The How & The Why I Became A Baptist

[Beetow]

I was christened an infant into the Roman Catholic Church in 1944, and eventually attended catechism to complete First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

My siblings are Catholic, my mother was Catholic, my eldest brother entered the priesthood and finished up a Friar. My wife is a former Catholic, her dad was Catholic, his wife was Catholic, my aunt and uncle were Catholics, and my wife's cousins are Catholic; one of them is qualified to teach Catechism.

I was loyal to Rome for the first 24 years of my life till one day I was approached by a Conservative Baptist minister who asked me if I was prepared for Christ's return.

Well; I must've been either asleep or absent the day that the nuns talked about Jesus coming back because that man's question was the very first time in my whole life that I can remember somebody telling me.

My initial reaction was alarm because I instinctively knew that were I called on the carpet for a face-to-face with Jesus, it would not go well for me because I had a lot to answer for. Then I became indignant and demanded to know why Jesus would come back. That's when I found out for the very first time that it was in the plan for Christ to take over the world.

Then the minister asked me if I was going to heaven. Well; of course I had no clue because Catholics honestly don't know what to expect when they pass away. I was crossing my fingers while in the back of my mind dreading the worst.

Then the man said; "Don't you know that Jesus died for your sins?"

Well; I had been taught in catechism that Jesus died for the sins of the world; that much I knew; but honestly believed all along that he had been an unfortunate victim of circumstances beyond his control. It was a shock to discover that Jesus was thinking of me when he went to the cross, viz: my sins were among the sins of the world that Jesus took to the cross with him.

At that very instant-- scarcely a nanosecond --something took over in my mind as I fully realized, to my great relief, that heaven was no longer out of reach, rather, well within my grasp!

That was an amazing experience. In just the two or three minutes of conversation with that Baptist minister, I obtained an understanding of Jesus' crucifixion that many tedious years of RCC catechism classes had somehow failed to get across. Consequently, my confidence in the Roman Catholic Church was shattered like a bar of peanut brittle candy dropped on the sidewalk from the tippy top of the Chrysler building.

Long story short; I eventually went with that man to his church and, along with him and a couple of elders, knelt at the rail down front and prayed a really simple, naive prayer that went something like this;

"God, I know I'm a sinner. I would like to take advantage of your son's death"

My prayer wasn't much to brag about; but it was the smartest sixteen words I'd ever spoken up to that time.

● Matt 10:32 . .Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.
_

 

[Br. Bear]

@Beetow

Greetings,

thank you for sharing this with us,
I finished it with a mixture of tears and smiles....


Jesus is Lord
Bless you ....><>

 

[Beetow]

When someone is on their deathbed, and begins to perceive that Hell is more than
just a silly myth, and that they're likely to end up there: they don't need religion,
no, they need a knight in shining armor, so to speak, and it just so happens there's
a God-given knight available.

● Luke 2:8-12 . .And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping
watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the
glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

. . . But the angel said to them; "Don't be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people. Today, in the town of David, a savior has been born
to you; he is Messiah, the Lord."

The angel announced the birth of a savior; defined by Webster's as one who
rescues. We've all seen examples-- lifeguards, firemen, cops, emergency medical
teams, Coast Guard units, snow patrols, and mountain rescue teams. Rescue
workers typically assist people in distress who are facing imminent death and/or
grave danger and utterly helpless to do anything about it.

In other words: Jesus Christ is a lifeline, so to speak, that God is all set to throw to
anyone and everyone for whom the sum of all fears is a foregone conclusion.

● John 3:14-17 . . As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in him have eternal life. For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes
in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

The incident to which Christ referred is located at Num 21:5-9. Long story short:
Moses' people became weary of eating manna all the time at every meal. But
instead of courteously, and diplomatically, petitioning their divine benefactor for a
different diet, they became hostile and confrontational; angrily demanding tastier
food.

In response to their insolence, and their ingratitude for His providence; God sent a
swarm of deadly poisonous vipers among them; which began striking people; and
every strike was 100% fatal, no exceptions.

After a number of people died, the rest came to their senses and begged Moses to
intercede. In reply; The Lord instructed Moses to cobble a replica of the vipers and
hoist it up on a pole in plain view so that everyone dying from snakebite could look
to it for relief.

The key issue here is that the replica was the only God-given remedy for the
people's bites-- not sacrifices and offerings, not tithing, not church attendance, not
scapulars, not confession, not holy days of obligation, not the Sabbath, not the
golden rule, not charity, not Bible study and/or Sunday school, not self denial, not
vows of poverty, not the Ten Commandments, not one's religion of choice, no; not
even prayers. The replica was it; nothing else would suffice to save their lives.

As an allegory, Moses' replica indicates that Christ's crucifixion for the sins of the
world is the only God-given rescue from the wrath of God; and when people accept
it, then according to John 3:14-17 and John 5:24, they qualify for safety. Those
who reject his crucifixion as the only God-given rescue from a fate worse than
death, are already on the docket to face it.

● John 3:18 . .Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not
believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of
God's one and only Son.

» His son's "name" in this case is relative to Moses and the deadly snakes.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Rom 8:9 . . If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to
Christ.

The Spirit of Christ is the spirit of a son.

• Gal 4:6 . . Because you are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into
your hearts, crying: Abba, Father.

Abba means father, but not as a label. It's an Aramaic vocative; which can be
roughly defined as calling out to someone to get their attention.

For example "Dad" is merely an identifier when my son and his mom are talking
about me in the kitchen while I'm out in the garage, But when my son yells out
"Dad, where are you?" that's when dad becomes a vocative.

Now the important issue here is that the spirit of His son compels Christ's siblings
to call out to his Father, never to his mother. So if people are comfortable praying
to Jesus' mom , then I'd have to say they don't have the spirit of His son in their
hearts because Christ never did that, and never would do that.

That's not all.

Christ is God's next of kin-- His direct descendant --which of course entitles him to
the lion's share of God's estate. But Jesus' followers are God's kin too-- not directly
like Christ, but indirectly; by adoption.

• Gal 4:4-5 . . But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son,
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Well; adopted kids have some rights that exceed the rights of foster kids. Adopted
kids have the right to a place in their dad's genealogy, and a right to be known by
his name, and a right to their dad's providence, and a right to his love, and a right
to an inheritance just the same as kids born in the home.

( A note of caution to guys out there who perchance are thinking of adopting their
wives' children by another man. Should you and your wife break up, you will be the
one liable for child support; not the other guy. Your wife's first husband remains the
kids' biological father, but you will be their legal father.)

My association with the world above underwent a radical revision when I bought
into the gospel. Whereas at one time I was alienated from God and worried about
my prospects in the afterlife; now I'm in God's genealogy, i.e. He and I are kinfolk--
an astounding improvement to my circumstances made possible by Christ's
crucifixion and resurrection.

• Gal 4:7 . .Wherefore you are no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an
heir of God through Christ.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Rom 8:15-16 . . For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out: Abba, Father. The Spirit
Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

That passage tells of a supernatural close encounter of a third kind, so to speak.

Not every Christian undergoes the experience. For example: adherents of
Catholicism honestly don't know for sure where they stand with God-- we're talking
about something like 1.3 billion people. That number represents a minimum 49% of
the world's Christians unsure of what to expect when they cross over to the other
side. It's difficult to tag the number of Protestants because they are so diverse in
their beliefs and practices.

NOTE: Rom 8:15-16 never happened for Mother Teresa. She complained in private
correspondence with spiritual counselors that she felt not the slightest glimmer of
the Lord's presence virtually the entire five decades of missionary work in India;
leading her to wonder if there really is a God out there; and she sometimes spoke
of Jesus as "the absent one".

The Spirit of adoption is supposed to make God's people feel at home; not feel left
out. I don't know what went wrong with Teresa but for sure her spiritual condition
was not good.
_

 

[Br. Bear]

But we see Jesus,
Who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death,
crowned with glory and honour;
that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Hebrews 2:9

 

[Beetow]

Back in the decade of the 1960s, while still in my twenties, it occurred to me that
even if I managed to live a pious enough life to make the cut for Heaven, I was
pretty sure I couldn't keep up the piety forever. Sooner or later I'd mess up and get
thrown out. But if it were just as easy for me to live in Heaven as it is for me to live
in this world, then for sure I'd never get thrown out of Heaven.

In other words: if only thinking, feeling, and acting like God came just as natural to
me as thinking, feeling, and acting human; then that would be the cat's meow.
Well, apparently the Spirit birth, about which Jesus spoke, is exactly what I wanted.

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through
our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these
he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you
may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused
by evil desires." (. 2Pet 1:3-4)

I rather prefer human nature, but if divine nature is what it takes to get into the
kingdom of God and stay there, then of course it's the sensible choice for me. (cf.
Ezek 36:24-27)
_