Bapto-Blast on the Beach

I love baptisms: History (Jesus’ command to baptize) meets the present, and the individual connects to Christ and His Body, the church. And Sunday’s Immersion Baptisms at the Shawnee Mission Park Lake Beach were no different—we had a great crowd, lots of Holy Spirit, eight buoyant baptismands, a friendly Parks & Rec Lifeguard, a great beach-version worship band, and to end it all, a mongo custom-made cake (from our favorite fire-fighter & baker Tim Reazin, who kept it on his lap in front of the car air-conditioner vents until the service was over!)

One of my favorite moments was seeing 6-year old Riley, after his baptism, swim back to shore underwater like an underage Aquaman (Aquaminnow?). Riley’s father Scott died a couple years ago, and as I watched Riley swim back to his mom Jennifer and their family and friends, I suspected his dad and Jesus were watching from Heaven with delight. There was no dove anywhere (that I saw), but I did hear a voice from Heaven saying “This is my beloved son, in whom I’m well pleased.”

I also was blessed to offer a prayer of dedication of beautiful Alayna-–one of our little Kaw Prairiers with Down Syndrome, and with energetic, joyful parents who serve and bless her as Christ serves and protects them. It was humbling to be smiled at by a little girl so vulnerable by the world’s standards—and so perfect and full of blessing by God’s.

And I think God was also pleased with His church on Sunday, too. There were lots of joyful Kaw Prairiers there who had no relation to anyone getting baptized—or to anyone reaffirming their baptism—and simply came to join in the cloud of witnesses welcoming the newly-watered saints (and maybe to let their kids swim in the beautiful lake on a 97-degree day!)

So this week, please pray for these newly baptized disciples—each with their own personalities and powerful stories— that the Holy Spirit will help them respond with gusto to the promise of God’s grace they were washed with on Sunday. (O yeah, and please pray that the tech team can dry out my remote mic by Sunday—as the baptisms went on, I got a little too energetic with the baptismal back-toss moves, and so my shirt-collar-mounted unit met a little more water than they were counting on!)

Bible-Believers vs. Health-Care Hecklers

We live in a country where freedom of speech is a cherished right—and the recent display of free—and lately, rather rude—speech at town hall meetings across America is part and parcel of our country’s heritage. So whether or not you agree with the current health care reform proposals, I thank God for your right to opine about them publicly.

But for those in the picket-lines or town-halls who are Christ-followers, which some of the recent meeting-busters just might be, I have a suggestion: if we all spent less time with Rush & Coulter and more time with Holy Scripture, we might just have a change of heart.

My family and I have decent health care insurance, thanks to the good people of Kaw Prairie who pay my salary and benefits. It has a moderate co-pay and pretty high deductible—-but it’s way better than nothing, and I’m grateful for it. So from a purely self-interested perspective, I’d be fine keeping the current high-cost, medium-results health care system in place. And because I’m self-satisfied and selfish, I don’t want to have to pay more taxes to help the less fortunate people in our country get insurance, or keep it after they get sick. I got what’s mine, after all.

But my problem is: I made a commitment about my priorities years ago when I confessed my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. In thanksgiving for the gift of forgiveness and new life Jesus offered me, I committed to follow Him as the Lord of my life, to let Him be the determiner of my priorities. And I promised to let God's Word be my guide to best of my ability. And like it or not (and I'm not sure I do), that means I'm morally obligated to be dissatisfied with our current American health care system.

It’s not a matter of liking President Obama or not. It’s not a matter of being a Democrat or Republican. It's not a matter of fearing single-payer systems more than market-incentivized, or vice-versa. It’s simply a question of honoring God’s Word—-or not. And nowadays a crazy health-care-rationing situation exists that would make any of God’s prophets shake an angry finger at us—and our flawed but self-serving system:

o Ezekiel 34:4 You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured…Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty.
o Ezekiel 34:21 For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands. 22 So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused.
o Jeremiah 22:3 This is what the Lord says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! …Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows (or those who’ve been laid off, whose COBRA has run out, or who have pre-existing conditions, etc)

Granted, these passages may be obscure and surprising to some of our more frightened fear-mongers. But my guess is even the least Biblical meeting-mugger has probably heard this famous Jesus-teaching:

Matthew 25:37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you?… 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'

So to those folks whose hysterics and heckling are preventing legitimate debate and progress on an issue very close to the heart of God—-consider yourselves warned. And to those of us protected by good insurance who believe God is indifferent to those who aren't—-I’d humbly suggest you take another look at what God pays attention to:

Amos 4:1 Listen to me, you fat cows living in Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, and who are always calling to your husbands, “Bring us another drink!” 2 The Sovereign Lord has sworn this by his holiness: “The time will come when you will be led away with hooks in your noses. Every last one of you will be dragged away like a fish on a hook! 3 You will be led out through the ruins of the wall; you will be thrown from your fortresses,” says the Lord.