Hey just a short news update on something interesting.. I’m busy working on something AWESOME, for this site, but it is a secret, so I’m not going to spoil the surprise. (by the way, it isn’t THE SECRET, just a secret. THE SECRET is a money making load of hogwash.. My secret however is not!)

According to scientists from Caltech they have found hints of a time before the Big Bang while studying the cosmic microwave background. Not only does the study hint at something pre-existing our universe, the researchers also postulate that everything we see was created as a bubble pinched off from a previously existing universe. This conjecture turns out to shed light on the mystery of the arrow of time.

Okay, so we know the “big bang”, didn’t really happen.. But I found the following quotation from the article quite fascinating :
“Their model suggests that new universes could be created spontaneously from apparently empty space.”

Wow, it is like they are almost saying that God can create something from nothing!! These atheist scientist are turning theistic without knowing it!

Just so that you hear it from someone else besides me :

Romans 1 : 18-20
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Shame, now these poor scientist really don’t have an excuse for not knowing God..

Okay.. Here we go… (puts on riot gear, picks up bible..)
Right, now that I’m prepared for the angry mob that is about to try destroy me,
let me just point out something about evolution from a Christian point of view.

I’m not going to argue molecular biology, or thermo dynamics.. Because as much as we all wish we knew what we were talking about, we don’t.

Have you ever looked at the alternative theories?? Maybe try www.answeringenesis.org?
Surely these Christian scientist have it right? They have the exact same facts, and all have there Phd’s and Masters in some degree, yet somehow they disagree and say evolution is but a theory with no scientific proof…

Right, now to the point.. I find it strange when Christians try to argue pro-evolution.. Let me just explain why..
Three simple reasons :
1) When God created the universe (i’m not here to debate age of earth) he created it perfectly. No SIN!! With no sin, there is no death (Romans 5:12, sin entered the world through one, and death through sin.) So before Adam and Eve sinned, and rebelled against God, there was no death. If there was no death, how could there ever have been an evolutionary process?

2) If evolution did take place.. That means that there was no initial sin.. I.e. God created the world with sin. If so, our awesome God is an imperfect God. How can we trust and imperfect God? He can’t even create the world properly.. Thus sending Jesus to die on the cross for us, was rather to cover up his own stupidness, rather than free us from the Slave master called sin.. (see how suddenly it isn’t about our imperfections anymore, but rather God’s in ability to plan ahead?)

3) The problem with allowing evolution to creep into theology is that you are basically saying “God, you did not create me, it was all by chance.” If this is the case, we undermine Gods authority over us, we undermine God’s authority over creation and we undermine the bible..

See the devil is very sneaky. He doesn’t just create out-right lies and then expect us to believe them.. No, what he does is create other truths that actually take us away from God’s word without us knowing it.

See, evolution does the following :
* It removes initial sin, and thus actually destroys Gods credibility, and the Jesus’ purpose.
* It removes God’s authority over us. (For he who did not create us can’t judge us.)
* It removes Gods word , places the bible in doubt, and allows doubt and fallacies to creep in to our understand of God.

You see, at the heart of evolution, what it is actually saying is this “God you are not our creator”, and if that is true, then Jesus died in vain.

For if he is not the creator or sustainer of the universe. How could he ever save us?

=====================================================
Update::: I have decided to update this post to be more biblical.. I apologize for the lack of scripture before hand.(more 2 come)
===================================================

Excluding genesis (of course.. purely to not state the obvious) the bible has quite a lot to say about how the world came into being..

Well in
In John 1 : 1-5 we have the following :

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood[a] it.

Then in Colossians 1 : 15 -18 it says
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Now clearly the bible’s point of view is that Jesus created the world..
Okay, now I know that some of you might argue that it is all just metaphors.
If that is the case… Prove it.. You can’t just claim it, with out proof.
I would say this is fair.. And you can’t say something like “It isn’t true because science says so..” No.. Science just says it isn’t probable because science doesn’t include God..

And why did God allow creation to take place the way he did?? (according to the bible)

Romans 1 :19 - 20
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse

So that men would be without excuse, and say.. “We didn’t not know that God existed..” That is why God created the world in the way he did.. To help us come to know him better.. What an awesome God we have..

I hope that you all read this post, and meditate not on the things of man, but the things of God..

Or as Paul would say in Galatians 1 :18-20
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

I’m doing a little Series on how Christian’s should behave if we were following other Christians instead of the Word of God.

All the topics can be found here (How thou shalt livist as a christian!)

Homosexuality, pre-marital sexual activity, substance abuse and double lives are an optional extras to the Christian life. (These extra add-ons can be bought at a price of eternal damnation, but at least you get to keep the name tag, right?)

Okay, so if I was going by order of topic you might be asking yourself where is topic 3 & 4??
No, I haven’t forgotten about it, and NO, I’m not trying to avoid the topic.
The reason why I am tackling this current topic is because of a newspaper article I found in the Mail and Gardian.
The massive heading reads “Marry your like, says the Bible”. (link here)

Now before I start commenting on the article itself, I would like to just lay down some basic biblical truths. (I will quote as much as possible. The less from me the better.)
Firstly, let me tell you what I believe about the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

So if we take this as a descriptive , non-poetic/non-apocalyptic wysiwyg (google it) text, It clearly says that everything is in the bible because God wanted it there, to help us live godly lives.

What about the nature of God?
Well we can clearly see from Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1-2 that God has always been, and will always be. (That kind of puts God in control I’d say.)
Basically, God is the supreme being of the universe. He is the creator of all things (Isaiah 44:24). He alone is God (Isaiah 45:21,22; 46:9; 47:8). There have never been any Gods before Him nor will there be any after Him (Isaiah 43:10). God is God from all eternity (Psalm 90:2). In Exodus 3:14, God revealed His name to His people.
God is a Trinity, knows all things (1 John 3:20), can do all things (Jer. 32:17,27 - except those things against His nature like lie, break His word, cheat, steal, etc.), and is everywhere all the time (Psalm 119:7-12).

God is also constant, if God says something, he doesn’t go back on his word or change his mind, to change is to err in the first place. God can not err, for he is perfect and just. When God says something, he means it. He doesn’t change with the times, nor does he marry the spirit of the age so that somehow he can brainwash that generation into doing his bidding. NEWS FLASH PEOPLE! GOD DOES NOT NEED US! Yes, he loves us, and cares for us. But he definately does NOT need us. So when you start sinning and changing God’s word, and then stating that it’s fine, God will be cool with it. NEWS FLASH!! HE WON’T!

As Galatians 6:7-8 so plainly states
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
Please note the following 4 words “God cannot be mocked”, it might change your life.

Enough about the awesome and perfectness of God. Let us take a quick look at what the bible says about us, the awesome human.

If we are trying to please God, a good question would be “how” ? Well I’d say the answer to that is when we pass the same judgment upon ourselves as that which the Word of God passes. But due to our sinful nature ‘There is no one righteous’ (Romans 3:10); ‘there is no one who does good.’ (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53:1) ‘Every imagination of the heart of a man is only evil all the time’ (Genesis 6:5), and ‘every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.’(Genesis 8:21) Now if we think of ourselves in that light, and think of God in the way I have described above, tell me this: How can we ever even think of playing God? How can we say what his word does not mean? If God’s word says one thing let us not think we can change it, and make it suit ourselves. For God will NOT be mocked.

Now that we have sorted out who is in charge, and who is not. Let us take a closer look at this little article we have found in the mail and guardian. O wait, just one last little passage before I do so. It’s from Galatians 1:6-10 ” For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. ”

Paul clearly knew the difference between serving and trying to please man, and serving and trying to please God. We can not do both, for our sinful nature is everything God is not, and so if a preacher is saying something that is appealing to your sinful nature. Chances are he is trying to please man, and not God.

Finally, the article.. When I first read this article I thought I should just go for the jugular. Attack it straight on, smite this abomination with a single slash! WHAM! But, since then I have realized that it won’t be as easy as this, purely because this article does not only question the biblical portrait of marriage, but it also attacks and undermines the bible itself. I was shocked to see how this author (that calls himself a pastor) was attacking the bible, and trying to point out flaws, saying God’s word is incomplete or not relevant for todays standards.. Well may I just point out that if the problem is with our standards of living, I can assure you.. The problem does not lie with the bible.. But with yourself! okay, okay.. To the article I go!

I must agree that the bible doesn’t say “THOU SHALT NOT MARRY SAME SEX”. But this is because of obvious reasons..
1) The bible teaches that marriage is designed by God for one man and one women. Yes, I know that Mr Muller tries to deny this.. But let me just show you how blind he truly is.. Firstly, in the creation account BEFORE THE FALL OF MAN.. ie.. IT WAS PERFECT.. Everything was as God had intended it, he noticed that Adam was alone ( Genesis 2: 18-25 ) and created for him a wife.
God created man and women to be united, and to be fruitful and increase in number;(Genesis 1:28)
So at the beginning of creation God designed man and women to be together. It’s that simple.. Sure he argues this could as well have been a story of two men, or two women.. ( Sorry Mr Muller.. No, it could not have been. Because then none of us would be here now.. And they would never be able to fulfill God’s commandment:to be fruitful), But besides that, the bible thankfully doesn’t end at Genesis, in fact, it actually goes on, and it tackles the sins of homosexuality (sexual immorality) many times.
Mr Muller (the author) argues that the kind of homosexuality in the bible is not the same as what two men or women might experience today.. I disagree, a brief look into the Roman culture of the day would clearly point out that homosexuality and “love” among the same sex was bad, if not worse than it is today. In fact, if I’m not mistaken. Homosexuality was seen as a form of superiority over straight couples. So, yes when Paul refers to the sinful nature in Galatians 5:19-21 “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” It definately applies to todays standards.. Please note that sexual immorality includes any kind of sex outside the bounds of a married couple (one man, one women).

Remember how I said in the beginning of this article God is just, and unchanging. Well, it is true! Through out the old and new testament the Bible preaches against Homosexuality, and any other kind of sexual sin. In the New testament it even says that even if we LUST after such things we are sinning.

Just a note on the article.. Please note how Mr Muller attacks the bible on the point of slavery (saying see.. the bible is old school it condones slavery), because it condones slavery, and we don’t do slavery anymore the bible must be old fashioned.. He then goes on to build his argument, saying that the bibles idea of marriage has change since creation and because of all of this, we can no longer rely upon the bible as a reliable source of wisdom. Can I just quickly point out how far from the truth this really is (I think that once I’m done with this we can safely put Mr Muller’s article to the sword, because in the end, if his argument about the bible not being reliable for today is not true, the rest of his argument is based on false premise, and from what I’ve learned about logic is that if the premise if false, the conclusion can not be used).

So the slavery item: The bible never condones slavery. Sure the bible mentions how slaves should treat their masters, and how masters should treat their slaves, but let us take a closer look at one of these so called “slavery” verses :
Ephesians 6:5 “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,”
What is that?? You should obey your masters (or in todays standards our bosses..)? O, like you would Christ? Really? So in other words we should not lie, cheat or steal? We should respect and obey, and through all this the goodness of Christ will shine through us so that others might see and come to believe in Him.. O I see, so this isn’t a passage on slavery.. It is a passage about respecting those God has put in authority over you.. Ah, I see now.. Thank you bible..

This is a perfect example of timeless principles, with timely application. The principle is “Obey those in authority”, the application then was “Slaves -> Masters”, “Child-> parent” and so on. Today, the application can be applied to the work place.
(If someone can actually find a passage in the bible where it says “Take anyone you want to work for you, and treat them as you please, for God approves of it” I will remove this article.. But the fact is, the bible does not condone slavery, it just teaches us how to obey, serve and submit.

So now that Mr Muller’s argument about the bible being old fashioned is tossed out the window, lets address the bible’s view of marriage according to Mr Muller.. See he starts to say that the bible first says monogamy is good, then it says, polygamy is good (no idea where he found that [just because it is in the bible, doesn’t mean it is biblical]), then he starts talking about customs of the day, as if that somehow discredits the bible.. Yip, thats right. Because the bible records the customs of the day, it clearly means the bible approves of it. >< Really now.. I’d expect more from Mr Muller. Just on the note of Levirate marriage.. This law was put in place so that the name of that family can continue, and that the women may be looked after and cared for.. This a safety plan for the women, not some bonus deal for the brother.

The bible is clear about marriage, Old and New testament.. 1 Man, 1 Women. No sexual relations outside the bounds of marriage. Also, that nothing may come between a marriage. (I.e, divorce)
When ever the bible refers to marriage or the union of Christ and his church, it refers to a husband and wife, bride and bridegroom. Like I said beforehand : God is unchanging.. He sets marriage as an act between one man, one women and God. Then 4000 yrs later when Jesus comes along it is no shock to us that he preaches the exact same thing.
And believe it or not Paul goes on to write about it.(inspired by the spirit).

It is quite amazing how much the bible has to say about marriage between One man, and one women.. It is like God almost wants us to keep it that way. So like, maybe forever?

O, and on the note of polygamy “In after-times a plurality of wives became more common among the Hebrews, and the Scriptures afford numerous illustrations of its evil results, Ge 16:16 Jud 8:30 2Sa 3:3-5 1Ki 11:18 2Ch 11:18-21 13:21. In the time of Christ there is no mention of polygamy as prevalent among the Jews.”

Okay, I’m done now.. I will be coming back to this article and revise what I’ve written. But for now I’m done.
One last thing.. When people say that Jesus is all about love, and he will forgive you for anything, and don’t stress. The bible has a couple of things to say about that.. But here are just two of them :
1) God will not be mocked! (Galatians 6:7-8 )
2) “She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, ” This, is in revelations talking about Jesus . Please note the words “rule all the nations with a rod of iron”.. Be not fooled.. God will not be mocked.. Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

The question is, do you mock God? Do you fear him?

I’m doing a little Series on how Christian’s should behave if we were following other Christians instead of the Word of God.

All the topics can be found here (How thou shalt livist as a christian!)

1)Thou shalt, and MUST join every facebook group that has anything remotely to do with Christianity (as we all know, the more Christian facebook groups you are part of, the holier thou art).

Firstly, can I just point out how frustrated and irritated I get when I keep getting invites to join all these Christian facebook groups. Just to name a few:
============================
Not Christian By Default, But By Grace ?
Can you give me ONE LOGICAL reason to believe God exists? ?
Christian Guys are hotter because… ?
I’M A CHRISTIAN..AND I’M PROUD TO SAY IT!!
I’m a Christian, and I want all my freinds to be Christians too (>< poor spelling)
Addicted to Jesus
Jesus Love’s You
Largest Christian Facebook Group Ever
Proud To Be Christian
=============================

It seems that people have this urge/need to join Christian facebook groups, because they are scared that other Christians might see them as a lesser Christian if they don’t join. Like as if somehow we will grow in Christian stature if we join these groups.

Secondly, it all just seems so fake to me. All these “Christians” joining all these groups, yet if you look at their facebook pages it is covered with applications like “Would You Do Me?” I mean seriously now, just because facebook is your alter-ego, it doesn’t give you the right to post and do as you please. God judges sin, intellectual and physical, facebook or RL(real-life) sin. To God it is all the same.

See, the crux of the matter is as follows : The problem doesn’t lie in the amount of Christian groups you join (though it does start looking like a blunt sword and lose its impact) , but rather: does the rest of your life, and the rest of your facebook reflect this belief that you are confessing to.

1 John 1: 6-8 Clearly teaches us against such practice
“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

Quite simple really. Stop pretending to be a Christian and start picking up your cross and start suffering for Christ.

So well put in “The Pilgrims Progress” by John Bunyan (my new favourite reference book) :
The Evangelist says to Pilgrim and Faithful “My Sons, you’ve heard in the words of the truth of the Gospel that you must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven through many hardships (Acts 14:22), and again that prison and hardships face you in every city. (Acts 20:23) You can’t expect, therefore , to travel far on your Pilgrimage without them in some form or other. … ”

2)If a fellow Christian joins/adds a dodge group/application on facebook thou salt tell everyone else, and thou salt definately not confront the perpetrator (that shalt be done via the facebook grapevine).

Arg!! How this irritates me. If a fellow brother has got applications on their facebook profile which clearly screams “Look at me, I’m the fruits of the sinful nature”. Do not go to every other Christian you know and start gossiping about a fellow brother. No, stand up, and biblically rebuke your fellow brother. It is really that simple.. This bickering on facebook & RL is not only destroying Christian communities, but it is clearly against the word of God. God commands us to love those around us, to suffer with them when they are sinning (and by love I mean Christian love.. ie : not turn a blind eye but to rebuking them gently and with patience).

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

In today’s world people are so quick to label themselves as “Christian” yet they do not even fully understand the fundamental basics of Christianity (the gospel).

See, a lot of today’s Christians believe that if you claim to be Christian, join a Christian facebook group and wear a cross around your neck then you are automatically saved. It is a one way ticket to heaven, no suffering or life change required. How much further from the truth can this be . No wonder so many Christians start to question God and their faith as soon as trials and tribulation’s come down upon them. This school of thought needs to stop!

Okay, that is enough for 1 week. I will tackle point 3 & 4 in the next 2 weeks.

For now I’m just going to end with a quick summery of the phrase”The Gospel”.

The Gospel
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you–unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,..”

Galatians 1: 3-5
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Romans 10: 8-11
“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

God bless.

In today’s troubled world, filled with wonderful words like ‘freedom of speech’, ‘religious freedom’ and let us not forget my favourite one ‘my-right-not-to-have-to-listen-to-anything-you-have-to-say’, how should a Christian act and behave?

If I was to take a few pointers from Christians around me, I would come to the following conclusion :

1) Thou shalt, and MUST join every facebook group that has anything remotely to do with Christianity (as we all know, the more Christian facebook groups you are part of, the holier thou art).
2) If a fellow Christian joins/adds a dodge group/application on facebook thou salt tell everyone else, and thou shalt definately not confront the perpetrator (that shalt be done via the facebook grapevine).
3) If a fellow Christian does try to rebuke/correct you, thou shalt throw a tantrum, and thou shalt definately NOT consult the bible to come to a correct and biblical conclusion. (p.s. consulting the bible might cause strange side effects and distortion of worldly views. Not for the hard hearted or spiritually blind. Side effects my include change of religion.)
4) Thou shalt always correct thine friends via sarcasm and in groups of 2 or 3.
5) Homosexuality, pre-marital sexual activity, substance abuse and double lives are an optional extras to the Christian life. (These extra add-ons can be bought at a price of eternal damnation, but at least you get to keep the name tag, right?)
6) Thou shalt get confirmed, because then you go to heaven.

(Please note: The points with link of them I have already touched on.)

Hey all you stressed out parents/teenagers looking for advice..

Our youth pastor sent me the following mail (which he had in fact emailed off to a concerned parent just the other week).

I thought that this was really great biblical advice, and if you are looking for biblical answers, I’m sure you would find then here.

===========================================

Is it wrong for Christians to get body piercing or tattoos?

The Issue

As youth leaders or parents we might feel awkward with this type of question. Let’s face it, you don’t want your kids to come home looking like circus freaks. While wisdom may scream ‘No!’ (and in many cases should be heeded) I think you would be hard pushed to argue that piercing and tattoos are unchristian. You have also got to watch the ‘slippery slope’ in answering this question. Those who say it is wrong usually don’t mind girls having one piercing in each ear. Where do you draw the line? How many piercing makes it ‘wrong’? And we need to make sure that we handle the OT in a way that takes the new covenant and the death of Jesus into account (i.e.: you are giving an answer to NT Christians, not to OT Jews).

Verses to Consider:

Leviticus 19:28 – The principle for not marking your body is so that Israel will not conform to the practices of the pagan tribes around them.

I Cor 9:19-23 – Paul’s announcement that “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some . . .”

An Answer to Consider

There is a verse in the OT that says tattoos are not appropriate for the Israelites. But the trick is to ask what is the NT application for that OT verse? Lev 19:28 is part of the holiness code for Israel as they embark on life as a nation chosen by God. The immediate context of 19:28 seems to forbid Israelites from imitating the practices of pagan cults and religion that used body cutting and tattoos as part of their idol worship. Which is why the verse finishes with the reminder ‘I am the Lord’. Holiness for Israel meant to be set apart from the nations and kept undefiled by their pagan ways. They were to do this by keeping these various laws regarding their bodies, food, even farming etc.

However Jesus comes and fulfills the law, bringing it to its proper conclusion (Matt Ch 5). For instance, he announces that all foods are now clean for the believer to eat (Mark 7:14-19). This would be one example of how the gospel will interpret and apply the OT law for the Christian today. Although Jesus doesn’t refer specifically to Lev 19:28, it is correct to say that holiness now finds its home in the person and work of Jesus Christ, not in various laws of the OT. To be holy now, as God’s people, is to be found ‘in Christ’, and the old divisions of race, gender and status no longer apply (Col 3:11) In fact it seems that much of the ‘old’ is made a non issue as it is fulfilled in Christ. (Check Colossians Ch 2:16-17)

So while it is good to remember that you don’t get to heaven or belong to God’s family here on earth because you look a certain way, it is also important to keep in mind that we do still need to honor and obey your parents, and that we don’t do anything illegal. If these things check out, then wisdom kicks in!

Consider the following:

• Christians are called to be counter culture. In your community will having piercing or tattoos associate you with gang members, criminals, or as someone who hates authority? (which was the principle behind the command in Lev 19:28) If so, don’t bring shame on the gospel for the sake of looking cool.

• Remember, tattoos are permanent! If you get a tattoo of your favorite Dragon Ball Z character on your arm, how cool do you think this will be when you are 45?

• There are health considerations. Dirty needles, infections and, in the case of tattoos, an increased risk of skin cancer might be good reasons to think twice.

• Even if your parents are OK with it, your school probably won’t be. If they make you take it out or cover it up it will end up being a wasted effort.

• Don’t do it for shock value or to become the center of attention. That is a cry for help, not a fashion statement.

• Don’t do it because you either hate your body or because you love your body in a self-obsessive kind of way. Your self-confidence comes from knowing Jesus loves you, not because you have a tongue stud.

• Even if you are over 18 but still live at home and benefit from your parents support – you need to ask yourself, while I am not a child any more, to what extent am I an adult independent of my parents? It would seem to me that to honor your parents in this situation may still mean submitting to some of their rules as you are a dependant member of the household. Is it worth asserting your authority (and thus moving out, paying your own way, doing your own laundry and suffering the damaged relationship with mum and dad) for the sake of a tattoo? Even if you are convinced that there is nothing unchristian about the decision, you may decide to put your own interests aside for the sake of others (the Bible considers this a mature and Christ like attitude to take).

You can visit his blog @ www.accordingtoscott.blogspot.com
=================================

There, I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did..

Peace out and God bless.

If someone had asked me 3 weeks ago “Can Christians get tattoo’s”, I would have said “Sure, why not, I don’t see the harm in it”.

Then I wrote the following article on Christians and tattoo’s :
Christians and Tattoo’s! Is it Taboo? Leviticus 19:28

Since then I’ve had time to sit down and just think about what I actually wrote and the implications of what it should have on my day
to day living as a Christian.

After long internal debates and bible study and prayer, I’ve come to the a conclusion. Now if a Christian had to ask me today if they should get a tattoo, I would say “No..”

Now before the liberals start jumping on my back, and saying how I stunt the growth of converts because of my backward views. I would just like to explain myself.

Please note that I’m not saying that people with tattoo’s are less godly, or more sinful than the rest of us, and I’m definately not saying that if you have/get a tattoo you will goto HELL!!

No, what I am saying is that if a Christian was to ask me if he should get one.. I would reply with a polite “No”, and then explain why. ( which is what I am about to do here. )

In my previous post (Christians and Tattoo’s! Is it Taboo? Leviticus 19:28) I stated that at the end of the day, it has everything to do about motives, and nothing to do about the tattoo itself. I still stand firmly by this view, and would just like to add that this post is rather an add on, rather than a reply/change-of-mind to my previous post.

See, our Christian actions should always revolve around our motives(in accordance with the bible), and not around what the world will think. But let us see what the bible says :

1 Corinthians 10:23-24
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”

1 Corinthians 10:31-33
” So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.”

Romans 12:1-2
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

From the following passages I think it is safe to say that God expects our priorities in life to be as follows :
1) God
2) Others
3) Ourselves

Now some might argue that getting a cross on your back, or a verse running up your leg is some how going to glorify God, or produce an evangelical opportunity. But I ask you : Is it beneficial? Is it constructive? Does it seek the good of others or does it seek the wellbeing of our own sinful desires?

See it all just sounds like an excuse to get the tattoo in the first place..
We Christians are very good at this..
If we find something that we want, but the bible is against or not really clear on, then we just do it in the name of God, as if that some how justifies it.

Romans 3 teaches that evil done in God’s name is still evil.. It just makes God look bad.

Romans 3:5-8
“But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” Why not say—as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say—”Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved.”

Does it not also say that our very life should be as a witness to those around us? Why would we ever need a tattoo? Or are our lives like a lamp under a bowl, instead of on a stand giving light to the whole house? (Matthew 5:14-16)

An important Scriptural principle on issues that the Bible does not specifically address is that if there is room for doubt as to whether it pleases God, then it is best to not engage in that activity. “For whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). We need to remember that our bodies, as well as our souls, have been redeemed and belong to God. Although 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 does not directly apply to tattoos, it does give us a principle, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” This great truth should have a real bearing on what we do and where we go with our bodies. If our bodies belong to God, we should make sure we have His clear “permission” before we “mark it up” with tattoos.

I’ve read many pro-tattoo websites that somehow try to discredit Leviticus 19:28 by quoting Leviticus 19:27 “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.”
Saying, see… These OT rules and regulations are stupid, you cut your hair, so how can you tell me not to get a tattoo. Sadly people misunderstand 19:27.

See 19:27 referred to custom of the Arabs described by Herodotus. They used to show honor to their deity Orotal by cutting the hair away from the temples in a circular form.

See Leviticus 19:26-28 is not about the instructions of the law, but rather about its purpose.
God was saying “Hey, Israel. You are mine, stop acting like all those idiots over there. I am your God, and you shall have no other gods before me. So stop acting as if you do.”

God still expects this from us today. Do not marry the spirit of the age, and do what everyone else is doing.
Think about it, if you had never seen a tattoo in your life before, would you suddenly take a knife and carve a verse into your arm? No, of course not. But we see how appealing it looks on others, then we suddenly have this need to get one, and then justify it by calling it Godly.

See, as Christians we have no real reason to get a tattoo.. It is not a requirement of the law (tho some might argue it is damned by it). No, I would guess that the real reason Christians get tattoo’s is because deep down inside they just really want one(materialism ?? I think so.).. That is all.. All the excuses about getting a cross, and witnessing is just a cover up. A cover up to hide their real motives: to just rebel and fit in. I mean, lets face it. All we ever try and do is keep one foot on earth, and the other one in heaven.

Never ready to fully reject the world, knowing that the world will fully reject us..

A Christian friend of mine wanted to get a tattoo of a cross on his forearm, but was not quite sure if it was inline with what the bible teaches. We discussed it a bit, and came up with something interesting points. But none of them were really scriptural, or had the scriptural backing we required to make the decision.

I decided to search google, and see what other Christian folks had to say about tattoo’s. I noticed quite a bit of diversity in peoples view points, ranging from “it’s cool” to “if you get a tattoo you going to hell”.

But how can this be?? Surely Leviticus 19:28 clearly reads
“Never slash your body to mourn the dead, and never get a tattoo. I am the LORD.”

So I’ve decided to write my own view on this problem, and hopefully put it all to rest..

One of the reasons I am writing this article is because of the following page :
http://www.biblebelievers.com/watkins_tattoos/bible.html

I felt that it had a strong argument against getting tattoo’s, but felt that the guy was missing the point of being Christian.

How we handle Christians who have tattoo’s:

I don’t believe that tattoo’s are right or wrong..

I definately do not see them as a salvation issue, and I believe that the bible teaches us that if Christian’s have tattoo’s for what ever reason (maybe because of a lifestyle that encouraged it before their conversion), we should not look down on them, or think that we are better than them, for we are one in Christ, and all have fallen short of Gods requirements.
Romans 14:
“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

Leviticus 19:28

When ever the debate of “To tattoo or not to tattoo” comes along, Leviticus 19:28 will always without a doubt be played by the one against tattoo’s. But is it right to bring out this verse? Is this verse only for OT Israel? Does it still apply to us today? I think the best place to get the answer’s are from the Bible.

We read in Romans 10 : “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”

Where it says “End of the law”, Paul means that that it is the goal of the Law.. The goal of the Law was, and still is there to show us that we fall miserably short of God’s requirements, and that we need Christ to save us.

We read in Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
We are no longer bound to the OT law, for it was fufilled by Christ.
So you might ask then what about laws like prostitution or bestiality. Well all of those are clearly summed up in the fact that sex is designed for marriage alone, and marriage is designed by God to be between one man and one women.

The site makes a comment of “There are many other “moral laws’ that are ONLY forbidden in the Old Testament, such as the human sacrifice of children. No where in the New Testament is this forbidden. Does that mean that NOW under the New Testament, God Almighty endorses throwing babies into the fire as a human sacrifice?”

The New Testament clearly teaches us that ALL life is valuable, and that we should not kill any one (including babies).

The New testament does not point out that tattoo’s are right or wrong.
But 1 Corinthians 10:31 teaches us that what ever we do, we must do all to the glory of God.
Romans 12:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

So the real question we have to ask ourselves is: “Is tattooing glorifying God?”

Do tattoo’s glorify God?
I Believe the answer to that lies in Romans 14 5-8
“One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

Obviously this is all in accordance to God’s will. We can not sin, and sin to the glory of God. (This is also taught in Romans)
But we cannot say that tattoo is, or is not a sin..
What we can say is that our motives for getting a tattoo can be a sin..

Are we doing it to fit in? Are we getting a bible verse tattoo’d on our arm as a form of evangelism?
We are clearly taught in the New Testament that it is what is in our heart that makes us unclean, and not that which is on the outside.

See at the end of the day we must question our motives, and try come to an understanding of why we truly want to get that tattoo. Once we know this, we can decide if it glorifies God or not..
So I stand on both sides of the fence on the topic of tattoo’s.
The question you must ask yourself is this :

Does the following picture glorifying God?

Wow what a sight!! You don’t quite understand the awesomeness of this comet until you have actually seen it! We went on quite a road trip trying to track this little thing down as we realized we were on the wrong side of Table Mountain for good viewing! We even ended the evening with a speed trap to make a great ending to the little road trip. Nevertheless it made quite an impact on most of the spectators standing along the traffic jammed road at the top of Kloof neck not to mention those waiting in kilometer’s queue from signal hill’s vantage point! The traffic officers actually closed the road to stop motorists from entering!The funniest bit was to come as we reached the top of Kloof neck and in unison all of us except Ultra-Lord screamed with excitement as we saw the brightest little comet with what seemed to have a curved tail..??? …mmm.. what? Last time we checked it had a straight tail… it turned out we spotted the sliver of the moon with a star next to it and had mistaken it for the comet to which Ultra-Lord commented ” What you guys thought that was the comet … I wondered why you all got over excited!?” He had seen the true comet and although it was definitely something to be excited about it was not nearly as bright as the moon! We all then jumped out to join the masses of people standing on cliff’s edge of the mountain overlooking Camps Bay. It was amazing to see such a great turnout and to think that there still are many people in Cape Town who make an effort to view something that only our great and awesome God could have created!

I moved away from our crowd and found a slightly more solitary spot where I could just sit back and gaze at this piece of God’s creation and it made me realize how greatly designed our planet is and how perfect everything is in order for it to exist… okay I am getting all sentimental and soppy I will stop… but yes it was a time where I just admired what we have been given on this earth and how perfectly designed creation is.

Okay now get into your car and take the time to drive to Camps Bay to see this comet before it’s gone (provided you stay in Cape Town that is) Or if you lucky to be in the Southern Hemisphere.

The best time to view the comet in our opinion from Camps Bay side is between 20:45 - 21:15, it got brighter from 21:00. We left at about 21:15 in order to miss the major traffic jams… yes you have to think practically even when there is a comet which you may not ever have the opportunity of seeing again is around… that’s life!

Who knows maybe we will be seeing many more lights in the sky in the very near future…