how to become a baptist?

[Ben1445]

@John of Japan is partially correct.

Immersion is important, but so is de-immersion. If you don't come back up you are not a real Baptist.

Yeah at that point you would have passed on and not become a Baptist.

 

[John of Japan]

Small world, that was the Church where I was baptized! Right off Raleigh-Millington rd. There is still a Church there and it is still IFB (and KJVO). My wife and I stopped by there some years ago and talked to some of the members who were working on the property. I believe it is called "New Hope Baptist Church" but I am not sure if this is an entirely new church or the same congregation with a different name?

To my knowledge, Southside BC ceased to exist, maybe as a judgment from God about how they treated my Dad. (One leader against my Dad died of cancer, another in a car accident, etc.) So probably New Hope BC just bought the building. We lived in the parsonage back on the property, which was 7 acres then.

I was there in 1983 when Ed Morris was pastor and he was the one who baptized me. Michael Pearl was the pastor before him and he was still in the area running a coffee house on Navy Road reaching out to young Sailors such as myself. Bro. Pearl seemed like a really nice guy but I was told he was really "out there" with his doctrine but not really certain how or where at the time. I did some "guitar picking" with him a couple of times and he showed me a few Beatles songs that he rewrote with Christian lyrics.

Hey, I play the guitar too! Beatles songs with Christian lyrics--good one! The typical IFB would reject that, but most wouldn't know the tunes--and the Beatles were good at composing melodies! I once sat in a Ramen shop with a very fundamental missionary, and a Beatles song was being played by an orchestra over the intercom, and he said, "Nice music." I didn't have the heart to tell him!

One of my best friends during that time was a black Marine who also attended the church. There was quite a bit of prejudice regarding "mixed marriages" and I think they pretty much made it clear that they were not welcome there. One married sailor spent several weeks trying really hard to befriend the rest of us and become a part of the Church while he was waiting for his wife who was arriving later. When we finally met her, she was a very pretty black lady (he was white) and that was the last we ever heard of them! They actually had me believing that mixed marriages were sinful which later prevented me from marrying a beautiful Filipina lady I would meet a couple years later. God has a real sense of humor though because he brought her right back into my life after the divorce from my first wife and we have now been married for 12 years!

There was such prejudice all over the Southland back in those days. But it sounds like God has blessed you. I've had dear friends who were in a Japanese-American marriage. Sometimes it works and sometimes doesn't. The key, as you know, is understanding the marriage partner's culture.

 

[Armchair Apologist]

@John of Japan is partially correct.

Immersion is important, but so is de-immersion. If you don't come back up you are not a real Baptist.

ROFL! Yes, I am certainly thankful the pastor allowed me to get back up!

 

[John of Japan]

Yeah at that point you would have passed on and not become a Baptist.

I had a pastor friend who went on a trip, and his assistant baptized for the first time. He goofed, and said the words while holding the old guy under. When the pastor came back, he said, "Are you glad you're baptized?" The old guy said, "I'm just happy to be alive!"

 

[Ben1445]

I had a pastor friend who went on a trip, and his assistant baptized for the first time. He goofed, and said the words while holding the old guy under. When the pastor came back, he said, "Are you glad you're baptized?" The old guy said, "I'm just happy to be alive!"

I’m glad to hear that everyone survived.

Maybe it should be a requirement to have a lifeguard on site in case anyone needs first aid.

 

[Armchair Apologist]

To my knowledge, Southside BC ceased to exist, maybe as a judgment from God about how they treated my Dad. (One leader against my Dad died of cancer, another in a car accident, etc.) So probably New Hope BC just bought the building. We lived in the parsonage back on the property, which was 7 acres then.

I was there almost 20 years after your father had been gone so likely a completely different crowd although I am not sure when Michael Pearl or Ed Morris began their pastorates or if either had anything to do with the "hostile takeover" of the Church?

Hey, I play the guitar too! Beatles songs with Christian lyrics--good one! The typical IFB would reject that, but most wouldn't know the tunes--and the Beatles were good at composing melodies! I once sat in a Ramen shop with a very fundamental missionary, and a Beatles song was being played by an orchestra over the intercom, and he said, "Nice music." I didn't have the heart to tell him!

Playing guitar helped me to see that they were somewhat real and this helped to keep me around. I was beginning to have my eyes on some really cute girls from the Pentecostal Church on the other side of town and even though I knew they were heretics (Legitimately - UPCI), that alone was a strong temptation! No pretty girls going to Southside - just a bunch of ugly sailor dudes!

There was such prejudice all over the Southland back in those days. But it sounds like God has blessed you. I've had dear friends who were in a Japanese-American marriage. Sometimes it works and sometimes doesn't. The key, as you know, is understanding the marriage partner's culture.

God most certainly has and the crazy thing about it is no one would actually take issue with Whites and Filipinos (or any other Asian) together - just blacks with whites! I just concluded if it was sinful for a White man to marry a black woman, it would have been equally sinful for me to marry a Filipina.

 

[Ben1445]

Hey, I play the guitar too! Beatles songs with Christian lyrics--good one! The typical IFB would reject that, but most wouldn't know the tunes--and the Beatles were good at composing melodies! I once sat in a Ramen shop with a very fundamental missionary, and a Beatles song was being played by an orchestra over the intercom, and he said, "Nice music." I didn't have the heart to tell him!

There are a lot of orchestrations that calm down or clean up modern songs.
The difficulty is that the tunes bring back to mind the words that are not worth thinking about. I much prefer to leave all of it alone myself. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[John of Japan]

I was there almost 20 years after your father had been gone so likely a completely different crowd although I am not sure when Michael Pearl or Ed Morris began their pastorates or if either had anything to do with the "hostile takeover" of the Church?

Don't know. The name "Ed Morris" sounds familiar. There was one young man (him? don't know) who was with the opposition, but when he became a pastor himself he saw how wrong he had been and wrote a letter of apology to Dad--which didn't impress Dad much.

Playing guitar helped me to see that they were somewhat real and this helped to keep me around. I was beginning to have my eyes on some really cute girls from the Pentecostal Church on the other side of town and even though I knew they were heretics (Legitimately - UPCI), that alone was a strong temptation! No pretty girls going to Southside - just a bunch of ugly sailor dudes!

Yeah, I remember playing and singing a love song to a Lutheran girl around a campfire. She eventually dumped me and ended up marrying a Church of Christ preacher. Go figure.

God most certainly has and the crazy thing about it is no one would actually take issue with Whites and Filipinos (or any other Asian) together - just blacks with whites! I just concluded if it was sinful for a White man to marry a black woman, it would have been equally sinful for me to marry a Filipina.

Strangely, that seems to be true of Americans. Japanese, though, criticize any Japanese marrying any foreigner. Very nationalistic country.