Jesus' Cousin: Prison, January 26, 2012

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I really liked today’s story.  We talked about John the Baptist, his role in life, Jesus being baptized, and then Jesus being tempted by Satan.

Most of their questions after the story were about the temptations in the wilderness.  They really were bothered by the way Satan (sorry, I put "Jesus" earlier) was drawn in the picture, and I must say, I’m not too crazy about them either.  They, of course,  were bothered by his long nails and red skin.

I’m still not sure why we depict Satan that way.  Anyway…two of their questions…

*How did Jesus get down from the Temple once he was up there?

*Who are the mother and father of Satan? 

I had other questions about Satan for them, but it was my questions on baptism that were harder for them to answer

*Was Jesus baptized as a baby?

*Do you believe the Bible is true?

*Does it say in the Bible that to be born again, you must be baptized?

After that question, we had a long discussion, because they were SURE that it says in the Bible that you have to be baptized to be born again, when it, in fact, is does not.  I also told them to remember how Jesus was taken to the temple as a child to be dedicated to the Lord, but he wasn’t baptized until later.  So we got into the discussion of infant baptism, because there is no record of that in Scripture either. 

They really pondered these things.

The beautiful part of today was the welcome they gave me for my return.  They sang louder than I had ever heard them, and everyone that knew me hugged my neck, instead of just shaking my hand.

The four Fusion girls went with me today, and they got TWO "welcome to prison songs," in addition to all the praise songs they sang.

Some of the ladies we knew had been released, but there were eleven new ones that I met for the first time.

After the story, the ladies asked me to sleep with them at the prison for one night because they missed me so much.

I know you are disappointed, but I declined.

Then they asked if they could sing again at the end because they were so happy and wanted to rejoice some more.

Florence told me the words to one of the songs was, “My sister was gone, but You, God, returned her to us safely.”

I love the joy I see in these women!