Sprinkling and Dunking

Hey You Crazy Blog!

Sorry it's been so long since I've written anything. My head has been spinning with many-a-thing to do and very little time to do those things in. Here's a quick recap of what I've done in just the past week. First of all, I am working hard on doing this Mighty Family Smashup thingamajig. The MFS is a family focused, 30 minute drama, teaching series that Heartland does once a month about nine months out of the year. It's target audience is families of fifth graders and younger. Each episode is focused on family issues like jealousy or telling the truth or just how to be better family members/people in general. It's pretty innovative and more fun than anything. It does get a message across though in a pretty exciting, Jr. High-ish kind of way. (That's not supposed to be a diss. It's supposed to be geared down on the ol' maturity level) So I've been help writing and critiquing that. I don't do much writing, just three paragraphs in a thirty minute episode but I have helped give my input and ideas for other people to run with.

Also, there was a giant baptism of like 350 people or something ridiculous like that this past weekend and I had an opportunity to be a part of that. I even helped dunk someone. Whole different story which I will get into later. The way the do baptisim around here is pretty different. They have a baptism service and then they have an immersion service. For the baptism service, they shrink their normal seven services to five. Then, during those five services, instead of a message, they have everyone who signed up and registered to be baptised come up to the platform. Then, there are about six people with bowls of water doing the normal baptism questions like, "Do you believe in Christ alone" and "will you allow Him to lead your life?" They then answer and the baptiser does the sprinkling of water on the forehead. Backing up just a bit- in order to get up to the platform, you have to write up your testimony and make a very firm committment to Christ. The elders then read those and accept people's wish to be baptised. No child under 12 or 13 is allowed to get baptised unless he/she meets with an elder for a one on one session. For the immersion service then, all 350+ people meet in the parking lot where a pool is set up outside. Heartland rents a pool and bleachers and speakers and makes it a party with a big barbeque and the whole schpeel. Then, all 350 people make their way into the pool, six at a time again, a verse is read for each group, the words are spoken by the pastor, and people get dunked. It's a pretty/very big deal around here.

After the baptism and when everyone cleared out, my friend, Carson, and I then jumped into the pool and swam around with Dugan, who was already in the pool. It was a good time. For those of you that are thinking that sounds really disrespectful. I promise you, everyone was so far removed from the pool that no one was offended. Not to mention, the jumping into the pool is apparantly a Heartland tradition. I was lucky enough to be a part of it. However, when we were in the pool, there was one more guy that did want to be baptised and Dugan being the Youth Leader on staff had the "authority" to do so. So Dugan introduced himself and I did the same and while Dugan asked him the whole set of questions, I helped dunk the guy and bring him back up. My role was very inconsequential but it was cool being a part of someone's baptism.

Now, my whole mindset towards the mass baptism is kind of blurred. I just don't know how I feel about it. I mean, there is something to be said about a traditional baptism where three-seven people make their committment to Christ in a very public way where the congregation viewing them will remember the baptis-ee's face and hold him/her accountable. However, there is also something to be said about a celebration made out of baptism where hundreds of people get baptised as part of a huge community. I guess I thought the prior was a little more personal which I like. The latter is a little less personal but then I started thinking about where baptism got its start. Maybe, just maybe, when John the Baptist was doing baptism, it looked more like the way Heartland did it and less like the way most people are accustomed to it. Maybe, baptism was about the masses but an individual commitment. Maybe. I don't know. I am definitely more used to one way and would prefer to do baptism the way I was baptised, but I can see points for both. Regardless, being a part of Heartland's Baptism service was a very cool thing and the change in people's lives seemed evident. Whether or not that's true is, I suppose, debateable, but that's pretty cynical. I would much rather give those people my blessing and pray that their lives are changed forever. I mean, isn't that what baptism is about anyway? Making the committment to Christ and having your life reflect that?

So with all of that said, my time here at Heartland is drawing very near. Here's my schedule. I work today and tomorrow (Thursday). We're off Friday for the 4th of July. I go to a Brewer's game on Saturday for a Bachelor's party. I work until Wednesday with Monday off, because that's my day off. I then am at my sister's wedding from Wed-Sun. I work that next week. I'm then off from Sun-Wed for a little family time with Melissa and her immediate family which will be awesome. I then work a week and a half more, and then I'm off to Dallas for a mission trip with the Sr. High and then I'm home in Chicago on the 6th of August for the Summit Leadership conference and then I'm home for good on the 8th. The rest of this internship is going to fly by. It's been good and great in parts. It's never been disappointing. It's given me some answers and some great questions. It's given me direction and a scope to follow. I can't really ask for more than that. It's hard being a part of Heartland only because it could just as easily function with or without me. That's not to say my work in inconsequential. It's just to say that the work I've been given (which has been a lot), is almost always a little off the target of my main interest. I've enjoyed what I've done here. Very much so. It just hasn't always been the bulls-eye.

Last cool thing- I've been offered a chance to do some research for one of the teaching pastors around here. That is very cool. I like that idea a lot. Muy Mucho. Have a great you crazies.