Though similarities exist between them, we know that a certification is earned... while baptism is a gracious gift.

 You see, working on that Chevy fender forming die was my machinist’s graduation test. You may wonder, “Did I ever get the crease to form without splitting the thin metal?”

 Well… to be truthful.. “No!”

 I tried fitting that crown shape for three sweltering hot, dark nights. Others tried as well. Yet the fender metal would not stretch that far. The die was finished still sinfully flawed. The final fender shape was only made possible when the room temperature metal was first heated with a torch. That hatchet-shaped nose on the fender could only reach its final form by applying heat at the right spot before final stamping, That was just like those apostles who would not acquire wondrous understanding of salvation in Christ Jesus until the heat of the Holy Spirit’s fire rested upon them.

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  For sure, the apostles had to be properly prepared for their task. Their work in Jesus was made right in the Spirit. That blessed forming of disciples had been planned from a time before the first offense was committed by humanity.

 Finally, with the work and blessing of all entities within the Holy Trinity... We know the apostles did succeed.  So the Church is still with us today. As a minister who was formed by my own failures and my Lord’s successes, I still work on the pliable metal of human will. I know that all of us have sinned. All of us have split open like the guts of Judas. We all become broken at one time or another. And all of us... while yet breathing... can be reformed by the warm work of God’s Spirit. Thanks be to God.

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