On Repentance and Water Baptism

THIS WEEK was pretty cool I must say. I'm typing with my bedroom window open and the wind coming in because the weather's just right.
I got to meet yesterday at the Five Guys at the Town Center with my beautiful friends Daniela and Jenny. We went over chapter three of "The Purple Book": Repentance and Baptism. This was a very wonderful lesson, and I'm going to share what I have learned.
I think alot of people do not know exactly what "Repentance" means. When you are asked about that term, what do you think it means? Many would say 'to be truly sorry for one's sins, and to resolve to turn away from them.' That is in essence what Daniela and I told Jenny it was. She answered us that that was only half of it. She explained that when you turn from sin, you have to turn toward something else. The whole world is able to feel sorry for what they've done, and maybe even stop doing it. But it's only if you then turn toward Jesus rather than something else do you have beneficial repenctance and real conversion. In "The Purple Book" it's said this way, "True conversion is like two sides of a coin. One side is repentance; the other side is faith. We cannot turn from something without turning to something else. All this is a gift of God." Everybody in the whole world (possibly excluding most infants) has something they regret doing. That sticks with us because the sin sticks with us, and we cannot get it off apart from with Jesus. You and I and everybody have something(s) that we keep thinking about, and twitch every time we realize how stupid we were, and we resolve never to do it again. We were too weak to make ourselves unsinful in the Garden of Eden, and we still are too weak. So we cannot make that resolution without the strength the God gives to us through the Holy Spirit, a Spirit of power, love, and self- control. We are given the power to tell sin NO! This is a Spirit that God knows we need in order to become holy, and it is a Spirit that He pours out on us abundantly.
The Bible, specifically the book of Acts, discusses how when the apostles went out and preached, churches formed where hundreds of people were being added to their numbers daily. These people would hear them, repent, be baptized in water, and join the church. I realized when I was going through this chapter that I had never understood the concept of water baptism very well.
I have been told a few things: to some it is a picture representing Jesus' baptism, and it is not a necessary part of salvation. To another it is necessary to undergo water baptism before you can be truly saved. So I didn't know. And that's what I told Jenny, who cleared it up for me. :)
Jenny explained that while water baptism is not necessary to receive salvation, it is a wonderful thing to do to make your faith public. It is an act of faith that both represents your resurrection in Christ and puts your devotion out in the open, so that it is not a secret in a ny way. In addition, that will help other people who saw you baptized keep you in line, and it will remove any excuse to be ashamed. She told me about the day she was baptized in water, October 22, 2000. She says that immediately when she came out of the water she felt just wonderful, like , woah.
I understood much better than I had before. I remember watching baptisms at First Baptist Church downtown, a hundred feet in the air under a spotlight, and I always wondered whether I would have to go up there one day. I hoped I wouldn't - it seemed pretty scary, and what if I drown? With that towel on my face, and backwards? I really wondered. And now I know.
I asked Jenny when Southpoint does water baptisms, and she says every month, or every other month. Not so much during cold weather.
"And now what are waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash yours sins away, calling on His name." Acts 22:16.

I have been praying pretty hard about a few different things lately. Since yesterday, one of those things was this water baptism. Is this what I am supposed to do? When can I do that? Guess what happened.
God answered my prayers today at church. The coming events were showing in the slideshow before the music started, and there it is, a slide for water baptism, April 2, 2010, immediately after the Good Friday service. Go to the Connections Desk for more information or to sign up. I think that I want to do that.
And maybe it will not be so cold by then.

One more miracle before I'm done: Katie Carr has a rare kind of cancer in the bone in her arm. The doctors were thinking they would have to remove the whole arm, but guess what God did? It looks like they will be able to save the whole arm. Way to go, Jesus. God is really awesome.
The following Bible verse is very special, since you know we are fighting alot of evil as long as we are in the world. But God wins.
2 Corinthians 12:9, "And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
Please share your insights, opinions and miracles.