DISCIPLE

By now you're probably aware of the latest in spiritual growth tools - the Christian cruise.  At one time, trips to the Holy Land or Reformation sites were the rage. Today it's not where you go, it's how you get there. Cruise boats, complete with on-board lecturers and concert artists, don't go anywhere in particular. Cruise directors downplay geography. Ads bill them as an Alaskan Getaway, Mexican Riviera Retreat, or Caribbean Odyssey, and the closest they get to a site of theological import is the Bermuda Triangle, which has vague Trinitarian imagery.  Cruises aren't new - several seafarers are mentioned in the Bible. But now we know they did it all wrong. Noah's cruise could have been a romantic retreat with his wife; instead, the who le family came along (not to mention their animal friends). Jonah let himself get pushed around by the ship's crew, his cruise ended prematurely, and he never got a refund. All he got was great sermon material. Paul endured ...