Dinner Time Rant - Warning: Is not Consistant with American Culture, so if you are American, you may not understand what I'm saying

Well, my biggest thoughts for today have actually been about theology. I'm taking this class right now on Patristic and Medeval Theology, and it has really got my brain working about stuff. So, although I'm not thinking about specific things from class, I am led to think about related things.

My biggest wondering lately has been about baptism and the Holy Spirit. Now these are both fairly huge subjects (or Being as the case may be) in their own right, but lately I have been thinking about how they relate together. I've been thinking about this because (1) I don't think that infant baptism is right and for a while have been trying to figure out why, (2) I've been trying to understand my own experience of it and (3) I would love to know how my experience connects (if it does at all) to some good'ol solid biblical theology.

My experience with it was that when I asked Jesus to be my Saviour and forgive me for my sins I was saved from going to Hell. During this time (post-salvation and pre-baptism) God talked to me in dreams and in the dreams it was always me standing in His presence. When I got baptised I experienced the Holy Spirit in me (I wasn't expecting him either - he just sort of showed up), which was really different from my prior experience of God. PRE-BAPTISM WAS ME IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD AND POST-BAPTISM WAS THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN ME. Now, what I'm wondering is as follows: is this theologically significant or is it just how God chose to work in my life?

I know that the Bible refers to the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" but what does that mean? For me, baptism was a supremely huge event in my life and it made a very large difference in how I related to God and it really was the first time that I experienced the Holy Spirit in a physical and awake state. But is that how it is for everyone? Jesus said that he would send the Counselor (Holy Spirit) to us, but he also told us to get Baptised. So, what happens to people who are not baptised? Do they get the Holy Spirit? Do they experience him differently (as I did) than people who do have been baptised? This is an area that is amazingly grey to me right now, and it really bothers me that I don't know more about is. You would figure that someone who has been a Christian for 21 years and read the whole Bible would know a bit more about the workings of Christianity, eh?

The second thing that has occupied my theological thoughts is that of sacrifices. My big observation today is this: RITUAL ANIMAL SACRIFICES ARE ONLY SEEN AS ODD IN COUNTRIES WHERE PEOPLE DO NOT KILL THEIR OWN FOOD. Have you ever noticed that before? For some reason the minds of people who have never killed and eaten an animal shy away from the idea of sacrificing an animal. Now, do I think that animal sacrifices are good? In this day and age, no. They are bad. Were animal sacrifices good in the Old Testament period? Yes, they were good, necessary, and required up until Jesus died on the Cross. Why is it so hard for Americans to understand how important blood is? Don't they realize that blood is what keeps their bodies alive? And eating dead animals is also what keeps their bodies functioning? So why would it be odd that God would require the Israelites to sacrifice an animal for their sins? God wanted the Israelites to experience the costliness of their sins and have to pay for their sins in a way that was real to them, and giving up an animal was a very pivotal and attention-grabbing way of doing it. I'm sorry if I sound mean, but people who eat meat, and are unable to bring themselves to slaughter and eat their own food, are just plain odd. They are lacking a primary, physical, basic and normal understanding of how the world works. I think that this really hampers their understanding of the Bible. So everyone, go fishing or hunting and enjoy the fruits of your labor, then read Genesis.