Getting Baptized

Before reading this post, let me provide a disclaimer.
The subject of this post is someone I respect and look up to as well as call a friend.
This is in no way an attempt to lessen his leadership position or hurt his feelings.
Neither is it an attack on his ability as a minister.
However, this blog is called Grin and Barrett... So you get the idea.

About four years ago I was employed by a church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Lots of great innovative stuff went on there, but there are some things you just can't innovate. They just happen.

My friend (at the time and hopefully still after this posting) Brad, was the associate pastor. During one service there was a water baptism. I've never seen another church do baptisms quite like this, so let me explain what went on.

Music is playing. Not slow hymns, but fast, joyful, celebration music. Then Brad appears in a window about 10 feet above the stage and waves to everyone watching. People, one by one, begin to file into the baptismal and Brad baptizes them. What made this particular experience a unique one went far beyond the innovation of setting the atmosphere to a celebratoin where everyone yelled and cheered for each person being baptized. What made this unique was Brad's choice of clothes.

Brad, a quite muscular and handsome guy, was wearing pants and a thin white t-shirt. As he baptized each person, he dipped lower and lower into the water until after four or five dips, his entire shirt was soaked and now clinging to his rippling muscles while he smiled at the crowd unaware that he had become the spectacle of their observation.

I remember standing in the aisle, and when he came up showing his physique, I chuckled thinking that's kind of funny (i.e. shaddenfreud). The young women also watching were not as humored as I was. They began to gasp and say things like "Ohhh, my" and "Wooow". Poor Noelle, Brad's wife, was somehow caught between the thought of "My man is hot and all these other women are oodeling over him" and the thought of "Hey! All these tramps are checking out my man. Back off."

Finally it all ended and we were only left with the memory of Brad's chest rising and falling under his wet t-shirt as he breathed lust into all the women and envy into all the men of the congregation.

Okay, I say that all with a lot of joking in my voice and a little stretch of the truth, but i bring it up because I heard Brad's new church, The Life, may be doing a baptism service and wanted to offer this as a possible promotional video. (yes I know I don't sound like Brad, but do you think Brad would offer to read that script?)

Enjoy! (click to watch the video)

Special thanks to Brad, the nicest best guy, who was willing to give me a personal reference for my new job. Even though he rarely, if ever reads this blog I'm hoping he won't be offended. If he is, all he has to do is ask, and I'll take it down. Can you tell I'm a little concerned he might use those huge muscles to pummel my weak, fat body into the ground?