Write About Now

If you haven’t already, you’ll want to download Christian Standard’s new compilation of articles on baptism. The 14-page resource offers perspectives on this important and sometimes controversial issue from seven authors including Paul Williams, Bruce Shields, and Jon Weatherly. Since these articles all come from current issues of Christian Standard, you can also access them online. But this download offers them as a really attractive, concise package for study and for sharing with others—and at $2.99, it’s a steal.

I love anything Brian Jones writes and his article “What Happened When I Preached on Baptism?” is one of my favorites in the pack. He shares the story of defending the doctrine of baptism at a “101″ class in his then-fledgling church plant, and how the ensuing pushback resulted in all 23 class attendees leaving the church that day. It’s usually churched people who attend these classes, he says, and it’s usually churched people who resist the idea of baptism as necessary for salvation. On the other hand, people learning about Jesus for the first time—the people Jones wants to reach—typically have few of the same concerns.

“In fact, I’ve found that the more we’ve taught on baptism, the more churched people have left, and the more non-Christians have come to Christ and brought their non-Christian friends,” he writes. “Preaching baptism spurs church growth with the right people, it doesn’t impede it.”

As a bonus, CS’s website also offers several photo galleries of these new believers being baptized in swimming pools, oceans, and rivers all over the country. Here are a few of my favorites.