26
2010
My Baptism
An article by 
Yesterday morning (Sunday July 25, 2010), my wife and I got Baptized.
Samantha and I were nervously excited to say the least. It was like our wedding day, but different. It was that kind of feeling you get when you are about to embark on something so huge, so extra large, that it was hard to imagine really. We had a number of friends who were pumped to watch which only added to the celebration.
We met Ryan Van Sickle who’s a Married Groups Director. He was the guy who was going to be performing the Baptism. We loved him. He was peaceful and comfortable to talk to (like most Buckhead Church folks). We went over a few verses with us that he said reminded him of our stories. They were amazing. I will post them separately. He said a great prayer and got us ready to go.
For those of you who’ve never been to Buckhead Church, well they’ve got a pretty nifty set-up. It’s a mini-pool off to the side of the stage and you can see the people from about waist up, and this IS full body dunking my friends, not a light spattering of water. Of course I made the joke earlier that “it’s going to be holy water right?”. I think I’m the only one who thinks that’s funny.
Now keep in mind, the time by now is 9am and we’re getting super duper excited now. There’s a thrill kind of feeling in the air as we hear the first song start. Then before I know it, they are saying “hey, this is the second song, let’s go…”, so we went to the edge of the mini-pool.
Then, they played Samantha’s video. I was standing in the pool towards the back, watching and feeling crazy emotional. Fighting back a flood of tears, I’m able to get by with just that “big gulp” feeling in my throat and a couple watery eyeballs. Her video was incredible. It was so articulate and powerful. I was in awe. Then, the light shone on her and it was time. Ryan said some stuff which I can’t remember right now (but will re-learn when I watch the video retakes) and then she goes under. We hug and they immediately begin my video. I hand Sammy my glasses and even though my eyes aren’t that bad… I can’t really see much more than fuzzy shapes everywhere below. I just wanted to take it all in. I wanted to see my video, but couldn’t really, so I listened and looked around the room at the vast sea of people below. It was dark and everyone had a blue hue to them from the lights. I felt a strong connection, which is odd in an auditorium that large, to all of them. I felt so full of life. Again, I fought back the tears and pushed them all into my throat. Towards the end of my video I said
“Everyday I wake up,
I’m ready to take on the world for Him,
not myself”
and I heard Ryan say “Thank you”. My heart raced and I felt like we had this mini-conversation between us right then without really talking. Then, the big light was shining on me. Ryan began and I looked at him taking it all in. There were a thousand thoughts going through my head and it was hard to hold onto just one. Then he said those magic words… and down I went.
The rush of water was all around. The sound was as if you’d pulled a huge weight up out of the water and made a loud diving and splashing sound coming up. At that moment I embraced my wife. What began as a hug quickly turned into me holding on to her for dear life. It was like I was a new born baby grabbing onto my mama for the first time. I buried my face in the crook of her neck as my body pulsed with love, tears, life. At that moment the world stood still. I couldn’t move. No really, I couldn’t move! I held her so tight and loved her more than ever at that instant. Then I heard, “let’s go dear”. She whispered in my ear as the last song had already started.
Man o’ man, what a whirlwind of an experience. Just typing it I feel kinda surreal. I can visualize it so well. I can hear the sounds and feel the tightness of my wife. I could feel a weight being lifted. In other words, I felt dazed.
It didn’t take long to step back into reality. We walked around so we could see the band. Samantha had asked months earlier if they could play a certain song that I had months earlier felt so touched by in another service. It was “Jesus paid it all” (this is not the same band FYI). It actually tied into the end of my video. I said “I’m here to praise the one who paid my debt – Jesus Christ”. So, it was a pretty good segue-way I gotta say.
We met friends and family outside. A few other members came up to us and said congratulations, which while thinking back is such a great thing. I wish we’d been able to meet more new people. Maybe they’ll make that part of it one day.
Well, there it is, my super hero secret story. I guess part of me writing all of this is that it seems like a crime not to tell others how I’ve been changed. How I’ve been taken over by the Holy spirit and how I literally can’t stop thinking and talking to God now. Keep in mind, this last part happened before my Baptism, meaning, you don’t have to get officially Baptized to get your own super powers (if you don’t have them already!).
I will post the video as soon as I get it. That’ll have the famous 275 “my story” ,as well as, Samantha’s.
PS – why is it Baptism with an S and Baptized with a Z – seriously?
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About the Author: Jason Davenport
I'm a guy who's suddenly been given super powers. I call it the Holy Spirit. I went from an unbeliever to a passion filled follower. My new belief is giving me strength I’d NEVER felt before and the Holy Spirit is changing me, from the inside out. I wake up every day now, ready to take on the world for Him, not for myself. Oh yeah, and I do make typos and grammar errors so forgive me.
Jason. I am so overjoyed at this. Hearing the story from your perspective reminds me of the amazing and oh so powerful love that Christ fills us with when we choose to follow Him. I absolutely love your blog and your baptism has really given me that spark to refuel my fire for Christ. I loved being a part of filming your story and seeing your lives changed. By the way here is a link to your baptism. http://vimeo.com/13653686
Hey Travis – thanks so much for your comment! It really means a lot to me.
You guys did a great job on the videos btw – thanks for the link!!!
[...] we were preparing their video to be uploaded, we had the fortune of finding Jason’s blog. After reading it, I was caught off guard by how emotional I was seeing the other side of the [...]
Everyone there at Buckhead ARE helping change lives. You all need to give yourselves a big hug, I know Jesus would.
Jason, thank you for depicting your experience. Mine felt just like that- its encouraging to know that I wasn’t the only one who thought they had a mini conversation in front of 1,000 of their closest friends. Was John White one of Starting Point Leaders?
Hi Lindsay – thanks for the comment. Is your video online as well? I’d love to check it out if it is. John White was one of our leaders in SP along with Jodie Williams and Don Shaw. They were all unique and fabulous. Do you know him well?
PS – if you read too much on my blog you’ll see that I am a bad typo / grammar guy (SORRY!) ha.
I know I posted on FB that your “dunking” was an answer to a pray that started over 20 years ago…I really wasn’t joking. I used to pray for every person on the Packer Press staff. Then continued to pray for specific people, you being one of them. Now, reading about your experience and how you came to this point brought me to my knees crying (ok…BALLING)! Crying with praise and thanksgiving! Watching your video had my husband asking me if I was OK.
And I definitely want to meet your wife!!! Samantha sounds like an amazing woman (not that you would have married less!). After experiencing my own dad come to know Christ as his Savior prior to his death in 2008, I was reminded that God answers prayers in HIS time…even if it seems like a lifetime of prayer. God is SO good! Jason & Samantha, I am SO ecstatic that we are going to dance & jam on the streets of heaven together! (And hopefully we’ll get to connect at some point at Buckhead or the Pacific NW!)
Amy – what a great message!!! It really means a lot to me. I honestly can’t believe you did and have been praying. That’s really unbelievable! I think you should get a reward! The story of your Dad sounds amazing too – wow. Can’t wait to connect in the future.
[...] my old home church in Atlanta celebrated on Sunday. If you’re ready for a God-encounter, read this blog post about one couple’s journey back to God, and then watch the video from Buckhead Church this [...]
wow, jason! welcome to the body of christ! what an amazing, honest, and real testimony. truly powerful to anyone who has the fortune of reading it!
Thanks for the comment Heather! God works in mysterious ways. Luckily, He’s always waiting.
Jason. You are on the way to our house shortly. Sam told Blake to check this out, to explain a lot about who the two of you, and your family are. I just had to tell you that in your video on the church’s site, when you said that discovering the bigness of God didn’t answer all your questions, but rather, made your questions less important, that that sentiment is a key part of my understanding who Jesus is, and what He means, also. We’ll talk later, but I was struck, because I was all about finding The Answers, so that they made sense to me, and could be fit into my life. Now I try to figure how I am supposed to figure into the life we’re called to, and accept that there are things I’ll never understand, but even tougher, I try to accept the things I do understand, but find hard to swallow because it means my Me isn’t as important as I had once thought. It’s all about a We.
Look forward to meeting yall, and honestly, we don’t live off wine as much as I joked with Sam! Just, a little bit… ; )