tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041549.post116353911364899844..comments2023-10-06T06:38:16.077-05:00Comments on the little fights: Baby dedication?Nathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476174265551740950noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041549.post-11871836374669939762007-08-08T00:06:00.000-05:002007-08-08T00:06:00.000-05:00In our church the entire dedication is actually a ...In our church the entire dedication is actually a prayer to God WITH the church body prayed first by the parent and followed by the pastor. It's not a ritual for "works" and it's not like a baptism at all. <BR/>It's 1) Thanking God for this blessing 2) Asking for wisdom & help for parenting and it's done with the aknowledgement of wanting to be accountable in our parenting to the other believers. The congregation is there to pray with us. <BR/>Basically, I think you are missing the point about the ability for PRAYER to MOVE Mountains!!! : )<BR/><BR/>http://www.gotquestions.org/why-pray.html<BR/><BR/>Of course even if infants are dedicated to the Lord, when they grow up they will still have to make a personal decision to believe in Jesus Christ in order to be saved.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041549.post-1163698301383345372006-11-16T11:31:00.000-06:002006-11-16T11:31:00.000-06:00I guess that in addition to satisfying certain nee...I guess that in addition to satisfying certain needs of the <I>parents</I> such practices might also serve certain needs of the <I>congregation</I> as a whole: to claim the child as a part of the community, to focus community efforts on nurturing the child as the future inheritor of the community, etc.. Though such practices serve to orient the attention of the parents and community toward the child, which may be good, there doesn’t seem to be any objective value in the act for the child who is made the recipient of such attention. It does seem, to me at least, that this is simply a pale shadow of the church’s traditional baptismal practice, which at least concerned itself primarily with taking action for the child’s spiritual health and salvation, rather than merely satisfying psychological needs of the adults present.D. I. Dalrymplehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13975446519920126985noreply@blogger.com