This past weekend, at all our services and campuses, we had a baptism emphasis as part of the teaching, called "Crispus Cremus", based on Acts 18:8. We talked about how baptism is an act of obedience that is done by people who have put their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior… that it is not salvation but instead an active sign that you are following Christ. It is part of the Great Commission and is our job to teach, baptize, go, tell, and make disciples. It was an exciting weekend as 52 people made the decision to get baptized! Some were prepared ahead of time…some actually made the decision during the church service. We had clothes and towels on hand so that as many as possible would be able to go public with their faith that day.

In NoMi, we baptized 8 people!! What on awesome moment to share with our church and to celebrate people letting us know that they have put their trust in Christ and are on mission with us as fellow disciple-makers. The last time, I brought the portable baptistry over from our Pines campus. But this time, we were going to use that one in Hollywood. So I had to come up with another solution. Lo and behold, the wonderous inflatable pool!

Here is the scenario…Friday night, about 10pm, Wal-mart in Cooper City. Water bottles are flying off the shelf, people are starting to panic and get their storm supplies as Hurricane Ike is heading toward us. There is Jeremy, purchasing a pool and air pump, on clearance! Pretty funny…

Fast forward to Sunday morning…just before 9am I arrive at NoMi and start opening boxes and spreading the pool out and realizing how big this pool is (12 ft wide and 30" deep)…inflate the top ring and start putting the water in…wow, this is gonna take a while! I run and get another hose and add that to the pool and start assembling the included ladder…finally (an hour and a half later!) the pool is nearly full, the ladder is ready, and hallelujah, there are no leaks (I was kinda nervous)!

Wal-mart pool – $79

Air pump – $7

Set-up – 2 hours

8 people getting baptized and Jesus being obeyed – priceless!