Many Christians are critics of religious-themed tattoo's, and are likely to site LEVITICUS 19:28. They would have you believe that carving ink-filled images into your flesh, is not what God had in mind for our being. The Old Testiment book warns against making cuttings in the flesh or printing marks on a person like the Philistines used to do back in the days of Moses, Aaron and the Isralites. Notice LEVITICUS 19:19 You better not wear any clothes with a mix of polyester or cotton! LEVITICUS 19:27 Most everyone gets a hair cut or shaves!!! It looks as these practices in these passages were related to worshiping of other gods. 1KINGS 18:25 The preist of Baal cut themselves to get there gods attention. The New Testament is clear that these rules don't apply directly anymore, rather it gives more general rules like: loving your neighbor, be faithful and truthful, being compassionate,ect. Jesus is never Hip, He's always Truth, That doesn't change...But We the culture does change, and that is evident in some followers. Those who trust in the Lord will not be dissapointed. Christians today in search of illustrating their body with religious art, might not have to venture into secular tattoo palors for much longer. The popularity of body art has grown fast enough that ther is now a Christian Tattoo Association. REVELATION 19:16 Even God has tattoo's. For some of todays youth, Christianity isn't something stichted on a sleeve, slapped on a bumper sticker or scribbled on a postcard, it's a permanent proclomation made with an artist eye, and a tattoist's needle...along with God's blessing. Let's take Christianity out of the cloistered halls and put it right in the forum where people live, let's make it so real, so up to date, so today that it impacts peoples lives. The best way to put itis a few like-minded people that are trying to do their very best to share the word of God in a place where it's never heard. Tattooing may be a fad, but it will never go away, like crew cuts, beehives, or bell bottoms!!! Most people associate tats with rebellion. This could be the reasoning behind the Laws of the land. Most of the states wont allow minors to recieve tattoo's...Even if they have a parent or gaurdian with them. In 1891 Samuel O'Reilly patented the very first tattooing machine. Mr O'Reilly modified Thomas Edison's electric pen. His device would punchure the flesh, While inserting ink...much faster than the old fashion way's of tattoing. It is very important for the Christian community to include all people with body modifications, especially since they bear a resemblance to the type of person that Jesus sought. Since I have gotten tat's, I have met alot of people that are very loving and very down to earth who dont have a personal relationship with Jesus. Nor would they feel comfortable in some or most Churches. Rebellion can harden your heart to God. What are your resonings for wanting or getting a tattoo? If it is out of rebellion...Try something else befor getting something permanent. You can't change your mind in the morning if you do!!! Pray before you act...Pray Hard!!!

-Joe Woodriff

THE FOLLOWING WAS SENT TO ME BY A GOOD BRO...I'M POSTING IT TODAY 10/18/99

To obtain more information about Carman Ministries, including how to receive our monthly newsletter, please email us your full name and Postal Mailing Address-(street, city, zip, etc.). This month I am going to do something a little different. I wrote a newsletter some time ago that has received some great comments from you our partners. Many of you have asked for a copy of it and wanted to read it again, and with the Halloween season coming up, I thought this would be a good time to rerun this considering some of the things that young people are exposed to today. Please enjoy... I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine the other day and a subject came up that was quite unexpected. They were thinking about getting a tattoo and wanted to know what I thought about it. Really, they were wanting to know if the Bible says there is anything wrong with getting a tattoo. I fumbled around with an answer and tried to rack my brain with a scripture but nothing came out that made sense even to me. Obviously it’s not a central doctrine of the Bible. So, I pretty much forgot about it until a couple of days ago when I was reading my Bible at breakfast (something I do everyday) and I came across a scripture in Leviticus that mentioned tattoos. Leviticus 19:28 jumped off the page as I read, "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put Tattoo marks on yourselves; I am the Lord." Well, I thought, "Wow, there it is. Tattoos are wrong." But then after all the excitement died down, I looked at the scripture before it which said, "Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip the edges of your beard." Man, now I was messed up. Cause my hair is cut pretty close on the sides and I don’t even have a beard to clip. Surely something is wrong here. So, I checked a book on Bible customs I have and it said that during the time of Moses tattoos were often given as a sign of idolatry. It was because of this that the Lord forbid them (the Israelites) to receive tattoos -- seeing that He is a jealous God and all. But if it's not a sign of idolatry, does that mean it's wrong for today? Since there is no strong biblical New Testament stance on the subject, I think we’re gonna have to use our common sense and be led by the Spirit of God. First, let's look at why someone would do it and why someone wouldn't do it. First, they would not do it as a fashion statement. Simply because fashions change from season to season and any fashion-conscious person wouldn’t want to be trapped into a particular fashion statement for the rest of their life. That would be like having a leisure suit tattooed to your body...forever. Ugh! So fashion is out. It is a statement, however, of one's philosophy of life and a reflection of their character in what usually is some small eccentric way. Like somebody who has been in the Marines and gets a U.S.M.C. tattooed on his arm. Or the name of someone you love tattooed on your shoulder (you better not break up). It is a bit of an eccentric desire of adornment but it's harmless to the physical body (usually) and people do own the right to do that if they want to. But what would Jesus think? Would the Lord want you to get a tattoo? What if it was a cross or the fish symbol? Would that be ok? Well, I think if you look at it this way you'll get your answer; our body is where we live and the Bible says we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. "If any one destroys the temple him God will destroy." With that in mind imagine you are driving through a neighborhood and you see a beautiful house where your new neighbors live. It's a handsome 2500 sq. ft. English Tudor in a nice section of town. While you are trying to figure out what your new neighbors are like, the husband and wife walk out the front door with 2 cans of fluorescent green and red spray paint. They spray 2 crosses, a fish symbol and the phrase 'Jesus is Lord' on the front of their house. They hug each other (like they're so proud!) and they walk back in. Now, let's be reasonable. It's their house! And they do have the right, if they so desire, to adorn their house in an eccentric manner if they wish. So, what do think about what your new neighbors have done to their house? Do you think, "Isn't that just so creative!" or "Oh my God! They've destroyed that beautiful home." Or maybe, "What kind of whack neighbors do I have living next to me?" Or maybe even, "I wonder why they didn't use that new blue spray paint on sale at Wal-Mart?" Obviously, it's a topic subject to different interpretations. But ultimately as a Christian, you will probably want to think the same thing Jesus would think which is, if you think your neighbors are cool and classy, then you probably think Jesus thinks it's way cool and classy to have a beautiful temple he made tattooed with something beautiful and creative. Debate all you want, but those who want tattoos are gonna get them no matter what. And those who don't want them will most likely always think the idea is too extreme. I think to each his own. But, if we’re gonna concern ourselves this much with a topic and exert so much energy let's be most concerned with the Word of God being tattooed on their heart and whether or not their names are tattooed in the Lamb's Book of Life. Anything beyond that just isn’t worth arguing over.