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Yesterday was the second time in two years that we decided to do a spontaneous baptism at West Ridge Church. The first time was so unbelievable, 137 people baptized and more than 40 salvation decisions, that we decided we needed to do it again.

When you plan these events out, you really never know what’s going to happen. You just prepare for a lot of people to move and pray that God works in people’s hearts. Yesterday, God showed up in an unprecedented way in all three services. I was once again amazed at the number of people that got up out of their seat, with no foreknowledge that we were doing this, and allowed me to immerse them under water.

However, what made yesterday’s baptism a day I will never forget were the stories of life change.

At the 9:00 AM hour I baptized a couple that said that their marriage was over. However, that morning the husband had made a decision to trust Jesus Christ to be his Savior and they wanted to be baptized together to tell the Lord they were ready for a new beginning.

I baptized another man who had been struggling with chemical dependency for over 30 years. He had recently received Christ as his Savior, had been clean for 8 months, and wanted be baptized to celebrate God giving him a new life.

The last guy in the 9:00 AM service was a soldier who was getting ready to be deployed to Iraq in two weeks. I had a chance to pray over him and then baptize him. It was a tearjerker. Our crowd responded with a standing ovation.

In the 11:00 AM hour I baptized a young man who had grown up and was completely immersed in Mormonism. Yesterday, he trusted Jesus Christ to be his personal Savior. When he entered the tub, Melissa Smith and her two sons came down into the water with him. The Smith family has been ministering to this guy and his family for over two years and he is the third to become a true follower of Jesus Christ.

I also got to baptize my next-door neighbor’s 14 year-old daughter, Cathy. This young lady trusted Jesus Christ to be her Savior a few weeks ago in the 9th grade North Paulding High Journey Group that Amy and I host and lead on Wednesday nights. She and her family have been coming to West Ridge for the few years. It is so amazing to see life change in people that you are specifically praying for.

In the 6:00 PM service, I had a guy come into the tub that was at least 6 ft. 6 or better. I’m 6 ft. 2 and I felt pretty small standing next to this guy. A few years ago this man’s wife died. On her deathbed she pleaded with him to trust Christ to be his Savior. He promised her that one day he would make that decision. Last night, he made good on his promise. He asked Jesus into his heart and was baptized. It was a pretty emotional moment.

Every person that walked down into that tub yesterday was an amazing, miraculous life change story. Last night, when I put my head on my pillow, I was completely wiped out, but I was overwhelmed with gratitude that God has given me the opportunity to be part of people’s lives and to pastor such an amazing church.