his own Sabbath to another day if all he can get is weekend jobs; others do) but it’s the Sabbath. Same for the high holidays: my Romanian coworker was stunned to discover that “Catholic Spain” does not consider Pentecost a national holiday (she’s Orthodox).

Does your denomination accept newborns’ baptism, or do you have to be a minimum age before you can get baptized?

dnooman, I can’t answer for other denominations, but the RCC takes “baptism in the Spirit” into account. Similar to spouses marrying each other and the priest being only a witness, if you want to be baptized but haven’t gotten through the ceremony and get hit by a car, it counts; at the same time, if someone gets dunked but does not believe, it doesn’t count.

FriarTed:
:slight_smile: That’s correct… When did you watch the broadcasts?
**
dnooman: **I don’t necessarily think that you’re being trolling or blasphemous. I only asked for the respect I try to give others.
Many many men & women have questioned religion through the centuries. We all ask, “why are we here?” Or we look around at the sorrow in this world and think “Wow. is God really paying attention or does He even exist?”. Still others become bitter through life circumstances, and decide “Well, if there is a God, He hates my guts, so hell with it, I’ll do what I want.” Still others come across a doctrine or belief that just doesn’t well, make sense to them.
God is faithful. He’s also merciful. when the time comes to be judged, He will judge us according to what we have done. He takes everything into account. Our thoughts our feelings and our actions. Our church teaches that people don’t go to heaven when they die. John 3:13 Instead, the awesome thing is that Jesus is coming here. To us.
Baptism is more than a formality. Jesus was baptized by John because he wanted to do things the right way. It’s a commitment. God’s Spirit can & will leave if you purposely do evil. part of making that commitment is to obey Him. He has told us repent & **be baptized **Acts 23:8. And so we do. Thank you for your question.

Nava:
Nope. An infant doesn’t understand the significance of the commitment they are making. There’s no set minimum age. I would say someone who was in their late teens, perhaps would be mature enough to take that step.

Welp, Today is the big day. Thank you all again for your thoughful questions. They have really helped me to clarify some things to myself. I really appriciate the level of respect shown in this thread.

Yes, the big day! I think we’ll be having a couple baptized at my church as well.

I do have a confession to make. The last time we had a baptism I’d just recently seen The Godfather on television. So when Father Steve was asking the godparents the questions about renouncing the forces of evil, sinful desires, and so on, I started visualizing Michael Corleone and his responses.:smiley: Gotta learn how to keep my mind concentrated.

janis_and_c0, I hope all went well for you today!

spotthegerbil: Yes it did. It was an overwhelmingly positive experience for both of us!!

Okay, it may be a little odd to be baptized as an adult. That’s a bit interesting on its own. But, more importantly, you’ve chosen to get baptized into a church that only exists because its founder was kicked out of his own church for his gambling and sexual impropriety, and so he started a new church where he would be welcome.

Why does it seem like a good idea to you to join a “church” like that?

It’s not odd to be baptized as an adult. Lots of people go through it, having not being connected to a church while growing up. As I mentioned upthread, my grandmother started attending church when she and my grandfather were courting. She was baptized and confirmed after their marriage.

Today, in my church, there were two baptisms. One was an infant, the other an adult woman.

I was a member of a church some years ago, a different congregation, in which an eleven year old boy was baptized. He was friends with a kid his age next door who attended our church and so he started coming with him. Kid finally asked, entirely on his own, to be baptized. This kids sponsors were the parents of his friend. His own parents didn’t attend. They couldn’t have cared less.

People come to faith in different ways, at different stages in their lives. It’s never odd.

And please, this is a happy day for the OP. Your question is rather tasteless.

Sorry, I still honestly don’t have my sea-legs here. Judging my what you say, I should have kept my questions positive. “So, janis, how incredible and amazing is it?” Is that positive enough?

mister nyx, It’s** very **incredible & amazing. :slight_smile: I could not have come to this point in my life without God’s help.
As for your other question, the simple fact is that one follows God. Not a man. One seeks the truth, not an organization, and because of some of the denomination’s history, folks have learned the hard way that there is a vast difference. It’s a fair question, because this issue has affected my own personal involvement with this church. If you have any other questions about this particular topic, feel free to PM me. I really don’t wish to hijack or dereail this thread.

Baker *HUGS Thank you.

So God wanted you to follow someone who didn’t try to live up to His commandments, in His church, so God kicked His representative out to form a new church?

Seriously, while I can imagine and (I think) understand finding the Church were I directed by God, I can’t understand in the slightest how one could “find” this Church. It seems obvious on its face that this couldn’t be the real Church, given its origin. How could God direct someone to this? Is this the real Church? How could that possibly be?

I would again prefer to discuss this issue via PM. Thanks.

. . . that totally makes it seem plausible and sensible.

Dude, she asked you in the nicest possible way to take it to PM so you didn’t derail the thread.

Janis, I’m an atheist, and always will be, but I can’t find it in my heart to be against someone else finding what they consider a spiritual home. I remember my childhood in the church fondly, and I hope that you find that your baptism is the start of a supportive and healthy relationship between you and your chosen church. You picked a good liturgical time of year for a “new birth!”

All I did was ask. Seemed like that was within the bounds of the thread.

**Lasciel **
I did indeed! Thank you for your kind words!

I was going to address the challenges that just came up but that would just continue the derailing.

To janis’ questions to me- I got the magazine of the original WCG & watched the show for years, when it was hosted by the son, the dad again, & then his successor who took the church in a more mainstream direction & renamed it as Grace Communion International. I also got the publications of the son & watched his broadcasts on behalf of the CGI. And after his disfellowshiping, I have watched occasionally the present Armor of God broadcast. I have also watched shows & read the websites of the various other groups- the UCG, the RCG, the PCG, and even the British-Israel Church of God.

So yeah, I pretty much am aware of the movement, its strengths & weaknesses, & I am happy for janis_&_c0