A BURIAL OF SELF - ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER - SAMPLE

A BURIAL
OF SELF
Why Baptism Is So
Powerful
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER1

2

ONE NAME.
THERE IS only one name that has that
power.
The power to give us a new life.
In whose name, we would be able to shed
our old life.
Cast it off behind us.
Have it die as it were.
Then bury it.
And raise to a new life.
A new beginning.
A brand new life.
This exclusive power—the power to
impart a new life to us—has only one
person.
Only One is powerful enough to be able
to do that.
His name is Jesus.
The Christ.
The Anointed One.
3

4

A MISUNDERSTOOD
GOSPEL.
SOMETIMES, people misunderstand.
They miss the critical point.
Jesus did not come to give us a better life.
He came to give us His life.
He came that—through Him—we could
be liberated.
Set free from that old miserable, selfseeking,
self-trusting, self-glorifying life
that is the norm of our earthly existence.
From the old life that is imparted to every
human being that is born into this world.
Jesus came to give us freedom from
ourselves.
If you are in Christ, you will have tasted
that freedom.
To be free from that old self.
That dark, ugly part.
Such is the power of Jesus.
A power that is motivated by love.
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6

THE POWER OF HIS
LOVE.
JESUS was motivated by love.
A love so pure.
A love so powerful.
Jesus set out to do something that people
can’t do for themselves—and will never
be able to do.
Change their nature.
People can improve themselves.
Yes.
They can work on themselves.
Yes.
They can gain skills.
They can gain knowledge.
They can learn how to successfully do
things.
But yet there is one thing that no one was
ever able, nor will ever be able to do.
To change their nature.
This is the exclusive work of Jesus.
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8

A work that He accomplished on the
cross.
Now, what does this all have to do with
baptism?
This is what the topic of this book is,
right?
Everything.
Baptism allows us to be connected to what
Jesus Christ has accomplished for us.
It connects us to His death.
Because this is how God works.
He doesn’t fix what is broken.
He re-creates.
He lets the old thing die, and then out of
death, creates a new life.
He is
“God, who gives life to the dead and calls
those things which do not exist as though
they did.” (Romans 4:17)
So baptism connects us to Jesus’ death.
But it all makes only sense and has
an effect on us if we understand this
correctly.
So this is what this booklet will be about.
What is it about this thing called baptism?
9

10

Baptism
connects
us with the
death of
Jesus Christ.
11

CONTENTS
ONE NAME. 3
A MISUNDERSTOOD GOSPEL. 5
THE POWER OF HIS LOVE. 7
1 SO WHAT DID JESUS DO FOR US? 15
2 JESUS CRUCIFIED. 21
3 FULLY ACQUITTED. 27
4 WE DIED WITH HIM. 31
5 “GET BAPTIZED FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF
SINS.” 35
6 “WHEN THEY BELIEVED, THEY GOT
BAPTIZED.” 39
7 WHAT NEXT? 49
8 SPEAKING IN TONGUES. 55
9 COOBER PEDY, AUSTRALIA. 61
10 A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE SINNER’S
PRAYER. 73
11 MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE SINNER’S
PRAYER. 83
12

12 THE RIGHT IMAGE. 87
13 TIMING. 93
14 REMEMBER. 97
15 IS BAPTISM A SYMBOL? 101
16 WHAT NEXT? 105
13

14

1 SO WHAT DID JESUS
DO FOR US?
JESUS died for us.
Substitutionally.
On behalf of us.
He had that power.
He was legally qualified to do so.
Paul, the apostle, understood this well.
He writes in 2 Corinthians 5:15 that Jesus:
“Died for all, that those who live should
live no longer for themselves, but for Him
who died for them and rose again.”
This means that Jesus died to liberate you
from yourself.
So that you can have a new life.
And a new purpose in life.
To live, no longer for yourself, but for
Jesus.
What good is all your striving to do, have,
and be, when in the end, it all amounts to
nothing?
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16

I mean, when at the end of your life, you
find out that your whole purpose of life
was wrong.
Off the mark.
Such is the case of people who live for
themselves.
Jesus talks about such a person in Luke,
chapter 12.
This man was successful.
He had things.
But he had no perspective for eternal
things.
So what good is it at the end?
This is the parable.
“The ground of a certain rich man yielded
plentifully. And he thought within himself,
saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no
room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I
will do this: I will pull down my barns
and build greater, and there I will store
all my crops and my goods. And I will say
to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods
laid up for many years; take your ease;
eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ But God said
to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will
be required of you; then whose will those
things be which you have provided?’
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18

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself,
and is not rich toward God.”” (Luke
12:16-21)
Jesus calls him ‘fool.’
Jesus also said,
“Whoever desires to come after Me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross,
and follow Me. For whoever desires to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for My sake and the gospel’s will
save it. For what will it profit a man if he
gains the whole world, and loses his own
soul?” (Mark 8:34-36)
Paul also knew this very well.
He said,
“We do not look at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not
seen. For the things which are seen are
temporary, but the things which are not
seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)
So what then did Jesus do that was so
unique?
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20

2 JESUS CRUCIFIED.
THE CROSS makes Jesus unique.
No man has ever claimed to die for
someone else.
To rectify the guilt and punishment that
another person deserves.
Why is it, you may ask, when we look
at little kids, we can see that they are
actually quite naughty?
Fully self-centered.
Self-absorbed.
Mummy and daddy didn’t teach them
that.
It is part of their nature.
But why?
Where does this naughty self come from?
It would be nice if everyone on this planet
could just be nice and live together in
peace.
The Bible is clear on that.
Adam is the culprit.
God is a God of love.
21

So when He created man, he created them
to live in a love relationship with Him.
Like the kind of relationship, you have in
a family.
Between mum and dad, and the children,
and other members of the family.
But true love doesn’t force.
It doesn’t coerce.
Whenever you get this element of force,
then it is no longer true love.
It is a force contrary to the nature of God,
who is a God of love.
So if you are in an environment
characterized by love, it means you have a
choice.
But the devil is a cunning fellow.
He works through trickery.
Deceipt.
That is his modus operandi.
So he tricked Even into choosing a system
that was opposed to the nature of God.
This is what the Bible calls ‘The Tree of
the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”
Do good, get good; do bad, get bad.”
22

But this system is not based on a
relationship.
It is based on performance.
It is the religious system.
And it is the system that brought mankind
under the power of Satan.
Once you are stuck in that system,
relationship doesn’t play a role anymore.
Because it is no longer about a
relationship.
It’s about performance.
So Adam is the culprit.
He brought the whole human race under
this deadly system.
A system that causes separation from God.
Separation from relationship.
So if you miss the target (in other words,
you sin), you will pay for it.
And the wages of sin is death.
This is the mystery of the cross.
The mystery of Jesus.
On the cross, Jesus could receive the
punishment you and I deserve because we
are in this system of good and evil.
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Adam brought us there.
We simply inherited it.
When we were born into this world.
It goes back all the way to Adam.
So we are born into this world.
And we are stuck in this ugly system.
We have inherited this self-centered
human nature that, at the core, is all about
self.
It is not about love.
We are separated from the God of love,
and there is no way we can ever cross that
chasm that stands between us and Him
because of this.
Enter Jesus.
On the cross, Jesus substitutionally bore
the judgment that we deserved.
He bore our punishment.
Under that punishment, he died.
He was buried.
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3 FULLY ACQUITTED.
IMAGINE.
You are at a court of law.
Guilty.
There is no way you can argue your case.
You can’t get around it.
The judgment is pronounced.
You are going to pay for your sins.
You will die.
Enter Jesus.
He steps into the gap.
To receive the punishment that you
deserved.
If you accept this, then you will be
pronounced free of guilt.
Fully acquitted.
This is what the bible says over and over.
“Christ also suffered once for sins, the
just for the unjust, that He might bring us
to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
27

Even in a text that was written thousands
of years before Jesus came to Israel.
Isaiah 53.
“Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our
transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon
Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own
way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity
of us all. (verses 4-6)
And in verse 12, it says,
“And He bore the sin of many ...”
But there is more.
And this gets us to baptism.
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29

30

4 WE DIED WITH HIM.
JESUS died for us.
Yes.
But more than that.
He died for us substitutionally.
This means that when He died, we also
died.
With Him.
This is the very thing that gives us
freedom from our self.
Because when Jesus died for us, He fully
identified with us.
The bible says that He became sin.
“He made Him who knew no sin to
be sin for us, that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.” (2
Corinthians 5:21)
This means that Jesus did not just carry
our sins.
Like you carry a bag of dirty clothes.
Jesus became sin.
31

Because of that, we can be liberated from
our old nature.
That ugly nature, where self stands in the
center.
That sinful nature.
We see it already in babies at work.
And this is why we get baptized.
The bible says,
“We were buried with Him through
baptism into death, that just as Christ was
raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life.” (Romans 6:4)
So when you get baptized, you do it
because you have understood this point.
Otherwise, getting baptized is
meaningless and will not do anything for
you.
You might get wet.
But not much else.
But when you believe then it is different.
When you get baptized because you
believe that when Jesus Christ died, you
also died with Him.
That when he was buried, you also were
buried with Him.
32

Then, there is power in baptism.
33

34

5 “GET BAPTIZED FOR
THE FORGIVENESS OF
SINS.”
THROUGH what Jesus has done, our sins
are already forgiven.
They do not need to be forgiven anymore.
They are forgiven through what Jesus has
done for us.
But there is a ‘but.’
The ‘but’ is that we need to receive the
forgiveness of sins.
Otherwise, we will not benefit from it.
So, from God’s side, the job is already
done.
Jesus already died on the cross for the sins
of the whole world.
Yet, to benefit from it, everyone, every
individual needs to personally receive the
forgiveness of sins.
35

Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians,
chapter 5.
Now all things are of God, who has
reconciled us to Himself through Jesus
Christ, and has given us the ministry of
reconciliation, that is, that God was in
Christ reconciling the world to Himself,
not imputing their trespasses to them,
and has committed to us the word of
reconciliation. (verses 18-19)
36

Reconciliation always involves 2 parties.
It is not unilateral, meaning involving
only one party.
God extends forgiveness to us.
If we take it, we will experience the
effects of it.
If we don’t take it, we are left with what
we have.
Our guilt and shame.
Our sins.
We bear them our own.
So how do we then receive the forgiveness
of sins?
By getting baptized.
This is what we see in the bible.
Whenever individuals and groups
responded to the gospel message, after
they heard the good news what Jesus had
done for them, they got baptized.
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38

6 “WHEN THEY
BELIEVED, THEY GOT
BAPTIZED.”
THIS IS what we clearly see in the
scriptures.
When people believed the gospel, they got
baptized.
There was someone who preached to
people.
The gospel of the Kingdom of God and
the name of Jesus Christ.
Then the people believed.
The preaching imparted faith to them.
Because the preachers were fuelled with
Holy Spirit power.
They preached
“with the Holy Spirit sent down from
heaven.” (1 Peter 1:12)
So then the listeners believed.
And they responded to the gospel
message.
39

By getting baptized.
In Acts, we see this over and over.
For example, in Acts 8.
“Then Philip went down to the city of
Samaria and preached Christ to them.
And the multitudes with one accord
heeded the things spoken by Philip,
hearing and seeing the miracles which
he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a
loud voice, came out of many who were
possessed; and many who were paralyzed
and lame were healed. And there was
great joy in that city.” (verses 5-8)
...
“But when they believed Philip as he
preached the things concerning the
kingdom of God and the name of Jesus
Christ, both men and women were
baptized.” (verse 12)
Take note.
It says in verse 12,
“When they believed, they got baptized.”
Not before.
Getting baptized is connected with
understanding and believing the gospel.
The good news of Jesus’ death.
40

And our co-death and co-burial with Him.
We see this also in Acts 16.
The jailor and his whole household hear
the gospel, and then get baptized. In the
early hours of the morning.
Then they spoke the word of the Lord to
him and to all who were in his house. And
he took them the same hour of the night
and washed their stripes. And immediately
he and all his family were baptized. Now
when he had brought them into his house,
he set food before them; and he rejoiced,
having believed in God with all his
household. (verses 32-34)
Remember, in this case, the jailor had
asked Paul and Silas before this question:
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (verse
30)
And Paul and Silas told him clearly:
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you will be saved, you and your
household.” (verse 31)
But the question is: Did the jailor at this
moment believe in the Lord Jesus?
No.
He could not.
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42

Because he had not heard the gospel yet.
That is why he then took Paul and Silas
to his house so that they could preach the
gospel to them.
Then they spoke the word of the Lord to
him and to all who were in his house.
(verse 32)
Because Paul and Silas preached to them,
the household then believed.
And how did they act on their belief?
By getting baptized.
And he took them the same hour of the
night and washed their stripes. And
immediately he and all his family were
baptized. (verse 33)
So in Acts, we see this so clearly!
When people believe the gospel, they get
baptized.
So the next verse in this case with the
jailor says,
“Now when he had brought them into his
house, he set food before them; and he
rejoiced, having believed in God with all
his household.” (verse 34)
In Acts, we don’t see any ‘salvation
prayers’ apart from people also getting
43

aptized.
We do not see such a thing as a ‘salvation
prayer’ outside the context of baptisms.
When people believe the gospel of Jesus
Christ, they get baptized.
We see that also with the case of Paul.
He also began his journey with the Lord
that way.
After appearing to Paul on the road to
Damascus, the Lord sent Paul to the city
of Damascus.
And in Damascus, Jesus then sent Ananias
to Paul.
Ananias then prophesied to Paul, and he
also healed him and laid hands on him so
that Paul would be filled with the Holy
Spirit.
And then he said,
“And now why are you waiting? Arise and
be baptized, and wash away your sins,
calling on the name of the Lord.’” (Acts
22:16)
This is what we see in Acts.
There are so many examples of this.
For example, the Corinthians.
We read,
44

Acts 18: 8 says
“Then Crispus, the ruler of the
synagogue, believed on the Lord with
all his household. And many of the
Corinthians, hearing, believed and were
baptized.”
So we see the Corinthians hearing the
gospel, then believing, and then getting
baptized.
The Ephesians in Acts 19 also got
baptized when they believed.
Re-baptized.
They were already baptized.
But not unto Jesus.
They had not really understood the gospel
when they got baptized the first time.
But then, when they heard the gospel from
Paul, they got baptized.
Properly.
When they believed.
We read,
“Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized
with a baptism of repentance, saying to
the people that they should believe on
Him who would come after him, that is, on
Christ Jesus.”
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46

When they heard this, they were baptized
in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they
spoke with tongues and prophesied.”
(verses 4-6)
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48

7 WHAT NEXT?
SO WHAT next?
After a person has heard the gospel and is
baptized unto the name of Jesus?
We read in Acts 19 what Paul did.
And they got baptized, and then Paul laid
his hands on them, and they received the
Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues and
prophesied.
This is next.
People who are baptized are linked to
Jesus’ death.
But Jesus didn’t stay in the grave.
He was raised by the glory of the Father to
a new life.
So we were raised to a new life with Him.
Paul says,
“Do you not know that as many of us
as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death? Therefore we
were buried with Him through baptism
into death, that just as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father,
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50

even so we also should walk in newness of
life.” (Romans 6: 3-4)
The apostles were very clear on this point.
When someone got baptized under their
supervision, they expected that those
people would also receive the Holy Spirit.
Like in Acts 19.
“When they heard this, they were baptized
in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when
Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy
Spirit came upon them, and they spoke
with tongues and prophesied.” (verses
5-6)
Paul laid his hands on the Ephesians, and
then they received the Holy Spirit.
But sometimes this is not the case.
In Acts, we have a case where people get
baptized.
But they do not receive the Holy Spirit at
that point.
So then when the apostles in Jerusalem
heard this, they send Peter and John to
them.
They then helped these new converts to
receive the Holy Spirit.
51

We read,
“Now when the apostles who were at
Jerusalem heard that Samaria had
received the word of God, they sent Peter
and John to them, who, when they had
come down, prayed for them that they
might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet
He had fallen upon none of them. They
had only been baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them,
and they received the Holy Spirit.” (Acts
8:14-17)
Take note.
Look at the language the bible uses when
it describes those Samarian believers.
It says,
“Now when the apostles who were at
Jerusalem heard that Samaria had
received the word of God ...” (verse 14)
So when a person has heard the gospel,
and got baptized, but not yet received the
Holy Spirit, we should say too,
“This person has received the word of
God.”
But this is the point.
52

Once a person has been baptized, we need
to help them to receive the Holy Spirit
also.
In the bible, we have a case where the
people who heard the gospel believed and
received the Holy Spirit first.
Even before they got baptized.
But even then, Peter commanded them
afterward to get baptized as well.
Here is the passage from Acts 10.
“While Peter was still speaking these
words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all
those who heard the word. And those
of the circumcision who believed were
astonished, as many as came with Peter,
because the gift of the Holy Spirit had
been poured out on the Gentiles also. For
they heard them speak with tongues and
magnify God.
Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid
water, that these should not be baptized
who have received the Holy Spirit just as
we have?” And he commanded them to be
baptized in the name of the Lord.” (verses
44-48)
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54

8 SPEAKING IN
TONGUES.
THIS BOOK is about baptism.
It is not about receiving the Holy Spirit
and speaking in tongues.
But I like to mention this.
Because it is connected.
Once a person has heard the gospel and
believes, they get baptized.
To be connected with Jesus in His death.
And then, they receive the Holy Spirit.
That’s when people are connected with
Jesus in His resurrection.
And what does the bible say happens
when people receive the Holy Spirit?
We see people speaking in tongues.
They may experience receiving the Holy
Spirit in different ways.
They have an encounter with the love of
God.
Or they may have an encounter with His
power.
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56

They may experience the glory of God in
various degrees.
They may start to laugh.
They may start to cry.
Yet in the bible, we see that people also
speak in tongues.
In Acts 2:
“And suddenly there came a sound from
heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind,
and it filled the whole house where they
were sitting. Then there appeared to them
divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat
upon each of them. And they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance.” (verses 2-4)
In Acts 10:
“While Peter was still speaking these
words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all
those who heard the word. And those
of the circumcision who believed were
astonished, as many as came with Peter,
because the gift of the Holy Spirit had
been poured out on the Gentiles also. For
they heard them speak with tongues and
magnify God.” (verses 44-46)
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58

And in Acts 19:
When they heard this, they were baptized
in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when
Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy
Spirit came upon them, and they spoke
with tongues and prophesied. (verses 5-6)
This is what I personally have also
experienced.
So many times.
I myself have experienced it in the
beginning.
I have experienced it when I had the
privilege to preach to people, baptize
them, and pray for them to receive the
Holy Spirit.
In the New Testament, this is a standard
experience.
101 Christianity.
People who receive the Holy Spirit also
speaking in tongues.
Here is my conversion experience.
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60

9 COOBER PEDY,
AUSTRALIA.
SUPERNATURALLY, God led me, many
years ago, to a man in Coober Pedy.
I was hitchhiking at that time.
And happened to get to a place called
Coober Pedy, in central Australia, on the
edge of the Great Australian Desert.
Australia was once called The Great South
Land of the Holy Spirit.
And this is where I received the Holy
Spirit as well.
The person who preached to me was
at that time running an underground
backpacker’s.
A place where you stay under the ground.
In caves that are carved into the
sandstone.
People who live like that are called
‘troglodytes.’
So God connected me to this Australian
person who talked to me about this ‘0’
point.
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62

If I were to find this ‘0’ point, my search
for peace in life, my search for God would
be over.
And it is Jesus through whom I could get
this ‘0’ point.
The Holy Spirit.
If I believed, I just need to do what it says
in Acts 2:38
There Peter says,
“Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the
promise is to you and to your children,
and to all who are afar off, as many as the
Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)
This sounded good to me.
Because I had been searching for God
since I was a young boy.
As long as I could remember.
As a boy, at the age of 8, I had once an
encounter with God’s glory at the lake
where I grew up.
Only later, when I received the Holy
Spirit, I could then understand what had
happened to me as a little boy.
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64

However, ever since this glory encounter
down at the lake (It’s called Wörthersee), I
had this unshakable belief inside of me.
The belief that I would one day find God.
And that whatever was happening to me
in my life, he would be with me.
I have never ever doubted that one second
ever since.
No matter what happened in my life.
So when Johnnana (this Australian man
who originally was from Croatia) said,
“This is your chance.
You can find ‘0’ point.
The Holy Spirit.”
Are you ready?
I responded.
And asked him to baptize me.
The night before, I had an amazing
experience.
Jesus spoke to me in a dream.
This was the first time—and so far, the
only time—that I have heard the audible
voice of Jesus.
Clearly.
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66

I feel the Holy Spirit touching me every
time I think back of this experience.
Jesus’ voice was pure.
It was full of love.
I could sense 100% unconditional love.
There was no rejection in his voice.
Second, His voice was full of authority.
A kind of authority that makes you
tremble.
Not in fear.
But in awe.
I knew that whatever Jesus would
command, it would happen.
The bible says that it is God’s word that
holds the universe together.
It was that kind of authority that I felt
when Jesus spoke to me.
He didn’t say much.
He only said 3 words.
First, he called me by my name.
“Albert, Albert.”
Since then, people have also been calling
me Elisha, which is my new prophetic
name.
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Jesus called me by my given name.
“Albert, Albert.”
And then he said, “Come.”
And I responded, trembling, simply
“Yes.”
On the next day, around lunchtime,
Johannan arranged for me to get baptized.
He set up a baptismal pool in the room
where I was staying.
It consisted of a few planks of wood and
some plastic foil.
Before he baptized me, we kneeled on the
floor together, and he led me into a prayer.
In that prayer, I committed my life to
Jesus.
And I acknowledged that I believed that
He was the Son of God, and what He had
done for me.
Then he baptized me, and when the Holy
Spirit came on me, I began to speak in
stammering lips.
Not in full tongues, at that time.
It was just that I could not speak an
ordinary language (English) anymore.
My mouth was all twisting up, and what
came out wasn’t normal English language.
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I still remember how I felt when I came
out of that water.
Totally brand new.
And full of joy.
I must have glowed with the glory of God.
The same evening I then went back to my
room to try out praying in tongues.
As I knelt down on the floor and lifted
my hands and began to speak in tongues,
suddenly, it was as if a curtain that
separates heaven and earth had been
lifted.
That’s how I can describe it looking back.
I felt there was a pipe of about one meter
in diameter coming down from heaven
that connected me directly to heaven.
The glory realm.
And streams of glory, like a waterfall,
were pouring down on me through that
pipe.
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Looking back today, I can see that Father
God has allowed me to kick off my walk
with Him with a strong experience.
I had never heard about such a thing
before.
I had never read about this anywhere.
In the meantime, God has allowed me
many experiences with the realm of His
glory.
Some through very anointed people with
whom He has brought me in contact.
Some experiences with His glory I have
made being on my own.
Only now can I see that God allowed me
to have these intense experiences with
Him right from the beginning.
So this is my experience.
And maybe this is the reason why I am a
little biased.
Ever since, I have been preaching the
gospel in that way.
And how I lead people to come to Him,
is also how I have experienced it in the
beginning.
I preach the gospel.
Now I have a better understanding of the
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gospel of the Kingdom. But nevertheless,
I preach the gospel to them.
And then I say,
“If you believe, well, then let’s practice
Acts 2:38.
Repent, be baptized, and then you shall
receive the Holy Spirit.”
Ad after baptizing them, I then I lay hands
on them and pray for them,
And in the overwhelming majority of
cases, they receive the Holy Spirit.
They have an encounter, and they also
speak in tongues.
I like to keep it simple.
To be honest with you, I am not a fan of
the Sinner’s Prayer.
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72

10 A FEW THOUGHTS
ON THE SINNER’S
PRAYER.
ALLOW me to be very honest.
I am probably biased.
Because the way I came to the Lord was
like we read about in Acts 2:38.
- Repent,
- Be baptized, and
- Receive the Holy Spirit.
After having this experience in Australia,
I then returned back to Austria.
One day, I was hitchhiking again.
(Today, I’m not doing it anymore. I
would only if the Lord specifically tells
me to do it.)
So, I was hitchhiking, and someone from
the town where I am from picked me up.
He was so excited to introduce Jesus to
me.
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And I was happy with him because I was
happy that he did talk about Jesus.
And so, after maybe 20 minutes of
talking, he then turned to me and said,
“Have you ever invited Jesus into your
heart?”
He really got me thinking at that time
because I had never done that.
In the way, he was describing it.
But I had already been baptized and
received the Holy Spirit and had
encounters with God.
So I decided to say to him, “Yes, surely, I
believe in Jesus.”
This satisfied him a lot.
From then on, we started meeting at his
home.
At that time, I was just a very young
believer.
And I couldn’t help him much to go
deeper with the Lord.
Because my friend obviously had not
received the Holy Spirit yet (they way I
understood it from the book of Acts).
One day I also suggested that the biblical
baptism is by full immersion.
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Because baptism connects us to Jesus’
death.
He had not yet been baptized like
that (he came from a Roman Catholic
background).
And to my great surprise, he strongly
resisted my suggestion.
I have to say, strongly. He really seemed
to get upset.
So I never mentioned this topic again.
But as I look back, I can see that he had
only been exposed to the Sinner’s Prayer.
In my opinion, the Sinner’s Prayer may be
a start, but it is by no means what we see
in the book of Acts.
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In the book of Acts, the picture is much
simpler and clearer.
We see preaching of the gospel.
We see healings.
We see demon’s cast out.
We see people getting baptized.
We see people receiving the Holy Spirit.
We see people speak in tongues.
And so on.
But you would have to be hard-pressed to
be able to show that the Sinner’s Prayer is
a practice in the book of Acts.
Maybe if you used Romans10.
There it says,
“But what does it [the Scripture say]
say? “The word is near you, in your
mouth and in your heart” (that is, the
word of faith which we preach): that if
you confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus and believe in your heart that God
has raised Him from the dead, you will
be saved. For with the heart one believes
unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. For the
Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him
will not be put to shame.” For there is no
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distinction between Jew and Greek, for
the same Lord over all is rich to all who
call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the
name of the Lord shall be saved.” (verses
8 - 13)
Yes.
This is the word of God.
Yet I think in all humility, that we
shouldn’t see this verse in isolation.
In Acts 8, the eunuch from Ethiopia surely
did make a confession.
He believed in his heart.
He confessed that Jesus is the Son of God.
But this was in the context of baptism.
He was ready to get baptized.
“Then Philip opened his mouth, and
beginning at this Scripture, preached
Jesus to him. Now as they went down
the road, they came to some water. And
the eunuch said, “See, here is water.
What hinders me from being baptized?”
Then Philip said, “If you believe with all
your heart, you may.”And he answered
and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God.” So he commanded the
chariot to stand still. And both Philip and
the eunuch went down into the water, and
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he baptized him.” (verses 35 - 38)
It was the same thing with Paul.
We’ve already mentioned him.
Ananias encouraged Paul to “call on
the name of the Lord” in the context of
baptism.
“And now why are you waiting? Arise and
be baptized, and wash away your sins,
calling on the name of the Lord.’” (Acts
22:16)
Why do we need to know about and
believe in Jesus’ death and in His
resurrection?
Because this is the heart of the gospel!
If we don’t believe that He died for us and
rose again, we can’t be saved.
But then, when we understand that He did
not just die for himself.
Jesus died for us.
So we died with him.
That’s why we get baptized.
We are united together with Jesus in His
death.
And there is more.
Jesus did not only die.
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He rose again from the dead.
“Death no longer has dominion over
Him.” (Romans 6:9)
So we have raised with Him.
That is why we can receive the Holy
Spirit now.
This links us with Jesus’ resurrection life.
We are not only connected to Jesus in His
death.
But we are also connected to Jesus in His
resurrection life when the same Spirit that
raised Jesus from the dead begins to live
in us.
This is not just some supplementary
information.
This is the heart of the gospel!
So, me personally, the way I have
practiced to lead people to the Lord was
always through Acts 2:38.
I did have people say a confession, a
prayer, according to Romans 10.
But that was always shortly before they
got baptized.
It was always in the context of baptism.
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82

11 MY EXPERIENCE
WITH THE SINNER’S
PRAYER.
I PERSONALLY don’t use the sinner’s
prayer when I lead people to the Lord.
Only before they get baptized, I have
them pray.
Or confess.
But I have seen people use the Sinner’s
Prayer a lot.
I think it is a bit unfair to the people.
Because unless they have really received
the Holy Spirit, nothing much has
happened.
They are still in their old state.
When people get baptized, it is also
a great time to pray for them to get
delivered from any demonic influence.
But if people haven’t received the Holy
Spirit yet, and they aren’t baptized and
haven’t been delivered from demons yet
(in case they have some), they are still in
their old state.
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And sometimes, they are expected then to live
the Christian life.
But we can’t live the Christian life.
We are are not imitators of Christ.
We are participators of His life.
If He doesn’t live His life in us, there is no hope
for us.
We can live like Jesus, apart from being in Him.
So, I find the Sinner’s Prayer insufficient.
Why not follow the practice of Acts?
Why not give people the full package?
Right from the beginning.
As we see in the book of Acts.
Actually, repentance, baptism, and receiving the
Holy Spirit is the start.
Why not help people to get a good start in their
walk with God by helping them to experience a
proper spiritual birth.
Why not adopt the practices we see in Acts?
And relegate the Sinner’s Prayer to its right
place?
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86

12 THE RIGHT IMAGE.
BAPTISM links us with the death of
Jesus Christ.
Paul says,
“Do you not know that as many of us
as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death? Therefore we
were buried with Him through baptism
into death, that just as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of
life. For if we have been united together
in the likeness of His death, certainly
we also shall be in the likeness of His
resurrection, knowing this, that our old
man was crucified with Him, that the
body of sin might bedone away with, that
we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
(Romans 6: 3-6)
So the right image when it comes to
baptism is death and burial.
Co-death and co-burial with Christ.
This is why we see the disciples in the
book of Acts baptize by full immersion.
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Philip and the eunuch were lounging on
a royal chariot as they were travelling on
the road that goes down from Jerusalem
from Gaza.
The bible specifically says,
“This is desert.” (verse 26)
Dry land.
Where there is no water.
Philip preaches Jesus unto him.
From a text in Isaiah 53.
A wonderful prophecy by Isaiah that
describes Jesus’ suffering, death and
resurrection in much prophetic detail.
Suddenly the eunuch cries out as the
chariot is passing by a water hole,
“See, here is water. What hinders me from
being baptized?” (verse 36)
Philip says,
“If you believe with all your heart, you
may.” (verse 37)
And the man says,
“I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God.” (verse 37)
And then we read,
“So he commanded the chariot to stand
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still. And both Philip and the eunuch went
down into the water, and he baptized
him.” (verse 38)
And then it says,
“Now when they came up of the water ...”
(verse 39)
For a person to get baptized there needs to
be a sufficient amount of water.
So that the person who gets baptized can
be full immersed.
This is the correct picture.
Not baptism by sprinkling.
I have experienced so many times people
getting baptized.
In oceans.
In a river.
Even in a waterhole in the Great Victoria
desert of Australia, a scenario probably
similar to the one in Acts 8.
If it is too cold to baptize outside, a
bathtub that is big enough will do.
So that a person can be fully immersed.
I have seen people baptize in a huge size
rubbish bin, the kind that you install on a
kerbside for collection.
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90

The right image of baptism is burial.
Not sprinkling.
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92

13 TIMING.
WHEN they believed, they got baptized.
Men and women.
“But when they believed Philip as he
preached the things concerning the
kingdom of God and the name of Jesus
Christ, both men and women were
baptized.” (Acts 8: 12)
So, when a person believes, that is the
right time to get baptized.
The people who get baptized should do so
happily.
They should gladly receive the gospel.
We see that in Acts 2.
After Peter had finished preaching the
gospel, we read
“Then those who gladly received his word
were baptized; and that day about three
thousand souls were added to them.”
(verse 41)
3000 people.
On one day.
The first disciples on that day must have
been very busy baptizing.
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But we can see this point very clearly.
People who choose to get baptized need to
do so free willingly.
They need to have heard the gospel first.
For example, in Acts 19, the Ephesians
got baptized unto the name of Jesus Christ
after hearing the gospel from Paul.
We read in Acts 19,
“When they heard this, they were baptized
in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (verse 5)
And then they did receive the Holy Spirit
as well.
We read,
“And when Paul had laid his hands
on them, the Holy Spirit came upon
them, and they spoke with tongues and
prophesied.” (verse 6)
The jailor and his whole household in
Acts 16 also got immediately baptized
when they believed.
After hearing the gospel from Paul and
Silas.
It must have been well after midnight.
Of course, babies can’t believe yet.
They can’t gladly receive the word of
God.
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And sometimes, people get baptized
as teenagers when it is tradition to get
baptized.
But often, there was no one around who
was qualified to preach to them.
A Spirit-filled preacher.
Who preached the right message.
So these people didn’t receive the Holy
Spirit when they ‘got baptized’ the first
time.
They may be like the Ephesian disciples.
The Ephesians then got baptized unto the
name of Jesus once they believed.
After they had heard the gospel from Paul.
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96

14 REMEMBER.
PAUL OFTEN counseled people
concerning sin problems.
In the scriptures.
This is what Romans 6 is about, for
example.
And you see how Paul does it.
He will always remind people about their
identity.
Who they are in Christ.
So he will have them look back at
baptism.
He will say,
“Remember, you died with Christ!”
“That old life is gone.”
“It is buried.”
“That’s not you!”
“Do you not know that as many of us
as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death? Therefore we
were buried with Him through baptism
into death, that just as Christ was raised
97

from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of
life.” (Romans 6: 3-4)
So, in this passage of Romans 6, Paul will
say things like:
“Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ ...” (verse 11)
This is his way of counseling.
But I need to add a caveat here.
This will only work for people who have
genuinely experienced the new birth.
So, I find that sometimes when counseling
people, we need to take a step back.
And look at how they were born into the
Kingdom.
But to come back to what Paul is saying.
Paul teaches us to look back at baptism as
something that gave us freedom from our
old life.
If we remember who we are, we will find
the strength to overcome sin.
That is Paul’s way to deal with the sin
problem.
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99

100

15 IS BAPTISM A
SYMBOL?
THE SCRIPTURES convey this thought
very clearly.
That belief and action go together.
That’s the Hebrew mindset.
Greek thinking is different.
That’s why it can be so deceptive.
In Greek thinking, you can ‘believe’
something as a concept in your mind.
Without corresponding action.
Take love, for example.
Love and action go together.
Otherwise, it isn’t love.
James is very clear about this.
He challenges this Greek thinking that can
be so deeply ingrained in many of us.
“What does it profit, my brethren, if
someone says he has faith but does not
have works? Can faith save him? If a
brother or sister is naked and destitute of
daily food, and one of you says to them,
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102
“Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,”
but you do not give them the things which
are needed for the body, what does it
profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does
not have works, is dead.” (James 2:
14-17)
James would say to us,
“You are fooling yourself if you believe
that faith and actions can be separated.”
“You are saying ‘you love.’”
“But love without corresponding action
isn’t love.”
“Faith without corresponding action isn’t
faith.”
So I like to propose to you that when it
comes to people coming to the Lord, the
corresponding faith action is baptism.
People who have heard the right message,
by the right preacher, and faith is imparted
to them, they get baptized.
This is what we see in Acts.
Believing and getting baptized goes
together.
Even Jesus says,
“Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. He who believes
and is baptized will be saved ...” (Mark
16: 15-16)

I used to write in one of my very first
books that baptism is a symbol.
But now I don’t think so. Now my
understanding has changed.
We need to look at baptism from the
Hebrew mindset.
The biblical mindset.
Not the Greek mindset.
We have this beautiful account, written by
a doctor (Luke), that outlines the practices
and beliefs of the first disciples in great
detail.
I’m talking bout the book of Acts that was
written by Luke. And is a continuation of
what we call the gospel of Luke.
So, yes, we need to see baptism through
the lens of Hebrew thinking. Not Greek
thinking.
Baptism is not just a symbol.
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104

16 WHAT NEXT?
I HOPE this booklet has given you some
more biblical insights on the topic of
baptism.
Baptism is very powerful.
If it is understood, preached, and practiced
correctly.
One time, my wife and I had the privilege
to join Pastor Kang Seng Chee from
Living Streams Bangkok on a weeklong
trip to the IRIS base in Pemba,
Mozambique.
Pastor Kang Seng had been invited by
Heidi Baker to minister in Pemba.
On one of the first days we were there,
there was a baptism service on Pemba
beach, and I was invited to help with
baptizing Harvest school students.
I still remember that before beginning
with the baptisms, Heidi Baker opened her
bible to John 3 and addressed the people
who were about to get baptized.
She read the passage from John 3, where
Jesus talks to Nicodemus about getting
born again.
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106

And she also quoted the scripture where
Jesus says,
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one
is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)
And then she connected the “born of
water” with getting baptized, and “born
of the Spirit” with receiving the Holy
Spirit.
I was deeply moved in my Spirit.
Because I had been teaching for years
about the importance and significance of
baptism.
All the apostles understood this so clearly.
Peter.
Paul.
And in Acts, we see them acting on this
understanding.
They preached the gospel and then
admonished the people to act on it.
Like Peter on the day of Pentecost in Acts
2.
When the people asked him what shall we
do, Peter replied:
“Repent,
107

Be baptized, and
You shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit.”
When people had not heard the gospel yet,
they helped them to understand the gospel
correctly.
Like in the case of Paul when he came to
Ephesus in Acts 19.
Paul asked the Ephesians,
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you
believed?” (verse 2)
And when they said, “No, not yet; we
haven’t heard about whether there is a
Holy Spirit,” Paul then preached to them.
And then he helped them to act on the
gospel, by baptizing them and laying
hands on them,
And then they received the Holy Spirit.
In case people had heard the gospel
already and received the Holy Spirit
already, the apostles admonished those
people to get baptized. Like in the case of
Peter in Acts 10.
When Cornelius and his whole household
all receive the Holy Spirit, Peter then
commands them to get baptized as well.
108

And some time the people had heard the
gospel already. They believed already.
They had been baptized already. But
they had not yet received the Holy Spirit.
The apostles then helped those people to
receive the Holy Spirit.
Like Peter and John helped the Samarian
believers in Acts 8.
Like Ananias helped Paul in Acts 22:16
when he said to him,
“And now why are you waiting? Arise and
be baptized, and wash away your sins,
calling on the name of the Lord.”
109

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A BURIAL
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A FLAME FOR
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"If you have a head, God has a flame for you."
- Reinhard Bonnke
Why Baptism Is So
Powerful
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
Receive the Holy Spirit
Today—as in the Book
of Acts
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
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HOLY SPIRIT
ACCOUNTANT
AND THEY ALL
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IN OTHER TONGUES
18 Exiting
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Like in Acts
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"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
Speaking in Tongues Is an
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DO ALL
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"I thank my God, I speak in tongues more than you all."
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Yes and No
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The Gateway to the
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WHAT REALLY
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GETTING
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The Gospel You Need to Preach
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IT’S ADAM’S
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The Gospel You Need to
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What Do You Say and Do
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The Goodness of God
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JOYFUL
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YOU HAVE
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BEWARE
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A Revelation That Will
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Paul’s Astonishing
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That Will Protect Your Soul
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THE LAW
KIL S
Why You Should Stay
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How to Live by God’s Favor
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WORKING
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How God Will Transform
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How God Uses Your
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A Burial of Self: Why Baptism Is So Powerful.
Copyright 2020 © Albert L. Oberdorfer
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronical, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the
written permission of the author.
PICTURE CREDITS
Unless otherwise stated all images are courtesy of
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cover is from the author. Any inadvertent omissions can
be rectified in future editions.
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