14-year-old Mina Romano decided to get baptized earlier this year. Her father, Jon Romano, read Cold-Case Christianity last year and then guided his kids through Cold-Case Christianity for Kids, Forensic Faith for Kids, and God’s Crime Scene for Kids:
“I too found that this approach is missing in our culture today. These books were such powerful tools for me as a parent to use with my family and you can see how impactful these lessons were for my oldest daughter. She came to me last week and said she wanted to be baptized… I can’t tell you how excited I am to continue the conversations with my other 3 young kids and watch them grow in their knowledge of the evidence behind their faith.”
Mina and Jon gave us permission to share the statement she read publicly prior to her baptism:
“I want to thank you all for coming today. This is something that I have been thinking and praying about for a long time. I want to thank Pastor Pete as he was very encouraging to me last week when he pulled me aside and asked me where I was at. He helped me realize that taking this next step in my faith was something that God was calling me to do. I wanted to thank Pastor Dan for all of his teachings over my years at St Johns, he has helped strengthen my faith since the 1st day I came to church and school here.
When I was Younger I moved and switched schools. It was a really hard change. I had grown up in that school and I had to leave all my friends and start on a clean slate. Each day at my new school I would be super nervous about the day and the unknown. It was so different from my old school and I missed my friends so much. I started turning to God and I still didn’t really understand it all but I knew that God was there for me. About a year later my best friend Giannas dad died of cancer in 4th grade and I just remember how hard it was for her. I started thinking how could God put this amazing little girl through something so hard? I remember one night she came to sleep over and she was upset and thinking about her dad. I remember my dad pulled her aside and said, ‘You are going to see your dad again one day and all things will workout for the good’ that was just so powerful for me to hear and It just hit me That I needed Jesus. I just remember seeing her stay so strong through it all and that really helped me realize that if she could stay strong through her hard times that I could and that God would be there for me.
My dad has also been a really important impact in my faith life. He has really helped walk me through and show me that believing in something doesn’t make it real so my answer to why I believe in God couldn’t be that I believe that he died for me or I believe that he came to save me from my sins. See thats a good answer but it’s not enough. My dad really helped me dig deep and see that I know God is real and exists because of the evidence that is out there. This world couldn’t just be an accident caused by some big bang.
We are all here for a reason. Just think about the bible, those are all real people and are even in history books. They proclaimed Jesus was lord and were willing to die for that. Don’t you think that if it were a lie it would have come out somewhere? But it never did. Just think about the universe, everything is perfectly spaced just right so we don’t freeze to death or melt to death. There is gravity that allows us to jump and come back down to earth. There is no way that that happened by accident and we are all just a mistake. One verse that helped me realize what God can do is 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation the old has passed away behold the new has come. That verse just showed me that when we accept Jesus to be our lord and savior we are made new in him and our sins are washed clean. I believe that Jesus came down and died for my sins and I know it is true. I know God exists, and I know he is there for me and has a plan for my life. He has done amazing things and will continue to work through me in so many ways. God I want to be made new today, please take this life of mine and use it for your glory.”
There are good reasons to trust the Gospels. There is sufficient evidence in the universe to infer God’s existence.
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What an encouragement to hear Mina describe the evidence for the historicity of the Gospels and the fine-tuning of the universe as part her baptism statement! Good parents, friends, and pastors were an important part of Mina’s journey for sure (great Job Jon, Gianna, and Dan). May many more young Christians take a similar evidential path to Jesus. There are good reasons to trust the Gospels. There is sufficient evidence in the universe to infer God’s existence. Mina learned that and acted. We can’t wait to see how God uses Mina to change the world and reach her generation for Jesus.
The post What a Baptism Sounds Like When a Young Case Maker Decides to Follow Jesus first appeared on Cold Case Christianity.
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