[b]baptizing In The Desert[/b]

[pastorb]

Praise the wonderful name of Jesus all,

One of my saints sent me an email and I have sense placed the picture on my website please come check it out.

www.shieldle.com/baptism.html

There are soldiers in the desert being baptized by the chaplains. You can't convice me that God is not everywhere.

And before everyone begins to exegete the picture and try to figure out if this chaplain is apostolic or not or if he is baptizing in Jesus name or not, I just thank God that someone over their said I want to be baptized and My prayer is that is was done the right way and that God will honor the hearts of every repented soldier.

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

[tufluv]

WOW!! What an awesome SIGHT!!!:angel:

What better time to make that decision, and get baptized, right before impending? death. I really think that GOD who knows our hearts, will honor their decision and obedience.
And hopefully, should they make it back home safely, that decision will be the impetus for a continuing search for Truth, and a life serving our Almighty God, enduring to the end.:bow:

[pastorb]

I'm praying that those with the Holy Ghost will link up with those that don't and pray them through and watch God work.

Hallelujah !!!!!!!!!!

This is the Lord and it is marvelous in our eyes.

[pastorb]

Got to go to work, talk to you tomorrow

I am so excited about this.

[tufluv]

ME TOO, PASTORB!!

Any baptism in the glorious, and holy NAME OF JESUS excites me, but even more so, the steps pre-leading up to that, the working with those lost souls, praying with them, seeing their eyes finally light up with enlightenment, is worth every effort minute and resource spent towards that goal!!:angel:
Whether in the desert in Iraq, or the deserts of despair within lost souls here, the cleansing living waters of JESUS, wash away the filthy grime and sins of this world. MY SOUL DOTH MAGNIFY THE LORD!! :bow:
We are fixin to baptize very soon, several souls!! I am rejoicing so much lately with the Spirit of GOD within me, preparing me for much more!!:yeah:
During a recent revival at my home church, I started "running" in the Spirit!!! and continued on at another revival service out of town, talk about exciting!!! I love growing in the LORD!
There is much to rejoice in the midst of tribulations, for VICTORY is just over that mountain!! :bow:

[ThirdGeneration]

And now for the rest of the story!!!

"I hereby baptize you in the name of Jesus Christ," Webber said as Marines shouted "Ooohhhrrraaa!" and clapped."


A newspaper article, from March 17, by Darrin Mortenson of the North County Times (California):

CAMP INCHON, Kuwait ---- Promising to walk the "hard and narrow path to
righteousness," dozens of Marines were baptized Sunday in a sandbag-lined
pool in this desert camp not far from the Iraqi border.

The hour-long ceremony was the beginning of another week of waiting for the
3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment and several other units in Regimental
Combat Team One, that have been positioned here for nearly a month.

But the waiting appears to be over; barring a last-minute change of heart by
the United Nations Security Council, President Bush on Sunday said war with
Iraq is inevitable ---- and imminent.

However, the troops here were oblivious to the diplomatic wrangling
thousands of miles away. On Sunday, they were concerned with more immediate
matters: their redemption.

Like dozens of his comrades before and after him, Sgt. Scott Fleming, 24, of
Texarkana, Texas, stripped down in front of about 100 Marines and dropped
his clothes to the sand.

A bit embarrassed, but standing straight and confident, he stepped forward
to the edge of the pool and gave his testimony before his fellow Marines.

"For me, it's like taking the hard path in the Marine Corps," he said. "I
want to take the hard and narrow path to righteousness."

After Fleming knelt in the pool and reaffirmed his faith, Navy Chaplain Tom
Webber plunged his shaven head and bare shoulders into the water.

"I hereby baptize you in the name of Jesus Christ," Webber said as Marines
shouted "Ooohhhrrraaa!" and clapped.

The scene was repeated dozens of times as troops stepped forward professing
their faith and confessing their waywardness.
A passing duet of Cobra attack helicopters drowned out a portion of the
chaplain's prayers, and a swarm of ladybugs descended on the crowd as the
Marines stood watching in the hot afternoon sun.

"I'm a father now, I just want to make it back to them so I can watch them
grow and pass on the word of Christ to them," said one Marine.

"I sort of strayed when I got in the Marines, like a lotta guys do. I
realized it was the wrong path," said another, a non-commissioned officer
from 3rd Battalion's weapons platoon. "That's why I'm here today: to promise
my fellow Marines that I will walk the right path."

"I figured there would be no better place to be baptized than before my
fellow Marines," said another.

Their comrades cheered on each one as they sunk their hardened, tattooed
torsos beneath the sandbags to dip into the baptismal water.

Sunday's ceremony may have been an emotional release for both participants
and spectators.

Commanders reluctantly acknowledge that troops are getting tired, bored and
frustrated as they wait for President George Bush to give them the order to
invade Iraq, and emotions are riding close to the surface for many of the
men.

The longer they wait, the more reasons they seem to have to worry. Some of
the worries are close; others are far away.
Several Marines in the same camp were injured when their truck rolled over.
At least one Marine committed suicide in a nearby battalion. And another
Marine lost both her legs when she was pinched between two of the amphibious
assault vehicles being loaded off a ship to be delivered to "three-one," as
the battalion is nicknamed.

Many of them married their girlfriends when they returned from a six-month
deployment in December, only to be called up again days or weeks later. With
no access to a phone, they can't call to see how their new wives are faring
without them.
Others have had children born while they've been in Kuwait ---- or had wives
leave them.

"We had some new professions of faith by the second week we were here," said
Navy Chaplain Travis Moger, the spiritual leader for 2nd Battalion, 23rd
Reserve Regiment.

"For some, the stress of being here is part of it," he said. "For others,
they decided somewhere along the line that this is what they wanted for
their faith, and this was just a good opportunity to turn things around and
get back on the path to their Lord.

"It's almost like men I've seen in prisons," Moger said. "They're vulnerable
and very transparent with their emotions. There is no reason to keep
anything from their fellow Marines."

03/17/03

[ThirdGeneration]

Another website in talking about this story had the following to say:

Early Wednesday on the Godarchy Line: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:36-39)

President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld are being urged NOT to restrict members of our military from open expressions of their faith in Christ reports a Focus On the Family article. In the Gulf War 12 years ago the US Military went out of its way to stop troops from wearing religious symbols or singing hymns so as "not to offend Muslims."

John Whitehead, of the Rutherford Institute, said "We've got reports that this is happening again, and actually that the military has given so-called marching orders that Christians and Jews cannot display their religion in any way publicly."

This is hypocrisy to the max again. Like his daddy, George W. Bush rightly encourages the nation to pray for our troops. But our troops need to be able to pray and express their faith, not hiding it under a basket. It's a sad commentary on America when our government forces Christians to make a choice between denying bureaucratic orders from the Pentagon or denying Christ by remaining silent contrary to Scripture.

Of course the Lord Jesus can never be kept in a box. In the fall of 1991, we invited a young man waiting at the bus station to have dinner with us and sleep in a bed instead of sitting at the bus station till his bus left early the next morning. He was pleased when we told him we were having a Bible study afterwards with some praise & worship.

After the Bible study, this young man asked if he could share some things. He had just finished his tour of duty in the Marine Corp as was on his way home but he could not help but speak of what he saw the Lord do while he was in the gulf during the war. He told of hardened Marines weeping over their sins as they confessed Jesus as Lord and were baptized by the hundreds in plastic pools of water in the Saudi desert sand.

When the Marines entered Kuwait and Iraq, they were met mostly by soldiers surrendering but what really surprised him was their asking the Americans about their God. Yes, the Iraqi troops were starving for food but also starving for the Lord Jesus Christ! Humanitarian groups brought in supplies for these Marines to hand out he said and among these supplies were 5 semi trucks full of Gospel tracts and New Testaments.


So many Iraqi citizens and surrendering troops wanted tracts that there was not enough. They were making agreements with each other to take a page to share and trade with each other. This young man was a Christian before being sent to the Gulf War but he had never witnessed such a hunger for Jesus as he saw first among his fellow Marines and then the Iraqis. Weapons and technology were not enough for Marines facing possible death and the false moon goddess of Allah had failed to deliver the Iraqis.

Instead of fulfilling the Pentagon's fear of offending Muslims, our fighting men wound up as missionaries for Christ when the fighting stopped. The young marine in our Bible study that night then recounted his trip back to the States. "I was on a chartered passenger flight and the flight attendant told us (over 200 Marines) that the airline was providing free drinks. I was stunned as every Marine on my flight reflected on the commitment they had made to Christ in Saudi and turned the drinks down. It was an 11-hour flight"

He explained what a miracle this was to several at our study that were not personally familiar with your average Marine on leave let alone going home. At Twentynine Palms he testified that the Marines still at the base that he had served with were continuing in Bible studies. He closed his testimonies by thanking us for praying for all of our troops and we all sang some more praises to King Jesus for the great things He has done.

Today Americans are back outside Iraq with 235,000 troops just waiting for the go call from Bush before unleashing a war far more violent against Saddam Hussein's regime. This regime in turn is threatening to use chemical and biological weapons it alleges it doesn't have.

From Camp Inchon, Kuwait comes a news story about US Marines again seeking Jesus as Lord. The California North County Times reports...... (the story in the above post).

This is just 1 story from 1 group of Marines that made the news. This same revival is occurring in other camps across our troop deployments in the region. In Kuwait, these services are different from 12 years ago only in that they can hold these services in the open since Kuwait allows all religions. In Saudi Arabia where Christianity is banned, the services were in secret.

The Fayetteville Online news reports that 63 members of the 3rd Battalion of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment were baptized Monday in the Persian Gulf. The old axiom that there ere are no atheists in foxholes is true.

This time mass surrender by a poorly equipped Iraqi army may dwarf anything seen in 1991. The hunger for the Lord Jesus Christ is likely to still be present in Iraq. After all, what has Islam done for them lately other than feed them lies? Our troops will have their hands full in a quick march to Bagdad with a noisy and deadly urban renewal project ahead of them before turning to meeting humanitarian needs of the people. This is when these Christian soldiers and Marines will shine brightly.

Some are tempted to be skeptical of sudden conversions in the face of possible death but as the young Marine we had as a guest 12 years ago testified, Jesus knows those who are His and these men remember their commitment when they live through it.

In the Marine Corp, you better walk the talk or you're in for a hard road. A friend of mine was in the Army and said it was the same there. Marines and soldiers know that the proof is not in what you say but in what you do. You know that more than 1 Marine had to be tempted to accept a free drink on that long flight home but each knew they had made promises to God in front of witnesses. God kept His promise and together they kept theirs. The real key I believe was the fact that they had actively shared the Christ they knew with those Iraqis begging to hear the Gospel.

In biblical Christianity, one lives out what they truly believe. Either you've got the Lord Jesus or you don't. The world can tell.

[Sandy]

Wow. Praise the Lord. Had to show my hubby all of this. What a blessing from Pastor B, and Third. Thanks for posting all of this.

[foreverblessed]

That is great!


Someone that is originally out of our church is serving on the front lines right now. Our church just sent him a card. He is Sgt. Luke Medlin. He is a young minister, and I guarantee he is proclaiming the truth.

Also our the District Super of Indiana has a son on the front lines right now.

Please pray for both of these men serving their Country.

[foreverblessed]

The following is newspaper ariticle about the battle that Bro. Stroup, Super of Indiana District, Son was a part of.

THE MARINES
Iraqi Soldiers Say It Was Fight or Die
By DEXTER FILKINS


IWANIYA, Iraq, March 26 — The aftermath of the firefight was a tableau of twisted Iraqi bodies, tins of unopened food and the dirty mattresses where they had spent their final hours.

But the Iraqi private with a bullet wound in the back of his head suggested something unusually grim. Up and down the 200-mile stretch of desert where the American and British forces have advanced, one Iraqi prisoner after another has told captors a similar tale: that many Iraqi soldiers were fighting at gunpoint, threatened with death by tough loyalists of President Saddam Hussein.

Here, according to American doctors and Iraqi prisoners, appeared to be one confirmation. The wounded Iraqi, whose life was ebbing away outside an American field hospital, had been shot during the firefight Tuesday night with American troops. It was a small-caliber bullet, most likely from a pistol, fired at close range. Iraqi prisoners taken after the battle said their officers had been firing at them, pushing them into battle.

"The officers threatened to shoot us unless we fought," said a wounded Iraqi from his bed in the American field hospital here. "They took out their guns and pointed them and told us to fight."

As the American medics patched up the wounds of three other Iraqi soldiers, they said there was little they could do for the one who had been shot in the head. Much of his skull had come apart, and the medics labeled him "expectant," which meant he was expected to die. They gave him morphine, wrapped him in a green blanket and put him on a stretcher outside their tent.

"We think he was shot by his own," Dr. Wade Wilde, a Marine surgeon, said. "If he had been hit by an M-16, it would have taken his whole head off. It seems like it was an Iraqi gun." As Dr. Wilde spoke, his eyes drifted to the Iraqi soldier, still clinging to life, on the stretcher. "We've tried to make him as comfortable as possible," he said, "and let the wound run its course."

It is wild here near the front of the American advance, 110 miles south of Baghdad. The ambushes are more frequent, the Iraqi soldiers more desperate, the Americans more jumpy. At night, the perimeter of the American camp echoes with the sound of mortar fire and the yips of wild dogs. "The closer we get to Baghdad, the crazier it gets," Sgt. Robert Gardner, a marine at a base here, said.

The American marines making their way up the Baghdad Highway through central Iraq came under attack at least three times in the past 24 hours. Two of the attacks, including those in which the Iraqi soldiers said they were shot by their own officers, followed a similar pattern.

The Iraqis waited for the tanks and other armored vehicles to pass, then opened fire, as if hoping to hurt the American force but unable to match its heavier weapons. Twice on Tuesday, the Americans came under fire that way.

The first attack came before dawn, when a convoy of marines came under fire from Iraqi irregulars. The details were sketchy, but American officers said they had taken several Iraqi militiamen prisoner, killed several of the Iraqis and lost none of their own. On the road north, the only sign of the encounter was a pool of blood on the side of the road.

Hours later, during a swirling sandstorm, the American convoy again came under attack. A force thought to number about 150 Iraqis was waiting in trenches about 100 yards off the highway. That fight proved more deadly: an American marine was killed and another was wounded, along with at least a dozen Iraqis killed.

Cpl. Chad Stroup was riding with a group of his comrades in a personnel carrier when he heard the banging of bullets on the vehicle's armored shell. His driver, seeking to avoid the fire, swerved and flipped the carrier into an Iraqi trench. Corporal Stroup and the others piled out the vehicle and ran for cover, somehow avoiding the Iraqi soldiers thought to be in the trench. The fight, he said, ended abruptly with American artillery fire. "There were two loud explosions, then it went quiet," he said.

The scene after Tuesday night's battle suggested an Iraqi force that was not as spirited as some of those that American troops have encountered recently in Nasiriya and Najaf.

Scattered through the Iraqi trenches was an arsenal hardly up to the task of slowing the American advance: a few hand grenades, some rocket launchers, three dozen magazines for Kalashnikov rifles. A pair of filthy mattresses and moldy blankets were thrown together in a pile. A dozen corpses lay splayed about in the ditch. Perhaps the only ominous articles were Iraqi gas masks strewn about the trench line.

On the roadside, the Iraqi prisoners huddled together. Only a few had uniforms; most wore tattered clothing and battered shoes. They did not seem like men who lusted for battle. American marines guarding the prisoners said they had complained that their own officers had shot at them during the battle. "I have four children at home, and they threatened to hurt them if I did not fight," another one of the wounded Iraqis said. "I had no choice."

Perhaps because of those accusations, the Americans had taken the group's leader, an Iraqi brigadier general, and sat him on the ground away from the others.

By midafternoon, the marines were embroiled in yet another fight. This one was just three miles away, close enough for Iraqi mortar shells to fall near the American camp. A Marine battalion of about 600 men was dispatched to confront the Iraqis, and by nightfall the sound of artillery rumbled through the area.

By nightfall, the marines, so often a picture of tireless and cocksure youth, were on edge. Around 8 p.m., a sentry guarding the base opened fire, and soon he was joined by a volley of rockets and machine-gun fire from a number of his comrades. Afterward, the area went still. Yet with so little light and so little certain, no one seemed to know whether the young soldiers had been firing at Iraqi intruders or the wild dogs yipping outside the camp.

[Hnovilla]

His Name is Jesus!

What is the 'right way'to get baptized, and by 'whom'? Beloved Church, my reading on this is that ANYONE who has repented, been baptized in theNAME of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, AND has received the gift of the Holy Spirit can baptize. No one can give what one doesn't have; and if a chaplain don't have it, he can't give it.
Yes, the Lord will honor FAITH, by keeping those who have truly repented safe, until someone who has received the Gospel is available. Anything else is just wishful thinking.
Church, it is STILL "...holy men, chosen of God...".

Brother Villa

[pastorb]

And what scripture reference are you using for that line of thinking because if thats the case. Everyone that was baptized by a crooked preacher claiming to be something he is not needs to be baptized again right?

WRONG.

The hope in this case lies with the baptizee not the baptizer and if the baptizee has repented, and is baptized in Jesus name for the remission of sins, he shall be fill with the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Show me where the bible says different!!!

If Captain Webber knows enough to baptize in Jesus name maybe he is or will be saved, God only knows.

[nytxn1971]

Originally posted by pastorb
And what scripture reference are you using for that line of thinking because if thats the case. Everyone that was baptized by a crooked preacher claiming to be something he is not needs to be baptized again right?

WRONG.

The hope in this case lies with the baptizee not the baptizer and if the baptizee has repented, and is baptized in Jesus name for the remission of sins, he shall be fill with the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Show me where the bible says different!!!


I'm with ya on this one, Pastorb, 100%!

[stmatthew]

I also am with you Pastorb!!

It is according to the faith of the baptizee that God reaches down and operates, circumsizing the heart. The only requirement is that the name of Jesus is invoked over the candidate at baptism. As Pastorb said, there are a lot of folks that would have to be rebaptized if baptism counts only if the baptizer has the right qualifications.

[Sandy]

So am I Pastor B. I suppose the ideal situation is to have both being in agreement about this. But what is someone is believing and asking God to do all that He has promised to do then, is our God going to refuse, saying, nope. Sorry. When the Word says whatsoever you ask in my name, believing,it shall be given unto you in so many places in the scriptures?

I had an experience several years ago, but not to long after I was baptized in His name. At the time, we were, yes, attending a Trinitarian Church, :eek: And there was this 80 year young elderly lady there that was going to Jerusalem on one of the tours with some other :eek: Trinitarians. So while she was over there, the Lord spoke to me telling me to pray for her to receive all that He had for her to receive while being baptized. So I did so, praying in His name that she would be baptized into Him. Then a few weeks later she appeared in church the first Sunday after returning. So the pastor asked her to get up and testify about her trip, which she did. She began by telling a little about what she saw over there, but then suddenly began sharing about something happening to her which she could not entirely explain when she was baptized in the Jordan River. And how especially afterwards, she was constantly led to pray in tongues. At that time, she wasn't sure if it had something to do with being baptized in the Jordan where Jesus was baptized, or just what it was that had happened to her. But she shared knowing from that moment on, she would never be the same, even though she had been a believer all of her life. Because something had definitely happened to her when baptized.

Well I knew what had happened to her instantly of course. She was baptized in His name no matter what the baptizer said over her, because of the prayer of faith God told me to pray.

Of course, the Lord put us together later, my sharing with her what had happened in the Word. And she instantly saw it, and bgan to share it with others as well, along with the revelation of Jesus Christ and many other things we were able to share with her too.

Out of that church, my husband also baptized several. We did share it with the pastor too, but not long after that, was, shall we say, ex-communicated from there. And we have to remember too, how much watering we did do while there too, maybe even with that pastor for later. Because sometimes that is all you are doing. But for some reason, we seem to forget that, if we don't see instant results right away. At least I often do anyway.

I know there are those that would say she was not baptized in His name too. Have had some do so after sharing this. But I have to say I know better.

Mt. 19:
6. Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Now I know that is speaking of male and female in the natural. But could it not pertain to the bridegroom and bride in the spiritual as well?

[searching]

I being baptised in Jesus' Name had to come from someone that also had that baptism, who baptised the first baptiser to make him eligible?

Me...

[Sandy]

Actually Searching, the Lord specifically told my husband who was to baptize us, which was someone that was indeed in Christ. But I also learned thru the experience I described, that we should not limit what God can do either, when it doesn't comply with what we consider to be the ideal situation. Because He does what He wants. I think He sort of told Job this too, come to think of it. And if there is nothing that specifically says this has to be, but Word that suggests otherwise, which I gave, then we need to consider there are certain times, for whatever reason the Lord might have, when God will perform His Word whether others believe it is right or not.

[searching]

LOL Sandy, but I was just trying to be funny in response to what someone else said.

Me...

[Hnovilla]

His Name is Jesus!

Beloved, then a man should be able to 'baptize' himself!

It is NOT what I THINK, but what the scriptures state. Am I asked to quote scripture to defend this doctrine? Then I should ask which scripture states that ANYONE other than a child of God can baptize.
Church, "...for whosoever CALLS upon the Name of the Lord SHALL BE saved..." Let the record show that those who called upon the Name of the Lord were sent "...holy men, chosen of God..." THAT is scripture. The Lord will not send repentant men to seek counsel of men that either have not the Gospel, or have rejected it. Once more, "...there is none other NAME, under heaven..." Or are you folks declaring ANOTHER Name? If a 'trinie' calls upon the trinity (that is what they are doing when they 'baptize' in the titles), and then baptizes in the Name of Jesus, he is declaring a non-apostolic doctrine: a second gospel. When a man submits to a 'trinie', he is submitting to his doctrine.
What, there are no Christians (REAL ONES) among the servicemen? I don't believe it. I don't know very much; but I KNOW the Gospel.
Brother Villa

[Sandy]

You are right about that. But then when that lady I was speaking of was baptized, while trinnie was speaking over her what they believe, I was calling on the One true God. Does that not count just because she was dunked in some water by another? Or is God's word not more powerful than that mans?

[Sandy]

I need to explain what I meant too, just so that nobody thinks I think I am God, because I do not. But when The Lord told me to pray the prayer of faith for her concerning this, His Word tells me that whatsoever I asked for He would do. So I asked, and He did, despite what man was asking for then. And that was what I meant by His Word being more powerful than mans.

[Hnovilla]

His Name is Jesus!

maybe my answer is not important enough to post, but...

It is better to baptize 'oneself' in the desert, than to be baptized by a person who either does NOT know the Gospel, or is DENYING the NAME of the Lord Jesus in the waters of baptism.

Beloved, If I truly believed, I would rather get baptized AGAIN by a person who DOES NOT deny the Lord's Name in Baptism.
John the Baptist was the right man for his time, but the Apostle Paul rightly re-baptized the men in Ephesus in the NAME.

I believe that we need to call upon the NAME when we baptize, and the Name IS NOT 'in the authority', but Jesus: which means 'The SAVIOR who HAS SAVED by himself'.
I believe that if a person has not been baptized in [calling on] the Name of Jesus, he is not eligible to baptize. After all, beloved, a person cannot give what he/she doesn't have.

"If you receive it, well; if not, give me my price. And they gave to me thirty pieces of silver."

Brother Villa