What is Baptism?
"Who wants to die today?" He said. "Me," I thought. Exciting news! I got baptized this week! It was incredible and I'm overjoyed to share about it with you. But first, what is baptism?
Baptism is…
Many people know of baptism, but perhaps don’t fully understand the meaning. Someone is baptized after they make the personal choice to put their faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism is a public declaration of your faith an as well as a celebration of your new life in Jesus Christ. It is so much more than your sins being washed away. When we are baptized, we are dying with Christ and rising again as a NEW CREATION in Jesus. Paul explains this in some of his letters.
Romans 6:3-4: "Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
AND
Colossians 2:12: "And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him throughly your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead."
How incredible is that! It is an important reminder that choosing Jesus isn’t easy. It is a choice to die. Regardless of how dramatically different your life is after you are a new person. I think for some of us who have grown up knowing and loving Jesus it can be harder to realize that we aren’t the same person we used to be. We aren’t living for yourselves. I don’t care how good of a person you are; we are called to live for Christ and not ourselves.
Live or Die?
Recently I’ve been thinking about what it means to live for Christ and to die for him. I have decided that it is much harder to live for him than it is to die for him. Dying for Jesus is one big hard choice you make, but then it’s eternity in heaven with him. Living on the other hand means, figuratively dying to ourselves and choosing to live for God on a daily basis. Living every second of everyday for someone else is pretty much impossible, and that is why we need to be connected to the vine.
John 15:5 I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.
No matter the number of days you live or the trials you face, choosing Jesus as your Lord and Savoir is the best decision you will ever make.
My Baptism Journey
I accepted Jesus into my heart when I was very little. I was baptized when I was around 10 years old. I don’t honestly remember why I choose to be baptized then. I do remember this 18-year-old got baptized at the same time as me, only she had been baptized once before. I remember thinking that was weird. “Why would you get baptized twice?” Well, here I am. The 18-year-old getting baptized twice.
On Thursday February 22, 2024, I went to a conference called Carry the Love at DBU. Let me just say it’s incredible to be surrounded by so many young people on fire for and in love with Jesus! I didn’t go with the mindset of getting baptized. In fact, multiple times over the last year, I had been asked if I had been baptized. I had. My Brazilian Pastor has said multiple times, “Kenzie, I want to baptize you.” That night was different though. My incredible friend Ryan was leading alter calls that we so full of and focused on Jesus. It was such a sweet time. The first altar call was for anyone accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savoir for the first time. The second one Ryan starts by saying this is for anyone who wants to show they are all in. I thought, “That’s me.” Little did I know that it was going to be baptism. At first, I said no. But then I felt the Holy Spirit prompting in my heart and I began to consider it. Just then Ryan said, “There’s someone out there and your heart is just beating out of your chest.” I didn’t quite feel it to that degree. I had a thought, “Maybe is one of my friends went, I’d go to.” I realized that was wrong. Nothing should hold me back from going all in! So, I took a big step forward, and the cheering began. Ryan and I looked at each other and smiled with the joy of the Lord. Not long later one of my Brazilian friends Thaiza stepped forward. There we both stood bawling our eyes out and praising Jesus. The baptism wasn’t till the end of the incredible service. Ryan told everyone to go down the hill and we, the baptism people changed into clothes they lent us. Then we followed them down the hill. It was all quite an exciting experience. By this point it was after 10 pm. Down the hill we went. The only problem was we didn’t know where we were going. It was the blind leading the blind. “I’m sorry I don’t go to this school.” “Neither do I.” Halfway down the hill I said, “I didn’t realize it was going to be such a commitment.” As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I realized how stupid they were. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has those moments (don’t deny it; I know you do it too), but this was convicting.
I realized if I wasn’t able to walk down a hill after 10 p.m. to a place I didn’t know then I don’t think I’d make it as a Christian. I’m afraid that when you give your life to Christ you can’t say, “Lord, I give my whole life to you EXPECT nothing after 10 p.m. and I have to know where I’m going in advance.” God doesn’t accept your terms and conditions. God doesn’t call you to your comfort zone. God doesn’t ask you to stay in the light. He calls you to the places you may not want to go. He calls you to the people you may not want to talk to. He calls you beyond what you think you can do. So, I descended that hill in faith. A verse that rang in my head that night was Matthew 10:37
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Even when you have an amazing family you can’t love them more than God. That was one thing I surrendered that night.
Baptism Time!
Finally, our walk of faith brought us to a nice little pool next to the soccer field. The whole way there, girls were worried about how cold the water would be. On the other hand, one of the guys and I were disappointed that we weren’t getting baptized in the lake. It ended up that the hot tub was the appointed place of baptism. It turned out to be a perfect spot. Ironically, my parents somehow misunderstood and thought that I got baptized in a fountain. I was nervously excited. I stood at the pool like I was ready to go in, but I still had my shoes and watch on. It was such an incredibly sweet and exciting time. Thaiza went first. I was so happy to be there to support my friend as well as share this experience with her. It was pretty cool that it was just young people baptizing each other. It shows that God uses anyone and also that ultimately, it’s God doing the work. It’s not about the person that dunks you. It’s about the person that died for you. I looked around for my friends, but I realized that it was late and most of them had left. I still had Thaiza and Ryan though and all these awesome strangers to share this moment with. They pointed to me, and I awkwardly climbed into the hot tub and ended up stumbling, but I made it! I heard them ask everyone else what they were leaving behind in the water, so I thought I was ready. You know how things sound better in your head? Yeah, this was one of those. Eloquence wasn’t really necessary though. In the end God just wants you to speak from your heart. Essentially, I said that I was leaving my ministry desires and taking whatever God has for me. I was so ready to get baptized that I put my hand over my mouth before I remembered that there was more to say first. The moment finally came. It wasn’t crazy and insane. My life didn’t flash before my eyes, but it was awesome. I came out of the water happy and with other’s cheering! Perhaps the crazy and insane is what happens later.
Selfie after the Baptism (Me left, Thaiza right)
Do I feel different?
I would say yes. It might not be a great crazy sort of different, but I have a joy and a weight has been lifted. I am a new creation. I’m so glad I made this choice. I feel like the little girl who got baptized is a different person than me now. Since then, I have come to fully understand my own sinfulness and have the desire to be cleansed and made whole by God. Now I have a day and a moment to fight the devil with. Now I have a spark. A spark that I so desperately want to share and spread. I am here writing this long letter so that you can catch my spark.
Revival
This special night for me felt like the Jesus Revolution to me. People on fire for Jesus. That is what I want. I haven’t given up hope for my generation. I believe in revival. You and I are a part of it. SO, let’s just be on fire for Jesus, okay. Let’s spread the flame. Let’s share the gospel. Let’s go past our comfort zone and serve the Lord with everything!
Today’s newsletter was a little different, but it is something important to me and I really wanted to share this with you. Thank you so much for sticking around and supporting me. You are incredible. If you have any questions about this, please let me know. If you know anyone who might be interested in baptism, send this to them! Also, you should totally make sure you’re subscribed because you don’t want to miss the Journey of Kenzie!