We've all read Leviticus 19:28: " You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh on account of the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord." So it seems that every anti-tattoo argument is based primarily on one thing... this single verse in Leviticus. Is it valid? I think we need to look at the context. I feel, as a heavily tattooed Christian, it is incumbent upon me to try to educate other Christians about the old law and the new Law established by Christ, and how it relates to us now.

Paul himself tells us that if we are to keep one law, we are to keep them all. We all know what the New Covenant represents. So why do we ( tattooed Christians) still get looked down upon?! Do people not read their Bible? I don't understand it. I bring this up because my gitlfriend got into a discussion with some "Christian" ladies at her work, who just couldn't believe that her boyfriend was in leadership at his church, and was covered in tattoos. My girlfriend, being the sweet, humble, pacifist she is, just killed them with kindness, and tried to make her point as best she could, through their barage of insults towards her being young, and misinformed.

This of course, hurt her feelings, but I told her not to worry. It's they who are misinformed. I gave her several verses that show the dynamic between levitical law, and Jesus,( the New Covenant ). Acts 10:43, Gal 5:4-6, Rom 7:6, Phil 3:8-9, 2 Cor 3:5-6, Acts 10:28, and so on. There are many more, and too many to write out. You can read for yourselves. So why, in our day and age, is this still such a "hot button" issue?
I'm completely aware of the social implications of tattoos, and the fact that there are a lot of thugs and criminals out there with some nasty ones. I arrest them every day. But I think it's pretty shallow, and, if I may say, ignorant, to lump every person you see with tattoos into the category of a thug or criminal. And how dare you if you doubt my salvation, or saving knowledge of Jesus Christ because of my tattoos!

Matt:22:37-40, tells us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. It says that on these two commandments depend all the laws and the prophets.
This verse inspired me to come up with a new slogan for our college group. " I am third." I put it on the back of our t-shirts, so when when people ask what it means, we can explain..It's God first, your neighbor second, and yourself third. It also inspired me to get my most recent tattoo a couple days ago. It's a cool looking " 3 ", on the inside of my wrist. A small reminder to myself of where I stand.
God bless

They say God works in mysterious ways...Man did I ever experiance that first hand a few weeks ago! This is actually kind of embarrassing, but a little over 2 weeks ago, I went up to Seattle to, dare I say it, try-out for " American Idol". I know, I'm a nerd. I was blessed by a friend with the finances to go, and encouraged by numerous people, so I figured, " What the heck!? what have I got to lose?" So the day of the audition, I'm standing outside in the pooring rain for over 2 hours just waiting to get inside. Finally, when we get in, after some silly games, they start the auditions.

Well of course the group I'm in isn't gonna go for hours, So I figured I better go warm up.( By the way, this was the biggest turn out ever. over 9000 people). I go out into the hall way of this big sports arena, and I find a wall, and I sit down and start playing my guitar and singing a worship song. A little ways into the song, a guy comes up and starts singing with me. I was soo pumped to find another christian there. We talked for a bit, and I mentioned how cool it was that we met, and that the whole time I was there, I haden't seen a single church. Thats when he told me that Seattle has less churches per capita than anywhere else in the U.S!

So we start playing and singing some more, and another guy sits down with his guitar and starts playing. Another believer! Now heres for the amazing part...After about an hour, all kinds of people were comming from all over the place, and I am co-leading worship for over one hundred people!! It was amazing! All these strangers worshiping Jesus!! Hands raised, eyes closed, arms around eachother! It was an awesome sight! People even came from the auditorium to say that they could hear us inside!! WOW!

This went on for close to 3 hours! 3 hours of just praising the Lord. Afterwards, we all prayed together, and went back. Soon, it was my turn to audition, and my voice was almost completely gone. 3 hours straight of worship had done me in. And you know what? I could have cared less! I was soo electrified by what God had done earlier, that I didn't even care if I auditioned. It was amazing. I still get goosebumps telling the story.

So God turned what was a selfish motived trip, into one of serving through worship. Before, I was telling myself that I would be soo disapointed if I didn't make it. After what God had in store, it was better than anything I could have possibly imagined. God is good, all the time. He's faithful to the unfaithful. His ways are so much higher than mine. He is amazing. He really does work things out for the good of those who love him, and are called according to his purpose.
I feel so absolutely blessed to have been a part of what took place that day in Seattle, Wash. I will never forget.