It was awesome to be able to baptize my son. I’ve had many conversations with people over the last few weeks about the baptism and the conversations Kristi and I had with Jonathan leading up to it.

THE STORY

Since he was very little (and I mean like 3) Jonathan started initiating conversations about Jesus and wanted to know more. Kristi and I treasured these moments and would take time to share the gospel with him.  It was during one of these times about a year ago that Jonathan asked Jesus to be his savior.  I had many thoughts and questions to wrestle with: Is he too young? Does he understand what sin is? Can he really understand the price Jesus had paid for us? How do I identify fruit in his life? What does repentance look like for a 5 year old?  Could and should I wait to baptize him until I know for sure?

I can’t say that I got clear answers to all these questions.  Through my conversations with him, I know Jonathan has a young and great faith in Jesus for his salvation and is committed to living his life for Him.

Wrestling with my thoughts and pouring through scripture during this time, two passages stood out to me and gave me great joy and a great challenge.

Mark 10:13-16 – “And they began bringing children to Him, so that He might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, ‘Permit the children to come to Me; and do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter in at all.’ And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands upon them.”

This passage brought me a great joy.  I know that God can use my sons faith as an encouragement and example to those that are younger and older.

2 Timothy 3:15 – [Timothy had] “known the sacred writings which were able to give (him) the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Jesus Christ.”

This passage reminded me of my responsibility as a father to teach both my boys from a really young age about the wisdom that leads to salvation. It humbles me to know that I have the biggest responsibility in the discipleship of my son Jonathan.  What a great Journey we have ahead of us.

THE STORY CONTINUED…

Through our conversations with Jonathan, after he committed his life to Christ, we wanted to give him the opportunity to experience different things about church and not just hear mommy and daddy talk about them. His only opportunity to see “big church” has been up to this point what we do for our middle and high school students on Wednesday nights. Kristi and I decided to let Jonathan sit through the service with her on April 18th, so that he would see baptism, band led worship, and hear pastor on the screens in Studio G.  As it turned out, that morning our Pastor was live in Studio G and they were sending the video feed back to the Worship Center instead of the other way around.

I got Jonathan from his classroom before the 11 am service and met Kristi in front of stage 1. Kristi let Jonathan pick where he wanted to sit, so he picked the front row. I was nervous now because I knew that Pastor would be preaching in there and my son was going to be a “that kid” on the front row.  I wasn’t able to stay for the whole service because I had responsibilities in the Worship Center, so it was Kristi with Jonathan on the front row.  It couldn’t have worked out better, because I know if I had been there the best part of the story may have never happened.

It was time for the invitation and during that time Dr. Powell (our pastor now and my pastor as a youth in Jackson, MS) said, “If you know Christ and you need to be baptized, now is the time to come and share that with everyone.” Jonathan looked up at Kristi and said, “Mommy, I know Jesus and I want to be baptized.” Kristi talked with him a moment to make sure she understood him and sent him up to Dr. Powell. Doc got down and gave him a hug and thought that was it and looked at Kristi who told him that Jonathan had something to share with him and the church. Jonathan shared that he had trusted Christ as his savior and wanted to be baptized.

On my way back over to Studio G a lot of people were congratulating me and telling me how awesome it was to see Jonathan go forward, and it hit me that I had just missed the moment in my kids life that I had wanted to be there for more than first steps or first words. God has better plans, It was awesome for him to have our pastor of so many years, the one that was incredibly influential in both Kristi and my life to be the one who introduced Jonathan to the church as a brother in Christ.  I caught up with Kristi and Jonathan in the counseling area and got to hear the whole story.

The greatest stories are ahead for Jonathan, I rejoice for his boldness and pray everyday for wisdom as I disciple him.