40 Ways to Increase Baptisms

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Theoretical

Puritan Board Professor
Link. :eek: :eek: :eek: :mad::mad::mad::wow::wow::wow: :barfy: :barfy:

Here’s a list of some simple things we do that almost any church can do:
1. Mention the value, purpose and benefits of baptism regularly in sermons.
2. Videotape some of your baptisms. Prepare a music video of baptisms to show in your worship service so people who’ve never seen a baptism can witness one.
3. Have clothes ready for people who decide spontaneously to be baptized after a service.
4. Make it a party atmosphere. It’s a celebration, not a funeral. Applaud baptisms!
5. Invite small group members to witness the baptism and identify them before each baptism.
6. Prepare a beautiful leatherette-bound baptism folder to hold their certificate.
7. Have a required membership class that explains the meaning or baptism in detail.
8. Always baptize on special days when relatives may be in town – Christmas, Mother’s Day, New Year’s Eve, etc.
9. Always baptize on special days of the church. (We baptized over 400 on the day we opened our Worship Center.)
10. Allow entire families (after confirming that all are believers) to enter the pool together.
11. Hug each person after they have been baptized!
12. Interview all candidates at the water’s edge to hear their story of how Jesus changed them.
13. Build a Baptism Team of volunteers who assist with all baptisms. Have matching shirts to identify the Baptism Team and the pastors leading the service.
14. Have a professional photographer there to capture the moment and include a picture of their baptism along with their certificate of baptism.
15. Print a “Why Be Baptized?” brochure. Use scriptures and lots of testimonies.
16. Put the brochure information, baptism pictures, and even videos of baptisms on your website, so people can forward it to others.
17. Have pre-printed invitations for the baptism candidates to use in inviting lost friends and relatives to a service and to witness their baptism.
18. Make the baptism pool and surrounding area beautiful and inviting and non-threatening. (Many baptisms are perched up so high inside the church that it feels distant and disconnected. Our baptism pool is outside in our patio area so people can gather up close around it for a more intimate feeling.)
19. After the baptism service encourage people to go out afterwards for coffee or dessert to celebrate and find out what the experience meant to the person baptized and to the family and friends who watched it.
20. Publicize the baptisms with posters around your church. Elicit “one line” testimonies from people who have been baptized, take an 8×10 photo of that person, and mount their photo and quote on a 2’x3’ foam board sign. Put this on a tri-pod in a visible area after the service where people can sign-up to be baptized.
21. Have all small groups get people in their group to sign up in the group for the next baptism.
22. Identify and celebrate other special moments at the water’s edge (birthdays, anniversaries, spiritual birthdays, etc.)
23. Train your Baptism Team volunteers to greet and make everyone comfortable.
24. Provide a sound system that will allow spectators gathered to hear the testimonies.
25. Always have the baptism pool warm and chlorinated before services.
26. Have a corporate prayer of celebration at the end of each service to thank God for those baptized.
27. Sing a great chorus or hymn about the power of God to change someone’s life.
28. During warmer weather offer baptisms at the beach or lake or slow-flow river.
29. Develop a “Baptism Party in a Box” kit that includes ideas for a family party following baptism.
30. Have outdoor heaters if you baptize outdoors in the winter.
31. Set up good lighting if you baptize outside after evening services.
32. Have hand towels available as a gift with the church’s logo as a memory keeper.
33. Ask each small group in your church to take a week where each person shares their baptism experience and what it did for their Christian life.
34. Use banners and signs the week prior to baptisms to draw interest, especially beach or lake baptisms.
35. Build a baptism service into an extended spiritual growth campaign (like Saddleback’s Millennium Member Campaign). Build on momentum.
36. Constantly emphasize baptism as the next step after committing your life to Christ. Have sign-ups everywhere.
37. Give a follow-up booklet, a button, and a free gift for those who obey Christ’s command to be baptized.
38. Have a special Christian’s baptism class as a requirement for baptizing children. Insist that at least one parent attend with their child.
39. When baptizing grade school children, have the baptizing pastor hold their hands lifted high after they come out of the water, like you would with a winner in game.
40. Address Frequently Asked Questions in a brochure they can walk away with, and deal personally with every fear or hang-up about baptism.
Do these 40 things and the number of people wanting to publicly demonstrate their faith through baptism will rise dramatically.
Rick
_________________
Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Church
 
Ok, more than half of these are a bit suspect, but...

a challenge to you guys:

What's wrong with this revised list:


1. Mention the value, purpose and benefits of baptism regularly in sermons.

3. Have clothes ready for people who decide spontaneously to be baptized after a service.

6. Prepare a beautiful leatherette-bound baptism folder to hold their certificate.
7. Have a required membership class that explains the meaning or baptism in detail.

10. Allow entire families (after confirming that all are believers) to enter the pool together.
11. Hug each person after they have been baptized!
12. Interview all candidates at the water’s edge to hear their story of how Jesus changed them.

15. Print a “Why Be Baptized?” brochure. Use scriptures and lots of testimonies.
16. Put the brochure information, baptism pictures, and even videos of baptisms on your website, so people can forward it to others.
17. Have pre-printed invitations for the baptism candidates to use in inviting lost friends and relatives to a service and to witness their baptism.
18. Make the baptism pool and surrounding area beautiful and inviting and non-threatening. (Many baptisms are perched up so high inside the church that it feels distant and disconnected. Our baptism pool is outside in our patio area so people can gather up close around it for a more intimate feeling.)
19. After the baptism service encourage people to go out afterwards for coffee or dessert to celebrate and find out what the experience meant to the person baptized and to the family and friends who watched it.
24. Provide a sound system that will allow spectators gathered to hear the testimonies.
25. Always have the baptism pool warm and chlorinated before services.
26. Have a corporate prayer of celebration at the end of each service to thank God for those baptized.
27. Sing a great chorus or hymn about the power of God to change someone’s life.
28. During warmer weather offer baptisms at the beach or lake or slow-flow river.
30. Have outdoor heaters if you baptize outdoors in the winter.
31. Set up good lighting if you baptize outside after evening services.
40. Address Frequently Asked Questions in a brochure they can walk away with, and deal personally with every fear or hang-up about baptism.



Hey, I can agree with 1/3rd of his suggestions. What'd'ya think? ANything wrong with this new list?
 
Ok, more than half of these are a bit suspect, but...

a challenge to you guys:

What's wrong with this revised list:


1. Mention the value, purpose and benefits of baptism regularly in sermons.

3. Have clothes ready for people who decide spontaneously to be baptized after a service.

6. Prepare a beautiful leatherette-bound baptism folder to hold their certificate.
7. Have a required membership class that explains the meaning or baptism in detail.

10. Allow entire families (after confirming that all are believers) to enter the pool together.
11. Hug each person after they have been baptized!
12. Interview all candidates at the water’s edge to hear their story of how Jesus changed them.

15. Print a “Why Be Baptized?” brochure. Use scriptures and lots of testimonies.
16. Put the brochure information, baptism pictures, and even videos of baptisms on your website, so people can forward it to others.
17. Have pre-printed invitations for the baptism candidates to use in inviting lost friends and relatives to a service and to witness their baptism.
18. Make the baptism pool and surrounding area beautiful and inviting and non-threatening. (Many baptisms are perched up so high inside the church that it feels distant and disconnected. Our baptism pool is outside in our patio area so people can gather up close around it for a more intimate feeling.)
19. After the baptism service encourage people to go out afterwards for coffee or dessert to celebrate and find out what the experience meant to the person baptized and to the family and friends who watched it.
24. Provide a sound system that will allow spectators gathered to hear the testimonies.
25. Always have the baptism pool warm and chlorinated before services.
26. Have a corporate prayer of celebration at the end of each service to thank God for those baptized.
27. Sing a great chorus or hymn about the power of God to change someone’s life.
28. During warmer weather offer baptisms at the beach or lake or slow-flow river.
30. Have outdoor heaters if you baptize outdoors in the winter.
31. Set up good lighting if you baptize outside after evening services.
40. Address Frequently Asked Questions in a brochure they can walk away with, and deal personally with every fear or hang-up about baptism.



Hey, I can agree with 1/3rd of his suggestions. What'd'ya think? ANything wrong with this new list?

Well, not to be a partypooper, but from my perspective the majority of things on this revised list would make no sense in a paedobaptistic setting (even for the adult converts who are baptized in such a setting). It's clearly a list that assumes a credo-baptistic position - and one that focuses more strongly on the subjective display and testimony than I think even many on this list would advocate for (?).

Apart from the purely pragmatic things (18,25,28,30,31), the vast majority of the rest put baptism in a light I simply can't agree with, again, mostly to do with the subjective and 'testimonial' nature of the practice of baptism in modern evangelical baptist churches. Things like "hug the person who is baptized" seems out of place entirely, and the 'family and friends in the pool' thing I'm not sure I get.

As a paedobaptist I think I can agree with only a couple of these - 1 and 7 for certain, and 15 (if you cut out the part about 'lots of testimonies'. The case for baptism is made on Scriptural grounds not on the subjective word of people's changed lives).
 
Ok, more than half of these are a bit suspect, but...

a challenge to you guys:

What's wrong with this revised list:


1. Mention the value, purpose and benefits of baptism regularly in sermons.

3. Have clothes ready for people who decide spontaneously to be baptized after a service.

6. Prepare a beautiful leatherette-bound baptism folder to hold their certificate.
7. Have a required membership class that explains the meaning or baptism in detail.

10. Allow entire families (after confirming that all are believers) to enter the pool together.
11. Hug each person after they have been baptized!
12. Interview all candidates at the water’s edge to hear their story of how Jesus changed them.

15. Print a “Why Be Baptized?” brochure. Use scriptures and lots of testimonies.
16. Put the brochure information, baptism pictures, and even videos of baptisms on your website, so people can forward it to others.
17. Have pre-printed invitations for the baptism candidates to use in inviting lost friends and relatives to a service and to witness their baptism.
18. Make the baptism pool and surrounding area beautiful and inviting and non-threatening. (Many baptisms are perched up so high inside the church that it feels distant and disconnected. Our baptism pool is outside in our patio area so people can gather up close around it for a more intimate feeling.)
19. After the baptism service encourage people to go out afterwards for coffee or dessert to celebrate and find out what the experience meant to the person baptized and to the family and friends who watched it.
24. Provide a sound system that will allow spectators gathered to hear the testimonies.
25. Always have the baptism pool warm and chlorinated before services.
26. Have a corporate prayer of celebration at the end of each service to thank God for those baptized.
27. Sing a great chorus or hymn about the power of God to change someone’s life.
28. During warmer weather offer baptisms at the beach or lake or slow-flow river.
30. Have outdoor heaters if you baptize outdoors in the winter.
31. Set up good lighting if you baptize outside after evening services.
40. Address Frequently Asked Questions in a brochure they can walk away with, and deal personally with every fear or hang-up about baptism.



Hey, I can agree with 1/3rd of his suggestions. What'd'ya think? ANything wrong with this new list?

Well, not to be a partypooper, but from my perspective the majority of things on this revised list would make no sense in a paedobaptistic setting (even for the adult converts who are baptized in such a setting). It's clearly a list that assumes a credo-baptistic position - and one that focuses more strongly on the subjective display and testimony than I think even many on this list would advocate for (?).

Apart from the purely pragmatic things (18,25,28,30,31), the vast majority of the rest put baptism in a light I simply can't agree with, again, mostly to do with the subjective and 'testimonial' nature of the practice of baptism in modern evangelical baptist churches. Things like "hug the person who is baptized" seems out of place entirely, and the 'family and friends in the pool' thing I'm not sure I get.

As a paedobaptist I think I can agree with only a couple of these - 1 and 7 for certain, and 15 (if you cut out the part about 'lots of testimonies'. The case for baptism is made on Scriptural grounds not on the subjective word of people's changed lives).
:ditto:

The manipulative tone underlying most of these items is what really gets to me. It's baptismal salesmanship of the worst kind. It's the whoring of a sacrament in the same way one might advocate getting a massage, going to a concert, or getting to visit Hawaii.

Some of the suggestions are practical considerations, esp for immersionist credobaptizing (heating the water and such), but I have to agree with Todd on the ones making it all about the subjective and testimonial side. 1, 7, 15 (with the same modification).
 
It's a pity the Ethiopian eunuch's experience is apparently regarded as strange.

Ok, more than half of these are a bit suspect, but...

a challenge to you guys:

What's wrong with this revised list:


1. Mention the value, purpose and benefits of baptism regularly in sermons.

3. Have clothes ready for people who decide spontaneously to be baptized after a service.

6. Prepare a beautiful leatherette-bound baptism folder to hold their certificate.
7. Have a required membership class that explains the meaning or baptism in detail.

10. Allow entire families (after confirming that all are believers) to enter the pool together.
11. Hug each person after they have been baptized!
12. Interview all candidates at the water’s edge to hear their story of how Jesus changed them.

15. Print a “Why Be Baptized?” brochure. Use scriptures and lots of testimonies.
16. Put the brochure information, baptism pictures, and even videos of baptisms on your website, so people can forward it to others.
17. Have pre-printed invitations for the baptism candidates to use in inviting lost friends and relatives to a service and to witness their baptism.
18. Make the baptism pool and surrounding area beautiful and inviting and non-threatening. (Many baptisms are perched up so high inside the church that it feels distant and disconnected. Our baptism pool is outside in our patio area so people can gather up close around it for a more intimate feeling.)
19. After the baptism service encourage people to go out afterwards for coffee or dessert to celebrate and find out what the experience meant to the person baptized and to the family and friends who watched it.
24. Provide a sound system that will allow spectators gathered to hear the testimonies.
25. Always have the baptism pool warm and chlorinated before services.
26. Have a corporate prayer of celebration at the end of each service to thank God for those baptized.
27. Sing a great chorus or hymn about the power of God to change someone’s life.
28. During warmer weather offer baptisms at the beach or lake or slow-flow river.
30. Have outdoor heaters if you baptize outdoors in the winter.
31. Set up good lighting if you baptize outside after evening services.
40. Address Frequently Asked Questions in a brochure they can walk away with, and deal personally with every fear or hang-up about baptism.



Hey, I can agree with 1/3rd of his suggestions. What'd'ya think? ANything wrong with this new list?

Well, not to be a partypooper, but from my perspective the majority of things on this revised list would make no sense in a paedobaptistic setting (even for the adult converts who are baptized in such a setting). It's clearly a list that assumes a credo-baptistic position - and one that focuses more strongly on the subjective display and testimony than I think even many on this list would advocate for (?).

Apart from the purely pragmatic things (18,25,28,30,31), the vast majority of the rest put baptism in a light I simply can't agree with, again, mostly to do with the subjective and 'testimonial' nature of the practice of baptism in modern evangelical baptist churches. Things like "hug the person who is baptized" seems out of place entirely, and the 'family and friends in the pool' thing I'm not sure I get.

As a paedobaptist I think I can agree with only a couple of these - 1 and 7 for certain, and 15 (if you cut out the part about 'lots of testimonies'. The case for baptism is made on Scriptural grounds not on the subjective word of people's changed lives).

"The eunuch said, "Look, there's water! What would keep me from being baptized?" And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart you may." And he replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer. But he went on his way rejoicing." (Acts 8:36-39)

I've always loved that description: "...he went on his way rejoicing." ;^)

My youngest sister (who'll be 40 next year, which is a truly unnerving thought) came to Christ while at Texas Tech and was baptized (again; like me, she'd been baptized as an infant in an Episcopalian church). She says that was literally one of the happiest days of her life, on a par with her wedding day and the births of her children.

Setting aside the question of whether she should have been baptized again, I fail to see a problem with the idea of expecting an older child or adult's baptism to be a joyous occasion. According to Acts 8, there's certainly precedent.
 
"The eunuch said, "Look, there's water! What would keep me from being baptized?" And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart you may." And he replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer. But he went on his way rejoicing." (Acts 8:36-39)

I've always loved that description: "...he went on his way rejoicing." ;^)

My youngest sister (who'll be 40 next year, which is a truly unnerving thought) came to Christ while at Texas Tech and was baptized (again; like me, she'd been baptized as an infant in an Episcopalian church). She says that was literally one of the happiest days of her life, on a par with her wedding day and the births of her children.

Setting aside the question of whether she should have been baptized again, I fail to see a problem with the idea of expecting an older child or adult's baptism to be a joyous occasion. According to Acts 8, there's certainly precedent.

Anne -

I'm not sure where you get the impression that I don't see either baptism of infants or of adults/older children to be anything less than a joyous occasion... they most certainly are! What's at question here is not, nor has it ever been in my mind, the joy and happiness and praise of God being expressed at baptism at all. The question, rather, is what is the focus of the event?

To piggyback on your quotation of Acts 8, though, which is a critically important passage, I don't hear anything in that passage about displaying to everyone the outward sign of the inward change. He's being baptized not as a message to others (from what I can read in the passage, which is admittedly not much - but there's no indication in the passage itself that this is some kind of public display). I don't, in fact, in any baptism passage see anything about public displays of faith being the hallmark of baptisms - but most of these '40 ways' are centered exactly on that.

Todd
 
Isn't baptism an ordinance of the church?

If so, it is to be celebrated as an ordinance of the church.

And if one is credo, then a baptism becomes a joyous occasion of Christ saving a soul, being buried in baptism and being raised to a new life.


In very real fashion baptism becomes the first public confession of faith for a new beleiver...unless of course you are a paedo or an aisle walker.

JUst as communion is done in the midst of the church, so is baptism. In this regard, the people of God witness God's saving work.
 
The 'testimonial' nature of baptism was rather clear, I thought.

"The eunuch said, "Look, there's water! What would keep me from being baptized?" And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart you may." And he replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer. But he went on his way rejoicing." (Acts 8:36-39)

I've always loved that description: "...he went on his way rejoicing." ;^)

My youngest sister (who'll be 40 next year, which is a truly unnerving thought) came to Christ while at Texas Tech and was baptized (again; like me, she'd been baptized as an infant in an Episcopalian church). She says that was literally one of the happiest days of her life, on a par with her wedding day and the births of her children.

Setting aside the question of whether she should have been baptized again, I fail to see a problem with the idea of expecting an older child or adult's baptism to be a joyous occasion. According to Acts 8, there's certainly precedent.

Anne -

I'm not sure where you get the impression that I don't see either baptism of infants or of adults/older children to be anything less than a joyous occasion... they most certainly are! What's at question here is not, nor has it ever been in my mind, the joy and happiness and praise of God being expressed at baptism at all. The question, rather, is what is the focus of the event?

To piggyback on your quotation of Acts 8, though, which is a critically important passage, I don't hear anything in that passage about displaying to everyone the outward sign of the inward change. He's being baptized not as a message to others (from what I can read in the passage, which is admittedly not much - but there's no indication in the passage itself that this is some kind of public display). I don't, in fact, in any baptism passage see anything about public displays of faith being the hallmark of baptisms - but most of these '40 ways' are centered exactly on that.

Todd

Philip didn't baptize the eunuch until after he heard what he considered to be a proper testimony of faith in Christ. Since it was only the two of them in that chariot....along with the chariot's driver, presumably....a "public display" wasn't germane.

Mind, I prefer Christ Chapel's way, which is simply to have the baptisms during church services, with a simple profession of faith from the one being baptized. In other words,, no detailed "testimony" is made.

If your objection is to effectively "grandstanding" baptisms, then we're on the same page. :D

Hopping nimbly down a bunny trail, what's the rationale for baptisms being done during church services, anyway? When our first two or three children were baptized - in the RCC - we had private baptisms, since I was the lone RC in my family. No one else would have any interest in attending an RC mass, so we just had the family, the godparents, and the priest.

Very nice, it was.

Then the church changed its policy and went to baptisms-during-services-only. So far's I know, Presbyterian churches only perform baptisms during services, too.

Unless a public testimony is part and parcel of baptism, why shouldn't baptisms be allowed to be private?
 
Why not just turn on the hose and start spraying or turn the aisle into a slip n' slide?:smug:

As a Baptist, I cannot subscribe to the first form you mention. However, my reaction to the "suggestions" of spraying and "slip n' slide" is :lol::rofl::p

That God has somehow uses Warren's PDL for good in some people's lives is hard to dispute. But, YIKES! Willow Creek and Saddleback are two of the reasons for my current pursuit of the Puritans. Let's see Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Joel Osteen OR John Owen, Jeremiah Burroughs, or John Flavel??? Hmmmmmm. Ya think that old books might be better?
 
"The eunuch said, "Look, there's water! What would keep me from being baptized?" And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart you may." And he replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer. But he went on his way rejoicing." (Acts 8:36-39)

I've always loved that description: "...he went on his way rejoicing." ;^)

My youngest sister (who'll be 40 next year, which is a truly unnerving thought) came to Christ while at Texas Tech and was baptized (again; like me, she'd been baptized as an infant in an Episcopalian church). She says that was literally one of the happiest days of her life, on a par with her wedding day and the births of her children.

Setting aside the question of whether she should have been baptized again, I fail to see a problem with the idea of expecting an older child or adult's baptism to be a joyous occasion. According to Acts 8, there's certainly precedent.

Anne -

I'm not sure where you get the impression that I don't see either baptism of infants or of adults/older children to be anything less than a joyous occasion... they most certainly are! What's at question here is not, nor has it ever been in my mind, the joy and happiness and praise of God being expressed at baptism at all. The question, rather, is what is the focus of the event?

To piggyback on your quotation of Acts 8, though, which is a critically important passage, I don't hear anything in that passage about displaying to everyone the outward sign of the inward change. He's being baptized not as a message to others (from what I can read in the passage, which is admittedly not much - but there's no indication in the passage itself that this is some kind of public display). I don't, in fact, in any baptism passage see anything about public displays of faith being the hallmark of baptisms - but most of these '40 ways' are centered exactly on that.

Todd

Philip didn't baptize the eunuch until after he heard what he considered to be a proper testimony of faith in Christ. Since it was only the two of them in that chariot....along with the chariot's driver, presumably....a "public display" wasn't germane.

While it's possible it was only the driver and the eunuch, the probability is that there was rather something of an entourage with him. As for the "after", that's not particularly pertinent. This is a narrative of the first goings-out of the Gospel. Of course Philip would wait until after the eunuch professed faith in Christ... so would any paedobaptist pastor if met with a new convert.

Mind, I prefer Christ Chapel's way, which is simply to have the baptisms during church services, with a simple profession of faith from the one being baptized. In other words,, no detailed "testimony" is made.

If your objection is to effectively "grandstanding" baptisms, then we're on the same page. :D

or using them as converting ordinances and evangelism acts
for the unbelieving, etc.. One of the main difficulties I have
(Biblical witness aside, which I think is clearly pro-paedo, but
we know there's disagreement there) with most credobaptist
practice that I've experienced is that "Christians" for years and
years will attend church, take the Lord's Supper, etc., and
never be baptized because they don't want to, or feel they're
not ready. The impetus (it seems) for much of Warren's list
there is to cajole some of those "professing" people into the
tub to be baptized. I'm not sure why this kind of "hanging around"
is allowed in many churches - if you're able to profess faith enough
to take the Lord's Supper (apart from what I believe is clear
Biblical teaching that one is not permitted at the table if they
are not baptized) then you should be Christian enough to request
to be baptized.

Hopping nimbly down a bunny trail, what's the rationale for baptisms being done during church services, anyway? When our first two or three children were baptized - in the RCC - we had private baptisms, since I was the lone RC in my family. No one else would have any interest in attending an RC mass, so we just had the family, the godparents, and the priest.

One of the main rationales is that baptism is not merely an
individual thing, but a joining of a person to a covenant community.
To have private baptisms as a rule is to argue to the contrary.

Unless a public testimony is part and parcel of baptism, why shouldn't baptisms be allowed to be private?

Again, see the above. It's not simply "me and Jesus", or you may
as well pull an "Apostle" and baptize yourself in your bathtub.

When we baptize, there is a profession of faith - it is certainly a
public event, and there is good reason to include a profession of
faith when a baptism is done. But that is NOT what
constitutes testimony for most baptisms I have seen or experienced
in credobaptist circles - those run usually toward the "This is what
Jesus did for me, etc., etc., etc."

Todd
 
Sounds to me like his idea of church is simply a numbers game. "Bigger is better" seems to be his style.
 
Acts 2:40, 41 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Peter preached about repentance, salvation, remission of sins, and about God's promises - and 3000 souls believed and were baptized. Imagine what that number could have been if he had had "40 Ways to Increase Baptisms" at his disposal.
 
Peter preached about repentance, salvation, remission of sins, and about God's promises - and 3000 souls believed and were baptized. Imagine what that number could have been if he had had "40 Ways to Increase Baptisms" at his disposal.

:rofl:

Yes, if the apostles only had the expertise of Rick Warren...
 
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