Our Saturday began with seven baptisms in the Jordan River. What an honor, really, for me to participate with these devoted disciples of our Lord Jesus as they recommitted themselves to our Christ. Most of our group of nineteen rolled their pants legs up and got in the water with us — a true community event. We recited the ancient Apostles’ Creed together and then I was blessed to baptize Alisha, Katrina, Larry, Brenda, Kas, and Elaine’s mother, Millie. We sang Blessed Assurance together in the water, with the fish nipping at our toes and ankles, smiling and holding hands, basking in our Father’s grace.
As I was getting out of the water, someone hollered at me and asked if I’d perform one more baptism. A lady and her son from Indiana were watching us and she, Deborah, decided to be baptized, too. What a privilege for me! Thank you, God! We spoke for maybe four or five minutes and then we did it while everyone in our group cheered her on and then loved on her as we came up out of the water. You tell me: is there a better way to start a day?
The rest of these are just some random photos from our last couple of days: Cindy climbing on and reaching into the 4th century baptistery at the Church of the Loaves and Fishes at Taghba to fish out somebody’s discarded water bottle; taking pictures at the synagogue in Capernaum or, as Anton calls it, “Cah-fer-nah-hoom!”; the group way up in the nosebleeds at the theater in Beth Sha’an and then walking in front of a few of the dozens of majestic pillars at Beth Sha’an not destroyed by the earthquake in 749AD; Anton directs the group’s attention to the Mount of Temptation from Jericho; and most of us walking through the elaborate aqueduct and water system at Roman Zippori near Nazareth. As always, you can click on any picture to get the full size.
We’ve got dinner in about 30-minutes and then the Cowboys-Browns game begins on my laptop here at the Grand Court Hotel in Jerusalem. I’ve actually got a couple of hot sports opinions about the Cowboys that would probably surprise you. But I’ll hold off on that until I get home later this week.
Shalom!
Allan
Leave a Reply