Alan was confirmed 8 years ago today

Today in chapel we read Acts 19:11-20. In these verses we discover that non-believers were treating the name of Jesus Christ like it was a magical incantation to cast out demons.

As youngsters we probably all appreciated a good magic show, but now, as adults, we realize that magic is really based on illusions - making things appear to be other than what they are - it is trickery. What the non-believers failed to realize is that Paul was not practicing magic. He was pointing people to Jesus and acknowledging that it is He who is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. People were being saved and healed not because of the words that Paul was speaking, but because of the One of whom he was speaking. His words were the words of God, and as such, they delivered what was promised by God to the believer. Faith accepted the good news and believed.

This is good news for you and me! This means that when God's words were spoken to us in the waters of our baptisms, they were not magic - there was no trick involved. God spoke and it was so. God continues to act in his church today even as he was acting in Paul's day. He truly promises that all who are baptized are saved, that their sins have been washed away, and that they are forever a child of God.

As we struggle with the overwhelming grief of losing Alan, we take comfort that he was not part of an elaborate magic show when he was baptized. In the waters of Alan's baptism he was actually called by name and given a new name in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He became a co-heir with Jesus and all believers! Moreover, Jesus there promised never to leave him or forsake him, and he never did. Alan believed this with all his heart. Eight years ago today he stood with his fellow confirmands and confessed what he had been taught and what he personally believed. He believed that nothing could separate him from the love of Christ Jesus - not even death, and he confessed his belief in the resurrection of the body - that he would see Jesus face to face with his own eyes. This is most certainly TRUE!