06/20/2026
There was 1 ship with an all-American crew. I met 1 of the AB's named Chris at the gangway. He is from NYC. He seemed interested in the Bible study materials and asked what the Open Windows was. I explained that. I then asked what his position was and how long he has been at sea. He started in 2006, and he loves working on the ships. He said he feels very lucky to have found this career. He had tried other things, but this is what he loves to do. He feels that he was led to the job like some kind of plan. I said since he feels that way, is he a Christian? He said that he is not NOT a Christian, but he doesn't really hold to any religion versus spirituality. He said he believes in Christ and in following His teachings and trying to embody His spirit/consciousness. He also believes there are good teaching in many religions. I asked what he believes about Jesus, in particular, and he said that he believes in Christ but isn't really concerned with whether there was an actual person behind the story. He said Jesus could have just been a construct of a higher being/teacher and ideology put together by the disciples. He doesn't believe that God is anything that can be described by our language. I pointed out to him that there is more historical support for the existence of Jesus than for most figures from that era. For instance, the earliest biography of Alexander the Great that we have dates to 3 to 4 centuries after his death. Jesus has 4 independent biographies written within 60 years of the events. He said he doesn't think that God is a man like us and calls God "It." I confirmed that God is Spirit and does not have a body or DNA, but I said that He refers to Himself in the Bible as "He." As such, I call Him "He" since that is how He chose to reveal Himself to us. He said he doesn't try to get into what anyone else's relationship to God is, and he thinks that everyone is relating to God through whichever religion they follow. I then pointed out that Jesus claimed to be God many different times and ways. I said this is recorded in 4 separate biographies. I said that He even went so far as to say that He and God are one and that in seeing Him the disciples were seeing God Himself. I said that had someone not already come and taken the materials (including an English New Testament) inside, I could show him some passages where He did so. I said that it was such a claim that led the Jewish leaders to condemn Him to be executed as He claimed to be the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven from Daniel 7. I then asked him "what if Jesus is more than a man/teacher? What if He was Who He claimed to be? What if He didn't just tell us about God, but actually was/is God communicating to us directly?" I said it was just something for him to think about. At this point, a cadet named Colin who had been passing by a couple of times chimed in about the Bible saying that Jesus is God and that other religions are wrong. Chris then explained to Colin how our conversation had begun, and Colin didn't say anything more. He then asked if I go to the ships and talk with them about God, and I explained about seafarers ministries and what we do. He was happy to hear about that. He is from Florida and is on his first contract. He even knew the exact number of days he's been on the ship. He then headed off to do something, and I started talking with Chris again. I asked how he found this career, and he said there were a lot of things that worked together to bring him to it. He asked if I studied theology in school, and I said that I have a Master's in Divinity. I asked what he studied in school, and he said he started in hospitality management before switching to forensic psychology. He ran short on money to finish school and made some hasty decisions which ultimately led him away from finishing college. He tried the navy, but that didn't work out either. He had always liked ships, and some of his friends planted a seed that ultimately led him to start working on the merchant ships. He said that he feels blessed and that he was guided to this work. I said that there's an old saying that "God can hit a straight lick with a crooked stick." We're all messed up in some way or other, but God can use even that brokenness to bring us to where we should be. He said "if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." I said that sometimes He'll let us have our plans for a while to see that we don't really want them after all. I said that He has a way of guiding us if we seek Him. He thanked me for the conversation and headed off to do some work elsewhere on the deck.
