I was baptized today! Joyful joyful day! :)
Group picture with Pastor Collin, Le bf, Le sister & Wany!
There's a lot of Christians who are regular church-goers but they don't want to go through water baptism for various reasons. Some feel that it is not necessary, some feel that it is a solid commitment that they are not ready for, etc etc. I don't want to go into detailed arguments or discussions about baptism as there are many extreme views about it.
Our trust in Christ is our salvation, not water baptism. You don't have to be baptized to go to heaven because your salvation is hinged in your faith in Jesus Christ.
But personally, I think that every Christian should be baptized. Jesus was baptized by John and there are many references about baptism in the bible. Most importantly, being baptized is a public declaration to the world that you are committed to your faith. Water baptism is an outward expression of an inward conviction. It signifies "Yes, I am a child of God and believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord & Savior".
To me, it's the same logic like a marriage. You can be in a relationship or cohabit with your partner for many years, but marrying your partner is a public declaration of your love and promise of forever to him/her and only him/her, no one else. It is the "guarantee plus chop" move that cements your faith and commitment to your partner. Can you say to your partner in private "I love you very much and want to be with you", but yet in public you pretend that he/her is only a normal friend of yours and you don't want to admit that he/she is special to you and you are in a relationship? You have to make the leap of faith and the commitment before you can enjoy a satisfying and fulfilling relationship.
These are my personal views and not everyone may agree with me.. Well, I am not be the best person to explain about baptism, so you can read more about it online or meet with a Pastor who can advise and explain to you in more details.
There were a total of 121 baptism candidates and I was the 3rd person in the group to be baptized! I still don't know how they arrange the candidates cos I was looking around and it wasn't by alphabetical order based on name, nor is it by age or address. I was also not the first few who registered for the Baptism.. But I am not complaining! Happy that I am the 3rd because that means I can finish quick and chill while the remaining candidates group gets baptized.
Most of all, the water will be super clean! We are not required to shower before going into the pool.... so you can imagine.. I bathed before going to church but not everyone does that!! I have become such a germaphobe that I've stopped swimming cos those are cesspools of bacteria!! Le bf is encouraging me to go swimming with him but I am quite hesitant cos the chlorine will damage my hair (I can't do swimming caps.. they cramp my style) and there are bastards who enjoy urinating in the pools.. URGH. I actually saw shit in a swimming pool before. A long piece of brown shit! Traumatizing to the maximum. T_T" I need to overcome my germaphobe problem, but thank God that I am 3rd!! Heh heh! Maybe He knows I am a germaphobe so somehow I am in the front of the line.. Wahahahahahahaha! God is good!
Group picture before our baptism!
I was trying to spot Le bf and the rest of my supporters in the Sanctuary.. but I can't see them! -_- I knew he was sitting on the left side of the auditorium but there were too many people, so I tried to look around discreetly for him but failed. LOL! He took a few pictures of me though.. haha!
After the group photo-taking, we went down to level 1 where the Baptism Pool is. It is deeper than I thought! Usually it is hidden and disguised as a stage. The water is nicely heated and the process is very fast. We queued up according to our numbers, two pastors will hold us and say a prayer before dipping us backwards into the water.
A photographer will take our picture before we are dipped. Only baptism candidates are allowed in the area, so there is a live screening of the process that is being broadcast in real time at the Sanctuary for our friends and family to witness the process. Le bf took a video of me on the big screen (screen shot below).. Someone will read out each candidate's testimony and it's like rapping because the whole process for each candidate took less than a minute!!
Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
Mad efficient! There are 116 candidates (5 did not turn up) and the whole ceremony including the opening speech, prayer, exhortation, group picture, baptism and certificate presentation only took less than 2.5 hours!
Afterwards we had dinner at Changi Airport T3's TCC!
Wany had the 50% discount for her birthday month in July for the total bill! YAY! Silly girl forgot her membership card and her elder sis had to bring it down for us, but good thing too cos she can join us for dinner! The more the merrier! :)
Unfortunately I cannot break my record of last year's pig out session with the 50% discount because I am still recovering from my stomach flu and I can't eat too much without throwing up. Last year I went with Wany & Nathaniel (who couldn't come today cos he had to work) and we ate 5 main courses, 4 desserts, lots of side dishes & drinks among the 3 of us! Waiting for Le bf's birthday month in September and we can go pig out again when I am well!
I bought a new Miffy mascot doll for my sister when I went to Tokyo with Le bf earlier this month and she was so happy! Haha! He bought her a Miffy umbrella which is so cute, he said that she might wish that it rains everyday so she can use it.. Haiyo! Anyways it has UV protection so she can also use it when it's sunny! :) Now she has both the original Dutch version which I bought in Amsterdam and the Japanese version of Miffy!
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