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Ecclesiastes 1:7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.

Matthew 3:13-17 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Heraclitus ~ On those who enter the same rivers, ever different waters flow.

The traditional understanding of baptism in the Christian church centers around the notion of cleansing ourselves of all sin and unrighteousness in the purifying waters of baptism, dying to an old way of life while being born again into a new spiritual identity. This conventional interpretation of baptism has meaning and power for many Christians. However, it no longer holds the same significance for me in my own personal faith journey, because I think that confining the purpose and meaning of baptism merely to the cleansing of sin can limit us from a deeper spiritual interpretation of the sacrament.

According the story in the gospels, Jesus came upon John, who was baptizing people in the Jordan River. When he saw Jesus, he apparently recognized him as the one he had been preaching about. So John told Jesus that it was Jesus who ought to be baptizing John, not the other way around. But Jesus insisted that John do the honors, and so John relented and baptized Jesus. And the story says that after Jesus came up out of the water, the Spirit of God alighted upon him like a dove, and a voice expressed that God was well pleased with Jesus.

Now, obviously Jesus’ baptism couldn’t have centered upon cleansing him from sin, since, according to traditional Christian theology, Jesus was sinless. And whether or not you adhere to that belief, I find it ironic that, according to the story, this sinless man received the waters of baptism, setting an example for the rest of us to follow. So, if our baptism harkens back to Jesus’ own, and his baptism wasn’t about the cleansing of sin, what other interpretations might we garner from the story of Jesus’ baptism to make use of in our own experience?

One alternative interpretation has to do with a metaphorical reenactment of the Exodus story and crossing of the Jordan, which is for another article. For the purposes of this article, perhaps a key lies in the symbolism of the water itself.

To that end, it is interesting to note that several religions celebrate and incorporate water into their traditions.

For instance, beginning two days after the Christian celebration of the baptism of Jesus (and going through the end of February), the Hindu festival of Kumbha Mela begins. A celebration which occurs once every 12 years, millions of Hindus descended upon Allahabad (the City of God) earlier this week, a divine location situated on the confluence of three sacred rivers, the Ganges, the Yamuna and the Saraswati.

The origin of Kumbha Mela lies in the story of the time when the gods and demons churned the ocean in search of the nectar of immortality. And part of the celebration of Khumbha Mela includes ritual bathing in the rivers.

In some pagan celebrations, water is associated with feelings and camaraderie. When covens celebrate sabbats, they will pass the chalice around the circle, each member taking a sip while another member offers this blessing: “May you never thirst.” Further, in earth-based religions water is one of the four elements (air, water, earth, fire).

It’s not surprising that water plays such a key role in some religious traditions and rituals, including our own. After all, the human body is a “body of water” in and of itself. It is what makes us up and keeps us alive. Water and its dissolved constituents make up the bulk of our bodies, and determine the nature of nearly every physiological process. We are made of intracellular fluid, the liquid within our cells, and of extra-cellular fluid, which includes our plasma and other solutions which are under our skin.

Thus, when we bleed, our blood is as wet and salty as the sea, for our biochemistry is still based to a great extent on the salinity of the oceans from which we evolved. We land-dwellers rose up out of the oceans, and are filled with the substances that birthed us onto terra firma in the first place.

Water has long been considered a sign of “life” to scientists. Recent discovery of signs of water near the surface of Mars gave a boost to the already hot field of astrobiology, the study of issues related to other life in the universe. Scientists have long believed that the materials that led to life on Earth also exist, or previously existed, on Mars. These ingredients include carbon, certain minerals, energy, and … WATER.

Further, water is essential to our survival. Studies have shown that we can live for weeks without food, but we can live only days without water. And though most of us don’t, we all know that we should drink eight glasses of water every day to maintain optimum health. So, it is into these life-giving waters that Jesus entered, and emerged with an anointing of the Spirit and a blessing from God.

Looking at the story in this way, what are some other ways in which we might think about the meaning and power of baptism? For one, perhaps the waters of baptism invite us to think about the depth of God’s presence in our lives and about a limitless love, which pursues us relentlessly, and which is both within and without. The waters of baptism suggest, at least symbolically, the deep and limitless mystery of the very essence of existence, which we contain within ourselves and which also dwells outside of ourselves. Or perhaps the waters of baptism can serve as a reminder of the connection we have to the Sacred and to the rest of creation.

Whatever the case, I invite exploration beyond the traditional “washing away of sins” to look at other ways in which the image of water can breathe new meaning into the ritual of baptism. Maybe by looking at the baptism of Jesus, and given what I’ve said about the nature and importance of water, we might reinterpret and celebrate the waters of baptism in our own lives, moving beyond the confines of one traditional interpretation to something deeper and fuller.

Susan Ryder is a pastor, and considers herself a progressive Christian (which means she’s a liberal). She is also an author on
http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.

The Christian faithful are being encouraged to attend special seminars while on a cruise in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and the Pacific aboard luxury liners. It’s a kind of “meet the Lord on the Lido Deck” moment. According to one of the brochures, you can get intensive leadership training, worship training, apostolic instruction and prophetic insights “without the normal pressures of daily life and the familiar surroundings of the home church.”

Another brochure reads, “Throughout your cruise with us, attentive cabin stewards provide discreet, unobtrusive service replenishing ice and arranging fruit, turning down beds and delivering pillow chocolates. Anticipating your every wish, our gracious crew members dedicate themselves to providing you the best…” As an “out of church” guy, the idea of luxury (Luxurious: definition. 1. lecherous – 2. Marked by or given to self indulgence.) and religious training cohabitating seemed incongruous. But I suppose with no viable alternative even the most ascetic among us would have a hard time turning down those pillow mints and iced diet Pepsis.

What we need here is another option more in the stream of real spirituality, yet keeping with the theme of getting away from the routine and pressure of daily life and the familiarity of the local church. I want to help people dodge the bullet of self-indulgence, which seems the main focus of luxury liners, and be able to truly have a life-changing experience.
Now of course, to keep us on an even spiritual keel and economically conservative, we would have to forego expensive “face time” with religious celebrities, those who ride free on our collective dime. They may still want to join us, but I doubt it. That unobtrusive service and those seafood buffets for free might be hard to resist, but such delectable perks wouldn’t be part of my alternative solution.

So what is the alternative to the luxury cruise? It is ” Go Greyhound”, or as an urban friend of mine called it, “ridin’ the dog”.

One cruise in particular caught my attention: “Join our prophetic Cruise Team on Holland America to the Caribbean.” Why do we need a prophetic team on a luxury liner of notable predictability? Instead, the team might want to reconsider their Caribbean adventure. On the cruise ship everything is already scripted. There isn’t much need for them, since the folks that run these ships pride themselves in having taken care of all the details. Maybe they are there for other reasons.

But for sure they would be needed on the ‘Dog. There most of the passengers are living lives of notorious unpredictability. On the ‘Dog, you’d be ridin’ with the folks that turn down your sheets, those minimum wage people trained in discretion and unobtrusive service. The housekeepers, bus boys, short order cooks and janitors. The invisible people. They could use a bit of prophetic assurance, and you could use a bit of prophetic practice, away from the predictable, the vain, and the pretentious. Isn’t that what drives most people to escape the familiar surroundings of their local church?

I remember ridin’ the ‘Dog many years ago. I met a man on his way to a VA hospital. He was in a foul humor, drinking from a bottle in a brown bag. We were across the aisle from each other.

“You know you lay down your life for your country, and what do you get?” His voice rose. Before I could answer, he continued. “I’ll tell you what you get, you get this piece of sh*t.” From down around his right side suddenly a long prosthetic arm appeared in the air. The bolts were loose and the cables limp. He turned to me, rattling the plastic arm in front of my face. “Here, give that cable a pull.”

I weakly protest, “No I shouldn’t.”

“No, go ahead,” he said rattling the arm again. So I gave in and gently pulled on one of the cables. The claw at the end of the arm squeaked open and then squeaked closed. “See what I mean? G*ddamn government,” he muttered, turning and taking a pull from the bag.

That is what was great about “ridin’ the ‘Dog”. I got a lesson in politics, war and the handicapped in about one minute, one that I will never forget. On the ‘Dog nothing is contrived. It is gloriously unpredictable. You probably won’t meet people like that on the cruise, well, because the boat really doesn’t go anywhere. And one armed, disappointed vets can’t afford it. The purpose of the cruise is to suspend reality. In contrast, the ‘Dog travels low and lean on the highway and is notoriously slow but very real. A trip on the ‘Dog will wean you from the spectacle, the narcissistic and ritual drama found frequently in contemporary Christianity.

Because kindness and attention are sold by the ounce on luxury liners, they are probably in short supply on the ‘Dog. But small kindnesses that are expressed will go a long way. On the ‘Dog you are the ear of God, listening to troubles most likely beyond your capacity to help, where lunch is on you, and where everyone is truly going somewhere. Except you of course; you would be there because of a desire to get out of the familiar routine and escape the pressures of churchianity.

So if you want to relax, go on a cruise. If you want to do something meaningful and potentially spiritual, go Greyhound.

Copyright Tim Honan – All Rights Reserved 2006

My name is Tim Honan. I got my first introduction to Christianity outside of Catholicism on a commune in 1978. There I learned about apostles, prophets and a level of religious “manifest destiny” that had laid dormant since the crusades. Since then I have been wrestling with the institutional version of Christianity and losing most of the time. Obviously losing hasn’t stopped me.

I have tried to befriend the spirit of capitalism with little success. I doubt I am destined for real business, although God knows, I have tried. However, I have lived large and have had the priviledge of being able to experience life like big chunks of cheese cake. I have been in the Army, religious communes, waterfront unions, politics, traveled extensively at will and founded The Dutch Harbor Fisherman, a weekly still being published in the Aleutian Islands.

To check out other short pieces I’ve written, go to http://www.outofchurch.com.

The Coming of Elijah

While some are content to get their end-time signs from newspaper headlines, others seek to understand the signs listed in the Bible. There are six signs of the end mentioned in Scripture.

One of those signs is the coming of the Elijah the prophet. Elijah was a 9th century B.C. prophet who lived during the reigns of Ahab and Ahaziah. He greatly influence the moral climate of his date with a legacy that continued for centuries.

The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord

Elijah’s “second coming” precedes the day of the Lord. God promised an appearance of Elijah within the last days. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (Malachi 4:5)

Elijah’s mission, serves to assist in properly identifying him. When he arrives, he turns the hearts of fathers to the children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. This is a message of repentance. So important it was that God threatened a curse upon the land of Israel were he to fail.

Elijah’s Identity Revealed

Addressing the multitudes, in Matthew chapter 11:7-13, Jesus raises questions about John the Baptist. Interestingly, he weaves in his comments about John, a connection with Malachi’s prophesy of a coming messenger. Compare Matthew 11:10, with Malachi 3:1.

What is even more striking is the emphatic declaration, “And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.” (Matthew 11:14) The mystery evaporates. John the Baptist is the subject of Malachi’s prophesy. He is Elijah, propesied in the prophets.

Elijah’s Appearance With Moses

In the transfiguration scene of Matthew chapter 17, Elijah, the ancient prophet, appears with Jesus, Moses and the disciples. However, as he and Moses fade from the scene, Jesus again takes up the subject of Malachi’s prophecy, carefully explaining the details of Elijah.

In response to the disciples question, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Jesus answer and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him wbut did to him whateever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.

Well aware of the details of a recent violent event, The disciples then understood that Jesus spoke to them of John the Baptist. John, an uncompromising moral reformer characterized Elijah in spirit, hence he is styled, the second Elijah. (Matthew 17:10-13)

John’s Mission Fulfills The Prophecy

Zechariah the priest, John’s father receives a message from Gabriel the angel regarding the child to be born of Elizabeth. Gabriel emphasized the moral character of John. He would would great in the sight of God, would abstain from wine and strong drink and would turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

Specifically, Gabriel quotes the prophecy of Malachi. “He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to teh wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

There can be no doubt that John is the messenger, the Elijah of whom the prophet spoke. Jesus’ and angels testify that he fulfilled the prophecy.

The Meaning of the Sign

The message of Elijah given to Israel in the first century, defined and delineated the nearness of the end. John’s presence as Elijah confirmed the near and soon arrival of the kingdom of God and the end-time. He preached a message saying ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ (Matt. 3:2)

That message always concluded with God’s wrath upon Israel in which he would burn them with fire. (Matthew 3:8-12).

In summary, John, as Elijah, fulfills one of six signs of the end. John’s arrival in the first century, shows how near the end was. The coming of the dreadful day of God, i.e. the return of Christ in judgment was near in the first century. The signs are there to confirm it. That is why Jesus said, his generation would not pass till all those things were fulfilled. (Matthew 24:34)

William Bell is a public speaker, author and writer on Covenant Eschatology. Visit http://www.allthingsfulfilled.com. Comments and questions are welcomed at info@allthingsfulfilled.com

What gospel or good news did the apostle Paul preach? Jesus Christ came preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14). Did the apostle Paul preach a different gospel from the one that Jesus Christ preached?

Here is what Paul’s companion Luke, the author of the book of Acts says that Paul preached as recorded in Acts 28:30-31:

“30And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, “31Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.” (KJV)

Yes, the apostle Paul preached the same gospel or good news that Jesus Christ preached–the Kingdom of God. Paul preached the good news of the Kingdom of God, to all that came unto him while he was under house arrest by the Roman Empire. He also taught about the things he had learned from Jesus Christ.

In I Corinthians 15:1, the apostle Paul is reminding the Church of God at Corinth of the gospel he had taught them with special emphasis on the resurrection of the dead. In verses 24 and 25, he describes how Christ will eventually deliver the Kingdom of God to the Father:

24Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” (KJV)

Yes, Paul did not preach a different gospel from the one that Jesus Christ preached. They preached the same gospel, the gospel or good news of the Kingdom of God.

Alan D. Campbell lives in Brandon, Florida. For more good news, please see his blog The Good News of the Kingdom of God at http://goodnewsofthekingdomofgod.blogspot.com

It never seems to amaze me, how people say things that are totally unreal. Today I heard about a report on the drug mirapex. It’s a drug design that claim to help people with Parkinson disease and people with persistent pain. In this report it claim that patients were reporting that while taking this drug it causes them to gamble (to risk). But what are they risking? This claim, only gives proof of the word of God. Look at Mark 2:17 it says On hearing this, Jesus said to them. It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but sinners.

If this drug mirapex inspire people to gamble, what’s next, a pill to make people to murder, lust (male enhancement drugs), alter the truth, suicide, hate, etc. This makes me wonder are drugs themselves mind controlling or just alter one’s mind. Maybe this is why people act the way they do sometimes. Most drugs have side effects in one form or another. Let’ not even to began to talk about side effects, it another whole subject within itself.

Look at Isaiah 53:5 it says But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Now look at Matthew 9:22 it says Jesus turned and saw her. Take heart, daughter, he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.

Look at Matthew 14:35 it says And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

Now look at James 5:16 it says Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

This makes me wonder, how deeply are we devoted to God, and how much trust one really have in him. What makes it even worst is that if one truly turns to him for healing, in some countries in order to receive a monthly check they must go to the doctor, or lose their monthly check, receive medication that may or may not heal them or cause other complications, or worst, the doctor tells you there is nothing they can do for you, but have to continue to go to doctors visits, with the remote chance they may find something they can do with dangerous testing. I can understand they have to make sure you are ill, but after finding that one is ill shouldn’t one have the privilege to choose who will heal them?

Look at 1Timothy 6:20 it says Timothy guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you.

In closing look at 1Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness: by his wounds you have been healed.

Love Always,
Your Sister in Christ,

Mellody Davis

Enjoy more reading at: http://www.hostinghelps.com/allaboutjesus

Remember to Always Read your Bible!!!

We all need to be cautious and not make quick judgements! The thing that really bothers me is being accused of something I didn’t do and having that person hold a grudge against me. You know the feeling…helpless! Or you might think that somebody intentionally did something to hurt you, and you want to accuse or judge them based on your feelings.

As a child, some of my friends secretly poked fun at the other kids in the neighborhood walking down the street and I told them to stop. When they finally confronted all of us, they wouldn’t believe that I wasn’t doing the same thing! Right, like they were going to believe I had nothing to do with it when the evidence was very clear!

If you feel that someone has said or done something behind your back or even to your face, it still isn’t a very good practice to treat them badly or keep ignoring them. The Bible warns that it is not right to judge people:

Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. Romans 2:1

I feel God is trying to say that we shouldn’t judge others because we, in turn condemn ourselves because we are not perfect. We sometimes have done the same things…in other words I would be an utter hypocrite to judge someone!

The Bible goes on to talk about grudges:

Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. (James 5:9). For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 1 Corinthians 4:4.

The only one who can judge us is the Lord. He knows the situation completely, inside and out! Much more thoroughly than what we are capable of seeing. So the next time somebody holds a grudge or accuses you of something, don’t take revenge or get upset. Try to forgive and pray for them, and pray for God to give you the strength to stay strong. Don’t let the situation keep bothering you to the point that you never let it go. Once you do forgive them, you’ll feel much better and you can get on with your life the way the good Lord intended.