AWT

Praise the One who breaks the darkness.

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@AnneOfTheBooks I grew up in the Free Methodist church and never knew this until much later in life.
Much of my family that still attend did not know this either.
It was never directly taught but the preaching/teaching is based on it.

[Simul Justus et Peccator @JustusPeccator1]

“The resurrected Christ Himself ordained Christian Baptism, and this is of major importance. Christ had to suffer, die, and rise from the dead as atonement for the sins of the world before the time was right for Baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
-Bo Giertz

[Chad Bird @birdchadlouis]

Does baptism give forgiveness of sins?

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@MannyFesto0069 @DudespostingWs An accident is as little as a broken mirror or small scratch on the truck.

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@NextlevelUSA50 @DudespostingWs Made a good living with excellent insurance and full pension.

He did well.

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@LindseyGrahamSC Childless coward happily sending someone else’s kids to die on foreign soil.

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@HansFiene This is still the case in the People’s Republic of Illinois.

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@___mithrandir_ @SeanMcCarthyCom Kevin has obviously never heard of the $6 Wendy’s Biggie Bag.

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@becomelutheran I happy not to know what Rededicate 250 is.

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@IMAO_ It’s still really good but Popeyes are really dirty.

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@OzLutheranChick Same here. Myself and my family are so thankful for the Lutheran Church (LCMS).

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@Halfrack_8 @Brandon_Hasz01 Welcome. God be praised!

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@veatchme @MLB @RobManfred @Cardinals MLB would benefit greatly and get the fans excited for baseball if they’d make their product accessible. Bring back the super stations!

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@GoldBellClips No, it’s still ���what is this idiot doing’.

[Hans Fiene 🦬 @HansFiene]

A devotion on baptism, Baptists, and John the Baptist: John 1:19-34

If you ever talk about baptism with your baptist-type friends, they will often tell you that all the passages that talk about baptism saving are not talking about water baptism but Spirit baptism. So the ceremony where you’re washed in water doesn’t save, they say. But receiving the cleansing of the Holy Spirit when you believe? That does save. And to justify this distinction between water baptism and Spirit baptism, the baptists will often point to the Baptizer’s words from our reading this morning, where John says, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. Combine that with Matthew’s account of this same speech, when John says of, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire,” and that’s where they see two baptisms.

So what should we make of this? Is John teaching two baptisms here? Not at all, which the context of our reading makes clear. When John arrives on the scene, there’s a great sense of anticipation that he is the Christ, that everyone can stop waiting for the Messiah because it must be him, something John immediately dispels. Who is John? He is simply a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord by calling people to be baptized. In other words, John is saying “if you stop waiting now, then my baptism won’t be of any value. Without Jesus, it would just be water. But Jesus is going to complete my baptism with fire and the Holy Spirit. With me alone, baptism doesn’t save. But with Jesus, baptism does,” something we see quite clearly when Jesus tells John that he needs to be baptized, “to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus fills the waters of baptism with His righteousness, which delivers salvation to us.

So no, there aren’t two baptisms. And no, being baptized with water isn’t an empty ritual. Rather, because of Jesus, John’s incomplete baptism becomes complete. Now, in Holy Baptism, we have the love of the Father in those waters, the forgiving blood of the Son in those waters, the cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit in those waters. And thus the baptism of the Holy Spirit is found in the baptism of water. May we rejoice in the salvation we have received through that blessed water every day.

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@Halfrack_8 @HVACwarfare Looks like we traveled a similar path. We joined just over 3 years ago. It’s been a tremendous blessing.

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@GenuineRecluse @lecternleader You’re imaginary the ELCA not the LCMS.

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@TheBabylonBee Has anyone from @TheBanylonBee visited their own site?

[AWT @EricWithAnA_]

@HansFiene From a guy whose occupation requires it, with a little practice, this is false.