Survivalist and TV star Bear Grylls recently was baptized in the Jordan River, he revealed on social media, fulfilling what he called a lifelong dream for him.
On Monday, the “Man vs. Wild” star, who has been open about his faith in the past, shared a photo of himself in the river’s waters.
“It had always been a dream of mine to get in the water that Jesus was baptised in by my hero John the Baptist,” the 49-year-old wrote. “The story is so amazing, & it seems wherever Jesus went, that new birth, new life, a new vision followed.”
Grylls added, “Luke (in the bible) was probably a Syrian doctor before he met Jesus. He writes a reliable, poignant account of his life. It’s short. I like it.”
He included the tags #adventure, #life and #nevergiveup.
It had always been a dream of mine to get in the water that Jesus was baptised in by my hero John the Baptist. The story is so amazing, & it seems wherever Jesus went, that new birth, new life, a new vision followed. Luke (in the bible) was probably a Syrian doctor before he met… pic.twitter.com/YwcEwL1ewh
— Bear Grylls OBE (@BearGrylls) October 2, 2023
Last year, Grylls spoke to Fox News about a devotional he had written, which he titled “Soul Fuel.”
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In the book, he wrote, “I often don’t feel very strong. Life can be a battle. We all feel that from time to time. But any strength I do have seems to come in the quiet moments at the start of my day. It comes when I am on my own, on my knees. It comes from taking time to be still with God …
“So for me, starting my day like this really helps. It is like food. Like good fuel for the soul.”
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In an interview with The Christian Post in January, Grylls said he was not a big fan of church culture in the West, which he said can put distance between people and God.
“Our job in life is to stay close to Christ and drop the religious, drop the fluff, drop the church if you need to because that means so many different things to different people anyway,” he said. “Keep the bit of church which is about community and friends and honesty and faith and love.”
The survivalist appeared on the Christian Broadcasting Network in December and spoke about how he came back to Christ after having walked away from faith at a young age.
“I always had a really natural faith as a kid,” he said. “Where I knew God existed and it felt very free and pretty wild and natural, and it wasn’t religious. Then I went to school and suddenly it all became much more religious, and I thought, ‘Oh I don’t like this.’”
He added, “It was all about church-going and telling you not to smoke behind the bike shed when you are age 12. … I thought, ‘If that’s God, maybe I’ve got the whole deal wrong,’ and I kind of ditched my faith.”
But by the time he joined the British military and as he later embraced endless adventure, he said faith was his secret weapon.
It helped him conquer fear and offered him a humble perspective.
“I think my faith through that journey has been an important thing,” Grylls said. “I found it hard to talk about for a long time. But I look back now and realize that it takes a proud man to say he never needs any help. I’m not that man now.”
Grylls is not the only celebrity this week to post about a baptism on social media.
On Wednesday, celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D, a former connoisseur of witchcraft literature and tarot cards, shared a video on Instagram of her baptism.
Last year, she shared on the social media platform that she had thrown out some items she no longer wanted to be affiliated with, including one book called “The Witches’ Way.”
“Today, I went through my entire library, and threw out books that just don’t align with who I am and who I want to be,” she wrote.
The acclaimed tattoo artist added, “I’ve always found beauty in the macabre, but at this point, I just had to ask myself what is my relationship with this content? And the truth is, I just don’t want to invite any of these things into our family’s lives, even if it comes disguised in beautiful covers, collecting dust on my shelves.”
