It seems like we can readily accept some things that happen to us in life and some of them we can’t. When it comes to relationships and jobs, we like to look forward by saying that the next relationship or job we find will be better then the last. People like to throw phrases around like “well when God closes one door He opens another one,” or they like to quote scriptures like parts of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 “To everything there is a season…” I’ve noticed that in my life it seems that people like to do this for almost everything, but it gets harder when it comes to ministry.

It’s hard for us to accept that sometimes the ministry’s we are called into are only for a season.  This is something that I know that I have had trouble dealing with in my spiritual walk. Over the years, I have been in various ministries in my church. In each of them, I have known when my time helping or participating in them was brought to a close. Some of them have brought me great frustration. I’ve struggled with why I would even feel I was lead into a ministry just to be in it for a short time. Knowing God will lead us into something else can only offer so much comfort especially when you don’t understand why the season is coming to an end.

Currently my mother is in a situation where her time running a ministry might be coming to a close. I listened to her tell me about the situation and how frustrating it was getting to her. The thing is I don’t know what to say. I’m not going to throw around the typical “everything has a season” line. I don’t think it’s ever easy when a person’s time in a ministry is coming to end.

Have you ever been in a ministry but your time was called to a close? What advice would you offer to someone going through the situation?

I’ll admit that I am not a sports fan. I don’t watch them on television, I barely watched them when my brother played, and I definitely don’t play most of them (mainly because I’m terrible at them). Occasionally there is something that will happen in the sports world that gets my attention.

When Tim Tebow answered the question “Are you a virgin?” during a conference, it seems there has been a very mixed reaction to the question. Some thought the question was inappropriate. Others hailed Mr. Tebow for his grace in handling the question. More then anything is the fact that he answered and that his answer was yes. Considering he is an extremely popular college football athlete, Tebow’s answer carries some importance.

Tim Tebow is a Christian and has used his sports platform to promote his beliefs on occasion. On top of that, he is considered to be a role model.  By practicing what he preaches, he is being a true role model. I think we should applaud him for being able to stand for what he believes in. While I’m sure now, there will be more people to watch him hoping he will mess up. I hope that he will stand true to what he believes and continue to be a good role model in the sports world.

What do you think about Tim Tebow’s “confession” and him being a role model?

There have been many people who were brought up attending church with their family. Some of them were baptized when they were children. As they got older, they decided they no longer believed in God. They denounce their faith and walk away from the church. I’ve seen it happen with people that I have grown up with or known over the years. This morning I read an interesting article and I’ve never heard of anyone doing this before. A new trend has spread across a few states where Atheists are having a “de-baptism” ceremony.

In the article “Atheists choose ‘de-baptism’ to renounce childhood faith”, Jeffrey MacDonald describes the event as “a type of mock ceremony that's now been performed in at least four states, a robed "priest" used a hairdryer marked "reason" in an apparent bid to blow away the waters of baptism once and for all. Several dozen participants then fed on a "de-sacrament" (crackers with peanut butter) and received certificates assuring they had "freely renounced a previous mistake, and accepted Reason over Superstition."

The article states that in the past year there have been about 250 participants in de-baptism ceremonies. Some of the participants have even been given certificates.

I know that even among different church denominations there are debates over baptism. I know that a lot of atheists and skeptics come on revelife and read posts. I’m very curious to know what they think about these ceremonies.

If you are an atheist, would you ever participate in a “de-baptism” ceremony?

What are everyone’s thoughts toward this? Can a person’s baptism be renounced?