The following was posted on Facebook by Daryl McKinney on the eve of his baptism:All my life it has been drilled in to my head that you must be baptized. You meet people at church and it eventually will come up. I was 13 the first time a pastor came to me to explain the gospel. What a great age to have this brought to you. Here I am my body is changing, hormones are hopping, and my voice is cracking and here is this man I respect telling me I need to pray this prayer then go down an aisle(did I mention the clumsy part of 13?) and confess to about 200-300 people mostly strangers that Jesus is in my heart. Not to mention that it had only been a year since I lost the only role model I had at that age which was my Dad. So you can imagine what was going through my head. Any thing but the gospel! To me the chance of possible public embarrassment seemed to be Hell. How was this going to keep me out of it? So I dug my heals in, went to church when it was required( Christmas, Easter, and a few other times just for good measure) and eliminated any chance that I might have to "walk that aisle". Bottom line was I didn't receive the gospel when I "recited" this prayer. Far from it.
Twenty years go by and I am still searching for the right time to get baptized. We are attending a large church here in Macon and I am really beginning to become interested in the gospel when the Pastor I am learning from admits to committing a sin and I see a church divide. I began to think " Is this really what the gospel is about? I thought we were suppose to support and forgive not divide and conquer." Anyway, I did learn that everyone is human and no one leads a sin free life(there was only one). I did question if I wanted to become a part of an "assembly" that was so shallow that they were that easily divided. What was this teaching and where was this leading in spreading the gospel? So there again I was not about to be associated with a group of " Bible thumping, blame shifting, hypocrites". Don't get me wrong there was and still is a lot of godly people that attend this church and I have the utmost respect for them but to see a congregation divide like that left a mark.
So here we are ten years later and I have finally decided to be baptized. I started attending a church basically for the wrong reasons( to see my grandson) and all of a sudden it clicked! The lord began to move me in ways I couldn't begin to imagine. I began to really understand the gospel and what it was really about " Jesus is the son of God and Savior, He died for our sins and he was resurrected on the third day and ascended into heaven" . WOW, It really is that simple. Jesus started using trials outside my own life to bring me even closer to him. I was actually able to give Godly advice and back it up with scripture now. Then one afternoon talking with my Pastor it just came out. I said I want to get Baptized and his reply was simply "Cool, we can make that happen." I thank God for putting this Pastor into my life and for his ability to really deliver the gospel and make it real! this feeling of transformation is awesome. I know now that WHEN I sin ( notice the when is not an "IF") I am forgiven by the blood of Christ that was shed for me on the cross. So in the morning I am going to get "dunked" and I can't wait. Thank God for a new life and New City!
Twenty years go by and I am still searching for the right time to get baptized. We are attending a large church here in Macon and I am really beginning to become interested in the gospel when the Pastor I am learning from admits to committing a sin and I see a church divide. I began to think " Is this really what the gospel is about? I thought we were suppose to support and forgive not divide and conquer." Anyway, I did learn that everyone is human and no one leads a sin free life(there was only one). I did question if I wanted to become a part of an "assembly" that was so shallow that they were that easily divided. What was this teaching and where was this leading in spreading the gospel? So there again I was not about to be associated with a group of " Bible thumping, blame shifting, hypocrites". Don't get me wrong there was and still is a lot of godly people that attend this church and I have the utmost respect for them but to see a congregation divide like that left a mark.
So here we are ten years later and I have finally decided to be baptized. I started attending a church basically for the wrong reasons( to see my grandson) and all of a sudden it clicked! The lord began to move me in ways I couldn't begin to imagine. I began to really understand the gospel and what it was really about " Jesus is the son of God and Savior, He died for our sins and he was resurrected on the third day and ascended into heaven" . WOW, It really is that simple. Jesus started using trials outside my own life to bring me even closer to him. I was actually able to give Godly advice and back it up with scripture now. Then one afternoon talking with my Pastor it just came out. I said I want to get Baptized and his reply was simply "Cool, we can make that happen." I thank God for putting this Pastor into my life and for his ability to really deliver the gospel and make it real! this feeling of transformation is awesome. I know now that WHEN I sin ( notice the when is not an "IF") I am forgiven by the blood of Christ that was shed for me on the cross. So in the morning I am going to get "dunked" and I can't wait. Thank God for a new life and New City!
Daryl McKinney
