Notes On Baptism

Baptism is a sacrament we do in the manner Jesus Himself was baptized. It should be done in “the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” We are instructed in such a fashion as described in the Scriptures, but unlike the Old Testament we do not only do it for the clergy, because under Christ we are all in the priesthood, so all believers need to be baptized. What follows is a short summary of things to understand about baptism. Followed by an outline which can be used in a bible class on Baptism from

And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
Matthew 3:14-15

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
Romans 6:3-5

Who Created Evil?

by Chuck Ness

The debate about who created evil is an important one since atheists and skeptics use the existence of evil in their arguments against theism. It is incumbent upon all Christians to understand what the Scriptures say about the God they worship and the existancxe of evil in the world. If God created everything, and if evil is in the world, does it follow that God created evil? We are told as Christians to believe what the Bible says. Even the popular children's song, “Jesus Loves Me”, has in its lyrics,

 

“Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so”.

So, let us read what the Bible says.

In (Genesis 1:1) we read,

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

The New Testament says in (John 1:3),

“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

So, we now know that God made everything through Christ, but are there any Scriptures that specifically say God is the author of evil? The closest we can get is (Isaiah 45:7),

“I make peace and create calamity”,

and (Amos 3:6), 

A Father Pays The Price For His Children's Crimes

As a gift of his love for his eight-year old son, a father gives him a baseball and a bat. The father tells the boy to be carefull as to not break any windows, nor harm anyone with the toys.

So the boy takes his gift and goes outside to play with the new toy. He grabs the bat with his hand, rests it upon his shoulder and tosses the ball into the air with his other hand. As the ball descends he swings the bat at the ball. To his complete enjoyment, the boy hits the ball squarely and it goes sailing into the air. As the baseball flies across the yard, it enters the neighbors yard and smashes into their living room window.

That's when the neighbor comes outside to confront the boy about his window. The neighbor realizes that an eight-year old boy cannot fix, nor pay for the broken window. Yet he demands justice. So he confronts the boys father, who gave him the destructive instruments that shattered his living room window.