Baptism, Bacon, and Incident Reports

BACON.

Now that I've got your attention...

It is a universal truth that bacon is delicious - even vegetarians, vegans, and PETA supporters secretly admit it. Bacon is amazing scrambled in eggs, lovingly folded into a velvety Mac & Cheese, or just fried crisp and eaten alone in all of its glory. Aside from being restricted in Torah, anathema to Muslims, and potentially threatening to human arteries, there really aren't many downsides to the cured, smoked, rendered, belly of our wallowing friend - the pig. Unless, that is, you’re cooking 16lbs of bacon, for three hours, in order to satisfy the carnivorous cravings of 60+ students.

By 7:00pm last Tuesday night, I wreaked of bacon grease and didn't even get to enjoy the succulence of one bite! For once in my life, though, I didn't regret the missed opportunity to consume bacon. Why? Because while the bacon was cooking I stood around a rolly-cart thing (do those even have names?), surrounded by children, proposing to them that they should receive another gift - besides the bacon of course - baptism.

I may have wreaked of bacon for a few glorious hours but, because of my baptism as an infant, I eternally wreak of the blood, sweat, and tears of Jesus, who was crucified, died, buried, and resurrected. The students at the rec center are beginning to catch a whiff of that smell - the smell of living water and the generational pages of God's promised. They are beginning to wonder how they can wreak of Jesus as well. Amidst the luring siren song of sizzling bacon they smelled the sweet, forgiving scent of spring flowers and the promise of new life through baptism.

As I shared what baptism is and why they should be baptized I saw nostrils flare and eyes open wide to the universal truth that they could become eternal members of God's family and children of Jesus, the King. Then we ate they pancakes they helped prepare for dinner. Meanwhile, because of a 'mysterious' injury to a fellow student, Mark had to fill out an incident report leaving the rest of us managing the chaos while flipping flapjacks and drooling over pounds and pounds of bacon.

Just another day in the life at Bridge City Community...